Free Web NovelChapter 31: A Warning.
The assassin hadn’t escaped through the main entrance. The moment he realized someone was approaching, he had sliced through the back of the tent and fled into the night.
"He strangled her from this angle," Kane said, standing rigid beside the empty bed. Just the thought of his wife’s distress made his blood boil with a dangerous fury. "Then, when he suspected I was coming, he bolted toward the back and tore open the fabric with a knife. It was the fastest way out."
"And it allowed him to slip away without anyone noticing," Cassius added, stepping closer to inspect the jagged tear in the heavy material.
The vertical slash was clean and judging by the angle and reach, the perpetrator wasn’t particularly tall—likely someone of average height.
"Have you sent your men to track the footprints?" Kane demanded. "Where do they lead?"
"Yes, Your Highness," Cassius replied, bowing his head respectfully. "They should return soon and hopefully, they will bring good news."
Kane fell silent, his sharp eyes scanning the rest of the ruined room. Arianna’s travel trunks remained completely intact; none of her luxury items or valuables had been touched. However, the bedsheets were completely disheveled and the table and chairs had been violently overturned.
It was glaringly obvious that the intruder had come to kill, not to steal. But what could possibly be the motive? His wife had barely been in the tribe for forty-eight hours. From what he knew, she hadn’t even interacted with the locals yet, so what could have triggered such lethal hatred?
Just as he was about to turn away from the wreckage, a small flash of texture on the floor caught his attention. There, half-hidden near the torn fabric of the tent, lay a small tuft of tiger fur.
Kane quickly bent down and picked it up. A careful examination of the pelt’s unique trim and quality confirmed a chilling reality: it belonged exclusively to his own household.
His heart skipped a heavy beat as he stared at the fur in his palm, a cold dread settling deep in his chest. Could the assassin truly be from his own family?
Only members of his immediate royal lineage were permitted to wear the sacred tiger and leopard skins.
He desperately didn’t want to believe it, but the evidence was undeniable—someone of his own blood wanted his Queen dead.
"I forgot to tell you, Your Highness," Cassius began, his voice dropping low when he noticed exactly what the King had just found.
"What is it, Cassius?" Kane asked. His brows arched sharply, yet his piercing gaze never shifted from the tuft of tiger fur resting in his palm.
"I caught Ethan inside this very tent not long before you walked in."
Kane’s jaw tightened at the words. He had issued clear, absolute instructions immediately after the attack: no one was allowed inside the crime scene without Cassius’s direct supervision. What on earth could have brought Ethan here?
"What was he doing here?"
"The Prince failed to give me a clear explanation," Cassius replied honestly. "However, I chose to dismiss him temporarily so that I could continue with the investigation undisturbed."
"I can’t believe he would flagrantly disobey me," Kane murmured, a dark, humorless chuckle escaping his lips that caught his right-hand man completely off guard. "What else happened?"
"While I was interrogating him, Aunt Freya walked in. It was glaringly obvious that she hadn’t expected either of us to be in here," Cassius reported. "Neither of them could provide a logical explanation as to what brought them to the Queen’s tent."
"It’s entirely obvious, Cassius."
"What is obvious, Your Highness?"
"Since the two of them were genuinely surprised to see each other, it means one of two things," Kane analyzed, his voice laced with dangerous precision. "One of them is the assassin who returned to ensure the job was done—or the other was simply curious to find out who had beaten them to the punch to carry out the exact same mission."
Cassius gasped, completely stunned by the King’s ruthless deduction. "What? H-how are you able to come to such a conclusion, Your Highness?"
"It’s simple. Ethan loathes the fact that I married Arianna. He hasn’t hidden his resentment, so he would naturally want to get rid of her," Kane explained, smoothly slipping the piece of fur into the pocket of his tunic. "Or it’s Aunt Freya. She detests my wife, particularly because she is human. My marriage to Arianna was an absolute shock to her, so she wants to do away with her entirely."
"Hmm... but she never shows it openly," Cassius mused, rubbing his chin. "In fact, whenever they are together, she puts on quite the display of motherly affection."
"It is a completely different story behind closed doors. When I spoke with Arianna earlier, I was able to see right through the facade."
"So both of them want your wife gone. That is more than enough motive to kill her, especially if they are desperate for a different Luna to lead the tribe."
