22 Revelations

♔ Flynn (P.O.V)

Flynn sat there, watching the show. He sat between Emma and the new duke, Felix. His skin crawled at the thought of the word 'duke', he wished he had that amount of power. Perhaps even more than what the king had. Eventually, he could get there, but for now, he had bigger fish to fry. That fish is his mate, Eustacia.

The mate bond took hold of him back in the Gray Room. For a split second, he wanted to hold her and stay with her forever. Yet he knew he couldn't. He wasn't mentally stable enough for that.

He's completely unstable, after all, he's done horrible things while in his episodes. The most recent incident he had was a few weeks ago. It was one of the many moments Theo made him rip animals limb from limb. It got worse after he was forced to shift since he could use his wolf claws whenever he needed to. That's when he started ordering him to watch in his alpha tone. Being ordered by your alpha to do something, you can't easily refuse. So once Theo ordered him to kill, destroy, and watch, he had to. He had no choice.

He watched as his small hands quickly worked against the tiny gray animal. First, he snapped its neck, the small crunch of its bones cracking would reverberate through his body. He hated how it felt, even more so how it sounded.

Then he would let his long wolf-like nails grow on his fingertips, very sharp and deadly. He would watch as if he was in someone else's body, as his claws sunk deep into the fuzzy creature's frail shoulders. Effectively shredding the petite animal's top limbs from its body, causing blood to gush from its open wounds and soak into its plushy gray fur. He would have to continue until every limb was separated from its body.

The episode felt so real, almost like he was reliving it all over again. When he finally snapped out of it, he was covered in a bright red sticky liquid. It also decorated the entire wood floor around him.

Blood.

He looked for the source and found a small petite woman's naked torso sprawled out on the ground at an unnatural angle. She had a round face and long red hair, her eyes were frozen in terror, and bloodshot. Her neck laid limp, in a way it should never be, it had been snapped in the same way the rabbits had been. Her detached limbs scattered across the floor. Blood, tissue, muscle, and the other body building blocks that once connected to her body, looked like they had been shredded by some dull saw which caused a hacky uneven job.

The young woman was a maid that he didn't even know the name of. She had come to clean the room as she normally had, but she came in at the wrong time. At the time he had experienced a very bad episode. One that felt so real, that it compelled him to do the same acts in his actual time.

Yet, he knew better. Eustacia doesn't deserve the things that have been done to her. He's very well aware of that. The sick thing about it all is that he enjoys watching her suffer. He enjoys the thought of the very pain it would bring Theo knowing his angel was getting hurt. In some sick way, it was almost as if he was getting back at his abuser.

Despite it all, he wanted his mate. Even though she was related to him. He yearned for her, for her touch, her love. So he kept her around. He avoided her like some deadly virus and hoped she would never find out. So he could keep her locked up for his own selfish reasons.

However, she found out. It almost broke him, because as soon as she found out the fragile mate bond was formed. The very thing he was trying to avoid. Through a clouded mate filled mind, he banished Emma. He had a few moments of sanity left to get the idea to turn her into her wolf

permanently. It got her out of his way, and she wouldn't get hurt by him at least.

Hopefully.

He brought Emma back and marked her, trying to kill the mate bond with Eustacia. He picked her because she has no mate out there waiting for her, she's mateless. So if he relapses and hurts or kills her, he won't be that upset about it. At the same time, he would gain a luna, getting more power. It killed two birds with one stone, and he was happy with that.

Even after marking her, he still couldn't let Eustacia go. The mate bond was still there, so he came up with the lame excuse of using her as a fighting wolf. So that he could keep her, without anyone else finding out about it.

He already knew that Eustacia or as the world now knows her, Storm, would probably win. After all, she's an alpha. Although it probably helped to give her a small boost of encouragement. Even if she had started to fail, he would've intervened somehow to keep her alive. She wouldn't have died. So either way, he could use the opportunity to fund his plan.

It's not entirely true, the serum he promised her. She'll eventually turn back on her own, maybe in a week or so. That's thanks to her alpha blood. There is a cure to turn her back quicker, and it wasn't a lie that only a few know how to make it. He never intended to give it to her though, she can't turn back. He can't bring himself to let her leave.

Once this fight is over, he'll say it's the serum and inject her again, keeping her in her wolf form forever. Once she questions it he'll simply state the serum was bad and he'd get another and repeat.

"Ladies and gents! The tides have turned for the better. Storm, our underdog, has successfully escaped what would've been the end for her!" Mavis Raoul's mate shouts over the intercom. Her howled words snapped Flynn quickly out of his thoughts.

Eustacia, while he wasn't paid attention, got stuck in the holding cell. Cocoa was a savage wolf when she arrived, so she's had experience with fighting. She's one of the smaller wolves and could still pose a threat to Eustacia if she got cornered there. He was deep in thought and the odds of him stopping it would've been slim to none.

Biting his fingers at his near mess up, Flynn listens to his 'guests' chat amongst themselves.

" My money is on the aggressive one," Felix whispers to Tristen.

"Great, great, just bet on wolves fighting," Tristen retorts annoyed.

"Stop being a buzzkill, there is nothing in the books against this. Just relax and have some fun, Tree."

He quickly lost interest in their conversation. They were talking about their bets, which wasn't surprising. It did make his skin crawl that one of them bet against his mate.

