“Yes.” I wanted to cry, but I held it in. “I need permission to…”

“To what? And how old are you?”

“I’m eighteen.”

“Fuck.” His voice stopped short. “What do you need permission for?”

“There is a wolf here who was caught giving the Alpha some sort of potion – I guess I would call it – and poisoning him against his own pack? I need to interrogate her.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” The voice on the other end barked.

Chapter Forty-Four

“My father has been acting strange since I came here, talking about making an unranked wolf like he was interested in her, sexually.”

“But your mother is still alive…”

“Exactly. Very much so, and my father loves his mate.”

“I know how much he cares for Ainsley.”

“You know my father?”

There was a pause. “The council knows every Alpha.” I nodded, as it made sense.

“Anyway, today I heard the wolf saying that they were bonding. And I kicked into his office to find him completely out of it and Aurora, the wolf, pouring something into his mouth.” I rubbed my forehead. “As I was attacking her, my father nearly killed me for this she-wolf, something he would never do normally. His wolf had to take control to stop him, and now I have to figure out what she gave him.”

“Was she using magic?”

I froze. How did this man know about magic? “I, I, I don’t know honestly.” I cut my eyes to Ronnie, who wouldn’t meet my eyes. Something was going on here. “That’s why I need permission to find out.”

“So you, eighteen-year-old Amy Maclean, want permission from the king and council to maybe torture Aurora, a she-wolf in your father’s pack. And you want this permission to figure out if this random she-wolf has used magic on your father, who has magic of his own, to control him and take over his pack. And this magic may have caused him to lose control enough to kill his own pup. Is that the gist of it?”

“Yes, pretty much.” My voice felt more exhausted than it should have. “I know it’s a long shot…”

“Permission granted.” His voice cut me off.

“But I need to save my dad. Wait, what? Don’t you need to present it to the king?”

“I am the king.”