Not My Fairytale

Chapter 35

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A Simple Phrase

Sharing my revelation about the caves, along with the locations of the new entrances, with the council proved to be both a proud moment, and a disappointing one– though I knew it was likely due to my unrealistic expectations.

An end to the conflict truly was a lot to ask for, but I couldn't keep the hope at  bay. I held strong to it, right up until the day finally arrived that our men entered the caves to attack the Blood Fangs head-on.

I had wanted nothing more than to be allowed to join them, to be there to confront the enemy, to see the look on their faces when they realized that they were discovered. To fight them, hurt them the way they had hurt so many countless humans. But neither my father, nor the council would hear of it, I was still the kingdom's only heir– for roughly another two months, at least. I had been lucky to be allowed to join the raid in the capital, even if the opportunity was ruined by the discovery that Angelo was a member of the Blood Fangs.

Instead, I had to wait and learn of what happened when the council did.

We had planned for many scenarios, anticipated ways our plan could go wrong. But what we hadn't realized was how little of the caves had been mapped out. For every one tunnel that we knew of, another two more uncharted passages splintered off.

The enemy knew their way through the labyrinth far better than we did.

Our men had only managed to locate a handful of Blood Fangs members and, while those had surrendered rather quickly upon discovering that they were outnumbered, they remained tight lipped when it came to revealing anything of use to us about the caves. Likewise, after returning from an excruciatingly long absence– where he did Goddess only knew what– Angelo was little help.

That is, unless I was willing to give him another kiss in exchange for his knowledge– which I most definitely was not willing to do.

Not when I already found myself replaying that first kiss over in my head constantly throughout my days. I had known it was a bad idea when I made the bet, but I decided in the weeks following that it may have been the worst decision of my life. One I would never repeat again, if I was smart.

I liked to think that I was relatively intelligent, but around him I had turned into a blubbering fool, though I tried my best to cover it behind the cool demeanor that I used to be so good at. By the amused smile that never strayed far, I had a feeling that I wasn't fooling Angelo despite my efforts.

With all of the time spent planning with the council, the month of June flew by. Before I knew it, Trials Week was upon us.

It was a crude thing to celebrate, an event that had resulted in so much bloodshed. But, the Trials were the founding of our young kingdom, and many of our people– mainly shifters– were rather fond of the events. They gathered for parades, reenacted the fights, and even dressed in costumes to represent the alphas or their mates. 

My family weren't fond of celebrating it, and we rarely made appearances during the events. It wasn't a part of our heritage that we were particularly proud of.

So, when I arrived at the willow on the second day to find Angelo dressed as one of the famous alphas, I wasn't sure if I should laugh or make a face.

"Alpha Madoc, is it?" I had asked, inspecting the mask covering all but his eyes, a grisly scar painted from brow to cheek.

He held out his arms to show off his costume, "Do you like it?"

This time, I couldn't keep my lip from curling a bit in distaste. Alpha Madoc was one of the fifteen alphas from across the continent to volunteer to compete in The Trials– the week-long fight to the death that determined the fate of our budding kingdom. Madoc's story was particularly interesting, in that he discovered his mate on that very week, a woman who had long been the lover of his opponent, Alpha Cullen. The night before the two alpha's were to fight one another, Madoc and his mate completed their bond, granting him the power he needed to defeat her former lover. I didn't let myself think too hard on why he might identify with him.