The Dark Side Of Fate

~Tamia~

My discussion with Alpha Jake was intense, but I was glad we were able to come to an understanding. I knew I was a bit stern, but I needed to clarify my point. I also needed him to know I did him a big favour by not pushing Sylvester to investigate my poisoning.

The fact that I was pregnant when it occurred would have summed it up as treason. Deep down, I hoped our plan worked out so we could plan our weddings peacefully.

Alpha Jake seemed sad after our discussion, and Stephanie came to join us. Her dark circles were gone, and she was in high spirits. She also looked great.

"I hope I did not take too long?" She asked, sitting beside Alpha Jake and smiling at us. It was awkward seeing that she was the only one smiling after the difficult conversation I had with Alpha Jake,

Stephanie soon realised she was the only one in high spirits and stopped smiling.

"What happened?" she asked, and even though I did not want to speak about it, Alpha Jake volunteered the answer.

"Luna Tamia believes my daughter Iris must have tried to kill her with poison to get back at your son for not choosing her, and also, she believes she might be working for the uprising, so she asked me to bring her for questioning," he said, summing it up. Stephanie nodded.

"The poisoning part is true. She was poisoned in your pack, Jake. I saw it. We had to bring a doctor to flush her system.” Stephanie said, and the fear in Jake's eyes was more pronounced.

He had secretly hoped it was a coincidence, but hearing Stephanie say the same thing made him realise it might not be a coincidence.

"I do not know what I would do if she is guilty. She is my only daughter,” he confessed, and Stephanie touched his hand gently.

"They are all grown, Jake. We have done our best by raising them and giving them the best. We have taught them right from wrong and tried to guide them. We should not blame ourselves if they choose to part from teachings in adulthood. At the end of the day, they are independent of us and will continue to exist when we are gone. The best we can do is wish them the best and pray they learn from their mistakes. We, as parents, cannot give more than we have given. You shouldn't feel guilty for this, Jake. You tried. If Iris decides to be like her mother, then it isn't your fault,” she said, trying to calm him down, but it did not work. The man was in knots.

"I think it is time to have Liam help identify the people that threatened him,” I said, standing up and trying to avoid the awkward situation. Everyone agreed, and I linked Kappa Wilson to help line up everyone in the estate so Liam could sniff the culprits out.

It took thirty minutes for Wilson to accomplish it, and soon he linked me to inform me the task was done. I got up and asked everyone to follow me to the eastern garden, where everyone was waiting. We walked towards the garden silently, and I prayed it would yield something. We needed to catch as many people as possible to either force the leader out or make them go silent.

Either outcome was better than what was happening.

Arriving at the garden, I was surprised to see many people, along with the trophies, lined up to be checked.

They looked worried and puzzled. Some of the Lunas in service looked at me scornfully, and I did not bother; I know they saw me as despicable. I was sleeping with the man that conquered my pack. Any Luna from the outside would see my friends and me as traitors, but they did not know our full story, and we did not care.

Despicable or not, all I could see was a bunch of jealous Lunas that were down on their luck. I am sure If Sylvester, Marcel or Theodore had ordered they join them in bed, they would do it willingly. The thought alone made me laugh at the scorn on their faces.

Liam was brought to the garden, and I could see him properly for the first time.

He was indeed a child. How could his mother do this to him? How could this Kingman allow this? As things were, if this leader ever succeeded, he would have no regard for life or innocence. Getting a minor involved with treasonous acts was wreckless and heartless. I plan on voicing my opinion to the bastard if we ever catch him.

The people began to murmur at the sight of Liam. While some were genuinely confused, others seemed angry.

"Silence!" Avery yelled at them, and they reluctantly obeyed.

"Any noise and the person would be thrown in a cell. Disrespect will not be tolerated. We have been charged with a task and intend to do it diligently without disturbance, am I clear?" Linda asked, and there was complete silence, indicating they got the message.

Just then, Kappa William walked to me and told me that Sylvester required Liam to come to the lounge. Learning that Leo and Devin were around gave me mixed feelings. I prayed they would put aside their differences and find common ground to unite and fight the organisation. I told them to take Liam with them and return him immediately.

They took him away.

We needed to move quickly because I still needed to question Amy. I wasn't planning to be nice where the bitch was concerned. After seeing what she did to her son, I knew she could not be trusted and did not deserve freedom. I planned on making her feel pain. I was going to be unapologetic about it.

"What is with Liam?" Avery linked me.

"Leo and Devin are here. I think Sylvester wants them to hear directly from him," I linked her back; her eyes opened wide, and she nodded.

"How do you manage, Tamia? The three of them are crazy about you. Would they be able to overlook their differences and work together? I know Leo has it bad and that Devin guy does not seem different. Poor Sylvester. I wonder how he feels having to lean on the two men likely to hate him the most for support,” she linked me, and I sighed because she was telling the truth.

"Isn't that Zakharov's son?" Jake asked me, interrupting Avery and me, and I nodded

"Yes," I said, and his eyes were wide.

"He is a child," he said, looking at us as if we had done something horrible.

