Chapter 133

Aiden’s POV

“Just wait in the waiting room until I know for sure what’s going on,” I told Carol who looked at me with large and worried eyes.

I motioned for the Gamma warriors who accompanied us to the hospital. They already knew their main task was to keep my mate safe, even if she didn’t know it yet. I wasn’t going to let anything happen to her.

“Please keep me updated on everything,” she said, wrapping her arms around her body and peeking up at me through her lashes.

My face softened, as did my heart. I closed the gap between us and pressed my lips against hers, taking in her scent and warmth. The softness of her lips nearly made my legs weak. She breathed me in, leaning against me like she was melting from my touch.

I pulled back slightly and peered down at her, my arms still on hers and keeping her upright.

“I’ll be back soon,” I assured her.

She nodded and said nothing more as I turned and followed the doctor into the emergency room. We walked for a few minutes, in silence, until we reached one of the doors in the hallway. On the door read my father’s first and last name.

This was it; I was going to see my father after he’d spent almost a month in a coma. I took a deep breath and pushed the doorway open. My mother was sitting by his bed, holding his hands. His eyes were open, and she was saying something to him that I wasn’t listening to. My main focus was on the fact that my father was truly awake.

My mother froze and then slowly turned; her eyes wide when she saw me standing at the doorway.

“Aiden,” she said, standing to her feet. “You came.”

“I told you on the phone that I was coming,” I reminded her.

Tears were clear in her eyes, and she gave me a small smile along with a shrug.

“I didn’t think you were serious,” she admitted. “Did you have a nice trip?”

Oliver mustn’t have told her about the plane crash. I was relieved by that; she didn’t need to know that information. It would only cause her more stress and she was stressed out enough.

“Yeah, it was fine,” I told her, stepping toward the bed and peeking down at my father who was watching me with a curious gaze.

“How is he?” I asked, not sure if my father could respond himself or not.

My mother looked at my father and they met eyes for a brief moment before she looked back at me.

“He’s still trying to come to terms with the fact that he was poisoned,” she admitted, biting her lower lip. “We need to find out who did this to him.”

I nodded.

“Do you think we can talk in the hallway for a minute?” I asked my mother who looked at me warily at my request.

As she looked into my eyes, something transpired within her. She knew whatever it was I wanted to talk about was important. It would also stress my father out and he didn’t need more stress considering he just woke from a coma.

“Sure,” she finally said after a short pause. She took my arm in hers and gave me a soft smile. “We will be back,” she told my father over her shoulder.

He offered a grunt but said nothing as I led her into the hallway and away from my father’s wandering ear.

“What’s this all about, Aiden?” She asked me after we were far enough away from my father.

“I found out some things while I was in the empire and I think you should know about them,” I told her.

I decided to tell my mother everything because she deserved to know the truth. If she thinks we should tell my father, then I wasn’t going to argue. But I didn’t want to risk stressing him out and putting his health at risk.

“You should sit down,” I continued, motioning for the nearby chair.

She glanced at it and then back at me, uncertainty clear in her eyes. Then, she nodded and took her seat. I could see the worry on her face, and it was even more evident once she started visiting with her hands. My mother wasn’t the type to fidget or worry in general.

“Before I tell you anything, you should know that the IF is on the case and looking into it as we speak,” I told her calmly.

Her eyes grew large.

“You called the investigative force on whatever you discovered?” She asked.

I nodded.

“Yes,” I answered out loud. “Because I know who poisoned father and they are gathering evidence.”

She sucked in a sharp breath, her eyes narrowed as she looked at me.

“Tell me who it was, Aiden,” she finally said after a long pause.

“It was Mike,” I said, meeting her eyes.

Her eyes grew large, and she shook her head like it was too much for her to believe. I couldn’t blame her; Mike had been part of the Cruz family for as long as I could remember. He was one of my father’s best friends. The thought of him betraying him like that in any way was too much to believe.

