Calhoun was on the ground, feeling the pain yet unable to react or move his body. He could hear the guards discussing amongst themselves.
"Hey, is he dead?"
"I guess. No werewolf can survive this special silver bullet!"
"Oh but look, it's King Calhoun."
There was silence. The second guard shifted back in fear.
"Come on, don't be afraid! He's dead. Don't you see the look on his face? It's like he can't believe he's dead too!"
"Someone gotta inform the King about this."
The first guard said. "You, scared crow. Why don't you go tell the king what happened?"
The second guard was more than happy to leave. He had heard stories and rumors about Calhoun and he was not going to be the one to dare and find out if it was true or not.
He quickly ran away. The third guard chuckled at his reaction.
"Oi, I think you should follow him." He said. "Knowing that coward, he might just run away and leave us here alone."
"You want to stay alone with this man's carcass? What if he rises from the dead?"
"Impossible!" He exclaimed. "And even if he does, I will spray him back to death with our special bullet."
The first guard laughed heartily. "You never cease to amaze me! Seems you have things under control then. I will be back soon."
The third guard laughed cheekily and sat on a rock by the side. He was too eager to have his king conquer the Wisteria pack and become their ruler. The Montego lineage was finally over. He laughed again.
Calhoun could feel the pain begin to reduce and his body was slowly becoming unstiff. He could finally feel the smirk on his face returning. He waited until the wounds were completely covered then he stood up as quickly as he could. Once he did, he asked.
The third guard was taken aback that the man had risen from the dead. He placed his hand on his rifle but was surprised to find it gone. Calhoun chuckled. He held it in his hand, staring mockingly at him.
"One weapon cannot kill me twice," Calhoun said. "And now, for bragging, you will know firsthand why I'm called the cruelest Alpha king."
The guard's smile began to falter. "You cursed king." He spat. Calhoun chuckled.
He took his time to walk over to where the guard was. The guard quickly took out a sword and pushed it through his chest. Calhoun stared at the silver blade sticking into his stomach and out his back. He chuckled. With his hand on the guard's neck, he raised him, squeezing his jaw in the process. The man could not scream because the more he opened his mouth, the more painful it became.
Calhoun used his other hand to take the sword out of his body and the guard watched the wound close up as he took the blade out. His eyes went wide as saucers.
"Pardon me for making a mistake earlier. I meant to say, weapons made with similar or the same materials cannot kill me twice." He bragged. "But I can kill you as many times as I want."
Calhoun placed the man down to his feet, still holding onto his jaw. He handed the man his sword.
"Here, kill me again." Calhoun dared. "Go on, and shove it into my heart this time."
The guard didn't dare to do it, he only prayed in his heart that his fellow guards would show up anytime soon.
Calhoun grabbed the jaw tighter and before the man could even whimper in pain, he twisted his neck. He didn't stop there, he pulled the head out from the body, tearing the skin and muscles in the process. Once he did that, he turned and returned to his kingdom. He could already see the break of dawn.
Another unfruitful search. He tsked as he slid in through his window, dirtied again.
George was pacing the hall, waiting for his arrival. The moment he saw Calhoun, he hurried over to him with his night robe. Before Calhoun could say anything, he draped it over him.
"Did you find her, my king?"
"Might I detect that mocking tone in your voice ever again and I shall have your throat slit," Calhoun growled. George stopped in his tracks. Mocking? He was only trying to show that he was concerned! He was the one who stayed awake, pacing the hallway, waiting for his arrival and all he could do when he returned was to threaten him.
"Fetch Patricia and have her prepare me a hot bath." He ordered. George bowed nevertheless.
Calhoun arrived at his chamber to find Patricia sitting by his bath. She seemed to still be clad in her night dress. He scowled slightly.
"Why are you still in your night dress?" He demanded icily.
"My king, I received news about your arrival and I quickly came to make your bath ready so that you wouldn't start your day on an angry note." She explained, staring him straight in the eye.
Calhoun chuckled. He could already tell where it was going. The little lamb had fallen in love with the lion. Did she know that lions only ate lambs and never befriended them?
"When next you want to come to my chamber, don't dress like a little lamb. The wolves don't pamper their food except when they want to make a delicious delicacy out of it."
Patricia was dumbstruck. What did he mean by a little lamb? And what was that about pampering food?
"Did you hear me, Patricia?"
"Yes, my king."
"Good, now you may leave. Prepare me something nice to eat and I want my wine." He ordered. "Serve it at the dining, tell George to come."
The moment he finished speaking, he saw George walk into the room, almost out of breath.
"You are a werewolf, George. Stop panting like those pathetic humans who have no stamina." Calhoun scolded.
"Sorry my king, I have just run round the castle in search of Patricia. I couldn't find her." George said, his gaze on the small woman who managed to be in Calhoun's chamber already.
"Well, the little lamb came to play in the wolf's den. Isn't that wonderful, George?" Calhoun chuckled. Patricia's cheeks went red. She bowed her head and silently left the room. The moment she left, Calhoun's eyes turned to Stony.
