His Princess Mate

10 - Another Victim

დHenryდ

Things had gotten complicated. Even more so than before and no matter how I looked at things, I couldn’t figure out what to do. Lucinda was the leader of the rogues and Rose is her daughter. I had not even considered the possibility that Rose could be a shifter. It was not possible though, and the more I thought about it, the more it confused me and messed with my head. Unless Rose is not her biological daughter. Now that was a possibility but considering the royal line, I doubted it was true. I would have to consult with the oracle about this and that thought alone terrified me. I was scared of anything, but I was scared of the oracle. She was more than just a powerful shifter; her insight and knowledge are what scared me. I hated visiting her, but I was not given any choice. I needed to know how to handle this situation and I needed to know more than I already did. What was Lucinda doing back in her home kingdom? And worst of all, what was she doing? Killing the innocent people of her home kingdom? I shook my head as I stood up. Philip had gone out to get us some breakfast and I was beyond exhausted. I hardly slept and that was because my mind was working overtime on how to handle this extremely delicate situation. If Rose had not been my mate, I would not have hesitated to end Lucinda’s life. Things had definitely gotten complicated. I sighed as I ran my hand over my face.

“What the hell am I going to do?” I asked out loud. Of course, no one answered and that seemed to frustrate me as I swiped my hand across the desk Philip had been using. Papers, pencils, and another random object scattered over the floor, and I growled out. I wasn’t one to indulge in foul language but as I bent down to pick up the items, I cussed under my breath. Once I was done, I headed over to the adjoining bathroom and used the toilet. I had to admit, this kingdom was far more advanced, and I had to keep that in mind as I went over to the bath and tested the water. The water was lukewarm and as I pushed in the plug, it got somewhat hotter. I didn’t want to waste any time or water, so I only let the tub fill up halfway before shutting off the water and getting undressed. It was while I was taking my bath that I heard Philip return.

“Alpha?” he whispered loudly, and I sighed, my time alone was now over.

“In here,” I hissed out in annoyance. Philip pushed open the door and stuck his head in to peek at me.

“Breakfast is here,” he informed me, and I gave him a quick nod and watched as he disappeared, closing the door firmly behind him. I slowly got out of the bath and grabbed one of the white fluffy towels and dried off. I had not brought a change of clothing with me to the bathroom, so I wrapped the towel around my waist and went back into our room. Philip had cleared the small table by the window and set down our plates of food. The smell of eggs and bacon filled my nose and I smiled.

“That smells good,” I said as I headed over to the table.

“It does, come quick before it gets any colder,” he stated before he sat down. I sat down across from him and started to eat. “The city is bustling this morning,” he then said, breaking the silence.

“Oh?”

“Hmm, it seems Lucinda has taken out her frustration on some poor innocent young man,” I glanced up at him and he grimaced before continuing with his meal.

“Surely she isn’t acting alone…” I thought out loud. Philip hummed in agreement, but we continued to eat in silence. Once we were done, Philip got up and hurriedly cleared away our dishes before leaving the room to dispose of them. I went over to the dresser and took out a pair of dark brown pants, a crisp white shirt, and a dark brown jacket that matched the pants. Philip returned after I had finished putting on my shoes.

“Oh good, you are done,” he said, stating the obvious and I rolled my eyes as I stood up. “Detective is downstairs,” he then added. I frowned as I straightened out my jacket.

“I am going to assume it’s because of the latest murder?” I asked as we left the room to head downstairs. I wasn’t expecting an answer and Philip didn’t say anything. I spotted the detective immediately as the man stood awkwardly waiting for us near the entrance. As soon as he spotted us, a look of pure relief crossed his features, and I couldn’t stop the smirk from tainting my lips.

“Detective,” I said in greeting as we stopped in front of him.

“Inspector,” he said in return as he silently sized me up. I found this rather amusing, but I wasn’t here for his entertainment, nor my own. “Would you two please join me back at the police station?” he asked as his eyes darted around the room. “This is not quite the place to discuss such a matter,” he added.

