The Alpha King's Witch Bride
Chapter 178: _Death Has A Smell

Chapter 178: _Death Has A Smell

Kaelos’ POV

*****

I didn’t wait for the guard to speak again. I had already bolted off the throne and stormed past him before his lips could form another word. My blood was boiling, hot with irritation, and something else I didn’t know how to name.

Celine’s scream hadn’t just been fear.

It had been grief.

Pain like that didn’t wouldn’t have left her lips unless something permanent had been lost.

Footsteps thundered behind me as I pushed through the winding halls of the Alpha mansion, scenting the air out of instinct. I caught the faintest trail of blood, old perfume, and something else... Something final.

’Death.’ Damon commented in my head, causing my expression to turn grim.

Death had a smell. Some people liked to pretend it didn’t, but I knew it too well.

I turned a sharp corner, nearly slamming into another guard who stood frozen outside Celine’s quarters. My presence jolted him, and he stepped back without a word, his eyes wide with horror.

I didn’t ask for a report but instead, I pushed the door open.

The first thing I saw was blood.

It had pooled in a near-perfect circle around the body crumpled by the bed. Pale hands, one still clutching the hem of a velvet curtain. Black hair with grey streaks was tangled, partially veiling a once-imposing face now plain in death.

Madame Greyheart.

I didn’t move.

My body went stiff as something cold crawled down my spine. I stared down at her body, my mind reeling.

Madame Greyheart. One of the most powerful nobles of the Blood Oak pack and, indeed, most of the werewolf world. My Luna Queen’s mother. Keeper of secrets in my life that she had no business knowing.

And the only living person besides me who knew what happened thirteen years ago.

Celine was kneeling beside her, trembling. Her hands were stained with blood as she reached to shake her mother’s shoulders.

"Wake up! Wake up, please! Please!" Her voice cracked. Her composure and elegance were gone, shattered like glass underfoot.

I remained frozen at the doorway, staring at the body. The stillness. The silence. The fact that she had warned me this might happen.

"If I ever die before my time, the entire continent will know what you did, Kaelos." Her voice echoed in my mind from one of our past interactions.

My jaw clenched.

"Move aside," I said quietly.

But Celine didn’t move, sniffling hard as she shook her head repeatedly.

"Celine."

Her eyes lifted to mine, wide, red, and unfocused. "You let this happen. You brought her here. You let them in." She said breathlessly.

I said nothing.

There was nothing to say that wouldn’t spark an inferno. I stepped forward, gently placing my hand on her shoulder and guiding her aside. She didn’t resist.

She just crumpled to the floor beside the body, sobbing so hard her breath wheezed.

’Boo hoo.’ Damon scoffed in my mind but I ignored him.

I crouched.

There were signs of a struggle and her lips were cleanly cut off, as if whoever killed her was trying to send a message.

And then there was something else... I could feel it even though it was faint.

Magic.

It hung in the air, residual and decaying.

I glanced toward the window. It was closed while the entrance leading to the open balcony was wide open, a chilling breeze blowing inside through it.

"Seal the room," I snapped at the guards behind me. "No one enters or leaves. And summon Elder Davina immediately."

One of them bolted out obediently.

I stood again, only to realize Elder Althea had entered quietly behind me. Her face was solemn, her lips parted in a grim line. Her presence was somehow too calm.

"Was this what I heard?" She asked, stepping forward.

I nodded once. "Celine found her just now."

Althea knelt beside the body, her eyes scanning the details faster than any mortal could. Her hand hovered over Madame Greyheart’s chest.

"This wasn’t just murder. This was a message."

I stiffened.

"What kind of message?"

Althea met my eyes. "One only she and her killer would understand."

A breath left my chest as I brushed my hand down my face. Of course.

That secret.

I turned from the body and clenched my fists as I stared out the window, suddenly feeling every thread of pressure tighten around my neck. I didn’t have time for this. Not now.

Not when Odessa was in the dungeons, the world was breathing down my back, and I hadn’t even slept properly since the ball tonight.

The world wasn’t going to care that Madame Greyheart had secrets. They would only see a dead noble. A grieving Luna Queen. A pack on the verge of collapse.

Celine cried harder behind me. Her sobs were muffled now, as though they hurt too much to fully release.

I turned and crouched again, this time beside her.

"Celine," I said softly, withholding the disgust I felt.

She didn’t look at me. Her hand had found her mother’s again.

"She didn’t deserve this," Celine whispered. "I know what you thought of her. But she was all I had left."

I said nothing.

What could I say?

That her mother had used blood-bound contracts to manipulate political outcomes? That she blackmailed me more times than I could count? That she died with a secret that could destroy everything I built?

"We will find out who did this," I said eventually.

"Will you?" She snapped suddenly, her tear-streaked face lifting to mine. "Or will this be another secret that disappears under your throne?"

I didn’t answer but rose to my feet.

Althea stood, too, and placed a hand on my arm. "I should go see Odessa now."

I turned to her, sharply. "Now?"

She nodded. "If this death is a piece of a larger game, then your wife is already part of the board. I need to check on her."

My instinct screamed to say no. To keep her away. But I let her pass. Maybe she was right.

Maybe Odessa already knew more than I did.

As Althea left the room, I stood alone once more. The silence returned.

Only this time, it wasn’t peaceful.

It was the kind of silence that sat heavy before the sky shook with thunder. The kind that warns a storm is coming.

And this storm wasn’t going to be like the ones before.

I was running out of time...

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