Shadows of Destiny

The Dark Side Of Fate By Karima Sa’ad Usman Chapter 138 –

~Tamia~

The moment we stepped outside, I exhaled.

“What would you like to speak to me about, Tamia?” he asked gently, and I looked at him.

“First of all, I want to congratulate you. I heard of you and Susan, and I am happy for both of you,” I

said; he nodded and looked away.

“I heard a rumour that I want to confirm with you, Devin, and I need you to be honest with me.

To start with, I know you did not face Sylvester during the legendary war. I know it was Dominic, but I

have kept your secret. I am telling you this so you know you can trust me,” I said, and he chuckled.

“I knew you figured it out. There was no way you would be close to Volkov and not know that fact,” he

said, and I smiled.

“What do you want to ask me?” He asked, and I sighed.

“It is about your encounter with Lord Maurice Volkov,” I said, and his expression became serious.

“Nothing serious, Devin. Nothing bad; I just want to clarify, please,” I said, and he nodded reluctantly.

“I do not want trouble. The Volkovs and I have buried the hatchet. Do not resurrect an old issue,

Tamia,” he warned me, and I nodded.

“I do not intend on doing that, Devin. I just want to know the truth about something. Please, I hope it is

not too much to ask,” I said to him, and he sighed.

“Very well, I am listening, Tamia,” He said, and I nodded.

“I heard you got a tip from an anonymous person in the form of a letter telling you where Maurice

Volkov would be and his reasons in Pridewood,” I started.

“According to this rumour, the person gave details of his Alias and his purpose there,” I said, and he

frowned at me.

“Where did you hear that from?” he asked me, and I nodded.

“Late Jenny,” I said, and he balled his fist.

“What was her gain with that magnitude of lies? I did receive a letter like that, but I ignored it. I did not

attack Maurice because of the letter. Jenny is full of shit. I have kept what happened that day in my

heart, and I do not want to speak of it,” he said, and I frowned at him.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked, and he shrugged.

“Nothing, Tamia, just ignore those rumours. It is a lie,” he said, wanting to walk away, but I held his

hand and stopped him.

“Please, Devin, I need to know what happened that night,” I said with desperation, and he frowned at

me.

“What is it to you? How does this affect you?” He said defensively, and I did not know what to say.

“You need to tell me why you want to know what happened badly, or else my lips are sealed, Tamia;

you do not expect me to divulge anything to you while you hold back.

These are things on which my reputation was built. You do not expect me to just let tell you. At least tell

me why you want to know,” he said, and I looked at him.

“Will you tell me if I tell you?” I asked him, wanting a genuine answer.

“If you promise to keep my secret, I will,” He said, and that wasn’t good enough, especially if I needed

him to come forward for Stephanie’s sake.

“What if someone’s life is on the line for it? Would you speak up?” I asked, and he shook his head.

“I can’t destroy my reputation for anyone,” he said, and I pleaded with him. I did not know tears were

streaming down my cheeks until I felt the coolness.

I was terrified for Stephanie and Sylvester. I did not want Sylvester to be in a situation where he would

have to condemn his mother. The blackmailer was sick.

“Tamia,” Devin said, suddenly worried because of my tears.

“Are you in trouble because of it?” he asked me gently, and I shook my head.

“No, Devin, I am not, but someone dear to me other than Sylvester is,” I told him, and he frowned at

me.

“Stephanie is being blackmailed; they claim that the letter was written by her and caused Maurice’s

death. They said she sent it to you. She is the only parent figure in my life; everyone knows I have

been an orphan for a long time. I do not want anything bad to happen to her. She has been through a

lot. Devin, please. If there is anything you can tell me that would not make that letter admissible, if a

hearing should occur would be kind.

I will be forever indebted to you. Please, Devin, I am begging you,” I said, beginning to weep because I

was out of creative ideas.

“Does your mate know about this?” He asked me, and I shook my head.

“He has a lot to deal with already,” I lied, and he sighed

“Tamia. I have had this reputation for years,” he said, and I nodded.