"I know, and that is why he isn't in the council prison,” I told him, sounding stern.

"His mother got him involved, and they used him to control his father and the northern alphas. He also helped them receive and transfer money,” I told the man, and his eyes widened with disbelief. "You don't mean it," He said in shock, and I nodded.

"That bitch decided to use her son in the most despicable way. The only reason he is alive is that he is young,” I told Jake, and Stephanie hissed.

"That bitch Amy had been bad news. Her mother was like that, you know. Always trying to share her opinion and make you accept by force. Maurice screwed her a couple of times, and she gave up her husband for it. I wished Christain looked before leaping, but they say love is blind. His has led him to an exile situation,” she said, and I was unhappy about her words, but they were true.

Because Liam and Amy were involved in the uprising, they would be regarded as traitors, and the entire Zakharov family would be exiled pending investigation. It also means Christian would have to step down from his position. The woman had wrecked him. His only saving grace is if Sylvester succeeds and is installed as the king, then Sylvester would pardon him and only punish Amy for her actions. A lot was riding on Leo and Devin agreeing to make Sylvester king and working with him to end the threat, but I doubted they would because of me.

I looked at the women and the men lined up in the garden, and I hoped for their sakes that none of them was guilty because I planned on being ruthless.

Soon Liam returned, and his chains were removed to access his wolf and pick the women's scent. We did not make it seem like he was going to fish them out using their scent; we made it seem like he would be by looking at the eyes so that the culprits would be confident.

Wilson protected Liam as he moved through the staff, looking at them and secretly sniffing their scents.

He moved through most of them, and none of the staff was selected. It remained the women in the trophy section. He got to a dark-haired eastern beauty and stopped. Indicating she was one of them. My heart soared because I knew who she was. Then he moved and selected a western Luna that worked in the gardens.

I linked Wilson not to bring them out yet until he had sniffed everyone. It took an extra thirty minutes before he finished.

I could see relief in the eyes of the eastern woman and the western Luna. They thought they had scaled through. It made me laugh internally. I knew what I was about to do to them was a bit sick, but I wanted to see joy drain from their eyes.

Liam was taken back to the cell, and I asked Wilson to have them search the rooms and belongings of the people in question. He left to do it, and I kept the people on guard.

"Luna Tamia, is there anything else?" One of the elderly Luna working in the mansion asked, and I smiled at her.

"Did I give anyone permission to speak?" I asked coldly, and they were silent.

"My mate might be lenient, but I won't be. You are to remain here until I dismiss you," I told them, and they looked at Stephanie, hoping she would stop me. Technically she was above me, but the woman wouldn't dare it.

"Lady Volkov, mercy,” some of them called out to Stephanie.

"Quiet! Do as your Luna said, and you should start getting used to Tamia as the Lady of the north. Too much damage had been done by being lenient. Everything being done today is to save lives, so I will advise you to comply.” She warned them, and they were silent. Alpha Jake stood next to me and leaned close to my ears.

"Any luck?" he asked me, and I looked at him and nodded. He smiled a bit.

"I would like to question them about Iris," he asked, and I smiled at him.

"When I am done with Amy, you can try your luck. They might not be able to help because it seems like they work in groups, and no group is familiar with the other. It is just a guess, Alpha; I might be wrong," I said, and he nodded, understanding my words.

Thirty minutes later.

"The search is over, Luna," Kappa Wilson linked me, and I relaxed and looked at everyone standing in the garden.

"Did you find anything?" I asked him.

"A small laptop and a satellite phone,” He linked me back, and I was glad we got them. I knew there would be others, and I would make them speak.

"You may all return to your rooms and continue your activities. I am sorry for disturbing your afternoon,” I said to them and noticed that the two culprits were very relaxed.

We left the people before they began to return to their rooms.

"So?" Linda asked on our way to my wing. I planned on changing into something comfortable to question Amy.

"Alpha Jake and I have a lunch date," Stephanie said, and my eyes widened at her. Seeing her face, I knew she wanted to get Jake away from us so we could do our work. His daughter was part of the uprising, that much I know; it would be wrong to allow him in on every aspect of the investigation.

I smiled and nodded.

"That is great. I want to take a nap anyway," I excused them.

"What about Amy Zakharov?" Jake asked, and I knew he was still worried about his daughter.

"Go on your date with your new friend, Alpha. You will speak with her supervised when you return,” I assured him, and he thanked me.

Avery and Linda followed me to my room while Jake and Stephanie left us.

"So?" Linda asked again the moment we stepped in.

"Alpha Ramsey's niece is one of them,” I told her, and she was shocked.

"Anika!! The one he gave away as a trophy?" She asked, and I nodded. It suddenly made sense. He did not orchestrate the attack to get at Leo; he did it to give his niece as a trophy and get her into the Volkov estate easily. Every other thing that happened was a bonus for him.

Knowing this meant he did not need Amanda to be in our home. He would have still carried out his plan successfully. Placing his daughter in our home was for good measure.

The fact that he wasted a lot of lives and wrecked homes just to achieve that showed the kind of person he was. The man did not deserve any form of mercy.