Chapter 9
Clarence Moonscale
Moonscale London Under the Reign of Roster and Ferrick Moonscale
My parents and Charden had only been back in London for a month, but it felt like a century.
It was as if wherever I stepped foot in the castle or Moonscale London – there they fucking were.
Volex had become too skilled at killing my tails and my parents were picking up on it.
They were losing a couple of guys a week and eventually my sire cornered me in the library of our estate.
“Can’t they hurry up and go to Paris?” my dragon mused as I tried to appear occupied around the castle.
“Are you killing them for fun?!” Roster roared as he walked into the library.
His feet were unusually bare, and it looked as if he hadn’t brushed his dark, matted hair in days.
Charden and my carrier were frolicking in the garden which was why I was currently in the library, flipping through books that I didn’t much care about.
I’d do anything to not walk in on them as I had the first week Charden lived with us.
I’d never look at that side table the same again.
Keeping my expression both neutral and confused was a challenge. I absolutely was confused. I wasn’t sure which deaths he was accusing me of. Was he inquiring about the tails or his friends? Why did he look as if he suddenly developed a fear of self-care and grooming? Possibly shoes?
“Who are you talking about?” I rolled my eyes, ignoring his disheveled state. Surely, he knew he looked like a dragon slowly losing his mind.
“Don’t do that. You look like your bloody carrier,” Roster growled.
“Are you killing your tails for fun!? Those aren’t playthings, Clarence!
Those are bloody well-trained guards. Is this because I wouldn’t fight you that night in the study?
Are you that hung up on Charden? Or are you jealous of him?
I know he’s taking up a lot of your carrier’s attention.
Don’t worry. I figure that will come to an end soon.
The signs of boredom are already there.”
“You’re having me tailed?” I asked and the fire faded from Roster’s eyes as I grabbed the conversation by the belly scales.
That was the correct answer. “Why are you having me tailed? Don’t I have the right to privacy?
Are you worried that I’m fucking all the omegas you eventually want to fertilize?
” I roared. The anger was real even if I couldn’t say all the things to him that I wanted to in that moment.
“What does a dragon have to do to have a life around here?! Am I the only one not allowed to jam my dick wherever I want to?”
If Volex could’ve heard me, he’d have been proud. Medwin would’ve been mortified. I sounded exactly like the son of Roster and Ferrick Moonscale should’ve. I was exactly who I needed to be in that moment.
“I never said you couldn’t get laid! They’re not the paparazzi!
They’re for your protection.” Roster struggled to keep his tone even.
He was lying. That’s why he told Ferrick he had me tailed.
Hell, he might have even told himself that, but the truth was he’d acted strange around me since my heir coronation.
He probably suspected Ferrick and I had a plan to off him.
I didn’t know what my carrier was up to but as far as I was concerned, his intuition was spot on.
“Maybe I don’t want them knowing my life. Have you thought about that? Perhaps if you practiced a bit more discretion my carrier wouldn’t go around smashing up your eggs!” I roared. “Have you considered that?”
“It is not my job to control your carrier! It’s not my job to protect those eggs! I am not some sniveling little omega dragon who can’t keep my eggs intact!” Roster roared at me and it took all my might not to backhand him off his bare feet with their unclipped toenails.
“Yeah. It’s not your job to protect the next generation.
So why in the name of Frost’s fiery balls are you having me followed?
” I stepped forward. As I did, my muscles knew what to do.
They knew what to expect. I’d practiced enough with Volex that my body knew what to do without being directed consciously by my brain.
“Because for as long as I draw breath, this city – this territory – these dragons including your carrier and you are mine. I don’t think you’ve quite grasped what that means yet.
I do what I want. I take what I damn well please and you will behave in a fashion that is acceptable!
You will stop running around with ruffians that have the idea that they can change the world because this is MY BLOODY WORLD!
” his voice grew louder and louder as he spoke.
