Rogues and Royals never mixed. It was only normal in our world ever since a rogue attack killed the only daughter of the Royal family.
We'd been tortured for years, hiding in small villages, barely surviving off of what we had and fearing the day t...
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• • •
It had been known since the birth of the young prince that he'd been an isolated child. His face was never seen by the population, bringing speculation that he must've been dead.
It wasn't until the young prince was 14 that he'd been shown to the people. Thousands had gathered around the palace grounds, awaiting for the arrival of the future king with hopes he'd give some mercy to the people and provide better living conditions during his rule.
That hope was long gone after he'd been shown. The smiles adorned on everyone's faces quickly wiped away as the young prince stepped out. His eyes held no emotion as he stared out at the people he'd rule one day while his father spoke in the same cold voice he'd always spoken to Nikolas in.
But it wasn't the emotionless eyes the people were reacting to. No, it was the bloody sword hanging low in the princes left hand. He'd just murdered thirteen civilians as his father spoke on their betrayal to the royal family.
The screams of their loved ones were heard throughout the crowd, but it hadn't been long before the royal army was dragging them away to prison as the thirteen bodies lay lifeless below prince Nikolas.
The king had done this after rumor was being spread that the young prince was not like his father, and would bring peace to Verona.
Unfortunately, the king took this as a threat, a form of rebellion, and found every person involved before dragging them to the introduction of the future ruler where they'd meet the devil's hands before death itself.
This wasn't the princes's first murder of his own people. His father made sure he wasn't a coward when it came to killing, especially before he'd been revealed to the population.
This was who he was raised to be, it was all the young prince knew.
Nikolas Castellano was not a man you could speak to normally. He could see through every lie, every hesitation, every regret in the words you spoke.
He'd analyze you in a matter of seconds. Usually a calm look isn't intimidating, but his calm demeanor never failed to make anyone get nervous sweats. His eyes held never ending storms, always calculating his next move, always three steps ahead of you.
There was never an escape.
Not from the ruthless Castellano
In fact, the young boy found enjoyment in his bloody murders. The feeling of power he'd feel after the shock wore off, the screams of his victims sounding like music to his ears.
He enjoyed the sight of the dark red pooling around their bodies, feeling achieved at the glimpse of hopelessness and fear flashing in his victims eyes.
You could almost say his father was a mastermind who'd raised him to be the perfect king, but Nikolas wasn't like his father.
No
He was worse. Much worse.
In fact, as the young prince grew older he found most of his father's time of ruling to be a waste. He thought his father was too forgiving, gave mercy to people who never deserved the royal families forgiveness, but most of all,
His father fell for the worst trap of them all, love.
He was heartbroken, still regretting the love he lost when he was merely twenty years old. A girl who saw the evil in all his actions, saw every flaw, every lie he'd told merely for some more power.
She'd planned to escape, leave his side once and for all only to get murdered by his own palace guards before she could make it to the gate.
And ever since the death of his first, and only love, he'd drink his problems away, treat the women who looked like his past lover like gems all whilst projecting his anger onto his child, his little puppet.
But evil doesn't just create more evil, it creates an enemy. An enemy the king never saw coming, not from the pathetic little boy who couldn't even look at blood without almost puking.
The king never saw his son capable enough.
But Nikolas knew what he wanted at a very young age. He was power hungry, and most of all, wanted to see his father's power be ripped from him by his own son's hands.
It was only after Nikolas was forced into murdering Toby did he realize what he really wanted.
He wanted power, more than his father ever had. He'd seen the control love had over people, he'd felt it when he was forced to kill Toby, and he wanted nothing more than to destroy that feeling of weakness from ever returning again.
Maybe that's why he'd never felt no remorse when he'd kill, why his eyes held no emotion as he took a life.
Even when that life he'd taken was the same man who'd created him
The king never died in war, in fact, he'd never come out of a war with a single cut. Which is why the news of the kings death shocked many, except for the young Castellano who sat on the throne mere minutes after his father's death.
The king raised a monster to continue the power line in the family, yet in the end, he'd only raised his own killer.
" Adonis."
" Yes, your highness?" The older man's head bowed down as he stood before the throne of the new Alpha King.
It was silent, all but the barely there sounds of blood drops dripping down the young Castellano's sword.
" Let everyone know there's a funeral to attend to."
• • •
For anyone wondering, Nikolas's father never found his mate. His past lover was not his mate, nor was the woman he married. No one knows who she is, where she is, or if she even existed. This is going to play a big part of the story as Nikolas believes he won't have a mate either since his father never did!
