章節 10: A Prince and A Brother
Winston and Emilia both feel their jaws drop at their father's words. "A Prince?!" They ask in unison. "Haha, it's alright Alpha Snow. After all, to him I'm just an unknown male who happened to show up out of thin air." The prince laughs. "How rude of me. Winston, meet Dietrich, the prince of the Northern packs. Dietrich, this is my second oldest son Winston. He's normally the calm one but it appears he's feeling a bit on edge due to the current state of his younger brother." Sam says while purposely skipping Emilia in the introductions.
"Hmm, nice to meet you Winston. Though that scowl on your face tells me the feeling isn't mutual." Dietrich says while laughing. "Yeah, sorry. I don't feel like it's nice to meet you, the man who was making a move on my sister and ruined her birthday party." Winston growls. Sam's eyes widen at Winston's words and the few missing pieces of the story are finally falling into place.
Emilia stays silent during the exchange but makes her presence known as she steps between her brother and the prince. "How about we all just focus on the urgent matter right now. You know, our little brother who just got attacked by two giant bears? In case y'all have forgotten, he's in bad condition and lying on a bed on the other side of that door right there." She points out while pushing Winston back into his seat.
"You're right, I apologize for that. I'll leave you to it. Alpha Snow, when you have things taken care of here, let's have a little chat in your study. Alright?" Dietrich says. Though it was phrased like a simple invitation to catch up, Sam and Cedric knew very well that it was an inescapable demand.
Emilia tilts her head in confusion at everyone's morbid expressions. "Guys, Larissa said that Tim will be fine. Try to relax." She says, unaware. Winston nods, "yeah guys… Tim is fine. Everything is fine. Let's all try to relax, shall we? Besides, if we keep looking like this when Tim wakes up then he will think someone died." Winston says ironically.
The family waits impatiently for news of Timothy's condition. Emilia continues replaying everything that has happened in the last twenty-four hours in her mind while pacing. Winston chews the inside of his cheek while taking occasional peeks into his father's direction, wanting to ask so many questions but refraining til the time is right. Cedric simply plays video games on his phone in an attempt to avoid being questioned by his eager brother. And Sam simply sits in silence, seemingly calm on the outside despite being panic-stricken on the inside.
Finally, Doctor Larissa enters the waiting room and approaches the family members with a bright smile upon her face. "He's alright. The blood loss was minimal despite the outward appearance and he was easily stitched up. However, he won't be able to do any heavy exercising or lifting until those stitches have healed up. And by no means will any of you allow him to shift without my direct permission, got it?" She says to the entire group but gives Cedric a suspicious glare.
"Yeah yeah, I get it." Cedric says dismissively. Emilia smacks him on the back of his head. "Be polite. Doc, can I go see him please?" Emilia asks hopefully. The doctor nods and Emilia zooms through the doors to her younger brother's bedside. Sam and Cedric exchange a mysterious glance and then each of them grabs one of Winston's arms.
"What the? Hey, where are we going?! I want to stay with Tim and Em." Winston protests. Sam flicks his son's forehead. "You have questions, right? Well if you follow quietly then you'll get all the answers you need. Now come on, we shouldn't make royalty wait too long." Sam says with an annoyed huff.
The three men make their way back to their house and into the study where Prince Dietrich was calmly waiting for them. The moment the door was shut, Dietrich pins Sam against the wall. Winston debates jumping to his father's defense but Cedric stops him. "Wait." Ced whispers.
"Haha… what a kind greeting you're giving me, your highness." Sam wheezes, barely getting enough air to his lungs to speak. "Cut the bullshit, Sam. Answer me now, what is that girl doing here?! Why is the missing princess from the Southern packs appearing here of all places? Surely you know that we have just signed a treaty with them, yes? What do you think they're going to do when they find out that one of my packs has been hiding their lost child all these years?!" Dietrich snarls, spitting in Sam's face.