“It can’t be,” she said with finality, tears clear in her eyes as she broke her eye contact with me and stared at her hands. “It just can’t be…” her voice was softer now and sounded more defeated.

I reached over and grabbed her hand, squeezing it tightly.

“I know it’s hard to understand. But he’s been working against father for a long time,” I told her, my eyes never wavering. “There’s a lot more we found out while we were in the empire. But the bottom line is, Mike isn’t who he says he is.”

“He’s been a family friend since before you were born, Aiden,” my mother said sharply. “There’s no way he would poison your father…”

“The IF is looking into it now,” I told her.

She pulled her hands away.

“If your father found out—”

“That’s why I didn’t want to talk about this in there,” I told her. “I thought you should know first. I wanted you to decide if we should tell him or not.”

“Tell him what? That we suspect one of his best friends tried to kill him?” She scoffed. “Do you hear yourself? It sounds ridiculous even when I say it. Did your girlfriend put you up to this??”

I was taken aback by her mention of Carol. The way she said “Girlfriend” was like a bad taste on her tongue and I winced at her tone. A wave of fury rose in me and I pressed my lips together.

“My mate has nothing to do with this,” I said firmly. “This is about father and his safety.”

She shook her head, and I could see the rage on her face.

“No, that human girl just wants to cause problems. Is she that bored that she has to plant evidence against an innocent man??”

My mouth nearly dropped at her words.

“Why can’t we have one conversation where you don’t say nasty things about my mate? This has nothing to do with her. I found this evidence on my own,” I told her, unable to contain my anger.

“What evidence? I haven’t seen any evidence,” she said through her teeth. “If you were truly serious about this accusation, you would have brought me real evidence. I can’t blindly assume that Mike had anything to do with this. What would his motive be? He’s always expressed he doesn’t want to be an Alpha and his wolf isn’t nearly as strong enough. Even if he did succeed in killing your father, he still wouldn’t be the Alpha, you would be.”

“And what if he tried to kill me as well?” I snapped, standing abruptly to my feet. “What if that’s his plan??”

“Well, he hasn’t made any moves against you if that’s the case,” my mother said, folding her arms across her chest.

“Then I guess you hadn’t heard about my plane crash,” I said through my teeth.

Her face fell when she looked up at me.

“What are you talking about, Aiden? Now is not the time for jokes.”

I scowled at her.

“I’m not joking. I was in a plane crash,” I told her firmly, no trace of humor on my face. “We think the pilot was poisoned.”

“You were in a plane crash?!” She gasped, looking around my body like she expected to see injuries; she quickly stood to her feet.

“A few days ago. We were stranded for a while but Oliver and the new Medic pilot, Calvin, found us. You can ask them if you still don’t believe me,” I told her, feeling annoyed.

Tears spilled out of her eyes as she covered her mouth with her hands.

“You’re serious,” she whispered. “You were in a plane crash… how do you know he was poisoned?”

“Because there was no other explanation. Cal thinks it was poison,” I told her. “They are looking into that as well. But it’s not looking good.”

“I don’t understand,’ she said, shaking her head. “Mike has been in the Capital the entire time. He couldn’t have poisoned the pilot.”

“No, but the man he’s been working for did,” I said through my teeth. “The reason Mike is here and working against father this entire time.”

“You aren’t making any sense Aiden…”

“It’s the King’s Beta,” I blurted.

She narrowed her eyes at me, her lips pressed in a thin line.

“Why would the King’s Beta want to hurt you? Or your father?” She asked, her voice hardening.

“Because he wants Oliver to be the next Alpha,” I said with finality.

Her face grew pale, and her eyes were filled with something I didn’t recognize. I stared at her for a brief moment, trying to figure out the look she was giving me, and then it clicked.

“You knew,” I whispered. She closed her eyes and let stray tears fall from her eyes. “You knew that the King’s Beta was Oliver’s father??”