Tangled Hearts - The Alpha's Baby Mama-Chapter 250: Seared into my memory forever...

Noah POV

What happened next would be seared into my memory forever.

The figure that had appeared to be Selene growled with pain and began to shift and contort. In a matter of seconds, where my mate had been, there now lay the lifeless body of a fox.

I stumbled back, my mind reeling. A Shapeshifter. They had been tricked by a shapeshifter. I had kissed and made love to a shapeshifter – Selene was going to kill me.

Trying to sill the tremors that ran through me, I reached for my phone and sent a text to both Kurtis and Lucius, too shaken up to speak to them on the phone. Within minutes, both men burst into my bedroom, they seemed to be wearing the same kind of nightwear. Kurtis had the shirt on, while Lucius had its bottom and they seemed flustered.

"Your Majesty, what’s wron-" Lucius began but his words died in his throat as his gaze landed on the bed. His eyes widened in shock, darting between me and the fox on the bed. With a choked gasp, he fell to his knees as the realization of what had happened dawned on him.

Kurtis was the first to regain his composure. "A Shapeshifte," he said grimly "We’ve been played,".

I nodded, my voice tight with controlled fury. "if this isn’t Selene, then where is my mate? And what of the Jared and the Jade you captured? Is it truly them?"

A heavy silence fell over the room as the implications sank in. Lucius, still on the ground, looked up with horror dawning in his eyes. "The dungeon," he whispered. "We need to check the dungeon,".

Without another word, all three of us rushed from the room, our minds racing with possibilities. As we descended towards the dungeons, I felt a cold dread settling in my stomach. How could we have been so thoroughly deceived?

The guards at the dungeon came alive as I approached. With a curt nod, I ordered them to open the cells where Jared and Jade were supposedly being held.

The first cell still had a sleeping Jared in it. Without hesitation, I drove my dagger through his chest again and soon, a fox lay in his place. With growing anxiety, I moved to Jade’s cell. As the door swung open, we were met not with the scheming princess, but with a fox that had already transformed.

"How dare you?" I growled and reached out to her when Kurtis held me back.

"Your Majesty, we need to hear from her, at least to know where they’ve taken the Luna to," Kurtis said quietly.

I nodded and allowed Kurtis to move forward. He knelt in front of the fox, whose eyes were misty with remorse.

"Change into your human self," Kurtis nodded and in a few seconds she did. She was a young girl, 15 at most.

"Why are you here? Who put you up to this?"

"It was a Lycan," she sobbed. "She said she was going to kill my parents if we didn’t do as she said. She said, it’ll only be for a few minutes,".

"This Lycan," Kurtis continued quietly "Did you see her with another woman? A baby perhaps?"

"Yes!" the little girl’s eyes lit up "She was pregnant and the Lycan said the Lycan King was going to be mad about her little surprise,".

"Thank you!" Kurtis nodded and turned to me. "Let’s go Your Majesty. The girl will remain alive until we know exactly what’s going on,".

I wanted to argue, but I decided to do as he said. As we left the dungeon, Lucius who had been quiet finally managed to choke out.

"How? How did I not realize? I swear to the moon, that woman felt like Selene,".

Kurtis’s face was grim as he replied. "Powerful magic," he said. "Likely a combination of shapeshifting and memory manipulation. Betas are good at spotting Shapeshifters even better than Alphas. They must have made you think the woman you came with was Selene,".

I turned to Lucius, my eyes blazing with rage. "I trusted you, Lucius," I gritted my teeth "Now my wife, my baby..." I trailed off. "Find them. I want Jared and Jade found, no matter the cost. I don’t care if you have to travel day and night... find my wife and bring her to me,".

He nodded, his gaze downwards and his shoulders slumped. "Your Majesty, I failed you. I should have realized...".

"I don’t want to hear your excuses!" I snapped "Every moment you waste, Jared and Jade puts a lot of distance between me and my mate. Don’t just stand there...".

"It’s not his fault, your Majesty," Kurtis said suddenly, his eyes flashing with annoyance. "Maybe, if you had listened to me in the first instance and had not sent her out of the pack, Luna Selene would still be here with us. It is obvious that they used a spell on him. Lucius worked the hardest – didn’t sleep a wink to make sure the Luna was fine. You can’t blame him,".

"Don’t you dare talk back at me, Kurtis!" I growled, "It is my wife and my mate that’s in danger and not yours. You have no idea...".

"I do, your Majesty," Kurtis continued brazenly "I know what it means to not see your loved one when you look for them and not find them. I fucking know what all of that means. But we need to approach this rationally. Losing our head now or shifting blame won’t help Selene or the pack,".

I whirled on him, my eyes flashing with rage. "Rationally? We’ve been deceived for days, Kurtis! My mate, my child – they’ve been in danger this whole time and both of you didn’t realize it until 48 hours later,".

Kurtis held his ground, refusing to cower at my attempt to bully him. "I know, Your Majesty and we will make this right. But we need a plan, not blind rage. At least we know she’s safe and Jared will not go all this trouble just to have her killed,".