Chapter 146

Bethany and I shift our direction and head toward the guard barracks. While I hide behind a nearby pillar, not wanting to be scene, Bethany disappears inside. A few minutes later, she steps back outside with a familiar guard in tow. She brings him to my location.

“Harper, I can’t believe it,” Ted says, smiling wide. I hadn’t seen him since the end of our warrior training, though he was something of a fast friend then.

He is still recognizable, though his appearance has changed somewhat since then. He’s filled out some, with thick muscle and bulk. He’s sheered his hair, leaving it very short. Those aren’t surprising changes, given the life of a soldier and guard.

However, there’s something different in his face too. Not that his features have changed, but his expressions seem tighter than before. His smile had been lazy sunshine in the past. Now, he looked uncomfortable peeling his lips back in a grin.

“I thought the King didn’t want me talking to you,” Ted said.

He doesn’t, which will be another wrinkle I will have to work out with Caleb in the future. The ends justify the means though, in my opinion. As Ted is the only guard I can think of who might even be willing to accompany us on my plan, I don’t have much choice but to be here, asking him.

“We aren’t going to tell Caleb about this,” I said. “Not yet, anyway.”

Ted’s brows both went sky-high. “We aren’t?”

“Ted, I need your help,” I said, diving right in – enough preamble. My courage was quickly waning. I had to push this forward or I’d probably lose my nerve. The thought of gaining Caleb’s ire isn’t a comforting one, even for me, someone he generally likes.

“Of course,” Ted said, shifting gears. “Whatever you need.”

“It’s sure to be dangerous,” I said. “Particularly for you, if Caleb finds out.”

Ted continues to grin even as he eyes me with suspicion. “Another secret from the King. You aren’t up to any trouble, are you, Harper?”

“It’s entirely innocent, I assure you,” I said. “I just need to go and meet a family.”

Even though I like Ted and trust him somewhat, with how fiercely the secret of Summer and Evan seems around here, it doesn’t feel right to blab it to everyone, even to someone I need to help me.

I didn’t trust Ted that much.

“A family? Your family?” Ted asks.

“No,” I say, but refuse to elaborate.

Ted looks at me for a long moment as if studying me. “What do you need from me?”

“An escort,” I said.

“Harper might as well have a target on her back,” Bethany chimes in. “We’ll disguise her as a servant, but even so, we need extra protection. The King will be furious when he finds out she left. But imagine how enraged he’ll be if something happens to Harper.”

“Nothing will happen to me,” I say. I hope.

“So you want me to go against my King, to escort his consort to see a family, but you won’t tell me who they are or their significance to you?” Ted asks, skepticism in his voice.

When he puts it like that, I can see why it might be too much for him. We became fast friends but we aren’t good friends. He’d be unlikely to take a leap of faith for me.

“I’ll do it,” he says, surprising me.

“What?” I ask, disbelieving my ears.

“I’ll do it,” he says, then shrugs when I continue to gawk at him. “You seem like you are going to go anyway. I’m not going to let you run off and be kidnapped or worse.”

“You’d be risking the King’s ire,” Bethany says, one final warning.

Ted scoffs with a harshness he didn’t show before. “All of us risk that everyday anyway. Why would this be any different?”

At the end of the day, Caleb goes to search for Harper, to find solace and comfort in her arms after a long day of holding himself together.

Without resorting to torture or shouting, he tried to speak with each Alpha Council member one by one to determine if they knew the whereabouts or name of the mysterious rebellion leader.

No one owned up to it, though Caleb suspected many know more than they would say.

Yet, without confirmation, he would not act. His paranoid streak has already caused him too many problems. He sees the distrust in the eyes of the council. He hears their whispering behind his back.

“Perhaps we should back another wolf as King…”

Impossible. Caleb might be weak of mind lately, but he remains the strongest Alpha in all of the kingdom. The only way the Council could hope to put a new Alpha forward, would be to have that werewolf challenge Caleb to combat.

Caleb’s fighting abilities and wolf-strength are too strong. He would never be toppled – at least, not by any wolf yet alive.

A King could retire, and directly pass their crown off to another. But Caleb would not be doing that, and no one had any hope of convincing him otherwise.

He has earned this crown, and he is going to die in it.

Without succession and without an honorable battle, the only way for Caleb to lose his crown would be for his untimely death. The mate-sickness might eventually kill him, but it is a slow process. He doesn’t have any other health concerns, as his wolf is so strong.

That leaves murder.

Would the council be so bold as to try?

George did. He threw an entire bear army at Caleb, and Caleb survived.

Granted, that survival was thanks to Harper and Tristan.

Though Caleb would not be so easily caught unawares this time. He is on guard constantly, even in situations that might not have previously called for it – like walking into Harper’s room.

Harper and her handmaiden have their heads bowed together as Caleb entered, and are whispering to each other. At the sight of Caleb, they jump apart.

As the handmaiden hurries away, Caleb approaches Harper who stands still, waiting for him.

She seems nervous, her hands clutching her sides. Her gaze can’t quite meet Caleb’s. It’s as if she’s staring at a spot over his left shoulder rather than look into his eyes.

“What is it?” Caleb asks. He trusts Harper, and knows she would fill him in on things he needs to know.

“Nothing,” Harper replies, a clear and blatant lie.

Perhaps she is not so trustworthy after all.

Reaching up, Caleb plucks Harpers chin between his thumb and forefinger. Bringing her closer, he forces her to look deep into his eyes, and says, “You are lying. Why?”

“I’m not.”

A growl emits from the back of Caleb’s throat.

With Tristan gone from the palace on his scouting mission, Harper is the only person in the entire capital that Caleb can trust.

Does she not understand how crucial that trust is for his psyche?

Why would she choose to continue to lie to him, knowing he needed her to be his rock in the storm of his mind?

“Harper…” Caleb says in warning.

“It’s not important,” she says. “I promise.”

It’s another lie.