Griffin’s POV
There was already a car waiting to take me for my daily duties packed outside the palace gate, but I didn’t want that. I got in my car and zoomed out of the palace, leaving behind a trail of smoke.
My drive to Caleb’s place was short, I was surprised to see his gate opened and his front door ajar. My senses were immediately tinged, and I brought out my gun after parking.
There was smoke everywhere when I got in, I could taste burnt bacon in the pungent smell.
“Caleb?” I called out.
“Ashley?” I called out, thinking that maybe they were upstairs doing relationship stuff. There was no reply, so I turned off the gas and headed upstairs, gun drawn out.
“Caleb? Ashley?” I called out again. I pushed open their bedroom door and checked inside, seeing that the smoke wasn’t so thick here. I could see that there was no one inside. When I turned to go downstairs, my eyes caught a figure on the floor.
“Shit! Caleb!” I rushed to the guest room and saw Caleb lying in a pool of blood. He had been shot in the chest, and it looked like he had bled for quite a while.
I checked his pulse and felt nothing. I knew it was too late. This is why he didn’t show up at the palace this morning. I brought out my phone and punched the number of my brother, Rolan.
“Brother, something has happened. Caleb is dead. I’m kneeling over his body right now.” I informed him over the phone.
“Alright, I’ll be on my way.” He said and ended the call. I put my phone back in my pocket and picked up the gun to check everywhere in the house for Ashley.
“Ashley!” I called out and checked all the rooms. Even though Caleb had told me last night that Ashley was still around, I was surprised not to see any traces of her.
Not even her clothes that were usually hung in the wardrobe were there. Something had happened, and I needed to figure out a clue fast. I checked every corner of the house, opening the fridge multiple times and even the oven to see if she wasn’t murdered and stuffed in there.
By the time I rounded the house for the third time, Rolan was driving into the garage. I met him at the front door.
“What happened?” He asked me as soon as he got to me.
“I do not have a clear picture yet of what could have transpired. Ashley is missing even though Caleb said she wasn’t going to leave until tomorrow. I can’t find a trace of her things in the house. Caleb is on the floor of the guest room, dead. He suffered a gunshot wound to the chest, and the shooter aimed for the kill. The bullet went right through one of his lungs.” I said, and we started to walk upstairs so we could discuss.
“Shit! Caleb’s one of our strongest men. How could he have been taken down so easily?” Rolan asked, I had also thought about that too, which led to the thoughts I have now to begin to creep in.
“It must have been someone whom he never expected that from,” I said, hoping that Rolan would catch the drift.
“Are you suggesting that Ashley could have been the murderer?” He asked me, his hands placed on his nape.
“It’s a possibility. We can’t rule anything out yet. Everyone must be tried.” I said.
“Who is everyone? What if the same person responsible for the palace event did this? Remember that Ashley and Caleb were our prime suspects, now Caleb is dead while we can’t find Ashley anywhere.” Rolan said and bent to examine Caleb’s body.
He took a deep breath and his face immediately contorted.
“I need to talk to Wilson. How soon can you get him over here for me?” He asked while I stood there dumbfounded beyond words.
“Wilson? How’s he in all of this?” I asked.
“Mrs. Edna’s scent is in this room. She must have broken out of jail for revenge. Luna is all alone in the palace with just her parents and the kids. I am here, you are here and Caleb is here too, just dead. She is definitely going to hurt Pandora. It’s all a plan.” He said, and we both rushed out of the house racing for our respective cars.
“Oh shit!” I exclaimed.
On the ride back to the palace, I called the wolves and told them to secure Caleb’s house before I got back there. We had a little protocol for security officials who got murdered, but now, we needed to get some things in place.
We needed to protect Luna and our heirs. That was priority number one and for now, it was the only priority. We rushed to the palace to see Marilyn holding Pandora’s mom by the chest while she put a knife to her neck.
“I’ve wanted to be you so badly since I’ve been here. Why couldn’t you have just died and never come back?” Marilyn screamed.
Bold of her to think she would ever be compared to Pandora. Everyone who saw Pandora knew that she was meant to be Luna. She was a Queen and the entire pack loved her as she looked out for everyone, either from the upper class of wolves or the normal villagers.
“Let my mom go!” Pandora yelled, her eyes were bloodred, and she had her claws out, ready to shred Marilyn to pieces.
“What if I don’t? What can you bloody do?” Marilyn yelled back.
I caught Rolan’s eye and a nod from him to go ahead and do what I know how to do best. Shooting.
Positioning myself in an inconspicuous corner where Marilyn couldn’t see me, I aimed my gun at her and shot. The bullet caught her in the arm, and she dropped the knife, clutching onto her arm, screaming.
Everyone had gathered, and I could see gratitude in Rolan’s eyes.
We hurried upstairs where he ran to his wife while I pinned Marilyn down and had her taken to the dungeon.