The Woman Who Died

​POV: Caedric Vaelor

​The moment I managed to break away from Isolde’s grip in the library, I had sprinted down the palace hallways like a madman, but by the time I reached the edge, Vaelith was completely gone, and my phone started ringing off the hook with emergency alerts about a murdered witness before I could even start a proper search party. 

I spent the entire night fighting with the royal council and pulling every string I had just to get into that police station, but now I was standing on the edge of the Black Hollow Ravine, staring down at the damaged armored van while fire trucks and police cars parked all around the crash site.

​"Your Highness, you shouldn't be down here, the slope is unstable and the fire hasn't fully cleared yet," my personal Beta, Jaxon, said, reaching out to grab my shoulder as I tried to slide down the bank toward the wreckage.

​"Get your hands off me, Jaxon, my wife is in that vehicle and I am not going to just stand up here while the recovery teams take their sweet time," I growled, my heart pounding against my ribs as I looked at the smoke rising from the bottom of the rocky ravine.

​"The medical team just pulled three bodies out of the back cabin, sir," Commander Eric reported, walking up the hill with his uniform covered in soot and his face looking completely grim, "and the explosion was caused by a massive C4 device planted right under the fuel tank, so nobody inside could have survived that blast."

​"Where is she? Show me the bodies right now," I demanded, pushing past Eric and marching straight toward the medical tents that the emergency workers had set up near the main road, but Jaxon quickly stepped in front of the tent entrance to block my path.

​"Caedric, don't do this to yourself, the fire was intense and the team is already verifying the dental records and the royal crest ring she was wearing," Jaxon said softly, his eyes filled with genuine pity that made me want to punch a hole straight through the nearest police car.

​"She isn't dead, Jaxon, she couldn't be dead, I was supposed to fix this today, I was supposed to prove that she didn't kill that witness," I yelled, my voice breaking as I shoved him aside and stared at the covered gurney inside the tent, where a charred hand was visible, still wearing the gold wedding band I had placed on Vaelith’s finger three years ago.

​By sunset, the official royal news station had already broadcasted the announcement of her death to the entire kingdom, branding the whole incident as a tragic end to a criminal traitor, but I sat at the table in my private study and refused to touch a single document because I knew the entire timeline was far too perfect to be an accident.

​"The case is closed, Caedric, the traitor is gone and the council has decided to seal the records permanently," King Alistair said, walking into my office with Queen Evelyne right behind him, both of them looking entirely too relaxed for people who had just lost a family member.

​"The case isn't closed because Vaelith didn't kill anyone, and you know damn well that someone blew up that transport van to keep her from talking in court," I said, slamming my palms down onto the table and glaring at my parents, "and I am going to find whoever ordered that hit, even if it takes me the rest of my life."

​"You are the future Alpha King, and you need to stop obsessing over a low-ranking girl who brought nothing but shame to this family," Queen Evelyne sighed, crossing her arms as she stepped closer to the table, "Isolde has been waiting patiently for you to realize your responsibilities, and her family is ready to sign the marriage alliance whenever you are ready to move on."

​"I will never marry Isolde, and if you bring her name up to me again, I will personally strip her family of their council seats," I warned them, my voice dropping to a dangerous whisper that finally made my mother step back in surprise before both of them walked out of the room.

​For the next seven years, my life became a repetitive nightmare of dead ends and missing pieces, because every single time I found a lead regarding the witness's murder or the convoy explosion, the source would suddenly vanish, the security cameras would get wiped, or the person I was supposed to interview would turn up dead from a sudden accident. 

The guilt of being too late that night ate at me every single day, and I stopped attending royal galas, refused every single matchmaking dinner my parents arranged, and threw myself entirely into expanding the Vaelor Dominion business just to keep my mind from spinning out of control.

​"We have a massive problem with the security network, sir," Jaxon said, bursting into my office seven years later and dropping a file right onto my desk, "the largest supernatural security firm in the country just finalized a hostile takeover, and the new owner just bought out all our independent contracts."

​"Who bought them out? That company was valued at billions, and nobody on the board had that kind of capital," I said, opening the file and scanning the financial documents while my chest suddenly tightened for no apparent reason.

​"An international tech mogul just arrived at the city airport this morning to take personal control of the headquarters," Jaxon explained, pointing to the registration name at the top of the acquisition contract, "her name is Vaela Voss."