Chapter |72| ~Heartbreaking Goodbyes~
Unedited.
Cyrus POV.
So, it’s settled then.
We’re leaving right away to attend the feast of brothers in Nicklaus, Kingdom. After that, we’ll answer the bull shit ass summons...
Then finally, I’m done.
I’m done with all of them for good...
End of story or at least I wish it was that simple.
Luscious and I have been arguing for what seems like hours now because I denounced my claim to the throne, and if it wasn’t for my aunt Katherine intervening with our little dispute. I’m one hundred percent positive that one of us would have been dead by now.
That’s exactly why aunt Katherine advised that Embry should return to our master bedroom because things were getting a little too bloody. Plus, my poor little beloved was looking like she was about to have a nervous breakdown and that’s something that I couldn’t have. To be quite candid, that’s exactly why I didn’t want Embry around Luscious in the first place. He always had this bad habit of making everyone around him, feel sick to their stomach.
He’s just that fucking annoying, especially when he’s mad and right now he’s big mad.
He’s livid.
Anyway, Luscious, my aunt, and I are still in my private study, and Luscious and I are still arguing.
Yeah, I know! Fucking ridiculous. How I so badly wish that I can make my dear ole auntie disappear for just a second?!
So I can end his ass.
“So that’s it, huh,” ask Luscious for yet what seems to be the thousandth time. “You’re just going to give up everything you worked for... everything we worked for just because we disapprove of your new little pet,”
“If you disrespect my queen one more time I promise you that it shall be your last time doing anything,” my monster snaps, and this time he means it. I mean it.
I had it up to here with my so-called brother!
“Yeah... Yeah... Yeah... You ain’t going to do shit,”
“Luscious!” bellows Aunt Katherine.
“Yeah, Luscious!” I taunt.
“Cyrus!,” Aunt Katherine snaps at me next while jumping up from her seat on the couch, “I had it up to here! Both of you should be ashamed of yourselves,”
“He started it,” pouts Luscious. He’s such a little bitch.
“Cyrus Ettore The Third, if you say one more curse word out loud, or in your head, I’m gonna wash your mouth out with soap after making you choke on your own saliva,” warns my aunt as she glares at me. She looks furious and now I’m the one to pout.
“Now,” says Aunt Katherine as she makes her way towards the middle of the room with a click of heels with every step she takes. “We’ve been here for only Blood God’s know how long and neither of you has displayed any sort of qualities of a king. As far as I’m concerned you both should be giving up your crowns,” she says as she looks over Luscious and me momentary.
Then she walks from the center of the room to stand by the window. Her face is inscrutable, which only means one thing. She’s thinking and whenever my aunt is thinking she happens to be a concrete wall. I’ve always admired that quality about her while I was growing up. She’s never been easy to read and she has mastered the art of playing it cool in a heated room.
I guess that’s one quality that I will never be able to adapt from her and most likely never well.
Luscious also seems to be lost in his own thoughts and he too has mastered the art of hiding his emotions whenever he wants to.
Meanwhile, I’m sitting here with my face balled up, looking like a little (bitc...) I mean, snitch. Plus, I’m trying my hardest not to even think about a curse word.
The tension inside of this room is palpable and smothering and I find myself attempting to mentally calm myself down.
“You’re right,” Luscious finally breaks the silence. “Neither of us has been behaving like proper gentlemen. Please excuse my behavior, Lady Katherine,”
“Aunt Katherine,” she says turning to face him with a smile. “It’s aunt Katherine to all eight of you we are all family. Family means we stick together no matter what, and all of your brothers beloved’s,”
“Shall be adopted into our family,” he finishes her sentence with closed eyes. “You’re right as always,” he adds in a second later. “I should have never disrespected your beloved, Cyrus and respected any decision that you make,” he tells as he turns to face me.
“My apologies,”
I mentally roll my eyes. He’s such a suck-up.
“Cyrus!” snaps aunt Katherine in her I’m not playing around with you voice.
“Apology accepted,” I lie with a small smirk. “And I apologize as well,” I lie even harder.
