023
Draco.
"How's that possible?" Draco muttered under his breath, eyes locked with Edrand who had equal measure of shocked and excited look on his face.
"The lord is my mate?" Edrand blurted and rushed to where Draco stood still with a galloping heart. "You're my mate, my love..."
Draco couldn't respond. Was it Edrand that sneaked into the Wilbur estate?
Was he the black lycan he saw running away? Was it really him that stirred such powerful feelings that nearly crushed his heart?
"Was...it really you?" The words escaped Draco's mouth in a low rasp. He couldn't react to Edrand's touch on his arm. He still didn't feel anything even though Rodrik had declared he was his mate.
Everyone in the hall watched them with fascination because this was the first time people saw second-chance mates among rogue lycans.
"At the Wilbur estate? The one that ran away from the tavern? Yes. I...was only trying to ensure you were safe, Draco. I couldn't bear the idea of you leaving me in those cold sheets in the dead of the night."
Draco's heart tempo undulated as doubt filled him up. Well, even if he doubted the rest of Edrand's words, one thing that stood clear was the fact that only someone from the three families could have access to the Wilbur's estate.
"Do you believe me now?" Edrand asked, fluttering his lashes.
"I...do,"
As soon as Draco declared that, Edrand leaped into his arms, hugging him.
"You don't know how happy it makes me to know you've accepted us. Our bond, Draco. The gods are in support of us, my love. This is the only confirmation of it."
Draco's thoughts wandered, he felt empty on the inside. Maybe the bond of second-chance mates wasn't meant to be as powerful as the first.
When his eyes rested on Alfos' stead, Draco found his beta fuming. His brows furrowed together like he wanted to tear a punch into the wall.
The people were later dismissed, leaving just Draco and Edrand in the hall. Silence soared between them as Draco hunched over his hands that rested on his knees.
"If it pleases you, my lord. I'd like to start the preparations for our mating ceremony," Edrand suggested.
From where he stood, Draco could hear his footsteps coming forward but he didn't budge, too weak and distorted to accept the fact that this thing between him and Edrand was now beyond sharing a bed and bringing each other to orgasm.
It'd reached the extent of them becoming one according to the bond. A bond he could not feel.
"Are you okay, my love?" Edrand asked. Instead of answering, Draco stood up quickly and rattled out.
"I need some time alone, if you will." He walked past Edrand with stiff shoulders. Head held high.
"Then what about the preparations?" Edrand ranted.
Draco gave a brief pause midstep. With his face askew, the corner of his eyes staring at Edrand, he grunted out. "No. I'll make the decision for that when it's convenient, Edrand."
He walked away, no longer pausing until Edrand couldn't see his shadow again.
Edrand.
Smart moves breed success, Edrand remembered his father's saying as he stood in the middle of the assembly hall. He fiddled with the ring on his index finger.
Edrand's father did have a lot of say when he was alive, but this was the one Edrand quickly acted on.
He'd eavesdropped on Draco and Alfos while they were in the bathhouse earlier. Edrand had come to have some moments with Draco in the pool but paused when he heard the men talking about a black lycan penetrating the tavern that once belonged to Draco and Andriandita.
Edrand's heart had galloped with rage at the thought of Draco feeling any sort of bond with some strange lycan. He'd paced around the door restlessly as the males discussed and when the word about the soulgazer blasted his ears, Edrand acted fast.
He'd rushed into the room and called the messenger bird after writing a note to Rodrik. The soulgazer would've ratted him out if not for the generous amount of gold he'd given him.
There was nothing riches couldn't buy. The thought of how the thing successfully played out made Edrand brush into a series of grins and laughter. He truly was the only man that could defy the seven gods, and bend nature to his will.
Soon, he'd bear Draco's mark and things would fall into place in their lives. Fortunately, in time he'd find a way to bear Draco's pups.
He turned at the soft clattering of footsteps, surprised to see Alfos. Edrand's eyes glowed and a smile tipped up his lips.
"Aye, beta. You've come to congratulate me, eh?" He spluttered, face turning all shades of red.
Alfos didn't smile. His blue eyes rather dimmed and the corner of his mouth sutured close in a tight knit.
He rounded the corner until he stood before Edrand, towering over him.
