Chapter 9

Tyson
I held my small bride, happy that I found her, happier still that she chose to be with me…. By all accounts, she should have rejected me. She was a creature of purity, and I belong to Hell… Yet, she was not turning into a Bicorn.
That process was immediate and painful. She didn’t lose her horn like I thought she would, nor did her hair or teeth fall out…The fall from grace for her kind, it isn’t something I’d wish on even a sinner…
Unicorns…. They Suffer…
They suffer so badly, that even demons pity the process….
It is not something to take lightly, as it was something I’d gotten a chance to witness. Once they lose the blessing of Humblon the Lord of Mercy and Purity, they become one of the fold in the most purposefully painful way the Lord of Mercy could have devised. They change from dainty, delicate women like she is, to vulgar, carnivorous demons with scales and bat wings…. Their sweet scent turns to rancid sulfur…
It angers him when they turn from the light… I wonder… I wonder why she hadn’t at least vomited blood… Of course, I was Very grateful for that not being the case.
“Are you alright my lord?” She asked formally as I held her, and I kissed her forehead. She tasted like the sweetest, freshest mango… Not a hint of sulfur, nor hellfire….
“You aren’t turning.” I mumbled.
“I know… to be honest… I should have when I marked you back, accepting you… Your claim invalidates my light…” She hugged me. “If I turn because I have a mate, I could live with that.”
I petted her hair…. As my true height, she only went about to my lower chest, basically under my pecks… She smelled like lemon cookies, the frosted ones…. a personal guilty pleasure. As a wolf from the royal line, human foods upset my stomach. There were work arounds, like special wheat invented to be easier to digest, but even still…
“No…. if it was going to happen, it would have outside.” I said firmly.
She didn’t see it yet, but the brand of the Horned One was on both our necks. Inside his mark was grandmother’s, a crescent moon. I was branded by grandfather the day I was born on my belly button… The enemy of her maker…
I helped her wash her hair, and she hesitated to touch me now. In my excitement, my flame initially flickered in the water, unable to go out because of its magical nature. It was still lit, and wouldn’t go the fuck away because I was still so excited. If I was shifted my tail would be wagging, as shameful as that is.
“Of course, High Stallion.” She smiled, then facepalmed. “Sorry. Force of habit.” I assumed ‘High Stallion’ was ‘Alpha’.
“As I said, Tyson is fine….” I mumbled. I was soft with her…. She was a gentle woman, as soft spoken as a morning dove, being about the size of a human.
I let her soak until she was ready to pull the plug, and I dried her off. I steamed myself dry with my abilities, and she looked a little wanting for more on seeing it.
“Tyson.” She hesitated. “I wish to retire for the night.” She fumbled with her fingers.
“Of course, Samira.” I said getting her things out the walk-in closet, but I gave her one of my black shirts if only for the guilty pleasure of knowing her comfort from it. “Mr. Julian did this for me while we were downstairs.” I chuckled at her surprise.
“Is he the reddish-brown haired werewolf?” She asked and I nodded.
For myself, just some red sweatpants would be fine. Nobody is on this floor except us, and I’m sure Jabari won’t care. We’re shifters. The clothes don’t shift with us, and everyone has seen my ‘toilet paper tube.’
I can hear every thought of every person within about a 100-foot, 30ish meter radius…even through walls when I focus… It’s only one or two people at a time but even still, it can be as taxing as it is rewarding… Yet, I won’t say anything unless she asks. It’s a bit much for others to find out that even their thoughts are not safe around me.
“Mr. Julian has worked for the royal family since before this castle was built. If you ever need anything, you can trust him. He’s likely the oldest Omega alive, but to be fair that can be contested, since Omegas look so mortal that some do risk living in human towns for safety since they can’t shift.” I said scratching my chin. I’ll ask later.
“I should thank him.” She smiled. She added some pajama pants after wearing my shirt, and I lamented that I couldn’t see her body anymore. I sat on the bed, and I let her rest her head on my lap. “You aren’t sleeping?” She asked.
“I don’t need as much; don’t worry.” I said honestly. I’d be fine with a nap, possibly 3 or 4 hours of rest. I was the only one of my siblings that could do this, since I taught myself. “Rest my little dove.” I said feeling her already drift off.
She was out.
I got up and let her rest. The party was still going thanks to my uncles, but that wasn’t what I wanted to look at. I headed to my office.
/Come up and give me a report Assistant Captain Jabari./ I linked.
The usually fun Warrior tonight was stern… he held a manilla folder.
“This was all we could gather, but your brother… He killed pack your highness.” He said deathly serious.
“He What.” I said standing. Jabari bowed as he handed me the report…. 25 wolves. “What The Fuck Was He Thinking?! Where Is HE?!” I demanded.
“I don’t know sire…. He fled…. with a mortal…” Jabari bowed as low as he could.
“A Mortal?!” I shouted. Before I could stop myself, I broke my desk. I’d slammed my hand down, and that was all it took to break such a thick, solid wood piece of furniture.
The wood flew, the computer on it broke, the papers on it were now scattered about my floor…. Some of which caused the sprinklers to go off since I caught them on fire…. Servants cowered as they frantically rushed in to clean, bring replacements, and I had to control my temper.
I closed my eyes to fight the beast I wanted to be…. I was a Horned Wolf… with these horns come the Flames of Hell, and the rage of a general. I would not succumb to my nature.
I *must* be better…. I *Must* keep the composure needed to make hard decisions….
My blood burned… I was making holy energy again, a secret kept even from my siblings… Through my grandmother, the Moon Goddess’s blood in my veins, I produce an impossibility… I am a walking contradiction.
The Demon Who Produces Holy Light…. The man who burns himself….
I don’t’ get the luxury of this temper, as it will cause my mortals to fear me… They already do enough as it is. I cannot be what I am meant to be… I cannot take a single step forward, or I *will* be on a plane.
The pain of this… It isn’t like Rogues…. They are usually vagrants looking to commit crime, and not conform to pack life…
There were Multiple mates… So many… So many lost their one on the most blessed day of our people…
I must give them justice… but you cannot have one without the other… I cannot follow the law without doing the new task that needs to be done….
I’m going to have to kill my brother…