Chapter 397

397 The Realisation of a Impossible Dream

Cirrus now realised he’d made it to the throne room a little late. Lying at the centre of the large hardwood table was a golden scroll on which the seals belonging to both empires were stamped along with a signature of the lead hunter’s representative.

The Peace Treaty he had been hoping to try and put a stop to had already been concluded. What he was attending now was a meeting drafting the guidelines that would guide the world into the new era and it was going smoothly... almost like both sides had been wishing for something like this to happen.

‘Those hunters knew they didn’t stand a chance against us,’ he screamed internally. Speaking up now, however, was only a recipe for disaster. Not a soul in this throne room still had the mind to go against the hunters anymore. Cirrus wasn’t one to act out impulsively when the odds weren’t in his favour and very rarely were they stacked against him this much.

Hunters were to be deployed into all towns and their roles drafted. The hunters were to keep the peace between the werewolves and the humans. Wolves were to refrain from attacking humans and humans were to do the same.

Cirrus almost smirked at the sheer ridiculousness of the words that were exchanged in the throne room, but all that vanished when the queen spoke up. Despite Lady Jeanie’s tendencies to dream of a world that was too good to be true, she was rather down-to-earth.

Queen Jeanie pointed out the pitfalls and difficult parts of their plan and also pointed out that it wasn’t going to be easy. Her speech went on to encourage the werewolves and hunters in the room that this was exactly what made their mission all the more worth it.

In a matter of minutes, the motivation swirling through the room was impossible to ignore. This wasn’t a mere dream they were discussing. This was a plan that was going to be implemented, regardless of how long it took.

The two sides were ready to put everything on the line in the name of peace. The hunters were to act as the peacekeepers to make sure this would happen as written. The two empires were recognised and the werewolves were all to be placed under either banner, organising the packs all over the world to bow to one of the monarchs.

The royals were to abandon the power that allowed them to control other wolves and were to never use their alpha tones ever again. This part of their power was deemed too powerful and detrimental to the goal of peace since a wolf could be made to act against their will.

.....

‘Oh, I know for a fact that Hamedale would never...’ this thought was cut short when the king of Lycaon was the first to agree to this term. The prince had been sure the king and queen would reject this condition, but when they embraced it without an ounce of resistance. The prince was dumbfounded.

The wolves were to keep their claws and teeth to themselves. Biting a human was strictly forbidden and even more so for alphas and royals.

Royals were not allowed to possess beta alphas except for the king and queen of the two empires. When all was said and done, the hunters expected each empire to have only two beta alphas and no more.

The hunters and the empires were considered partners and none a servant to the other. This allowed autonomy of the hunters within the empires, however, a hunter that was found in violation of the rules or upholding justice wrongly was to be handed over to the monarchs of the empire they were found in and the royals would then be allowed to pass their judgement.

By the time the peace summit drew to a close, Cirrus was rooted to his spot and unable to take a step nor utter a single word. He’d watched the rules and guidelines for a new world be drafted right before him and they were all going about it as though nothing had happened for the past decades.

The war had raged on for so long. It was impossible to believe it was coming to an end right in front of him. His mind simply failed to make the transition.

The hunters and werewolves around him were overjoyed by the developments, including the royals. Hamedale was more chipper than usual, the strong and powerful king that usually sent chills down the spines of everyone that heard his name... was celebrating.

‘When...?’ he wanted to scream out. If he hadn’t blocked out the mind link, his voice would have been thundering in the minds of those that were connected to him, ‘When...?’ the numerous smiling faces before him only made it harder to keep coherent thought. ‘The audacity... The pretence... The hypocrisy... The nerve on them all,’ he raged on within his mind.

His face kept a calm and regal warm expression he’d learnt to put on in front of those ranked higher than him... who used to be his brother and Jeanie. Now, it seemed the hunters were now a part of that list. All about him, the royals moved about, greeting each hunter personally and the occasional hug from time to time. The formal part of the summit was done and now, they were allowed to get to know each other more. All of it worked to enrage the prince, ‘WHEN DID THE ROYALS GET RID OF ALL THEIR BLOOD LUST?’

