Chapter 448 - 448: A Strange Place In His Heart
Chapter 448 – 448: A Strange Place In His Heart
Liam's POV
He couldn't believe what was happening. The king was going on and on again about another war while they had hardly curbed the rebels who were camping just outside the borders of the kingdom. And that man William and his pack of ingrates were leeching off of the foolish humans who thought that they'd met their savior.
He remembered the first time that he met William. It was almost ten years ago when he had first come to Naopolis with his friend Isaac Ze'ev. Leaving Tadmur and the community of Nabateans that he grew up in was hard at first. But thanks to Isaac and his connections, they fared quite well in the strange yet distant land.
William was one such man that Isaac was got to know from one of his acquaintances. At first, he was surprised to find a community of wolves living so well within a kingdom ruled by a human king. But soon he got to know that their existence was hanging on a bare thread, on the agreement that the wolves join the greedy king's quest for land and power.
It didn't take him long to get used to the power play and the life of constant wars. At least they were always on the winning side, thanks to their abilities, was what William kept telling him soon after he joined the king's army. But the man, soon started to become a shadow of the greedy king, the power that he held in his hands, tempting him to attempt the inevitable- treason.
Not long after William's failed attempt at taking the throne, the king had made him, Liam, the commander-in-chief of his army. Those who followed the traitor, went on to establish their stronghold in an Island not far from the borders of the Neopolis, tempting the humans who rebelled against the greedy king towards their side, only to devour them in their effort to become stronger.
It was not that he liked the king any better than the traitor who drinks blood. The man was a curse for the kingdom. But there were thousands of innocents living within the borders, leading their happy lives thanks to the effort of the army in keeping the dangers at bay. It was them that he wanted to protect.
For some odd reason, he couldn't help but feel sorry for the humans who were left with nothing to protect them other than the empty promises made by their king who saw nothing but filling his coffers with the poor man's coins and expanding the kingdom that was at threat from all its sides.
He had hardly managed to subside the attack from the neighboring kingdom when the king had called him back to Wolfbreak. Upon his arrival, he was tasked with a mission to bring something precious back from the Hidden islands. The king himself did not know what it was. But he seemed to covet it with all of his being.
Rumors were that the Island was filled with dark magic. And the wolves on the Island thirsted for blood because of it. It was his first time hearing about witches. In all his life, Liam had only seen the elementals who were part of their community back home in Tadmur. They were beings who had the ability to bend the elements to their will and usually they used it to protect their city from the creatures of the night.
Knowing that his disobedience would only lead to innocents getting tortured, Liam had unwillingly complied with the King's orders, slipping into the Hidden Islands through the perilous waters that surrounded it with what was left of the wolves William left behind- the ones that he called his pack today. And because he was their alpha, he couldn't let them go alone.
The moment they stepped on the Island, he knew that the rumors were true. The stench that reminded him of rotting bodies clung to the place. It was with much difficulty that he had navigated through the fog-filled forest, only to lose the rest of his packmates to the reeking, thick fog.
Before he knew it, he was in front of her. That woman who was so breathtakingly beautiful that his dead, cold heart had skipped a beat for the first time in his life. There was something about the way that she kept walking through the mist, mumbling something under her breath as if she was talking to someone else when there was no one around her.
And just like that, before even getting to know her, he had fallen for her at the very first sight. When William showed up beside her, he found himself to be uncontrollably jealous. And that was when he had committed his first mistake. He had ventured too close, alerting the enemy. He had no other option than to leave and call for his pack.
Ever since that night, he kept wondering about the relationship between the two. He couldn't stop himself from thinking about the mysterious woman who had captured his heart without even giving him as much as a single glance. And that was why he had risked it that day, going to the Hidden Islands alone, hoping to see her at least once.
He yearned for her with every cell in his body. But there was something else that triggered a strange feeling inside his heart, as if he had known her all along. As if she was the one. It scared him. Hence, he had built up a wall in his heart, telling himself that she was a witch. Rumors soon reached the king's ears of a beauty that the traitor kept by his side, who was supposed to be the reason behind his rise in power.
When the king started pressing them for results, Liam had no choice but to take his pack for a sneak attack on William and his pack. The licentious king wanted the rumored beauty alive. For a second, Liam found himself wanting to tear out the throat of the fool with the crown.. But he held himself back, knowing that his feelings were unwarranted and came from a strange place in his heart that he knew so little about.