Diana woke up with a start. She sat up in her bed, her heart was hammering in her chest. She placed her hand over her chest as if to calm it down.
What the hell had she seen? Was Calhoun alright? How could he have been poisoned? Would he take poison deliberately?
She took deep breaths and after a few minutes, she calmed down.
Her eyes turned slightly teary as the nightmare she had just seen played before her eyes again.
She couldn't sleep anymore. She checked the wall clock. It was past 3 am. She sighed deeply.
Perhaps it was just because she missed him, and that was why she had such a terrifying dream about him. She shook off the fright and laid back in her bed.
She wasn't a human, she wasn't supposed to be afraid of such fragile and untrue fragments of imagination.
She allowed her thoughts to wander far and wide, exploring the depth of her mind, a means of luring herself to a deep slumber.
It had always worked for her even as a child, and it wasn't any different now because she had also fallen asleep.
Calhoun was awoken by the whispering of his subject. He could tell that there was a situation that required immediate handling. The people were afraid of interrupting his sleep. It was the only time he wasn't cruel.
He came out of his bed and put on his slippers. He grabbed his robe from the hanger and wore it over his body. He went out of his chamber and came into contact with George and Felix, his beta.
The two men straightened before their king. His aura, even when asleep, was just as dominating as when he was fully awake and in his werewolf form.
"My King!" Felix bowed slightly. "Good morning."
"What's so good about the morning if you both cannot whisper elsewhere?" Calhoun muttered.
"What is the matter?"
"My king." George bowed. "The blood pack's Alpha has sent his werewolves into our land.
They're terrifying the people."
"Hmm," Calhoun replied. He turned back into his room.
"My King!" George exclaimed. "Did you not hear a word I just said? The people are crying out!"
"Let them cry," Calhoun said. "If the Alpha of the blood pack is alpha enough, he should leave the poor humans and come to me directly. Tell him I said that."
With those words, he slammed the door in their faces. George shared a glance with Felix. Both of them looked very disturbed. How were they to deliver such a message to another Alpha?
The man said their king had trespassed and needed to be punished.
"We have to deliver the message regardless," George said to Felix. "We have to."
"I know George. But, we need to send a messenger who will be smart enough to evade Bruno's attack." Felix said. "We also have to be smart."
"There is no smartness when it comes to Calhoun. We only have to put it in writing and spread it to the people. If any member of the blood pack comes, they will hand it to them." George suggested.
Felix nodded in support. "That's a brilliant one, George. But I think it will even be better if we assign at least one guard to each household."
"That's a lot of guards and it will leave the castle unguarded." George refuted.
"Not if we are here. Besides, what kind of protection does king Calhoun need? That man is strong enough to take down all and every one of us werewolves if we were to face him." Felix said, shaking his head. George agreed. Calhoun was indeed strong. But of late, he had been very distracted.
"It's worth a shot," George said. "Come on, let's get things done quickly. I hear that the blood pack comes at the sixth hour."
Calhoun listened as the sound of their footsteps reduced, signifying their exit. He smirked slyly. Truly he had trespassed. But he couldn't search for Diana in the blood pack. If there was a chance that she had been kidnapped, then there was a chance that she was kidnapped by Bruno.
He relaxed in his bed. But then he heard a loud clunk coming from downstairs. He got up and put on his robe once again. Scowling, he exited his room and went to his tower. He wanted to see what was going on before having to confront it.
To his utter shock, the alpha of the blood pack stood there before his castle. Calhoun smirked.
"I wanted to try and calm myself without shedding blood but these people want it the other way round." Having said that, he raced down to the scene of Bruno harassing his subjects.
"Bruno!" Calhoun called. "Why not take on someone your size."
Bruno growled. He hated the sight of Calhoun. His grandfather was supposed to be the Alpha while Calhoun's grandfather was to assist but Montego went and overshadowed him, putting their plan into action all by himself, gaining the loyalty of almost eighty percent of the werewolves and leaving his father with two options; to serve or to die.
Bruno growled again. He could smell Calhoun's blood and it made him excited. Calhoun smirked. He knew how much Bruno hated him and he didn't care. If anything, he saw the man as an unworthy opponent. Yes, he was cursed, but it didn't stop him from acquiring all the powers he could, performing all the full moon rituals, and gaining more strength. He was invincible and that was what nobody knew.
"Calhoun, this is the day you die!" Bruno yelled. "Today, Bruno will take down the Wisteria pack's leaders and will become the Alpha!"
"Today, Bruno will only take down his head and die." Calhoun corrected. "Today, the blood pack will finally see blood."
Bruno was enraged. He roared angrily, with his head up, he howled at the moon that was about to leave. Calhoun was the least perturbed.
"Attack!!!" He screamed. His warriors roared like he did and began to prance around the castle, tearing whatsoever they found.
The guards were afraid but Calhoun was not. George and Felix were already in their werewolf form and began to fight the other wolves.
