My Omega Queen
Chapter 36: Return of the King

POV: Emily

I am proud that I managed to repel the attack, especially without losing a single pack member. My anger stems from the fact that these rogues attacked not once, but twice now. This cannot be by chance. These are the conflicting emotions which drive me right now to the dungeon, so that I can find out who organized the attacks. I want to know who is responsible for Grace’s death.

When I finally reach the cave, Alexander, Alexei, Nulduk and Rafael all congratulate me on the defense, as well as capturing the foe. After thanking them, Alexander shows me to the cells in which three rogues are being held. It’s really good that they’re held in separate rooms, as they haven’t had the chance to corroborate their stories. These are the perfect condition for my interrogation, so I request Alexander:

“If you could, please wait for me outside. I’d like to deal with them personally and I shall shout if or when I need assistance.”

“Yes, Luna, of course”, he promptly replies, then leaves.

I chose to start with the one captured by Accalia, so I enter the room to see a pale, tall person, trying to ignore his obviously broken arms. It seems his injuries were not treated, which is good for me. I start by introducing myself:

“Hello. My name is Emily, Luna of the Midnight pack and I’m the one responsible for your being here. My white wolf, Accalia, was ready to kill you as swiftly as your friends. You’re lucky I intervened. Now, I notice you’re in quite some pain. We can treat that. Two of your cohorts are also in holding cells. Listen closely to what I am about to ask and consider how you are going to answer. Who sent you here to attack us?”

The man listens intently to my words, as I see him being in both deep thought and pain. He finally manages to speak weakly:

“It was a guy, said he was from Frostcrest. He wanted us to kidnap a girl and kill anyone in our way. He promised us a place in his pack if we brought him what he wanted.”

Frostcrest, that’s where Edward is right now, damned traitors. Now, I must not lose my cool, I need to find out more:

“Who did this guy want you to kidnap? Give me a short description.”

“Short and muscular build, light-brown hair with some white locks, and I think her eye color wa- Oh, I see…”

I wish I could control my rage, my face was getting redder and it showed. He’s describing me.

“Yeah, you do. Thank you for your honesty.” I say through my teeth, exiting the room and slamming the door behind me. I wish I hadn’t lose my temper in there, but I felt powerless. Regardless, I move on to the next rogue, this time with the knowledge of what to expect. Upon entering, the buff guy in chains growls at me:

“I can smell you, what do you want? Let me out of here, now!”

He still has some fight in him, regardless of the environment. Impressive. I try and introduce myself:

“Hello, I’m Emily, the Lu-“

“I don’t care! You want to torture me, go right ahead, I know the drill. You barbarians are all the same.”, he rudely interrupts.

“There will be no torture if you tell me what I need to know. Who sent you?”, I press on.

“If I tell you, are you going to set me free?”, his eyes glimmer, as he lets a slight grin slip.

“That depends on whether you’re telling the truth or lying.”

He gulps, then continues: “Alright. A black werewolf recruited us, one by one, to kidnap a woman…” and he eyes me down, continuing: “…probably you. He said he was from the Silverclaw pack and promised he’d let me join if I were to complete his mission.”

“Silverclaw, huh? Are you sure you did not mishear that? It just so happens that one of your friends here said the recruiter was from Frostcrest. Which one of you is lying?”, I ask angrily.

“I-I-I swear it’s the truth, I’m telling you the truth. The other guy is definitely lying, I’m originally from Frostcrest and I didn’t recognize the smell of the guy recruiting us. Please, believe me!”

Quite a situation I have on my hands… Either the first guy I spoke to was lying, this one is, or, the more likely scenario: this mysterious recruiter lied in order to get rogues from all over to do his bidding. Such a rotten plan, from someone who has a grudge against me, apparently. I leave the room, as the previously rude guy is now pleading for his freedom. “I have a bad feeling about that one. We shouldn’t set him free”, Accalia says.

I simply nod in agreement, then move on to the third room. This rogue is quieter than the last one, but I manage to extract mostly the same information from him as from the other two. I ask him his pack of origin and as luck would have it, this rogue also claims to be from Silverclaw and confirms the mysterious recruiter is not from there. This supports my theory that the figure who seeks revenge against me is indeed lying about his origins and perhaps the whole story is a farce. But why? Who could it be?

I stand in the hallway of the dungeon for a long time, just to think in silence. Finally, I come to the conclusion that the best bet seems to be an attack from the inside. A revolution… maybe one of the elders is too upset about Cole. Clearly, the opinion of some pack members was not swayed by the fact I beat Rachel fair and square. I need to figure out what is going on inside of this pack as it seems to have a deep history and an even deeper hatred for the current leadership. Edward needs to know what I’ve learned when he comes back. As for the three rogues, I’ll wait until he gets here. He might extract some more out of them before their inevitable execution.

With this in mind, I leave the dungeon. I mind-link Amanda to send for some doctors for the rogue whose arms Accalia broke. At least my word is kept, regardless of what is going to happen to them. Taking a deep breath, I stroll to Edward’s office, determined to finish the stack of papers by the time he gets back. Thanks to sleeping in the morning, I manage to stay up later than usual and finish quite a large amount of work. “One more day as Queen, then Edward comes back.” I think, sighing in relief.

The next day is as uneventful as my first day, which gives me enough time to finish the papers, as well as play with the pups, which became my most relaxing past-time. I also have enough spare time to hang out with Amanda. We chat endlessly about our days, about Edward, the future and how things are going to be like moving forward. I cannot stress enough how much of a help she’s been these days, both with easing my work and managing the attack. I anxiously await the next day, as I go to sleep with my thoughts still running wild: I can’t wait for Edward to come back. What will he think of what I did here? Will we finally manage to bring the mastermind to justice?

Waking up, the thoughts flood back, so I need something to keep me occupied while waiting for my mate to come back home. I find myself a nice corner of the library and I sink deep into some pack history books, so that I can acquaint myself better with the culture and details of what happened.

In my reading, I find out more details about his parents, Caesar and Lyra, who were apparently beloved by everyone. They brought in a large amount of alliances and peace. His father was tough, but fair and very charismatic. He amassed quite a following, which makes sense as to why some of the “old guards” still worship him to this day, refusing to accept the new leadership. I understand being bitter about his death, but they seem so enamored with their idea of the perfect leader that they forget about the unfortunate tragedy which lead to his untimely demise. What’s more, it seems Andrew, Lance and Cole have been around for the whole of Caesar’s rule. Seeing as Cole was allied with Antonio, this information makes me reconsider their position as Edward’s elders. I’ll be more careful about them going forward. As I reach the chapter about the war mentioned by Edward, Accalia begins wagging her tail and purring. This can only mean one thing…

Excited, I slam the book shut and begin running, having a stupid grin on my face. I can’t wait to tell him about what he missed. I reach the entrance just in time, as Edward is exiting the car. He notices me running towards him happily and returns the smile. I hug him tightly and he does too, warmly.

“So, Emily? How did you enjoy being Luna? Did you manage to go through everything?”, he asks, chuckling.