The Moon Goddess' Chosen

350 King’s Orders

Bree sat glued to her seat, wide-eyed as the story came to an end. She’d long forgotten about the venison on her plate and got engrossed in the tale of the two lovers. Once Amanda said “The End” with a sigh of relief, the girl remained frozen for a moment before blinking back to reality. She couldn’t believe what she had just heard from the two of them.

“You said forty years, but...”

“It’s a lot more than that, I know, but... I like to think of it as a shorter time. We’ve just spent so much time apart,” the woman lamented, trying to hold back the tears in her eyes. Sean held her hand and gave it a squeeze.

“It’s not over yet, you know,” he said to her.

“I... I, of all people, know that. That murderer is still out there. Until he’s been put down, our mission is not yet complete. This week we’ve had. I really needed it, you know,” the woman sighed.

“You make it sound like you’re leaving,” Bree chuckled nervously. ‘Could she be leaving though? I thought...’

The woman stood up to return her plate to the kitchen when she staggered for a moment, gripping the chair she’d been seated on so tight that her knuckles turned white. Her other hand let go of the plate she was holding and held her head, an expression of agony replacing her previously calm face, “Damn it...”

“What is it?”

“The rogue king... I’ve never heard him speak this loudly or furiously before either. Something has angered him so much. I don’t know what it is though,” the woman replied through gritted teeth. Sean rushed over to his mate and guided her back into the chair, making sure to avoid the broken shards of the ceramic utensil.

.....

“What has made him angry? What is he saying?” the prince’s voice was laced with concern for his mate’s wellbeing. Even after getting this far from the Rogue King, it seemed he could still assert some level of dominance over her.

The woman sat back in her chair and placed her head in her hands. Her face no longer showed signs of pain, but now she looked tired and there was a thin film of sweat glistening on her forehead. The communication was complete. That much was clear, but she didn’t look any happier about it either. After gathering her thoughts, she attempted to speak, “He...” Amanda paused, swallowing hard, “He has asked me to break Aidan out of captivity.”

“Who’s Aidan?” Bree asked her. Sean, on the other hand, seemed to know exactly who she was talking about.

“Aidan... is one of his beta alphas,” she responded with a hint of dread that sent chills through the little cottage in the woods.

............................

A man dressed in gentle casual clothes held the hand of a smiling jumpy boy who led him on through the market. With how fast the boy forced him to plod forward, it was getting harder to keep cautiously tapping with his walking stick ahead of him. In a delicate balance, with the man somehow never falling or matching the boy’s energy, they slowly made it through the supermarket, “Hey uncle, isn’t this one of the things on your list?”

“What is that, dear boy?” the man asked.

“A gigantic grapefruit with the insides of an apple,” the boy smirked.

“No, that’s not one of the items,” the man sighed disappointedly.

“What about this?”

“That is...?”

“Pickled peppers,”

“Also not one of them...”

“This?”

“That is...?”

“Pickled plums.”

“Try to get serious, Benji,” the man groaned, letting the boy’s name slip. They’d been shopping for groceries and making painfully slow progress. Benji who was the perfect container of boundless energy didn’t seem to be in a hurry to leave either.

He leapt from one thing to another, dragging the older man along with him. The list of groceries was a basic one and yet the boy was hellbent on making the trip hell for the man. Nonetheless, the blind man kept his cool throughout the entire trip. Once they were done shopping, they started their trip back to the small building they were renting. It wasn’t so big but did hold a first floor and a ground floor.

Once inside, the man locked the door and allowed the walking stick to clutter to the ground. He took off the sunglasses that shielded his eyes and opened the striking bright red eyes that were hidden beneath them, “You were trying to piss me off on purpose, weren’t you?” Samson chased after the boy in the house.

“Yes, I was. Come on... It was fun, admit it. You were going along with every little thing I was saying. It’s not every day that I get to bother you that much. You usually have limits to how much you can tolerate,” the boy dashed through the house, evading Samson’s attempts to capture him with ease whilst giggling in delight.

On the other hand, Samson found himself tripping over many things in a feat to capture the boy. He hadn’t thought of what he would do to the insufferable little imp when he finally caught him, but he couldn’t think of that when catching the boy alone was among the hardest things in the world. It was a punishment none of the rogues would ever want to endure. Eventually, he gave up chasing the boy. It was impossible to catch the most agile general.

“Ugh, you’re insufferable. Try not to do that again, okay? The next time, I don’t think I will be able to keep our cover,” Samson replied, straightening himself up and starting work on tidying up the home.

“Impossible. I will do it again. This is part of your training, remember? You’re the one who wanted to learn to be more patient,” Benji replied in a serious tone.

Before the man knew it, the boy was on his back. Thanks to his strength, the boy was light to him, but the speed with which Benji had gotten there still made him astounding. It was what made him one of the rogue king’s generals. His agility, along with his abnormal blood-lust...

“Get off me, Benji. Remember that I am one of the rogue king’s generals, as well, and your equal,” the man growled through gritted teeth.

“You’re one of them alright. I just don’t know why I got you for a babysitter. You barely know how to keep your blood-lust in check,” the boy sighed, leaping off the man’s back and heading up the stairs, “Try to keep your anger contain-”

Just then, the two of them staggered as the rogue king’s voice invaded their minds. They hadn’t heard from him in a while and the sudden invasion of his voice only brought exciting grins to their faces. His voice, regardless of how far it sounded, was brimming with more power than they’d ever heard it contain... it sent shivers down their spines.

The two rogues remained quiet, nearly bowing down in response to the imposing weight of power that filled their master’s voice.

When the rogue king’s message was done, Benji turned to the werewolf standing in the living room. Samson’s blood-lust had broken through and the look on his face could give anyone nightmares, “Understood, your majesty,” the man replied loudly, chuckling to himself, “Get ready, Benji. We’re going on a wolf hunt.”

The boy sighed, “You need to see a therapist, Samson.”