Chapter 80: Rogues and Headlines

REIGN

^~Never trust anyone. They all betray you in the end…~^

“Pops, we’ve got a problem,” I blurted out as Milly and I burst into his study. He looked up from the newspaper in his hand. Diego stood in the corner, looking furious

“Yes, we do, Reign. Yes, we do.” He slammed the paper down on the desk in front of us.

Milly swore as I read the headline. “I told you. Reign! I told you!”

^RUMOR HAS IT THE NEW ALPHA IN TOWN HAS BEEN GETTING COZY WITH HER BETA!^

I sank into a chair, holding the paper in shaking hands.

“I’m only going to ask you this once, Reign, so you better answer honestly.”

I looked up at Diego.

“Is this true?”

“We didn’t have sex, but yes, something happened, and I thought I could confide in a friend about it but obviously not.” I stared back down at the paper again, blinking away the rising tears.

~Milly was right.~

~Brie can’t be trusted.~

“Right. Well, that settles it, then. This beta has to go.”

“You can’t kill him. He has a family. He was Dad’s best friend!” I blurted out.

Diego scoffed. “Well, he wasn’t thinking about them when you two were fooling around, was he?”

“I wasn’t planning on having him killed, Reign, but his time as a beta has come to an end.” Pops looked at me sternly.

“But I need a beta,” I countered.

“I agree you do. That is why I am assigning Milly as your beta.”

My jaw fell open in shock.

Milly erupted, “What? No way! That’s not fair! I don’t want to be a beta! I am a soldier. I fight. I don’t sit behind some stupid desk and do paperwork or finances.” She crossed her arms, pouting.

“That’s an order, Milly. From your king.” She grimaced as Pops addressed her, but reluctantly nodded.

“Now, what was this issue you were coming to me about, seeing as you knew nothing about this, clearly?”

Pops tucked away the paper. I took a deep breath and explained everything that had happened with the rogues and how the leader seemed to leave a message from Keir.

“Interesting. And we have no idea where they came from?”

I shook my head. “My guards caught the scent from the northeast that led them to where we found their camp, but they just disappeared into thin air.

“They could’ve came from anywhere. If they could disappear that easily then they clearly laid their scent so that we would find them.”

Diego cracked his knuckles, anticipating a hunt for these rogues. Pops looked deep in thought.

“They have left our lands, so for now we won’t search for them. But we will prepare in case Keir does arrive again. We do not need any more tragedies on our hands,” Pops finally spoke up.

Diego looked on, flabbergasted.

“In the meantime, Reign and Milly, you both must prepare for the visitor from the Lunar Pack who will be arriving soon.

“He is the youngest Prince of King Noah, so I expect there to be a warm welcome.” He looked at us sternly,

Milly scoffed but nodded. She always hated the royal protocols, which meant we sucked up to whoever was visiting from neighboring packs.

“When is he expected to arrive?” I ignored Milly’s look of disgust in my direction.

“He left his pack lands earlier this week, so any day now, really. It's probably best you both go and prepare.

“I will send Diego to deliver the message to your beta that his services are no longer needed. I will also organize a press release stating that Milly will be taking over as beta for you.”

We nodded reluctantly. At this point, there was really no point in arguing with Pops. It was clear he had made his mind up, and he was where every one of us got our stubborn streak from.

We left his office and made our way back downstairs. Milly grumbled the entire way. “Why do I have to do it? Why not Axel? If I wanted to be a stinking beta, I would’ve been.”

“I’m humbled, Milly. I really am,” I muttered sarcastically. She shot me a dangerous look.

I smirked before responding, “Look, it’s what’s best for the pack. I need a beta. You and I have always been close. And Axel has his own thing with Storm and the mages. Come on, this could be fun.”

I nudged her, smirking. She rolled her eyes but eventually nodded.

We went our separate ways, and I headed back to the pack house. Time to prepare for our new guest.

As I drove along the country roads, my mind wandered to Brianna and what would drive her to betray my trust like that. Not even as a friend but as her alpha.

I would have to bring her into a meeting with Milly and narrow it down. If anything, I was grateful to have Milly on my side. She was a female version of her father. Just as ruthless, just as merciless.

I couldn’t ask for anyone better as my beta.

I flicked the light on in my office, which used to be my dad’s, and sighed heavily. The room was still decorated how he had it. Somehow I couldn’t bring myself to change anything. Not yet.

I sat behind the desk and settled in for a night of catching up on paperwork. I’d need to talk to Storm and Axel about setting up extra security to alarm us whenever Keir decided to show up again.

And of course, there was the impending arrival of the Lunar Prince… It was going to be a long few months, that was for sure.