Defying the Lycan King (Kira and Derek) novel Chapter 47

Chapter 47: Somnara Bloom

"Tell me you found something worth my time," Derek said, his voice gravelly as he strode into his study, exhaustion weighing heavily on his shoulders.

The room was already crowded. His Beta, Declan, stood near the desk with Kai and Connor. A fourth man, shadowed and silent, waited in the corner.

Derek was bone-tired. He had spent the entire day at one of his flagship energy dams after engineers reported "suspicious activity" on-site. He had been trekking through mud and machinery all day, only making it back to the palace as the sun began to dip. Earlier that morning, after Kira had refused to speak further on the matter, he had sent Declan to Aethelwulf to dig for information.

Declan stepped forward, holding a plain envelope. His expression was grim. Just like Derek promised Kira, he was getting to the root of her claims.

"I’m afraid the Queen was telling the truth."

Derek’s hand hovered over the envelope, before he tore it open. The sound of ripping paper was loud in the quiet room.

"She was admitted to a human clinic in Aethelwulf. Her friend checked her in using her maiden name instead of her married one. That’s why we never received any alerts from the hospitals."

Derek sank into his leather chair, his eyes scanning the medical report. The human doctor had listed an "unknown substance" in her system, but the breakdown of the toxins all pointed clearly to Somnara Bloom. It was a rare flower with a sweet, floral scent and a soothing effect that induced a long, deep sleep in small doses. In excess, however, it caused dizziness, violent nausea, and eventually heart shutdown if not treated quickly.

Derek let out a slow, heavy sigh. Only Lycans truly knew this flower and its dangerous properties. Kira hadn’t been lying after all. That night, when she had tried so desperately to explain herself, her confusion and inability to articulate had been the lingering effects of the poison.

"That’s not all," Connor said softly.

Derek looked up at him, still simmering with anger. He was furious with Connor for letting Kira slip away from the palace the day before and had been seriously considering suspending the gamma for a while.

"You know me, Your Grace," Connor continued, shifting his weight. "I don’t oversleep, not even when I’m drunk. But how convenient was it that I overslept and felt like absolute shit when I woke up? You wouldn’t speak to me, so I didn’t bring it up then."

""And," Kai added, stepping forward and placing a tablet on the desk. "I managed to bypass the encryption on her phone. The data is messy, but the text logs are clear. She was telling the truth about the SOS from her friend. And as for the timing of the ceremony..." Kai paused, a cynical smirk playing on his lips. "Ruby sent her the wrong time. The log shows four o’clock, plain as day."

Derek’s eyes narrowed dangerously. "So Ruby sent her the wrong time indeed?"

Kai nodded, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. "Not exactly surprising, is it?"

Derek shot him a sharp look but said nothing. He simply stared at the screen in front of him, jaw tight. "We can’t jump to conclusions yet," Declan said carefully. "We need solid evidence before we accuse anyone."

""What about the maid who served her the tea?" Derek asked. "Has anyone found anything on her?"

All three men shook their heads.

Derek pushed the tablet away, rose to his feet, and walked over to the tall window overlooking the palace grounds. The late afternoon light cast long shadows across the lawns. "I will deal with Ruby for this," he said, his voice low and cold. "No one rests until we find out exactly who dared to poison the queen."

"Yes, Your Grace," they replied in unison.

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