The Wolf Head
Zion's P.O.V.
Having lunch with the family was nice, and after eating, we all sat around talking for a bit when I realized Rain had spaced out for a while. When I asked her what was wrong, she told me how worried she was that our people wouldn't forgive or understand why she went into hiding. She even went as far as to call herself a coward, which made Ryker angry at the fact that she was thinking so low of herself. I wish she saw what everyone else sees in her.
I tried convincing her they would be understanding and have faith in our people. I also linked James to see if he had devised any plans for her re-emergence celebration. He said he was still working on ideas and that he would call Mia and Morgan to help him, Sam, and Jessica with the plans. Rain gets a notification that all the packages from her shopping spree have arrived, so Orian and I make our way to the front gate to retrieve them.
"Some of these boxes are massive. We could load everything into the back of a truck to take them to the castle." Orian says once we reach the gate and see the massive pile of boxes.
"Why don't you ask Rain if you can use a truck? You're lucky she's letting you use the elevator." I link him and laugh as his face pales before looking at the guard. "Is this everything?"
"Yes, my King. The delivery guy said everything on the truck was to be delivered here." The guard says.
"Thank you. Orian call a few warriors to help us get them all to the castle." I say as I grab one of the biggest boxes and start walking towards the castle.
"Yes, my King." He says as he picks up a box and walks behind me.
We carry the boxes up to the suite, dropping them off in the living room before we head back down to grab more. After about thirty minutes, we have everything in the living room where Rain and Jessica are slowly going through them. We take the boxes with the cribs and changing table into the nursery, where we start putting them together. At some point, Sam and James come in and start helping as Orian whines and complains about parts not fitting and extra pieces.
"You're an idiot. If they have extra pieces, you didn't put it together correctly." Sam says, and we all laugh. He really is an idiot at times. He's like a brother to me, but he definitely isn't good at building things.
"They even have instructions!" James says. "It's not like you're building it from scratch."
Orian scrubs his hands over his face, looking flustered and completely overwhelmed. Suddenly, I get a link from the guard at the gate saying that another package just arrived. I tell him I'll be right down before ending the link and telling the guys I'll be right back and not to let Orian break my pup's beds before they have a chance to sleep in them.
When I walk into the living room, I find the ladies sitting on the floor surrounded by baby clothes and little toys, and I can't help but let out a small chuckle. I tell Rain about the package, and she has a look of confusion on her face.
"Did either of y'all order anything?" She asks Jessica and Lady Ezmerelda. They both shake their heads in response.
"All boxes have been accounted for," She tells me.
"Maybe Mia or Morgan ordered something for you," I say. It's a good chance they had something delivered as a surprise, knowing that she can't have a baby shower or go shopping at a mall or anything. "I'll go grab it real quick."
"Okay, thank you," She says before I walk out.
I quickly get to the front gate since I don't have Orian whining and nagging the whole way. He's lucky he got off as easily as he did with this entire situation. On my way, I started to get a bad feeling as I remembered how confused she was about the extra package, but I kept trying to push it all to the back of my mind.
"Is this the only package?" I ask the guard as I walk up to the package sitting on the ground right behind the gate.
"Yes, my King. But there's something strange. The guy said it was part of the last delivery, but it wasn't the same truck or the same delivery guy." He says, which makes the bad feeling I had earlier re-emerge.
"What did the guy look like?" I ask as I approach the package carefully. Something's off about it. It has no scent at all, and the only thing on it is my name, written in Sharpie. If it were from a store, It would have some kind of shipping label, but it doesn't.
"I didn't get a good look at him. He had shoulder-length brown hair and wasn't human, but he had no scent." He says, and the alarm bell automatically goes off in my mind. When I pick up the box to inspect it closer, I notice blood starting to seep through the bottom.
"How long ago was it dropped off?" I asked him.
"About twenty minutes ago. I was going to link you right away but got caught up in a conversation with the guards changing shifts." He answers nervously.
"Get me some gloves," I tell him. He quickly grabs gloves from the gate office and hands them to me.
