Alpha King’s Lost Luna by Aubrey Pepper

Chapter 98 Dark Abyss

ASHER

Kane studied me with an amused smile. His appearance was as immaculate as
ever, and he looked well-rested. I envied him. Up until last night, I hadn't had a
decent night's sleep in weeks. My mind had been too vexed by the viper situation
to truly let myself relax, and my body ached too much from my escalating illness.
My head began to pound as if to remind me of the disease. Luckily, Kane didn’t
seem to notice my turmoil.

“You seem to be growingly busy these days, dear brother,” he remarked with a
sly grin, and then he pouted for emphasis. “I miss playing chess with you.”

“I have been busy,” I agreed, and I let out a small sigh. “How can I help you,
Kane?”

“Wow,” he said as his eyes trailed over me. “This definitely isn’t the welcome I
expected. You seem to have lost your sense of humor.”

“Too much on my mind these days,” I murmured.

Kane pulled up a chair and sat opposite of me. His lithe frame was lion-like, and
his violet eyes danced with amusement. He was like some kind of wild cat, set to
pounce at any moment, and just as sneaky.

I knew this wasn't a friendly visit.

He wanted something.

“My mother is quite freaked out,” Kane noted as he leaned back in his seat and
examined his nails. “She heard that you caught and imprisoned one of her
private guards yesterday.”

Margaret was freaked out?

The idea of my stepmother in panic was hilarious. She'd always been calm and
collected, even when my father had died. She hadn’t shed a single tear, at least
not in the anywhere where she could be seen.

Kane chuckled. “So, who was this guard exactly? And why was he
apprehended?”

“The man was an imposter,” I explained. “He isn't truly a guard, from what intel
has been gathered. His presence has something to do with the vipers that were
found days ago.”

I half-expected some sort of reaction from Kane, but he didn't look surprised in
the least, which told me already knew everything.

“What brings you here, Kane?” I asked again, only this time, my tone was far
more serious. Something was off and I needed to get to the bottom of it right
away.

“Asher, my mother isn’t behind this,” he said.

“And how do you know that?” I asked without missing a beat.

“Because she isn't a fool,” he replied.

“No, she isn’t,” I agreed. “But that doesn’t clear her of suspicion. You know that,
right?”

Kane fell silent, probably for the first time in his life. He nodded his head lightly
and glanced at the other side of the room.

He knew his mother better than I did. Margaret wasn’t necessarily the one behind
this, but she was still suspicious.

“Why would she accept a guard with an ambiguous background?” I asked aloud
before I could stop myself. “Did she know who could have arranged the man for
this position?”

The room remained silent until Kane looked back at me.

“She wouldn't tell me,” he admitted. “I already tried. You know her, Asher. She
never tells me anything like that.”

This time, I couldn't help but sigh.

“Of course, she wouldn't admit it,” I muttered under my breath. “I'm completely
unsurprised.”

“She's a proud woman,” Kane said. “And a private one. She speaks with me
often but holds her personal information at a distance. She’s always been like
that. Always worried about her appearance to others.”

“True,” I replied. I was moments away from dismissing my brother when he
shifted his chair closer to the desk.

“I'm not a spy, Asher,” he said. “And I won't pretend to be. But I'm not against
you. You know that. I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that my
mother isn’t planning some kind of conspiracy. I promise you, I'll get to the bottom
of this.”

“Thank you,” I remarked, though I wasn’t sure how much he could really
accomplish. I trusted my brother, but I didn’t trust my stepmother.

I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples. This was a troubled situation.

I didn’t know what Margaret was up to, but I had this feeling in my gut that she
was up to something. She'd always been conniving and wicked, and I didn’t trust
her even a little. She was always gone at opportune moments and all too present
for others.

The banquet for the diplomats of Yurene, for example. My stepmother had made
herself scarce and the night had ended in disaster. I found it odd that Margaret, a
woman who normally thrived at events in high society, had been absent, and
then just hours later, there was a viper attack.

Where had my stepmother been?

The imposter was one of her personal guards. Had she dismissed him for the
night? Why wasn't he guarding her?

And then there was the situation in Ca ssandra’s room. Margaret had brought her
guards to try to arrest the healer on Adalyn’s behalf. Had the imposter been one
of the men who had laid his hands on her? Why had she decided to take justice
into her own hands? Sure, she and Adalyn had a close relationship, but what
game was she playing at?

What was going on behind the scenes?

“You seem tired, brother,” Kane announced, and I opened my eyes. “I don’t want
to keep you any longer. I think it would be a good idea for you to get some rest. I
know everything has been overwhelming, especially considering that the
imposter held Adalyn hostage. I'm sure you're shaken up by the whole matter.”

I nodded, though the last part wasn’t exactly true. It felt wrong to admit, but I
knew that Adalyn was in good hands, so I wasn't all that worried about her.

Truth be told, the only person in all of Merliscire that I cared about was Ca
ssandra Keller. My biggest priority was her safety.

Suddenly, Kane spotted the medallion on my desk and picked it up. He brought it
closer to his face to examine it and then he frowned.

“Asher, is this the crest of the Dark Abyss Pack?” he asked. “Why do you have
this?”

I sat there in shock for a second and then leaned forward.

“What?” I breathed. “What are you talking about, Kane?”

“This crest,” Kane continued, and he held it up closer to the light. “l once saw an
image of a similar pattern in a book. I can’t recall all of the information exactly, but
from what I remember, I think this is a sign of the Dark Abyss Pack.”

“Dark Abyss?” I repeated back, and my eyebrows knitted together as I searched
my mind. “I've never heard of them.”

“You wouldn't have,” Kane replied, and he passed the medallion back over to me.
“They were a small Pack, brother. So small, in fact, that no one ever paid much
attention to them. And after a war with Yurene, they were nearly wiped out.”

My heart dropped in my chest and my eyes widened at my brother.

“Yurene?” I asked.

Kane nodded gravely. “Yes, brother. Yurene.”