"A silver wolf?" I asked, staring at Arlo in shock. "There was another one? Like me?"
"I'm not entirely too sure," Arlo responded. "I mean, I know the one that took down these Shards was a silver wolf, but I do not know the extent of his powers."
"Well, I can tell you," Scar-man interrupted angrily, his eyes flashing gold. "But I'm surprised that you know so much about the Shards. Not many werewolves or vampires know about them."
"And why is that?" Leon asked.
"Well, no creatures want to pass down their failures and shame to the next generation," Scar-man answered bitterly. "In fact, most of the werewolves and vamps from the past liked to keep the truth about the war a secret."
"And so as generations went by," Lucius continued. "Not only did the Shards' existence become extinct but they were talked less and less by everyone."
"As if the Shards never existed," Arlo concluded, staring at both of our captors in dismay.
"Exactly," Lucius smiled cruelly, his eyes also flashing gold for once.
"So where do you come in?" Cameron asked, regarding them with distaste. Clearly, he had no sympathy for them and couldn't care less about their problems.
"And what does the past have to do with us?" Scott demanded.
"It has everything to do with it, little wolf," Scar-man said, sounding calm again. He smirked at us but there was no humor on his face anymore.
"You don't have to tell them anything," Lucius told his father, while watching me intently. "Most of them here are a waste of space. It won't change anything if you tell them or not."
"We deserve to know why we're here," Orion said, stepping in front of me and blocking me from Lucius' view. "It's the least you can do after putting us through this hell."
"I honestly don't care what you or don't deserve," Scar-man said. "But I will indulge you with a bit of your ancestral history. Maybe then you brats will understand what you're really up against."
"But father," Lucius started, but grew silent seeing the seriousness in scar-man's eyes. His eyes look haunted and there was a lot of anger buried deep in them.
"A century ago," he began, looking dazed as he seemed like he was in another place. "I was a knight guard in the Esterbell Kingdom. Do you know what that is, Arlo?"
"Of course," Arlo replied, looking shocked. "The largest werewolf kingdom located in Paris."
"Good boy," scar-man said mockingly, turning his gaze towards the rest of us. "During that time period, serving as a knight guard to that kingdom was an honor for any creatures. Only the strongest Shards were chosen to have the honor to protect the royal family."
There was a sneer in his voice and by the way Arlo tensed his shoulders, I could tell that he noticed it as well.
"I assume you didn't take a liking to your position," Arlo stated and scar-man grinned in response.
"Oh no," he remarked lightly. "The position was not the problem. I got great rewards, money, and countless women waiting in line for me."
"Then what was the problem?" Orion curiously asked. "From what you're telling us, you been living any man's dream."
"The problem wasn't my position, boy," he said bitterly, his hands clenching to fists at his side. "No. Being a knight guard was a fine job."
"Then what the hell was th-"
"The problem was who I was guarding," scar-man interrupted, terrifying us with his scary expression.
"You had a problem with the royal family," Orion stated, looking wearily at scar-man.
"Most werewolves are naturally born with a sense of arrogance and power," he answered quietly. "But King Calister, ruler at that time of the kingdom, took his arrogance and power to a whole new level."
"You're wrong," Arlo said, glaring holes at scar-man. "King Calister was an honorable man who did great things for the werewolf society. Without him, the werewolf generation would've died a long time ago."
"Wrong," Scar-man interrupted.
"But-"
"I can assure you that the only thing that bastard king did with his power was lie, cheat, and abuse people," he responded. "There was never a time where he made a decision that was not for his own personal benefit."
"You're one to judge," Scott said sarcastically. "It's not like you and your crazy ass son are saviors of the world."
"I was once a savior," he grimly said, looking at Scott, before addressing the rest of us. "I was once a savior and protector to the royal family... until the day I met her."
"Met who?" I asked, seeing the pain in his eyes.
"It was love at first sight," he answered, giving us an intense look. "I had countless women waiting in line for me but my eyes were only set on her. Everything about her was perfection."
