The Devils Bargain

Chapter 39

ᴋᴇɪᴀʟ'ꜱ ᴘᴏᴠ

"The majority of the Alphas are on our side sire, we cannot wait for-"

"Enough." If I heard him tell me what we can and cannot wait for again, I would not be playing nice anymore.

I was surrounded by my royal council, and everything I wanted was simply a step away, and all I needed was all the Alpha's, their pack members, and the human rulers to agree with my peace plan.

The woodland elves may be at a disadvantage in numbers, but what they lacked in numbers they made up with their special ability to craft beast-killing weapons.

Weapons that even I have taken into account.

"If these 'Alpha's' value their positions, as much as they crave the battlefield, then I will personally entertain their lust for their pathetic attempt at a tantrum one on one."

The eyes of the council widen at my world, and their faces shift into one of concern as I stand up from my chair.

"I'll gladly remind anyone who challenges my rule, and the council will be wise to remember that."

I looked at each of their sour faces one by one before I moved my cape to the side and then left the war room that I had been in for an exhausting two hours.

It'd be easier to just go to war with Arlen and his people, just to avoid those tedious meetings.

What a bunch of old, outdated wolves, daring to challenge me, after all, I do to keep them thriving.

It might be best to host another hunt, with the Alphas on the receiving end.

That might teach them that they may have a voice, but if they want a war, they will have one with me.

The whole reason I'm doing this is for the future of not only my kind, and my allies but for Felix too, so that even if one day I were to perish, I could die happily knowing he would be taken care of.

I almost have everything I had ever wanted, in the palm of my hands.

Felix... my mate, made me realize something I was missing in life, and that is that it's too short to dwell on the past.

I had regretted how I had gone about with him, using him for personal gain and entertainment, whilst desperately trying to ignore the obvious.

I had made a mistake with Felix, thinking I could control the situation, and I could've if only Felix wasn't who he was, a force even I couldn't reckon with.

I am ready to let him into my life and share everything with him.

My life, my hopes, and dreams, but most of all, I want to share everything with him, not just my wealth and title, I want to cherish him.

I've been a bastard my whole life, born from a mother who abandoned her position, to a father who craved power more than the stability of his house, or kingdom.

*****

I could smell blood the moment I stepped foot inside the palace, blood that smelled all too familiar.

Blood that made my stomach churn, as the scent became apparent that it belonged to not just anyone.

"KEIAL!" I hear my name being yelled, from the top of the grand stairs of the palace.

Gregor stood breathing heavily, covered in the same blood I smelled, which belonged to the very person I feared it would belong to.

It felt like I was staring at death itself, in the eyes of my best friend, and for a split second, I almost broke into a billion pieces as I looked into Gregor's eyes, filled with fear.

"What happened, where is Felix?" I commanded, running up the stairs as Gregor gripped his head in his hands.

The closer I got, the stronger the smell, and it became obvious, as much as I wished it wasn't true.

"K-Keial..." Gregor wouldn't look at me, as the overflowing scent of Felix covered his body.

"Is he alive?" I no longer recognized the voice coming out of my mouth.

"Is he... dead?"

I felt numb as the words left my mouth, even more so when Gregor looked up at me.

"I took my eyes off her... for a moment, I looked everywhere... I never thought she would go this far." Gregor rambled, as I stared at my oldest friend falling to his knees in front of me.

"P-Please have mercy Keial, it was my fault... it was all my doing, not hers."

Her?

My whole world went blank as I put two and two together, and thus it became obvious what Gregor was saying.

I left Gregor on his knees, ignoring his pleas as he shouted for me to stop as I ran down the hall, to where the scent of my mate radiated from, strongly with each step I took, until I stopped outside the room his scent was the strongest.

Without so much thought, I pushed the doors open and looked on at the chaos of the most skilled healers within the palace treating my mate, who was unrecognizable as he lay in a pile of his blood.

As I looked at his face, covered in blood, I knew this was all my fault.

I could hear his heart beating, battling with death staring him in the face, and whilst I stared at the only person I had ever cared for, all I could do was look at him, perplexed just like last time.

Felix had surprised me with everything I had thrown at him, he'd laughed in the face of death whilst fighting against a day walker and rendered me speechless.

Just like then, as I felt nothing inside my heart and head, a voice so quiet, yet so desperate prayed that he'd get through this and that he would be alright.

I had been a fool to allow Zeri to stay so close to Felix, thinking that Gregor could control the side of her that so badly portrayed the betrayal of our mother.

This was my fault, if I hadn't warned him, none of this would have happened, and Felix-

Felix would not be fighting for his life.

I walked over to Felix and kneeled beside him to stroke his hair, ignoring all those around me as I looked at the face I had so badly wanted to see.

To have those fierce eyes staring back at me, and his smile that made even my cold heart beat.

"Who gave you permission to go ahead and leave me?" I asked him, staring into his lifeless face.

I could feel his spirit, he was strong, more so than he looked, but if I had arrived an hour later, and not been by his side, the bond would've broken, and Felix would not have had the strength to heal himself.

I had never felt such pain in all my thirty years of life, and not once had I been so close to wishing death upon myself rather than someone else.

Felix was my mate, my beating heart, and my entire soul.

Without him I was nothing.

I loved Felix, from the very moment I laid my eyes on him, I loved him more than I thought was possible for my cold, dead-beating heart.

"Save his life, if he dies, then so does everyone in this room." I looked to the healers as they took a second to look at me, and nodded their heads.

I reach for Felix's hand and press my lips to his bloodied fingers, the sound of his heart beating the only thing that was keeping me sane.