Chapter 50

Daphne gasped, shocked at Arthur’s words. She felt the air shaking around them. She had prepared herself to watch Arthur tear them apart.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Haley bared his teeth at them. “You don’t…”

“Traitors are not welcome in the werewolf kingdom,” Arthur growled. “Never will you be anything more than the rogues you sent to murder me.”

Haley winced and stumbled, pressing a hand to his chest. Irene swooned and let out a little gasp of agony. Haley’s wolf wailed as bonds of the pack and the place where he held the power of alpha over the pack shattered, draining him.

He looked at his wife and knew she was feeling the same way. How had he done this?

“Banished?” Haley gasped.

“No!” Irene shrieked. “Y-You can’t!”

Arthur growled, grabbing Haley by the arm. He cried out in terror, bracing himself for the bite of Arthur’s teeth again, but none came. His eyes were a clear and furious blue, glared at him from his human face.

“You met my mother years ago. What did she tell you?” Arthur yelled. “Answer me!”

Daphne understood then. Arthur had taken her words to heart. The Kenneths had answers that might lay some of his guilt to rest. She watched the man tremble and stare up at Arthur.

“Y-Your mother? That woman… S-She—She just barged in our pack and called us out! She gave you to us and demanded that we take care of you. H-Her voice was terrible, we couldn’t resist. We had our child to take care of but we had to keep you, so—”

Arthur's snarled, clenching his jaw and throwing Haley to the ground beside his wife as his anger simmered. Lucas was furious and his heart screamed that it wasn’t enough.

Daphne approached him, laying a hand on his shoulder and looking up at him. She didn’t care if he killed them. For all the pain they had caused him, they would deserve it, but Arthur deserved to make that choice consciously, not in a fit of rage. She took his hand and squeezed.

Haley and Irene stared up at them in horror and shock. It had felt a great deal like the commands from that woman, though neither of them could remember her commands clearly.

“H-He said princess…” Irene said, her voice haunted.

It was impossible. The werewolf kingdom had fallen years ago. They were so remote that even in the time they should have been alive Brown Valley had never seen a member of the Royal family. They were a myth: golden fur and power over all werewolves.

Haley shook his head, but his wolf was curled up in agony and melancholy. It was quickly turning to fury and his grips on his thoughts were slipping.

Arthur exhaled deeply, meeting Daphne’s gaze before turning back to look at them. They had to die. They deserved to die for what they’d done to Alma. He looked up to where Adam stood, trembling in the doorway, still as idiotic looking as ever.

He looked at Maggie as she looked up at him, wide-eyed with shock. Maggie was innocent. She had never done a single harmful thing to him or anyone else to his knowledge. She used to play with Alma and had always been kind, but Arthur knew the dangers of a werewolf being denied their mate.

He looked at Adam. He was an idiot, but he had been under his parents' thumb. He deserved a chance to show his true character.

“Will you accept your mate or follow in your parents’ footsteps?”

Adam looked at Arthur and wrinkled his nose in disgust, glancing at Maggie. Arthur was terrifying, but there was no way that the moon goddess would ever give him such an ugly mate. He shifted his gaze to the beautiful, thin, and pale woman at Arthur’s side and licked his lips.

She looked at him and her expression contorted with disgust.

“That fat, ugly wench isn’t my mate! My mate should be beautiful and—”

Arthur laughed, a dark smile curved his lips, “Then you’ll join your parents.”

“What?” Adam choked, feeling the bonds of the pack disappear along with the beginnings of a mating bond vanish.

Maggie gasped and stumbled, looking horrified as she looked at Arthur.

Arthur met her gaze, “You don’t deserve an idiot for a mate, Maggie.”

Her eyes turned glossy, and she stood straight with a stiff nod.

“I-It’s good to see you, Arthur.”

Arthur nodded as Adam let out a wail, “That’s not fair! I don't want to become a rogue! I shouldn’t be punished with them! Mate. I want to choose my mate!”

Maggie turned with her head high and stepped aside, letting Adam trip and fall down the steps onto his face.

Arthur turned, “All of you who tormented me. All of you who stood by and watched them abused us are no better. Traitors and unwelcome in the werewolf kingdom.”

Most of them swooned and let out little gasps of agony.

“Go,” Arthur growled. “And never return.”

Haley and Irene stumbled to their feet, resisting the order as they stumbled and shifted into their wolf forms and led the howling and wailing procession out of the village.

There weren’t many people left. The wind swept through the village. Haley and Irene had sent rogues to kill him for their precious son and ended up killing Alma. They deserved the same fate. Soon enough, everyone he’d deemed a traitor would lose all reason. The old ties of pack and alpha would be forgotten and they’d start tearing each other apart.

He listened to the sounds of their growling as they devolved on the wind. The sound of wolves fighting grew farther away. The scent of blood came back on the wind. If they weren’t dead within the hour, they would be soon enough.

Yet, the ache in his heart had not eased.

Alma was avenged, but it wasn’t enough. He’d known that there was nothing he could do to bring his sister back, but he had hoped for some measure of the joy.

Daphne slipped her hand into his and leaned into him as more people began to come out of the house, eyes wide and shocked as they came out of their house.

“W-What happened?”

Arthur remained quiet.

“Arthur,” Daphne said and he looked at her. “I think… this would be the time to tell them the truth.”

He looked out across the group and considered it before Maggie started to speak.

“Haley and Irene were murderers!” She said. “I heard him say it. They practically admitted to it.”

A murmur went through the group and Arthur drew a breath, straightening his spine and told them the truth, the reason they abused him, the plot they hatched to kill him that had led to Alma’s death. He wanted to stop there, but he could only tighten his grip on Daphne as the rest of the truth spilled out of him.

“They hunted me because I found out the truth about what they did and the fact that they weren’t my parents… My mother was Luna Sabina and my father was Kind Dean Royal,” Arthur listened to the shock ring through the group. “I… have not taken the throne, but since you are without an alpha and protection, I will stay for a while until you can defend yourselves again.”

They seemed shocked and Daphne smiled at him, looking up at him.

“You’re amazing, you know?”

Arthur looked at her, “I… have no idea what I’m doing.”

“Well, I’m here to help.”

Arthur nodded, kissing her cheek before leading her down the steps and starting to introduce her to the remaining members of the Brown Valley pack.

It was amazing that he remembered them all and seemed to be at something like peace among them. Some of them had glossy eyes and apologized for not doing more, yet Arthur told them they would all move on.

Arthur helped get them a patrol force set up again and figure out the weak points of the village. Daphne helped facilitate meals and repairs of properties that had been falling apart due to negligence of the Kenneths like the food storehouse.

By the end of it, Daphne was sure that Arthur would realize that he’d learned so much about being an alpha and a general leader from living in Sharp Armor, yet he seemed drained when she found him after dinner was served. He sat on the porch of the Kenneths’ house, staring up at the faintly twinkling stars.

“Hey,” Daphne said, “Are you okay?”

Arthur shook his head, “I… don’t feel any better.”

Daphne nodded.

“I don’t want to stay here longer than I have to,” Arthur shuddered. The people of Brown Valley had followed his instructions, but there was just the ghost of fear in their eyes. Whether it was a hallucination or not, he didn’t know, but he didn’t want to have to keep seeing it.

“Tomorrow, let’s go back to the cabin?”

Daphne nodded, “Okay.”