Chapter 3. The Search for the Lost Princess

Aldrich’s POV

It was drizzling. The clouds were dark, and thunder was rumbling across the sky. I stood in front of the tomb, my hands folded respectfully in front of me and my head lowered, showing the last respect to the man who had been laid six feet down.

My jaw clenched, and I didn’t mind getting drenched by the rain.

I looked up when I felt a cover over my head and tilted my head to the side. My twin, Arsenio, stood beside me with a black umbrella.

“You’ll get yourself all wet,” he muttered and exhaled. He cast a swift glance at the tomb.

“Dad was murdered, and those assholes didn’t think he was, and they covered his death as an accident. Dad wasn’t suicidal. Someone in our pack murdered him.” I ground my teeth.

“Look around, Arsenio. None of them showed up at his funeral.”

“I knew the council of elders wasn’t going to show up in the first place, but standing out here would make you sick, and Dad wouldn’t want that.”

I pursed my lips and averted my gaze from him. My eyes fell on his black shoes. They were getting wet.

“Dad was loyal to the king. He was his beta. Aldrich, you’re not as furious as I am, seeing how he was treated on his deathbed and even at his funeral. He never got the respect he deserved.”

Someone walked up to us with an umbrella. We felt his presence and spun around almost immediately.

“Alpha King.” We greeted him with a bow.

He wore a black outfit and a tie.

“I didn’t come here as Alpha King. I came here to pay my last respects to a friend, a brother, and a trusted man, Philip Harrison.”

We knew the Alpha King’s health was deteriorating. He shouldn’t be out in this cold.

“I guess you were the only friend my father had because no one else came,” Arsenio replied. He took his gaze away from King Nicholas and glanced at the tomb.

“I’m sorry, Aldrich.” King Nicholas sighed. I wanted to correct him that it was Arsenio who was speaking to him, but decided against it. With the way his eyes squinted, I doubted he could see us clearly.

He couldn’t tell us apart, though Arsenio could let out his feelings more than I did, and he wasn’t wearing a suit jacket like I was. He was in black pants and a black sleeve.

“I understand how you feel…” King Nicholas’ voice trailed off.

Arsenio huffed. “No, you don’t.”

I touched Arsenio’s arm. “He’s the King. He came, at least.”

Arsenio cursed under his breath.

After our mother’s death when we were kids, we were raised by our father despite his busy schedule with pack duties and fighting wars. He had always been there for us.

Now, we lost him.

Without having a clue about his death or who murdered him, and even at his funeral, he wasn’t even respected.

“My condolences…” King Nicholas’s voice sounded weak now. “Your father…” He coughed. “He was a good man. I’m sad that we lost him.”

His illness had made him look older than he was. He looked so fragile and old. His face was covered in wrinkles, and his eyes were round and small.

“But the pack cannot go on without a Beta for long. You’re Philip’s son, and you should think about being the next Beta. Come to the palace tomorrow with your brother.” He exhaled and tightened his grip on the umbrella. “I will appoint you as the next Beta.”

My mission would be to find out who murdered my father. We bowed to King Nicholas, and he bowed to us, and to the tomb.

He turned and strode away from sight.

I went back to the tomb and placed a flower on it. I touched the name that was scribbled on it.

Philip Harrison.

We left the funeral and went home.

“Can I get a glass of whiskey?” Arsenio asked while flipping through the file. I was at the bar section in the living room and took out a bottle of whiskey and two glasses.

“Here.” I gave it to him.

“I was looking through the files that he was working on before his death. What did he say to you before he died?” Arsenio looked up from the file.

I rubbed a finger on the brim of the glass, and the memory of holding his cold body in my arms came back. I shoved the hurtful memories away from my thoughts. “…protect the Alpha family at all costs.” I sipped from the glass.

“He wanted us to be the Alpha’s Betas,” Arsenio added.

“He didn’t have us trained for nothing.” I flopped on the couch next to him and exhaled.

The next morning, we drove to the Alpha’s palace, and a guard opened the door for us as if he had been waiting.

“The Alpha King is in the courtroom.”

“Greetings, Alpha King.”

“I’m glad you decided to come here,” he began. He was seated on the throne, and Arsenio and I stood before him with our hands behind us and our gaze lowered.

“I have appointed you both as the new Betas. It’s going to be tough, and you’re going to face a lot of challenges because you’re both young.”

He stood up from the throne and stepped forward. He stood between my brother and me and patted our shoulders. “But I will trust you because you’re Philip’s sons.”

“Thank you, Alpha King, and we pledge our loyalty to you. We’ll defend the pack and protect you for the rest of our lives, King Nicholas.”

He chuckled at our response. “You’re indeed Philip’s sons.”

His hands left our shoulders, and he went back to pick up something from the seat he was on.

“I’m sending you on a mission. I want to trust you. I want to be certain that I can leave my pack in your hands if anything happens to me.” He stretched out a paper toward me. I took it from his hand.

“I want you to find my daughter. Your father found the assassin who attempted to kill my daughter years ago.”

I leaned on the chair and dabbed his eyes with the back of my hand. “That’s the description I could make of her. She was very young when I lost her, and this…” He gave an heirloom necklace to Arsenio. “That was the only item left with her. If you find her, she will have this necklace.” He coughed and placed a hand over his mouth.

“We’ll make sure to bring your daughter safely to you, Alpha King,” I pledged and bowed.

“You can leave the palace.”

I nodded curtly, and we stepped out of the palace and set off on a journey to the southern pack to find the lost princess.