Draco.
The sentinels took the last shredded body away while Draco dabbed away the blood on his palm. This was a hard decision to take, but he needed to do it. He needed to make the Unbound group that seemed to oppose his reign succumb.
Two nights ago, he'd gone hunting in the woods after Isolde was taken away from his study. Draco had wanted to erase thoughts about his past Isolde uprooted and went into the woods.
Draco had focused on his prey, a deer, after nocking his arrow on the bow and readied himself to strike when he felt a lance pierce the back of his knee. He'd yelped and dropped the bow in haste, only to turn and see the group of males.
"Unbounds!" Draco had growled in anger, targeting the males, armed and ready to kill him. Alfos had laid complaints about the Unbounds. A group of people who were against Draco and his aim to reclaim the throne of Bloomington.
From what he'd heard, the Unbounds blamed him for everything his father had done to their kind. For years, the Unbounds had attacked the royal properties in their bid to get Draco to step down so another lineage would claim the throne, but Draco knew it was all lies. They were sponsored by Draken.
The lord of the demon clan only wanted to create a division amongst lycans.
He'd always sought a peaceful way to resolve the disagreement between him and the Unbounds so they would unite as one in their fight to reclaim the throne of Bloomington. However, none of his efforts yielded results.
The peace treaty signed between him and the Unbounds was never honored, as the members continued to attack.
But this was the first time they'd made an attempt on his life. The thought of his own people trying to kill him based on the belief that he was unfit to be the king after what his father had done angered Draco.
"How could you!?" He'd growled in rage as they advanced toward him. Draco lost his grip on his control instantly and shifted into his monster form. The men gasped at the sight, now realizing that Draco's curse wasn't just a rumor like everyone had thought.
The scholar Draco had contacted concerning his other form had said he was a Wraithling, while another called him a beast because of how scary and huge he was. Unlike every other lycan, Draco's was bigger and towering with wings as wide as a Dragon's.
He had scales on his face with long fangs and claws that could spell death for someone upon a single graze. Two horns jut out from his temple, curved with ridges.
Draco's beast was powerful, horrid, and fast. It had an uncontrollable hunger for blood.
The Unbounds had shrieked at the sight of the beast and began to launch their attacks from different angles. Their several attempts at killing the lord failed with the beast delivering his attack with a single swing of his claws and wings until the males keeled over.
Draco fumed at the sight before him until Alfos and the sentinels arrived and arrested the Unbounds.
Today, Draco had killed them not only to set an example to every other Unbounds out there that would make an attempt on his life but also to keep the secret about his monster form. The bodies of the Unbounds would be displayed in the town's Square for people to see. For them to know what fate would meet whoever tried to side with his rivals--- the demon clan.
Draco threw the soiled washcloth to the servant beside him while watching the cleaner wipe the blood on the floor of the courtroom. The blood that had scared the life out of Isolde.
He'd enjoyed rattling her mind. The look on her face spoke volumes as he'd circled her. At that moment, the urge to go skin to skin with the female was so high. Draco wanted to know how the fear tasted on her skin as he licked her body. Trailed his tongue on her flesh.
Nothing had gotten him so hard as the ghastly look on Isolde's face. He cherished it.
Draco hummed to himself at the knowledge that only he could inflict such fear in her.
He looked up when he heard the incoming footfalls. There stood his beta, Alfos. The male who had never smiled since the day he lost his sister, Andriandita.
It still surprised Draco how Alfos managed to accept the role of his beta after knowing Draco's father was responsible for Andriandita's death, as well as every other female Bloomington ever knew.
No matter how much Draco had tried to make Alfos hate him, the male never backed away. He still stood by Draco no matter the consequences.
"You finally decided to act, Dracolian." Alfos hummed, taking in the sight of the pool of blood.
Draco stood from his seat and walked down the dais. "I needed to put a measure in place." He said as he reached Alfos in three strides. "It took a while for me to understand what you meant all along, Alfos, but I do now."
"I'm amazed," Alfos said, falling into step beside Draco as he walked away from the courtroom. "Makes me wonder if my sister will be as proud of you as I am wherever she is, Draco,"
Draco squelched to a halt at the mention of his mate. It'd been years, but the memories of her still kept him awake at night. Always made him restless.
"Andriandita was so innocent. She hated the sight of blood, Alfos." He said with a smile lurking at his lips. "She'd never approve of me soiling myself with blood." He resumed pacing with Alfos walking in tow.
"Well, for all I know, my sister always stood for what is right, and that includes you reclaiming what is ours. Our people are suffering. Our food supplies have gone down as has Abbator's economy,"
Draco chewed on his lips as they moved toward the exit of the tower, heavily guarded by sentinels.
"But if we win this game of power and reclaim our heritage, then we'll go back to the days of wealth boom like it used to be in Abbator and Bloomington as a whole," Alfos said.
"It's what everyone believed in at first, but Draken has managed to weave doubts into the minds of my people. Now, the Unbounds are trying to kill me just to make sure I don't represent our people again. They see me as a monster, Alfos." Draco huffed. "They're right after all. I'm a beast, and a beast like me is unfit to rule. I hunger for blood a lot. What will happen when I can't find someone willing to sell their blood to me?"
"I might completely lose my mind and go into the villages to attack them just to have a taste of blood, and then the truth about what I am will be revealed," Draco hissed, pausing before the grounds.
The afternoon sun rays scorched their bodies, and Alfos had to dim his eyes as he watched Draco.
"None of what you said is true, Draco. You're the best person to stand in line for what is ours, Draco. The royal blood runs through your veins. The Throne blood."
Yeah, the blood of the man that brought the suffering and massacre upon the kingdom, Draco nearly blurted out, but refrained himself when he saw a sentinel approaching.
"My lord," the sentinel called and bowed to Draco.
"What is it, Leo?" Draco hummed as Alfos moved out of the way, staring at the sentinel, Leo.
"I found this in the halls," Leo reached out his hand to Draco, offering him the item.
When Draco looked into his palm, he saw it. The locket. The very one he gave Andriandita the day they consummated their mate bond before the great purge began.
Gingerly, Draco opened the locket and stared inside. It was exactly the same. Andriandita had one half and while he had the other half.
Draco's heart thumped in wonder as he looked back at Leo and asked, "Where did you say you found this?"
TBC.