CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: XAVIER

The day of the ball……

The grand banquet hall buzzed with excitement as my father, King Leon, stood at the head of the room in his royal robes, as his subjects approached him greeting and congratulating him on the victory at the duke's mansion, as if he had done anything to merit the praise, what a joke.

It was a night of celebration, a feast to honor the positive outcome at the Duke's mansion. The air was filled with a heady mix of excitement and relief for every werewolf in the room, although it is surprising that those who genuinely fought this battle against the vampires are not being honored today.

I wasn't here to get credit for defeating the vampires; I was here to piss off my father and prepare for my mother's death anniversary, which is in three days. 

You'd think I'd hate vampires more for killing my mother than I hate my father, but you'd be wrong; the hatred I have for my father is unfathomable; he was the reason she was killed in the first place because he was careless, so I made it my life mission to take what he loved most, his crown, and torment him by showing up everywhere he went.

From where I was seated, I watched as my father stood up to deliver his speech. As he spoke, his voice attracted the attention and admiration of every werewolf in the room; he could just talk; when it came to fighting, he was a coward.

He finished his speech by thanking his loyal citizens and heroic guards who had fought bravely against the vampires that attacked that night, then loud clapping erupted, rebounding off the vast vaulted ceilings, and goblets were lifted in salute to the triumph of good over evil.

My gaze shifted from my father after he took his seat to search for Venus; I haven't seen her since she woke up since I was too preoccupied with Kory and the resistance, and Samson had told me she was acting strangely when she came to see him a few days ago; maybe after the celebration, I can find her and ask what was wrong.

My gaze was drawn to Michael, my half-brother, who sat back in his chair with a sly grin on his lips as he talked with his friends. 

He was always looking for trouble to entertain himself. Tonight appeared to be no different. His eyes scanned the room for his prey before settling on mine, and his smile grew.

He then stood up from his seat and made his way towards where I was seated with the rest of the guards. 

He came to stand beside me, bending in slightly and whispered, "You shouldn't be here, mutt." 

Michael has always liked to annoy me, and tonight was no exception, so I chose to ignore him because I was not in the mood to listen to his insults today; I had a lot on my mind, the main one being my mother's death anniversary. 

"Xavier, your perseverance for dad's love is admirable," Michael said in a mocking tone, "but do I need to remind you that he doesn't acknowledge you because he knows you're nothing more than the freak son of a disgraced queen?"

"Michael, watch what you say next about my mother because you don't want your people to see me beat your ass. We both know you can't win against me," I replied, and Michael's face contorted with anger, his muscles tensing as he struggled to contain his emotions. 

His statement was a direct attack on my late mother, and the fact that he and father have no regard for her memory angers me, so I could feel myself losing control of my beast, and I was about to release my pent up frustration and rage on him when Venus appeared out of nowhere, was she behind them the whole time?. 

She took a step between Michael and me, her voice calm and full of empathy. Her delicate hand reached out to touch mine, but she jerked back as if burned and spoke instead.

"Xavier, breathe," she said quietly, her gaze fixed on mine. "Remember, people are watching, and you will only give them more reasons to judge you; don't give in to his provocation; he's not worth your anger; you knew your mother better than anyone, and she wasn't a disgraced queen."

My gaze softened, the raging storm within me gradually fading under Venus's soothing presence. I closed my eyes, took a long breath, and exhaled gently. 

She was right; succumbing to Michael's taunting was not the best way to end the night, and it might even give Father an excuse to prevent me from honoring my late mother on her death anniversary.

With a grateful nod to Venus, I turned away from Michael, denying him the gratification of a reaction. Michael frowned but said nothing before returning to his seat as I strolled out of the room to the terrace for some fresh air, and a few minutes later I heard a light footsteps behind me; I knew exactly who it was, Venus.

"You shouldn't be here, Princess Venus," I said as I faced her. She had a small smile on her face and didn't look too good. Was she sick?

"I haven't seen you in days, when I woke up Doctor Samson told me that you had run off somewhere, so I never got the chance to say thank you for saving me," she said as she walked towards me.

"Well, I couldn't just leave you there to die,"

"Your brother certainly would have,"

"I'm not my brother."

"You're definitely more civilized than him."

"You will be missed at the party, trust me, you don't want to be seen with,"

"I'd rather be here than in there, Prince Xavier; no one in there wants me to be present, as you've noticed."

"People despise what they don't comprehend." I said as I heard the dinner bell ring for dinner, "Come on, it's time for dinner, Leon would blow a fuse if we're late,"

"I don't want to go back in there," Venus said, a dark expression crossing her face.

"I don't either, but we don't have a choice," I said as we both went back into the ballroom and headed towards the dining room with the rest of the guests. When we arrived at the dining room, Venus left my side to join Michael at his.

"I welcome everyone once more, and I hope you enjoy dinner," my father said as he took his seat. Then everyone else followed before the staff started serving the food.

"Xavier, what are you doing here?" Father asked as everyone's attention fell on me. 

"Enjoying the festivities, father," I replied, and a scowl emerged on his face. 

"Don't you have more important things to attend to at the border?"

"Nope," I answered as I took a bite out of my steak with a smile on my face as my father stared at me, I know it's childish but I've always loved pissing him off, he should be glad that I'm only trying to take his crown and not kill him for what he put my mother through.

Okay, maybe pissing him off wasn't the only reason I came today; I'm fucking angry at him because he hosted a party when my mother's death anniversary was in three days; I know he never cared for her, but he should have some fucking respect for her as his true Queen and mate.

"You shouldn't blame him, honey, you know he wasn't raised right," Dana said, smiling as she glanced at me.

"Well, I was neglected by my father, so I apologize for my poor manners, Dana," I replied sarcastically, making her glare at me because I didn't add her title; she wasn't my queen, so why should I refer to her as such?

"Watch how you refer to the Queen, Xavier," Father reprimanded, his anger and hatred visible in his eyes.

"She is not my queen father; we both know who the true queen was," I said, and he glared at me. 

"You-" he was about to speak when Dana cut him off.

"Honey, be sympathetic with him; you know his mother's death anniversary is approaching; perhaps that's why he's acting so crudely."

"Why should we be sympathetic or care about that bitch, she was weak and delusional," Michael said, and I almost attacked him because of his statement. 

I pride myself on my self-control, but when it comes to my mother, I lose all sense of reasoning, and Michael just insulted her. I could feel my beast rising to the surface again for the second time too. He's agitated, and he wants me to cut this jerk's neck for his constant disrespect, but killing him would only give me difficulty, so I did my best to keep my anger in check.

"You should be careful what you say next, Michael; it would only take me a few seconds to slit that pathetic throat of yours before the guards even reach me."

"Are you threatening me?"

"That wasn't a threat, but rather a warning, and I don't need to threaten people like you; it's beneath me; I only threaten people on my level."

"Leave right now, Xavier," Father roared, his face turned a dark shade of red, as it often did when he was upset, making him look like a tomato. 

"Gladly and you father, you really disgust me, she was your mate, your queen, but you chose this whore instead, how sad" 

"Leon, he just called me a whore; are you going to stand by and watch him keep disrespecting me, your queen?" Dana grumbled as she stared at me.

"You really need to be thought a lesson"

"And who is going to teach me this lesson, huh father, who here is man enough to put me in my place"

"Let me be the one to put this mutt in his place, father, because he disrespected my mother in front of all these people" 

"Leave it to one of your guards; you shouldn't lower yourself to his level."

"But, father-"

"Enough, Michael," he said as he turned to face me, "Xavier, I ordered you to undergo a Turon for your disrespect to the queen."