His attention back on the fight, he watched as Eustacia made a quick and savage end to Cocoa. She had used her chain to choke her victim and sliced into her flesh with her claws, eventually crushing her throat for the final kill. It was a glorious sight, one he was strangely proud of.

That was his mate. No one else, not even Emma, knew who that wolf was. So it was his dirty little secret he took pride in.

She was proud of it too, she howled in triumph. Blood staining her muzzle, she stared directly at him, with clear hatred burning in her red eyes. As her eyes broke from Flynn, they scanned across the panel sitting beside him. She looked at Gedeon, Emma, Felix, and then fear flashed across her eyes as she stared at Tristen.

Did she know him?

There's no way she could, she's never been out of the pack grounds.

Seconds pass after the fear strikes her eyes, a powerful gust of wind blows past Flynn out of nowhere. Tristen, who had once been sitting in the row with him, was nothing but a flash of movement. As he glanced back down at Eustacia, Tristen was there holding her.

Flynn's heart sank deeply into his chest. Vomit rose to the top of his chest as he fought to keep it down. He was touching his mate, and he wanted him to stop.

Moments after Tristen rushed down into the pit, his duke followed him, and so did Flynn. Flynn watched as Tristen ripped the collar from her neck in one swift motion, something a normal werewolf probably couldn't do. It was solid silver after all. He rocks her back and forth, with a tight hold on her.

"Tristen?" Felix approached Tristen and carefully laid his hand on his shoulder.

"Go away!" A loud growl erupted from his body, as he shoved his hand aggressively away.

"Tree, it's me, what in goddess name are you doing?" Felix approached him again.

"Don't touch her," He pleaded.

"Why? Tree, you have me concerned."

"She's her, Felix. She's my mate-" Flynn stopped listening at that moment, his heart shattered.

How could Tristen be her mate? Flynn was her mate and they both knew it. Flynn had heard of second chance mates before but they're as rare as a hybrid. Seldomly heard of.

"That's impossible," Flynn breathed, helplessly broken.

"Why is that impossible? She's my mate, and I'm damn sure of it," Tristen spits in response. Carefully rubbing his fingers through her fur.

The very sight of him touching her made his skin crawl, it made him want to hurt him.

"She already has a mate," Flynn rubs the back of his neck, controlling himself.

"Oh? Who would that be then?" He questioned.

"Me," Flynn whispers, almost ashamed.

Tristen looks up at Flynn, hatred burning in his silver eyes. Holding her tighter he growls at him.

"So you mean to tell me, you let your mate fight in the pits as a savage! You mean to tell me you know all the shit she has been through and still don't give a shit?"

"No, that's not-" Tristen had jumped up at some point and began ramming his right pointer finger into Flynn's chest, cutting his sentence off.

"You aim to tell me that you are the reason she is in the position right now?" Tristen points at Emma, howling in rage, "you marked that over your actual mate? What type of fucking werewolf are you?"

"You don't understand, I-" Flynn begins, but is cut off yet again by Tristen.

"I don't give a damn about anything you have to say! You are the lowest piece of trash I have ever seen in my life, how could you do this to her?" Sitting back down and holding her close Tristen continues, "I'm taking her with me because she has a second chance and I'm going to give her just that. At least one of us will appreciate the fucking ground she walks on."

Anger boiled in Flynn's chest, he was being degraded on his pack territory. More than that, his mate was getting ready to be taken away. He couldn't have that he worked too hard to keep her here.

"You're not taking her," Flynn growls.

"I'm sorry, did that sound like a question, small fry?" Tristen stands up, towering over Flynn. He's at least five inches taller than Flynn was.

The size difference didn't change his decision, "you're not taking her. She was my mate first."

Tristen points at Eustacia, "what's her name? I know damn well it isn't Storm."

"Eustacia."

"Well, as far as I can tell, Eustacia isn't a part of your pack. She's a rogue and you have no control over her," Tristen states. "Now I suggest you get the hell out of my sight."

"No, I still refuse! She can't leave!" Flynn howls in denial.

"Back off Flynn. As your king, you are to back off and to let her leave. As long as that's her choice," Flynn and Tristen both look at Eustacia. Her eyes filled with sadness, she nodded her head yes, she wanted to leave.

"There you have it shrimpy, I'm taking her with me. You can't deny my orders, after all, you are below me," Tristen shrugs.

"She can't leave, because she'll be stuck in that form," Flynn hisses, a lie but one he doesn't have to know.

"I have my sources and I'll figure it out. Don't you worry your nappy little head. We leave immediately and once we are gone, your pack is banished from my protection. I, the king of werewolves, denounce the Rushing River pack and will no longer protect or assist in any shape or form once I leave its borders." Tristen declares.

Flynn has no choice but to obey until Tristen is no longer on his land. His heart shatters as he watches his mate walk off with Tristen and his gang. Her wolf form easily keeping up with them, wagging her tail still matted with blood.

♔ Tristen (P.O.V)

"Luka, time to put your spy skills to use. Stick around on their border, by any means necessary and gather all the shit you can on them. If he can do this to our mate, I'm sure father's papers were correct about him." I instruct Luka using the pack link.

"Aye." A short and sweet response, typical Luka. I watch as his vibrant short red hair bounces off through the woods, his all black clothing making it harder to see him.

"Let's get you home, Eustacia," I smile, and look toward the black she-wolf below me. Saying her name and looking into her eyes, I know this is what I've waited for.