Inner Chambers

Alpha Darius called on Sule and Adolf. Sule was his father’s beta. He had stood and fought majestically with Cyrus, but Gedoni’s army was too strong. They had taken Cyrus into their custody. They had come for blood and had gotten it.

Crowned prince, Darius was in a state of confusion when he summoned the men to the inner chambers. The chamber was where the king held his inner meeting with his trusted advisors.

Now, the Lakewood kingdom was without a king, they needed to swear one in immediately. The kingdom was bound to fall apart if there wasn’t a defined leader. Gedoni’s men had retreated but they were coming back. Darius had to prepare.

There was one major problem though, one that couldn’t be overlooked. Darius didn’t have a mate, which caused issues on two levels.

One, he needed a mate to lead the Lakewood moon pack. The wolves couldn’t submit to an Alpha leader who didn’t have a Luna.

Secondly, he couldn’t be sworn in as king without a queen.

Two problems that had the same solution.

It had been three days since king Cyrus was taken, three long days and the kingdom was falling apart.

“thank you for coming,” Alpha Darius acknowledged the two Beta’s.

You are welcome, your highness,” Sule bowed to him. Darius hadn’t been crowned king yet, neither had he been proclaimed Alpha of the Lakewood moon pack but it was his birthright, and Sule had started to address him accordingly.

“News reaching me states that the Rosewood wolves and army have retreated to the far east. They sent a warning this morning to me,” Darius started.

“A warning?” Adolf queried.

“yes. They have threatened to hang my father by the entrance to the kingdom, if we should approach them, or if we attempt to attack them.” Darius scoffed as he spoke, his green eyes had turned into a mix of amber and red. They were bloodshot.

“You mean, they have threatened to strip the king to the world?” Sule asked again. He had to confirm because there was no way the kingdom could survive such disgrace.

“yes, Sule. That was their message.”

DAMN!

THE Rosewood clan, who had taken King Cyrus, had sent a note to Darius. It was a threat, one that they couldn’t risk. If Darius disobeyed, they had threatened to kill Cyrus and to hang him naked by the gates of the Lakewood kingdom. No kingdom could survive such arrant disgrace of their king. It was almost impossible to come back from. Legends have it that the kingdoms that had experienced such treatment in the past, had quickly started to crumble. Their people were regarded as outcasts. And eventually, they went into extinction.

Alpha Darius couldn’t allow that to happen, so he refrained from going after the Rosewood moon pack. His immediate concern centered around getting crowned, so he could plan a proper battle against his uncle, Gedoni.

“Sule, I must confess to you. You are my father’s Beta, I know you will give your life for him. I hope you extend the same courtesy to me cause I need you now.”

Sule bowed to Darius, “ I serve at the pleasure of king Cyrus. And I know that he would want me to help you in any way I can. I am at your service your highness, whatever it is you need.”

“thank you, Sule. I must confess to you both, I do not know what to do. My mates keep dying. It is a sort of mystery that I am yet to figure out. And I need a mate, I can't rule without one. What do you suggest I do?”

Adolf looked down, his eyes avoiding those of Darius. Like Alpha Darius, Adolf didn’t know what to do too. He was as confused as his friend

But Sule, being the elder that he was, knew of something that the other two young wolves didn’t know about.

“your highness, “ Sule spoke, his hesitation could be perceived in his voice.

“Yes Sule, I sense that you have something to say to me,” Darius acknowledged.

“Yes, I do. If I may speak freely?” Sule pointed his head at Adolf, he couldn’t spill such sensitive information in Infront of Adolf without taking the prince’s permission.

Alpha Darius shot Adolf a quick look, like Sule, he trusted Adolf with his life. His Beta would lay his life down for him. Darius gave a firm nod, signifying that it was okay to speak in front of Adolf.

“Your highness, if I may, I’ll like to bring to your notice, an incident that happened a couple of years ago. Something I believe could be the cause of everything happening now.” Sule started.

Alpha Darius was pacing, his hands on his waist, his head turned up as he listened to Sule. He heard the words from Sule but he didn’t need to tell Sule to continue because his father’s Beta had already continued.

“so many years ago, before you were born, your father committed an atrocity, an abomination of some sort. And a witch placed a curse on him. I believe that curse is responsible for all this.”

Then, Darius stopped. He shot Sule an angry look. His kingdom was almost going to ruins, and Sule was talking about a curse? Darius’s temper was already rising. He had expected something more reasonable from a man as wise as Sule.

“Sule, you are a member of my father’s cabinet. I am sure you know what is at stake here. Please, do not make light of this situation. I need you to give me strategic counsel. Otherwise, you are of no use to me”

“My prince,” Adolf spoke for the first time since the meeting started, “I think you should hear him out first.”

Alpha Darius’s wolf could sense the sincerity in Adolf’s words. He relaxed a bit. If his Beta trusted Sule’s words, then he was going to trust them too.

“Go on,” Darius turned back to Sule. He stopped pacing around and faced his Father’s Beta.

“Your father, Cyrus raped Yemanja’s daughter. Cyrus was a young wolf at the time, he was just about to be mated to your mother. He was a reckless wolf back then. And Yemanja cursed him.”

“Yemanja?” Darius repeated the name. He had heard about her before.

“Yes, Yemanja the witch.”

“isn’t she a powerless witch suffering from dementia now? How could she possibly lay a curse on my father? Even if she did, that curse wouldn’t manifest. She is too old to perform her sorcery anymore.”

Sule sniffed, the prince had a lot to learn, “she is old now your highness, but she wasn’t old when she laid the curse. She was a powerful witch, and even now, I believe she can still practice witchcraft. But old or not, she laid that curse years ago.”

Alpha Darius struggled to believe the words coming out of Sule’s mouth.

“If what you say is true, Sule, then why is the curse just starting to manifest? And why has my father not told me this before?”

“Your father tried to ignore the truth, so he buried it somewhere in his subconscious but I believe he knew the curse existed. Your father’s mistake was thinking you were exempt from the curse.”

“Why would he think I was exempt? Who else do you believe was affected by this stupid witch’s curse?”

Sule coughed, he approached the young prince with caution. Sule stepped out of the prince’s way because he believed that the prince could charge at him after hearing what he was about to say.