Chapter 184
Claire’s POV
I understood what Gideon was doing. Since our investigation into my mother was at something of a standstill, he was hoping to distract me with the banquet planning. I didn’t hate the idea. I was quickly warming up to the thought of the banquet. Gideon had told me that I still had friends in the pack, and I was anxious to see if that was true.
But that didn’t mean that I could just forget about the investigation.
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The search into the pack archives had been something of a loose end. Ivan had seemingly told me all he was going to tell me, so I didn’t think that I’d have any luck there. George hadn’t wanted to talk about it at all, and I guessed reaching out to her would only antagonize Victoria and Susanne, both of whom I was trying to avoid. And Uncle Daniel was gone.
But, just because my mother’s closest family and friends were gone or not talking didn’t mean that everyone who had known her at that time was gone too. This all happened nearly thirty years ago, but people should still remember my
mother.
Especially if they saw her every day. Like her previous servants.
I had a slight dilemma. Calling the palace to ask for a and then to Victoria.
of former servants would undoubtedly lead word back to George
So I called Ivan, hoping he would remember. Ivan was the kind of man who paid attention to things like that. He made certain every person in his pack and especially under his roof was well taken care of. He knew his servants‘ names and about their lives.
With luck, he might remember someone from back then.
“Claire,” he said, his voice relatively neutral but with enough of a hint of question that I knew I’d surprised him by calling.
I didn’t know if he’d approve of my search for answers, but, though Ivan was a friend now, he wasn’t my moral guide anymore. Even if he wanted me to give up my search for answers, I wouldn’t.
“I need to ask you something,” I said. “I want to find out what happened to Lena. The full truth.”
“I see. I’ve already told you my suspicions, but I have no truth. No one ever knew.”
I wasn’t willing to accept that. He’d had almost thirty years to resign himself to his own misery, to accept that he would never fully know.
I’d only briefly known, and I was far from being tired enough to give up this fight for answers.
“I’m going to try,” I said. “I was hoping to speak with some of the servants from back then. Do you remember any? Could you get me in contact?”
“You could just call the palace.”
“I’m trying to avoid…. letting them know…”
Ivan’s silence was palpable. I let it hang, hoping he would understand.
He seemed to. “It was a long time ago. I can only give you a few names that I remember. But I don’t know what became of them.
“That’s enough of a start for me, thank you.”
I wrote down the names Ivan provided, and then thanked him and hung up. After that, I called the registry in the Royal Pack
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and, after identifying myself, asked for the phone numbers for the people on the list. Some had moved out of the pack and fell out of contact. A few had died.
In the end, only one had a number to call. She was an older woman named Delilah.
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When I called the number I had been given, the person at the other end said she didn’t live there anymore, but through a game of phone chain, eventually, I reached an older woman.
When I said, “My name is Claire. I’m looking for Delilah,” she gasped a little, but then immediately steeled herself.
“Claire like the returned princess?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said. “I have a few questions that I was hoping you could answer… about my mother?”
The woman was quiet for a long moment. Then she said, “Yes, I remember many things about Luna Queen Lena. But that doesn’t mean I’m eager to share any of them, especially with a stranger over the phone.”
“Please,” I said. “I just want to know what happened to my mother.”
“Dear, I have no idea if you are who you say you are. I just don’t trust this call –”
“Then come see me in person,” I said. “Alpha Gideon is holding a banquet for me. If I send you an invitation and you could see that I am who I say I am, would you tell me then?”
She was quiet a moment, as if thinking. Then she said, “Yes, I suppose.”
“Then it’s done. Keep an eye on your mail, and please plan a visit to Gideon’s pack.”
Getting off the phone with Delilah, I was cautious but hopeful of the things to come. If I could prove myself to Delilah, then maybe she would be able to give me new pathways for my investigation to take.
But, I supposed, I would have to convince her that I was the princess. I needed to look the part.
Preparing for the event, Nova tugged me into my closet to help me pick out a new dress. She went right away to a light blue gown, that also happened to be somewhat low cut.
“This is the one, Mommy.”
“Why that one?”
“Because… Daddy like this one best. He’s always looking at you in it.”
I blushed a little. “That’s no reason to pick it…” Even so, I pulled the dress out of the closet. Just to look at it! It did make me look nice.
Nova went to my jewelry box next, and returned with some beautiful silver jewelry that had been a gift from Gideon. When I moved in, he felt I didn’t have enough things befitting a princess, so he bought me an entire wardrobe of things, clothes and accessories. Jewelry included. Even though I told him it was unnecessary, I couldn’t deny the pieces were lovely
With Nova, I was starting to see a trend.
“And how should I wear my hair?” I asked her, baiting slightly, to see what she’d say.