I put on the gloves and prepare myself for what I may find. I slowly open the box and find a severed wolf head. It's small, probably female and young. It has no scent to it at all, which isn't normal, even for a wild animal, but I know it's a shifter.
"Lock us down and alert all guards and warriors to be on guard!" I tell him quickly before using our bond to search Rain out.
Once I can tell she's still in our suite and safe, I link her to tell her that we're locking the Kingdom down. She tries to ask what's wrong, but I can't tell her just yet, so I simply tell her I'll talk to her about it later before cutting the link and Linking the guys. I tell them to get to the gate quickly, bring Lady Ezmerelda with them, and for James and Evan to stay by Rain and Odett's side no matter what.
Less than two minutes later, Sam and Orian came running up to the gate, followed by Lady Ezmerelda. When they approach the gate, they ask what's wrong. I motion for them to walk over and look in the box. Orian walks up to the box and starts to take a look.
"Put these on," I say, handing him a pair of gloves.
"Is it that bad?" Sam asks. I nod in response and hand him and Lady Ezmerelda gloves as well.
"Is there any way to identify who it belongs to without the scent?" I ask Lady Ezmerelda after giving them all the time to look at the contents of the box.
"I'm not sure, but I'll try. It's not normal for the body to stay in wolf form after death, but I agree this is a young female shifter. This is all so strange." She says, and I agree that this stage.
"What are you going to tell Rain?" Orian links me.
"Not sure. I know as soon as I tell her, she will freak out." I answer.
"We have to tell her something. She knows something is up, and if you tell her you locked the Kingdom down for nothing, she will know you're lying through your teeth." He says, and I agree.
"I know I have to tell her, but I'm not sure how to tell her." I link him. "I'll have to ask her mother for help, but for now, I want you and Sam to find out as much as you can about the box and its contents."
"Yes, my King." They say simultaneously before Orian takes the box and makes their way to the crime lab.
"Lady Ezmerelda, can you come with me to my office?" I ask her.
"Yes, my King." She says, and we make our way to the castle. It was a quiet walk since we couldn't speak openly as we walked, and we couldn't mind link since she's not a werewolf.
"How do I tell Rain what's happened?" I ask her as soon as my office door is closed.
"I know you are worried that she will freak out after you tell her, but she is strong. She might handle it better than you think." She answers, sitting in a chair across from my desk. "If you need, I can be there when you tell her."
"That would be helpful. I know she has Jessica by her side, but I'm worried that she will think it's a threat and that they know she's not dead and go into full-on panic mode," I tell her honestly.
"It is a threat, but we don't know if they know she's alive or not. There is no telling what they know." She says honestly. "The important thing is to find out if it was just a coincidence that it got delivered on the same day all the twin's items were delivered."
"The guard said the delivery guy told him it was supposed to be on the other truck," I tell her. "It's unclear if he knew what was being delivered, but he obviously knew we had a large delivery earlier today."
"They may be watching your borders for activity." She says.
"That thought has crossed my mind. If they are, they will see when the other leaders and their people come in. They will most likely feel threatened and move up their plans to attack." I say, scrubbing my hands over my face.
"At least if they attack, we will be prepared." She reasons.
"Unless they decide to try and wait it out until everyone leaves," I say as all the possibilities hit me.
"Let's just jump one hurdle at a time. There's no point worrying about all the what-ifs. It will only sike you out." She says confidantly. "We need you at the top of your game. And you can only be that with your mate by your side."
"You're right. Let's focus on finding out who the wolf head belongs to and how and why it was sent to us." I say, standing from our seats and making our way out of my office. "We need to talk to Rain. Please let me know as soon as you find anything out."
"Where was the head taken?" She asks.
"Orian and Sam took it to our crime lab. It's behind the hospital." I answer as we walk up the stairs to the suite. "I'll have someone escort you as soon as we talk to Rain."
"Thank you. I will need to stop by the apartments and talk to my coven before I head to the crime lab." She says.
"I will let the warrior who will be escorting you know," I tell her, making her nod.