“Bull crap!” Luscious calls me out with a small smile.
His smile is menacing.
“But either way I am sorry and I value to accept your beloved but you know like I know that respect is earned,” he says before he gets up from where he’s sitting and marching towards the door.
“Oh, and yeah! I almost forget,” he says unable to help himself. “The day that you give up your crown shall be the last day that you should be called my brother and your beloved shall also lose the adopted relationship of being my sister, so I suggest that you tread lightly,”
“And what the hell is that supposed to mean,” I snap once again. This time aunt Katherine just sits there, most likely finally having enough of us.
“Take it how you want to take it,” he says and then he’s gone, leaving me all alone to deal with my aunt.
“Have you lost your everlasting mind?” she doesn’t waste a second. “Giving up your claim to the throne all because of a petty dispute,”
“Petty?” I control my monster.
“It’s nothing petty about refusing to deal with the so-called brother’s of mine who refuses to deal with the bride of my choosing,”
“But that’s just it, Cyrus. You didn’t choose to deal with Embry. Fate choose both of you to deal with one another,” she points out.
“Yes!” I agree with her.” Your right fate chose me to be paired with a woman from another species and I should protect her with my life. I shall protect her heart, body, soul, and sanity, and if that means giving up my kingdom, crown, and bond to the men that I pledge loyalty to then so be it! Embry shall always come first,” I state calmly.
“And then first she shall come,” says my aunt with a wicked smile. That smile. The smile that she tends to do when she knows something that I don’t.
We sit in silence for a little while after that.
I’m stuck in place just lost in my own thought’s and my aunt is still smiling as she quietly stares out the window. The tension inside of the room has swiftly dissolved. My monster and I are both in peace.
Finally.
“Sometimes a person doesn’t understand a situation into their placed into the same situation,” my aunt says as she walks back over to take her place sitting beside me.
“That’s not true,” I disagree. “Nicklaus beloved is a human, or at least she was a human,” I rethink my choice of words because I don’t know if Claire is a human, witch, vampire, or bear at this point. All I know is that she most certainly was a human when we first came in contact.
“I don’t know what she is,” I decide to admit, “But I do know that Claire wasn’t born a vampire and Nicklaus still doesn’t understand my pairing with Embry,”
“From what I was told, I believe differently,” says my aunt as she covers my hand with her hand. “I honestly don’t understand why the two of you are mad at each other in the first place. Both of you were just trying to protect your beloveds,”
No! I was trying to protect Embry from herself. He was trying to eliminate Embry overall. That isn’t the same thing, but I decide to leave that to myself. It’s no point in trying to explain my thoughts anyway. My aunts sweetness is a blessing and a curse because she has a bad habit of trying to find the good in every single situation.
“Either way,” I speak out. “I don’t think I will ever be able to find a way to forgive him,”
“You can and you will,” advises my aunt before placing a simple but sweet kiss on to my cheek.
She remains quiet after that as if she is lost inside of her own thoughts before she decides to get up and walk towards the door.
“It’s time for me to go,” she says. “I have quite a few last-minute events to plan. Plus, I have to schedule Embry’s appointments with the seamstress. I take it as she will remain with me while you go off to war correct?”
“Yes! Embry will remain here but I’m not going to war. I’m only going because my presence is required,”
“That’s funny, my love,” my aunt tells me with a smile. “You actually think you have a choice. War is coming, Cyrus and you and everything you hold dear will have no choice but to go to battle,”
Me and everything I hold dear? “Why do I feel like your foreshadowing?” I ask while staring into my aunt’s brilliant soft brown eyes.
“Because I am,” she says.“And I’m not just talking about the one that you’re about to face now. “Eight Kings and Eight Queens shall be the worlds happy ever after. Although, every event that shall occur will not seem to be happy after all. Either way, war is coming and you must be prepared,”
Okay, it’s official. Speck is officially banned from spending time with my aunt. Yup! I’m doing it. I’m blaming my aunt new foreshadowing gift on Speck. My aunt was never this got damn dramatic into Speck started visiting her home. So, yes! It’s Speck Fault, but even still I would be a fool not to aid her warnings.