“Daddy always looks at you a lot when you wear it up,” she said.
I narrowed my eyes ever so slight, in on her game. “What if I want to do something other than what your father wants?”
She shrugged. “That’s okay.. I guess…”
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I didn’t want to make her said, so I shook my head and accepted her inevitable interference. “Help me pick out some shoes”
Gideon’s POV
I had kept tabs on the apothecary that had sold Darius and Daphne their poisons, so I went to visit him again. Today, I wasn’t looking for leads to Darius and his family, but rather into a glimpse of the past.
This store had been around a long time, even before the current apothecary took over. And I knew they had always kept meticulous records. They had to by law, to keep track of the poison.
Maybe it was a long shot to think I’d find something here. After all, there were a few apothecaries across the kingdom that could have provided the poison that potentially killed Lena. But if it was here. If it was this one. I was going to know about it
“I don’t know, Alpha… Truly…” The apothecary said, when I asked him about the poison from that time.
“You have records, don’t you?”
“Yes, but –”
“Then I will see those.”
The apothecary sputtered. “Records from that long ago are deeply buried. It will take me time to uncover them.”
I signaled some of my guard to stay behind. “My soldiers will assist you in this task,” I said. Though their help finding the records was only part of their job.
The rest was to make sure the apothecary couldn’t tamper with any potential evidence.
If this was a poisoning…
It had to have been done by someone powerful.
AD
Chapter 185
necklace was still nice, and proudly displayed her lineage.
Before I could say a word though, the car went around a corner a bit too harshly. The kids laughed playfully, but the necklace slipped from Claire’s fingers and landed at the floor of the car near my feet.
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I leaned down at once to collect it. Yet. The minute my bare fingers touched the back of the metal, I felt something slimy. My wolf growled in my mind.
Poison.
I blinked.
“You are sure Luna Queen Victoria gave this to you?” I asked her. “There can be no mistake?”
“No mistake,” she said. Her brow pulled together in confusion, a tiny line forming in between.
“Could anyone else have touched it?” I asked.
“I don’t think so… I’m not sure. Why, Gideon? What does it matter?”
Not wanting to frighten the children, I leaned into her, lowered my voice to a whisper, and told her, “This necklace is laced with poison.”
Claire gasped, her eyes wide. But then she blinked, and determination filled them.
“Is that why I got sick on the way home from the palace?” I asked “That illness came so suddenly and then was gone.”
“It’s possible,” I said. For now, I pocketed the necklace away, not wanting anyone else to come into contract with it. Also, I thought hiding it from Claire’s sight might ease some of her worry away, though it did say etched on her face.
“I’ll have it examined,” I promised her. “We’ll track down this poison and find out the culprit.”
He nodded, but I could tell she was skeptical. I could understand. After all, for all my searching and all the evidence we had gathered against Daphne, she had still evaded justice for all of her crimes.
I wished I could tell her that I would solve everything, but I genuinely didn’t know if I could. I knew I would try, but that wasn’t much comfort to her in this moment.
Instead, I placed my hand over hers on her knee. When her eyes met mine, I told her the one thing that I knew for absolute certainty.
“I’m going to keep you safe,” I said. That was that, and that was all there was too it. “No matter what, I will protect you.”
Though she was still furious, some of the fear and concern slowly ebbed out of her eyes, and I was comforted by the knowledge that she at least believed me in this.
Claire’s POV
The necklace had been poisoned, and I didn’t know what to think.
I had gotten it from Victoria. There had been instances after receiving it where someone else could have tampered with it. But not before I got sick that time on the way home. In that instance, the necklace had gone straight from Victoria’s hands to my neck.
Unless someone tampered with it on her side of things.
Victoria hated me,
that much was clear, but I was hesitant to blame her for the poison. After all, she was the Luna Queen. She was held in the highest regard. And who would even believe me if I accused her?
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And what purpose would she have for trying to kill me?
I was a newcomer but I had no designs for the crown, I didn’t want money or power. I didn’t care aux titles.
I had only ever wanted to know who I was and where I had come from.
This had to be some kind of mistake. A Luna Queen would be above this.
Yes. Perhaps someone had tampered with the necklace before Victoria had ever gifted it to me. In which case, she would be a victim here too.
I had to be careful. I already had too many enemies, mostly by accident, I couldn’t add any more, especially those of the royal family.
I knew Victoria hated me, but I had been hoping to win her over. She was still my step–mother, the closest thing I had to a real mother, as mine died so young.
I wanted a family, not more division.
I just wanted to be happy.
Gideon’s promise to protect me helped me feel safe in my own skin again, at least in this moment. But one thing was abundantly clear.
Whether or not Victoria had anything to do with this, someone wanted me dead.
I was going to have to be cautious.
AD
