The Inauguration

He remembers the echoes of screams and shouts, the sound of paws hitting the ground, the smell of blood in the air.

He sits in the darkroom, the fireballing in fumes before him, raging, growing bit by bit as if feeling his emotions as if imitating them.

Whiskey in hand, hands that were still covered in blood, blood splatters that were decorated on his face, his hair and clothes drenched in water as he waits for news.

Good news he hopes and pleads to the goddess.

Like flashes, he sees it all again, the sight of Elena smirking as she stands across from them. He knew that the plan had entirely backfired, something telling that they hadn’t gotten rid of all the spies but it was already too late to figure that out.

His eyes had drilled holes into her head, his wolf, his beast demanding the female’s blood, demanding her head be delivered to him on a pike.

He remembers the way she spoke, the way she taunted him, belittling him, “Oh Lucius, don’t be upset, I was always smarter than you, I mean even your brother knew that”,

He remembers the anger that fueled him, the way his beast wanted to take control immediately but he held himself back. He had analyzed their situation but Elena was already two steps ahead of him,

“Ahh, I know that face, you’re trying to turn this into your favour,” she laughed, her laughed still irked him even now, “but nothing will change this. Your done Lucius, you’re surrounded, submit,” she had demanded and it was at that moment that he realised that he would rather die than submit to her.

He had turned to Genhji, she was terrified, that he could see but he could also see the anger of being outsmarted and the determination to win. So he gave her a nod.

Genhji then receiving the single, turned towards the hill they had watched the Therealts pack and she gave her signature whistle. This not only confused Elena but the army that Lucius had led because Lucius never underestimated Elena, he just made a contingency plan in case things went south.

And they had, they were boxed in, surrounded by the enemy, 2 to 1.

He remembers how Kullen and Melinda had looked at each other in doubt but he focused on the way his skin tingled. The air rose, and he smirked, his eyes turned to look Elena straight in the eye,

“And you never knew when to shut up, no wonder my mother never liked you,”

And with that, the ground shook, and he charged towards Elena taking advantage of her confused state. Lucius never lied when he said his pack was diverse, he just never explained to what extent. He had elementals as pack members but he keeps that information a secret, only he and Genhji know of this, for their protection only.

Everyone had followed his lead, trees and boulders fighting against the enemy, the air helping lighten the road and soon enough by nature as if the goddess had to come to watch the chaos, it had started raining.

Everything was going in their favour when he had felt his heartbreak when he felt like his heart was being squeezed and for a moment he remembered how he choked on his breath, how he struggled to catch it, how dishevelled he was.

He remembers how he must have looked crazy when he searched the ground, searching for her and when he did, his heart felt heavy. He ran to her, crushing each and every opponent in his path, he needed to see her, he needed to make sure that she was okay.

She will be, he tells himself coming back from the memory, she will be.

His breathing had hitched when he saw, her throat was slashed and Tobias was trying to stop the bleeding, he remembers when he had asked what happened and Tobias only but glared at Solani, who he hadn’t noticed was standing there with her own injuries, before looking away and focusing on his mate.

His eyes grazed on Solani, settling on the fact that she was fine, he turned back to Tobias to see him ripping his t-shirt and wrapping it around the wound. He remembers how Tobias picked her up before turning to him, “I want them all dead Lucius, all of them,” and he disappeared running back to the camp.

Fueled with rage, he had kept his promise to Tobias but he was too blinded by rage to release that Elena was not a worthy fighter, she was not one that had the honour and he would have been the one that died if it wasn’t for him.

Lugar had jumped in front of him, as the arrow came flying towards him. He remembers hearing the sound of it flying through the air like a whistle but his reaction was too slow. Lugar had fallen and without wasting time he had turned back to Elena to rip her throat out but her demeanour had changed, “Lucius, Lucius, it wasn’t me. I didn’t kill your mother, please have mercy, I have already lost my mate, please my son needs me as I need him,”

He had growled at her, thinking he would ever show her mercy, after all the deaths of the day, after everything he had felt because of her. He ripped her throat without thinking twice of her offer and threw her body to the ground.

Lugar was on the muddy ground, an arrow through his heart and he could smell the stench of wolfsbane and knew that there was no saving him.

He heard her footsteps before he saw her, he saw her run to his body, immediately shaking him, pleading with him to stay and Lucius couldn’t take it anymore. He turned to leave, leaving his mate to mourn over the loss of her family.

Since then he has been sitting in the dark, waiting for the news, that he didn’t lose his.

He has already lost enough.