[DELBERT]
For three days, the Lycan warrior had tried to keep his mind off his Erasthai. Delbert made sure to minimize his movements, especially to Nour's healing chambers.
He was trying to hold himself back, to remind himself that they wanted the time and that he had to let things play out. He was patient and that was something that he never was. He couldn't be blamed though.
Lycans were always quick to lose their patience whenever it came to their Erasthais. It was like they were a button away from destroying everything when it came to their loved ones and right now, it was easier to say that Delbert was doing well.
"It's been three days, Delbert. How long will you pretend you didn't want to go in there?" Farah, who was currently training with the Lycan, asked him.
Since learning Delbert was Nour's beloved, Farah had never been happier to volunteer to eliminate Grant and give Delbert the chance to be with Nour. But Delbert couldn't let her.
"Well, it's not like I got the rank to be hovering around the enforcer's mate, or am I?" Delbert said tiredly as he swung at Farah but missed.
It was unusual for the Lycan to miss but then he was distracted and Farah understood that best. Hell, even she was worried sick for the prince parading as an omega, but she had been checking in on him, unlike the Lycan here.
"You can be invisible. You could have gone there already," Farah argued and Delbert slumped defeatedly on the training room floor. He knew she was right, but he couldn't find it in himself to go there.
He was still so mad at the prince yet he needed to find a way of making sure his Erasthai didn't hurt himself even more. But then that left the question of what he would do with Grant.
"If… If I frequent being around him, it will just strengthen my claim on him. And he's not ready, Farah. He's not even ready to ascend the damn throne, how the fuck is he supposed to take on a Lycan as a mate?
"It's just too much for him, and the last thing I want is to overwhelm him," Delbert said earnestly and Farah facepalmed. She understood him, but that wasn't reason enough for him to be wallowing in his misery.
However, someone had to be there for Nour and no one was perfect than the Lycan who had magic, was more powerful than the werewolf king, and could do whatever he wanted and not pay the price for it.
Delbert was a literal powerhouse, and he knew it too, and the sooner he used that, for his Erasthai, the sooner he would be better, or the both of them.
"So what? You're going to be sitting there, wallowing in pity when your Erasthai needs you? Is that it? You're going to leave him in the hands of the very man that doesn't want him?
"Anyone with eyes knows and sees that Grant doesn't want Nour. He wasn't even shocked when his mate was hurt. The bastard only showed emotion when he saw the sign fall. The king, not the crown prince. And you're here wallowing.
"Y'know what? Do what you want to do. Just don't blame time and place when you realize that you can't save your mate, bond over any role, or if your brother comes and saves Nour. We all know Alanor; if he comes for Nour, then even we won't see him.
"Hell, the king himself wouldn't be able to see him. Again, do what you think is best, I'm out of here," Farah said as she threw her sparring stick on the floor, shifted into her wolf and ran through the window.
She was stressed, but not more than Delbert who wasn't sure what he needed to do. He wanted to listen to Farah. He wanted to go to Nour, but he couldn't. He just couldn't find it in himself to go out there and claim him like that.
Delbert was scared of pushing him away and frankly, that was a possibility. The fact that he had told Nour that they were destined hadn't stopped Nour from acting like the weak omega again. So, the junior warrior had to come up with something else.
'Should I go or should I stay?'
For the next hour, Delbert sat on the training floor, deliberating whether to go to Nour or if he could just pretend and act like there wasn't a bond that was linking him to the poor omega.
He wished to see a stronger version of the prince and yet all he had gotten was that act. But then again, it made Delbert fall in love with him even more.
The prince undoubtedly had a dark soul, one so dark that he was more than willing to put himself in danger if it meant getting what he wanted. It was risky, but then wasn't that what the crown prince was anyway? A danger not just to himself but to society too?
Deciding against staying, Delbert dusted himself up and walked to the royal healing chambers. He intended to sneak in, see the prince from a distance, and get out, because he couldn't stay longer. Well, it was easier said than done.
"I… I'm sorry. Please don't. I will fight back if anyone comes at me again. I won't let them ruin our bond," Delbert heard a familiar voice whimpering and pleading in the distance.
He knew that voice and he knew he had to rush there. So, he used his Lycan speed to get to the door of the healing chamber, casually standing there like he was assigned to stand there. He wanted to hear the conversation and what he heard wasn't pretty.
"Find your way out of here, and make sure to clean my chambers. Make it so sparkling clean that I won't even find the stench of your blood on the walls.
"Take a fucking shower too, we have all had the misfortune of watching taking in your stench," Delbert heard Grant say and his heart hammered in his chest at the cruelty and the venom in the enforcer's voice.
He could easily reject the omega instead of hurting him like this, so what was the reason he was clinging on to a mate that he didn't want?
"I'm sorry, Grant. I didn't mean to ruin your night. I'm sorry, please forgive me," Delbert heard Nour plead, even as Grant just walked over to where he was, on the ground, before kicking Nour thrice in the stomach. It was more than obvious that it hurt a lot.
Delbert Cornell could count a few broken ribs and that was the last straw.
He had already begun walking into the room, when he noticed Grant stomp on his Erasthai's head, with the warrior boots, something that didn't sit well with Delbert.
The Lycan warrior shifted into his Lycan, and rushed to the werewolf enforcer, before throwing him to the walls and smacking his body against the wall like some nasty bun. Oh, but he was mad.
"What the fuck did you just do!?" Delbert growled as he let his Lycan take over.
He had held in the rage long enough.
"Alanor?" Delbert heard Grant whimper but that didn't stop him from breaking the enforcer's leg bones, clawing his lungs, and smacking his head on the wall, before disappearing with Nour in his arms.