Chapter 14

"You always were a gullible fool" Derrick said and was about to bring the knife down on Lucas when they both heard a voice
"What's going on there?" The voice said and two men came into view. One of them was Alpha Duke's beta. Lucas recognized him immediately. The other looked like he might be a gamma.
Derrick took his knife down and hid it in the lapel of his trousers. He turned to face them. Lucas couldn't believe his luck. He called out to the men.
"Hey, over here. A little help"
The men walked over to them and were surprised to see them.
"You are the sons of the Alpha king" the beta said. Both men bowed a little in greeting.
"You're bleeding," the other man noted, pointing at Lucas' shoulder. He was obviously a gamma. He had the build of a soldier.
Lucas wondered if he should transform to his werewolf form. He would heal faster if he did. But as a human, the healing process was slower. He just needed to get to the pack healer and he would be treated.
"What happened here?" The beta asked, looking from Lucas to Derrick. It was then that Lucas realized how they both looked. They were both sweating profusely. They were both dirty and bloody. Trails of blood ran down Derrick's side and blood was rushing out Lucas shoulder. Derrick was not bleeding as much as he was but he was hurt and they will both need to go see the pack healer.
"Nothing much. We just had a little friendly match. Isn't that right Lucas?" Derrick asked, smiling like a psycho
Lucas looked at him and then turned to the men
"We need to get to the hospital," Lucas said. They would get treated in the hospital.
"Alright" the gamma said. He put one of Lucas' hands, the uninjured one, around his shoulder and led him out of the forest towards the road.
The beta tried to assist Derrick as well but Derrick waved him off and just walked behind them.
When they got to their clan, the men led them both to the hospital and they were promptly attended to. Lucas knew that they were probably wondering why the sons of the Alpha king had appeared in such a state but if they thought anything about it, they didn't say anything.
Lucas's shoulder was splinted and his hand was placed in a bandage to immobilize his shoulder.
He was given some medications for pain and he soon slept off from exhaustion. He dreamt that Derrick was standing over him with his knife while he slept. Derrick was about to bring the knife down on him when he woke up. He looked around the room he was in. He was alone. The hospital staff had had the sense of putting the both of them in different rooms.
Sitting there on the bed, It was then that Lucas realized what had just happened. He had literally just won a fight against Derrick. He was victorious. He hadn't had the time to celebrate his victory because he had been injured but it hit him now. Does that mean that Kayla was finally safe. It would have been such a shame and a disaster if he had lost. He would have lost both the kingdom and Kayla. But now, he needn't be afraid for her life.
But then Lucas remembered that Derrick had tried to kill him after he handed his knife over to him. And he would have done so too if those men hadn't showed up. Could he really trust Derrick to be a man of his word? Could he really trust him to spare Kayla? Lucas felt torn. He had finally won the fight and yet he couldn't be completely sure that he had indeed saved Kayla. He needed to have a talk with Derrick. He must make him vow never to lay hands on Kayla.
Lucas sat up on his bed and looked outside the hospital room from his window. He saw the Luna coming from a distance. Derrick's mother had come to see him. He sat still in his room and saw her come with some maids behind her. There was also a gamma with her as an escort. Lucas heard her talking to the nurses outside before she entered the hospital. He knew that she wouldn't come to check in on him. She had never really cared much for him and he knew that she was always on Derrick's side. She wanted him to become the next Alpha king too and felt that she had been cheated by Lucas's mother. After all, she was the ordained Luna of the pack. As far as she was concerned, her son should be the next Alpha of the pack.
Lucas wondered what his father was going to think about all this. If the Luna had heard, then his father must have heard too. Alpha Duke had never really shown any outward favouritism between the two of them but Lucas knew just how much he loved his mother and how her death broke his heart. He had told Lucas that himself. And Lucas could see how soft and warm his eyes were whenever he talked of his mother.
Sometimes he couldn't help but feel like he had nobody even though he knew that his father loved him. He knew that things would be different if his mother was alive. He thought of Kayla then. He had never felt such likeness for anyone like he felt for Kayla. He really wished that things would work out between them. He should give her a call, he thought but then he realized that he hadn't collected her number. He signed.
After Lucas and Derrick were discharged from the hospital, they both received a message that the Alpha wanted their presence in his chambers immediately.
Both Lucas and Derrick went to see the Alpha. He was sitting on the lone chair in the room when they entered and so they both had to stand. They bowed in greetings when they entered.
"What is this that I hear?" He began and turned to face them. He looked from Lucas to Derrick and back to Lucas again. They both looked to the ground in shame.
"You are my son's. My son's!" The Alpha said through gritted teeth. "What do you want my people to think when they hear of this?" The Alpha asked
"We were not supposed to be seen" Derrick said in a voice barely above a whisper
"But you were"! The Alpha shouted
And that was when Lucas realized that the Alpha did not care if they fought themselves to the death as long as they were not seen by the people. His reputation was more important than their lives. Whoever survives takes the throne. That was how it had been in his time too. He turned to face them, his eyes burning
"Let this be your last warning. If I hear of this again, I'll make sure you both regret ever being born. Get out of my sight!'" he shouted
They both bowed their heads and left his presence. Lucas was sorry but he could tell that Derrick was not.