Just when I was about to leave the Headquarters at 8pm, a soldier rushed into the room, carrying a large light yellow envelope.
“This is for you, ma’am,” he informed me before saluting and leaving my office.
Upon closer inspection, I saw that the envelope had an “URGENT'' stamp on it. It must be very really quite important. I opened it quickly with my nimble fingers, wondering what the letter could possibly be about to warrant that stamp. I pulled it out of the envelope and paused, staring at the headline with dismay.
“Colonel Carl Tucker, commander of the Baracombe Army Base, has died of a heart attack at the age of forty-five,” it said.
Two senior army officials who are under fifty dying, but not in active combat, in the same fortnight. That was suspicious. As the base was in Dennison, the province I was currently in, I was going to prepare a trip to Baracombe to send my condolences and to boost the morale of the troops there.
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However, I saw that the whole base and all its soldiers and staff have been commandeered by Hayden for a secret operation. My eyes widened. An Alpha commandeering an entire base was very rare, yet Hayden had already done it less than a day after he was made Alpha? At first, I thought that Hayden was using the base to find Edwin, but then I realised that he had no need to keep it a secret? Why then, did he have to use a whole base for one operation? It must be quite an important and large operation, so he must’ve been planning it before he claimed the throne. My stomach churned with unease. This can’t be good. I wanted to visit the base even more now, except no one but the Alpha, Luna and the soldiers stationed there were allowed to go there. I looked at the list of Lieutenant Colonels stationed at the base. I raised my eyebrows. Hayden had already chosen a new Colonel. Normally that was my job, but he had the power to do so. I scanned the whole list anyway, then frowned. This was odd. Lieutenant Colonel Laura Beckett was clearly the best choice, but Lieutenant Colonel James of House Mavis, who were historically loyal to House Alden, was chosen by Hayden instead. There was definitely something fishy going on here.
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I sent a letter to Baracombe to summon Colonel Mavis to Headquarters. It would be naive of me to think that he’ll share any intel on the operation with me, but maybe I could get some answers by gauging his reaction. It was certainly worth a try. I decided to contact Edwin. Maybe he would know something about this.
“Hey Edwin, you there?” I asked.
“I’m always here for you, my love,” he replied.
I grinned, blushing like an idiot.
“You’re so cheesy.”
“Only with you.”
“Are you and Isabella alright?”
“Yeah we’re fine. We just crossed into Brimsey two hours ago and we’re staying in a small inn in a very small town for the night,”
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“Good. There’s something I need to ask you, Edwin. Did your brother show any interest in doing some kind of operation or the Baracombe Army Base in Dennison?”
He paused for a while, and I sensed that he was thinking.
“Not that I can remember, no. Why?” he replied.
“The Colonel of the Baracombe base died of a supposed heart attack and an ally of House Alden’s was chosen by Hayden, who commandeered the whole base for some secret operation. I need to find out what it is before he can do any harm.”
“I would love to help, but I have no idea what Hayden might be doing. Sorry.”
“It’s alright. I should tell Lord Richmond about this too.”
“I know General Richmond was like a father to you, but I’m not sure if we can trust his brother.”
“Two senior army officials under fifty died in the same fortnight, but not from active combat. That has barely happened before. I don’t think it’s a coincidence. If it’s not, it concerns the Richmond family, so Nicodemus deserves to know. Don’t worry, Ed. Both Cornelius and Richard, men I trust with my life, have repeatedly told me that Nicodemus is loyal and honourable. They said that he hasn’t betrayed anyone before. I trust him.”
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“Alright. If you think he can help you, then reach out to him. I trust your judgement.”
My heart melted a little bit more. Edwin trusted me with his life, just like I trust him with mine. This decision could potentially threaten my, and by extension his, safety and future, but he trusted me 100%. I just hoped I would not fail him.
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The next morning, after the Court session, I went to Pennington Manor to speak with Nicodemus. Hayden cancelled the visit to Lockwood, but he commanded that more troops be sent to the border to watch out for the scoundrels. I sensed that he would send me to go with them, so I may not have much more time in the capital. If I wanted to turn Nicodemus, I must do it soon.
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I rapped on the door of the manor, my body racked with nerves. The next half an hour could be fatal to Edwin and I if it goes downhill. An Omega answered the door, and he took me to Nicodemus, who was sitting at his desk, pouring over General Richmond’s autopsy. Strange that he took a renewed interest in the former General’s death at the same time as me.
“Greetings, Lord Richmond,” I said.
“General Finley,” he replied.
We bowed to each other, then embraced in a hug.
“There’s something I need to tell you about,” I informed Nicodemus.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I have some suspicions that Cornelius wasn’t killed by Lockwood scoundrels, but judging by the autopsy you were reading, it seems like you share my suspicion. ”
“I don’t just suspect it, I have good reason to believe it.”
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“Oh? How so?”
“My younger son Henry overheard the Luna saying that she, her mate and their supporters were involved in Cornelius’ death. I didn’t believe his story until his guard corroborated it,” he sighed, “they killed Cornelius so he can’t use his reputation and starpower to get the whole army to revolt against those usurpers. I’m sure of it now.”
I froze, taking a moment to absorb the information. My vision grew redder and redder as my head clouded with anger and a thirst for revenge. My wolf clawed her way to the forefront of my brain, but I pushed her back. Now was not a good time to shift. Calming down, I told him what I knew about Cornelius’ death, then took a big breath. I didn’t want to say what I had to say next, but Nicodemus deserved to know if he was going to help me.
“Hayden also killed Alpha Ronald and Luna Penelope,” I informed him gravely.
“I had suspected so, but how do you know that?” he asked.
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“Because I’m mates with Edwin, and he told me,” I replied.
He broke into a grin.
“Ha! I thought so. There was no other reason for you freezing and looking in Edwin’s direction. Is he in this fight with us?” he questioned.
“Yes, he is. Hayden and Annabelle must be stopped soon. For his sake, for Cornelius’ sake, for the old Alpha and Luna’s sake, and for our sake.”
“But how?” Nicodemus asked, “we can’t get all the important Houses to revolt. We can’t get the commoners to do it for us either because they don’t care about who is on the throne as long as they get their bread and water. We can’t expose him, because every witness has been either silenced or exiled. And, no offence, but you don’t have the enough starpower yet to turn the whole army against Hayden. We are quite stuck.”
“We are going to have to kill him,” I decided, my voice deadly and decisive, like a guillotine.
Nicodemus huffed out bitter laughter.
“And how are we going to do that? Hayden might be evil, but he’s not stupid. He knows that there are werewolves out to get him. He stays in his palace and has at least four guards surrounding him 24/7. How are we supposed to get to him?” he asked.
“I believe House Richmond has contact with some assassins?”.
“Yes, we do.”
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