“Please, Devin, I believe you will be known for greater things. With all that is happening now, you will

be known for greater things.

Please, I need your help to help Stephanie.

If we can’t prove otherwise, she will die.

They will try her for treason and sentence her to death.

I know you are a good man, Devin, and you will not want something like that on your conscience.

It is okay to maintain your story if it is not hurting anyone, but if a life is hanging in the balance, then

you know the right thing to do. Please,” I said, and he sighed.

“Was she the one that wrote the letter?” He asked, and there was no point lying.

“Yes, she wrote the letter,” I said.

“Why?” he asked me, and I knew I had to be careful.

“He murdered her entire family, made her serve this fated, took her family’s seat from her and tried to

gift it to his son. The abuse was intense, and she just wanted to breathe,” I said, and his eyes faltered.

“He did all that?” He asked, and I nodded.

“Much worse than that, but that is all I can say,” I told him, and he nodded.

“I did not like Sylvester. I always believed he was overprivileged, but my time with him made me realise

I was wrong. He isn’t over-privileged. If anything, he had it worse.

Having to always watch his back and constantly being in a battle to maintain power and peace is a

shitty life that I do not wish on anyone.

I also realise that he is nothing like his father.

He does not keep a harem and take people’s wives. What happened with you and Leo was tragic, but

you deserve all the love you are getting now. I was too slow when I had a chance thinking I had all the

time in the world. My procrastination gave birth to the love between you two. I will never want to come

between that, let alone destroy the joy the goddess has put in your life. Because of that, I will tell you

everything that happened with Maurice.

If ever it comes to it that I have to speak up, I will do it for your sake, for the sake of the happiness I

was meant to give you that day at the dinner party by taking you away from Leo,” he said. I thanked

him.

“I got the letter quite alright and dumped it. I do not know how it got around that I got a letter; I guess a

mole might have picked it up back then. Which means this uprising bullshit is a spillover from Maurice’s

time, and Jenny’s son is a stupid pawn,” He said, and he made all the sense in the world.

I had asked myself severally how Jenny could get her hands on the letter with her so-called

investigator. Why would she have someone in the south?

I had thought it was a way of keeping an eye on her enemies, but Devin made it make sense now.

Maybe the influential person behind Jenny’s son had been planning this all along.

If so, the bastard was a fool and might go down like the rest of the people. It was really messy, and I

did not know what to think, so I shut down my mind to ponder on the matter later.

“Maurice arrived at Danes Inn in Pridewood secretly with his officers. They had cleared out the Inn for

themselves.

I felt insulted that the man that ruined my family was on my turf, and I could not do anything about it.

Unable to hold it in any longer, I decided to visit the Inn in the dead of night.

I went alone to avoid confrontation. When I got there, it was quiet.

There was no one at the exit and at the entrance. It was nothing like what I had seen before.

There was no one there. A hefty guard was lying dead on the floor at the entrance. He reeked of

alcohol and northern cocktail, so I figured he might have overdone it.

Other than the guard, there was no one. Not a soul, but the light was on, and everything was running.

I figured Maurice might have told the staff to excuse him. He had lots of money anyway, so it was

possible.

I let myself in, and that was when I smelled blood.

Afraid that Maurice had come to commit a crime in my territory, I followed the scent, and it led me to a

room.

The door was ajar, and I saw Gavin Orlov partially shifted and dead with multiple silver stab wounds to

his heart. He had deep claw marks all over his body. There was no way he could have survived with

silver in him. he also reeked of the northern cocktail and some illegal stuff.

I heard aggressive sounds and moved through the living section to the room. I saw Lucas Sidorov on

top of Maurice’s dead body, stabbing him continually with a silver blade, he held it in his claws, and his

wolf was in charge. They were both partially shifted and reeked of the northern cocktail and other

things.

I did not need to think. I attacked Lucas immediately.

He was strong but already wounded and compromised; aiming for the kill, he surrendered and bore his

neck to me.

