Arthit
The Queen had called him to her personal quarters. More often than not, they two would sit together after his studies and have some tea. He was having trouble sleeping lately and she would have Beam, Kit, or Rome, brew him some Valerian Root in order to help him sleep.
"Arthit." The Queen spoke first.
"I know that you don't want to see my son. You're well within your right to do that and I don't disagree with the way you spoke to him. He is a Prince but you are now his partner. You can speak to him how you wish especially if he's mistreating you. I'm ashamed to say that it's my husband's fault and my own. We always spoiled him too much and let him get his way because he was always a bright child. Kongpob has always been a bit cold and more than a little impulsive but never like this. I'm sorry for everything he's done to you."
"You don't have to apologize to me Queen Suthiluck." The Queen offers him a sad smile.
"Someone has to Arthit. My husband and I will continue to do so until that prideful child of ours learns how to properly do so."
"Queen I-" The Queen shakes her head.
"Don't feel guilty about anything Arthit. You did great. I'm proud of you for standing up for yourself."
"But... there's something I need you to do. Not for anyone but yourself."
"I don't"
"We have a seer. Her name is Achara. She has been in our clans for years." Arthit remembered the woman that had performed the bonding ceremony for him and Kongpob that night.
"Kongpob told us about what Moon said. Sunshine. Arthit. Can you really not feel your wolf?" Arthit shakes his head.
"From what I know I was born without my wolf."
"Kongpob's wolf can sense it and Seer Achara herself says that your wolf is there. Dormant."
"Dormant?"
"I'd like for you to see her. She's requested that both you and Kongpob go. I think it's important that you do this. Had it been anyone else I would have refused. I wanted more than anything to accompany you for this but Seer Achara knows what is best. And if she feels only the two of you need to go that is what will happen. You'll be safe so long as Kongpob is with you and it might not seem that way given all that's happened between the two of you but he won't hurt you I can guarantee that Arthit."
"He already has." Arthit thinks to himself.
Arthit is preparing some fresh pears for Cloud. He knows that at one point in time he has to face Kongpob. Tonight is the night that they have to go to Seer Achara. He's admittedly a little afraid to confront the Prince again after he blew up at him. Even so, he figured he should face him.
Xia Yu Ping is with him as he walks towards the barn where the horses and Cloud are. He goes earlier and can see Kongpob running around chasing after Cloud. Arthit smiles at Cloud.
"Cloud. Come here girl!" Cloud pushes past Kongpob and runs towards Arthit and Xia Yu Ping. Arthit smiles leaning down to her level.
"I hate a treat for you." Before he can give her the pear Kongpob snatches it away.
"Help me. Please." The desperation in his eyes makes Arthit want to laugh. He can tell that Kongpob is frustrated.
"Okay." Arthit complies to Kongpob who gives him a thankful look. It's the first time ever that the Prince had ever looked so docile.
"Xia Yu Ping would you mind bringing me a blanket and a basket."
"Of course Prince Arthit." With those words, Xia Yu Ping walked away.
"What am I doing wrong?" Kongpob questioned with a sigh.
"A lot of things," Arthit said to him.
"For starters, you're running around with shears. A lot of Sheep prefer that but Cloud hates to have her wool cut."
"Why?" Kongpob questioned.
"She had a bad experience when she was younger. One of the workers accidentally cut more than her wool. Since then she only lets me come near her. I've been away from her longer than expected and I groomed her almost daily to avoid all this."
"How did you groom her?" It was at that moment that Xia Yu Ping came back and Arthit smiled. Cloud seemed to understand what was happening because she wagged her tail.
"Would you like me to lay the blanket out for you Prince Arthit?"
"I can do it. You're excused. I'M with Prince Arthit now." Kongpob spoke up. Xia Yu Ping turned to look at him and Arthit nodded.
"It's fine." Kongpob laid the blanket down where Arthit proceeded to sit on the blanket and Cloud soon joined him sitting on his lap immediately.
"Cloud likes to be groomed. I think we'll need to cut her wool off because it's gotten too big. I'm sorry girl. I'll remove as much as I can with my hands but you're going to need a good cut." Arthit spoke gently.
"Prince Kongpob. Can you come sit with me. Bring the basket closer." Kongpob nodded and did as he was told. Arthit smiled at Cloud who leaned into him happily. Softly Arthit began to hum as he ran his fingers through the wool. A lot began to come out here and there which he began to place on the basket. Cloud seemed to be so relaxed and began to fall asleep.