Winston's eyes grow wide. He had known that Emilia wasn't actually his biological sister nor was she from their pack. It was as obvious as her silver eyes and raven colored hair. But to think… Emilia is not only royalty but also from a rival family… Winston stares wide-eyed at his oldest brother as if to ask, 'did you know?' Cedric simply shrugs in response to his brother's silent question.
"W-well… you see… we were planning to return her eventually b-but… now she's part of this family." Sam stutters out. Dietrich growls and releases his grip on Sam's throat. "Let me get this right… you took it upon yourself to not only kidnap the princess of our ally but you also allowed my mate to live in this tiny pack… and now dare to say you're attached to her?" Dietrich asks with hostility and disbelief dripping in his voice like the venom of an angered cobra.
"Mate?!" Winston shouts unintentionally. "Yes, pup. My mate. Why else would I show up here without notice? You think I enjoy randomly barging into another's territory unannounced? Ah, now that I think about it… aren't you the one who not only sucker punched me but also led one of my pack mates to their death last night?" Dietrich accuses the smaller male while turning his deadly anger toward him. "Uh… well." Winston starts.
"Wait… you're Em's mate?" Asks a hesitant voice from the doorway. All eyes turn to a very pale looking Jak. "Yes. And you are?" Dietrich asks suspiciously. "He's her boyfriend." Cedric says with an amused chuckle. Jak backs away warily. "Uh, well, yeah… I am." He says in an uncertain manner.
Winston lifts an eyebrow at Jak's response, curious as to why it seemed like the younger male wasn't too keen to admit to his relationship. Dietrich feigns a stalk toward Jak and snorts in amusement as he watches the smaller male turn tail and retreat. "Yeah, some boyfriend." He says mockingly.
Dietrich sighs and sits in Sam's chair, helping himself to a glass of scotch. "Alright, the solution is simple then. I'll be taking my mate with me back to the Southern territories. I'll return the lost princess to her REAL family and say that you guys happened to stumble upon her while she was being dragged off by rogues. Unaware of her true identity, you took her in and raised her as your own. You started to grow suspicious of her true origins as she got older and turned her into me. Coincidentally, we found out that she and I are mates. Then the treaty goes through and the royal families will be allied through marriage. Everyone will be happy then." He says nonchalantly while emphasizing the word 'real' to make a point.
"Uh, no they won't. We won't be happy. Neither will Emi, you're talking about taking her away from her family. The family who raised her and she created bonds with." Winston argues. "Exactly. The family who kidnapped her from her biological parents and raised her without telling her the truth. I'm taking her away from those people. How do you think she's going to feel when she finds out the truth? You think she will still see you as her loving brothers? And what's worse, you knew that she wasn't part of this family. Did you ever take even a single moment to question whether or not you should tell her the truth? Ever wondered how she felt growing up? Royals are faster, stronger, and more agile than normal werewolves. You don't think she ever felt like an outcast? Or were your selfish desires too great to even care about how she must've been feeling this whole time? Twenty years of lies from people who call themselves her family and claim they have bonds with her." Dietrich scoffs.
Winston goes silent as he realizes that the prince was right. He never once even considered how Emilia might have been feeling while growing up in a family that was the polar opposite of her. He only ever thought about keeping her hidden from the world. Making sure that nobody outside the pack could get even a hint of her appearance. He was selfish… they all were.
Dietrich yawns and leans back in his seat, taking a sip of the cold scotch as he allows his body to relax. He was certain that he was victorious, as always. On the inside he was still a bit worried that his mate might not accept the truth. But he played it off like he was confident so that nobody would think of him as weak. That's the way of royalty after all, never let anyone see anything that could be used against you. Though Dietrich had never actually had a weakness before, the moment he saw his mate's beautiful silver eyes sparkling with concern in the pack's clinic and the foreign feeling that it stirred within him, he knew Emilia was the weakness that everyone had been searching for.
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