Chapter 137

Caleb once more sits on his throne in front of the Alpha Council, staring down at them in judgement and distrust. His earlier meeting with Harper had only helped him somewhat, but now that they were separated, Caleb’s dark thoughts were returning with a vengeance, somehow even worse than before.

When he left his chambers, Annabelle was waiting for him. She smiled and seemed kind enough, though remained quite insistent that she join him to his afternoon council. Especially since Harper wasn’t going to be joining him.

Now, she sits off to the side of the stage, too close to be proper for a woman unrelated to the King, but not close enough to be his betrothed.

This started rumors among the council. Caleb could see them forming, questions raising. Curious eyes would look between Annabelle and Caleb and back again.

Caleb couldn’t care less about their curiosity. Let them look and wonder. Let them suspect all they want.

Their loyalty is the only thing that truly interests Caleb.

He does not trust the Alpha Council. What reason does he have to do so?

All of these vultures are thirsting for power. They remain at his side only because George was too weak to woo them away. If anyone stronger than Caleb tried to come along, Caleb would surely lose their faith.

Though Caleb would be the one to have the final laugh. There was no werewolf alive who could match his strength and speed. Any they could put forward to try, would quickly die at Caleb’s hand.

Caleb spends most of the meeting carefully inspecting each attendant with his eyes, trying to discern from appearance alone who might be the most likely to betray him.

Caleb knows his paranoia is getting the better of him. In a perfect world, Annabelle, as his chosen mate would be able to calm the raging wolf inside of him.

But she does not. Alternatively, her very presence seems to annoy the hell out of him.

The Council proceeds on as before, with each Alpha bickering, until Annabelle stands up and clearing her throat, draws the attention of the room.

Caleb, as with all the other Alphas, turn their eyes to her.

“We have so much that divides us,” Annabelle says. “With the recent unpleasantness, it’s easy for us to be at each other’s throats, or to distrust each other. I think the problem might be that we just don’t have enough good news to share between us.”

The Alpha Council all looks at each other. Caleb continues his search of their faces. Annabelle’s conversation has already bored him. Though he notices, at the side of the room, Tristan seems interested in what she has to stay. Even trusting Tristan’s judgement as he does, he can’t bring himself to care about any of it.

Not even when she continues. “I have some great news to share! And I hope my King will forgive me for sharing without his prior permission, but I’m sure you’ve all heard the rumors anyway!”

Caleb rubs his forehead, a headache coming on.

“King Caleb has recently proposed to me, and I have accepted!” Annabelle says, bright and bubbly.

The room full of Alphas politely clap – except Caleb, who continues to rub at his forehead.

“I’m sorry,” Annabelle says, glancing back at him on his throne. “But everyone was so down. I thought some good news might lift everyone’s spirits.”

Caleb knows he should have an opinion about this. Whether its annoyance at her announcing the engagement without communicating with him, or whether its satisfaction that everyone in the room seems pleased with the paring, indicating it as he suspected, a good match.

But the reality is, Caleb just doesn’t care one way or the other. He’s utterly and completely indifferent – to Annabelle and to his engagement with her.

What do any of these frivolous things matter when everyone is plotting against Caleb and his hold on the throne?

“Are you mad?” Annabelle asks.

“No,” Caleb tells her, but does not elaborate.

His response seems to satisfy her regardless, even if his sour expression does not match her joy.

I follow Bethany down the winding hallways of the wing of the palace that contain offices and studies. When I mentioned my desire to learn more about Caleb’s family and history, she claimed she knew just the place to take me to uncover more truths.

Without knowing exactly where I’m going, I feel uneasy, but I trust Bethany, and she seems to think that where she’s taking me would make for a nice surprise. I’m also slightly suspicious that she thinks we might be thrown out of this wing and is trying to protect me with plausible deniability.

My trust in her keeps me going, and fortunately for us both, we do not encounter anyone else on our trek to Bethany’s surprise location.

Once we reach there, she glances back and grins at me. “Ready for this?”

As I have no idea what to expect, I just shrug.

She pushes open the door. Immediately, my breath catches in my throat. Through the open door is the largest library I’ve ever seen, with lines and lines of stacks of books. Every wall of the large room is filled with books. A few tables are aligned in the middle of the library. A pair of computers are nearby, with their desks turned against the side of the staircases.

“This is amazing,” I say, wonder in my voice.

“Welcome to the palace library,” Bethany says. “I thought you might like it.”

I do. I really do.

“I know the books are tempting,” Bethany continues. “But if you want to research recent history, where you need to look is here…”

I follow along behind her into the room. She crosses across the room, walks around the tables, and gestures to one of the desks holding a computer.

“What’s this?” I ask. “Don’t tell me I finally get reconnected to the internet.”

“No,” Bethany says with a hint of regret. “But what you will find here is a copy of every single newspaper in the history of the entire Kingdom. All scanned and stored on these computers. All you have to do is type in a date, and bam!”

She touches the mouse, bringing the computer to life. The screen immediately shows a search bar, complete with a drop down menu for a date to be filled in.

“I have to get back,” Bethany says. “But with the Alpha Council going on, no many people should bother you in here. You should have all the free time and space to do what you need to.”

“Thank you, Bethany.”

I haven’t given her specific details of what I’m searching for, but as a servant, she often knows things anyway. As Caleb attacking another alpha for uttering his brother’s name is a rumor in the palace, Bethany can likely put the pieces together.

For her to bring me here, even knowing that…

It feels good to have her support.

After she leaves me, I turn toward the computer. First, I need a date.

I try to calculate how long ago all of this occurred. It had been before my disgrace, but after Caleb came of age.

That doesn’t totally narrow it down, but it gives me a place to start looking.

Now, I just need to find the truth.