‘You fail to realise that your parents had this ruthless animosity toward the humans much more than Jeanie or your brother ever did. Deep down, all of them were hoping for there to come a time of peace. A time when all the meaningless bloodshed would come to an end. Do you have any idea how many families were torn apart? Even I only came to learn of that recently. Your brother and Jeanie, however, have always shouldered this burden,’ an ethereal voice rang through his mind.

‘Oh, so now she talks to me,’ he mentally argued, but there was no response. He was about to scream back at the nothingness that had echoed in his mind when he remembered a faint image of a man laying on the floor of the Origin, ‘That explains a lot.’

After a short pause, he noticed the queen staring at him. The king ended the meeting and allowed everyone to exit the throne room, inviting them to the backyard of the castle that had been prepared to house all their guests with a grand feast for the ages.

The hunters, yawning and stretching from the fatigue of having sat through the peace talks, accepted his invitation and exited the throne room talking amongst themselves and the members of the War Council that had warmed up enough to be considered friends.

Cirrus observed them better this time. None of them even dared to touch their weapons. Their guards were completely down. They didn’t fear the wolves anymore now...

“Someone doesn’t believe what’s happening. Did you think it wouldn’t work?” a feminine voice interrupted his focus. The room had been cleared, leaving Cirrus, Rana, Jeanie and Hamedale in the throne room. The king and queen had dismissed their beta alphas, hoping to get a conversation with Cirrus alone. His odd mood had not gone unnoticed by those with a connection to the Royal mind link.

Cirrus noticed they were all looking at him and sighed, “You’re right, as always, Lady Jeanie. I didn’t expect them to go along with this ‘petty’ attempt at achieving peace.”

Now that they were royals alone, Cirrus didn’t mind letting out a bit of the venom he had stored within him. It wasn’t a surprise either. He was the most notorious general when it came to the Royals’ former mission, claiming the lives of countless humans and also becoming the one responsible for Lycaon’s impressive military might.

“Petty?” the white-haired monarch raised a brow at him. Now that he got an even closer look at her, she’d lost all the signs of the previous warrior that she was, taking on a more graceful feminine appearance... all in preparation for the peace talks.

'

“That’s what I would call it. I see no reason for them to simply bury the hatchet and yet... they speak with the attitude and tone of noblemen and women who have wanted peace all along. It’s almost like they couldn’t win and they knew it, so the option of peace was a lovely opportunity for them,” the prince spat.

“I was sure you’d changed your mind about the humans. Do you really still harbour such deep hatred toward them?” the king asked with a chuckle.

“You’d be surprised. However, that doesn’t really matter at the moment. I don’t have the strength to fight them anymore anyway and you all look invested in this pipe dream,” Cirrus shrugged, “So I’ll play along. Don’t you have a party to attend?”

“Yes, we all have a party to attend,” the king replied, raising a brow at his brother.

“I’m afraid I must decline the invitation, your Majesty. I have something else to do now. Did you pack, Rana?” Cirrus turned to his beta alpha.

“Yes, my lord. Everything’s ready,” the beta alpha replied.

“Where are you going?” Hamedale’s voice went up a few octaves in curiosity.

“Somewhere far from all this. Might help me clear my mind,” the man replied walking away with a wave, “Send them my regards on my behalf. And don’t worry, brother. I’d never do anything to jeopardise something you’ve worked so hard on. The goddess made sure of that anyway.”

The king sighed when the man was gone from the throne room, “Do you think he’ll be able to accept this new world?” Jeanie asked him, her eyes stuck to the place his body was last seen.

“I don’t know. Our parents forced their ideals on him at a very young age. It was that exact same reason that he chose to give up the throne. He never did show me what they showed him. The will of the Old Kings lives deep within him. I worry for him,” King Hamedale replied with a sad expression on his face, “Maybe he’ll be able to fight the old kings’ will and become a man of his own. One that can accept this new world we’re building.’

‘See that, Ashley. I’m not the first to want such a world...’

‘I know that Katie, but then... Why didn’t that world come to be? What happened to change all this? It doesn’t add up.’

‘Don’t go detective on me, Ashley. Stay with me...’ the Luna shrieked.