80

“They killed my friend, Cedric,” Leanna hisses. “A man who did not deserve to die. His wife is a homemaker. They have two boys in school. Their entire lives are about to fall apart. The man she loved is gone. Her sons have lost their father. She will now be living on a small widower’s pension. She has to raise two boys by herself. How is she supposed to do that? How is she supposed to work multiple jobs to pay off the mortgage on their house and cover her children’s expenses? How is she going to help them grieve their father? All of this is because I knew her husband had the means to get us closer to these individuals, and I asked him for a favor.”

There is a sheen of tears in her eyes.

I have watched many of my men fall, their families shattered as a result. A part of me has grown numb to it all. You can’t feel every death, every loss. It has the ability to drive one insane.

I can see my mate unravelling, and I take her in my arms, offering comfort. “Leanna, I can’t help with this grief. It is your own to bear. But it is misplaced. Nothing that happened was your fault. You couldn’t have anticipated any of this. However, I can help with one thing. Monetary help for your friend’s family. If you wish, I can set them up for life. They will never want for anything.”

Leanna pulls away and stares at me. “You would do that?”

I nod. “You are forgetting your status. You are the queen of the Northern Kingdom, Leanna. We have an abundant amount of wealth. You can do what you will with it. If it can help assuage some of this misplaced guilt of yours, I want you to help them.”

She lets out a shaky breath. “It won’t get rid of the guilt, but it will make me feel better. Thank you, Cedric.”

She gets on her tiptoes and presses a kiss to my lips.

It’s a chaste kiss but one that is more precious than anything. My ears feel hot, and I stare at her. I want to take her in my arms and continue. All the desires I’ve been trying to keep suppressed inside me want out. I have missed the taste of her lips, of her skin, the sounds she makes when under me. It’s been difficult to restrain myself, but I’ve had to.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” Leanna asks. Her cheeks are flushed, but she looks happy. Just because I offered to use my wealth to help her friend’s family?

I can give her even more than that if she wants to support them. As long as she smiles at me like this, I will empty the kingdom’s treasury for her.

I have to tear my gaze away from my mate because this is not the time. “We have to go talk to Erik. And we should move Finn right away. I would prefer to hide him in the North, but I have yet to deal with the elders and our enemies over there. Erik’s palace is the only option we have at the moment.”

Leanna agrees and then glances at me, giving me a strained smile. “If Finn stays at the palace, I’ll have to be away from him. I don’t recall a time I wasn’t with him for even one night.”

I sense her uneasiness. “He will be fine. He’ll be in good hands. And we can see him every day if you need to. But for now, we have to secure his safety.”

She nods with a heavy sigh. “You’re right. Of course you’re right.”

 

  

Leanna has no choice but to tell Erik the truth about George. Needless to say, he’s not pleased, but he cannot deny that the deputy commissioner was a useful ally. He also promises to grant further financial aid to his widow and sons.

“We’ll pay off the mortgage on their house and transfer title to the widow’s name. I’ll also make sure she is set up with a generous monthly stipend.” Erik leans back in his chair, frowning. “But down to the matter at hand. If these people are following you, that means they want you for some reason.”

“Maybe it was a coincidence.” Cassian pipes up. We had to involve him in this meeting because he’s the face of the task force. When I glare at him, he shrinks in his seat. “Or maybe I’m wrong.”

“The ability to mask their scent.” Erik looks perturbed. “This is not a good thing.”

I exchange a look with my mate before speaking. “The assassination of the former king and queen of the North might share a link with the current kidnappings. I know you’re against the autopsy, Erik, but we need to verify how long these people have been attacking our kind. I haven’t had a chance to go over the contents of the flash drive yet, but George mentioned that there have been a lot of cases. There is clearly something in their bodies, something that can lead us to the culprit. Why else would those corpses have disappeared from the morgue?”

Erik’s jaw tightens. “I already told you—”

“And I’m telling you that I trust Maya. She’s the only one who has the skill set necessary. Be reasonable, Erik. These people have the ability to mask their scent. They must’ve created some formula that works on them. Nobody is safe. And it’s obvious that they did not want those bodies cut up and examined. We need to conduct an autopsy on Harold.”

Cassian hesitates. “I have to agree with the king. If even one human discovers we have such a unique anatomy, there’s nothing to stop them from trying to capture our kind and study our bodies. We could be diving into a very dangerous rabbit hole here.”

“I disagree,” Healer Jerry interjects. “I’m quite interested in Maya’s skills. And she already has an idea of how our bodies function, considering she’s been looking after young Finn for so many years. I would like to learn from her as well as take her under my wing and teach her. But I understand that she has a very sick mother whom she cannot abandon, so asking her to cut ties with the human world might not work.”

“But, Uncle!” Cassian protests. “The dangers of allowing a human to work on our bodies, to learn our secrets—”

“Cassian is right.” Erik shakes his head. “The threat is too great.”

With that, the meeting ends, and Leanna and I wander outside to find our son. He is playing happily, so we sit in the gazebo and watch him for a while.

Finn is more than excited about staying in the palace with Harriet. He has bonded with my attendant, and seeing her eyes light up when he calls her “grandma” makes me wonder if Rothan is going to be pressured into giving her some grandchildren soon.

“He’s going to be fine,” I assure Leanna as she watches our son running circles around Harriet in his wolf form. “Harriet will take care of him. She has a lot of experience. She used to be the only one aside from my parents who could tire me out.”

“What if he misses me?” My mate looks anxious.

“There’s a very low probability of that happening,” I muse. Given how animated Finn is, he’s forgotten about his mother by now.

“Alright.” Leanna gives me a wan smile. “Point taken. Let’s go home.”

“A word, you two?”

Erik’s voice has me looking over my shoulder. The king is standing at the door we came out of earlier, and he motions to us.

“Now what?” I mutter.