“… you didn’t marry Alana.”

Mordeu couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Though Cillian had told him the history of this man in such a casual manner, it still ignited a sense of unease, a feeling of dread and a need to escape in Mordeu, and now he was hearing that that man was still very much alive.

“You said it happened a hundred years ago, there’s no way he would still be alive.”

Cillian nodded his head. “Well, normally, it wouldn’t be, and that has brought about the deduction that red wolves have a longer life span.”

Mordeu swallowed. The good thing was that he was going to live long, but then, his loved ones wouldn’t, his mate surely wouldn’t, and he would outlive everyone he cared about.

However, Mordeu couldn’t allow himself to indulge in that section of the story just yet. He was still trying to wrap his head around the newfound knowledge that the scariest man he has ever heard of was still very much alive. Though it wasn’t a problem of his, it still made him feel very anxious. He couldn’t quite place his finger on it, but if that man still walked the face of the earth and he learned that there existed someone else with the color of his fur, wouldn’t he feel the need to eliminate such a threat?

He would obviously regard Mordeu as a threat. It was somehow a fight for power. From what Cillian had told him, in a lifetime there exists just one red wolf. This red wolf was supposed to be dead a long time ago, but he persevered, and now, he walks the face of the earth oozing with power. If he does come to learn of the similarities that Mordeu shared with him, there was no way he would offer a partnership. He was born in the time of monarchy, he was once a king, he wouldn’t believe in sharing power.

Scratch that, he would obviously seek out Mordeu’s head. If he does want a partnership, which seemed highly impossible, he would feel as though he had had his pride mocked when Mordeu refuses him, and that was the spark he needed to light up the bomb.

“Where is he now?” Mordeu asked.

Cillian shrugged, like his next words were about something as usual as the sun setting or the coexistence of the moon and stars. “He’s locked up. The fates locked him away.”

The words that Mordeu had heard from Kai all began to make sense. “He’s the one you’re going to fight with!” Mordeu yelled.

Cillian smiled softly. “It’s good you think with your brain and not out of your ass. But, yes, he’s the one everyone expects me to kill.”

“Why does everyone expect you to kill him?” Mordeu asked. “It’s not like you were born for the sole purpose of killing him.”

Cillian smiled again, but this time, it didn’t have happiness in it, there was no trace of mirth, but rather a sadness that Mordeu could not relate with.

He watched Cillian and wanted to capture the way his face changed as he was about to talk about himself.

Cillian had known from the beginning that he couldn’t not talk about himself, their lives intertwined even before they were born. Their destinies were woven together. He was either made to kill him or…

“I was born for that cause,” he blurted out.

Mordeu stilled. Only his eyes and his face showed how much of a shock those words had been for him. Now he realized why there was a sadness in Cillian, but before he would continue with his assumption, he needed to hear what else Cillian had to say. Maybe somewhere in his own history, there was a loophole that they could fall into.

From the story of the red wolves, the second one was very powerful, and looking at the tiny, bony young man standing before him, who might have not been in touch with his feral form yet, Mordeu knew for a fact that that red wolf was going to peel the skin off of Cillian and wear it as cover for his pet lizard.

He shook his head quickly, trying to shake off such a horrible mental picture.

“When my mother got pregnant, the Fates reached out to her. They told her that the heavens had blessed one of the babies in her womb and that baby would bring an end to the reign of the red wolf. According to my father, she was given different concoctions and it was what turned my hair white,” Cillian said.

Mordeu nodded his head. Cillian had known from the beginning that this was how his life was going to go. He was made for this sole purpose, the heavens had seen him and decided that he was fit to be their weapon.

It was such a saddening tale. Cillian was never made to live like his mate. Who could say that if he does slay the red wolf, he wouldn’t ascend into heaven because the man standing in front of Mordeu had a beauty that only the heavens possessed.

There was not a doubt, Cillian really was from the heavens.

Mordeu scoffed lightly at himself. He had many other questions, but the shadow of melancholy that had descended upon Cillian was more than enough to turn the wheels of his carriage; he needed to change the direction of the conversation to a lighter one.

“And that’s why you didn’t marry Alana. Sorry, one of the reasons.”

Cillian laughed.

The sound stayed with Mordeu even after Cillian stopped. He was caught in a trance, staring at the boy, listening to him laugh, watching as his sadness transformed into a temporary happiness. This was what Mordeu wanted. This was what he was after. He felt very much that this was his destiny.

“You refuse to believe that a part of me could want Alana.”

Mordeu shrugged and started walking ahead. His demeanor seemed more relaxed, like he didn’t just hear that Cillian will be his end.

“You did say it with your mouth that you didn’t like her.”

Cillian nodded, though Mordeu could not see him. “Well, I didn’t like her.”

“I had actually thought the reason you didn’t like her was because you are like Kai,” Mordeu said.