Chapter Twenty-Nine
Faolan's POV
I didn't think anyone was prepared for when they revealed the person at the throne chair. Honestly, how could anyone? But at the same time, somewhere deep inside, I knew. I knew because his behavior was so obvious, but perhaps I had hoped it was all talk. No one would of thought he had an ulterior motive by how that person acts.
Moving my gaze over, I could tell that Verin was bewildered by this as I was by how his face scrunched up. "What the hell?!" He exclaimed.
The blond male that everyone knew got up from the seat. "I'm sorry," He said, actually looking mournful, "It was a tad extreme, but it was the only way."
Instantly, I felt uneasy. What was that supposed to mean? What was he doing there and where was Verin's father, Drago?
"What the fuck are you doing, dip shit?" Verin snarled. "You don't belong up there. Where is my damn father? Is this one of his send someone to "fetch his son" thing again?"
Before he could answer, someone spoke up, "That my dear cousin is not what this is about. If only it was something so sweet, but sadly, your father wasn't always so sweet to his loved ones."
I and Verin turned towards the source of that voice as someone came out from the shadows. My stomach instantly dropped. Why is he here? I thought he left the castle by now.
"Mammon." Verin said, bluntly but his tone filled with hostility. "You have a lot of explaining to do."
He walked over to stand by the blond and rest his hand on his shoulder. "See, cousin, Vetis here is not just some random accountant for your father or to you for that matter." Mammon gave a smile that looked too sinister for its' own good.
"That doesn't explain anything." Verin said, keeping his voice flat as best as he could. Slowly, he had moved closer to me and held my wrist outside of their view. I didn't need to look at his face to know that he not only wanted security, but to tell me to keep my mouth shut.
Vetis had glanced away before his gaze went over to Verin. "I'm actually your cousin."
As Verin was opening his mouth, Mammon quickly interrupted. "Not only is he our cousin, but he is the true Heir to the Underworld."
"Bullshit!" Verin snarled. "You have no proof!"
"Proof?" Mammon laughed as he waved his hand. "Look at him, Verin! Did you ever wonder why he looks so similar to you or your father? Why that his hair color or facial structure was so similar to your own? Did you not find it strange at all that your father picked him?"
I would admit that I did thought it was strange how similar Vetis looked like Verin. Shoot, I thought subconsciously that he was a brother of his until how strong Verin showed his animosity towards him. Perhaps that inkling wasn't wrong after all about him being part of their family.
By how tense Verin was, I knew that he wasn't going to respond to that. True to my word, Verin pointed at them. "That doesn't explain about the true Heir shit that you just pulled."
This time, Vetis stepped forward. "Drago had a twin brother," He said, carefully and almost hesitantly, "and that twin brother was older than Drago." His hands moved into fists as he swallowed. "That brother is no longer alive because his own twin had killed him to take over the throne." His gaze met Verin's. "Killed him with his very own hands."
My head spun at this devastating news. Is it true? Did Drago had an older brother and killed him in cold blood? Possibly for power? It would definitely explain why Vetis looked so similar to Verin, but it does not mean this brother was older or not. Or if he had existed.
"You are a liar." He said out loud. Verin shook his head, glaring at them both. "Father never had a twin brother. Demons look similar all the time especially of the same kind of Demon. It's just a coincidence that you look like me and that is it."
I could feel that denial loud and clear. I did not blame him for not believing them, but as I stared at Vetis, I could see the undeniable loss on his face about the mention of his father. That and the slight annoyance of Verin's denial. "Verin..." I murmured, hoping that he would heed my warning as he was testing waters.
"How can you deny this?" Vetis demanded as he waved his hands. "We are related by blood. I had to hide that fact for years because your father didn't want it known. If it was known, I would have been slaughtered. Your father made that threat loud and clear to me as he wanted to make sure you get the throne and not I, who is the rightful ruler!"
"Again, you are making claims without any proof!" Verin snarled, angry as always, "And even if you are the rightful heir, you're giving it up to that stupid fuck anyways!"
