- The Second Prince
Damon’s POV
My gaze remained at this woman, who was my mate. My entire world shook. Her scent–lavender and honey
– still clung to my skin. She smelled like home! The one thing I never had.
I lost my home on the day my father, the Lycan King, decided I wasn’t worth loving.
I was three months old when my mother died. Apparently my birth took a toll on her health!
Three. fg. Months.
And my father? He’d looked at his infant son and seen only his wife’s killer.
My elder brother, Cassian, had learned hatred at his knee. He detested me the most.
I drawn myself in three thing- alcohol, woman and warriors.
But nothing could ease the pain my father carved in my heart.
Not the alcohol.
Not the women.
Not the fights, the blood….
Growing up in the castle of Arkendale was a curse. I was just the unfavored prince. Every step in there was at trap to eliminate me permanently. And for the worse, most of them were orchestrated by Cassian.
If not for Seraphina, my stepmother, I would have been long dead in that castle.
Seraphina wasn’t just my father’s second wife, and the lycan queen. She was also my mother’s cousin. The only one in this cursed palace who hadn’t looked at me with disdain after my mother’s death.
But everything changed a few months back, before the Solstice ball.
The lycan king was retiring. Hence he was choosing the heir. Everyone knew it would be Cassian, the golden child. But unfortunately they didn’t know I discovered the truth hidden behind the royal court for years. Things that no one should know.
My mind was still trapped in that conversation with Seraphina, her words playing on loop.
“She might be alive, Damon,”
The memory made my chest tighten painfully.
“What do you mean?” I’d demanded, my bourbon shattering on the floor.
Seraphina’s hands had trembled as she wiped spilled alcohol from her skirts. “Your mother… she wasn’t just some decorative queen. She ruled beside Theron as an equal. When she was carrying you, she went to inspect the rogue territories herself.”
A bitter laugh escaped me now as I turned down another opulent hallway. Of course she had.
I knew her only from the portraits. She was my mother, and had been brave enough to walk among rogues while heavy with a child. And what had I done? Hide in my room like a coward! I let a murderer rule for all these years!
12
Second Prince
“She was attacked,” Seraphina’s voice whispered in my memory. “But unexpectedly a group of rogues saved her. That was only the beginning.”
The irony was lost on me. The very creatures our laws condemned had protected their would–be oppressor.
“It changed her. She wanted to dig deeper, and maybe she did. I don’t have all the details,” Seraphina had continued, her aged eyes glistening. After your birth, she became obsessed with reforming rogue rights. She petitioned the court to give them a second chance…
“Let me guess,” I’d interrupted, my voice dripping with venom. “The old bastards didn’t like that idea.”
Seraphina’s nod had been grim. “It was against the belief of the royals. Some called it your father’s failure to
control his wife”
Control. As if my mother had been some unruly hound to be leashed.
“Then one day, she was just… gone.” Seraphina’s whisper had dropped lower, her eyes darting to the door. Theron claimed postpartum depression. The court was told that she’d taken her own life. But…” Her hand had gripped mine. “No one ever saw the body”
The implication had been clear.
“I was close with her. I knew her the way others didn’t. I married Theron because I had my suspicions. I tried for the last two decades but didn’t find much. Theron has tight lips. The court is bullshit. I wish I could have helped you more,” Seraphina kept going on but I didn’t stay back to listen.
My legs were moving, while my hand grabbed a jacket.
The door to Cassian’s chambers loomed ahead. I didn’t knock.
“What a pleasant surprise, little brother” Cassian didn’t even look up when I entered.
Every muscle in my body coiled tighter. I swallowed my pride as I finally uttered these words, “I need your
help.”
He had more resources and more warriors. Clearly, he could help me find her quicker.
The china cup paused halfway to his lips. “Help? Really? Are you drunk?”
“I am serious. We need to help our mother.” I finally told him.
He didn’t flinch, didn’t move. His eyes remained the same.
“Be specific. The one who died because of you? Or the one currently warming Father’s bed?” He asked.
The words hit like a blade between the ribs. What was wrong with him? My claws unsheathed with a lethal snick. “I have only one mother. And so do you.”
Cassian tutted, pouring another cup with infuriating calm. “Tea, brother? Might sober you up, and steady that
tongue.”
“This isn’t a f*****g tea party!” I slammed my fist on the table. The precision cutleries and china rattled. Liquid splashed. “She could be out there… alive.”
“Is she now?” Cassian sipped his tea.
“She could be suffering…. while that bastard who calls himself our father-” my heart raced with anticipation.
“And so the wild goose chase begins,” Cassian murmured into his cup.
12 The Second Prince
“Why aren’t you furious?” My voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. He lied to us. All these years-
“We’re Lycans, Damon. The Royals. We don’t run on emotion” Cassian replied
The words were so eerily similar to Father’s that my stomach turned. And then the realization hit me
“You knew.” I uttered.
Cassian’s mask slipped just enough, only for a second
“I’m not blind, little brother. I have more eyes in this court than you have hairs on that pretty head”
The admission should have shattered me. Instead, it lit a fire in my veins.
“And you never thought of telling me?” My growl shook the crystal chandelier overhead
“What would have changed?” Cassian finally stood, his composure cracking at last. “Would you have stormed the kingdom? Ripped apart every rogue den until you found her ghost?”
“Did you even look for her? Did you even try?” I asked.
I never knew her, but you did. Did it ever occur to you that she might need help?
Silence stretched between us. His eyes never left me.
“Who told you? Seraphina?” Cassian’s lips curled around the name like a curse. “You should stay away from that scheming bitch.”
“The b***h who kept me alive in this viper’s nest!” I retorted
“Or the one who made sure we would always be at each other’s throats!” Cassian’s control snapped “You are blind and delusional. Just a puppet. If you are not with me in this, you won’t be having the throne that easily. Mark my words,” I warned him.
Cassian gritted his teeth. He advanced, his frame crowding me against the table. “Open your eyes, Damon. She’s playing you. Just like she has played us since we were pups, since the day Mother disappeared!”
“Then I’ll be her pawn gladly.” I shoved past him. “See you at the ball, brother.”
And just like that, I challenged him for a duel before the entire royal court.
And Sailas, Seraphina’s only son and my half–brother, somehow found out I was looking for my mother and that was why I wanted to go through this entire trouble
We grew up together. Being him, he found a way to apparently save me from not sitting on the throne.
He stopped the duel between Cassian and I and insisted we go for a rogue hunt instead. A competition to eliminate rogue camps. Somehow our father agreed to this proposition:
My goal was to find my mother, and if it could be done without me ascending the throne, it was even better. We were supposed to get equal warriors and supplies for this hunt.
Predictably, he has given Cassian the best of everything. And 17 I received all the scraps.
And just like that, I was standing in the woods three months back, with my only two allies–Sailas and Aurelia, general Draven’s daughter. Seraphina insisted on her. Apparently she would make a fine luna one day. But that was the least of my worries.
I came here to look for my mother, and the last thing I ever wanted was a mate. And yet, here she stood.
12 The Second Prince
Making my heart race in ways it shouldn’t.
Stirring feelings I hadn’t allowed myself to feel in years.
Gratsiya
Hi guys!! Hope you are doing well. So Damon or Kade? Who do you like better?? Also don’t forget to #Vote! for this book!! Thanks for reading. Love you all!
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