“Oh, and Cyrus!” says my aunt as she places her hand down onto the doorknob. “No matter what happens I want you to always know that I love you,”
“Te iubesc si pe matusa ta”( I love you too, auntie)
“Te iubesc mai mult nepotul,“( I love you more nephew) she says.
And then with that, she is gone.
Now, that, that’s over. It’s time. I must say goodbye to my queen.
Although something is telling me that, that’s easier said than done and my intuition is proven correct the very moment that I make my way into the master bedroom door only to find that...
She’s packing.
Embry POV.
I still can’t believe that my mate has declared that he will give up his crown.
I was stunned.
What does that even mean? I mean, it really doesn’t matter I could care less about him no longer being a king. I’ll still love him anyway but still...
What does that really mean? How does Aunt Katherine feel about it? Will he really go through with it... I guess I will just have to wait and see.
Aunt Katherine requested for me to be excused out of the meeting between the two King’s and I couldn’t have been any more grateful.
There was way too much testosterone inside the room for me. I was even grateful to see Gutter Butter waiting for me once I left my mate’s office. He was standing by the door with this smug look on his face, knowing just how grateful I was to see him. He’s so got darn cocky.
Anyway, our walk back to the master bedroom was refreshing at the least and extremely educating. Gutter Butter informed me all about the summons and also explained to me how dangerous it will be for all in attendance, especially Claire or as Gutter and just about everybody else like’s to call her the Golden Hair Chosen.
Gutter Butter confirmed what I already knew about Cyrus having to attend even though he doesn’t want to and that’s exactly why my wolf and I decided that we’re going to because she downright refuses to allow anything to happen to Cyrus and I downright refuse to allow anything to happen to Cyrus or Claire. So, as I stated we’re going and we both know that our mate thinks otherwise.
“Toothbrush,” calls out my wolf. We’re packing.
Well, we have been packing on and off since we can up with this grand idea. Well actually, we’ve been packing every since Gutter Butter and I finally got to eat the breakfast that our mate prepared for us earlier on and I must admit that it was definitely worth the wait. It was so good.
“Check,” I call out a second later.
“Brush,”
“Check,”
“Shampoo,”
“Check,” I state while zipping up our toiletry bag, finally. Now, on to the next.
“Lingerie,” states my wolf making me laugh. Leave it to my wolf to be worried about lingerie while we’re going on a top-notch dangerous vampire mission. She’s so freaky.
“Say’s the girl who was begging our mate for more and more and more,” she reminds me as I run back into the closet. “You have a nerve,”
Yeah, I do have the nerve. The nerve to completely ignore her and act as if I don’t know what she is talking about due to my sudden case of amnesia.
“Yeah, yeah, yea-,” my wolf is cut short by the sound of our mate walking into the door.
“What are you doing, Sunshine?” he asks while taking off his leather jacket and placing it on the coat rack behind the door.
“Packing,” I say, as I begin to grab most of the comfortable items that I can find in the closet and neatly place them in the bag, which consist of sweaters, jeans, t-shirts, and cardigans. Then, suddenly the change of atmosphere dawns on me if there even will be a change.
“What’s the weather like in Romania?” I turn to ask my mate.
“Cold,” he answers my question, surprisingly. “Although, your choice of entire willn’t be comfortable as we stop in Cyprus.”
Cyprus? “What’s Cyprus?” I ask my mate.
“Cyprus is an island where most vampires considered to be the land of our ancestors due to most of our ancestors migrating there during the dark ages. The Royal family has lived there way before the Awakening,”
Hmm, would you look at that! You learned something new every day and I believe that is the first vampire fun fact that my father never told me.
“He couldn’t have,” says my mate, once again gaining my attention and obviously inside of my head. “Your father is a smart man from what I gathered but he is still a wolf and there are not too many wolves who exist who has seen Cyprus Island and lived to tell the tale,”
“Whelp! I guess we well,” mentally growls my wolf.
