Chapter 77
POV: Queen Tamara Pierce
She instantly moved away from Kage and faced Hades’ enraged expression. She knew that he could kill Kage in an instant, but she wouldn’t take the chance.
Her heart was beating swiftly inside her she didn’t want any commotion between them. If Kage was telling the truth, creating a greater rift between these two men was surely not a good thing.
Hades pulled her towards him, that she bumped into his chest.
“Sorry, are you okay?” Hades instantly checked on her, whether she was hurt or something because of his sudden action.
Tamara shook her head as she immediately put her hand in his chest stopping him from doing anything foolish.
“I’m fine.” She softly stated.
She could see his eyes turning darker, the moment it turned to Kage once again, and she knew that she had to stop him. Hades looked at her and she slightly shook her head once again asking him to stop being so furious at Kage.
He just let out a low groan of frustration, but he still shot Kage a death glare.
“Calm down, Hades. Please, calm down.” She gently whispered at him.
Hades squinted his eyes towards her, and she gave him a small smile soothing him. He gritted his teeth and clenched his hands into balled fists before opening them again.
Tamara stifled the smile that was trying to escape from her lips. Her loving husband was trying to calm himself just for her. She still couldn’t believe how this menacing and ruthless King could actually do this for her.
“What the heck is this scumbag doing here, Tamara?!” His low and raging voice inquired.
Well, he might be trying, but he was still mad, and he should do something about it.
She let out a deep and defeated sigh. Hades’ face softened the moment he saw her reaction. He held her cheek and heaved a deep sigh, too.
“I still need to talk to Kage, Hades. Please stay calm, okay?” She gently begged him.
Hades pursed his lips together as he held her in both hands.
“I don’t want you to get stressed out. He has hurt you, and I don’t want it to happen again. So, this is just so hard for me, wife.” He honestly admitted.
Tamara let out a small smile.
“I understand, but I know what I am doing, Hades.” She calmly responded as she tightened her grip on his hands.
“How the hell did he get here, anyway?” He coldly asked her although she could still hear the concern in his voice.
“I’m fine, Hades. I will be fine. Besides, this will ease my mind, too. I want to talk to him and tell him how I feel about what happened in the woods. I wanted peace of mind and to have this done once and for all. Besides, he was my friend and…” Tamara sadly said as she let out a melancholic smile.
She knew that Hades was a bit hesitant, but after he let out a deep grunt, he nodded his head later on.
“Fine, but I won’t leave you here. One wrong move from that man, and I will just kill him this instant. So, make it fast and let’s get to bed, wife.” Hades finally agreed to her.
Tamara gave him a quick peck on the lips.
“Thank you, Hades.” She softly whispered and gave him a sweet smile before facing Kage, who was looking away as if he was lost in his own world.
She walked towards him but there was enough distance between them, to calm Hades down. She didn’t want him to burst in anger here, and worse, he wouldn’t let her talk to Kage instead.
“Kage…” Her voice instantly turned cold and serious which made him pull back from his drifting thoughts.
“T-Tamara…” Kage hesitantly called her name.
He even took a swift glance at the King who was surely glaring at him now before he stared back at her. She wanted to pity him he seemed like he hadn’t been sleeping peacefully for the past few days. But she was also hesitant about whether he was telling the truth or not. She didn’t know whether she could still trust him after everything that happened.
Everything was making her confused.
But she still needed to know if he was telling the truth. However, she just couldn’t ask him directly because Hades was listening to them.
Tamara let out a deep sigh as she cleared her throat.
“Look, Kage, I know that you have your reasons for what happened. I understand that you might be truly in a difficult situation at that time. But I still couldn’t believe that you could do that to me. You broke my trust, and I don’t know if I can forgive you.” Her voice was low and gruff.
Kage bowed his head in shame. She saw how regretful he was, but she just couldn’t find it in her heart to trust him, not now not yet. Although she pitied him, she couldn’t just give him her full trust now.
“However, I am not closing my doors for you, Kage. Let me think about it first. I might not fully trust or forgive you now, but maybe when the time comes, I will. I hope you understand, Kage. You are my friend, and you chose to betray me. Yes, you have your reasons, but you chose to turn your back on me.” She sadly continued.
Kage remained silent as he listened to her.
“I am not saying that it is the right thing or the wrong one. You are confused and in pain, I understand that, and now, I hope that you understand me too. Now, if you truly want to earn my trust and forgive you again…” She added making Kage stare at her, hopefully, and Hades let out a low grunt from her back.
“You must earn it, Kage. Earn it and don’t betray me again. Help our pack like you always do. Endure the possibility that not everyone in the pack will understand what you did. Endure the guilt and be strong.” She seriously added.
