LUCIUS' POV
"Fight?" I asked, and he nodded.
"I lose, I surrender. You lose, I kill you and take the throne," he said, and I felt something clench around my heart.
When I felt I had no one, it was Ethan who always stood by my side. So, I was a bit pained that no one was actually on my side. He had been pretending.
"Before our fight starts, tell me one thing," I said, and he raised his brows.
"Why did I do this?" He asked. "I hate your people so much! My sister was murdered in cold blood, and they see me as nothing. This is my revenge," he said, but that did nothing to ease my pain. He could have told me, not decide to fight me.
"That's not my question," I said to him.
"When did I start having thoughts of treason?" He asked, and I nodded slowly.
"Yes, all I wanted was to comfort you, help you find a mate, help you be better.
"But I started having thoughts that I could be greater when they dared to treat me as a nobody. You were so engrossed in your pain and loneliness, you failed to observe those around you.
"You never cared about my opinion, Lucius. You're just an obstacle in my way," he said and brought out his claws.
"An obstacle?" I asked, and he nodded.
"Yes, the biggest obstacle. You say you want to abolish the slave trade, but you went ahead and bought your Luna, only to treat her like trash and tell me later that you've fallen for her," he said and I scoffed.
"Let's start the fight since you started spewing nonsense. You, of all people, know I hate the slave trade and plan to abolish it!" I said and brought out my claws.
Talk time was over. I was mad with anger.
He roared, and I did, and we charged each other.
Ethan had been training. He was faster and seemed to have the intent to kill.
"You can't stop it!" He said, but I looked into his eyes.
"I can!" I shouted back, and he grunted. He tried slashing so many times, but I blocked it.
We fought long and hard. About two times, I had the opportunity to give him a slash that would kill him, but I hesitated. It wasn't my plan for him.
But the moment he managed to slash my arm, I lost the little bit of control I had. My bones shifted, and the hair on my arm grew into fur.
Ethan had a shocked expression on his face as I dropped on all fours. Even though I was half his height, he knew he didn't stand a chance.
I pounced on him with my claws, which had gotten longer and caused a deep gash in his leg. Then with my jaws, I smashed him against the wall, knocking him unconscious.
When I had shifted back to my human form, I watched him. The one man that I had told all my secrets.
"Guards!" I called, and they came inside with fear on their faces.
"Lock him up in the deepest part of the dungeon. He's not to get out. Not in this lifetime," I said. When I stepped out of Ethan's study, I saw Dusk standing there.
She took me in with her beautiful grey eyes that seemed to be filled with a kind of sorrow. Then she walked slowly to me, took my hand, and led me to my room.
"Since when have you been listening?" I asked her, and she looked at my hands.
"Since the party where you seemed to have turned into a wolf. I just thought you'd need this," she said.
"Need what?" I asked, and she hugged me.
"He has been the only one you had, but you discovered you had no one. But it's okay; I'll be your friend," she said, and I felt comfort seeping through me from her hug. But that didn't stop me from noticing she had used the word friend.
Why was she bent on rejecting me as her mate?
If anything, I needed her most at that time.
I stood there in her hug for a long time, trying to think of what's next.
"Let's go. Your men are waiting. I explained it all, so you don't have to remember it again," I said, and she nodded.
We went to the training ground and prepared our strategy.
"They've been practicing for a long time, and Ethan has been feeding them with most of our secrets, so we have to go through another way.
"We're going all violent. This is war, and one we must win. They'll definitely be on their way right now because they'd have noticed our absence back at the castle, and they'd have caught on that we discovered them.
"So we have to think of a sure way to get them off our backs. I'm open to suggestions before sharing mine," I said, and they nodded.
I looked at my men and saw the sudden determination and fierceness in their eyes, and I felt motivated. We were going to win it.
"We'll finish this war in a day, Alpha," Marcus said with confidence.
"I believe in you all," I said, and Seline walked up to us.
"I'm willing to join in this fight too. I'll do whatever I can to ensure that this is our fight. Count me in, Alpha," she said, and I smiled.
"First, we're using different techniques. I'm fighting this war with the aim of saving our Kingdom and at the same time, not risking any life. I want us all to be alive to celebrate our victory," I said, and my men smiled.
We started to plan, and it was smooth planning as all my men had nice ideas. The fact that Seline was willing to join the men also made our thoughts go wild, and each thought was productive, centering on one major weapon which was sharpened to perfection.
And true to my words, an urgent letter came from the border.
They had sighted Roland's men.