The Alpha King's Nemesis-Chapter 237: Alive or Dead ()

"Alpha." Allen greets, stepping into Askel’s study.

Zariah glanced up at Allen, a small smile graced her lips.

"Have you reconciled the files already? I had thought you would be stuck in your office for at least the rest of the day. Was I too generous with the work load?" Zariah said to Allen.

"No, I am yet to be finished with it. I only came out to respond to Askel’s summons." Allen replied to Zariah.

Zariah furrowed her brows at Allen’s words.

"Summons? Askel did not send for you, Allen. We have been together all morning, he is not even here..." Zariah replied uncertainly.

Allen frowned slightly at that, tilting his head to the side.

"An attendant in the palace came over and relayed to me that the Alpha King wished to see me urgently, on matters related to you. Knowing we do not share the benefit of a mind link, I hurried over without delay..." Allen trailed off, his eyes narrowed slightly.

"What is it Allen?" Zariah asked, recognizing the look of realization in Allen’s eyes.

"The shard!" Allen hissed.

Zariah’s gaze narrowed immediately and she got up to her feet.

"Where did you lose it? When last did you have it on you?" Zariah enquired.

"Nile was meant to retrieve it for a study. I left in my office..." Allen’s report was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in." Zariah permitted.

Zariah lifted a displeased look to the door as it came open to reveal a face Zariah had not anticipated she would be seeing so often.

"Askel is not here." Zariah made clear to the she-wolf, Vivienne.

"Show me." Zariah returned her attention to Allen and Allen led the way out of the office.

They were just about to leave but Zariah paused when she noticed Vivienne still stood by the door, fidgeting nervously but she did not move out of the way to let Allen through.

"Do you know whose path you are blocking at this moment? Get out of my way, girl." Allen instructed in a dark tone.

"I am not here to see His Grace...I came to see you both." Vivienne revealed nervously.

Zariah’s brows furrowed at that, she did not think there was anything the she-wolf would have to say that would interest her, much less to Allen whom she had no business with.

At the same time, Zariah was not adverse to hearing her out, it was only that this was not a good time.

"We have somewhere to be. Whatever it is, it will have to be another time." Zariah said dismissively.

"It cannot wait!" Vivienne insisted in a rush.

Zariah frowned slightly, she exchanged a look with Allen, shaking her head slightly to dissuade him as she could sense his agitation.

"Look..." Zariah began to say, her patience already waning.

"Did you... perhaps lose something?" Vivienne interrupted Zariah mid sentence.

Zariah’s brows furrowed slightly, she glanced over at Allen before a dark look settled in her eyes.

"Don’t tell me..." Allen began to say, but Vivienne quickly shook her head.

"No...no no, it wasn’t me! I swear it! But I know who did it... I came here, to report something you might find concerning. But I was not certain if it was something for His Grace to hear also...it relates to, Alpha Caedmon." Vivienne quickly explained.

"Caedmon? He has returned?" Zariah asked with a frown.

Vivienne nodded her head fervently in response to Zariah’s question.

Zariah’s hands clenched into fists by her side. Caedmon had returned and kept his presence from her knowledge and that of the rest of the Royal Lycans, and Zariah knew this could only mean one thing.

Caedmon was plotting something and knowing he had heard of Zariah’s bond with Askel by now, it was something terrible.

’He was never one who could properly handle a loss. He is too petty for that... what could he be up to? We knew he would return with a vengeance, but this is sooner than we expected.’ Torin thought to Zariah.

"And you mean to imply the item I am missing is related to him?" Allen asked

"I encountered him a few days ago. He made me an offer. I was weak and vulnerable at the time... hurt, I didn’t think it through, please forgive me..." Vivienne trailed off, her voice cracking.

Zariah’s eyes narrowed slightly, she took a step forward. Her wolf rose to the surface.

"Explain everything you know... and the part you have played in it too." Zariah ordered firmly.

Vivienne quickly narrated her encounter with Caedmon, explaining the offer he made to her and how she accepted it.

"A potion to sever a mate bond? Such a thing exists?" Allen asked doubtfully.

"It would..." Zariah muttered, her mind reeled with thoughts as she tried to figure out Caedmon’s thought process.

Zariah knew better than most, she was the only one who knew Caedmon’s bond was falsified by a potion. If that was already possible, it would not be difficult to create another potion that performed the opposite function.

Vivienne pulled out a note, and handed it to Allen.

"It was delivered yesterday but I only received it now. I promise, I did nothing he said! I only realised he must have believed I had fed the potion to Askel when I heard my father was heading to the human settlement... the exact place he wanted me to lure His Grace to."

"I hurried over to meet Beta Allen but I noticed an attendant leaving his office sneakily. She is the Queen’s attendant, I have no authority so I could not stop her... I could only hurry over here to report all that happened!" Vivienne explained.

"Luring Askel out and stealing the shard would mean they know of his connection to the shard and want to exploit it...Askel has no idea of it either..." Allen murmured to Zariah.

"Please! I know I am not your favourite person right now, but I genuinely care for Askel! We grew up together and I do not know why I was blind to it earlier...but Caedmon must intend to harm Askel! You have to do something!" Vivienne pleaded urgently.

"And how do we know this is not just another part of you and Caedmon’s plot, to endanger Zariah?" Allen asked suspiciously.

Vivienne lowered her head, she hesitated for a moment before she pulled out a vial, stretching it out.

"Did you not say there was a potion to sever the mate bond? It is empty." Allen pointed out.

Zariah understood it faster, especially when Vivienne’s brows scrunched up in pain.

"You took the potion..." Zariah muttered in understanding.

Vivienne glanced over at Zariah, a weak smile on her lips.

"When I came to find Askel for help, you said some words to me and I did not understand them at the time, so I found them humiliating..."

"You said you did not think I was such a fragile woman... what you meant, I understand it now. I am a woman strong enough to be rid of my mate if that is my wish... I do not need Askel’s help, or anyone’s... that was your meaning." Vivienne said to Zariah in a quiet tone.

Zariah’s brows furrowed slightly; "Go to the high oracle, the severing of your bond has only just begun...it will not be an easy ordeal."

And then Zariah returned her attention to Allen.

"You will go with me to the human settlement to find Askel...as for Caedmon, set Nile on his track... I want him caught, alive or dead!" Zariah snarled.