"She doesn't trust many people. She only ever let me come near her after that incident at home."
"I'm sorry Arthit." Arthit turned to look at Kongpob in surprise.
"I shouldn't have burned your house down or even brought you here for my own plans. I'm angry at myself not at you and I've been acting like a real jerk to you. And I don't pity you Arthit I... I just feel like an ass. I promise that I'll be better. I know that my words probably don't mean much to you."
"You're right they don't" Arthit replies.
"But... I'm going to try to change." Kongpob says to him.
They are both quiet for a moment until Cloud huffs. Arthit laughs and pats her head.
"Okay you can have one pear but you'll get the next one after we give you a real trim." Arthit spoke. He handed Cloud a pear which she happily munched on.
"Prince Kongpob." Arthit spoke up.
"You can start trimming off her wool." Cloud seemed to grow a bit startled but Arthit began to hum gently and patter her head trying to distract her.
"I'll be as careful as I possibly can," Kongpob spoke. He moved quickly cutting away as much wool as he possibly could. The basket had become overfilled. Arthit had managed to keep the sheep calm enough so that Kongpob could finish properly trimming Cloud's wool He had grabbed onto her right back leg as it was the last thing he was trimming. When he was done Cloud then proceeded to kick Kongpob in the face with such force he fell on his back. Arthit gasped as blood began to flow down Kongpob's head. Kongpob looked stunned and he reached up to stop the blood from running.
"Oh my god. Are you okay?" Arthit rushed to him using his tunic to try and stop the blood. This, in turn, seemed to anger the sheep more this time he knocked on Arthit's back causing him to land on Kongpob's lap. Both froze for a moment Arthit's heart was racing. There was a feeling in his chest that he could not describe and a thump so painful he gasped.
"Are you okay?" Kongpob questioned concerned as he looked at Arthit's face which was strewn in pain.
"My chest I..." Another painful gasp left his lips. Things seemed to move faster than expected for Arthit as he suddenly found himself in Kongpob's arms and he was being carried inside. In seconds Xia Yu Ping was by his side.
"Prince Arthit are you okay?" There was worry in Xia Yu Ping's voice but before Arthit could answer to him Kongpob spoke up.
"Call one of the healers now." Kongpob ordered Xia Yu Ping who for the first time truly listened and rushed away.
"Prince Kongpob... you're head," Arthit spoke up.
"It's fine." Kongpob dismissed his words and carried him to his quarters. On his way there they'd gathered a crowd of Byul, Ming, Rome, Beam, Jae Ha, and Kit. Kongpob had closed Arthit's bedroom and had kept them all out.
He laid Arthit on the bed and covered him up with as much quilts as he could. Arthit felt overwhelmed.
"I can't breathe..." Arthit spoke up.
"I'll go call her here myself. Rome, Beam, and Kit's mother is the best healer we have." Arthit took Kongpob's arm and stopped him.
"I meant the quilts... the pain is gone now." He spoke up.
"You're still pale and you feel cold." Kongpob spoke up as he removed some of the quilts and then pressed his hand against his forehead. By now the blood on his head had stopped and the wound left by Cloud had healed all that was left were traces of dry blood on his head and on Arthit's tunic.
Despite saying that he felt alright another pain came to his chest and Arthit tried to push it away but a whimper left his lips. This time fear took over him and it showed as he tried to sit. Kongpob took his hand.
"It's okay Arthit. Nothing will happen I promise." Kongpob was telling him. Tears were threatening to fall down Arthit's eyes as he realized it was most likely the clock starting to go faster. He was almost eighteen after all. Three more years wasn't exactly the longest of times.
"I'm sorry Arthit. For being a jerk to you and mistreating you when I have no one else but myself to blame for putting both of us in this situation. I promise I'll be better okay. Please don't cry. You can hit me again if you want but please don't cry." Kongpob is telling him. It's at that moment that the door opens and a woman walks in. She bows to them both but while she seems cold to Kongpob she offers a warm smile to Arthit.
"I will be taking care of you today Prince Consort Arthit. I am Beam, Kit and Rome's mother Dew." Arthit offers a smile before another painful stab is felt in his chest and he gasps. Everything feels like it's blurring. He can hear Konpob calling out to him but then everything goes blank.
When he wakes up he is by himself with Dew who is checking his pulse and placing some wet cloths on his forehead.
"It's starting isn't it?" Arthit questions quietly.
"So you know. A wolf without its mate does not have long to live." Arthit is quiet for a moment but nods.
