Ambivalence | Wade Wilson x Logan Howlett

Chapter 1 | Oleander

...

Outside the castle walls, just beyond the courtyard, oleander grew. The creamy-pink blossoms stood out against the otherwise completely green fields and oak brown horse paddock. Planted last spring, they shot up surprisingly quickly, now acting as a barrier between the castle's gardens the farmland adjacent to it. Though the buds beautiful enough to pick, a single touch of an oleander leaf could result in one suffering a heart attack.

It was no secret that the farmhand held a certain level of... aversion towards his employers, despite tending their fields and supplying them with food. If the oleander wasn't reason enough to believe so, the farmer's avoidance when it came to interacting with any member of the court, was.

Never once had the farmhand been spotted trekking past his wall of poisonous flowers. A servant of low class was always sent to collect each harvest's bounty and pay the farmhand his coin.

Catching a glimpse of the farmhand was something of a rare occurrence, the man working irregular hours seemingly to avoid being observed. So Wade thought it happenstance that today the farmhand could be viewed perfectly from the balcony from which he and his father currently sat.

Though the farmhand's face was obscured by his dark hair, his back was completely visible and cover-less. Scars from lashings marred mostly the man's lower spine area, Wade noted, making him subconsciously reach up to touch his own scarred right cheek.

"Wade Wilson. Are you even listening..?"

Wade's eyes snapped forward, dropping his hand from his cheek. His father, the king, glared at him with an impatient look, turning to one of abhorrence as Wade's half-burnt face came back into view.

"You repulsive thing... have you paid attention to a word I've said??" The king hissed, his nose scrunched in disgust as he gazed at his only heir.

Wade did nothing but continue to stare back at his father with cold, bored eyes, which told the king all he needed to know.

Wade's father raised his hand, bringing it down against the prince's good cheek. Wade's head was forced to the side by the impact of the slap. He stilled and his breath caught, but still Wade said nothing. 

The king shook the hand he had used to strike his son, feeling the sting in his fingertips which let him know it had been a good hit.

"Your insubordination and childish behavior bring no benefit. That alpha will impose harsher punishments than simply striking you if you continue to act with disobedience..."

The "alpha" the king was referring to being the illegitimate son of the neighbouring kingdom's ruler— The kingdom they had been warring with for a little under a decade. On paper, the marriage was supposed to bring about unity between the two nations, but Wade knew better than anyone that it wasn't the only reason.

That alpha, son of king John Howlett Sr., was akin to a feral dog. Tales of the alpha's vicious personality and poor temperament were prolific enough to have crossed boarder. And Wade was to be mated to him as a ways of taming the alpha into the role of a proper king.

Wade was certain though that his scarred appearance would have quite the opposite effect on his future husband.

Even as an omega, one of the rarest second-genders amongst royalty, Wade knew he was undesirable. He was not beautiful nor petite, like many omegas were known to be. He stood two feet too tall— larger than both betas and even the occasional alpha. His voice was low, when he did choose to speak, and his body was broad and rather muscular. All that in addition to the horrid burn scars that marked one whole side of his otherwise handsome face.