Chapter 37
Maggot King Renz had a flatbed truck waiting with a thick wooden pole sticking up in the back. They hoisted Jaxom up into the truck bed and secured his wrists above his head, forcing him to stand on display for all to see. The traitor that despised a king and caused his realm great suffering.
Wolf’s bane coursed through his veins and the mate-bond still throbbed in the back of his mind. A wound that needed time to heal.
He was aware enough to see the faces of the citizens. He would have said disturbed was the overriding emotion. Confusion that the Moon Goddess would turn the mate-bond into a perverse test was on every face. That she would use what was always sacred as a way to fight evil just didn’t make sense.
Some people still believed Alpha King Renz.
Wolves needed to believe their leader was doing the right thing.
Rotten fruit was hurled at him Rank and putrid juices covered his body.
The partially fermented juice stung his shredded skin, retribution from Renz for the backlash of power destroying his looks.
Stupid could not be corrected. That didn’t stop Jaxom from seeing women and men weeping at his passing.
Maggot King Renz hid out in the limo, not daring to show his melted, disfigured face.
He was sure he could still destroy the mate-bond and that would get his looks back.
Every time he tried in the limo it got worse for him.
And somehow, that was Jaxom’s fault. Not only had he taken his anger out on Jaxom through rape and trying to remove the mate mark, he’d slashed at Jaxom, tearing skin.
The back of the limo was strewn with gore.
It got so bad, one of the guards got out at a stop and refused to get back in.
The other had crawled through the window to the front of the limo to sit with the driver.
Jaxom was still healing pretty rapidly despite the wolf’s bane.
His guess was the gifting of the Moon Goddess allowed his body to fight off the wolf’s bane just a little bit longer.
It was the one saving grace. Despite the wolf’s bane, his faster healing was still working.
Jaxom knew that wouldn’t last much longer.
His body would eventually weaken and succumb fully.
Crowds continued to gather along the path to the castle. People mostly wanted to see the man that defied a king. And did they get an eyeful. Renz could at least have given him the dignity of shorts.
A man stood at a corner, facing him as the truck slowly rolled down the street.
Jaxom couldn’t help but notice him. He had a cloak of blue trimmed in gold.
He slowly raised a closed right fist, placed it over his heart and bowed to Jaxom.
It was just like Hazel and Rubin had done.
He nodded back to the man in return. Three more men in a row followed the same routine of the first man.
All of them were dressed in cloaks of different colors.
All of them blended into the crowd beside and behind the truck.
The number of men grew until people didn’t have a good angle to throw any more rotten food.
They were protecting him. An honor guard at a moment when Jaxom felt exposed, violated, and disgraced.
He’d not expected to be honored for being chained in silver and paraded through the streets like a criminal.
The first man stayed the closest to Jaxom, sometimes tripping someone who wanted to punish the supposed traitor.
They all saluted him again as the truck rolled through the gates of the castle.
Jaxom nodded back to them in acknowledgment and gratitude for the small acts of kindness.
Guards dumped him in a small cell. Just enough room to lay down.
Not enough room to avoid being touched or harassed by his jailers.
They even had a stick with a syringe on the end to administer more doses of wolf’s bane.
Renz wanted him as weak and vulnerable as possible.
He was convinced the mating mark could be broken between Jaxom, Drake, and Hayden.
At this moment, he said he didn’t need to mate and mark Jaxom.
Renz just needed to break the triad so the prophecy wouldn’t come true.
He’d thought breaking the mate-bond would be easy.
Their triad was stronger than Renz had expected.
If he could find another way to do that, he’d remain the Alpha King, not some lowly subject to a Lycan King.
Why Renz didn’t just kill him, he didn’t understand.
Wouldn’t that have fixed the whole return of the Lycans?
They couldn't complete the mate-bond with their Luna if one of them was dead.
Jaxom shivered as the cold night set in.
Open windows allowed the winter weather to breeze in.
There was no avoidance of the cold. He couldn’t shift to wolf to enjoy his furry warmth either.
Jaxom prayed to the Moon Goddess his Luna would get there sooner rather than later.
With his healing abilities withering, he wouldn’t last long.