Rise of the Assassin (Child of an Alpha Series Book 1)

by Kaitlyn Taylor

  “What are you getting at?” he asked, more intrigued by my rambling.

  “The last thing I remember from last night was being out in the stables with Declan, and that’s the last thing he remembers too. Somehow, we both ended up back in my room, but we don’t know how it happened. Neither one of us had any wine last night, so don’t even think of blaming that.”

  “Does Dad know about this?” Levi asked, his face showing more worry than it had before I explained the situation to him.

  “No,” I answered. “I was hoping to figure out what the hell happened before I went to him about this.”

  “Where’s Declan now?” Levi wondered, noticing it was only me who exited my room.

  “He left to figure out what happened,” I said moving towards the staircase again. “I’m trying to catch up with him.”

  “I think you should let Dad know what happened,” Levi suggested as he caught up with me, both of us walking down the stairs at a slow pace. “He might know something about it.”

  “What makes you think that?” I stopped, looking up at him as I waited for him to answer.

  “I just don’t think keeping Dad out of the loop is the right thing to do,” Levi explained, although I noticed him backtracking. What was his real reason for wanting me to get our father involved? “The rest of the alphas are here, and between the five of them they’ll probably know of something that can move you from one place to another without you knowing it.”

  “I get your point, but I still don’t want to say anything yet,” I decided.

  “Seriously?” he groaned. “You’re going to make me keep this secret?”

  “Tell him if you must.” I waved my hand at him as I walked away. “I’ll be in the stables.”

  It was loud throughout the castle, the staff putting away all the decorations from the ball and cleaning up messes made the night before. No one seemed to notice me walking through the halls of the castle. It was actually kind of nice to have no one say anything to me.

  I went out the same door Declan and I did last night and followed the path out to the stables. I wasn’t getting any strange vibes just yet, but there had to be something. Several of the staff were feeding the horses when I arrived. I immediately rushed over to Chloe the second I laid eyes on her, and then I searched the rest of the stables, stopping in front of the door in the back of the barn. I reached for the handle and pushed it open. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was looking for, but I was desperate. I was going to check every inch of the stables in order to figure this out.

  “Can I help you find something, Miss Luna?” one of the stable boys asked me.

  “No, I don’t think so,” I answered. “Was there anything weird out here when you got here this morning?”

  He looked at me like I was crazy, and maybe I was, but I just couldn’t believe there was not one sign that something odd happened here last night.

  “Not that I’ve seen,” he replied. “What kind of weird are you referring to?”

  “I’m not really sure,” I admitted. “It’s just a gut feeling, if that makes sense.”

  “Follow that gut, Miss Luna,” he said confidently. “It’ll never lead you astray the way people will.”

  “Thank you,” I said. “I needed to hear that right about now.”

  I continued to look through the stables, climbing the ladder to get the second floor. There was nothing but hay for the horses until I got to the far corner. I climbed over the bales of hay as if they were steppingstones, jumping down to see the corner had no hay. There were blankets and what looked like men’s clothing. Someone was sleeping out here. I needed to find out who it was. They probably saw whatever it was that happened last night. I rushed back down the ladder and ran for the man who spoke to me earlier and asked him about the area up top.

  “As far as I know, no one stays up there,” he said, confusion crossing his face. He was wishing he never said a word to me. Most people come to that conclusion.

  “Can you ask around for me?” I asked delicately. “I promise no one is in trouble. I just want to ask them a few questions.”

  “Of course, Miss Luna,” he agreed hesitantly. “I’ll send for you the minute I hear something.”

  “Thank you,” I nodded as I walked away.

  There was no way I could keep this from my father. Not only did I have to tell him about Declan and I ending up back in my room without recalling how we got there, but there was also someone living up in the stables. The last part probably wouldn’t upset him. He was kind and generous and would most likely find out who it was and see if there was any way he could help. He would be mad about me not coming to him in the first place, which is what Levi tried to get me to do, but I chose not to listen.

  I took my time returning to the castle. I didn’t feel like rushing towards the lecture that was waiting for me. I hoped that because the other alphas were still here, my father wouldn’t be too hard on me, but that never happened. If anything, my uncles were more likely to chime in and add to the verbal lashing.

  When I entered the castle it was quiet, my footsteps echoing throughout the hallway telling my father that someone was walking towards his study. He would be able to hear the rhythm of my heartbeat and recognize that it was me coming to talk to him.

  When I got to the door I paused, taking a deep breath before knocking, inviting myself to be yelled at for keeping this kind of information to myself. It hadn’t been a secret for long, but in my father’s eyes it shouldn’t have been a secret at all. It was hypocritical considering how many secrets he kept, but he wasn’t going to see it the same way I did.

  “Luna?” My father called from the other side of the door. There was no hiding now. Even if I wanted to run away, he would find me because he knew it was me standing on the other side of the door. I sighed deeply as I reached for the handle.

