Aching reminder

Aching reminder
VINCE

“What do you plan on doing to them?” Richard was quizzing me, as we both stared at the lineup of elders heading to the royal hall.

We were both standing on my balcony. I had a drink in my hand, and he had none.

“Sentence them to death by dismemberment,” I replied, without glancing at him.

But I could imagine the horror that swept through his face at my reply.

“You can't be serious.”

“I am.” I wasn't in the mood to mince words. Or cater to his moral shit. “I'm gonna get rid of all of them in the most painful way. That's what they get for messing with my life and my son's.”

This time, I gave him a look that meant that I wasn't kidding.

“People are gonna revolt if you pull such a tyrannical move.” He began.

“People are gonna revolt when they find out I've got rogue roots.” I retorted. His eyes flickered. He's still put off by my true identity, no matter how hard he tries to conceal

“They…they might understand. You've been good to them. They love you.”

“Even my best friend silently panics when I mention my rogue roots. What makes you think the people are gonna be nicer?”

This time, he became silent. Guiltily silent. I hate that I'm right though. For once, I don't wanna be right. I hate that he really is scared of me. And I hate that Leo has been extra careful around me since I returned. They're not saying anything outright hurtful, but their subtle actions around me are making me feel like shit.

He finally cleared his throat and licked his dry lips.

“Vince…”

“Save it.”

I left him there and headed to the royal hall.

The soldiers opened the iron door and I stepped inside the hall. There were no soldiers in here. It was just the elders. Everyone stood and bowed. I settled into my seat and they sat down.

Their expectant eyes were on me, obviously curious about why I demanded an emergency meeting. In a few minutes, those eyes will be filled with terror.

“Is there a reason why you called this meeting, Vince?” Elder Harry asked. He's always the spokesperson.

“Yes. I'd like y'all to answer a few questions.”

“Sure. Go ahead and ask.”

“How much longer were you all trying to make a fool out of me?”

The question immediately shifted their moods. Their eyes were slowly becoming panicky.

“What do you mean, Vince?” Elder Harry asked.

“The fact that I've got rogue roots. How much longer were you all trying to hide that from me?”

A pindrop silence fell in the hall. Those eyes had as much terror as I'd imagined they would.

Elder Harry slowly got on his feet, looking every bit pale and terrified.

“How did you find out about that?”

So he's not denying it? Really cool.

“How I found out isn't important. I wanna know if it's true or not…”

“It's true.” He cut in, before I could even finish. “So what now? Are you gonna kill us?”

I don't know if he's flatly ragebaiting me or he's got a death wish, but challenging me like that makes me wanna kill them sooner than I intend to.

“I wanna know why. I wanna know why you all messed with me the way you did.”

“We didn't mess with you, Vince. We made you a bigger Alpha than your father ever was.”

“My father, whom y'all killed and replaced me on the throne?”

“We didn't kill him.” Yurin defended, getting on his feet too. “He made a mistake that demanded he get punished by the law. He wasn't the victim you're trying to paint him as.”

“Sure. If he made a mistake, then you should have publicly punished him. Why did y'all lie to everyone that my father suffered an incurable illness?”

“Because we had to protect your image. You were a young, promising Alpha. If we'd tainted your reputation slightly, you wouldn't have lasted in the seat like you did.”

I couldn't help but laugh. Even though it lacked amusement and sincerity.

“It's crazy how y'all still see me as that twelve-year-old young Alpha you effortlessly manipulated. How can you both look me in the eyes and tell such lies?”

“There are no lies.”

“Shut the fuck up!" I barked, rising to my feet. They cowered at my outburst. “You got rid of my father so he wouldn't get the chance to turn on you guys. And then you made me Alpha and brainwashed me into hating the traditional ways so I don't ever get curious about my roots. And like that wasn't enough, you also brainwashed my son into hating me!”

“We did what we had to do!” Harry met my anger tempo. But the fact that he was getting angry was clawing at my patience.

He shouldn't be yelling. He should be on his damn knees, begging for my forgiveness.

“We had a deal with your father. He promised to turn his descendants into pure blood. In exchange, we'll help him get rid of your grandfather and we did that. But we're not stupid, Vince. At the end of the day, your father is still a rogue. And rogues are known to be very deceptive and cunning. We feared that he might turn on us.”

“So you killed him?”

“We had to protect ourselves and the people,” Yurin stated firmly.

Isn't it insane that they don't feel a bit of remorse? Like if they were given the chance, they might do it again?

I didn't wanna keep talking. I wanted them taken out and dismembered on the Pack stakes but I had a few more questions and I needed answers.

“So what about me made y'all think I would turn on you guys soon?”

“Did you seriously just ask that?” Harry breathed out in disbelief. “You're the biggest menace I've ever seen, Vince. You're thrice worse than your Father. We had every reason to be terrified of you.”

“Then if you had a problem with me, you should have taken it out on me. Why the fuck did you need to involve my son?!”

“Because only a Walker can kill a Walker!” Harry lost his cool. Saying those words made my brain screech to a halt. I hope they don't mean what I think they mean.

Only the Walker son can kill his Walker father. So my father killed his father and then Trent was supposed to kill me?

“It became a pattern?” I was gobsmacked by how wicked these lanky, scruffy-looking elders could be. “You make sons go against their fathers? How the fuck are y'all so heartless?”

“Calling us heartless when you're Vince Walker is very laughable.” Harry scoffed.

I ran a trembling hand through my hair. “It's alright. Enough words have been said. Let's get down to business.”

“The only thing you need to do right now is to keep this a secret. If the people find out, they'll turn against you. They won't want you as their Alpha anymore.”

“I do not have plans of continuing to be Alpha. Not after everything I just found out about myself.”

“What? You can't be serious. Who's gonna take over the throne?”

“You don't need to worry about that. Because you won't be here when that happens.”

Just then, a couple of my men stormed into the hall. They grabbed the elders and pinned them to the ground. Their weak protest was laughable.

“What do you think you're doing, Vince?!”

“Getting rid of y'all. You should have known better than messing up my life.”

“The people are gonna ask questions if you kill us. They're gonna tag you a tyrant. Can you deal with that?” Harry's desperate attempt at threats made me wanna snap his neck.

“You should be more concerned about the pain you're gonna feel when they pull away your right arm and then your left and your legs. And your eyes.”

The fear in his face was picturesque. His trembling lips were trying to plead, but I already signaled to my men to take them away.

Their screams were the last thing I heard before the doors shut.

And then there came the settling ache in my heart. A menacing reminder that I'm still lacking the only thing I need right now.

Elena.