Chapter 405

405 My Last Order

Cirrus’s mind flashed back to the night he chose to abandon the search for his mate. He clenched his fists as emotions he thought he’d buried a long time ago began to resurface.

The pain he’d gone through... pain he’d fought through to keep his sanity was only coming back. He’d managed to distract himself for a long time but now that he’d opened up for the first time, it was like tearing open scars to old wounds... and he hated it.

Taking a deep breath, “I won’t speak more on the matter and I won’t be having a mate... nor do I want one.” With that, he walked out of the throne room. Rana, who’d been acting as his shadow followed him out of the throne room.

The prince’s emotions flowed wildly through him like the rushing currents of the Great River, once again for the first time in seven years.

He was almost happy that the king had been able to rile him up, but what was happening afterwards wiped the smile off his face.

Cirrus did not return to his room or his lab either to continue his research nor did he try to stop the king from destroying everything he’d worked on for the past seven years.

Instead, he walked out of the palace and went for an evening stroll through the surrounding woods.

The emotions that had been stirred only continued to swirl through the man despite his calm demeanour. Cirrus might have been able to learn how to suppress his emotions, but after that shocking display in the throne room, he simply didn’t have it in him to force down his menacing mess of feelings.

Cirrus along with his loyal beta alpha, Rana walked for a while in a peaceful silence. The sun was starting to make its descent over the horizon, casting a kind warm gaze over the land and bathing it in a beautiful amber hue.

.....

“Her name was Jane,” the prince suddenly spoke up.

“I remember, your highness. I was with you that time,” Rana replied calmly.

“Yeah... I bet you do. You don’t forget anything that concerns me. It’s a predicament much like the one the royals got themselves in we chose to follow the goddess... more like she chose to make us follow her. We cannot defy her, none of us can... once she’s issued a command,” the prince quietly rambled, “When you ask them to open their eyes, they almost don’t realise it and I don’t blame them. They wouldn’t want to believe their decisions were being influenced by the goddess at all.”

“Do you mean to say it’s the same way royals command beta alphas even when they simply make a suggestion?” Rana asked.

“Something like that,” the prince paused, “And not at all... at the same time. The goddess has a desire... and it will start to sow a seed long before she ever makes the order. At least, that’s a theory I have. The other one is that she can command us the way alphas do with betas.”

The sound of the flowing river the man seemed to be heading to began to get louder and louder until it was in view. Cirrus’s emotions were starting to settle, almost like the sound of the rushing water was all he needed to calm down.

“Are you okay, your Highness?” Rana rushed forward and caught his master as he nearly collapsed.

“I will be... if all goes according to plan,” the prince responded.

“What are you talking about?”

The prince sighed, letting a tear roll down his cheek. The first tear he’d allowed to escape in seven years, “My hate towards them runs so deep and I’ve learnt to be so patient. Now the time has finally come that I can do what I wanted to. I can finally break free of the curse the goddess placed on me.”

“I don’t think I follow, your Highness. You need to take it easy or else you’ll get weaker. Who knows how bad it can get?” Rana started checking the prince for any signs of illness.

The diligent beta alpha had taken some first aid lessons to try and be of more use to his master, but the more he learnt about the craft of healing, the more he was bewildered by his master’s condition.

The prince was very healthy, “I don’t want you to follow. At least not right until the time you have to play your part. You will know when it’s all over,” the prince replied.

“You’re still not making any sense, your high...” the words stopped flowing from Rana when a skull-cracking headache suddenly thrummed with the sound of his heartbeat suddenly magnified tenfold, disorienting him for a moment.

The prince watched the beta alpha struggle with the pain in his head with an expressionless face, “I guess you can sense my intentions already. That’s just like a loyal beta alpha to do so.”

“No, whatever you plan on doing, don’t do it,” Rana yelled through gritted teeth.

“Try to keep your voice down and your mind disconnected from the pack link, Rana,” the orders took hold and the beta alpha in pain disconnected himself from the whole pack.

'

Cirrus stood up and walked up to the river bank looking away from the struggling man under the trees at the edge of the forest, “I’ve always wondered where you got the will to talk back to me. Where you got the power to oppose me when my reasoning didn’t make sense to you... I guess that was all just a fluke. My orders are still absolute in your eyes. And so I will now give you your very last order, Rana...”

Rana growled, trying to resist the impulses that took over him. His nails extended, against all his resistance into sharp claws. In an effort to stop the change, the beta alpha made a fist, but the claws started cutting into his palms.

This was only the beginning, however, his face began to change as well, the fangs in his mouth drawing blood from his resisting lips. Black fur sprouted from the sides of his face, painting the familiar starry pattern that the prince had now grown accustomed to.

“There’s the Wolf Star I’ve come to honour and respect. It’s futile to resist, Rana. In the end, you will do it. You will... kill me.”