  My father was sitting behind his desk with his feet propped up to one side. He seemed comfortable and I felt bad knowing my information was going to ruin that. My uncles were here as well. Uncle Gabe and Uncle Alex were standing over my father’s shoulders, showing him something from a book, while Uncle Chris and Uncle Ben sat on the couches, looking at documents sprawled out in front of them on the table.

  “Have you spoken to your mother yet?” my father asked, putting his feet down and sitting up straight in his chair.

  “No,” I answered, not sure why I needed to speak to my mother. I’m sure I did something wrong, but that list grew longer every day, so I wasn’t exactly sure on the specifics.

  “Good luck,” my father chuckled as he went back to looking at the book my uncles handed him.

  “What is that supposed to mean?” I asked, taking a few steps towards the middle of the study.

  “You left your own ball without telling anyone and without thanking your guests for coming,” my father told me.

  I rolled my eyes when I realized that was the problem. We had bigger things to worry about right now.

  “That’s going to have to wait,” I said as I plopped myself down into one of the armchairs next to the couches.

  “I don’t think your mother is going to see it that way,” my father smirked as he continued to avoid eye contact with me.

  “We have a problem,” I responded, frustration growing as my father continued to shrug me off.

  “You have a problem,” my father reminded me. “Not we.”

  “Will you listen to me?” I shouted, my hand covering my mouth when I realized I had raised my voice in his study in front of the other alphas. The study was the one place where my father had complete control. Outside of the study, he accepted that his family was going to act casual within their own home and that might include yelling at one another and at times being disrespectful. He asked only that we behave when in his study; it was located in the same hall as the council members’ offices and he didn’t want them to know his family acted like idiots from time to time.

  My father saw the regret in my eyes, and instead of remindi
ng me that I was in his study and that I should know how to behave, he leaned forward on his desk and clasped his hands together. He looked me straight in the eyes and said, “I’m listening.”

  “Last night, I went out to the stables to get some fresh air and Declan followed me. Everything was fine until we both woke up this morning in my room with no recollection of how we got there. Neither one of us had any wine last night, so don’t try and tell me it’s because we were drinking,” I added quickly before they could brush me off. I felt the need to make sure everyone knew alcohol was not part of the problem. It was usually the first question asked in scenarios like this.

  “What was Declan doing sleeping in your room?” my father asked, only paying attention to that part of the story.

  “I just told you, neither one of us know how we got there. Declan thinks magic is involved, but we don’t have any proof of that.”

  “What makes you think that?” Uncle Alex asked, taking a few steps in my direction before stopping and looking back at my father. The vampire alpha nodded at him and then Uncle Alex came towards me.

  “It’s the only thing that explains how Declan and I got from the stables to my room,” I said as I looked up at Uncle Alex. He bent down at my side so that he was eye level with me.

  “I’m going to place my hand on your chest for a minute,” he told me. His hand touched me, and a warm sensation covered my chest and neck. His hand glowed a bright white, until it started to turn into yellow or maybe even gold. I wasn’t able to pay attention the longer his hand was on my chest. The burning was becoming more intense, and just as I was about to scream, he ripped his hand away from me.

  “She’s right,” he said as he looked at my father. “I don’t recognize the energy though.”

  “Levi!” my father shouted, his voice echoing through the room. Everything about him was powerful, but he rarely showed it off, so when he did, it was actually quite frightening. It reminded me that I shouldn’t mess with him. It never lasted very long before I forgot again and went back to my mischievous ways, but I think it made my father feel better when he reminded me who the boss was around here.

  The door opened and Levi came in. His study was right next to my father’s. He seemed surprised to see me, sighing as he assumed I did something he was going to have to clean up.

  “Go get Declan and bring him back here,” my father told him. Levi seemed confused. I could tell he wanted to ask questions but, unlike me, he actually listened to my father and backed away towards the door. “I’ll explain later.”

  My father never said he’d explain anything to me later. I guess that was the perk of being the heir to the alpha. You got to be in on the loop full of secrets and lies.

  “Why didn’t you come to me with this sooner?” my father asked.

  Here comes the lecture.

  “I wanted to find out for myself what happened,” I told him. “I went out to the stables and looked around, hoping whoever did this left something behind.”

  “And did they?” My father stared directly into my eyes as he spoke. Sometimes I wondered if he was trying to be stern with me or if it was because every time he looked into my eyes he saw his own staring back at him. My father was once mischievous like myself. He and my uncles found themselves in trouble just like the girls and I did when they were our age. He snapped out of it when he started taking on duties meant for the heir of the alpha, but that didn’t change the fact that he once was a rebel just like me.

  “No,” I answered, disappointment in my tone. “But I think someone’s living up on the second floor of the stables. I don’t know if that has anything to do with whoever attacked Declan and I, but it seemed odd.”

  “We’ll look into it,” my father told me just as a knock came from the door. Levi had been able to find Declan a lot faster than I anticipated. I almost turned around to see them walk through the door, but something stopped me. Seeing Declan still made me nervous even though we had spent more time together in the last twenty-four hours than we had in the last year. The idea of being bound to him changed everything, and now I couldn’t act normal around him. I didn’t want to admit that though.

