The Tiger Prince's Witch
Chapter 35 - Surprise Visitor

"Renata, is this true?" Randal asked, looking at the woman who he could tell was terrified.

"I don't know what they're talking about. You know I would never betray you." Renata couldn't meet their eyes as she spoke, and Lynn walked up to her with fury coursing through her veins, knowing the girl was lying. "How could you do this to us? What have you told Santi?" She asked as Renata tried to slink away.

"I...I...he said he would pay me a lot of money if I told him what was going on in the palace. I told him about the arranged mating between Kamryn and Spirit Energy. I also told him about when Kamryn went missing and then about Anna coming back with him. I haven't told him anything else." Renata said as she tried to get out of Stanley's grip.

"Guards," Randal yelled, and two men came rushing through the door. "Take her to the dungeons. Spread the word that anyone found to be a traitor or working with Santi will be placed in the dungeons. After you're done, we'll go over who will be asked to leave and who will stay."

The guards took a crying Renata away. Lynn and Randal knew they needed to go through their staff with a fine toothcomb. She was the last person they would have thought would turn on them. If she had been swayed by a bit of money, they knew others may be talked into turning on them for less.

"I'm sorry about your assistant. So far, everyone else we've talked to has been upfront, and there's been no bad energy from them. We haven't gotten through everyone yet. We'll get back to work." Caprice said as she and Stanley went to finish their interviews.

"I'm truly hurt that she would be the one to do this to us. What did we do to have these traitors among us? First Melita, then Lucas, and now Renata. Who's next?" Lynn asked as she sat down in a chair.

"We still have one other thing that we need to figure out," Randal said, knowing all the snakes in the palace haven't been identified yet.

"What's that?" Lynn asked, already feeling a headache coming on.

"We still don't know who poisoned Kamryn and dumped him in the woods."

Kamryn and Anna were lying on the couch in front of the fireplace. She couldn't help feeling like something was wrong. There was an impending doom feeling around the palace that made her think there was something larger than Santi after them.

"What's on your mind?" Kamryn asked, and he pulled her closer liking the feel of his tiny mate against him.

"I don't believe Santi was able to suddenly do black magic out of nowhere. There has to be something even more significant than him at play, but I don't know what. Someone has to be backing him." Anna said, racking her brain, trying to figure out who could be that evil. Santi was angry because he wanted to be king. She knew something else was planning more than just taking over the throne.

"Who or what would want him to take control of the kingdom, and for what purpose?" He asked, frowning behind her. If Anna felt this way, he knew she most likely was right. There was something more than Santi.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling when we have the battle, whatever it is will show itself. I'm scared that it wants us to use up our energy fighting Santi, so when we're done with him, we'll be weak, and they'll be able to overpower us. We need to prepare even more than we've already been doing. Starting tomorrow, I want everyone to begin training to get comfortable with their powers. I also want those of the palace that will be fighting with us to learn how to defend themselves against black magic. Yes, Santi is a tiger, but he's also not playing fair. We need to be prepared for many different scenarios." Anna tried to think of everything they could do to counter something that was an unknown threat to them. "Alright, my queen. We'll do as you say." Kamryn kissed the back of her head and put his hand over her flat tummy. He was anxious to feel the bump of their cub, which was an outcome of their love for one another. Anna put her hand over his. "Our little cub will be here before we know it. The fate of all of us is dependent on him or her and their cousin." She said quietly.

Santi was getting irritated. Everyone had gone silent in the palace. He knew Melita had been caught and put in a cell, but what about the rest? He needed to hear from someone to know what was going on with the two young couples. His success was dependent on their failure. His phone started ringing, and when he looked down, he saw it was Gary.

"Hey, alpha, what have you found out?" Santi asked him.

"All of Spirit Energy has left their coven. It seems they have gone to the palace to assist in the battle. Also, we found Elsie, but we couldn't take her away. There's a spell around her that prevents her from leaving the area around the cabin she was put in. She doesn't know who she is or remember that she was a witch." Gary rubbed his head in frustration. When would he be able to get out from under this madman? He wanted to go back to being the alpha of his pack. Now he and his men acted as though they worked for Santi.

"Let me figure something out. I'll find a way to get her out. So Spirit Energy thinks they can help their little witches in this fight. All it's going to lead to is the destruction of their entire coven. Do you have anything else for me?" Santi sat at his desk and took a drink of his coffee, which was already getting cold.

"That's it for now. I'll let you know if we find out anything else." Gary answered.

"Alright, when I have plans in place for Elsie, I'll call you. At least we know where she is, and she can't leave." Santi disconnected the call and dialed another number. He got a chill down his spine as soon as the person on the other end answered.

"We're getting close. We've found Elsie, and everything else is going as we predicted." Santi said to the one person that could make him shudder in fear.

"Good. That's what I want to hear. Soon it will all be ours, and the world won't know what hit it." The gravelly voice on the other end said, making Santi's blood run cold. When he hung up, he shivered. Santi couldn't wait to kill that man when he was done with him. He thought he was pulling all the strings, but Santi would show him he wasn't in charge of anything.

Randal and Lynn were in their office when a guard came to the door stating they had an unexpected visitor. They were cautious of anyone coming into the palace for an unplanned visit, so they decided to meet the person outside at the gate. They ran into Stanley and Caprice on the way.

"We have a visitor. Would you come with us to see what they want?" Randal asked them.

"Absolutely," Stanley answered, and they followed the royal couple to the entry. They saw a man standing behind the gate at the end of the long pathway as they walked outside. The four of them made their way to him, and they could tell he was nervous. He was tall and muscular with tan skin, black hair, and eyes so dark they were almost black.

"Hello, I'm King Randal, and this is Queen Lynette. Stanley and Caprice are from the Spirit Energy Coven. What can we do for you?" The man looked between the four people in front of him with fear evident on his face.

"I have something to discuss with you, but we need to do it away from the palace. You have eyes and ears in there that can't hear what I'm going to tell you." He looked at the four of them again.

Stanley could feel fear and nervousness from the man, but nothing sinister. He felt whatever he was going to say was the truth. He looked toward Randal and nodded that it was okay. "Alright, but all four of us are coming," Randal said, gauging the man's reaction.

"That's fine, just none of your staff." He said with relief. He had been worried they would want him to go into the palace, and he didn't know how many people inside could be trusted. Randal told the guards to wait at the gate. The four of them followed the man outside far enough away so no one could hear their conversation.

"What's your name?" Randal asked when they stopped.

"My name is Gary, and I'm alpha of the Black Mist Pack."