"You can not intimidate me with your height, mean beta." Edrand cracked a joke and ended up being the only one laughing at it. "Cat got your tongue?"
Alfos quickly reacted to that statement. He held Edrand up against the wall.
Edrand hacked a cough at the destabilizing impact of Alfos' act. He'd taken Edrand by surprise. His legs dangled in the air as Alfos held him up, digging his fingers into Edrand's neck.
"What games are you playing?" Alfos asked, voice sounding like ice.
"W---what are you...talking...about?" Edrand stuttered, suffering under Alfos brute grip around his neck. He beat his arm, trying to get him to move away. His flailing feet smacked into Alfos belly but the man didn't budge.
"You fucking want to pretend?" He barked, a red glow appearing on his face. "I saw you leaving the royal coffers which makes me assume you took Dracolian's gold! Who did you buy with it? Rodrik?"
"Is it...possible to buy the one that sees our souls? The one that can hear and see who the god of bond had paired?" He gave a quaky laugh that grated Alfos' ears. "You should've brain, beta. Something of such is impossible. It's an insult to assume I bought old Rodrik, the first soulgazer of Abbator to do my bidding,"
Alfos grunted as he let go of Edrand's throat. Like a rag, Edrand dropped to the floor, fighting to steady his breath with a series of large inhale.
"You still haven't accepted the idea that I'm...befitting for Draco, have you?" He chuckled at the look on Alfos' face. "Sometimes I wonder if you rage about your sister's death or you rage because you secretly have a crush on Draco,"
Hearing that, Alfos threw a punch on Edrand's face, the impact his face to the wall. Edrand laughed again and turned his face to Alfos. His split lip dripped blood.
"So touchy isn't it?" He spat out the blood at Alfos feet. "If I were you, I'd stop hoping my sister would come back to take her position at Draco's side. She is dead, butchered by the Butcher king. The father of the man you swore your undying fealty to." Their heated gazes held as Edrand spilled out more words, inciting Alfos' anger. "If I were you, I'd accept the fact that Draco can't stay with no one else but me! Me, Alfos!"
Edrand's subsequent laughter floated in the air as Alfos glared at him. This hatred didn't start today though. It all started way back when Draco and Edrand were his sister's friends.
Edrand had always bullied Andriandita but the girl, ever so loving, always forgave him. Alfos had always urged her to denounce Edrand as her friend but she never listened.
Worse yet, Draco never got wind of Edrand's act towards Andriandita. Even after she died.
"I'll find out what you did with the money, and I swear to the seven gods that if it's some kind of lies you've weaved to soothe your agenda in making Draco yours, I'll kill you myself."
Alfos turned to leave when Edrand blurted. "You'll find nothing, mean beta, I assure you that,"
Alfos didn't respond as he left the hall. Standing up, Edrand dusted his clothings and left the hall too.
Happy, he whistled excitedly under his breath. He found his way to one of the lower houses, Veil, where the lunas usually trained.
While Edrand was heading to the training track, he passed by a door that was ajar. The streams of laughter that came from it informed him of who that was.
Isolde. The breeder.
Edrand squelched in his tracks and cavorted towards the room, pushing the door open.
She was arranging her clothings with Roga's help. The older woman was tightening the ropes of her corset. The items in the rooms informed him Isolde must have begun her Luna training.
Edrand gritted his teeth when he saw the pleasure wand on the table. Above all the Luna training, Roga started off Isolde's with pleasure training.
Edrand's fuming eyes glared at the wand, long and sizeable enough to penetrate a cunt or an ass. It was molded in the form of a cock.
"It seems someone has begun their Luna training," Edrand said, startling both females.
Isolde turned alongside Roga and both of them pinned their eyes on Edrand.
"Master,"
Roga bowed but Isolde stood defiantly, staring at Edrand. The older woman, shocked, tugged at Isolde's gown, silently urging her to kneel before Edrand.
"My lady..." She called but Isolde refused to take the hint. Her heated gaze pinballed on Edrand.
"Why are you staring? Didn't you see her, whore? Bow to me!" Edrand's voice thundered, and when Isolde refused to obey, he dangerously stormed into her space, making Isolde flinch.
TBC.