I had no choice but to stop.

I looked at the mess, and he was in tears.

He pleaded with me never to tell anyone what had happened there.

He convinced me to claim the death and that he would disappear. He said I would be lord if I claim their

deaths. It was motivation enough. I had no qualms with the man, so I agreed, but I wanted to know why

he did it before I let him go.

He said he found out that Gavin and Maurice drugged him and fucked his wife severally. The drugs

they gave him made him pass out so he wouldn’t feel it. He said it was a cruel way for Maurice to live

up to the dare they had when they were young and unmated,” He told me, and I was in shock because

this was a serious matter.

“I swore not to ever divulge this next part, but I guess I might have to now since I have told you that

story,” He said and looked around.

“Lucas believes that Marcel is either Maurice or Gavin’s son. He does not know who,” he said, and I

gasped. It was a shocker, and my entire body froze on the spot.

“Honestly, I think the guy was mad because Marcel looks a lot like him, but he kept saying Marcel

wasn’t his. He was unstable, and I could smell the northern cocktail on him and other stuff. Basically,

he was out of it. But one thing was certain, he did not appreciate that his friends drugged him and

fucked his wife severally,” Devin said, and I frowned.

“Did he have Marcel tested?” I asked, and Devin chuckled.

“How am I to know that part? I doubt the guy did that. You needed to see him, Tamia. He was mad,”

Devin said.

“So you let him get away?” I asked, and he nodded.

“A deal is a deal, Tamia. He had surrendered and told me why he did it. I would also be seen as

powerful for fighting and killing the three of them and maybe becoming lord. So I let him go,” he said,

and I was shocked to find out that Lucas Sidorov was still alive, roaming free.

“So what did you do? How were you able to pass off three dead bodies when they were only two?” I

asked.

“I burned the dead guard’s body at the Inn’s entrance; he had overdosed anyway. It was charred

beyond recognition, so I passed it off as Lucas. People bought it seeing that half of the Inn burned

down and the burnt body was pulled out of the fire,” he said, and I frowned at him.

“How?” I asked.

“Well, I took Gavin and Maurice’s bodies outside. Their bodies were clawed and partially shifted, so it

seemed like we had a wolf fight, and they died before fully shifting back. The fire seemed like it

occurred due to the battle.

I claimed that Lucas was my first kill in the room, and I chased Gavin out and ended him. Maurice was

not around but arrived at the Inn while Gavin and I fought.

I had dealt the killing blow to Gavin when Maurice attacked me, and we fought.

To make the story believable, Lucas clawed at my skin before he ran away, and that is the truth,” he

said, and I shook my head.

“Why did he have to lie like that?” I asked him, thinking all Lucas had to do was come home.

“You do not know the protocols, right?” Devin asked me, and I shook my head.

“The officers are to die with the lord. There was no way Lucas could come home; he would be put to

death. It was customary.” He said, and I understood.

“There was no war; no wolf fight like people like to tell the story. Maurice had no shadow guards, and I

had no warriors with me, Tamia. I am not the hero; I am not a strong man. I am not the Bane, just a guy

that got lucky a couple of times,” He told me.

“No, you are all that and more, Devin. You are powerfully strong and loyal. I respect your honesty, and I

know you would have killed them if it came to it. After all, Lucas bared his neck to you.” I said, and he

smiled.

I felt relieved at what I had heard, and I could not wait to share the news with Sylvester but knowing

that Lucas Sidorov was out there meant a lot. He could have truly gone into hiding and abandoned his

mate who cheated on him, or he could have founded a terrorist group to destroy the family of the man

that destroyed his home. I might be wrong, but I knew there was something there.

I returned to the house, and a call came through on my phone. It was Levi, so I answered immediately,

“Your majesty,” he said, addressing me by my future title.

“Amanda is moving to Grizlo to meet her lover,” he said, and I was elated. Two wonderful pieces of

news on the same day. I could not wait to share it with Sylvester.