“Yes! You will, sunshine,” agrees out mate, still inside of our head. “But today is not that day,”
My neck turns in his direction and my wolf goes to tell him off into we actually make eye contact with him. Almost instantly, my heart aches at the sight of his gorgeous face.
He’s now currently sitting in one of the beige barrel chairs by the bay window on the far right side of our bedroom. For what seems to be, the very first time ever I can see the distress that my mate is currently experiencing. His flawless hair is all now messed up. His black designer biker jeans are hanging off his waist and his expensive black v-neck is completely wrinkled with splattered spots of blood. I can sense his frustration coming off him in waves.
His stress in my distress and I can’t bear to see him this way. Although he will never admit it, I’m one hundred percent aware that he needs me right now and of course I’m gonna give him all of me. I’m his comfort, his heart and the sense of peace to his tormented soul.
My feet move on their own accord, walking over to comfort him.
Once, there I sit directly on his lap while running my finger across his soft skin. Then, my hands come up to cup his face, and his head sinks into my skin. My actions seem to be a natural instinct as if I was born with the ability to naturally calm him.
Plus, I know that he can feel my faltering touch through our bond as my soul reaches out to his soul and soothe.
Cyrus’s soul breezes through my body as well like a cool gust of wind before he places his lips down to the crock of my neck and plant a simple kiss. Then, his nostrils flare widely against my skin as he breathes into my neck and takes a deep whiff of my scent.
At that moment, I can feel every inch of the tension inside of his body disappear into thin air and it feels as if I was all he needed. He’s calmed. Although the atmosphere around us is still grim.
“Thank you,” he breathes in while running his finger along my chin. “I needed that,”
I understand I start to say but what’s understood doesn’t have to be explained.
“I love you,” I tell him instead. It’s true. I do.
“I love you too, sunshine. He admits as I bury my face in his chest and wrap my arms around his ford strong frame. He then runs a single finger down the center of my back, making my spine feel as if it’s about to explode into a billion and one tiny piece from nothing but blissful pleasure, all because he touched me.
“And that’s exactly why you have to stay here, Sunshine. You can not go with me. My aunt believes this situation is more serious than I think and I must be prepared for anything. I won’t be at my best if I’m too busy worried about you’re safety,”
“But, I,”
“There’s no but’s,”
“But you,”
“I said there is no but,” he slightly raises his voice before he takes my breath away by covering my lips with his lips. I reach up to run my finger’s throughout his thick, yet soft mahogany brown hair and use my other hand to run it across his well built and well-framed chest.
Umm. His warm, secure, but yet soft lips feel so good against my lips. His skillful and savory tongue is still my favorite taste. He’s still my favorite flavor.
To be kissed by him means so got damn much to me. His touch alone makes me lose my ability to think. His intoxicating scent is the reason why my arousal begins to float’s inside of the air. He’s all over me with out actually being all over me and right now I could never disobey his command. My brain is to foggy and all I can think about is pleasing him.
Cyrus breaks the kiss reluctantly and a reluctant whine escapes from out of my lips. “We don’t have that much time left, I want to lay with you before I leave,”
I don’t want him to leave, especially without me but I just can’t bring myself to argue with him at the moment. He’s clearly got more than enough on his plate. I can’t bear to be the one to overfill.
I won’t be a burden.
“You could never be my burden,” Cyrus speaks the truth with his forehead pressed against mine.
“You are the sole purpose for my existence,” he expresses.
“And you’re my headache,” my wolf speaks up finally.
“Oh, is that right little wolf,” our mate raises his eyebrow. “You make my heartache,”
“And you make my heart race,” I’m the one to say as my eyes suddenly begin to water. “Please come back to me,” I say.
“In one piece,”
“That’s impossible my love because I’m leaving the other half of me here,” he tells me while staring in my eyes. “You’re the other piece of me,”
Hey lovebugs, I hope everyone enjoyed their week. You may have noticed this chapter is shorter than most.Whelp that’s because my next update shall be Sunday.
Love you all 💋