Tangled Hearts - The Alpha's Baby Mama
Chapter 90: I killed King Tanner...

Chapter 90: I killed King Tanner...

A few hours ago.

Xavier POV

We crossed the compound and headed towards the outskirts of the guest quarters. It had taken me about fifteen minutes to convince Noah to come meet Kurtis and there was a reason why we had insisted he come to meet Kurtis outside of his office...

We were trying to be careful. At this point, we couldn’t afford to expose all our plans to listening ears stationed all over the pack house. Noah fell into sync behind me as we walked through the thick grove of the secluded bamboo grove, his jaw clenched and brows arched in irritation. I was undeterred by his foul mood. When we got to the edge of the grove, he stopped and turned to me with a frown on his face.

"Don’t tell me that we’re walking into that," he pointed ’it’s too thick and there might be crawling animals there,".

"Don’t worry, it’s safe, Your Majesty," I said soothingly "I understand your reluctance to meet with Kurtis outside your comfort zone but this is the only way we can be sure that this doesn’t get out. A lot of things are going to be revealed and we’re trying to make sure only the right ears hear them. Also, a bamboo grove is the best way to muffle voices and ...

"Fine," he sighed interrupting me "But it better be worth my time and effort," he said and brushed past me entering the grove.

Silently, we walked through the path, until we reached the centre with a lot of constructed wooden chairs scattered all over it. Kurtis must have noticed us coming because immediately, he rose to his feet and lowered his frame in what seemed to be an exaggerated bow. Kurtis wasn’t a fan of respect. It was either this meeting with Noah was important or something else was underway that he didn’t mention to me.

"Alpha," Kurtis murmured "Thank you for meeting me here and I’m sorry it didn’t go the other way. I was just trying to...".

"Cut the crap, Kurtis," Noah said impatiently cutting him off "Get on with it... why did you want to see me and just so you know, I came here under duress from him," he pointed at me "And against my better judgement, so you better not waste my time giving me information that will do little or nothing to help me,".

For a second, I thought Kurtis was going to storm off or ask Noah to speak to him more politely because that was his manner and it didn’t help that I saw his eyes flash with rebellious defiance. Then, just as swiftly as I had seen it, his unreadable expression slipped into place as he inclined his neck towards Noah, nodding in agreement.

"One of the ultimate goals of King Tanner is to possess everyone and bring them to his kneel. From everything I’ve gathered so far and looked into, I think he has always wanted to gain entrance to you and your kingdom so using his daughter was a perfect excuse,".

"But why?" Noah scoffed "It’s not like I have something important that he wants. Since we started trading, I make sure he gets what he wants and sometimes more. So, why would he want to start a war with me for no reason,".

Kurtis turned to me, his eyes blank as he paused. I could see he was trying to look for the best way to go about what he was about to tell Noah so a tense silence stretched between them. Finally, Kurtis raised his gaze to Noah’s, his eyes drawn in determination.

"I have reason to believe that King Tanner of the West is an impostor,".

It took Noah a few seconds to take in what Kurtis told him but when he finally ingested it, his eyes turned purple with rage and in one swift second, he crossed over to where Kurtis was and seized him by his neck, his pupils going black.

"How dare you make such preposterous lies? How dare you insult a King without evidence? Do you know the implication of what you have just said?" Noah yelled.

"Your majesty please," I stepped in between both men as I tried to remove Noah’s strong grip on his collar "You’ll choke him to death even before you hear the truth. So, can you just exercise patience a bit?"

Slowly, he released his hold on Kurtis, but his gaze was still on him watching him with malice. Kurtis, in his usual uncaring manner, brushed an imaginary lint and came towards Noah, coldness in his eyes and a fake smile playing on his lips. a

"Your majesty," he said "Let me rephrase.... The person posing as King Tanner of the West is an impostor and not who you all think it is,".

This time around, Noah staggered backwards as if Kurtis’s claim had pushed him. "What?" tore from his throat as he scoffed "That’s impossible! No one would be so brazen as to penetrate his Kingdom and seize the throne. Tanner has the best of armies and more than a thousand resources at his disposal. So, there is almost no way to have him dethroned,".

