Chapter 67
JAXON’S PO.V
As King, you are prepared for the possibility of war but you never want to experience it. My father used to say to hope for the best but prepare for the worst. He was a cynic at heart but he was right in that sense and I knew that if he could see me, he would be shaking his head in disappointment. I was far from prepared for the war that was brewing and if care was not taken then I could be blown away.
“Everything will be fine,” Aiden said snapping me out of my thoughts and I turned to him. “He is just a werewolf. He can’t win. Everyone that is meant to be in the bunkers is there. Do you want to go on offense or defense?”
I hesitated because for the first time, I did not know. His arrival came as a surprise so we didn’t have enough time to scout the area and see the kind of weapons he had in his arsenal. As king, I was expected to know everything but how was I meant to know how to handle a war if I had never fought a war before in my life? There was something deep inside of me. something I had not felt in a long time- inadequacy.
I could not show fear or weakness because if my soldiers got a glimpse that I was unsure, it would affect their performance. I was their leader and therefore, I had to be strong so I cleared my throat and stood up straighter. I saw Aiden smile softly as if a sense of encouragement and followed me out of the door where the generals were waiting.
I was grateful that I had requested for privacy earlier because I could not imagine the uproar that would have risen if people noticed that I was unsure of the battle. It would have been a mess and my ability to rule would have been compromised. I heard there was some murmuring between the soldiers although I didn’t know why and the last thing I wanted to do was make it worse. The generals bowed to me when they saw me and I nodded my head as a form of acknowledgment.
“We are taking a defensive standpoint,” I began as soon as I had their attention. “This is our pack and we know what parts of the land will favor us better. Direct the battle away from the bunkers and towards the denser parts of the forest. We can navigate these lands better than they ever can. I know a war is not what we wanted but this war is inevitable and we will come out on top.”
I started to walk away when I heard someone clear their throat behind me. I turned to see one of the older generals- Kerrigan. He was standing at the back but when he saw that he had my attention, he began to make his way over to the front. He served in my father’s time and he was such a good warrior that I had no other choice but to place him as general over one of our biggest squadrons.
“My apologies for speaking out of turn, your majesty,” he began. I know this is neither the time nor the place but there is a question that has been plaguing all of us. Most guards are too scared to ask for fear of what you might do but I-”
“You are not scared,” I finished for him and his words faltered. “We have a war to attend to Kerrigan. If there is something that you wish to say then I suggest you begin right now. The last thing anyone needs is to stand here listening to a reenactment of your war victories.”
His ears turned pink in embarrassment and I heard someone snicker in the back. It was not my intention to embarrass him but I was irritable. I felt weak and unwell and I hated it. I hated that I was not at my best when leading my men into battle and it was becoming increasingly harder to hide my fatigue.
“It has come to our knowledge that the Alpha Noxian was only attacking because of a perceived wrong,” he began slowly and I crossed my arms over my chest as I waited for him to finish. I hoped he would be smart enough and stay silent but he kept on speaking. “It is now popular knowledge that the Queen was mated to him and ran away before they could complete their bond. Would it not be prudent to just give him what he wants and save millions of lives?”
You could have heard a pin drop because of ho quiet it got. I stayed silent watching Kerrigan and wondering if he would suddenly grow a brain and take back his words but he didn’t. He was either oblivious to my growing anger or he was choosing to ignore it. I knew the news had gotten out but I did not know that it had been grossly misinterpreted to this point. I wanted to find whoever was responsible and rip them apart with my bare hands.
“Are you suggesting that I give my mate to Noxian to kill?” I asked and Kerrigan blanched.
12:46 Fri, May 24 GR M
Chapter 67
“I don’t think he will kill the Queen. He might just want to mate with her and-”
“Repeat that for me,” his brows scrunched in confusion. “Your sentence, Kerrigan. I want you to repeat your sentence.”
“I said that I didn’t think he would kill the Queen.”
