Chapter 93 : I Don’t Want Revenge
*Mila*
I kept looking between Dylan and Soren. Was this some kind of a joke? One of them was bound to make a facial expression that would reveal the truth.
They both just stared at each other with hardened expressions.
Then Dylan, or Sebastian, narrowed his eyes at Soren. His look turned vicious and he snarled.
“Who the hell are you?"
“That doesn't matter. All that matters is that I know your secret, and I'm not the only one." Soren shrugged casually, like they were having a simple chat about the weather.
“What else do you know!?"
Soren smirked coyly. “It would probably be best for you to assume that I know everything. And if I were you, I wouldn't want to leave the safety of this tunnel so quickly."
“Well, you aren't me, and we don't agree there," Sebastian hissed.
Soren sighed. “Too bad. Just because Mila and I aren't ready to pounce and kill you doesn't mean that gentleman outside won't want you dead."
Sebastian glowered but he didn't reply. I saw the wheels turning in his head. Whatever Soren was talking about, Sebastian understood it.
I, on the other hand, had no idea!
Dylan, or Sebastian, hadn't denied he was truly the king. So, did that mean the man sitting on the throne was actually Dylan? That made no sense! How was that even possible? Wouldn't someone have noticed that Sebastian changed in appearance overnight? Unless…
Unless someone had used the Blade of Souls to swap Dylan and Sebastian! Dylan, Beta and Cousin to the true king, was wearing Sebastian's body and ruling the kingdom!
The truth sank in and it was too wild for me to believe.
But who had done it? The exchange had to have happened before the artifact was scattered, and that was before my parents had been killed.
Was it Helen, or…my parents?!
If so, why? Why would they want to meddle in royal affairs? And if that was the case…Was it what triggered the destruction of our pack?
“Very well," Sebastian looked toward me with satisfaction. “I can see your wisdom on the matter. In the meantime, your little girlfriend owes me a favor."
“Wh-what?" I snapped out of my thoughts.
Thomas growled and Soren pulled me behind him.
“She doesn't owe you anything. Whatever happened fourteen years ago had nothing to do with her!"
“Hehehe. Mila Hathaway, do you want to know the legacy of your wonderful parents?"
Sebastian smirked cruelly, his eyes glinting in the low light. He completely ignored Soren, looking around him, right at me.
I really didn't want to hear what he had to say but how could I refuse? I wanted answers. I just wished they were coming from someone else.
My lower lip quivered and I sucked in a sharp breath.
“I'll take that as a yes," Sebastian said slyly. “Fourteen years ago, that witch b***h of an aunt of yours, Helen, claimed to have a vision that the young Alpha King Sebastian Crimson would bring chaos, war, and destruction to his people."
Sebastian pointed to himself and scoffed.
I thought back to what Helen said about being a seer. She'd told me she tried to stop a vision from coming true but it only made things worse. Was this what she'd been referring to?
All this time, I thought it had to do with Chandler. But this… it was much worse.
“She claimed that in her vision many packs in this world would face extinction because of my actions. That my unjustified rage would trample the kingdom with wars and hatred, that people would suffer for years. Can you believe that?"
He gave me a hard look.
I swallowed into my tight, dry throat. He didn't really seem to want an answer to his question, so I kept my mouth shut.
“One of the packs Helen said would go extinct was Pomeni pack, your parents' pack. As you can imagine, they freaked out."
I clenched my fists. My parents were hardly the type to freak out or overreact, like Sebastian implied. I realized that I couldn't take anything he said at face value.
“I'd only just become king at the time. I was young but I was trying hard to be a good king. And yet, Helen was insistent that her vision would come true. She wanted to judge me for things I hadn't done yet!"
I reached out and took Soren's hand. This wasn't a version of my aunt and parents that I wanted to think about. Even if I couldn't trust Sebastian, there was a certain amount of evidence that supported what he was saying.
“She went around whispering about her vision to other packs. She gathered several Alphas from those packs together to try and come up with a solution, to mess with my fate," Sebastian continued.
With a frustrated growl, he started pacing back and forth.
I could tell he was still in control, despite his outward display of anger.
“But, as Soren knows, to overthrow a Dark King means world war. The Dark King reigns with the blessing of the Moon Goddess herself. No one wanted to offend the Moon Goddess and risk something worse… and they didn't want a world war. Weaklings…"
I bit back my remark.
He had to be crazy! There he was trying to defend himself, saying he didn't want war and was punished for a crime he didn't commit. And yet, he called my family weaklings for taking action that would avoid a war?
It made no sense and it further convinced me I couldn't believe everything he said.
“If my sources are to be believed, and I had eyes and ears everywhere, someone in that Alpha meeting joked about if only the King's soul could be swapped. Body and appearance the same, just someone better behind the wheel."
Sebastian pointed to his own head.
“Most of the others laughed it off. But it hatched a plan for three of the people in that room."
Sebastian stopped pacing. He glared at me fiercely, fire and hatred in his eyes.
“Do you know who they were?"
I bit my lower lip and looked away from his burning eyes.
Yes, I knew. Of course I knew. It was Helen, Jessica, and Kaleb. My family. They had the Blade of Souls.
I couldn't bring myself to say it aloud and condemn them.
Sebastian let out a dry, threatening chuckle and he nodded. His voice became dark and malicious. His face twisted like some horror mask. The green light of the luminous stone made him appear inhuman.
“If you guessed your parents and aunt, then you're right, Mila," he said in a ghostly tone, like a specter from the past. “Thanks to your asshole parents and that b***h of an aunt of yours… Oh yeah, and my bastard genius of a cousin, Dylan, they exchanged my soul."
I gasped and shrank back. The way he told it made them sound vicious and evil. But I had to believe that Helen and my parents would only act for the greater good.
