"Tell me you found something worth my time," Derek said, his voice gravelly as he strode into his study, exhaustion weighing heavily on his shoulders.
The room was already crowded. His Beta, Declan, stood near the desk with Kai and Connor. A fourth man, shadowed and silent, waited in the corner.
Derek was bone-tired. He had spent the entire day at one of his flagship energy dams after engineers reported "suspicious activity" on-site. He had been trekking through mud and machinery all day, only making it back to the palace as the sun began to dip. Earlier that morning, after Kira had refused to speak further on the matter, he had sent Declan to Aethelwulf to dig for information.
Declan stepped forward, holding a plain envelope. His expression was grim. Just like Derek promised Kira, he was getting to the root of her claims.
"I'm afraid the Queen was telling the truth."