The soldiers of Wisteria formed a circle around the castle ground. Bruno wondered why his soldiers were falling so easily. He began to look round and round. The werewolves that surrounded them were bigger, stronger, and yet faster.
"No!" He growled. "No no no no! This.. this is a plan! This is an ambush! How can this be?"
Calhoun stood face to face with him, his signature smirk gracing his lips. He knew why he was termed the cruelest Alpha King. It wasn't because he was only wicked, but he had means of ensuring that his wicked ways were backed. This means making his werewolves grow bigger and has even more heightened senses and agility.
Bruno turned round and round and he witnessed the last one of his soldiers fall to the ground, dead. He was surrounded by werewolves that were bigger than he was.
He wondered how big Calhoun would be. He refused to accept defeat.
"Bruno, dear Bruno." Calhoun tsked. "I would want to just kill you off but where's the fun in that?"
Bruno grunted. He was about to slash Calhoun with his sharp talons, but Calhoun had seen it coming and dodged. He returned with a comeback and slashed Bruno across the chest. The wound opened and it was deep. Bruno grunted in pain. He expected it to heal as usual but he was surprised that it didn't heal.
"What?" He whispered. Looking up at Calhoun, he asked, "What are you?"
"I?" Calhoun reiterated. "I am King Calhoun, a Werewolf."
"George, fetch the silver," Calhoun said. Bruno's face contorted. What did he mean by fetching the silver? He had heard of the cruel ways in which Calhoun killed his offenders but he had never expected to be one of them.
George returned with a silver bucket. Bruno was confused. What was in the bucket?
"Bath our guest," Calhoun said emphatically. Bruno shifted back. As he did, the army of oversized werewolves moved closer. He was trapped.
"Bath our guest," Calhoun repeated. Bruno moved back again and the army moved forward. He wanted to run but he couldn't. Where could he go?! He also couldn't beg. He would be very happy if Calhoun could kill him immediately.
Calhoun snatched the bucket from George and emptied it on Bruno. He was so quick that nobody had time to react. Bruno let out a shrill, piercing scream. His body was melting due to the heat of the liquid silver. Yet, he couldn't heal because it was silver.
He kept on screaming until he couldn't scream anymore. The pain was excruciating. The army of Werewolves returned to their human form. Everyone could feel the sting. Everyone except Calhoun. Calhoun had a satisfying smirk on his face.
"That was..." George murmured.
"Beautiful?" Calhoun completed. "Satisfying?"
"Gore!" George corrected.
"Exactly. Gore is beautiful, satisfying even." Calhoun said. "Party is over. Take his carcass to his kingdom as a warning gift. Tell them I said, "If they don't want to meet with the same fate as their king, I will want peace"."
George nodded.
"Clean this place up. I want it void of any dead bodies and every blood as well." Calhoun said. Then he left them and went back into his room. It was almost noon and he hadn't had any soaking in his bath. He climbed up to his chamber, expecting to find his bath ready.
"Oh, if Diana were here." He sighed. "Could anyone just do their job properly? I need to forget this woman!"
He walked back out to find a guard by his door.
"Where the hell is Patricia?!" He demanded.
"I.. I don't know My King."
"Well don't just stand there stuttering like a fool! Go and fetch her."
The guard scurried away, cursing Patricia in his heart. Calhoun watched the man leave. He was getting angry again. He had assumed that the deal with the blood pack, finally having to end Bruno, would bring him a little satisfaction and allow him happiness even if it was just for one day. Who would have thought that he wouldn't even be able to keep a satisfied smile for a complete hour?!
Patricia returned to his room. She saw how angry he was. She had forgotten that he was going to need a bath after the deal.
"Why is my bath water not ready yet?" He demanded icily. The poor lady shook in fright.
"I asked you a question!"
"S..sir.. I assumed you had taken a shower. When I came, I didn't see you in the room." She explained.
"You assumed I had taken a shower?" Calhoun demanded, taking slow steps towards her. "You assumed I took a shower and I remained in my night robe?"
"My King, I-"
Calhoun raised his hand, high. He was about to land on her face, a terrifying slap but had held himself in time.
"Get out." He growled. Patricia ran out of the room. Calhoun slowly took his hand down. What was wrong with him? Where did all the sympathy come from?
He went to his bathroom and he found a bottle of wine beside his bath. He smiled. He brought the bottle to his nose and sniffed it. It smelled like there was blood in it. Just the way he liked. He poured it into a glass cup and soaked himself in his cold bath. Calhoun relaxed back in the water. His eyes closed as he sipped the wine. It did taste different and somehow he felt that something was wrong with it.
Perhaps because the blood tasted like the awful smell of Bruno being burned by melted silver, or was it that the water was turning warm when the tap was off?
He opened his eyes very quickly and caught a shadow leaving his room. Calhoun climbed out from the bath and emptied the glass of wine in the water. It turned blue.