My King // Arthur Curry

12

It was the same day after Bryan left to drive Alexis and Arthur to the burly man's house. Michael and Mera were left behind, with Declan sitting on the ground with his eyes closed. "I don't know why my sister saved you, lycan. But I'll trust her judgment." Michael gruffly says as he crosses his arms. Closely examining the other man's injuries, The youngest twin was impressed that Alexis was able to stop him from bleeding out by freezing his skin together, but it was only a temporary solution. If something weren't done about his injuries soon, he'd die. 'I can't do anything for him, but maybe... Dad can.' Michael thought as he helped the other man up.

"Do you know anything about lycans?" Mera asks. Shaking his head as he led the other man down to his truck, Michael sheepishly says, "Sorry, but my knowledge of Lycans is minimal. And the only person I can think of who might know about them is my Dad." When they finally reached the truck, Michael reached into his pocket and pulled out a spare set of keys. 'Bryan wasn't kidding when he said that his brother loves to carry around a big ring of keys.' Mera thought with an amused smile. After seeing his brother unlock his truck so many times, she took his keys and unlocked the car before giving them back. Using his other hand to open the door to the backseat, Michael helped the other man get inside. Just as he was sitting down, the stabbing pain from his injuries started to act up, causing him to hiss quietly. 'Why are they helping me?' Declan wondered, laying his head against the window. 'If they knew what I did, they would have half a mind to let me bleed out.'

Sadness and regret flash in his eyes when he starts to remember what happened to her. There wasn't a day that went by when he didn't blame himself for her death. 'I'm so sorry, Riley. It was all my fault.' The broken man thought as a lone tear fell from his eye.

[Flashback six years ago]

*Warning, this memory is very dark*

Declan was looking forward to going home. After being away for two years due to traveling the world, he couldn't wait to see his family and the rest of his pack. As soon as he had arrived, he was greeted by a horrific sight that he would never forget. The lifeless bodies of his pack mates were lying in a big bloody pile on the ground while the buildings around him were burning. Unshed tears filled his eyes as he stared at the bodies of the people that he had known his whole life. Memorizing every one of their faces until they were etched into his memory, he vowed that he would avenge them.

Looking at his pack mates one last time, he turned around and quickly ran to the edge of town where his mother and sisters lived. Unfortunately, when Declan arrived, he noticed that the front door was kicked in. Fear crept into his heart, and he dashed inside to find a gruesome scene. The bodies of his mother and sisters were on the floor. Their throats were slashed, and they were naked. "Mom! Cassidy! Abby! No!" Declan sobbed. He fell onto his knees and broke down. No matter how much he wished that it was all a bad dream that he could wake up from and still find everyone alive, he knew that it wasn't a dream. Everyone that Declan knew and loved was gone, and they were never coming back.

His family, friends, and people were all gone, and the only thing that remained was an empty house that would forever hold painful memories. The village that he was born and raised in was burning down. And by the time the sunrises in the sky, it will be gone. There was nothing left for him; he had no reason to stay. Only the smell of smoke and death remained. Getting off the blood-stained floor, Declan went upstairs to his room and packed a small bag. When he finished packing, he grabbed a big can of gasoline. Then he started pouring it throughout every single room of the house, and after he was done, he took one last look at his mother's and two sisters' faces. Tears fell from his grey eyes as he reached into his coat pocket to pull a lighter.

"I'm so sorry I wasn't there to protect you three. But I swear that when I find whoever did this, I'll make them pay." He said, throwing his lighter and walking outside with his bag. Even as his family's house was burning, Declan never looked back; he just continued to step out of the burning village. Sadness, Anger, and a strong desire for Vengeance were the only feelings he felt daily. And ever since that night, he spent the next two years searching for the people who killed his entire pack. When he finally found them, he killed them without mercy. After getting his revenge, he felt hollow and empty until he later met a kind and compassionate woman named Riley McKnight.