"Keep an eye on the girl. She seems to be up to no good." Calhoun said. George nodded.
"Inform Thomas that he will have breakfast with me. Make sure to clean him up, give him a room in the castle."
"My king?" George asked. "If I heard you correctly, you said Thomas should be cleaned properly because he will have breakfast with you and we should give him a room in the castle."
"Yes. Diana is gone and gone for good. As much as I can never forget her, I will not punish another person for someone else's crime."
"You were never like this," George stated. "What changed?"
"The prophecy is true." Calhoun hummed. George sighed softly.
"My king, we have gone through this over and over again," George said.
"And I have just seen proof that it is true," Calhoun said. "I died earlier today. But here I am, alive and well."
"My king-"
"There are things you would never understand if you keep having the mind of a servant, George. You are the only man in the kingdom who has the right to be friends with the king." Calhoun hummed lowly. "Use it wisely."
George stared in mild shock. Friends with the king? He had never even considered himself the same Felix or Evander. How come he was friends with the king?
"Go and fetch Thomas," Calhoun ordered. "The king will not await anyone for breakfast."
George bowed and left. Calhoun slowly took off his clothes and went into his bath to soak. He washed his body carefully and thoroughly. He wanted to get rid of the smell of the strange bullet from his body, as well as the smell of the blood of the guards he had killed.
Thomas was in his cell, going crazy for being locked far away from where every other prisoner was kept. He wondered why there were so many prisoners anyway.
He sighted George approaching and he felt relieved.
"Mr. Thomas, the king has found favor with you.
He demands that you be given a room in the castle and for you to clean up and have breakfast with him." George announced. Thomas could feel the smile bloom from his heart. He had missed his freedom and being able to walk around again was pure joy to him. He wouldn't mind if it was his last day as well, if the King would let him enjoy freedom on his last day, it would be worth it.
George freed him and took him up into the castle. He took him to a room that was on the first floor of the castle. The room was almost as big as the entire house where he and Diana lived. He immediately began to miss her. Perhaps if he didn't mistreat her, she would have run back to him at least before leaving completely. And he would have been able to settle things with the king.
George took some fresh clothes to him and left him to freshen up. Thomas wept a little. He suddenly realized that if he had treated her well, there would have been no reason to sell her off to the king who only made life worse for her. Nevertheless, he went and cleaned himself up. He trimmed his overgrown hair and shaved his beard and mustache. By the time he dressed in the shirt and trousers and wore the robe over it, he could see that he looked royal. He wore the shoes brought for him and quickly went to the dining room where the king was also just getting comfortable.
"Thomas," Calhoun called out, acknowledging his presence.
"My king." Thomas bowed. He had heard of so many things that happened during the months he was in the dungeon. Surely Calhoun wasn't king for nothing. He didn't even age one bit even after all the battles in the past month.
"Sit and eat with me. I'm sure you must be famished." Calhoun said. He could see that the man lost a reasonable amount of weight. But at least, he had learned his lesson.
While they ate in silence, Calhoun heard some commotion outside. He scowled.
"George." He called. George quickly came to his side and bent over. "Find out what's going on."
George turned to go and the moment he opened the door, he was pushed aside.
"Get away from my face you lowly servant!"
Calhoun's eyes hardened at the sound of the voice. It was unmistakable.
"There's my favorite nephew!" The lady announced, walking over to meet Calhoun seated at the head of the table. "Why, such plenty of food! I bet you must have guessed we were coming, huh?"
"Not at all, aunt," Calhoun said coolly. His voice was flat and showed his lack of interest in the event unfolding before him. "What about Gigi and Will?"
"Oh, they chose to go sightseeing! They say it's been so long! You haven't even thought to invite any of us again!"
"I wouldn't want to bother with unpleasant things," Calhoun said ambiguously.
"Oh, nephew!" She laughed. "There's nothing unpleasant about me being here! I would have loved an invitation!"
"I meant that I wouldn't want to bother the castle with the unpleasantness of having so many people here. The servants are surely enough people here."
Her face turned grim and her eyes flashed in anger. Thomas kept his gaze on the food. It was his only concern at the moment and every other thing just seemed to produce stress on him.
The door flew open once again and a shrill annoying voice filled the room.
"Cousin Calhoun!" Gigi screamed, rushing over to hug Calhoun. She even placed a kiss on his cheeks. Thomas watched the event unfold. He felt uncomfortable. How would Diana feel if she saw this? Then he reminded himself that she was probably only a slave to him and nothing else.
"Behave yourself, Gigi." Damita scolded. "Get off the man at once."
Gigi scowled and took her arms off Calhoun.
"Where is Will?" Calhoun asked, ignoring her earlier greeting.
"You don't even ask how I've been," Gigi said, feigning annoyance.
Calhoun turned a blind eye to it. George came and whispered something in his ears. Calhoun's face turned rigid instantly.