[THIRD-PARTY POV]
The warrior stood there in shock, unsure of what he had expected of Gideon of Greroth.
Of course, the rumors had been true.
Gideon of Greroth never got into relationships.
Everyone knew he would sleep with anyone, male or female, old or young, anywhere and everywhere.
He didn't care about anything and only had one rule, that every female knew so well. He had told them they wouldn't ever be able to trap him with a kid, so it would be a waste of time. Besides, it was common sense to not have a baby for Gideon of Greroth.
"Gideon," the warrior tried calling out to Gideon, but even he could tell that this was the end of the night. He was going to need the cold shower because right now, he was hard as fuck, and needed a release.
He could have gone to the brothels, but none of the women there would be able to give him the kind of pleasure and comfort he got when Gideon of Greroth had let him touch him and even kiss him.
Sure, their interactions were limited, but they were interactions that the warrior was never going to forget.
"Maybe some other day, you will look at me, right?" Grant asked no one in particular, but he still hoped that somewhere in the distance, his mate heard him. Maybe he would even come back to give him one more kiss, right?
But then just like everything that had been happening, that night was the last time they would be seeing each other as whatever they had had in the night. Grant knew that and maybe that's why Gideon's words the next time they had met, didn't stress him as much.
Besides, how else could a broken heart get even more broken, right?
*************
By mid-morning, everyone was awake and they had all assembled in the conference room as agreed the night before. Today was the day they would all be going back home and more importantly, they would be reviewing the new accords that King Cassius had drafted.
They needed to maintain order in the midlands, and if this accord was the one way to make sure they had at least a sliver of peace, then they would agree to it. Anything to ensure mothers didn't lose their children.
King Cassius had drafted the new accords overnight and they were to review them today, that way they would have to end the chaos with the beats and whatnot. This would save more lives and their soldiers would have to be disciplined.
No one ever predicted that all it would take for the whole supernatural world to practice humanity, was a lycan beast who cared about the kids? It was a test of fate, but it was also a lesson they would have to understand as time went by.
"Good morning" King Cassius greeted.
"Good morning, Cassius" they responded grouchily like they still needed that beauty sleep.
Ulrike looked like he still needed to get some sleep. Clearly, he wasn't a morning person. He looked ready to punch anyone who spoke any louder than they should have, but that was one of the downside of being a supernatural.
Their hearing was intensified. But maybe Ulrike was just hoping they wouldn't be screaming or shouting at him because there was a high chance that he would throw the conference table in their faces.
Criselda looked lost and bored, almost like she wanted to clear things and go back home. Being away from Greroth for a day and that too, to deal with Gideon and Eddison was hard enough. She needed a break from all this madness and no one could really blame her.
"Why did you wake us up this early," Zelina complained, though her face was showing something else. She looked like she needed this over and done with, as fast as possible because she had a whole different mission to get to.
She had a life away from these people and she needed to get back to it. However, that was also no excuse for the servant boys to come to her room and wake her up. if she was in her home, she would have smacked the shit out of the kids.
She wasn't evil, she just hated being woken up.
King Edison just sat on his chair, carefully, his face full of worry, maybe because he was seated next to Gideon, the man who had tried to eliminate him just yesterday evening. He didn't feel safe and that was okay. This was a taste of what he put his people through anyway.
He looked like he was worried he would say something that would trigger the leaders of the midlands again, or maybe he was worried about Gideon of Greroth.
Edison had never met a man who openly defied him. He had never met a man who couldn't give two shits about him being the king. It was crazy how Gideon looked like he didn't regret anything, and that if given the choice again, the witch would do worse to him.
That scared him.
Sure, they were here as leaders, but for him, there was a threat that hung in the air, a threat he couldn't neutralize and he had learned that in one day. So all he had to do was to be cool and pretend like none of that shit happened yesterday, save for the beast part.
But then again, the beast was at the center of this madness.
But what if the beast was way too close to him?
Would he run?
Gideon looked like he had had the fun of his life, last night, as he casually stared at Delbert and Grant. It was almost like he knew something that all the people in this room didn't know about.
Of course, Delbert was still looking at him curiously, as if he wanted to know more about Gideon.
They should have been understanding each other, but maybe they were mates, right? That would explain a lot of things, especially how Gideon had acted out last night. But then again, with Gideon of Greroth, nothing was sure.
"You guys look like shit," King Cassius said and they all groaned like it wasn't obvious. However, even in their weird states, Cassius knew their minds were alert. So he would ignore their groans and grunts and give them the papers.
He wished he could capture the moment, but the locals weren't allowed here, not to mention that the midlands had only one photographer, whose qualities were terrible, but they had to survive until they learned to capture memories differently.
"No shit, Sherlock," Zelina whined, as she leaned her head on the conference table, making herself comfortable in the uncomfortable state she was in.
"Delbert, Grant, give them copies of this accord," King Cassius said to his trusted warriors who were up for the task. They were efficient and that was also why they were here in this room, with the leaders of the midlands.
The amount of trust their king had in them was the kind that could either save Acrod or lead them into war. But it was clear that whatever decision the warriors made, their king would be there beside them.
"Yes, your highness."
"You guys read through the accords. The contents are as we discussed yesterday. Anyone with objections can raise them so we fix the accords here and now," Cassius said and the Midlands rulers looked at the scrolls in front of them.
The rulers looked ridiculous as they squinted their eyes to see what had been written on the scrolls as if the scrolls weren't big enough. They were dramatic pieces of shit, but they were the hope of their lands.
King Cassius sat back, waiting to see what they would say, even though he wanted to laugh at them. He wondered how the fuck they ruled kingdoms when it was mid-morning and they were still sleepy. This was crazy.
However, Cassius understood them. They had been out in the night with the beast for a while, so their lack of sleep made sense. They needed rest before they could get back to their duties, and judging by their faces, they wanted to go back to their homes.
The midlands couldn't afford to lose more soldiers. The lycan beast didn't care about anything other than the children. So maybe if they got the children out of the equation, they wouldn't have to deal with the crude beast again.
They would get the peace they so yearned for desperately.
"It looks good to me," Zelina said, having looked at the scroll in front of her. She was amazed at how well Cassius had captured everything they had discussed. He truly was a good leader, but they all were anyway.
"Me too, I see it covers all we talked about, unless we are to add anything," King Eddy of Udrad added.
"Yup, not a complaint from me, now can I please go back to sleep?" Ulrike whined, and Gideon just laughed at him. Ulrike was tired, he needed all the sleep he could get, after fighting with the beast of the midlands last night.
He had healed, but that didn't mean he wasn't sore. His old friend had landed some rough punches on him, of course sparing the face. Maybe that was something Ulrike would thank him for if they ever met again.
At least he could still get laid with that beautiful face of his.
"You look like you spent your whole lifetime without sleep, but you look worse than yesterday," Gideon said with a light laugh, almost like he and Ulrike had been doing something else last night or even during the day.
In response, Ulrike just pouted and went back to sleep, on the table in the conference room.
There was something about Gideon's tone that made literally everyone in the room curious. None of them could quite get their finger on what it was, but if Ulrike had kept the conversation going, their suspicions would be confirmed.
Maybe Ulrike knew that, which is why he was trying to feign sleep right now. Their over-friendly interaction was new and the focus suddenly turned to them, but Criselda noticed and quickly cut in.
"So all we have to do is sign with our blood, yeah?"