Azriel pushed open the door and i entered the house, ‘Thank you for dinner, Azriel,’ he nodded and I was about to go upstairs when a gruff voice stopped me.
‘Adira! Where were you?’
Azriel muttered something under his breath as my head jerked to my mate. I missed him, ‘ Hi, finally,’ I said. Standing on my tiptoes to kiss him quickly but he didn’t touch me, his dangerous eyes were on his brother.
‘Why are you here and with my mate?’ he demanded. I look between the tall men. Their similarities and height were uncanny. I noticed the beta and gamma were watching in the corner, they looked a little uneasy. Do the brothers, not like each other?
‘I got here days ago, and I’ll let her tell you why we came in together,’ Azriel sighed.
‘Why are you not at the palace? In your residence?’
‘I wanted to be here, any problem with that?’
‘Yes, you didn’t report- ‘
‘Um, ‘ I cleared my throat to get his attention. My mate glared at me.
‘Why are you with him?’
‘I work with him at the Academy, I’m his assistant,’ I told him.
‘I don’t remember saying you could work,’
‘Because I don’t remember asking for your permission. I simply told you I want to work,’ I retorted.
‘Well, I don’t want you to,’ he said, resolute. I inhaled and kissed his hard torso, I looked up at him and smiled,
‘Well, too bad for you because I love the work I have right now,’ I walked away. I heard Azriel chortle and Jett and Aspen stared at me in shock. I nodded curtly to them and went to Lucas’ room. He was already sleeping. Poor kid must be tired, their training is so intense, and he has football practice on top of it all.
Reaching my room, I took off my clothes and prepared a bubble bath.
‘Dinner is ready, my lady and they are waiting for you,’ A servant informed me.
‘Who’s they?’ I asked.
‘The king, beta, and gamma,’ she said. I was still feeling full from the meal I had earlier so I shook my head no.
‘I ate minutes ago and I’m still full,’
The young lady walked away. I relaxed as I got the shower and closed my eyes. My thoughts went to what Azriel told me again. The brothers and their moms must have had a hard life. My poor Wyatt, I can’t begin to imagine all he’s been feeling, knowing that his mother was abused and raped by his father must be difficult for him. No wonder he killed him.
My eyes snapped open when my hands wrapped around me and I jumped abruptly. I was too deep in my thoughts to even feel the sparks.
‘Are you alright?’ he asked, concerned. I took in a deep breath and nodded.
‘I’m sorry. I didn’t register sooner,’ Wyatt held his hand out to me and I took it. He wrapped a soft white towel around my body. He kissed my temple like he usually would and I hugged him.
‘Are you sure you’re alright, you’re shaking,’
‘I’m fine. I’m sorry, I didn’t come down for dinner,’ I said. He suddenly cradled me in his arms and took me to the walk-in closet. Wyatt wiped my body and tied my hair in a messy bun. He gave me pajamas and socks before taking me to the bedroom.
I sat on the couch with him next to me, ‘ Tell me about your new job,’
‘It’s not what I would normally do but it’s something,’ I shrugged.
‘You and Azriel seemed close?’
‘Oh no, he just heard me telling Lucas that I needed a job and offered me one at the Academy,’
‘I don’t like that,’ he sighed.
‘I know I’m not the best trainer out there but I’m not half as bad,’ I said, and he caressed my cheeks
‘It’s not that, Azriel and I are not close. I would hate for him to get into your head and turn you against me,’ he said and I raised an eyebrow. I knew they were not close.
‘Has your relationship with your brother always been estranged?’ his gaze move past me to the window.
‘Not really but we’ve always been put against each other by our father and generals but he hated me when I became king,’ he whispered, pressing his lips together.
‘Why didn’t he?’
‘My father was the dark king, Adira, ‘ he said and I nodded, already knowing that information.
‘Azriel left when we made a move against the tyrant king,’
My eyes bulge out. Did Azriel abandon his brother at a crucial time?
‘I gathered allies and made deals with other packs to fight with me against my father’s militia. I raised an army, even the enemies he made during his reign joined me,’
‘Azriel left that period?’
‘Yes, he just left without a word so I had to face the dark king alone, at first, he thought it was a joke, but I kept on attacking him until he knew I meant to kill him. We fought for hours and no one intervened because his people were fighting my army and anyone who tried to fight against me in the palace, my mother had people ready to kill them,’ I could feel and hear a deep sadness from him no matter how hard he tried to conceal it from me, I wanted to touch him and tell him, hey, it’s okay to be sad. You can cry if you want. You’ve been through a lot of terrible things no child should endure but my lips were shut, scared that if I opened my mouth to speak, it’s a sob that would expect my lips so I settled on squeezing his hand. That’s all I could do right now.
‘We won the war, finally but I stayed in the hospital for months. He hurt me badly even though I killed him. When I healed, we started making moves to dissolve the former parliament as they were all corrupt. Anyone who was associated with my father was banished.
‘Who’s we?’
‘My mother was of course there and a few old fair Alphas who hated my father. We created a new parliament because the people didn’t want another ruler who will dictate them,’ he said
‘In short they wanted nothing to do with my father’s bloodline but after a good discussion and debate, they chose me. I didn’t want to be king at first, I only went for the bastard because he hurt me and my mother but the people thought it was selfless, and here I am,’ He concluded.
‘And Azriel?’ I asked. Wyatt sighed.
‘He came back a year after my crowning and accused me of taking what’s his, it was so bad that he even challenged me, we fought and I won,’ he shrugged, getting up and going to the window. I hugged him from behind. He placed his hands over mine.
‘Azriel and I are not enemies, he is part of the parliament, an important asset to the pack actually but we don’t like each other,’
‘You must be tired, my angel, let’s go to bed,’ he said.
I got in bed and he held me tenderly, I didn’t know if I still wanted to work with Azriel after learning all this. Could he use me to hurt my mate?
‘No, I like training, please don’t stop!’
‘Kira, you heard, Wyatt,’
‘No, Adira, we need our strength,’ she muttered. I sighed and closed my eyes.