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“The Queen,” I cut him off. “She is your Queen and your first order of duty is to protect her is it not? Your first order of duty is to protect this kingdom and whoever I choose as my mate. If you have a problem with that you are welcome to let me know and you can leave right now. There will be no one to stop you.”
“That is not what I meant, your majesty. It is what we were all thinking but none of them would say it,” he was scrambling for words at this point and looking back for any help he could get but everyone was avoiding his gaze. “I am just saying that a thousand lives could be saved today. What is one life when many other are”
The next thing happened so fast that I couldn’t explain it if I wanted. One second, he was standing there sprouting his bu*ls*it and the next he was pinned against the wall with my hand against his throat cutting off his air supply. Aiden cursed. and sprung over to my side. I could hear the other generals murmuring under their breaths but none of them dared to
come close to me.
“Jaxon, you can’t kill him,” Aiden whispered low enough that no one but me would hear. “Think about how this would look on Freya. They will assume you have something to hide and it will only fuel their anger and resentment. You can kill him after the war or even throw him in the front lines so he dies first but you cannot kill him.”
I hated that he was right and although I wanted nothing more than to watch the light slowly leave his eyes as I strangled him to death, I reluctantly loosened my grip and stepped back. He fell to the ground in a fit of coughs. He had his hand to his throat as he tried to regulate his breathing and I turned back to the rest of my generals.
“Let that serve as a lesson to all of you,” I kept my voice loud and firm. “Freya is MY mate and she is your Queen. I do not need to explain the details of our lives to you but you can trust that I would never fight a war that was unnecessary. If anyone of you speaks out against her again, I will not show mercy. Prepare your troops and take your positions.”
I walked away without waiting for a verbal response from them. I heard Aiden rushing to keep up behind me. I knew I had blown things out of proportion but I didn’t care. When it came to Freya, I was willing to d*mn the entire world.
Aiden and I were in charge of our own squadron of soldiers. We took the main entrance to the pack. There were archers mounted and hidden between the trees ready to take aim the moment they saw someone crossing the borders. So far, everyone and everything was quiet. Noxian’s troops had not moved and I began to worry. They were ready, their weapons were set and our spies told us that they were armed and ready but for some reason, they were yet to attack and I could not understand why.
“Why won’t he attack?” Aiden asked voicing my thoughts. “If it were me I would have rushed in by now. Why would the time to set up his troops and not attack?”
Just as he was speaking, there was a rustling in the woods. I held up my hand to ask the archers to wait. They were to ho for my command before shooting. I did not want to end up harming an innocent by mistake. We waited with bated breat for the person to reveal themselves and it was my shock when two soldiers walked out. They were obviously from Noxian camp because they bore his crest over their chests and they had white flags in their hands.
“Did he come all this way to make a truce?” Aiden asked in almost disbelief mirroring my thoughts. This has to be the most anti climatic battle I have ever seen before.
I held up a hand to silence him and walked forward to meet the soldiers. They were empty handed save for the flags and their guns stashed at their holsters. I saw my soldiers begin to come out of their hiding spots but I waved them back into position: Until I declared an official truce, we were still on the verge of a war and they would be incredibly stupid to give up their positions for a false sense of security.
“Alpha Noxian wishes to give you one last chance to surrender,” one of the men said as he made his way over to me. “He comes under the white flag of truce with a message for you.”
“What is this message?”
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Chaper ST
Errowed my arta ciermis chest,
ng very well that
okay but ematen demanded that in One of the elders reached in his pocket and peda prce of paper and handed me was carefully folded and when I unfolded, Is Noxian’s scrawl over it
Consider this my only olive branch, I read aloud “Give Freya to me and we can pretend this ever happened. The last thing I want to kill your innocent guards. I do not want this hidhed as much as you do Acorps the whine ting and wave it and I will know that you have taken my offer
1 I laughed humorlessly and scrunched up the paper until it was nothing but a hall im my hands
“Tell him that I refuse.” I growled out and the guard to my right smiled as if he had expected that response
“So be it.”
As soon as those words left his lips, all hell broke loose.
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