  When Levi and Declan walked up to the couches, Declan finally noticed that I was in the room. He glanced down at me and smiled, my own expression frozen until I heard my father’s voice. He had moved from behind the desk, leaning against the front of it like he was last night when he and the other alphas were talking. He nodded at Uncle Alex again, and I soon realized Declan was about to experience the same burning sensation that I just had.

  He didn’t squirm at all. He had either been through something like this before or he had a very high pain tolerance.

  When Uncle Alex pulled away, Declan took a deep breath. “Does anyone want to tell me what that was about?”

  “Same as Luna,” Uncle Alex told my father, forcing Declan to look at me. He wasn’t glaring or showing any kind of emotion, which would’ve been better than what he was doing right now. I couldn’t read him at all, but he seemed to be able to read me, and I didn’t like that one bit.

  “So, you both were attacked last night?” Uncle Ben asked as my father struggled with how to address the situation. He could’ve if he wanted to, but he was hesitating, and I had a feeling it was because I was in the room. I’m not sure why, because he never had a problem being straightforward with me before, but it was suddenly an issue now. “Do you know by who or what?”

  “I just told you it was magic,” I answered just as Declan was about to speak. He was probably going to tell my uncle the same thing but in a much more proper way.

  “That doesn’t tell us much, Luna,” Uncle Chris attempted to explain to me. “There’s a lot of different kinds of magic out there.”

  “I don’t know any more than Luna does,” Declan said before I could respond. It was probably good he was here because my response to Uncle Chris most likely would’ve found me in more trouble.

  “What’s the last thing you remember?” Uncle Gabe asked Declan.

  “Standing in the middle of the stables,” Declan answered.

  “The energy surrounding the magic used on you isn’t familiar to me, which means a strong and unknown sorcerer attacked you,” Uncle Alex explained.

  “But why would they want to attack us in the first place?” I asked. “We were minding our own business.”

  “That’s an excellent question,” my father agreed, turning towards Uncle Alex. “Is there a way to track this energy?”

  “I need to get out to the stables and see if I can pick up the same energy out there. I’ll be able to determine if I can track it after that.”

  “In the meantime, we need to increase the number of guards on the fence and the entrances to the castle,” Uncle Chris suggested.

  “We already have so many out on the fence,” I said after observing the number of guards standing against the fence doing nothing on a daily basis.

  “And yet whoever did this to you was still able to get into the castle and take you and Declan up to the second floor,” my uncle continued. “Two threats in less than twelve hours is something we all need to be worried about.”

  “Is it possible a traitor is within the castle?” Levi asked. Suddenly it became real that we were in danger. It didn’t sound as bad when it was just magic involved, but the idea of a traitor under the same roof every day was a whole new level of anxiety that I didn’t know existed within me.

  “As much as I don’t want to believe it,” my father answered his heir, “we can’t look past that possibility until we have proof that there is no traitor among us.”

  My father gave orders to Levi to make sure he let everyone know they were not to leave the castle under any circumstances until they heard otherwise from the alphas. The rest of our families were not going to like that. There was something about being told to stay put that made the members of our families suddenly feel like breaking free. My father was better off saying nothing, and he knew it the second he gave Levi
the order.

  Declan and Levi left the study, the other alphas not far behind them. I was about to leave myself when my father stopped me and told me to sit back down.

  I took slow strides over to the couch, plopping down just as my father sat down gracefully on the couch across from me. I couldn’t tell if he was still mad at me or not. His energy didn’t scream angry, but my father was really good at hiding his emotions. I wouldn’t know what he was feeling until he started talking.

  “Am I supposed to read your mind or something?” I asked when the silence became too much. “I’m pretty sure we can’t do that, but you’re looking at me as if I should know what you’re thinking.”

  “Lose the attitude, Luna,” my father spoke sternly. Yup. He’s definitely mad.

  “What do you want from me?” I sank back into the couch, getting myself comfortable for the conversation ahead.

  “I want to know why you didn’t come to me with this before you went and searched the stables,” he finally said, never once blinking.

  I sighed, annoyed that I had to answer the question again. “I already told you it was because I wanted to find answers for what happened to Declan and I.”

  “And you think that if you came to your uncles and I first you wouldn’t get those answers?” I could tell he was trying to understand, but whether or not he actually succeeded in understanding was yet to be seen.

  “After the revealing conversation we had last night, no, I don’t think I would’ve received any answers,” I answered honestly.

  “We told you it was for your protection.”

  “And I have told you many times before last night that keeping me in the dark doesn’t protect me. It makes me vulnerable, because I only know a quarter of what’s going on. If you’re not going to give me the answers, then I’m going to go look for them on my own.”

  “That’s not the way this family works, Luna,” my father reminded me.

  “It’s the way it works now,” I informed him. “If I’m old enough for you to throw me away in a binding ceremony, then I’m old enough to make my own decisions.”