Kane nodded slowly, his hands resting behind his back as his gaze hardened. "Or there are deeper, more insidious reasons they want my wife dead. And I am going to find out exactly what they are very soon."
*******
Aunt Freya stood by the large stone fireplace where the royal family’s meals were prepared. She hadn’t slept a wink since the chaos of the previous night.
She knew she had to act fast; in order to impress the King and prove she wasn’t harboring resentment toward his human wife, she had spent the early morning hours personally overseeing a lavish breakfast for both of them.
"I can’t believe we are actually doing this," Samantha groaned, rolling her eyes as she stared at the food being dished out. It was almost dawn, and all her mother seemed to care about was currying favor with the princess. "My punishment begins today and you’re acting like everything is normal."
"I know. You should eat, then make your way to the omega’s training grounds," Aunt Freya replied, her gaze fixed intently on the steaming plates the maid was preparing. She had to ensure every detail was perfect; one slip-up could cost her everything.
"I beg of you, Mother, just tell the King I am sorry. Ask him to waive my punishment," Samantha pleaded, her voice thick with desperation.
"Why are you acting like a child? That punishment is the direct result of your own foolishness," Freya said, her voice icy. "Face it. Perhaps once you endure it, you’ll finally learn how to listen to your mother."
Samantha was left absolutely dumbfounded by her mother’s cold dismissal.
Just as she opened her mouth to snap back that her mother was being cruel, a maid rushed into the kitchen, looking breathless. She bowed low and delivered a message: the King was requesting to see Aunt Freya immediately.
"What now, Mother?" Samantha hissed, her eyes wide with sudden fear.
"I do not know," Aunt Freya muttered, shrugging it off. She was confident it was nothing serious; likely, the King simply needed her counsel as he so often did.
Wasting no time, she abandoned her kitchen duties and hurried toward the King’s pavilion, where all official tribal meetings were held.
But the moment she stepped inside, the sheer aura radiating from Kane scared the absolute hell out of her. Her heart skipped a heavy beat.
His jaw was locked tight, his features twisted in an expression of raw, simmering fury. He looked deeply offended, and a cold dread washed over her as she wondered if she was the target of that rage.
"Your Highness, I was in the kitchen supervising breakfast... that is why I took a moment to arrive," she said smoothly, clasping her hands tightly over her stomach to hide any trembling. Kane met her with a suffocating, heavy silence. She desperately prayed his mood wasn’t directed at her. "What is wrong, my child? You do not seem pleased."
"Of course I am not pleased with you, Aunt," Kane told her boldly, his deep voice slicing through the quiet room. He watched her expression completely drop, the color draining from her face as if she had just seen a ghost. "You lied to me... Were you playing games with me? Is that how insignificantly you view me now?"
"N-no, Kane," Aunt Freya stammered, shaking her head quickly, her mind racing as she tried to figure out exactly what he had discovered. "I am so sorry."
"No, Aunt. You aren’t sorry," Kane said, his voice laced with a bitter disappointment that was far more terrifying than outright anger. "Why would you lie to me about my wife? Everything you told me this afternoon about her was a blatant fabrication. What exactly were you trying to achieve? Did you honestly believe I would just kick my Queen out of this tribe without confirming the truth first?"
"i-i..." She couldn’t talk as tears clouded her eyes. If the grounds could open and swallowed her, it would do her a big favour. Aunt Freya never in her life thought he would put the pieces together. It was obvious that he went to his wife and asked questions.
What surprised her the most, was the fact that he believed his wife who got married to two days ago to his aunt who he had known for more than thirty years.
"You shouldn’t have done what you did, Aunt."
"I didnt..." She began but he stopped her with his palm spread in the air.
"Forget Aunt," Kane said, taking a step forward, his gaze burning at her. "From today, you will learn to respect my wife. I do not want your advice when it comes to my marriage. Lastly, you will accept her as the Luna and make sure that the other women do as well."
With pain her eyes, she managed to nod and he walked away without hearing from her. Aunt Freya wiped the tears off her face. When Kane spoke to her earlier, she felt her hesrt ripped out of her chest and it was all because of that woman, Arianna.
Samantha was right along...She underestimated the princess.