"Is there anything I can take... For the pain?" He questions.
"I'm afraid not. I don't have that kind of medicine with me. The Queen tells me that you will go see Achara. She might have something. In her care, many wolves without mates have had long and happy lives due to her healings. So I've heard."
"And if you don't wish to have a long life..." Arthit thought to himself not realizing that he's spoken this out loud. Dew takes his hand holding it tightly.
"The world can be unkind child. But you have to live through it because it's all that you've got. It might be miserable but you need to fight another day to see happiness. Leaving this earth without it will you always be a martyr to others?"
"I don't know how to fight?"
"By not giving up." She tells him. The door is opened and Kongpob is looking at him with a look in his eyes that Arthit wants to believe the Prince is concerned. But he knows that all the Prince feels is guilt.
"Is he better? Do you need me to send someone to get more herbs...or... I can go myself."
"I have nothing I can give him. You need to bring him to Seer Achara at once. What he needs only she can do with the magic of the woods."
"What do you mean? What's wrong with him?" Kongpob sounds agitated and another painful feeling in his chest comes. He tries to suppress it as best that he can but a whimper escapes his lips. Kongpob turns to look at him and suddenly he is at his side again. Arthit is wrapped in so many blankets when he is scooped up he is made into a cacoon. He can feel Kongpob's hands shaking and his heart racing.
Dew opens the door for him and Arthit is surprised to see all his friends there as well as the King and Queen. The Queen moves towards him looking at him with tears in her eyes.
"Don't be scared okay. There isn't anything that Seer Achara can't do." Arthit finds himself nodding and tries to mask the next shot of pain he feels but this time it increases.
"Hurry Kongpob." The King urges. Kongpob is running, behind them, Xia Yu Ping and Aim are the only ones following. When the reach outside of the castle Kongpob gently places him down.
Xia Yu Ping moves forward but an angry growl from Kongpob stops him in his tracks and he retreats. Arthit can tell something is being said between all three men but by now the pain is getting to be too much. He can feel his legs start to give out but Kongpoob catches him in his arms.
"Fine," Kongpob says. When Xia Yu Ping shifts he lowers himself to the floor. Arthit realizes that he is going to ride on his back.
"Prince Kongpob..." He weakly says and the man speaks as if knowing what he wants to ask.
"I'm going to ride his back too. You're too weak to ride on your own on my back and I don't want..." Kongpob trails off and says nothing more as he helps him climb on the Alpha wolves back. Arthit can see the annoyance on Kongpob's face as he too climbs on and holds on to Arthit tightly pressing him to his back.
"I'm sorry... for being a burden."
"Don't say anything more Arthit or I'll get angry." He does as he's told feeling even more guilty and another pain comes to his chest. This time he screams unable to stop himself.
"Please Goddess. Stop this." Kongpob says.
Kongpob
He hated the fact that he needed to climb onto another wolf's back. Yet the thought of another man holding on to Arthit did not sit well with him or Moon. Things had seemed fine one second before they had worsened the next.
Kongpob now feared for the worst. Arthit was so young and the thought of him being so ill. Was it because of him? Did he cause him to be like this? Was Arthit's heart in such pain because of him? As they traveled to the forest he thought of all he knew so far.
What if Arthit had been sick because of his past life? He'd lived in a barn all his life had he not. He looked down at the small omega thinking about the rain and the cold and how he'd had to live in the small barn with the only warmth being animals. Tightly he clutched on to him until the sleeping omega let out a whimper.
"Please Goddess. I've been bad to him. Don't punish him more for the mistakes of others. Please."
"When they arrived at Achara's she was waiting outside.
"Bring him inside." Xia Yu Ping lowered himself onto the ground and Kongpob carried him inside the cottage inside the glowing tree.
"Bring him close to the fire. He'll need its warmth and yours."
"What's wrong with him? Is it his heart?"
"So you've realized he too has one now?" Kongpob did not reply but Achara continued.
"Everyone in the Kingdom whispers about the little Omega you've brought to the Kingdom. When they don't speak ill about his rank. They speak ill about his morals." Kongpob wants to speak but he keeps quiet.
"This child has no mate. When he turns 21 he will die." Kongpob feels pain so deep in his chest and Moon begins to whimper as he hears this.
"No please... anything but that."
"What? How is that possible? There are many without mates that live."
"He is different. His case was so different. He is an Omega. And in love when it comes to mates there is no one luckier than an Omega. They love once and only once and are dedicated and have the most dedicated mates. In past lives and even now, they have suffered most which is why the Moon Goddess gifts them with the happiest love and life."
