The Dark Side Of Fate by Karima Sa'ad Usman

108 Who Poisoned Me

~Tamia~

Leaving Sylvester to talk to his officers, I decided to speak to Alpha Jake about certain things. I also needed Avery and Linda's support.

There were certain things I needed to discuss with him. If I had dwelled on the issues, they would have caused severe problems. I went over the poisoning, and after all that had happened, certain things finally fell into place.

I had spent most of the time since I returned wondering why anyone would try to kill me with poison. Had I not been pregnant and vomiting, I might have died.

The vomiting helped me empty my system of the poison, and only a trace amount got into my bloodstream. Now that I had figured out why, it was time to speak to alpha Jake about it because it was very sensitive.

We met Stephanie on the way to the lounge, where Alpha Jake was waiting for us, and she was a wreck.

I asked Linda and Avery to go ahead of me while I remained to speak to Stephanie.

I watched them walk away. Jake was in the lounge in my wing, so they joined him while Stephanie and I walked toward her room to avoid eavesdroppers.

Knowing that staff members were working for the uprising, we needed to be extra careful, especially knowing what they planned to do to Stephanie.

We entered her room, and she began to pace about.

"You need to keep your shit together, Stephanie. We do not know what these people have or if they have anything at all. Keep behaving like this, and you will slip up. I need you to act as if nothing has happened and not admit to anything or get into a heated argument with anyone," I said and went to hold her shoulders. Holding her still, I stared into her eyes.

"You need to snap out of this shit, Stephanie. You are a luna, for goddess's sake. It is not in our nature to show weakness or crumble under pressure. I want you to wipe the fear and pity off your face and walk about the place with your head held up high. Sylvester has a lot of shit to deal with, and your current behaviour isn't helping at all," I warned her, slightly irritated. I guess it was my hormones. I have been a bit too emotional lately.

"So what, you committed a crime? Everyone has a secret, Stephanie. Stop thinking the worse and make yourself useful by helping us catch the ladies working for the organisation. I will be doing a major sweep of the estate today, and you will be helping with it," I said, and she widened her eyes.

"We need all the help we can get," I told her, and she frowned.

"What will we do to them if we catch them?" She asked me, and I felt rage in me.

"We have limited cells in the dungeon. Those who are forthcoming with information will get accommodation in the cells. Those who aren't will be executed immediately," I said, and she widened her eyes. This is from NôvelDrama.Org.

"We aren't allowed to do that," she said, and I chuckled.

"And who will stop us?" I asked her.

I was sick and tired of all the nonsense. The people we were against were cowards. I would have had more respect for them if they had waged war against us. Then we really know that they are fit

to lead. This intellectual attack was a cowardly approach. I planned on showing the Kingman how to be a king.

Stephanie must have noticed my resolve because she wiped off her fear.

"Tyrant style?" she finally asked, and I nodded.

"Marcel and Theodore are on board?" She asked me, and I nodded, hopeful that Sylvester's meeting with them would go well.

"What about the region leaders?" She asked.

"Corrigan and Leo will be in support, too," I said, and an evil smile crept on Stephanie's lips.

"Oh, sweet freedom," she said with a sigh.

"I hated all this diplomacy. It never really helped anyone. Wolves need a firm hand, and they will be getting one. The investigation would be faster and easier this way. Rendering the council useless is a good move. With all the military support, we would get away with it. It would also force the culprit to reveal themselves," she said, knowing where Sylvester and I were headed with our move.

"I like it," she said, and suddenly, colour returned to her face.

Stephanie was an intelligent woman. Under such circumstances, she is bound to get away with her crimes.

" Very well, let me freshen up. I haven't showered this morning. I will join you in the lounge," She said, and I left the room.

I walked quickly towards the lounge. While I walked, I touched my bump and hoped that Leo and Devin would support the idea so we could end this nonsense, even if we did not catch them or end

it. It will give us the peace we need. My wedding was a few weeks away. I wanted to experience the blue moon ceremony peacefully and not under stress.

I entered the lounge, and Jake was joking while the ladies laughed.

"Alpha Jake," I said, reaching for a glass of juice on the table.

I sat down on a chair opposite him, and he smiled at me.

"Luna Tamia, thank you for the hospitality," He said respectfully, and I smiled at him.

"You are welcome," I said and took a sip of my drink.

"I am glad you see that we have no issues with you," I said, and he stopped smiling.

He could sense the anger in my voice, and I knew it would be confusing since he had done nothing wrong and helped us. Linda and Avery stopped laughing, and they looked at me.

"Avery and I went to Brighton in good fate. We went there to restore peace and investigate and bring the culprits to book," I said, and he frowned at me.

"We risked our lives and respected you. We stayed in your house so you could watch us, yet we enjoyed the experience. The festival was beautiful," I said and leaned forwards.

"I do not have a problem with you, alpha, and I believe we have established that but I need you to be honest with me about certain things," I said, and he became uncomfortable.

"Did you give your wife to Maurice, or did she give herself as tribute?" I asked, and my question shocked him.

"I am heading somewhere with this, so I will need you to answer my question," I said, and he bowed his head.

It was obviously a complex topic for him, but unfortunately, I needed his answer to draw my conclusions. One thing I knew was the apple never falls far from the tree, and I believe it was the same with Brighton's children. I needed to establish his wife's character to move forward.

"I do not have money, and Brighton isn't rich. My wife always liked the comfort money could bring, and we fought about it often. My sister's mate had passed away and left her money, so she returned to stay with me. She brought her son.