Kage nodded his head afterwards his eyes were moist with tears.
He swallowed the lump in his throat.
“That’s good enough for me. Thank you, Tamara. I am still grateful for that.” He softly replied.
Hades snorted behind her, and she knew that she didn’t have more time to talk to Kage. Her husband’s patience must be running out already and draining it would surely just bring chaos.
“Good night, Kage.” She finally told him before she turned her back on him facing Hades’ frowning expression.
Tamara smiled at her sweet husband. She couldn’t believe he could be so patient with her. Her emotions lightened up because of her conversation with Kage, and that was the most important thing to her for now.
Well, even though Hades was having a bad day now. She let out a discreet chuckle.
“Done?” Hades boredly inquired of her.
She immediately nodded her head.
“Let me talk to him now, then.” He suddenly informed her making her eyes bulge in shock.
She instantly felt worried about what he said, but Hades just smirked at her.
“Don’t worry, wife, I won’t kill him. I just need to talk to him.” He immediately understood her concern.
Tamara heaved a deep sigh.
“Don’t hurt him, either.” Tamara seriously warned him.
Hades grunted.
“Such a bummer.” He lowly whispered, but it was so low that she couldn’t hear it.
“What was that?” Her left brow shot upwards at his side comments.
“Nothing, wife. Just go to our room first. Besides, we are not the only ones here to talk, anyway. Raven is also here.” He informed her, and with that, Raven went out of the shadows of the massive tree a few meters away from them.
He waved his hand at her.
“Don’t worry, I will tell you once he didn’t honor his words and hurt Kage.” Raven mockingly stated before he looked at his brother who was now starting to get impatient and annoyed.
Tamara chuckled, and she gave him a swift feathery kiss on the lips which made him loosen up.
“Can I stay?” She simply whispered to him.
But Hades just shook his head.
“Nope. Now, be a good wife and wait for me upstairs. Don’t be nosy, either okay?” He shot his brow upwards, and she groaned in disapproval.
“Fine.” Tamara defeatedly agreed before she bid her good night and walked away from the three men who might need to talk about something so serious.
And even if she wanted to be there with them, she knew that they all needed to talk about something important.
She might need to talk to Raven about it soon. And if Kage was telling her the truth, he might really need this time to talk to Raven and Hades.
With that thought in mind, she finally went to their room.
***
POV: Arlan
He was panting so hard as he tried to run for his life. He could feel his back throbbing in pain as he leaned against the huge tree. He knew that he was not in good shape to fight anymore. His stamina was failing swiftly.
The heavy mist wasn’t helping him either. The spooky feeling on the South Side intensified as he felt the cold breeze whooshing around him. He harshly bit his lower lip as he silently grunted in pain. He could feel that he was slowly getting weaker.
He didn’t know how he had escaped the verge of death upon discovering what was happening in the South Side. As the King had suspected, the Darkwoods had committed an impossible and hideous nightmare. He was digging deeper into that particular discovery from that particular eastern part of the South Side when he was suddenly attacked by a crazy red-eyed rogue. He couldn’t even sense that someone was already behind him. He didn’t even shift into his wolf form. He might be lucky to escape it he had run like a madman. He knew that he couldn’t take down that crazy rogue.
Arlan coughed suddenly, and when he covered it with his hand, he noticed that his palm was already covered in blood. But he couldn’t believe that this was the effect of his only one blow. He was running out of time, and he needed to go back to the King and tell him what he had discovered.
He had to tell him about the rogue army that they had created for the war. He knew that the King and Prince Raven were just making a peaceful deliberation to prolong the war, but they knew that the Darkwoods would launch it soon.
Now, it was only a miracle if he would still be alive by then. He coughed once again, and more blood came out from his mouth. He was breathing heavily.
He leaned against the tree, when he heard the eerie growling sound of the rogue. He tried to open his eyes and saw two rogues getting nearer to him. But now, he was still too weak to even move his limbs.
Arlan closed his eyes he knew that it was his final moment of life. He was such a loser for not getting the most crucial news that he could have given to the King. He swore his life to protect the King and to serve him with all his life, but he failed to do so.
He was such a failure.
The two rogues were about to attack him when they suddenly fell to the ground with their heads detached from their bodies.
He tried to open his eyes and saw a person standing proudly like he didn’t do anything. He was wearing a black hoody, but the odd thing was his nose and mouth were covered with a black mask revealing only his dark reddish-brown almond-shaped eyes. He was holding a sharp katana where blood was dripping to the ground.
And before he could even saw a word to thank whoever it was, he was already consumed by darkness.