"That's enough." Mammon spoke up before Vetis can say another word. "I believe that this makes it clear that it is time." He waved his left hand. "Guards split these two up and bring the slave over here."
"Don't you touch Faolan!" Verin hissed, struggling harshly as the guards came over and picked him up. Three guards had to haul him and bring him to the left side of the room before shoving him down to the ground hard.
I growled when I saw the mistreatment. "Shut up, mongrel!" One of the guards near me growled in return and lifted his foot to kick the side of my face. Shocked, my head whipped at the force, feeling the pain as I leaned too far to one side. Before falling over, the other guard picked me up by the collar and threw me towards the throne.
Flinching, I had slid on one side. Before I could process anything, another Demon guard came quickly to shove me onto my stomach and kneed my back quite painfully. Then the guard shoved his hand to the side of my face and made my face be against the ground. The pressure was so hard that it was hard to breathe through my nose or mouth.
"Let him go this instant!" Verin shouted, trying to break free from the guards.
Mammon tsked. "Oh, Verin, Verin, why would I do that?" He asked, quite amused. "Especially when you have no idea what kind of slave you have here."
Instantly, I was confused. What did he mean by that? I couldn't see him from where I was besides Verin, so all I could do was stare at him instead. It was no secret that I was the species of a Lycan.
"I do not understand, though nothing you have been saying makes any sense!" Verin snapped, annoyed as he glanced at me, trying to hide his concern, but it was plain as day.
"Don't you know, Verin?" He laughed, loudly. "This isn't a normal Lycan! This is the famous Faolan Herron. He is widely nicknamed many different names, depending on the region you go to. Many of those names are Night Wolf, Death Bringer, The Silent Howler... the list goes on. He's the ruthless and the most non-merciless creature alive. But do you know what he's famous for, my dear cousin?"
I started to feel sweat come down my face. How could he of known my identity? When did he figure it out? Above all, my concerns were that if my clan was in danger due to this. Yes, I was no longer who he spoke of as I have become a coward. A weakling. My gaze stayed on Verin, who now looked confused. But I will not be weak anymore if it means protecting him.
"I..."
Mammon continued on in a heartbeat, sounding eager by revealing the news. "He was known as a mercenary, but he is also known for being an assassin." I could almost hear the grin on his face. "So, you know what that means, Verin?"
Verin glanced at me, confused now. "No, I don't. He's not a threat."
"You're wrong." He mused. "Since he's an assassin, Verin, don't you think it's a tad coincidental that he was enslaved and bought by you? It's very obvious that he's getting close to you to kill you, and he won't allow anyone else to do it because it's his job. He wants you to trust him so that the betrayal will be too devastating for you to react when he ends your life."
"You're wrong!" Verin snapped, fiercely. "He would never do that. He's not an assassin either. He wouldn't kill me." His gaze went to mine. "Right, Faolan? You are not who he's speaking about. You weren't sent here to kill me. You're just a normal wolf that was put into slavery."
My heart was pounding harshly against my chest as I stared at him. Half of those claims are true. "Verin," I rasped since it was hard to talk under the pressure of the guard above me, "I wasn't---"Suddenly, the guard lifted my head up and bashed it down. Pain exploded and I saw stars.
"He's trying to deny those claims, Verin." Mammon spoke up again. "When everything I said was true. His name is exactly that. He was also sent to bring you and your father down. Of course, he wouldn't tell you that here when that would jeopardize everything. Everything you've done with him until now have been a lie. It was fake. He faked everything up to now to win you over and let your guard down."
I don't know what Verin saw in my expression, but his face twisted. Twisted in a way that was heart breaking. "You're lying. He's not..." He said, voice slightly trembling as he was trying to deny his words. "Let Foalan speak. I'm sure that it's not true that he's an assassin."
"Oh?" He laughed again. "Then explain his behavior when you got shot by that arrow? How he defeated your guard?" His smile grew. "Do you truly think those are actions by a mere slave?"
