Page 133 of The Alpha's Cursed Queen

I get up, and she grabs my hand. “Where are you going?”

I meet her gaze. “I have to talk to Willow.”

“Not without me.”

The anger in her eyes has me smiling. “Jealous, Alice?” When she doesn’t say anything, I realize that I might have hit a nerve. “Alice?”

Her eyes are burning now, and she scowls. “I don’t have a reason to be jealous. I’m your mate. But I don’t want you or Mira anywhere near that woman. She said she would kill our daughter, Darian. She said horrifying things. I want her dead. As vicious as it may sound, I don’t feel safe with her still around.”

I can see that Alice would not be willing to discuss every little detail of the conversation she must have had with Willow, but I’m sure Katherine will be more than happy to repeat it.

“I’ll just be interrogating her, Alice. Don’t worry. She won’t escape, and she won’t go anywhere. But if you don’t feel safe having her under the same roof as Mira, I can transport Willow to the Black Arrows’ quarters.”

Alice looks away from me, her hands clenched into balls, her knuckles white. “I would appreciate that.”

I see spots of blood on her shoulder, and a fresh wave of anger for Willow sweeps through me. “Your wound is bleeding again. I’ll send Mary back in.”

I leave the room, trying to think past this burning fury. Mira is next door, with Mary sitting by her side. When I enter, my daughter is lying under the covers, sleeping peacefully. Mary gets to her feet. “Is everything—”

“Tell me the truth. How bad are Alice’s injuries?”

“Bad.” Mary runs her fingers through her hair, her expression tense. “It’s a miracle she’s alive, Your Majesty. The blood losswas too much. She’s healing quite nicely, but if I had some help from the white witches that I work with, it would happen faster.” When I narrow my eyes at her, she says quickly, “I’m not saying we should call them. I’m just reminding you that my healing powers are limited.”

I study her, my hands in my pockets. “I plan to eradicate the white witches, Mary. They are no longer working in the interest of the Wolf Kingdom.”

“All of them?” Mary asks hesitantly. “The white witch healers I’ve worked with are not the same as the leaders of the coven. Some of them simply want to heal.”

“You’re suggesting—”

She shakes her head. “I’m not making any suggestions, Sire. But just because a plague has been cast upon an orchard, it doesn’t mean every tree has been tainted. There may be some that can be salvaged.”

“Perhaps,” I murmur, considering her words. The deaths of the white witches are not going to go unnoticed. I may not wipe out all of them, but a majority will have to go. I still have to figure out the link between Thomas and the witches, though. How did they discover Alice’s location after all these years? “I’ll think about it. Go to Alice. She needs you.”

I wait till Mary is gone to sit down beside Mira. Stroking her hair, I look at her peaceful features. Her breathing is normal, and when I pull down the covers slightly, she mumbles something in her sleep and yanks them back up. I let out a sigh of relief. She’s okay.

There’s a soft knock on the window, and I lift my head. One of the Black Arrows is perched on the ledge outside, and I gesture with my head, motioning for him to come inside.

He opens the window and enters. “Thomas had a car waiting for him. We suspect he went to a private airfield nearby. It’s human-owned, so we don’t have access to any of their flight records. We’ve put people in place to watch the local airfields in and around Los Angeles. His house and properties are all being watched. If there’s any sign of him, we will be there.”

“Freeze his bank accounts and his credit cards. In fact, get a rumor started that Willow Elvin attacked a human and revealed her wolf form to humans. Then, make a packet of all the information we have gathered about Thomas’s siphoning of royal funds with his daughter’s help and have it sent to our local news. I want to cut off every way out for them. A trial will be held, but it will be a closed court.” A cruel smirk forms on my lips. “Word it like this: ‘The king of the Wolf Kingdom is trying to preserve whatever dignity his ex-wife and father-in-law have left, so he will be initiating a closed trial.’”

The man in the black garb nods his head and departs just as quietly as he arrived. Alone in the room with the sleeping Mira, I think over my next steps. I cannot let Thomas reach his contacts; I know he’s been getting support over the years. And the fact that the white witches seemed to be under the impression that they could change the leadership of the Wolf Kingdom has me baffled. For them to make such a claim and then attempt to kill me goes to show that there has been something brewing behind my back.

I’ve had my suspicions that something was going on, but treason was never on the list. I didn’t think Thomas would be sofoolish as to try this, but he probably became desperate after his daughter’s very public divorce. Trying to overthrow me, though? That was either a very ambitious decision or one fueled by sheer desperation to hold on to some level of power.

My insides burn with anger. But Thomas won’t run away. Not as long as I have his daughter.

I click my tongue, and the door immediately opens. One of the Black Arrows enters.

“Watch over her.”

The man nods, positioning himself beside the door.

After leaving the room, the first person I look for is Katherine. She’s standing in the kitchen, preparing a cup of coffee. None of the maids are anywhere to be seen.

“You could’ve asked somebody to make your coffee.” I stick my hands in my pockets and lean against the door jamb.

“I needed to do something with myself.” She frowns. “Holly is convinced that you’re going to kill us. I told her I’m certain Alice will kill you if you kill us. I can’t take much more of her hysteria. I had to get away from there.”

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