Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 89554 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89554 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
And this was how, that same night, Hexius had found out just how much he had destroyed his relationship with his brother without knowing it.
“You must take action,” Vaughn was urging his older brother. “Everyone is talking behind your back now. They say he’s better, stronger, and smarter than you. And that the only reason you’re alpha is by virtue of age.”
Hexius had expected Alphonse to dismiss such pointless comparisons. Or even reprimand the younger man for entertaining such doubts. But instead, he heard his brother admit the opposite.
“They aren’t saying anything that’s not true. Even I know this. And there’s nothing I can do about it.”
It was Hexius’ first time to hear his brother speak in such an empty tone, and he couldn’t remember hating himself more than he did at that moment.
Because Brandy was right, dammit.
Alphonse, his big brother, was the one person in his life that he did love.
But in his arrogance, he had pushed Alphonse to doubt his own capabilities as alpha.
His older brother summoned him to his office the next day, and by then Hexius had steeled himself to have his pride battered. He was ready to issue a public apology. To acknowledge how he had been acting like a self-centered prick the past weeks.
But he wasn’t even able to say a word, with Alphonse holding his hand up in a bid for silence, before gesturing for his second-in-command to speak.
“It has been decided that you are to marry to a bride of the pack’s choosing.”
Hexius’s first instinct was to wipe the smug grin off Vaughn’s face with a solid punch.
Did they really fucking think he’d let them decide his future like he was some spineless idiot?
But then he saw the way Alphonse was holding himself so rigidly—
And he finally noticed the scent of anxiety clinging to his alpha’s skin—
Too late.
He was too late in repenting, and this was his punishment.
“I would like to meet her first.”
Hexius had to clench his hands against his sides as he forced himself say this. Otherwise he’d start punching holes in the walls with his fists. No fucking way did he want to marry a girl not of his choosing. But he would consider it at least. It was the price he had to pay for his stupidity and selfishness.
If she passed his criteria, well then...
Unfortunately, she did not.
To start with: the girl was human, for fuck’s sake.
Why the hell would he marry a human when they were supposed to keep their existence a secret from mankind?
He had expected Alphonse to at least choose his bride as any alpha would for a member of his pack. But this...
This just smelled like revenge, and he would not stand for it.
Not even for his brother.
And so he chose to walk out of the room.
Walk away from his pack.
And chose to stay away as well.
For two years, he kept his distance. For the good of his pack. But most of all, to undo the damage that resulted from his decision to nurse his wounded pride. He hadn’t admitted this then. But life away from his pack was an eye-opener, and this time he knew for sure that he had never loved Brandy. She had simply been a goal, and her rejection had slighted his great pride but did nothing to his heart.
Hexius had vowed to himself that he would stay away for as long as it was necessary. He would only return once Alphonse and Brandy were married, and his brother no longer saw him as a rival.
But That Day happened, disaster rippling through every corner of the world, and it left no life—whether human or preter—untouched.
THE CALL CAME AT THREE a.m. Hexius was on a plane within the hour. But even though he went straight to the hospital from the airport—it didn’t really change anything.
A series of vampire attacks continued to terrorize the city following the first one. And it just so happened that one of those attacks targeted the conference Brandy was attending in Miami. By the time Alphonse—who was in another meeting, negotiating alliances with other shifter packs—arrived at the scene, Brandy was injured and unconscious.
Surgery was required and performed immediately. No vital organs harmed, but she would be disfigured for the rest of her life, an indelible souvenir from a tragedy that no one in their right mind would ever want to remember.
But even though Brandy seemed to take this in stride—
“I think this is for the best, really. Maybe this time, people will take me seriously at work.”
It was Alphonse who was left reeling.
“This is all my fault...”
Three days later, Alphonse stepped down as alpha. Three weeks later, he broke his engagement to Brandy. And finally, three months later, the results of the council’s votes were released, and it was unanimous. A new Leopard King would be crowned, and over all the candidates, it was Hexius whom they chose to be their alpha.