Page 6 of Moon Cursed

He gazed back at me. “You told Castor about your vision and he tried to stop it. He told that bastard what he knew, and he turned against his own son.”

I didn’t need clarification to knowthat bastardwas Cygnus. But I shook my head. “No,” I said, surprising him. “Castor was smarter than that. He always saw your father for the beast he was. There were never any rose-colored glasses on him.

“What Castor tried to do was find the shadow.”

“Of course.” Badr bobbed his head, blowing out a breath. “The person pulling the strings. The person trying to kick off a fucking war. Of course Castor knew not to waste time going after anyone but the mastermind.

“And they found out.”

I nodded, eyes leaking. “Whoever it is has to be close to the council, so he used his access as a councilman’s son to poke around. His first move was to make friends with a wind wolf. Their eavesdropping abilities are unmatched. Even Edric said wind wolves rely on sign language to ensure their private lives stay private.

“Castor made friends with Edric’s sister, which is no doubt how they hooked up. His sister agreed to slip him info on who was coming and going out of Sunella’s mansion. While she did, Castor worked on getting the money to buy her out of her contract,” I said. “I didn’t know that last part until Edric blackmailed me, but it all makes sense now. He told me he had a friend in Sunella’s camp. Edric’s sister must be that friend.”

“Is she a friend?” he asked, rising up. “You just said Castor got found out.”

“Not because of Idalia. Think about it. If Idalia admitted to spying for Castor, they would’ve gotten rid of her too. Just to be safe.”

“Then who was it!”

“That’s what Castor worked to piece together,” I shot back just as loud. My head was killing me. The pain seemed to radiate through my body, weakening my limbs. “Once he realized he’d been poisoned with wolfsbane.”

“Wolfsbane?! Who? How!”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you. That’s what all of this has been about,” I cried. “Castor sent letters to two people that he thought he could trust. Two people with the power to help. One was Rici Bruno, the former leader of Wolf Republica.”

“Rici?” he repeated. “I knew him. Three years ago, Cygnus sent Castor to Italy to network with the European packs. He and Rici became good friends, but Rici died over... a year and... a half ago,” Badr finished, dread coloring his tone. “Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.”

“Rici was murdered too.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yes. Castor warned Rici, telling him everything. That dark days were coming—that war was coming—and it was all being orchestrated by an enemy that he was trying to find. Rici was set to take over Wolf Republica, a pack with over thirty thousand wolves. He said that if Wolf Nation ever turned and started enacting these barbaric laws, Wolf Republica had to be ready to step in and stop us. Even if it meant taking out the alpha council.”

“The shadow found out about that letter,” Badr said. “That’s how they knew that Castor knew everything. But how?”

Hatred boiled in my gut. “Because ofher,” I hissed. “The second person to receive Castor’s letter. Headmistress Dagem.”

“Dagem? Makena Dagem?”

“Who else!” My tears were flowing hot and heavy. “Castor thought she was trustworthy. He believed she was an honorable woman. Why wouldn’t he? He watched her stand up to the council so many times. Watched her push back on their unfairness. He heard about the times she marched into Sunella’s office and argued her down.

“Did you know the council banned omegas from joining the academy? The metal wolf councilman, Jabari, argued that it didn’t make sense to pay so much to cover their education when omegas only had futures as janitors and housekeepers. They even passed the fucking law! It is actual law right now that omegas are not entitled to entrance into the academy, but Dagem told them to go fuck themselves. She said that as long as she was headmistress, every wolf of every kind was welcome in her school.

“Of course he believed she was the good person she was pretending to be!”

Badr stared at me in horror. “But when she got the letter, she turned it over.”

“Worse. That bitch read the letter and dollar signs flashed in her eyes. She blackmailed them for millions, promising to keep quiet as long as the money kept flowing,” I spat. “And for the low, low price of her rotted soul, she also promised to get rid of their little problem.”

“Castor.”

I nodded.

“She poisoned him?”

I barked a laugh. “This, Badr, is the part where you get all caught up. Because no, Dagem didn’t do the poisoning. How could she? She didn’t have access to wolfsbane. That stuff is crazy illegal. Any wolf found growing it is put to death.

“But lucky for her, she had a shady-as-shit contact working under her—Warren Hall.”

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