“I am sorry, alpha. I thought I was doing the right thing…” Bryden said hastily. It was so rare to see the beta was so flustered, but who was not in the face of the lycan’s wrath, everyone wouldn’t remain unfazed.
Bryden had delayed the order to kill Killian and now that man spoke about their secret. About everything that he knew, which meant a lot. Killian had been with Khaos since the beginning and he knew a lot of things.
That was why, once Khaos learned that he was a lost cause, he ordered to get rid of him, but Bryden came up with his brilliant idea and delayed the murder, which left them with this chaos.
He was remorseful, but then there was no point for that, the damage had been done. People was aware of his existence. They learned about the lycan, but not in Khaos’s term. It threw him off his game and he was understandably enraged by his beta incompetence.
“You thought…” Khaos repeated the words and it only made Bryden shuddered with the animosity that laced in his voice. “You think you are better than me? Or do you think you are a better decision maker and an alpha than me?”
Bryden shook his head vigorously, denying Khaos’s words. It was a small mishap, a misjudgment in Bryden’s part, but it was critical and caused serious damage.
“I wouldn’t dare…”
They were in the study room, where Rhett, Dezgar and Gayle stood on the side, watching everything unfolded. They didn’t dare to make a peep, knowing their alpha would have none of it. The tension was very thick and it suffocated them.
“You crossed the line,” Khaos said through his gritted teeth. He stared at Bryden, thinking of a punishment, he was tempted to skin him alive to let them knew that he didn’t appreciate their attempt to think that they knew better what to do than him.
Ezra had done it and now it was Bryden. The cult was not completely in his grasp yet, though Dezgar leaned more to him, but he still couldn’t figure out, who was the true leader of the cult, because a seal had been put to all of them.
“I know, I know. Let me fix this, give me a second chance,” Bryden begged, pleaded for Khaos’s mercy. He didn’t want to be kicked out of the room and even more to be demoted like what Khaos had done to Caiden.
He had dedicated his whole life for this mission, he didn’t know what to do if he was liberated from this responsibility, little did he know, Khaos wanted to kill him instead of liberating him.
However, before Khaos could say something, someone opened the door and strode inside with leisure step, as if she was not affected by the tension in the room.
She looked fresh with her hair tied up into a messy bun on top of her head, she looked healthier compared to the last few months. Her black eyes shone brighter.
“Let him fix this,” Zuri said, she came to Khaos’s side and kissed his cheek. She must be very ignorant to be very affectionate with Khaos when he displayed a strong murderous intention.
Yet, to their surprised, the alpha looked a little bit relax with her by his side. The tension dissipated gradually.
Khaos said nothing, indicating that Zuri could say whatever idea she had in her mind.
“Send him to Wolfdale kingdom.” Zuri walked toward Bryden and this time the beta lifted his head, he dared to look at her in the eyes, because she was not Khaos. “Send them as our delegation to talk term with king Amidas.”
“That’s a suicide mission, seeing the situation right now, they will kill me even before I stepped into their territory,” Bryden said with a frown. That was an odd request from Zuri, as if she wanted to get rid of him.
Probably that was Zuri’s intention.
But then, Zuri continued speaking as if Bryden had not yet interrupted her. “If he succeeded, we can get Wolfdale kingdom, but if he did not, they might kill him before he could even step his foot in their territory.”
“You are giving me a death sentence.”
“Don’t look at me like that, Bryden,” Zuri said languidly, she looked dangerous when she smiled wickedly at him.
Zuri lowered her body slightly, so they were on the same eye level, since Bryden had been kneeling down.
“I am not the one, who has betrayed Khaos.”
“I didn’t betray the alpha!” Bryden growled, he didn’t like the term.
“Tone it down, beta, both of us knew that’s a betrayal.”
Bryden observed the woman before him. Zuri looked different, she became slightly brazen and reckless, but you could see the wickedness in her eyes.
He was worried about her and Khaos, because the alpha seemed to be infatuated, especially after he marked her.
It had been proven that Zuri could influence Khaos’s decision and she could be as cunning as Khaos if she was in her right state of mind.
“That’s not a betrayal,” Bryden said stubbornly, he was glaring at Zuri. He was not a traitor. He wouldn’t be a traitor. He had done everything that he could to reach this goal. This revenge didn’t only belong to Khaos, but also him.
His parents were killed during the massacre too, they died protecting the old dynasty and it would be an insult for their memories if he became a traitor for his own kingdom.
“You can call it whatever.” Zuri waved her hand, she didn’t care much about the detail. “You can take this chance to atone for your sin, or you can meet us in the gallows tomorrow. Your choice.” Zuri took two steps back and stood next to Khaos. “Oh, should I say that you will not be able to meet with your child? You already missed the birth of your firstborn. Don’t you want to see him? At least, saying goodbye to your mate and son?” Zuri tilted her head, she looked very relax, as if she was talking about the weather.
This was not the first time Bryden caused trouble for Khaos. A few years ago, he killed one of the elders in River Creek pack to rescue his destined mate.
The beta didn’t think about the consequences, where it was Khaos, who had to pay the price. The alpha was sent to Three Deadly Ways for years as the punishment, as people thought Khaos was the one, who had killed the elder, because if it was known that it was Bryden, who had killed the elder, he would have been given a death sentence.
And now, the same thing happened again. He really learned nothing from his mistake. Keeping someone like him could be dangerous, yet he is still useful.
Probably all the curses that inflicted her finally turned her heart cold. Zuri saw them as object, which only valuable if they were useful to her, the same treatment that she got almost her whole life.
Rhett’s presence didn’t bother her anymore, he was useful to control the cult and the cult was useful for Khaos to reach his goal, especially at time like this.
“Alpha.” Bryden looked at Khaos, as if asking the alpha to talk sense to this woman, but instead he agreed with her, actually, it was not even a surprise.
Khaos mindlinked two warriors to enter the room. “You will think of your decision in the dungeon.”
When he was dragged away, he watched in disbelieve of how Khaos had agreed with Zuri. He was going to kill him. He knew that he had created a great mistake, he screwed up their big plan, but the shock rendered him stubborn to admit that.
“It will be faster for us to complete the beauty blood right away,” Rhett suggested, he didn’t meet with Zuri’s eyes when he said that. “We have everything that we need and you can reach the lycan’s ultimate power with them.”
“And then what? All the problem solved?” Khaos crossed his arms in front of his chest.
“It will help with the inevitable battle.”
“We will leave for Greywolf pack and you will meet me one month from now with all the cult member you have. I mean, all of them.” Khaos emphasized his last statement.
Rhett said nothing and Khaos didn’t have the patient for it.
“Are you going to consider my direct order? I put my own beta in the dungeon for his disobedience. I don’t need your cult if you can’t even follow a simple order.”
“No, that’s not what I meant…” Rhett tried to explain, but Zuri cut him off.
“You and Dezgar can leave the room.” Zuri threw the two of them a dagger look, when they were going to retort. “Now!”
Once Dezgar and Rhett left, there were only the three of them inside, discussing about their next move.
“It will be hard without the help of the cult, but it’s still manageable. I don’t think the king will attack us soon. He needs to gather his warriors,” Gayle said, observing all the possibility and their current situation.
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