The Dark Side Of Fate

~Sylvester~

Our little love session in the office helped me gain some focus. When Tamia linked me about being stressed, I did not think twice about it. We had spent the past three days working and doing a lot of mental work. I had not been able to spend time with my mate, hold her hands, have a picnic and make love to her under the stars like I once did. I did not even have time to stay in bed with her. We were dealing with one stress and then another. The traitors and the spies. It was all too much. What we did in the office was spontaneous and worth it. I had almost forgotten how to live. I felt like I was drowning in all the issues surrounding me. My little time with my mate in the office pulled me back up.

Everything was crazy. I had to open my doors to two unlikely people in the name of trying to establish peace, and as things were, I would have to open my door to more. It was hard, but I had to do it.

Leo was Tamia's ex, yet he was staying at the estate, not to talk of Devin, who wasn't only Tamia's former fated but the very guy that almost made the north start a war. He killed my father due to the intel he got from my mother, laid claim on the lordship, attacked my home and tried to take my mate from me. Yet he was in my lounge drinking scotch and making plans as if nothing had happened. The thought of it alone made me laugh at life.

Sometimes taking things too seriously was wrong and stupid because we did not know where the road would lead us.

Sitting in the lounge and planning the massive arrest was tedious. We had to find a way to ensure we did it at once so that none of the people on our list escaped.

The names that we had were surprising. The ones that hurt me the most were the council members on the list. Hearing that Jenny teamed up with some people to kill her brother made me commend my mother for finishing the woman. She had no ounce of loyalty in her. I could see why my father never committed to her and felt the need to punish her sometimes. She was the type to be kept on a leash, or she would bite. She was good riddance, but she had caused a lot of damage.

One of the damages Jenny had caused was what I would have to fix soon; my brother David.

She had told the guy that I was hunting him. She had lied to him and made me seem like a monster, and then she sent him money. Then I heard they were trying to recruit him. I thought he was the king until I got that information and realised he was a victim too.

While I sat in that lounge to plan the arrest, I was tense. My nerves were all over the place. I was afraid. As much as I tried to hide it, I was worried

I was going to blatantly violate the rights of the people on the list. I knew I had to be the villain for the greater good. It was sad. I was also worried but hopeful that we were on the right track. I hoped we were not being misled and playing into the enemy's trenches.

A lot crossed my mind, and I prayed where I sat.

I had never asked the moon goddess for much, but here I was, pleading for my life and those of the people I love. My mate, my friends, their mates, my allies, and the innocent people of our world. I did not want a war. I knew what war brings. I fought a few of them for peace, and I do not want to fight again. Especially not in the magnitude these people were trying to bring. I knew if I did not do something about it quickly and shut it down, we would be in a dark age, and a lot of killing would occur. The bastards might not have an army, but they were recruiting daily. Once they have the number, they will come for us. This move was to make sure they would never have the numbers. When Tamia linked me, I had to excuse myself from the meeting and go to the office. We had been at it for two days. I need a break.

Tamia had been questioning and torturing people for two days. She needs a break.

While I walked to my office, I was mad.

I was pissed off and prayed that I catch this king very soon. I won't kill him because death would be an escape for the bastard. I planned on making the rest of his life excruciatingly painful and challenging. I planned on chipping away his sanity bit by bit and watching him suffer from fighting for it. I planned on destroying him from the inside out. Death would be an escape I wasn't willing to provide the bastard.

Tamia, Linda and Avery should have been resting and planning our wedding, which was in two weeks and some days now, but here we were, planning arrests and torturing people.

I prayed that the arrest would buy us time. I hoped the time would be enough to plan our wedding, get married, claim our mates and love each other. I prayed that we catch the king, but if we don't, I pray he goes into hiding and stops troubling us. I hoped for a lot and prayed that the goddess would grant me the best.

I moved to my office and unbuttoned my shirt. Knight was eager to ravage Tamia, and that was what we did when she entered the office. I felt at peace after.

When Tamia told me I would have to receive David, I knew she was telling the truth. It would have been wrong for me to have Tamia receive him, especially after all the lies that Jenny filled his head with.

While we walked down the hallway to welcome David, who was waiting in my lounge with his family, I was clueless about what to say.

He was the son of the woman that broke my mother's marriage, the reason my father broke his promises and never returned to who he was again. He would have taken my birthright. I should hate him by all standards, but it wasn't his fault.

