24. The Plan
THE PLAN
I had never seen Damien show fear before: even when the sea serpent was coming at him with dripping acid that could melt his skin, even when the vampire poison was wreaking havoc in his body.
But now, I saw fear crawl behind those dark brown eyes like a sepulchral ghost when he mentioned Queen Seraphina.
“Why would your mother harm me?” I asked, dumbfounded. “Does she know about us?”
“I don’t think she knows, but I can never tell with her,” Damien stared at his own hands, lost in thought. “However, if I can keep her happy, she wouldn’t have any reason to be suspicious.”
Seeing the apprehension plaguing his countenance, I tried to reassure him by downplaying the risk. “Come on, what can your mother do to me? She is tall for a female beta but still harmless to me. I can probably lift her with one hand.”
“You shouldn’t underestimate her.” Damien shot me a warning look. “Even my father fears her sometimes.”
“Which alpha isn’t afraid of their mate? My father once broke his Luna’s favourite bracelet, and he actually hid in a tavern for three days before finally plucking up the courage to come back to the longhouse.” I chuckled, wrapping one of my arms around his shoulder. But he shrugged my arm off.
I didn’t appreciate his sudden change in demeanour. He had been embracing me with such tenderness mere moments ago, and now he was all tense and offish, didn’t even want my touch. It made me feel as though I had outlived my usefulness.
“Fine, if you want to brood, I’ll leave you alone,” I said coldly, swinging my legs over the edge of the bed, trying my best to ignore the mess we’d just made on the black velvet duvet cover. But he grabbed my wrist again.
I was about to yank my hand free when he said, “Remember when I took you to the secret spot to watch the fireworks, I told you I found it with a friend?”
“Yes,” I said, not sure why he brought that up.
“He was not just a friend. He was my best friend and my first love, and he was also an alpha.”
I froze. That was not what I expected to hear, and my blood curdled in my veins.
So I was not the first alpha he had been with. I should have guessed from Johnathan’s reaction when he learnt about us.
“Was?” I asked.
“He’s dead. My mother had him killed,” Damien said flatly. His gaze was hollower than a bottomless pit. He was dissociating, probably because the memory was too painful. “She never admitted it, but I knew it was her. It’s been nine years.”
What the actual fuck?
Queen Seraphina ... killed her son’s alpha lover?
I gawked at Damien, trying to find a trace of mischief on his countenance, but all I saw was a numb, flat facade floating on something deeply painful. He was telling the truth.
I sat back, trying to wrap my head around the shocking information. “What happened?”
Damien didn’t break into tears or show much emotion. He was composed, analytical, even, as though he were telling a story that was irrelevant to him. “His name was Eric, son of Count Torren. His parents both passed away when he was but a cub, and my mother took him in, raised him in court.
“We were of the same age and similar in temperament and interests. Some even said I was closer to him than to my siblings. Everyone knew we were inseparable. And ... at some point, when we were around fifteen, we realized we liked each other more than friends.”
He paused, taking a deep breath, then continued, “We tried to keep it a secret, but it didn’t last. Someone found us out and told my parents. My father was furious and almost disowned me, but my mother blamed it all on Eric, saying he seduced me and confused me.”
Damien recounted everything with the pithiest words, as though trying to get it over with as fast as possible.
He gave me a wry smile and continued, “I tried to run away with Eric, knowing my parents were going to take him away from me, but my mother hired some mercenaries to track us down, and they dragged us back.
“I was locked up in the Solitary Tower outside of Erevos, while my mother decided to send Eric away to some distant werewolf domain on the other side of the sea. But he never even made it to his ship. Some bandits robbed his carriage and killed him; they found his mutilated body at the bottom of a cliff.”
I kept a calm face, even though I was shocked out of my faculties. I would never have associated Queen Seraphina with such ... atrocities. She looked so regal, virtuous, and just ...
“How did you know your mother was behind his death if it was a robbery?” I asked.
“Because when she heard the news, she had a look. She had that look whenever she did something horrible, felt bad about it, but believed it had to be done.” Damien’s voice was light, yet the darkness in his eyes was heavy and thick.
“She needs me to be the new king, and she would destroy anything or anyone standing between me and the throne.”
I sat there, scrambling to find the right words, yet found none. This was ... much more fucked up than my own family ...
