Forged in the Flames by Karima Sa'ad Usman

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Qusack walked briskly behind me.
“Do you really think he is right?” He linked me as we walked.
He was referring to what Gabriel had told me about the doctor, and I did not know how to respond.
Everything was necessary now, and I did not plan to take chances.
nd I would have found one of the moles, but who was he working for?
Could he have been under Fredrick’s employ all this while? I did not know, but acting immediately would make me make
mistakes, so I planned to launch an investigation on Doctor Newton and have him fall into my trap.
“We will investigate the bastard. Right now, I need to see Mother urgently,” I said, and
Qusack stopped me from walking so I could look at him.
He had a worried expression as if he was afraid about what I was about to do to my mother.
“You heard Gabriel, Niko. She was in a bad place. Please let it go. I am sure she is sorry by now.,” Qusack said, trying to protect
her from my rage, and it was understandable he would think I was mad at her because of her flings.
I wasn’t mad at all.
I just need her to give me details about Aliana’s mother. I needed to know if she knew the woman was there. If Fredrick made
her serve her food.
I needed to know if she chose to be silent because Gwendolyn was Gabriel’s wife and Aliana’s mother.
My mother had proven that she was vindictive, so I wouldn’t put something that low past her.
She might have kept quiet so the woman could suffer.
She might have felt betrayed that she married a man she fancied or maybe even married a man that rendered her and her son
homeless.
With my mother, one could never know what to expect..

I shook my head so Qusack would know he was far from it. I really did not care about who she slept with or who she fancied.
She had successfully messed up her life; that was her problem, not mine. Honestly, I was over it.
“That is far from it, Qusack,” I said, pulling him aside.
“Mind link only,” I linked him, and he nodded, realising it was something serious.
“Gabriel’s wife is alive,” I linked him, and he gasped. I nodded immediately.
“Fredrick made her serve me food in Snow. He has claimed her hence why Gabriel believes she is dead. He made her his
mistress. She reeked of him so much.
I was shocked because I had met her in Snow and had no clue she was Aliana’s mother.
I want to find out if my mother knew. If they were so close, and she knew, then it would be wicked of her not to tell,” I linked
Qusack, and he shook his head.
“We can’t rescue Aliana’s mother unless we want to go to war, Niko. I am sure your mother knows that and might have held on to
the information to protect you from doing something irrational like sneaking the woman out when we were leaving.
If she is Fredrick’s mistress, she is valuable to him. Taking her from him would leave an opening for him to attack us.
We do not have the might to push back. We just started drafting werewolves to join the army. We need months of training to be
battle ready;
even with that, it will be a suicide mission.

We have to be smart about it. In the worst-case scenario, plan a trade and hope he will want it,” Qusack linked, and I sighed.
I doubted Fredrick wanted anything from me other than slaves. I also know that Gabriel and Gwendolyn would not be happy that
I agreed to sell their people to get her back. I would have to figure out what to do soon.
“I also agree it would be low if your mother knew she was there and remained silent when we returned. Hearing how Gabriel
spoke of her relationship with Gwen will mean your mother is downright wicked and unredeemable,” He said.
As painful as it sounded, he was right.

“I will go into the archives with Abraham and see if we can trace the people that worked with your father thirty years ago and who
were likely to have the power of that magnitude to be able to create a problem between your father and his werewolf subjects.
All I could see was a group of people loyal to a fault.
Giles literally sacrificed his life so your father could live.
Werewolves are indeed better than our kind, Nikolas. Their Loyalty is unquestionable no matter their situation; they remain
faithful,” He said, and I nodded.
The same is true for Aliana.
She was willing to hurt herself to please me. She put me first every time. She was allowed to be selfish, but she put me first; I will
never forget that.
We parted ways when we entered the building, and I headed to my mother’s room.
As I edged closer to the room, I prayed I was wrong.
I did not want her to be a monster.
Angry and bitter were okay, but downright evil would be wrong.
I prayed that she did not see Gwen and genuinely did not know that the woman that helped her and stayed with her was held
captive in Snow, used as a bedmate by her psycho brother.
I hoped that she would at least have a heart.
I stood at the door for a bit, contemplating whether to knock now or come back later, but there was still so much to do, and I
believed Piotr would arrive tonight.
I won’t be able to do much when he is here, so I need to move quickly.
I also had Doctor Newton to deal with. There was a lot of work lined up.
I managed to lift my hand and knock on the door. I knocked three times before someone finally answered. I was surprised to see
Erica. She looked like she had woken up from sleep.

