AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What did you do?” He lowered his eyes, despite the fact that I still held him at my level. “Don’t you look away from me,” I spat. “You’ll look me directly in the eye and confess exactly what you’ve done.”
“I lit some of the fires,” he moaned.
“Why? Why did you do that?”
“To create chaos in the kingdom. She said that I would be more readily welcomed back if it showed you couldn’t control your territory.”
Who was the female he kept referring to?
“Did you commit the murder, too?” I growled, and he shook his head.
“NO! No, I swear! That must have been the witch.”
I glanced back at the guards, who appeared just as perplexed as me. “You went after my mate.”
“NO, Alpha, I only set some of the fires. She asked me to keep doing it, but I got scared. There were Royal Guards everywhere, and I told her I didn’t want to do it anymore…” He sniffled. “Then she threatened my family, too.”
“Who?!” I finally asked, warming up to the idea that this asshole had not worked alone.
Some of his hysterical tale made sense while more of it just roused questions. I wasn’t sure I actually believed anything that was coming out of his gibbering mouth.
“The witch!” he cried. “The one who hired me!”
“A witch just wandered up to you on the street one day and said, hey, I have a job for you, buddy,” I scoffed sarcastically. “And you jumped at the chance to assault the Alpha King of Steelshire?”
I could see every vein in his petrified face.
“No! She knew everything about me! She knew I was a shapeshifter, the only one in my bloodline. She told me she could help my family get out of the inner city.”
He started to cry again, and I dropped him on the ground, stopping his sobbing again.
“Alpha.” I turned to look at my head guard. “His name is Jamery. He’s from North Havenmire. Four sisters, three brothers, mother deceased, father infirm.”
A part of his story held up. It sounded as if Jamery’s family was struggling. North Havenmire was rough, even in the nicer parts. And with a lot that size and a sickly father and no mother…
I felt my resolve to kill him weakening for half a second.
He still tried to kill Maren and my baby.
“You tried to kill my mate,” I said again, and he shook his head vigorously.
“I swear on my father’s life, Alpha, I never went near Miss Maren. I…” He pursed his lips and looked at the ground. “I set the fire in her building, that’s true, but that’s all I did.”
My eyes narrowed. “Do you have access to ebonleaf?”
He balked and shook his head. “No, Alpha. I don’t even know any warlocks. But the witch—she spent a lot of time at the caravan with the nomads. She might have.”
“What witch?!” I exploded, having heard enough. “Who is she?”
“I don’t know her name, Alpha!” he whimpered. “I’m sorry! She wouldn’t tell me. She said it was better if I didn’t know.”
“I DON’T BELIEVE YOU!” I roared, my wolf howl emanating to shake the shrubs and scare the sleeping animals within them.Birds tweeted, and the scuttling of small feet scurried away from us as the guards advanced closer, waiting for my signal to end him once and for all.
“She’s real! She’s real! She appeared and disappeared in a cloud of smoke!”
I turned to stone at his words, the understanding striking me physically.
“What color was the smoke?” I rasped, my heart stopping entirely.
