I couldn’t believe it. We were in the safe room for over three hours before anyone came to let us out. I wasn’t the one asking the questions when the door opened. It was Sophia. She was pissed to be left in the room for over three hours and had been left in the dark since she was going to be the next Queen.
“I demand to know what happened. How many were hurt, or killed, is my father and mate alright …” was all she was able to say before Mason appeared to envelope her in a bear hug.
“Oh baby, I’m so glad you were safe in here,” he cooed as he inhaled her scent deeply as he held her.
“Mace baby, what happened? Are you … okay? Is my Dad okay?” asked a very concerned Sophia at this point.
“Sophia, let us go find out. Just love on your mate, okay?” I declared as I stepped around them to find someone else to find answers.
We stepped out of the safe room to find someone who could give us answers as to what had just happened. We found Uncle Vladimir looking a little worse for wear.
“Uncle Vladimir, what happened? Is the King all right?” I asked him before I hugged him.
“Oh Mellie, I’m glad we put all of you in the safe room. Doyle Kessler launched an attack with the pack from Brussels. We were able to fend them off but it was at a cost. King Friedrich was injured but not severely. He is receiving treatment for his wounds as we speak. We lost 15 warrior wolves but the pack from Brussels lost twice as much. It was a bloody battle. We are still cleaning up. We lost many civilians as well who couldn’t reach their shelters in time,” grieved Uncle Vladimir as he released my hug and looked Sophia in the eyes with a few tears trickling down his face.
“How many wolves did you capture from the Brussels pack? What about their Alpha? Where is my father? I need to see him when he is able to receive visitors,” declared Sophia confidently. This is why she will make a great Queen. She was raised to put others before herself and her needs, just like me.
“Princess Sophia, we managed to capture their Alpha. He is in the dungeons along with ten more of their wolves. Your father will be able to have visitors in about twenty minutes according to Dr. Wyatt. Beta Yared is standing by awaiting your orders Princess Sophia,” declared Duke Vladimir.
“Have him start the interrogations of the captured wolves. I want to find out why they decided to attack us and follow Doyle Kessler. Contact the Council and let them know that we need to have an emergency meeting in two hours. Tell them what we know so far and we will update them when we meet,” commanded Princess Sophia.
“As you wish Princess Sophia,” replied Duke Vladimir.
I was so proud of my cousin. She knew exactly what she was doing. Her father trained her well just like my father did me. She’s going to be a great Queen.
Mason took Sophia to get something to eat before he took her to see her father. I needed to use the restroom. When I came out of the restroom, Uncle Vladimir asked me if I wanted to assist with some of the interrogations of the Brussels wolves. I didn’t hesitate, I said ‘Yes’ in a heartbeat to which Uncle Vladimir only chuckled at me.
I wanted to hear from the Brussels Alpha why he would attack our kingdom. Why did he think he would stand a chance against us? What did Doyle Kessler promise him in the end? What was he hoping to gain? Those were some of the questions floating in my brain as we were walking down to the dungeons along with my Dad. He wanted to hear what the Alpha had to say as well.
Then, I had a thought. Did the Alpha allow himself to get caught just so we would be in this position? Was all of this some big trap? We reached the dungeons when his scent reached my senses. Doyle Kessler was in our dungeons. I stopped everyone in our party.
“Doyle Kessler is in our dungeons,” I announced to Uncle Vladimir and Dad as we stopped in the corridor.
“Are you sure Mellie? There are a lot of people down here.” inquired Uncle Vladimir.
“I’d know his scent anywhere especially since he flirted with me at the Brookwood pack when he was helping to build the command center. Now we just have to determine who he is pretending to be,” I declared in a low voice.
“I can’t wait to find out which one he is as well. I want to kill the bastard myself,” declared my Dad in a tight, low voice.
We finished walking the distance to the cells. We walked down to the third cell and then I saw him. He had a smug look on his face when he saw me.
“Dad and Duke Vladimir, may I introduce to you, Doyle Kessler,” I stated in an even, low voice as I pointed him out to them.
“Which one is he Mellie?” Uncle Vladimir asked me quietly.
“She means me Dukey boy. How have you been Melanie? It’s been a while since I’ve seen you. You look well,” chirped Doyle Kessler as growls could be heard from everyone around us.
