It hadn’t been long since Samara had just seen Walden, why could he be possibly sending for her again? She wondered. Something must have popped up in between those few minutes. What could it be?
She stepped into the court. “You sent for me, sire?”
Walden nodded, “yes, please take a seat.”
“Is there any problem?”
“Yes, there is.”
Her heart leaped. What could it be? “What is it, sire?”
Walden’s eyes scrutinized her as he spoke, “on the night of your kidnap, you were with someone…”
She nodded her head, “yes, I was with my assistant, Raymond.”
“Samara, I’m still not very clear on what happened the night you were kidnapped. I’m still searching for answers, especially the one which explains the reason why you and him were out so late at night, long outside of patrol hours.”
“Raymond was innocent sire, everything he told you was the truth… I went with him to survey the terrain one more time before…” her eyes began to well up, “… before those horrible men took me away.”
“I’m sorry about your experience, Samara. I know that my questioning might bring back some unpleasant memories for you, but I’ll have to carry on with it, and you will answer with nothing but the truth.”
This was strange. Her tears had always moved Walden. Never had her sympathetic acts failed her before him, why was he behaving different now?
Walden proceeded, “I’ve been busy lately, because of all that’s going on, so I haven’t had time to speak with Raymond, but I didn’t forget the fact that I still had some answers I wanted to get from him. So, I let him heal for the time being. Today I decide to go and see him, and the strangest thing happened, he died right in this packhouse, and I didn’t even know about it till the time I needed him.”
“Yes…. Raymond’s death hurt me so much, I didn’t even think to inform you about it. I’m so sorry for that.”
“That’s not why I called you here Samara. It is strange that his death pained you so much, and yet, you didn’t act like you lost anyone. Life has been going on same as it was for you, you just replaced him with someone else, even without informing me.”
“I’m sorry about that too…”
Walden’s voice was stern and for the first time ever, his words shook her as he cut her off. “That’s not why I called you here Samara.” He continued, “I wanted to see him today, I wanted to interrogate him, because I figured that by now, he would be in good shape to answer all of my questions, and then what do I find out? He’s dead, and the healer, who has been in charge of his care since, has no clue how it happened. The only one who knew about the possibility of a trauma was you, Samara, because you were the last person to visit him. You were the one who witnessed his death, and you were the one who ordered for his body to be cremated without even an autopsy. Why did you do that, Samara?”
Her hands began to fidget, but she hid them well under the table, what to do? What to say?
“I’m… I’m sorry… I… I only thought that there was no need for an autopsy. I swear that I’m not hiding anything.”
He rose a brow, “I never mentioned you were.”
Shit. She couldn’t speak, couldn’t say any more words, she didn’t like the way she looked so dumbfounded.
“You may go now,” he said, much to her short-lived relief. As she left, she heard his words behind her back as she walked out of the court, words that made her shiver.
“Anyone other than you would have been headed straight for the torture room now, but it’s because of you Samara. It’s because I trust that you wouldn’t do anything to the detriment of this pack, that’s why I’m letting you go this time. But keep this in mind, I’ll be watching you closely from now on.”
**********
“Killian? Killian! You fool!!!!”
The guard entered her room, a confused look on his face. “Mistress? Is something the matter?”
“Why didn’t you get rid of the healer? Didn’t I tell you that no witnesses should be left alive????”
“I killed three guards that knew about his discharge. I wanted to kill the healer as well, but that would have gotten to the alpha. I didn’t want…”
“Are you stupid??? Why didn’t you tell me if that’s what you were scared of? Now look at how much trouble your carelessness has put us into!!! That fool of a physician exposed me to Walden!”
“I’m sorry, mistress.” He bowed his head in apology, but his face was met with a big slap from Samara.
“Now we can’t cover up our tracks. We can’t kill the healer anymore because Walden is watching me closely now. Thanks to you, he now has his eye out for me!!!”
Killian didn’t mean for any of this to happen. He didn’t want to utter any more words, for fear of attracting more slaps.
“Get out!” Samara yelled, eyeing him disgustingly.
He turned to take his leave, hearing the words she whispered behind his back. “I promise you; I promise you that if I go down, I won’t go down alone. I’ll be taking you along with me.”
**********
Miranda stared down on the deathbed, watching her father sleep. She’s been here for hours, and still, she doesn’t want to leave. She doesn’t want to leave this place knowing it’s the last time she’ll ever see him again. Her heart is crushed, her mind blank, she feels hurt, empty and sad.
She suddenly felt a hand touch her shoulder, turning to see Damian, those eyes. Those comforting eyes. He took her hand, helping her get up to face him.
“It’s time, Miranda.” She spotted four able men behind him holding a coffin, waiting to take her father away. This pain, so unbearable, she buried her face into Damian’s chest, because she didn’t want to watch, only the sound of footsteps followed by lifting weight were heard, and the time she was able to look again, her father was gone.