The Alpha's Blind Fate
Chapter 221: Alpha Prince Garuk

Chapter 221: Alpha Prince Garuk

ZINA

"What did he do?" Zina asked, holding her breath in anticipation of what Falcon’a answer would be.

For the man to anticipate that Daemon would have Garuk’s head for whatever crime the young Alpha Prince had committed, then it would have to be a grave matter.

Falcon shifted uncomfortably. "I know it’s a lot to ask you, but can you keep this a secret from Daemon? At least for now? My older brother while close to me has never been close to Garuk. He was spoiled by his nursemaid shortly after our mother passed so he never had the opportunity to bond with Daemon. I truly fear for what he would to him."

Zina shifted uncomfortably on her feet, at loss for how to answer Falcon. Truly, she didn’t know if she could promise him such. Especially in view of her relationship with Daemon both as his Theta—for now— and his mate.

"I...." She tried to object, but Garuk’s young, albeit reckless face filtered through her mind, causing her to pause in her objections.

She exhaled harshly. "I can’t promise you anything, but in view of what Garuk might have possibly done which I must know, I promise to keep this as much of a secret I can depending on how much it affects Daemon, and then how much it affects Garuk."

Falcon seemed to mull over her words for a second before he nodded grimly. "Fair enough."

He braved himself and then started to speak in a voice low enough that she had to strain her wolf senses to hear them, "Garuk seems to be connected to the missing ten million grams of gold."

Zina didn’t know when she gasped out loud, slapping her hand over her mouth. Her eyes wide, she looked Falcon over for any sign that he was joking. "What? Do you mean Garuk committed corruption? Did he siphon away some of the gold?"

Falcon seemed to want to stifle tears of frustration as he rubbed his hair angrily. "How I wish it were that simple."

Just how much complicated could it get more than that? Try as she may, Zina couldn’t think of a single scenario that was more complicated than the fact that Garuk was tied to the missing gold that Daemon had been fiercely looking for.

Falcon guided them to desolate part of the corridor and he continued speaking in a hunted whisper. "You know how Eldric has been tortured and he has been unable to produce the whereabouts of the gold?"

Zina nodded frantically. She heard that Eldric had successfully siphoned the money through multiple brokers whose identity remain unknown, but she hadn’t been sure as to the veracity of that giving that Daemon had not divulged anything about his own findings.

Could Garuk be one of the brokers? If so, why? However her questions were rendered useless by Falcon’s next words.

"That is because Eldric doesn’t know about the whereabouts of the money." Falcon said, wearing a grim expression while Zina’s confusion only grew.

"We know that Eldric doesn’t know the whereabouts of the gold though. That is a known fact, Falcon. He used anonymous brokers to siphon the money into unrecoverable parts which he must have then used to execute a transaction we know nothing of though."

Falcon shook his head vigorously. "You don’t understand, Eldric doesn’t know the whereabouts of the gold. He didn’t siphon it in the first place."

Zina stared dumbly at him as the new information took time to process in her mind. Was Falcon trying to say that Eldric had been lying all along? Both Eldric and Lykom Lupus had gone through rigorous torture and yet they could not reveal the location of the gold. Was that because they didn’t have the gold in the first place and not because of the brokers story that they sold to them?

When Falcon noticed she wasn’t saying anything, he explained. "Garuk stole the gold a few weeks before Daemon’s takeover."

"What?! STOLE?"

"It’s a long story but he managed to pull off his this whole thing against Eldric while he executed an elaborate well conceived plan using imaginary brokers. Really, it was for petty revenge against our older brother at first, and before Garuk could gloat about it, Daemon took over."

Zina paused, and then she exhaled. Smiling, she said. "It’s easy. All Garuk needs to do is to return the money, or whatever is left of it."

Garuk might be spilt, but surely the man couldn’t have blown through ten million grams of gold in just a few months.

However, Falcon’s grim expression did not loosen. "Garuk lost the money, it was stolen away from him almost after Daemon took over."

The blood drained from Zina’s face.

What? Who? Why?

It was already hard enough for her to keep up with the elaborate tale that Falcon was telling her, but this was mightily turning into an endless heist in Gold Land. Somehow, she simply couldn’t find it in her to believe that Daemon was totally unaware of the fact that Eldric had been conned and never had the money in the first place. Even that take about the anonymous broker had been a facade that Garuk had created as a revenge against his older brother who abandoned him.

"I really don’t know, Falcon. This sounds like something we have to tell Daemon...."

"I know. Garuk did something utterly foolish. It would have been better if he had come forward with this the moment Daemon took over, but his hatred for Eldric is the same as his hatred for Daemon."

Zina wanted to ask why Garuk hated Daemon, but she stopped herself before the words could spill from her lips.

"Where’s Garuk now?" Zina asked with a frown as it occurred to her that Daemon had pretended like his legitimate youngest brother didn’t exist. It wasn’t like him, and why the behavior might seem normal to most, Zina knew enough about the man to know it a tad bit abnormal.

He had even confronted his three older brothers and banished them to war. Not only that, he had also met with his illegitimate brothers that still resided in the Arctic North. He had met with everyone save for Garuk, why?

"Where’s Garuk now? Is he with his pack?"

"I know you can’t leave the castle as you please so I have brought him here. He’s currently at the Ice Castle."