Chapter 44: Scandal
Alfonso
Papers fluttered around the Capital’s sky, carrying photographs of two people mating in the middle of a hedge maze.
While the faces were blurred, the pictures were quite clear. Clear enough to know who they were and their positions in this kingdom.
I crumpled a piece of paper in my hand as Mischa watched me with his calm, observing eyes.
“I specifically told Medea Locke to sever Hestia’s link with Augustus Hunt, didn’t I? What on the devil’s hell is this?”
Mischa silently picked up a photograph that had fallen on the floor and took a long, hard look at it.
He immediately let go of the piece of paper as I set it on fire. Mischa took out his white handkerchief and cleaned his hands.
“You are in a foul mood, My Lord.”
I scoffed. “Isn’t it obvious? I gave her that aphrodisiac to eliminate rivals, not to create more of those damned Links!”
The gravel underneath my feet crunched as I stormed off into a secluded, wooden area. My Red magic was slipping out of its bounds.
Mischa coughed as he watched me get enveloped by a red mist. Fangs sprouted out of my mouth.
My claws left a distinct mark on a nearby oak tree. Mischa immediately took out a small vial from his pocket and poured its contents into my mouth.
Heat rose as my body convulsed, the mixed blood within me fighting for dominance. As soon as the medicine kicked in, I removed my cloak and let it fall on the ground, along with Vergara's family crest.
To my enemies and my allies, Alfonso Vergara, the masked Crown Prince of the Reds, was nothing but a pawn to the Red King.
A tool he could use to expand his domain.
It wasn’t far from the truth. After all, as soon as I turned eighteen, my father granted me legions to rule and endless lands to conquer.
My hands were smeared with blood and endless deaths… an unending cycle of killing and escaping from getting killed.
Not until I saw her.
She looked helpless and breakable as she lay under that tree, discarded like a toy. And yet, her eyes spoke of defiance. Of her will to live.
And I let her live. I helped her live. Even if she deems my mixed blood dirty once she learns the truth.
I wanted her to be mine. Hestia Locke was one of a kind that even a dozen of the finest women of us Reds couldn’t compare to.
That was why when that White took her from me, I almost tore the borderlands just to search for her.
I yearned for her for almost a year. I lost sleep wondering what happened to her. Who took her. Or if she was found by the very same people who had hurt her…
Until I saw her that night during the banquet, challenging the future Queen, and possessing three more mate bonds. Lycan mate bonds.
How could a mixed-blood like me compare to her Vassal, a High Priest, and an Alpha? It was already a miracle that the Goddess bonded me with her.
And she would never accept me if she ever learned the truth. Especially the reason why I’m here in her beloved kingdom.
But their downfall… is inevitable. With a society as rotten as theirs, it was a miracle they could even survive like this.
That was why, when Alpha Heron pleaded to my Father to fund him in exchange for securing the Lycan throne for us to claim, he immediately sent me.
Medea Locke even pleaded to me the other night to break her sister’s Link with her Vassal, all in the guise of securing the throne.
Alpha Augustus, the very same man who betrayed Hestia. The man she couldn’t even let go of.
How could I say no?
I know Hestia would tear me a new one when she learns that the masked Crown Prince who offered her to become his principal wife and the Stranger who had been pestering her nights…
But I’d rather her hate me than to see her run back to that man once again.
But you, Lockes, don’t know how to honor your word!
“My Lord,” Mischa quietly called as he followed me, “Shall I take care of it? After all, the Lockes still owe us a handsome sum. We can convince His Majesty—”
“Don’t let Father know.” I waved my hand, dismissing him. “Leave it for now. But do something about those pictures. They hurt my eyes.”
Mischa nodded. He disappeared for a moment. When he returned, the pieces of paper fluttering through the wind were now ablaze.
“My Lord, Alpha Heron would definitely not like this,” Mischa warned me as we watched the pieces of paper burn mid-air, falling down on the Capital grounds.
I scoffed. “He has no right to bargain with me, let alone get mad at me, Mischa.”
As the last piece of paper burned right in front of our eyes, Mischa led me back to our rental, just a few miles from the Southern wall.
Pubs lined the area, with a few dark alleyways riddled with mercenaries and illegal activities.
A rat squeaked as one drunk Lycan grabbed it by the neck, snapping it without any mercy. Mischa motioned me to continue and ignore the man.
My boots stopped on their tracks along the muddy floor as soon as I heard what the Lycan said.
“Did you see that photo of that Hestia bitch?” he asked his companion, as he licked his dirty lips. “Those rich bastards, acting almighty and shit… in the end, she’s nothing but a slu—”
His screams filled the alleys as my claws dug into his chest, reaching for his beating heart. I have long stopped myself from eating a Lycan’s heart.
But tonight, nothing’s going to stop me until I scrub their filthy mouths clean.
“You do not deserve to say her name with your mouth, Lycan,” I growled as the drunk Lycan stared back at me with his dead eyes.
Red painted the filthy walls, as the dirty floors pooled with blood. Mischa didn’t interfere. Instead, as soon as the last drunkard lay on the floor lifeless, he snapped his finger, sending the bodies to a barren desert somewhere.
“My Lord, just say the word,” he softly said, his cunning eyes glowing in the dark. “I’ll have it done right away.”
I licked my finger as I gulped down the last piece of the Lycan’s heart. “Call all entertainment companies around the Capital. Threaten them if you have to. Remove all of those stupid photographs and stop them from releasing it.”
I pulled a handkerchief from my pocket and cleaned my hands with it before throwing it on the floor.
“Oh, and one more thing.” A sly smile spread across the lips. “Release it. All of Alpha Heron’s affairs from the past, his lovechildren, and the ones he had killed… All of them. Leave nothing.”
“Do not tell my Father about this. He wasn’t pleased that we agreed to a ceasefire last time.”
Mischa nodded. “Very well, my Lord…”
I’ll be your hound, Hestia. Just be mine…