“You’ll stop seeing that Smokescale boy or I swear to god I will fill his belly with your siblings until your carrier can’t resist his own baser instincts. ”
I didn’t tell my hand to drop the book I had been flipping through when Roster entered the library.
My brain didn’t tell my body that it was my fire surging through my limbs that gave them their power.
They knew that from all the beatings Volex had given me.
I didn’t consciously realize that the distance between us was perfect for what was about to unfold.
I didn’t think about it and to this day I was almost positive, that’s why I succeeded.
It was as Volex always said. You can’t dodge a hit that you don’t see coming.
He didn’t see the punch coming because no son of his would dare clobber him one.
Roster staggered backwards spitting out blood and two of his front teeth.
Fire shot from his mouth as he opened it to threaten me or perhaps question my audacity.
Only he had said it all. It was his world and he’d do what he wanted as long as he drew breath.
That included threatening the only person in the universe who I knew loved me without a doubt and perhaps the only person in all the worlds that I would lay down my life so that he may draw one more single breath.
Roster might not have been moved by Ferrick’s wants and needs but when it came to Medwin, I was more like Ferrick or at least I thought I was.
I’d do anything to keep him by my side – anything to keep him safe and whole.
So my heart knew what had to be done and my body knew the choreography.
I’d felt the technique over and over every time Volex took a head.
It was like he said. We shared a family link after all.
My sire was still stuttering over his words when my fingers found his jawline.
He tried to jerk back, but my leg swept his out from under him and I twisted the head I held with all my might.
I twisted him as if he were a stuck corkscrew lodged in a bottle of an ancient vintage I was desperate for.
I twisted and yanked while he beat at my sides and breathed fire that scorched my clothes.
He roared for my carrier, but he was preoccupied with Charden.
An eternity passed but when my sire’s blood covered the library only two minutes had passed from the moment he sauntered into my sanctuary.
Inside my head, my dragon roared in victory as Roster’s body crashed to the floor, twitching like some macabre water feature.
My fingers were still dug into his jawline.
His eyes had rolled back even before the ancient looking door appeared not feet from where I stood.
I almost didn’t see his spirit. I might’ve missed it altogether if not for the massive claw that pulled him through the door.
“What have you done to my baby?!” Ferrick charged into the room, dragging Charden behind him by the wrist. The wolf man barely kept up with his long legs. “What did you do, Roster Moonscale? What did you do to my baby?”
“He threatened to cheat on you again, father,” I said, the words rolled off my tongue as if I had planted them there myself. I was the son of my fathers. Their silver tongues and lies they might’ve believed themselves swam in my veins and made up my cells.
“Put that dirty thing down!” Ferrick batted Roster’s head, still dripping with his blood, out of my hands.
“Come here. Oh, my sweet boy. You always did want to protect me. You’re such a good boy!
” Ferrick let go of his wolf and pulled me into a tight hug.
“It’s okay. I tried to ignore his unfaithful ways, but he kept going at it. I guess I just wasn’t enough for him.”
For a second, my dragon considered how quickly we could end Ferrick.
He was obviously distracted and wanted to stay on my good side, but Charden looked mortified and lightning played through his hair.
The wolf would fight me too and I wasn’t sure I could handle both of them.
So, I hugged my carrier and played the part of disgusted son.
It wasn’t that difficult because I had spent the last months disgusted with what I knew about both of my parents.
“One down. One to go,” Volex’s voice played through my thoughts.
“Halfway there,” a strange man’s voice played into my thoughts.
“It’s okay. We can all relax now. Moonscale London is all mine now.”
“What have we done?” my dragon whispered into my thoughts.
Notes from Medwin: Clarence mentioned hearing this strange voice a lot in the weeks and months that followed Roster’s death.
It is my personal theory that perhaps it was Frost, Juda, or even Cyrus, their firstborn son since he was Volex’s sire.
Volex would never tell us who it was but always laughed and smirked every time the strange voice was brought up.
Notes from Clarence: I did eventually burn that side table out in the garden.