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I wondered what she was doing in my mother’s room and why she was always with my mother. I did not like the b*itch, and I was
nervous about her intentions.
“Why are you always around my mother?” I asked her, and she looked worried and began to stammer.
“I always come to keep her company, Alpha. Today she refused to eat, and she has been crying a lot. I just managed to get her
to sleep,” She explained, and I wondered why the b*itch was suddenly being helpful.
When my mother was wasting away for lack of proper care, why didn’t she offer her expertise then? I believe Erica had
something dubious up her sleeves, or maybe my mother might have promised her something because Erica never applied
herself unless she would be benefitting something from it.
I also did not forget that she tried many things to get into my bed, and I could not stand her sly behaviour.
I moved past her into the room and instructed her to leave.
I told her to move far from the door and ordered a Lycan kappa to stay close to ensure no one was eavesdropping.
While I barked orders, my mother woke up.

It was deliberate. I raised my voice deliberately to wake my mother. What I wanted to ask her could not wait. I needed to know
what was going on.
“Niko,” She said, almost smiling, and I sat on the two-seater facing her bed. She looked at me, a bit puzzled.
“What did I do this time?” She asked, reading my countenance, and I shook my head.
“You did nothing,” I said, and she relaxed.
“Were you served food by the servants in Snow? “ I asked her, and she shook her head.
“Fredrick made me join him with the other alphas,” she said, and I realised she did not see Gwen. I tried to feel for lies, but there
was nothing. It was evident that she was telling the truth.
“Did you meet his mistress?” I asked her, and she shook her head immediately.

“Some alphas spoke of her beauty, but Fredrick said she was reserved for his amusement alone. It was werewolf males that
served the dinner. I could not get anything down because I was too ashamed to eat after everything the bastard said about me,”
She said with tears streaming down her cheeks.
I could not be bothered about her situation. I got up to leave, and she got off the bed.
“Where are you going to?” she asked, and I shrugged.
“I am leaving. You really can’t help me since all you tell is lies,” I said, and she rushed to me and t*ouched my arm to stop me
from leaving.
“Try me, son. Tell me what you want, and I will tell you all I know,” She said, sounding desperate, and I was glad to have gotten
her where I wanted.
“I want you to tell Qusack everyone on fathers cabinet before the uprising and their strengths. Also, I want to know which of them
was my father’s right hand,” I said, and she shrugged. “That was Isaac Lucas, a retired Military officer from Hill. Aleksander sent
him when your father claimed he did not trust anyone anymore. Your father trusted him with his life. He died in the battle. I am
sure Gabriel murdered him,” she said, and I could not sense deception in her.
Either she had mastered lying to me or was telling the truth. She was too depressed to try to lie. I believed she was telling the
truth.
‘Why are you asking these questions, Niko? Anything the matter?” She asked, and as much as I would have loved to share my
findings with her, I decided against it because she was myopic, and she wouldn’t see the truth even if it was glaring at her face.
“Not really; I wanted to investigate what happened back then. I was hoping I could find someone to prove my legitimacy,” I finally
said to throw her off.
“That would have been my midwife, Gwendolyn. Her testimony under compulsion would have helped, but the fool married
Gabriel, birthed your mistress, and died. I heard she was captured as a slave and then killed,” She said, which confirmed she did
not see Gwen in Snow. It made me relax a bit, and I nodded.
“Well, I guess with Gwen dead, we are at a dead end then,’ I said, and she shook her head.
“I am thinking of how to fix this, son. I will find a way, I promise. I will prove that I am sorry and love you very much.” She said,
and I nodded, not wanting to continue the conversation.

She had given me a valuable name to dig into and informed me where he came from, which meant I would have somewhere to
look at.
Isaac must have had family in Hill, and something I could dig.
I needed to know why anyone would play my father against the werewolves.
If such people had not been dealt with, then there was no way they won’t be a problem for me because their goal was to leave
my father open for invasion.
Unfortunately, it backfired because it tightened the security in the Forest until I came along.
Could Aleksander be behind this since my father had already signed a slave trade deal with Fedrick? Or could the bill have been
a lie to get the werewolves to act?
I needed to dig and find out. I decided to call it a day and go be with Aliana while I waited for Piotr’s arrival.