“No! He is a council member,” Larkin answers quickly.

“Is that the only reason you believe that? Because he is a council member?” Azalea asks.

“Well, yes. He would be breaking the law we promised to protect.”

“Is there a chance you could be wrong?” she asks, changing the question slightly.

“Well, yeah, a chance. But he wouldn’t. I don’t have to like him, but he is a good council member,” Larkin says.

“He knows nothing,” I breathe out, annoyed. Whatever is going on with Crux and the hunters. Larkin isn’t a part of it. That much is clear. That doesn’t rule out Crux, though.

“So I can see my son?” Larkin asks.

“I’m leaving that decision to my Beta,” I tell him. Tandi is his mate, although I don’t think he is a threat to her or her son. Larkin nods and sighs, folding his arms across his chest and staring up at the ceiling.

“This is ridiculous,” he mutters to himself.

“The council keeps track of the missing rogue children, right?” Azalea asks, and Larkin nods, turning his attention to her again.

“We have those files here,” I tell Azalea.

“And there were no patterns in any of the deaths?” she continues. Larkin shrugs.

“None we could find. Only that it was mostly females, but the ages ranged, and sometimes entire families,” Larkin says.

Azalea, I can tell, is thinking hard about something, something that is really bothering her, and I know she is eager to speak to Cedric about whatever it was she dreamed.

“Can you get a diary or something of Crux’s track records?”

“Of course, we have to log everything, even the kilometers on the cars. They have GPS built into them. They track our every move,” Larkin says.

“Wait, so Crux knows you’re here?” I ask him.

“If he looked into it, well, yes, he could track me here. My brother set it up. He didn’t trust the newer council members Crux was recruiting. They handle the smaller packs, about five or six of them.”

“Can you get Crux’s records?”

“If you have a computer. I can log in and do it now, but it will only go back since technology advanced, not back to yourparent’s deaths, my Queen. Tech wasn’t that advanced back then,” he says.

“I don’t need it to go back that far. I want to cross-reference it with the missing rogue children.”

“What about my parent’s records? Did the Council keep tabs on them?”

“No, we couldn’t get close to the Kingdom, only Crux. Your father had a soft spot for him. He felt bad that his father wanted nothing to do with him,” Larkin says with a shrug.

“Did Crux know of my existence?” Azalea asks Larkin.

“No one did, not even Crux,” Cedric answers.

“You never left the castle or stepped out of the castle walls. Only a select few knew of you until after their deaths,” Cedric adds.

“So there is no chance Crux knew of my existence?” Azalea asks. My brows furrow at her question.

“Not unless someone inside told him,” Cedric answers. “Why?”

“It’s probably nothing,” she says, though I can tell it really bothers her.

“Speak,” I whisper, nudging her.