Affliction - Book One - Man x Man

Chapter 11

The walk home is long; it feels odd to be alone for once as it was not the norm for royalty to be without chaperones and accompanying parties. A welcomed reprieve from my sheltered life, walking in the cool morning air was a welcomed moment of peace. I shiver as I pass the dampened ground that housed the frozen wolves. I relive the attack, the snarling black creature claws for me and I shut my eyes and shake my head. Why did he save me?

 I can only assume that Alpha figured I was worth more to him alive, he couldn't use me if Beta had succeeded in killing me. My feet are frozen, I realize I'm no longer walking; I watch the gray wolf appear before me and can feel his growl in my chest. I follow the footsteps he took with my eyes, the indentions his paws left in the unworthy earth. 

Following the scene, where they fell to the ground, my heart starts to accelerate as I watch Delta start to die before my eyes once more and as Beta starts to win I take a step back, shutting my eyes tightly. 

"No." I breathe.

I feel my hands go cold, the power surges as I inhale sharply, fighting my way out of the scene. "I was supposed to die." I hear him say and I'm back in reality as I'm making my way to the castle again. My pace is much more hurried this time, running from the vision and towards the safety of my castle.

As I enter the courtyard, I slow my pace as I see a pillar of logs, stacked together as if to form a log cabin. Where did these come from? Then I note that some clearing has been done to make the courtyard bigger. Nobody asked me if this was ok but then I suppose it's not up to me anymore. I slowly approach; the stack is taller than me. Touching the damp wood, I glance up as the branches are loaded inside of it.

There's nothing I can do, I pick my path through the multitude of wolves towards the castle, walking with as much grace and determination as my breeding allowed me. 

After what I've been through, and knowing that Beta is probably dead, I find that walking amongst them is no longer as terrifying.

Spotting Tonic, I seek out familiarity. "What's going on?" I touch his arm to get his attention and he gives me a side glance but tightens his mouth and looks as if he isn't sure he wants to talk to me. "Tonic." I mumble, turning his face me and I see the side of his cheek is swollen, busted just below his eye.

 But Tonic looked fine this morning? 

His lip is full and bruised. I reach to touch his face but he turns his head away, avoiding my touch. "What happened?" I demand. His eyes darken as he shrugs out of my grasp.

"Leave it alone Nicolas." He mumbles.

"No. What happened? Did he do this to you?" I demand, my blood boils and yet, I'm halted by my sudden desire to defend Tonic. 

"I got what I deserved. I disobeyed orders. Nicolas, there are rules around here. We can't just keep going above it-" I cut him off with my hand and I reach up to heal his face. He shrinks away from me as I insist upon him. I can't bear it, I can't think that I caused this to happen to him. Tonic wasn't like me, Tonic was good.

The subject appears to be closed, I decide to move on to the real reason I wanted to see him. "What's with the giant log box?" I demand. He rolls his eyes, as much as he might be upset with me; we are friends for some reason and I might be the only friend he has.

"It's for the ceremony tonight. We are going to choose a new Beta and all the ranks will be challenged. I think it's why Alpha was trying to avoid having to kill Beta until all this was over, now all positions are open and the whole hierarchy has to be re-decided. It's a big... fight..? In the end, we will burn Beta and John's body and send them to Valhalla in a minor ceremony. Normally it's a big celebration but not this time."