Chapter 33 - 33

Victor couldn't keep hurting his mate. He had less control over his words when it came to Robin. And the stress of the war was making it harder for him to rein in his temper.His anger bouts weren't uncommon when he was young. As a cold he was volatile, showing no signs of a calm leader. It took years of training and therapy for him to become the calm and collected Prince he was. His father in particular invested a lot of time in training his behaviour. He was to become the King one day he couldn't act like a crazed Alpha in rut all the time. Meeting Robin, however, crumbled all the years of training. The intensity of his emotions, be it love or anger, multiplied a thousand times when it came to Robin. The stress of the war and his past trauma of losing his family didn't help. But his behavior had no excuse.He wanted to go to Robin on multiple occasions but he didn't know how to approach him. He had gloriously fucked up when he said Robin had tricked him into getting him pregnant. He knew Robin hadn't. How could he when Victor was the one in the wrong? He hated himself for not having control, and for not taking timely precautions. There was no undoing what he had done. The only way to salvage the situation was to call off the war. He knew what it would have meant to call off the war. The soldiers were training, and a lot of money had already been spent on resources. Victor knew what was at stake but he also knew what it would mean for his child if he died. Harold Marcella was an animal. He would go to any lengths to make a point, even torturing his own kin. He didn't want to put his mate's or his child's life in danger. If Robin was pregnant that put him in a vulnerable position. A war was no place for a child to develop.He was outraged at Robin's threat of leaving him if he tried to call off the war. Victor knew Robin was manipulating him. Robin knew that Victor knew but he did it anyway. Why? Because Robin knew he would get his way. Losing Robin was the only thing that scared the shit out of him. Nothing in the world affected him as much as the thought of being separated from his mate. Especially now that his mate might be pregnant."I will stay with you forever, Victor. Love you with all my heart if you do this for me. Please, I beg you...don't call off the war." Robin's words echoed in Victor's head even now, two weeks later.He was training harder than usual. Deliberately avoiding Robin, punishing himself for the fuck-up he had done. His soldiers grew weary when they saw him walking through the warehouse door. They knew Victor would push them to their limits.More and more Marcella troops were joining hands with Lawrence. Lawrence had already received a lot of inside information on Capital City Military workings. To their disappointment, they got to know about the high-tech firing system Marcella had. It could kill thousands of soldiers from 5 miles away without any assistance. Their advanced weaponry was far superior to the ancient guns and high-energy laser swords Dhasurs owned. Victor had high hopes from Hestros and Jolandia. His allies were known for their innovative weapon technology. Arthur and Rody were supposed to go for another meeting that would discuss the resources supplementation from the two countries.Victor went through the paperwork on the table of the warehouse office and pulled out the blueprint of all the weapons they could acquire from Hestros and Jolandia. While looking for the blueprint he found out Lawrence's war plan. The one Robin and probably his whole family had been trying to present to him for the last couple of days now. He wanted to rip the offensive piece of paper. The fact that Lawrence even thought Victor would allow Robin to accompany the troops to Marcella was laughable. His mate would stay in hiding, in a safe place that Victor would personally approve of until the war was over.Victor had his own war plan that he was going to implement and he didn't need anyone's approval for it. In a month's time, Victor's chief commander would lead the first division of soldiers towards Capital City. They would take the long route, through the Hekagir range of mountains. According to inside information for Marcella commanders, Harold didn't deploy as many troops to that side of the country as the forest-side due to the rugged terrain. At this time of the year, the probability of any soldiers on that side of the country was minimal. It would make it easy for Victor's troops to make their entry without many obstacles. Harold wouldn't expect that attack.A few days later Victor would lead ten thousand soldiers through the same path. By the time Harold would get ready to defend himself Victor would already be halfway close to his palace. Victor was choosing not to attack aerially since their aerial machinery wasn't anywhere near as good as Marcella's aerial defense system. It would be a suicide mission to go aerial.Victor walked towards the training area where his brothers were training with his chief commander."Come to the office," Victor said, eyeing his brothers. They nodded before following him."What's going on?" Arthur asked, panting with exhaustion. The doctor and the chef weren't built for Warzone but they were doing pretty good. For fingers that were more expert at making small incisions than big gashes they were exceptional. Arthur, especially, did quite well with the High-energy laser swords."You will be going to Hestros and Rody to Jolandia tomorrow. We will perform our first attack next month.""Next month?" Rody asked. "I thought we still had two months left.""On paper, yes. We can't be predictable. That's the whole point of a surprise attack," Victor said."We will talk to our allies first," Arthur informed with a serious face. "I am glad you didn't try to call off the war."Arthur's pointed stare told Victor he knew something. Victor wasn't surprised he knew."Why would he call off the war?" Rody chuckled. "That's absurd.""I don't know," Arthur shrugged, his eyes pinning down Victor with a known intensity. "Wasn't it something you were thinking, Victor?"Victor gritted his teeth. "Yes."Rody looked at him with eyes wide open in shock. Arthur muttered a 'motherfucker' under his breath."Why?" Rody asked, aggravated. "Are we not prepared enough.""The fucker was trying to be selfish," Arthur answered. "What made you change your mind?" he asked Victor."Robin," Victor answered."I didn't like him before but I do now, he has better common sense than you.""I am glad to hear that, Arthur," Victor said, rolling his eyes. "Now can we move on and discuss our artillery situation?"Arthur grumbled something under his breath before nodding.