TRADING MY CHEATING HUSBAND FOR THE LYCAN KING novel Chapter 187

CHAPTER 129: SEARCH IT AGAIN

EMBER’S POV

“My personal life isn’t council business.” Knox’s voice stays mild, but I can see the tension gathering in his shoulders.

“Everything you do is council business, Your Majesty. You’d do well to remember that.” James pauses in front of me, close enough that I have to fight the urge to step back. “And you. The runaway wife who’s caused so much chaos at this Summit. I do hope you’re enjoying the protection of the crown. It must be quite a change from your previous circumstances.”

I don’t flinch. I don’t look away. I meet his gaze with every ounce of steel I’ve developed.

“I’m enjoying it very much, actually,” I say sweetly. “Thank you for asking.”

Something ugly flickers in James’s eyes, but before he can respond the guards begin filing back into the kitchen.

One by one they return from their search, expressions professionally blank but radiating an undercurrent of confusion that makes my heart race.

The last two emerge from the basement stairs. The ones who went down to check where Gale should be chained and bleeding and waiting for his fate.

“Premises are clear, sir,” one of them reports to James “Every room has been thoroughly searched. The basement is empty. No sign of the prisoner.”

Empty.

The word doesn’t make sense. I stare at Knox, trying to understand, because Gale was there just hours ago when Knox fucked me on the floor.

Knox catches my eye, and that faint smirk is still playing around his mouth, and suddenly I understand.

Sometime between falling asleep wrapped in Knox’s arms and waking to the smell of breakfast, Gale

Crawford vanished.

James’s face cycles through several shades of red, fury and disbelief warring for dominance.

“Empty. You’re telling me the basement is empty.”

“That’s correct, sir.”

“Search it again.”

“Sir, we conducted a thorough-”

“Search it again!”

The guards exchange glances but comply, disappearing back down the basement stairs while James

CHAPTER 12 SEARCH IT AGAIN

stands in the middle of the kitchen with his hands clenched into fists and his composure visibly cracking.

Knox watches with undisguised enjoyment.

“Problems, Elder James?”

“You think you’re clever,” James hisses. “You think you can move prisoners around like chess pieces and no one will notice. But you’re playing a dangerous game, Knox. One that will catch up to you eventually.”

“I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Knox pushes off the counter and takes a step toward James, not threatening exactly but definitely not backing down. “Gale Crawford isn’t here. He never was. And I have to admit, I’m deeply curious about something.”

“Oh?”

“How did you know to look for him here?” Knox’s voice drops lower, softer, more dangerous. “This safehouse is known to exactly four people in my inner circle. It doesn’t exist on any official record. I made sure there are no paper trails or digital footprints. It’s complete operational darkness.” He tilts his head, and the gesture is pure wolf, predatory assessment masquerading as curiosity. “So how exactly did the council know where to send their search party?”

James’s jaw tightens. “The council has resources-”

“The council,” Knox interrupts with silky menace, “is supposed to be investigating how a prisoner under official protection was extracted from legal custody by armed forces who somehow knew exactly when and where to strike. An extraction you signed off on, might I add. The council’s job is not showing up at undisclosed locations to harass their king.” Another step closer. “Makes a man wonder who’s sharing information with whom. Makes a man wonder if certain council members have been compromised by certain parties who benefit from this.”

The guards return from their second search, looking uncomfortable and confused.

“Basement is clear, sir. Nothing there. Not even signs of recent occupation.”

James ignores them, his attention fixed on Knox with barely contained fury.

“You’re playing with fire, Your Majesty. You seem to have forgotten how you becarne Lycan King in the first

place. The oaths you swore. The responsibilities you carry.”

“I swore my oaths to the goddess,” Knox says, and now there’s no pretense of pleasantry in his voice, just

cold hard steel. “Not to a corrupt council that covers up abuse and protects predators when it suits their

political convenience. Not to men who sell out their king to the highest bidder.” He pauses, letting that

land. “But you can rest assured of one thing, Elder James. Once I’m officially back in the States, I intend to ensure that every man involved in Crawford’s extraction is identified and duly punished. Every man who

leaked information. Every man who looked the other way. Every. Single. One.”

The threat hangs in the air between them,.

James’s face has gone from red to something closer to purple, a vein throbbing visibly at his temple.

CRAPTANDAY SEARCH IT AGAIN

His eyes dart to me again, taking in my wild hair and satisfied glow and obvious evidence of exactly how I spent my night, and the disgust in his expression is almost comical.

“The council serves the good of all wolves,” he says tightly. “We don’t answer to the whims of kings who let their judgment be clouded by convenient distractions.”

“Actually,” Knox says with a smile that’s all teeth, “you do. The council exists at the pleasure of the crown. That’s in the founding charter, if you’d care to review it. Perhaps it’s time I reminded certain members what that actually means.”

The silence that follows is thick enough to choke on.

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