“It’s Dutchess Melanie to you! How dare you disrespect my niece like that!” bellowed Uncle Vladimir in a deadly, venomous voice.
“Oh yes, I forgot that you are European Royalty. My apologies Your Grace,” Doyle Kessler stated as he mockingly bowed toward me.
“So, you’re the Alpha of the Brussels Pack. Interesting. How ever did you manage that?” I asked him point blank.
“My father was Alpha before me. How else could I have managed it? My older brother didn’t want to be Alpha so I took the position from him, easy peasy. Next question,” taunted Kessler.
I didn’t say anything else. I just shook my head and started to walk away. I wasn’t going to give him what he wanted anymore-my presence. As soon as I started to walk away, he started yelling at me to stop walking away. He soon became hysterical. Uncle Vladimir had him removed from the cell and placed in isolation with silver placed on his ankles.
I was happy knowing we had Doyle Kessler in custody. I went to find out how Uncle Friedrich was doing. I also knew it was time to feed Austin. This had been a tiring day today. I needed my mate and my go-to snack to help me calm down.
“Hi, my love. Let me show you where to go so you can feed Austin. Then, I will show you where King Friedrich is so you can rest assured he is all right. Okay?” cooed Anthony as he handed me Austin to help me relax.
‘Doyle Kessler is the Alpha of the Brussels Pack. We have him in the dungeons. At least we don’t have to worry about him attacking us any longer. We have him in custody,’ I happily explained to Anthony in our link.
We arrived at a private room in the castle arranged by Princess Ophelia for us to use so I could nurse Austin. We went in and got settled. I began to nurse Austin who was hungry.
‘That’s good news, my love. Why aren’t you happy? I thought having him in custody would be happy news for you?’ cooed Anthony.
‘Normally it would be happy news, but this seems too easy. Why did he allow himself to be captured? Something isn’t right. I don’t know what it is. I need time to think,’ I explained to him.
‘I understand my love. Just let me know what I can do to help you. Okay?’ purred Anthony as he nuzzled in my neck.
‘I will my love. I will. You know, I could use some chocolate ice cream to help me think and calm down. Do you think you could ask Ophelia where you could find some for me? Hmm?’ I purred as I kissed him softly on the lips.
I just finished nursing Austin and started to burp him. He is such a wonderful little boy.
‘I think I can handle that. I love you, Mellie,’ Anthony lovingly stated as he got up to go find me some ice cream.
Anthony came back into the room around ten minutes later with Mom and Dad along with my chocolate ice cream and some chocolate cake. They saw that I had put Austin in the stroller since he had gone back to sleep.
“I thought you might need some cake to go with that ice cream. What’s got you upset Mellie?” questioned my mom point blank.
“Doyle Kessler. Why did he allow us to capture him so easily? What’s his end game? He eluded us all over the U. S. only for us to capture him so easily here? Why?” I asked everyone in the room. Now, they understood my reasoning and why I was a bit frustrated.
“Okay, I can see why you’re frustrated. Duke Vladimir is one of many interrogating him right now to find out why he allowed us to capture him. Hopefully, we will have answers soon. What else is bothering you?” Dad inquired with concern dripping from his voice.
“Something doesn’t ‘feel’ right Dad. I can’t put my finger on it. That’s why I’m frustrated right now,” I explained as I started eating my ice cream. “My wolf is antsy right now too. She won’t settle down. I need to let her out for a run later on today, but I have to make sure it’s safe with all the recent activities.”
“I’ll ask if we can take a family run after dinner tonight. I wouldn’t want you to be out there all by yourself. Just relax, maybe relaxing a little bit whatever is eluding you will come to you,” explained Dad.
“I hope so Dad. I hope so,” I stated with a sigh as I continued to eat my ice cream.
I continued to think through everything that had happened and why it had happened. I couldn’t explain why he allowed himself to be captured like that.
I stopped eating my ice cream. I suddenly didn’t want any more of it. I put my spoon down and put the top back on the container. My Dad was the first one to say something about it.
“Mellie, are you okay? What’s wrong? You didn’t finish your ice cream,” Dad asked in an uncertain voice.
“The coronation is in two days. What if Doyle Kessler wanted to stop the coronation by making sure he was captured? Could he be working with the group that is trying to form a kingdom in Eastern Europe? Could they possibly be trying to take over our kingdom as well?” I wondered out loud for everyone to hear my reasoning.