[GRANT]
"That has nothing to do with my request," Grant gritted.
He resented the familiar ache that came with Alanor's name.
He hated how things had gotten between them, but even to this day, there wasn't a day that he had found it in himself to make peace with the fact that he was never going to be the one who was chosen by Alanor Wynter.
It was a sad truth, but a truth nonetheless, and the sooner Grant understood that, the sooner his life would be better. But what were the odds at the moment, though?
"Oh, yeah? I can't think of a reason why the sight of your ex would still be eating at you. It has been literal years, Grant. Unless you're still nursing wounds from a relationship that you should have moved on from already.
"The realm knows Alanor moved on. He's devoted to his new Erasthai, I don't suppose there should be a reason for you to be antsy about him," King Cassius mocked knowingly.
He knew then what Grant had gone through when he was rejected, but right now, the king didn't care about Grant. All his thoughts were influenced by the rage of what this enforcer had dared to do to his only son.
What this bastard had done to the apple of his eyes. The king was still haunted by his son's lifestyle as an omega of Acrod, and the unfortunate pairing the moon goddess had done.
At this moment, if given the chance, he would rip through Grant in ways that no one would ever be brave enough to recall and put into words or even books.
"I—" Grant began, but his throat tightened, leaving him at a loss for words.
The king was touching on his grief shamelessly in the cruelest of ways, and Grant couldn't even fight. And even if he did have that ability, what the fuck would he be fighting for? Who would he be fighting?
Hell, why the fuck would he even be fighting for anyway?
The past was nasty, and while it lingered in the worst of ways, Grant knew he needed to let go.
But letting Alanor go had been the hardest task given to him by the fates. It had been the cruelest admission of a bond that had torn through him like he was just a piece of paper.
It was a cruel one.
Especially given the horror of finding a new mate the same day that Grant found a new one. The universe must have really despised him. Fuck.
"You need to relax. He probably won't even be focused on you in the presence of his Erasthai. Be at your best; the reputation of the kingdom is at stake.
"Don't fuck it up just because you can't handle king Unar and his consort, Wynter," king Cassius warned silently, the deceptive care in his voice efficient.
But Grant had no reason to believe that the king wasn't on his side.
If anything, anything he always did, the king had always approved. So, for Grant, this was just the king being himself and telling him the truth as it was. However hard it had become for Grant to accept.
"I can serve the kingdom without having to dance along to the tune of the wedding, your majesty," Grant snapped slightly.
His tone was controlled like he hadn't forgotten that this was his king and the man who could order him into the dungeons, and Grant wouldn't ever be able to say shit about it.
It was not an easy moment for Grant, and the fact that he would be seeing the smug look on Lucius's face, along with Zaire, was just something else.
He wasn't sure he wanted to embrace that part of life at this moment. It was too cruel for him, and the king needed to help him.
He was the man's only hope.
Wasn't he?
"The Wynter Nine are coming too," King Cassius added smugly.
Grant stiffened.
For a moment, it was like his whole world had stopped. Like the entirety of his life had lost meaning in that simple sentence. This was worse than any rejection he had ever encountered.
It was already bad enough that the Lycan king and his Erasthai were coming, but the Wynter Nine? Gods, they were a menace that had seen Grant beg literally for Alanor to choose him.
They had warned Grant at his lowest, as he pinned over the man who had never chosen him, not even from the first day of their lives. It had been a terrible thing back then, and if they were coming, this was not going to be a peaceful meeting.
At least not for Grant.
But then, did it even matter when the king was already adamant about it?
Or maybe he could still take Cassius out of letting the Wynter Nine come here, right?
"Why?" Grant asked. He was trying his very best not to crash out, because he knew that this was never going to end well for him. But what else was he supposed to say to that? How was he to defend himself?
"Ah, so you do remember them. Or do you need reintroductions to what they are like and what they will be like at the ceremony?" King Cassius asked, and Grant, once again, gritted his teeth.
This king would be the death of him with all his crazy assignments. Surely, they could assign someone else to this shot, and then Grant would be able to step away from the capital until the wedding was over, right?
It wasn't okay.
It made no sense, and yet at the same time, it was something that Grant was slowly learning he would never be able to get out of with ease. He had to prepare himself.
But then even he knew that no amount of preparation would ever make him ready for the Wynter Nine. That group was filled with monsters, and he would be damned if they didn't already have plans to kill him for still loving Alanor to this day.
"I… can handle them," Grant forced, his smile razor thin as he tried to think as the throne's custodian and not as the man who was rejected in the kindest of ways by Alanor Wynter.
Maybe that was why he was still hurting to this day.
If Alanor hadn't been cruel in rejecting him, maybe he would have had the chance to make peace with the fact that he would never be chosen.
But Alanor rejected him with a kiss, one that Grant could still feel tingling on his lips.
The feeling that never left.
The ghost of a love that never even lived to be what he had wanted it all to be.
He had thought he would have a happy ending with Alanor, and all he got was just chaos and the kind of madness that no one would ever willingly walk into. It was cruel what had happened to him, and he couldn't even deny it at this point.
"You'd better do it right. You will be right at the center of the wedding. Make sure you smile and look composed. Don't even think of letting your ghostly emotions for your ex-mate taint what we have made of Acord.
"If that happens, you will pay a very high price for it, my dear enforcer," the king said, if he were not already threatening the man's sanity with what he was saying.
Then again, King Cassius was here for fun. He made the wedding for fun; he wasn't going to gamble anymore with his son's life, and if that mating with Zaire was it for them, he would. He would do it without question.
"I…" Grant trailed off wordlessly.
He wanted to say a lot to the king. He wanted to defend himself even if there was never going to be a reasonable defense for his inability to be ready for the wedding that involved the one race that had broken his heart.
"I don't even know why you're tense. You should be grateful for the Wynter Nine's coming because the ruby wolf wouldn't dare show his face here with the Wynters present.
"No one in their right mind would try to crash the wedding. And that means more security and more power in Acord.dot guck that up," the king said before adding;
"Besides, it isn't like they will be focused on you anyway."