Then I just had my twins, Iris and Donald, Mikhail joined, and there were three," he said, and I was surprised that Donald and Iris were twins.

I always thought Iris was Donald's younger sister. She looked very young. I guess she had good genes.

"I thought Iris was Donald's younger sister?" Avery asked, interrupting us, and he smiled at her.

"She looks young, so when people assume it, I just let it be, but they are twins. Iris does not like people knowing she is that old either because she feels it would hurt her chances of getting a good suitor, so I just allow her to lie about her age," he confessed it was unnecessary information, but I allowed it.

"Anyway, my sister spent a lot on our children, and anytime my wife asked her for money, she never gave as much as she wanted, which I felt was okay and a bit too generous. Anyway, my wife began to take out our financial handicap on me. It wasn't that we were poor, but she compared me to all the wealthy alphas of the west and made me feel inadequate.

When Maurice had issues with the leader of the west because he had teamed up with the eastern leader to overthrow his lordship, Maurice attacked the west and took over.

The east submitted immediately and executed the ones the eastern leader claimed were responsible, but we knew they were sacrificial lambs.

Nonetheless, they agreed to the taxes, so Maurice let them be, but because the western leader was the one that led the attack, the west was taken.

We were all asked to give up something. My sister did not have a mate anymore, so she offered to go. Little did I know that my wife wanted to go too.

She told the warriors to take her.

I tried to stop her, and she told me she would rather be a mistress to the Lord than be my luna. It hurt, but I let her go," he said, and I could hear the hurt in his voice.

I also realised that was why he could carry on without his mate. I also did not miss the fact that that was the war that led to my parent's death, where Ramsey had slaughtered them for alerting Maurice of his conduct. Ramsey was a leader then, and Leo had promised he would disgrace him for my sake. I sighed, remembering Leo and tried to brush him out of my mind. I fought my tears and relaxed.

"Why did you not tell your children that their mother left of her own accord? Because they harbour a lot of hatred for Volkov," I said, and he bowed his head.

"She was gone, and she was never going to return. I did not want to spoil it for them," he said, confessing his reason for keeping the truth from his children.

"Did you know Maurice wanted to return your wife to you after your sister requested that he send her back?" I asked, and he shook his head.

"Well, your sister was his favourite, and some might say he loved her. She asked him to send your wife back, and your wife got angry and snapped out of jealousy. Your wife murdered your sister in

cold blood. And Maurice was angry. He locked her up in a dungeon and had her executed for her crime," I said, and tears streamed down his face.

I was heading somewhere, but I wanted to establish certain things with him before voicing my reason.

I gave him a minute, and I could see anger in his eyes, but I knew it was toward his wife, not Maurice.

"I respect you, alpha Jake, and that is why we are here. There is no way the uprising would be able to know to attack your pack and succeed if they did not have help from within. I know they said they got orders from the council, but why your pack? Of all the packs that were in the east, why your pack?" I asked, and he could not answer.

"I bet your children were the ones that advised you not to confront Sylvester about the attack, and I bet Iris was the one that told you and made sure of it," I told him, and he nodded, looking at me confused.

"Would she have any reason to do so?" I asked him, and he looked confused.

"Since I returned from Brighton pack, I have tried to piece the puzzle together," I said.

"The rage, the hostility and the poisoning," I said, and he exclaimed.

"What do you mean by poisoning?" he asked.

"I was poisoned. If I had not returned home the day I did, I might have lost my life or miscarried," I said, and he became nervous.

"I remembered that you were looking for an Alpha suitor for Iris," I said, and he nodded.

"Did you, by any chance, offer her to Sylvester in the past?" I asked him, and he shook his head.

"Lady Volkov threw a ball and invited all the daughters of the alphas for Sylvester to choose from, but he didn't choose any. Iris was among the girls. He danced with her, but there were no sparks. She did not take it well, but she was over it," he said, and I realised I had hit the nail on the head.

Ever since Stephanie told me about Jake's wife and her behaviour, I had thought about the poisoning.

"I will like you to bring Iris for questioning. Alpha Jake. I want her to tell me why she served me poison and who put her up to it. Something must have made her willing to hurt me and hurt Sylvester by helping the Brighton attack succeed and stopping you from confronting Sylvester. It would have festered if we had not come to Brighton, and you might have joined the uprising against my mate. Am I right?" I asked, and he was silent.

"I want you to be honest with me. You are a guest and not a prisoner. I consider you a friend, alpha. Be assured I am not trying to rope you into something," I assured him, and he reluctantly nodded.

"Can you be loyal enough to bring Iris? I have put off her arrest and stopped my mate from pursuing it because I do not want to dishonour you. Do you think you can repay my kindness with loyalty, alpha?" I said, and he took a deep breath and sighed. His eyes were misty, knowing the implications of his daughter's actions.

"She does not live in Brighton. She couldn't have worked with the attackers. She just returned permanently recently," He told me, trying to prove that she had no reason to help the attackers succeed.

"It still does not change the fact that she was around when I came, and she served me poisoned food," I said and looked at him.

"Will you bring her?" I asked him.

"Promise me she will have a fair trial," he said, close to tears, and I nodded.

"I swear on my wolf, she will be set free if she is innocent," I said, and he nodded.

I had told him of his wife so he would know his daughter was just like her. Jealous, angry, greedy and vindictive.

If I am right, they wanted to kill me to force Sylvester to go to war against the west, giving them leverage to usurp his power. There was no way Iris wasn't one of them.