Verin didn't speak up, but only because I assumed it was because he knew I was a bodyguard of an Alpha's daughter, who was still in the Underworld. Revealing that I was a bodyguard, would also reveal Accalia's identity since it didn't take much to do research on creatures these days. At the same time, I also wondered whether or not if Verin may have contemplated this true as well.
"I'm sure he fed you a lot of lies." Mammon continued. "Like how he was protecting a princess when he wasn't. There are no such things as princesses where he came from. In fact, those princesses can protect themselves and if they cannot, they were viewed weak. That is how mutts are, Verin. They have a very barbaric view of their people. They only value strong individuals and not weak ones. I bet his Alphas told him to come and assassinate you. It wouldn't be that far off that they would they send their own daughter to convince you of that view."
Okay, for some odd reason, I was starting to think he was observing me more than I thought he would be. Though, it was true that some Lycan still hold that kind of view. But Verin must know that I already told him that Accalia was the Alpha's daughter, and he wouldn't put his daughter at risk for anything. Otherwise... why would I be a bodyguard for her?
"The one I don't trust is you, cousin." Verin finally said, raising his head to glare at him. "The only ones that I believe are the ones I consider close to. Why would I believe in anything you say or him?" He waved his hand at Vetis angrily.
"It's okay if you don't believe, Verin." Mammon spoke up before Vetis could, who looked like he wanted to say something. "It's too bad though. You didn't even pay any attention to what your little brother was doing."
"Why are you bringing up my brother?" Verin said, lowly as he tried to hid his confusion that reflected in his eyes.
"Cresil figured everything out." Vetis said at last. "He didn't know about the twin killing thing, but he figured out that Mammon's family was part of the assassination attempts. He also figured out that I was in on it. You never wonder why he acted so cold towards everyone? I mean something like that is a heavy burden to carry with the knowledge that no one would believe you without proof that he didn't have." He crossed his arms and averted his gaze a little. "But last night, he tried to inform your father, and we stopped him."
"And before you ask," Mammon cut in before Verin opened his mouth, "we will not inform where anyone is. But I will say that Cresil is in quite a... serious situation."
"What have you done with my brother?" Verin growled, moving forward a step to only be grabbed by the guards by the arms to keep him where he was.
He tsked. "I'm not going to tell you. But what I will say is that we're going to get rid of you."
I froze at his words as I stared at him. No, he couldn't mean...
"Yeah, right." Verin snapped at him. "You can't get rid of me as I'm the prince."
"That's why you must disappear." Vetis spoke up. "You need to be gone until things are put into our favor." He snapped his fingers. "So, this is farewell, cousin."
Suddenly, Verin was shoved to the ground by two guards closest to him as the third one grabbed his sword to go over him. "Please forgive us." He spoke as he began to raise his sword up high.
It dawned on me that they were serious. They were actually going to do it. "No!" I shouted and lunged forward but the remaining guards hurriedly grabbed me. "Let me go! Let him go!" I began to snarl, growing anger rising up. Time slowed down as I began to feel the familiar sensation of my hairs rising up. Protect. I need to protect him. I pleaded to myself as my eyes stared at Verin, who looked at me in that moment. Protect everything that he stands for.
That is when something snapped inside me.
I knew it wasn't my imagination when everyone's eyes snapped to me as if a noise was there.
Oh. I knew that noise.
It was my howl.
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What is this? I updated AGAIN? And within not only a month but a WEEK?
Well, I was almost done with this chapter since I was working it the same time I was doing chapter Twenty-Eight. Yeah, I'll say that was smart of me at the time.
One more chapter to go! It might take me awhile to write though as updating the same week was literally a fluke XD
But, uh, look at that! You guys are finally seeing something that you begged me to see with Faolan besides the kissing scene. Truthfully, I wasn't planning this but then I remembered chapter thirty was Verin's POV and I wasn't willing to end things at chapter Twenty-Nine without some amazing killing action that will be in Chapter Thirty.
Sooo I hope this kinda makes up for the extremely long wait. ^^"