But was Sebastian right? Had they punished him for crimes he hadn't committed yet? How did Helen know he would, without a doubt?
Sebastian laughed bitterly. I could still feel his eyes on me and slowly, I looked up at him.
“Tell me, Mila, what did I do to deserve that? In my reign as king, I caused no wars, I brought no chaos, and they still stole my throne from me. Who did that cunt Helen think she was to determine my fate?"
I twisted my hands together. As much as I didn't want to admit it, he had a point. It wasn't right to mess with someone else's fate. But I still only had half the story. Sebastian could have been lying to me about their motives.
“Since when does a f*****g so-called prophet have the right to ruin my life and my rein because of some preconceived assumptions about me?"
I bit my tongue. It should have been easier to defend my parents and my aunt's actions, but the truth was, I didn't know if I should. How could I justify their actions when I didn't know their reasons?
“Now, since you're the last of that wretched, awful family, don't you think that you should be the one to fix their mistake?" Sebastian asked, his eyes gleaming again.
I couldn't even process his question. My mind spun in a million different directions. Were my parents really at fault? Was Helen truly capable of this? Did that mean that all the suffering I'd gone through in life, all the pain, it was the aftermath of their actions against the crown…?
Soren took my hand and squeezed gently. I met his eyes as his warmth spread into my fingers, filling me with strength and hope.
He looked at me but spoke to Sebastian, his words cold and sharp.
“You can play the victim all you want, Sebastian, but in the end, it was Jessica and Kaleb who died. It was their pack that was wiped out and Helen who went missing. And because of that, Mila suffered her whole life."
He winked at me and then turned toward Sebastian, a cold look in his eyes mirroring his voice.
“You brought war on her family and chaos to her life. Just as Helen prophesied. So, excuse me for not feeling sorry for you."
When Soren spoke, it gave me yet another perspective. We still didn't know if Sebastian was the one that had my pack wiped out. Even if it was in retaliation, it still proved what he was capable of. Something no king should ever do!
Sebastian threw his head back and laughed. He clutched his chest and shook his head at Soren. He pointed a straight, sharp finger at me.
“Don't play like you really care about her! It might have taken me a while, but I remember you now… I've seen you before! What were you even doing in the Southern Pass that day? I bet you were looking for the same thing I was, weren't you?"
I glanced at Soren but he was still looking at Sebastian. His face was still a hard, cold mask. I felt like if I touched his cheek, it would be cold as ice or stone.
Sebastian smirked and continued to laugh. “So, I was right! Hahaha. Mila… you think he came here for you? But did you know that he was only going after a special Moonstone? And you shamed me for deceiving Chandler…" he trailed off, still laughing.
Soren growled under his breath and his hand tightened around mine, almost to the point of pain.
I wasn't sure what Sebastian was talking about but if he didn't cut it out, Soren would cut his tongue out to shut him up. I could see that much on his face.
“The one thing I can't figure out is… where on earth are you from? An Alpha as powerful as you never would have stayed under the radar in my country. Not while growing up and learning their strength. Which means, you didn't grow up here…"
My heart raced faster. If Soren hadn't grown up here, where had he grown up? What was beyond Egoren? He'd mentioned his home was far away before but… how far exactly?
“None of my intel knew about you from before… the incident. It was as if you came out of nowhere. Poof! Let me guess, you're not even from this world, are you?"
“What?" I gasped.
I clamped my free hand over my mouth and looked at Soren, trying to find some truth there. How could he not be from this world? Were there really other worlds out there?
Blood rushed in my ears.
It didn't matter to me what Sebastian said in regards to Soren being after some special stone or the artifact. If he wanted the artifact, he could have it. I'd already told him that much and I would gladly give it to him. I trusted him to use it correctly.
He'd told me he loved me, multiple times, and I knew those were words he hadn't uttered to anyone in a long, long time. I knew in my heart of hearts that he meant it and Sebastian wasn't going to shake me that way.
But another world?
He'd told me he missed his home once.
Did that mean if he had the chance, he'd leave this world and go back? Would I be able to go with him? Would he even ask?
Chuckling, Sebastian opened his twisted lips to keep speaking.
“Thomas," Soren said quickly.
Growling, Thomas pounced on Sebastian.
Soren let go of my hand and rushed at him too.
Together they held him down. He struggled and groaned but the earlier fighting must have weakened him and I could tell that Soren was a much, much stronger Alpha than he'd been letting on.
Soren looked at me with a somber expression.
Sebastian laughed maniacally, his eyes crazy and darting around.
“What, can't handle the fact that I called you out? Now you're going to kill me? You want to kill the real king of Egoren? Mila, don't you see his true colors? He's been lying to you, using you!"
I scoffed. “What makes you think I'd believe anything you have to say?"
Soren smirked and I saw a wave of relief in his eyes. He nodded to me and glared down at Sebastian.
“Mila, how many cuts did he give you?" he asked gently.
He licked his lips like he was about to bite Sebastian the same amount of times that he cut me.
I shook my head. “Don't…"
I put a hand on my stomach and sighed heavily, leaning against the wall. Now that I learned what Sebastian knew about my family, crushing fatigue came down on me. I was so tired of searching for answers and fighting for the artifact.
I was physically and mentally drained.
“Soren, don't. I… I don't want revenge anymore. I don't want to hear anything else he has to say. I don't want to see him ever again but… spare his life. Let's just… never talk about him or anything to do with him ever again."
Soren creased his brow slightly and I held a hand out to him.
“I just want to spend some time with you, quietly, peacefully," I said.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder
Yeah sorry full of crap clichés skipping chapters...
Really oh fn....off another weak heroine roll, her pack hated her, she was abused, why would she do this .... pfghhj off at another cliche novel. .... Nope...