“Of course, lead the way, detective,” I said as I gestured to the door. The detective quickly nodded and hurried out the door. Philip threw me a look I couldn’t quite read, and I shrugged before following behind the detective. The walk to the station was silent and rather uncomfortable, however, I took pleasure in viewing the kingdom’s hustle and bustle as people got on with their daily tasks or duties. Women and children roamed around the stores. Men, in their respective uniforms, went about with their jobs. It was odd, I thought, or were they not aware of the murder that had once again taken place? The station stood quite proudly on its own toward the back of the town and its position within this community. It was a representation of safety, serenity, and strength and yet, I could clearly see the other detectives and policemen scattered around, probably wondering what to do next. It did not surprise me and although the building was well crafted with materials that I assumed were from the proud local suppliers, it now held a hint of destruction and fragility that could not be ignored. The place reeked of insecurities, fear, and horror. The detective led us inside without hesitation and things escalated from the moment we stepped inside. I glanced over at Philip, whose nose was scrunched up in disgust. Once again, the interior design was just as profound as the outside. Polished floors, that gleamed in the morning’s sunlight that came in from the large windows. Men scurrying around as they frantically tried to piece together a puzzle that they had no idea about. It was rather sad as I frowned. The detective paused for a moment before he ushered us toward his office. It wasn’t very large, but it was big enough to hold all the items any detective would deem appropriate to do their job. I ignored the furnishings of the office and headed straight over to the clipboard he had stuck up against the wall. All of the murders had been listed with time, date, and location. It was rather impressive and anything that we needed to know about the victims was available on this board. However, there were no suspects and no leads. Nothing.

“As you can see, we have no idea who is doing this,” the detective said softly, and I nodded as I scanned the victims.

“All young,” I noted.

“Yes, none of them had reached the age of twenty,” he reflected sadly.

“All-female,” I again noted. I heard him cough loudly before he answered.

“Yes, unfortunate,” I immediately turned around to face him. His tone of voice had gone flat, almost emotionless.

“Care to share your thoughts on that, detective?” I growled out. I already knew what he was thinking. What the whole kingdom was probably thinking and yet it made my stomach turn with distaste and disgust.

“Um…” it was clear I had hit a nerve, but I didn’t break my gaze away from him as I patiently waited for him to utter the words. “We have to assume that each victim was…well…” he was struggling to say it and I threw my hands up.

“w****s!” I shouted. The detective immediately went red with embarrassment, but it wasn’t enough as he nodded in agreement. “Pray tell, detective, why are you having to assume that is the case?” I questioned roughly. I spotted Philip closing the office door and I snapped my attention back to the man in front of me.

“The location indicates…well, it indicates that…” once again he was struggling, and I spun back around to look at the board. Indeed, all of the locations were so close to the forest lining that anyone would wonder why those females had been in that area, to begin with. However, I knew better, and I sighed as I turned to face him once again.

“Victim five, a young girl working at the castle goes out to the garden to collect the daily production and she is murdered, does that make her a w***e?” the detective glanced around the room, probably looking for a way out. “Detective?” I pushed.

“No, I suppose…” he hesitated and then finally met my gaze. “No,” he said more firmly, and I nodded as I turned back to the board.

“Victim three, a young girl walking home from a day’s work at…” I paused as I leaned in, making a big show of reading the information that had been complied together. “The sugar factory!” I spat out loudly. “I suppose that makes her a w***e too,” I muttered. “Victim one, a young girl at a park with her two younger brothers, lured by…” I scrunched up my nose as I read the details. “Lured by a woman, who was offering babysitting in return for some money…” I faced the detective and waited for him to respond.

“We had several witnesses that saw her talking to a woman before they headed into the woods, she never came out,” he explained hurriedly.

“I suppose, this victim was acting out some s****l favor to this woman?” I questioned sarcastically. “Yet, you’ve written here that this woman was offering her services to babysit…”

“Ah, yes, the witnesses recognized her as such,” he said, and I frowned. “She often offers to babysit for money. Her husband passed about three years ago, and she does odd little jobs like that to survive,” the detective suddenly looked ashamed, but I had picked up on something rather important.

“This woman, this babysitter, where is she?” I questioned.

“Um…victim six, last night’s victim was found alongside the Altenburg Road,” he informed us as he went over to his desk to retrieve the latest file. “After that incident, we did look for her, to question her but she had gone missing. Her landlord…” he peaked inside the folder. “Mr. Leigh explained that she hadn’t been in for about two weeks,” I slammed my fist against the wall. I already knew what had happened and without another word, I stalked toward the door. Philip quickly stood aside, and I pulled open the door.

“You may want to rethink your idea of these innocent victims being w****s,” I hissed out before I stormed out of the office. Philip was right behind me but neither of us spoke as we left the station. However, instead of heading back to the motel, I went around the station and headed toward the forest. Once I was satisfied that we were out of sight, I turned to face Philip. “Do you know what this means?” I asked him.

“Indeed, Alpha,” he whispered. “They are trying to change them into shifters,” suddenly everything started to make sense and I growled out in absolute frustration.