One year ago...
Veron opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling of the room he was currently in. After a while of staring unblinkingly, his long eyelashes fluttered close ever so slowly.
He lay motionless with his back against the soft mattress, and no emotion on his face. At first glance, one would believe he was calm and at peace, but that was not the case. There was great anger boiling inside of him.
He let out a long breath when he heard footsteps approaching the door. From the scent that reached his nostrils, he already knew who it was.
"Veron?" Skye called out in a soft voice.
"Enter," Veron responded via mind link, granting him permission to come into the room.
A slight creak echoed around the room as Skye pushed the door open and stepped into the room.
Without any change in his blank expression, Skye darted his eyes around the room, catching sight of the blood-stained carpet, walls, and three dead people.
A male lay lifeless on the floor, while two females lay in the same condition, but on the bed. The only difference was that the women were bleeding from two holes in their neck, while the man had his throat severed badly, with claw marks all over his face and bare chest.
The sheets, which were previously white, now had maroon spots all over, some spots larger than the others.
When Skye's gaze finally rested on Veron, he let out a soft sigh. The guy was lying comfortably between two corpses on the large bed, and even though he looked like he had no problem in his life, Skye knew better.
"What's my day like?" Veron's voice rang out, beating Skye, who was about to say something, to it.
"You have three meetings, and you are almost late for the first one," Skye responded, stating his original reason for coming here in the first place.
Normally, he wouldn't disturb Veron on a day like this. He would postpone whatever he wanted to say or do until Veron came out of the room by himself when he is calm enough.
But today was different. These meetings were important to Veron, and he wouldn't be happy if he missed any one of them.
Hearing what Skye said, Veron snapped his eyes open, and abruptly sat up. Setting his blank eyes on the man on the floor, a small frown appeared on his face.
"Feed that one to the dogs. He's worthless... As for these two, wrap them up nicely, and send them back to their master. Maybe this will register better in his half-dead brain." Veron ordered, then climbed off the bed and sauntered out of the room.
Skye set his gaze on the dead people once more, wishing there was a way to wake them up and kill them all over again. He didn't pity them. They got what they deserved.
The three were werewolves from Silver Lake, the city of wolves, their original homeland. They were sent by the current crown prince to kill Veron. This always happens every year, after the mating ceremony.
Skye couldn't understand their reasoning. First, it was persecution, then banishment from his land. Now, they are sending assassins after him, even though he had shown that he was not interested in the throne, or returning to the land.
Last night was the mating ceremony, and as usual, they had returned to Silver Lake since they made it compulsory for Veron to attend every year. Why they gave that rule, neither he nor Veron knew.
And Veron can not defy the rule because of the oath they made him swear before sending him away from the land.
After the ceremony ended, they left Silver Lake, only to be attacked on their way back. It wasn't a surprise to them, as it usually happens every time. Only this time, their attackers were more in number than they used to be.
The fight lasted longer than it used to, and they succeeded in injecting a significant amount of poison into his system, weakening him to a great extent.
For that reason, he dragged these three back, as souvenirs to replenish his strength, and also fight the poison.
"Tsk... I wish he gave you a more painful death. You don't deserve to die so easily." Skye clicked his tongue in irritation as he set his eyes on the holes in the neck of one woman.
"Piece of work." He muttered, moving further into the room to execute the order he was given.
***
Meanwhile, Veron stepped into his room and shut the door behind him.
Stripping, he advanced to the bathroom to wash himself. He was still feeling weak, an effect of the poison that was still present in his body.
Apart from the attack last night, he was also angry for another reason. All these while he had been attending the mating ceremony, he had hope that he would meet his mate.
So when the ceremony ended without anything like that happening, he felt angry and disappointed... Again.
After his bath, he lay on his bed, breathing heavily. He still needed a few hours of rest to stabilize his body.
"Skye." He called, his voice echoing in Skye's head.
"Yes?" Skye responded, pausing his current activity of wrapping up the second body.
"What time is the first meeting?" Veron probed, turning on the bed until he was lying face down.
"10."
"Which company?"
"V and S group."
"What time is it now?"
"9:40."
"Reschedule it," Veron said, making Skye frown. However, he said nothing to counter it or try to make him change his mind.
"Which one's next?" Veron's voice echoed again in his head.
"Grimshigh College, 11 am."
"Reschedule," Veron said again, and this time, Skye objected.
"We've rescheduled this one three times, Veron. We can't do it again." He went quiet after saying this, waiting for what Veron would say while hoping he won't insist.
When Veron said nothing and disappeared from his head, he breathed out in relief.