The Alpha Queen Returns – Episode 11
Jessica’s hands would not stop shaking. The recording crystal slipped from her fingers and landed on the table with a soft click, but no one moved to retrieve it. The clinic held its silence like a room awaiting a death sentence.
Caroline’s suffering replayed behind Jessica’s closed eyes. Slave. Bastard. Obey us, or your mother dies. Beneath every remembered insult was her daughter’s thin voice calling for help that Jessica had never heard.
For years, she had told herself that sending Caroline away was an act of love. The Russos could provide school, friends, and an ordinary childhood beyond the reach of court. Now the comforting story lay in ruins. Jessica had placed her child inside a private hell and thanked the people who kept her there.
A tear crossed her cheek. When she opened her eyes, grief had settled into a stillness that made Sarabeth straighten. The air around Jessica seemed colder now. “Where is she?”
“At Ambassador Ansel’s welcome banquet,” Sarabeth answered at once.
Jessica’s gaze snapped toward her. “Why would the Russos take her there?”
Mina stepped forward. “Rex brought Princess Caroline as an offering to Alpha Hunter. We believe he intends to exchange access to her for Hunter’s political support.” She chose each word carefully, but there was no gentle way to describe the sale of a child.
For one heartbeat, Jessica seemed unable to understand. Then her pupils narrowed to points of gold. “He offered my daughter to another man?”
“There’s more,” Sarabeth said. “Financial evidence connects the Russos to encrypted accounts associated with Lord Killian Darkmoon. The money you sent them vanished into that network. The banquet may be part of a larger conspiracy.”
Power erupted from Jessica before anyone could brace. The walls groaned, jars shattered on their shelves, and golden light poured through every crack in the clinic. Outside, birds fled the trees while wolves for miles dropped instinctively to one knee, their bodies recognizing a sovereign their minds believed gone. Patients on the distant road stared toward the clinic, unable to explain why their wolves trembled with awe.
The Alpha Queen’s aura had awakened after years of silence. It rolled across the territory like thunder, vast enough to make even Sarabeth bow her head. Jessica stood at its center with tears still wet on her face. “I trusted them,” she whispered. “I trusted all of them.”
She turned toward Ansel. “Did you investigate the Russo family before recommending them?”
Shame bent the ambassador’s shoulders. “I did, Your Majesty. Their pack records were clean, their reputation excellent, and every Council reference praised them. I did not know how completely they had hidden their nature.”
Jessica saw genuine horror in him and found no relief in assigning him blame. Ansel had been deceived, but Caroline had been her responsibility. She had wanted normalcy so desperately that every reassurance became an excuse not to look closer.
Never again. Jessica wiped the last tear from her cheek and allowed the healer she had pretended to be to fall away. “The woman who disappeared from this kingdom is dead.”
Sarabeth understood. She placed a fist over her heart. “Your orders, My Queen?”
“Seal every road leading from the banquet estate. No carriage, vehicle, or wolf leaves the grounds without inspection.” Jessica’s voice carried the cold precision that had once moved armies. “If Darkmoon has agents inside, I want them trapped.”
“It will be done.” Sarabeth signaled to the guards, and commands began moving through military channels.
Jessica faced Mina. “Bring the financial trail, the household records, and every recording of Caroline’s abuse. Tonight, the Russos will answer before the same nobles whose favor they tried to purchase.”
Mina saluted. “At once, Your Majesty.”