I guess I should have had an inkling when Alma told me Queen Seraphina fed little Damien small doses of poison to build his resistance. What kind of mother would do that to her child?!
“So, now you know the mess you are getting yourself into. If you want out, I understand,” he said, not looking at me. Despondence hung low on his brows, as though he was sure I wouldn’t stay.
I studied him for a few seconds and crossed my arms, a cocky smirk on my face. “Are you seriously comparing me to a sixteen-year-old boy? In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not that easy to kill. Anyone who has tried … it hasn’t ended well.”
“Oh, but she will find a way ... She doesn’t even need to get her hands dirty.
If she could do that to Eric, whom she had raised, imagine what she may do to you ...
” Damien looked up at me. His hand raised to my left cheek, caressing it tenderly.
“But I won’t let her hurt you. As long as I continue to be her perfect son, she wouldn’t suspect anything. ”
I leaned into his touch, my eyes half closed, indulging myself momentarily.
But then I pulled away and said, “I don’t need your protection, and I’m not scared of your mother.
I don’t want you to choose Lovel, or anyone ...
” I took a deep breath and continued quietly, “If you choose another to be your mate at the ball, whatever this is between us ... we have to end it. I won’t be your ‘mistress.’”
He chuckled, pulling me down to the bed again, holding me tight against his chest. “Of course, I wouldn’t dare insult you like that. You’d have chopped my dick off.”
I laughed into his chest. “At least you know my temper well.”
He kissed the top of my head and said, quiet yet determined, “I’ll figure something out. I may even come to the North with you.”
My eyes widened, and I raised my head to look at him, saying, “Are you serious?”
A sly smirk gleamed in his eyes, chasing away the melancholic fog.
He was the Damien I knew once again as he said, “So far, my plan is this: I’ll get myself injured in the last match on the third day.
I can use that as an excuse to skip the ball, then they’ll have to postpone it to next year.
And then, I’ll just persuade Father to let me investigate the vampire issue.
Since one of the high-blood vampires tried to off me, he has grown suspicious of the vampires’ intentions.
You’ll find me at your doorstep in no time. ”
“About the first part of your plan ... It’s too risky,” I said, tracing my finger along the muscle lines on his belly. “On the last day, it’s all final matches, you can’t know who your opponent is. What if it’s someone who wants you dead?”
“I’m mildly sure you’ll be my opponent,” he said lightheartedly, grabbing my wandering hand, apparently a little ticklish on his belly.
I propped myself up and frowned at him, saying, “How do you know?”
“It’s obvious, isn’t it? We are the best of all fighters. More likely than not, we will be the last two fighting for the championship title. All I have to do is let you beat my ass, and then everything else will be smooth sailing.”
“I don’t want you to let me win!”
“Fine, then I’m counting on you to fairly beat my ass so we can get away from this place and go slaughter some treacherous vampires together.
” He pulled me down, rolled on top of me, grinning like the devil himself as his hand reached down to my thigh.
“But now, you’ll have to perform your mate duty to your alpha again, my little wolf. ”
“What? We should sleep! It’s almost five o’clock, and we still have matches this morning!” I complained half-heartedly, though raised my hip to meet his touch.
“We can nap after this, I’ll be quick!” he said breathlessly, his pupils already enlarged with desire.
“Are you in a rut or what?!” I cursed, but happily submitted to his lust.
I slipped back into my room at around ten in the morning, with messy hair and dark circles under my eyes, severely sleep-deprived. Luckily, many other fighters went out into the town last night and came back in a similar state, so I wasn’t the only one who looked that way.
Another slight inconvenience was that ... my bottom was unexpectedly sore, especially when sitting down or standing up. I didn’t feel it at the time, overloaded with pleasure, but now it had grown harder to ignore.
I blamed it on Damien. Why the fuck did he knot me?! It wasn’t like I could produce a cub for him?!
I took a bath, shaved my face, braided my hair, then changed into a new tunic and breeches. Since Johnathan gave me the mark concealer, I no longer needed to wear only high-collared clothes, which was a relief. It was getting way too warm in a southern summer.
When I yawned for the third time during breakfast, Leif asked suspiciously, “What did you do last night? Did you go out?”
