Chapter 77
Cruz Sterling was a man who felt like he was standing on top of the world. Finally.
After everything he was forced to endure—all the demeaning and constant complaining from others, he was now the one in charge. He was the one giving the demands and making the orders.
Now that he had his brother’s long-reining title as Alpha of Blue Moon, he was in complete control. And loving every second of it.
He knew he’d never forget the baffled look on his brother’s face when the official seal of the Royal Family came delivered to the house, issuing his immediate removal as current alpha. The guy was furious beyond belief, Cruz did everything in his power to suppress his jovial, smug expression.
With his brother out of the way, there was truly only one last potential issue to deal with...That goddamn investigation his little dark Luna started weeks ago.
Cruz was determined to put an end to it. No matter what.
Sending that envelope with nothing but news clippings and old articles of her father’s failed attempts and downfall was, obviously, not meant as a helping aid. But rather, a distinctive warning.
He was not afraid of going after anyone who posed a threat to Blue Moon. Now that the pack belonged to him, he was prepared to fight dirty—even if it meant emotionally destroying the thing he desired.
He needed this tactic to work in his favor since the list was still out of his hands. Without that safety net, he needed to appear as though he still possessed the upper hand.
‘After hearing that audio of her father, there’s no way Eleanor could possibly want to continue working on the case,’ Cruz believed. ‘If she were smart enough—maybe even scared enough to stop things would go back to how they used to be.’
Cruz allowed himself to sit back and relish the thought in peace until this glorious afternoon was harshly interrupted by a sudden bombarding sound from outside his office. The door swung open and barreling in was the Royal Prince, himself.
His features were massively contorted in fear and troubling anxiety while his flaring glare never left Cruz.
“Your Majesty, to what do I owe this ‘unexpected’ pleasure of your ‘unscheduled’ visit?” he slithered.
“Cut the shit, Sterling!” the prince fumed. “How could you remain so calm when the truth is on the brink of spilling out?!”
This made the alpha roll his eyes in disinterest. He found the prince’s behavior to be well over-dramatic as it reminded him greatly of how his brother used to act when things would go astray.
“Well it’s not my fault you get your kicks by branding your girls,” he muttered.
The veins on the side of the prince’s head became protruded as his anger rose. “You need to fix this!” he shouted.
Something dark started to pull within Cruz. He snapped his gaze over to the prince and slowly rose from behind his desk. His voice grew low in his throat. His tone was filled with lethal venom.
“I don’t need to do anything. My days of taking orders from others are over. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m the only reason why you’re still in the running to become the next alpha king.”
The prince took a frightened step back while wearing an expression of total affront.
“I could have you removed from your title quicker than you could imagine,” he countered back weakly.
The alpha snorted in disdain. “You dare to threaten me? Tell me, Your Majesty, how do you think the public would react to knowing that their future king gets his rocks off by branding and raping young girls?”
This caused the prince to fall utterly silent. It seemed that his past, present, and future were all flashing through his mind. He knew, deep down, there was no way he would ever take the title of Alpha King if this were to ever hit the media.
For the first time, possibly in his life, the prince was filled with a great shame that could never be forgiven or erased. It would take several, maybe even a hundred, lifetimes to work on the crimes he’s committed for the sick sake of pleasure.
“What you need to do is lay low for the time being,” Cruz told him. “I’m fairly certain that this whole investigation business will die down in a few days.”
The prince’s look of uncertainty returned. “How can you be so sure?”
“I have my ways.” He rounded his desk and reached out to rest his hand on the prince’s shoulder. “Now, go back to your pretty, little palace and don’t think of coming back here for the time being.”
Cruz escorted the prince to the door and came to lean in close to speak to him. “And if you ever think to threaten me again, I will make sure that you will never hold any position of power in the future. Understand?”
The prince stayed quiet and left without another word. A few moments later, Cruz was met with one of his guards.
“What is it?” he asked harshly.
“Alpha, it appears that Sinclair has sent two of his own to the prison where Carter Braxton was kept during the trials,” the guard informed.
Cruz’s entire body went stiff as stone. A dozen different questions began flying through his head.
‘Why on earth would that bastard send men to that hellscape? For what purpose?’ he asked himself.
Sterling came to the fast conclusion that the answers were irrelevant for the time being. What truly mattered was that his confidence in the investigation being brought to a peaceful end was wrong.
Even with the audio disk, it was clear that the case was still open and it was still very, very much continuing.
He clenched his jaw in seething anger and curled his hands into cracking fists at his sides. His anger rose to an unspeakable level that he contemplated breaking whatever he could get his hands on.
He offered them a chance to end things on a peaceful note. He’s promised to stop the killings...Perhaps what Lorenzo and Eleanor needed was a reminder of who they were dealing with.
