[ACROD]
The palace was awfully quiet for a place that was always buzzing with activity.
It was like they were mourning Nour too, the omega who had been unfortunate from the moment he had been born, and who had strived to make lives better and only ever got hate.
The omegas had brought flowers to the palace, and it was a sickening sight even for the king. He knew these people despised his son. It was a disturbing thing but then the king was not going to pay attention to that.
This time, he would let Delbert handle whatever was coming, he trusted the Merdel twin more than he trusted himself with protecting his son.
Maybe it was because there was a red tape for the king, but with the Merdels, the red tape never mattered, because they were always the reason there was even a red tape. They were worse than anyone had anticipated and the king knew that.
Maybe that was why he was certain that his son was safe with Delbert.
Perhaps he should have reconsidered but then Alanor would never have let Nour be hurt, not to mention the eldest Merdel twin loved Alanor more than anything in their lives. That was also how he was sure that his son was in the right hands.
"Sire, they are here," Ferhat notified the king of the junior warrior and the enforcer's presence. This was going to be the hardest thing that the king would ever have to do and for the first time, he was regretting ever letting his son be free out there.
Freedom had cost his son his sanity.
Freedom had made his son give in to a world where he was determined to explore.
Freedom had brought his strong son back to him in the form of a broken little wolf that needed all the protection there was in the realm.
Freedom had broken his son and ruined his heart.
Freedom was the one thing that the king hated more than anything. And yet he had to wait and hope that his son would be alright. He had to will himself to talk to the person who had ruined his son.
This sickened King Cassius to the core.
He despised Grant Hindley and if he had his way, he would have long murdered the man. But death was too merciful for Grant. Death was not the one thing that Grenat would learn from, and he didn't want the man to ever make his son suffer again.
Oh, but he wanted to make Grant suffer and if he had to rely on Delbert, then he would do it. He would trust half of the craziest creatures in the realm to save his son. King Cassius was a devoted father, but also a spiteful and raging one.
Maybe life would be easier, wouldn't it?
"How do I look, Ferhat?" King Cassius asked, his voice tired and his body raging still. He was desperate for answers, he was desperate to know what his son could have done for Grant to have hurt him that badly.
They had been mated for a few months, so why the fuck was his son so broken while Grant was free and living life? What was so bad about the mate bond that Grant had ruined his son's life in the process?
Oh, but the king needed answers. He wanted to ask them, but how was he supposed to start? Where was he ever to begin from when that truth would make things worse for his son?
But would it just be that for them or was this the worst thing that could have happened to them?
"Sire…" Ferhat trailed off with uncertainty.
"Please, Ferhat. I… I don't know what to do with him. I want to kill him, but I can't do that just yet. I want to make his life hard, but it doesn't feel right at the moment. I want to do a lot of things.
"So please, tell me, how do I look? I don't want him to come in and find me looking like I lost a son because of him. I can't be the one grieving when he is the one who… please, Ferhat. Say something," King Cassius said defeatedly.
He knew that it wasn't the easiest for them but he had to put up a front.
Nour had asked him to give Grant the position of a high Lord.
His son had made him hand over power to the bastard who almost liked him and King Cassius wasn't sure if he was supposed to be angry or sad for Grant because he knew his son could be a psycho if he wanted to.
Cass was the devil and the king was not bothered by it in any way. Maybe that way why He was conflicted even to this point.
But it couldn't be that bad, right?
"You look sad, sire. And tired. I can send them away if you are not ready to face him. Delbert would understand and Grant would not ask any questions," Ferhat said to his sire and King Cassius felt his heart shatter.
His son had been broken and yet he couldn't even manage to fake a posture. What the fuck was he supposed to do then? He was just a father who was not ready to lose his son to a mere-ranking wolf.
He was just a father who was struggling between rationality and vengeance and frankly, vengeance sounded way better than anything anyone would offer to him. He was there. He could make things happen.
But he had to be patient and it was pissing him off.
"No. Don't send them away. Just give me a moment and I'll fix myself," King Cassius said, his breaths uneven with rage. He needed to keep it together, for his son. He needed to make sure his son's request didn't seem like a burden to him.
He needed to see to it that his little son was getting what he wanted. And so, the king patched himself up, fixing his posture and reminding himself that he was the king.
For a minute, Ferhat watched in agony as the werewolf king tried to make himself look normal. There were bags under his eyes and Ferhat knew that that would be harder for King Cassius.
"Let me, sire," Ferhat said softly.
"Okay," King Cassius sighed in defeat.
"It will be alright, sire," Ferhat said before he began casting spells to make the king look better than he was feeling. It was an uphill task given how demotivated the king was, but Ferhat knew that appearances had to be kept.
He knew that this was not going to be the easiest but it was the most appropriate decision. It was crazy, and it would probably end up in worse chaos, but the king needed to get through this.
He needed to be able to breathe freely without thinking on the negative side.
Just for this meeting, he would be stable, even if it hurt him so badly.
"Done. You look way better than before," Ferhat said and Cassius just nodded faintly. He didn't even have the strength to say thank you because honestly, he didn't want to think about this meeting.
"Okay. Send them in," King Cassius said.
Farah opened the doors to the throne room to reveal Grant and Delbert on the other side.
Perhaps it wouldn't be as bad, right?