“Yeah ... I ... um, I went out with some friends,” I lied clumsily.
“You didn’t stay in a brothel, did you?” Leif narrowed his eyes, disapproval written all over his face.
Well, I suppose “a brothel” was better than the truth, so I smirked at him. “Why? Jealous that I had a good time?”
“You are disgusting.” Leif rolled his eyes in the most exaggerated fashion.
I was only happy that he seemed his old self again.
Upon arriving at the stadium, I checked the schedule and, once again, found that of all my three matches, none of them were against Allan Eclipse.
Moreover, Allan’s next opponent was Rydel.
I’d defeated Rydel single-handedly last time, but that was partly attributed to his underestimating me.
Johnathan said Rydel was arguably the strongest among Damien’s companions, while Allan was younger and had less experience.
If Rydel defeated Allan in this round, I would never get a chance to meet Allan in a match.
At this point, I began to suspect that Johnathan had intentionally kept Allan away from me.
I won all three matches without many hiccups. Only the last northern warrior gave me a hard time; I had to shift into wolf form to win.
Afterward, I went directly to the office to find Johnathan or the royal chamberlain. Johnathan was not there, and the chamberlain Graham gave me his usual polite yet condescending attitude, which only pissed me off even more.
“All matches are paired randomly. I’m afraid I can’t give you special treatment, Lord Fenris,” Graham said in a stern, rigid tone.
“Can’t you just make this one exception? I only ask to switch with Rydel for one match,” I said, nudging a small pouch of coins toward him.
However, Graham apparently was one of the very few straight-laced men who wouldn’t even take a bribe. He gave me this half-mocking, frigid look and pushed the pouch back to me. “I’m afraid there is nothing I can do, Lord Fenris.”
I stormed out of his office, wanting to punch someone, but almost jumped when I was startled by a silky, languid voice.
“Graham needs to take that stick out of his ass sometimes.”
I turned around and saw Cassandra, Damien’s younger alpha sister, leaning against the corridor wall outside the chamberlain’s office, with her legs crossed into a relaxed posture.
Unlike omega or beta ladies, she wore a leather tunic that was slightly longer than the usual tunics designed for males.
Her frame was tall, lean, yet strong. I could see a semblance of Damien in her features, though not a lot, probably because she was only his half-sister.
Damien said Queen Seraphina only truly gave birth to him. I wondered who Cassandra’s birth-giver was.
I nodded my head to greet her, though I was wary, not sure what she wanted.
“I’m sorry about what your brother went through,” Cassandra said compassionately. “What Allan did was despicable. I would have wanted to beat him up, too.”
I shrugged. “Looks like I may not have a chance, at least not in The Games.”
“There is something you can try, and it’s perfectly complying with the rules of The Games, so even Graham can’t say no to you,” she said, smiling earnestly. “Though people rarely invoke this rule, because it’s too risky.”
“What rule?” I asked curiously.
“Normally, fighters cannot choose their opponent, but there is one exception.” She paused for a moment, a challenging gleam sparking in her eyes.
“You can choose to challenge a pair of fighters together. In this case, it’s Allan and Rydel.
If you win, it’ll also allow you to directly enter the final round rather than having to go through every elimination round. ”
Challenge Allan and Rydel together, after I’d already fought three other matches ...
It was risky.
But then, on the upside, I could legitimately beat two alphas that I despised into a pulp, and no one would stop me.
I was unsure why Cassandra would freely offer such advice.
Was there some ulterior motive? Damien never mentioned much about his relationship with his sister, and the assassination attempts were more likely from Valerian, since he would benefit most if Damien was gone.
All my interactions with her had been that one time on the island when she suggested Leif should dance, obviously wanting to see my brother fail.
Perhaps she just didn’t like us northern clans, like many other southern clan wolves, and she thought fighting two warriors at the same time would get me eliminated from the final round?
She might have underestimated my ability to kick some arrogant brats’ asses. Furthermore, once the match started, she couldn’t really interfere from the royal pavillion.
How much could a single piece of advice hurt me? And if I didn’t do it now, I’d have to punish Allan through other means, which would risk starting a feud with Eclipse, which I definitely wanted to avoid.
“Fine, I’ll challenge them both,” I said, feeling my nerves already vibrating with anticipation.