**Lord Xeik's POV**

A candle was lit on the wooden desk creating shadows on papers scattered all over the table in front of me. The quiet in the room was almost suffocating in a way, the only other sounds being the sound of paper being shuffled as I went through the pack’s accounts. As the new and temporary monarch, I had to understand what was going on in the pack thoroughly. It was a lot more work than being the war minister.

I sat back in my chair, studying the very disarranged pile of papers on the table. These documents disclosed much more than these typical expense statements displayed. Beneath...