It wasn't his fault that his mother was a bitch. It wasn't his fault that our father was a douchebag, and it sure wasn't his fault that he existed. Either of us could have been in the situation that he was in. I wished my parents had handled it differently, most especially my mother. I wished she cared for him and kept him close; Jenny wouldn't have been able to do what she did

I stood before the door leading to the lounge and took a deep breath. Tamia squeezed my hands to help me calm down, and we both walked in. Being lord and soon-to-be king, I dared not show fear or weak emotions, so I held on to a brave face while we walked to where David was.

The moment I saw him, I wanted to crumble. He was the spitting image of our father. He did not wear his hair long. His brown hair and brown eyes were exactly like our father's. Although his features were softer, I knew it was because of his mother. I heard she was a beauty. A beautiful bitch.

His wife was blonde with blue eyes, and his children were beautiful. They all stood to pay their respect, and I could see the fear and concern in my brother's eyes.

I was about to speak when Tamia broke the ice by hugging his wife.

"I am so happy to finally meet my sister-in-law. You are welcome," she said joyfully and hugged David's wife.

Breaking the hug, she looked at her and her children.

"I am Tamia," she said, introducing herself, and the woman smiled warmly at Tamia.

" am Nicole," she said and introduced her children.

"This is Tanya, Liz and Justin. They are triplets. Justin was the first to come,” she said, and Tamia smiled and hugged the children warmly. David relaxed, and I extended my hand for a handshake which he willingly took.

"Welcome," I told my brother. The look in his eyes showed that my behaviour wasn't what we expected.

We sat back down, and Dominic was yet to come.

"Dominic will join us soon,” I told him, and he smiled at me.

"Thank you for inviting us; I did not think I would ever be allowed to enter this place,” he confessed, and I frowned.

"Why is that?" I asked him, and he sighed.

"Well, I heard I was being hunted by you. A woman called Jenny said your mother had ordered my assassination because father said I should be lord," He said and sighed.

"I told her I wasn't interested in being Lord and that I would just come and explain myself to my stepmother, but she filled me with so much fear and told me it was best I go into hiding," he said. I could not believe how far Jenny had gone.

"So you have been in hiding since?” Tamia asked him, and he nodded.

"Sort of. She sent me some money and pleaded with me to disappear. I felt it was odd that someone I did not know would ask me to sign some documents and ask me to disappear,” he said, and I frowned at him.

"Sign some documents?” I asked, and he nodded.

"She said you sent it. I should relinquish my claim to anything that has to do with Volkov. I will never be lord, and I will never head the council. I will never have a say in the governance, and neither will my children," he said, and I wondered why Jenny would go that far.

"It wasn't difficult. I signed it and quickly sent it to her. She sent me money, and I went into hiding. It was a no-brainer for me, really. I did not want anything to do with the things stipulated in the documents, so it was an easy sign,” he said, and I could see he was sincere.

"Anyway, the woman was a traitor. She is dead now. I was never hunting you. I did not even know you existed until recently when my mother told my mate about you," I said, and the man was shocked.

"I told you," Nicole said, and I wondered what she meant.

"If I may speak your eminence,” she said politely.

"We are family, no need to address me officially,” I said, and she smiled and thanked me.

"I told him to still come and see you and explain himself, but he refused,” She said, and I could not blame him. Because my family was being branded as "evil people’, no one would want to try to reason with me.

"Anyway, I would like you to stay here in the meantime; there are people out to wipe out our family for personal gain. That Jenny woman was one of them, but she is late now. I believe you and your family would be safe here in the estate while we deal with the threat,” I said, and he thanked me.

"I know of the threat. They tried to gun me down six months ago. That was why we moved to the south. I honestly thought you were the one, but now I know it might have been those people,” He said, and I frowned.

"How do you trust me so easily?" I asked him.

"Because if you wanted me dead as they said, you wouldn't bother to bring me here. They would have just killed me instead of transporting my family and me to the Volkov Estate,” he said, and I was glad he was the intelligent kind.

I got up immediately, not ready for an extended reunion.

"My wife would show you to your quarters. Please feel free and make yourselves comfortable.” I said, and they thanked me. Seeing David was difficult because it felt like I was looking at the younger version of my father. I suspected that was the sentiment that made my father go against my mother. Something he paid dearly for. I did not feel sorry for my father, but I was glad that the uprising wouldn't get to David again. This was a victory.