[GRANT]
So much had changed in a day and there wasn't even a tough time for the wolves of Acrod to process it all. It was like there was a myriad of bad luck that had gotten them to this point and yet even then, none of that would forever make any sense to them.
Perhaps that was why the kingdom wasn't sure whether to celebrate the fact that the king had spoken of his son who was hiding in plain sight, or talk of Grant and his new appointment, or chat about the way that Nour – the enforcer's mate – had been burnt to ashes on the same day.
"At least he is free of that little pestling," one of the wolves said. Some of the wolves nodded in agreement while others were not sure if this was the time to be celebrating broken mate bonds.
They had all felt the links be cut and they had wished that shit would have been different. It was one thing for Nour to be openly rejected by Grant because of the current appointment, but it was another for the young wolf to be forced to pay the price for hair that he had no understanding of.
Maybe it was because at the end of the day they lived in the werewolf kingdom, Acrod, or they would always need each other; it was a gamble, one that many people had to come to terms with.
The news of the most unfortunate events didn't just stop at Acrod. They went over and beyond the Midlands, effectively reaching more ears than anyone had ever thought possible in so little time.
"Damn," Delbert said to Grant later that evening, as he watched the house that had been reduced to rubble. It was something that Grant still didn't understand and the pain from losing his mate bond was stranger.
It wasn't like what he had always thought it would be like and it made him wonder what the fuck this was even about.
"Is it strange that I didn't feel the loss that should cripple me?" Grant asked in earnest and Delbert stared at him wondering what the fuck he wanted him to tell him.
This was not the time for all that shit and no matter how hard they tried to pretend that the rainbows were as bright as the times they had spent together, this wasn't one of those instances.
Shit had gotten a little too real and they had to embrace the possibility that they had all gotten fucked up so badly in one evening.
"I don't understand, sire. I'm sorry I wasn't able to be there for you earlier," Gilbert said even though there wasn't an ounce of sincerity in his voice. He was tempted to wring the wolf's neck but then he had promised the king that he would drown Grant into eternal agony.
He had shown to do his very best to make sure that no one would ever be able to hurt his erasthai again. That was the one thing he would live for, and hells be damned if anyone tried to fuck with Nour again.
Delbert would turn them into sashes and he wouldn't even have any regrets about it. Oh, he was ready to pull all the stops for the man that he loved with all of him.
"I don't feel any pain. It was there when I felt the links get cut, but now it's just like another day. If anything, I feel happy about my appointment instead of sad about the death of that little butterfly," Grant said worriedly.
Anyone who listened to him would think he was in denial, but then the truth was right there. He wouldn't be able to feel that pain because Nour wasn't dead. The young wolf had gotten to be on the side of life that my walker always wanted to be a part of.
It was the kind that made him want to do so many things, but right now, as Delbert looked at the man, he couldn't even start to think of what was going on in the enforcer's mind.
It was like home was just another space for him to be playing games, only that this time, the games that would be playing would involve the elimination and the ruin of one of the cruelest enforcers to ever live in the kingdom of Acrod.
"Wasn't it like that with you first mate?" Delbert asked honestly and Grant looked at him defeatedly, shaking his head in the porches.
It was like he himself couldn't understand what in all hell was happening right now and it wasn't like Delbert was in the best mood to be trying to make shit better for the man.
This was not going to be easy. It was the kind of war that had to be fought with every available weapon. It was one battle that would never end and Debert Cornell would see to that; regardless of what it would mean for them.
"No. Losing Alanor was the worst kind of pain I ever felt. He was mine but at the same time, he didn't want me. And then I got Nour and I wanted to love the omega. I really did, but it just didn't work out.
"He was never going to be as good as Alanor. He was never going to be as strong and as fast as Alanor. And maybe that's why I hated him for simply existing. He wasn't supposed to be mine but it wasn't like I could confront the fates for that.
"Perhaps Nour would have been happier with another mate. I was ruined and he was forced onto me at my worst. I sometimes hate myself for what I did to him, but he is dead and I don't even feel shit.
"That is even more confusing because long before this I could feel all of his pain. Even when I was the one who hurt him back then, I was okay with enduring the pain Inflicted on him;
"... because it reminded me of the fact that the omega would never be the Lycan I fell in love with," Grant said, and it took every ounce of strength and willpower for Delbert not to growl or even strangle the man into oblivion.
He couldn't believe that this shit is happening right now.
He couldn't understand the kind of picture that Grant was trying to paint, because right now, the only thing that Delbert was seeing was a man who didn't know what he wanted and had made another one suffer for a rejection that had been fair.
Alanor Wynter had been clear with Grant. He had made it his mission to be honest with the man and yet the man had decided to take all that anger out on an innocent wolf who didn't have anything to do with his fiction.
Oh, but Delbert wished that the day would come when he would have to put Grant in his place. Until then, Delbert would wait. He had waited for so many months and he was willing to wait for a few more.
Even if it meant interacting with the most stupid of all the wolves. This was never going to be a chance for forgiveness for Grant. And Delbert would make sure the realm knew about it.
"What will you do now?" Delbert asked.
"Pretend to grieve," Grant responded with conviction.