"But Arthit-"
"Sadly he is unlucky. In love, life, he is doomed to suffer in this life more than anyone. When you chose to force yourself on him by bonding him to you, you've only caused his illness to quicken. You've distressed him so much that his heart is reacting in such a way. His life will now be shorter than before."
"You haven't even looked at him yet."
"I say what the spirits and the Moon Goddess show me." She tells him.
"Is there something I can do? Can't you reverse it? Please. I'll do anything." Kongpob tells her he feels desperate in such a way that he's never felt that way before. He looked at the sleeping Arthit in his arms as tears blurred his eyes.
"I'm sorry Arthit. " Arthit was young, he was only seventeen years old. He would be 18 in a little over a month. Kongpob did not know that his life was being cut short and he'd only managed to worsen it.
At Arthit's young age he'd been put through so much already. He'd been everyone's victim. Kongpob's hand shook as he reached out to caress Arthit's cheek.
"Monster." Shutting his eyes tightly he couldn't erase Arthit's words. He'd always been too prideful to apologize to anyone and yet here he was apologizing over and over again to Arthit. He was right. He was truly a Monster. A bastard, everything that Arthit had called him had been true.
"Do you really wish to help?" Seer Achara questioned. Kongpob nodded.
"You will have to return him to his home."
"No. His parents do not treat him well." Kongpob spoke up.
"His brother then?" Seer Achara questioned.
"He mistreats him. I can't leave him with anyone that is unkind to him. I don't wish to leave him by himself. He has no one."
"Why do you care Prince Kongpob. You have not been kind to him. In fact, you are so stubborn you still intend to meet his brother do you not?"
"Feelings are hard to forget especially when that person is your mate."
"This is the reason you cannot help him."
"I don't understand?"
"Arthit's only hope is to mate Kongpob. He needs an anchor. He is drifting away piece by piece little by little. This is what truly helps mateless wolves. But you have a mate. You're not willing to give up that person despite them throwing you away already. I believe Arthit has a perfect match."
"Who?" Kongpob and Moon both questioned.
"The guard. Xia Yu Ping. "
"No." Moon speaks up first.
"Then can you give Arthit the love he deserves? He is a special case one that was cursed years ago." Kongpob is silent. He feels torn, guilty selfish.
"Arrogance, Pride, Selfishness. Unwillingness to see what is right in front of you. These things can destroy what's most important."
"You said that this was something his mate did. A deal you mentioned last time."
"Yes. His mate was only trying to hold on."
"I don't understand."
"We live many lives in different worlds. Us wolves if our fate is like his is, where our mates are taken so early. They get second chances to be reborn. Wolves... are a cycle once the human vessel dies if it was in a tragedy such as this it is believed the Mon Goddess allows second chances in hopes that they find each other again and make things right. I believe Arthit and his mate will have a chance to meet one day soon."
"Please... Can't you save him?"
"For his sake or yours? What do you think he wants?" Kongpob remembers Arthit's words in the barn but he can't let him go. Not like this. He's being selfish he knows but he doesn't want Arthit to be miserable.
"Or can you hand him off to someone else that can make him happy? You clearly cannot do that. The Moon Goddess is giving you a chance with someone who is compatible. You may agree with Frame but your wolf rejects him."
"And Frame's wolf Achlys."
"He favors me."
"Yes well, he favored someone else as well. Betas and Alpha's don't always have such strong bonds as Omegas do with their mates. He abandoned you it means it was his will. There was no forcing him to do so."
"What would you have done if you were Arthit? If you knew your mate was not with you?"
Kongpob looked at the omega in his arms and sighed.
"Do you know why Omegas were gifted such an intense love?" Kongpob shook his head.
"Mates, true mates did not exist until 1000 years ago. When the first Omega became fertile. Back then, Omegas like some now were treated like nothing. Back then they were barren and their kind suffered so much. His mate happened to be an Alpha...."
Thank you guys for reading I hope you enjoyed this chapter. For now, we will leave this life and go to the past of how it all started. You will get to see the mistakes of the past and how we got to this point. I would like to point this out beforehand but Achara will only tell the story of two wolves she will never mention names but for purposes of avoiding confusion I will be using Moon/Koongpob and Arthit/Sunshine. You guys will get to meet Arthit's Omega Wolf Sunshine. Achlys means Darkness. A lot will start to make sense here and you guys will be able to piece together a lot of what has been going on. Until next time.