The expression on Kurtis’s face remained unchanged as he stared at Noah, I was afraid that the two would start another brawl so I came in between them.

"Your majesty," Kurtis said quietly "What I am telling you is not based on falsehood but it’s a proven fact. Not only did my network of intelligence confirm this, but the person currently ruling the West as the Lycan King is too erratic to be Tanner. Think about it... all of the stupid policies he introduced and you more than anyone, are aware that all the Packs under the West territory are suffering... so...".

"Impossible," Noah growled again, he seemed to have recovered from the shock. His voice was firmer as he pinned Kurtis with a glare "You had better start making a great deal more sense because if I discover it’s just a ploy to drive fear into people or deceive me, I won’t hold back from punishing you,".

Kurtis gave a disgruntled scoff "You know me better than that, your majesty. I am not here to cause problems for anyone. I am simply doing my sworn duty as an Alpha of the East Coalition. I am only trying to protect you and our packs,".

Running a hand through his hair, Noah’s nostrils flared in a sharp exhale. "The only way I will believe all of these lies is if you can show me some proof or evidence to support your backing and for your good, it better be strong enough because if it isn’t, I’ll personally have you tried for treason. Making false claims against a Lycan King is treacherous and punishable by death. Are you sure you still want to proceed?"

Kurtis chuckled, giving us an amused smile as he inclined his head in Noah’s direction "Of course, your majesty but I also have a request to make,".

"A request?" Noah scoffed and turned to give me an accusatory glare "It is evident that you haven’t taught Kurtis a lot of things like how he cannot bargain with me. You’re getting sloppy, Xavier. This man came highly recommended by you, I can’t believe this,".

"It’s only fair, your Majesty," Kurtis said slowly before I had a chance to speak "I am putting my life on the line to prove something. I should be granted at least one wish in return. I am not asking for much and I don’t care about formalities or the hierarchy of things..." He shook his head "All of these rules are stupid, to say the truth. We’re mythical creatures and not humans... we are animals so to speak, we should behave like that in a way... though not in a rowdy kind of way,".

Noah’s face turned white in disbelief as he stared at Kurtis while I tried to hold back the laughter bubbling inside of me. If there was anything I had gotten used to was Kurtis’s careless almost flippant way of speaking. He didn’t care much about following the throng... in fact, Kurtis disliked doing things like everyone did theirs and had no filter.

After glaring at him for a while, Noah shook his head and sighed "One request,".

"If I prove that the person posing as King Tanner isn’t him, I want you to listen to me and do everything I will say regarding the best way to go about it and that’s because I am more experienced than anyone here, your majesty. So, I know better, it’s useless and disastrous to ignore my input,".

The corners of Noah’s lips raised into a sneer as he eyed Kurtis "You can fan your ego all you want but don’t expect me to aid it. I simply do not have the time to stoke it for you. Now, I would listen to whatever advice you give concerning going about this situation but I will still make the decisions as to if your advice is stupid and should be dumped or sensible enough to be carried out. That’s pretty much how we run things here,".

"Fair enough," Kurtis shrugged "Come with me," he made a sweeping gesture towards the inner part of the groove.

Together, we walked for a while, until we reached two of Kurtis’s men, holding a plain wooden chest between them. He indicated to them that they drop the chest on a tree stump which they did before they stepped back. Indicating for us to come closer, Kurtis carefully unlatched and raised the lid.

Noah inhaled sharply as his eyes widened at the contents of the wooden box. In it was a severed head – that had shrunk considerably in size but the features were still intact and recognizable. There was a royal crown on the shrunken head too...

"This..." Noah pointed unable to finish his words.

"Yes," Kurtis nodded, his expression blank "This is King Tanner, Lycan King of the West and Alpha to the Wild Hunt Pack. His head has been with me for over two years, and I’ve tried my best to maintain it as best as I can. Also, I want this to stand as an alibi if I would be tried in the future,".

"An Alibi? Tried in the future?" Noah turned to him "What do you mean?"

"I’m sorry, Your Majesty," Kurtis lowered his gaze "It is I who killed King Tanner,".