"But..." Trenton drawled out, sounding bored with the entire story.
"She was everything I ever wanted," he said before a dark look took over his expression. "Intelligent, beautiful, kind, and a Shard, just like me. Almost everything was perfect but as all fairy tales would go, there was one small problem."
"She already had a mate," Arlo responded flatly, clearly disgusted with scar-man.
In response he chuckled but the sound had no humor.
"Ahh, you're right, Arlo. But her mate was not just anyone," he answered, sounding vicious. "He was none other than King Calister himself."
A shocked silence went through the room as we digested all the information he threw at us.
"So what?" Scott snarled out. "You messed with another man's mate and expect him to repay you with kindness? From what I'm getting, you deserve everything you got."
"Did Calister find out?" Arlo asked, giving an intense look at Scott. The message clearly told him to keep his mouth shut. "About you and the girl, I mean."
"Oh, he found out," scar-man said, a bitter smile forming on his lips. "How could he not? My scent was all over her."
"You forced yourself upon her?" Arlo said, getting more disgusted by the second. “And you’re trying to play the victim?"
"You don't know the whole story and I don't have the time or patience to indulge you with that. All you need to know is that she loved me as much as I loved her."
"You're delusional," Scott said, putting his nose up in the air.
"And you're pushing my limit," scar-man growled back in reply. "Remember where you are boy. You are completely at our mercy."
"What happened when he found out?" I asked quietly, trying to break the tension in the room.
"Nothing much," he said, completely contradicting his answer with his next words. "He just declared a war against the Shards and got the support from both the werewolf and vampire world. Made up a little white lie that the Shards were plotting against them to take over their society."
I sucked in a breath, realizing why he held so much anger towards us.
"And the silver wolf?" Arlo asked, scrunching his eyebrows, before taking a glance at me.
"Yes, and the silver wolf," he stated, locking gazes with me. "With the silver wolf under his belt, Calister held all the cards in the war. The Shards didn't stand a chance against all of them and before long, we started to quickly dwindle down in number."
"Now you want revenge," I said, feeling partially sorry for him, but more sorry for us.
"You're correct, my dear," he said, his smile turning malicious once again. "King Calister was the reason why the Shards became nearly extinct. And now my son and I are going to do the same to you mongrels and parasites."
"That's completely insane!" Cameron shouted out, looking sick to his stomach. "What good would it do for you, if you kill us all off? "
"You forget boy," scar-man answered sounding cool and collected. "I don't have anything to lose anymore. If there is nothing left to fight for, might as well kill the things that took it away from me."
"But we're not the ones who did it to you," Leon protested. "Why do we have to pay for someone else's mistake? This all happened decades ago!"
"And now I'm ready to take my debt," scar-man replied. "My overdue debt, that is."
"And how are we a part of this?" Orion asked, dread filling his eyes. "What are you going to do to us?" I couldn't blame him for that look. I was seconds away from crying myself.
"What better way to take revenge on the wolves but by taking away the strongest packs' future leaders," he replied, before looking at Leon. "Or kidnapping the future Prince of the largest Vampire Kingdom." There was amusement in his eyes, almost as if he wanted for us to understand what was really taking place.
"Oh no," Arlo replied sounding shocked and a little bit pale. "They're going to blame each other."
"What? What do you mean?," I breathed out, terrified of his expression. Arlo looked downright spooked out.
"The packs' future leaders have gone missing and the Vampire's future prince as well," Arlo said, pressing his lips tightly together. "They're going to blame each other.”
I gasped, immediately thinking if my pack will be caught up in all this. I don't want them to get hurt. I don't want anyone to get hurt.
"There is already a lot of tension between the two creatures," Cameron said, looking pale himself. "But this no doubt will be the spark needed for them to go with war against each other."
"Beautiful plan, isn't it?" scar-man replied with a smirk. "While you six waste away in the basement, the two creatures would be busy killing each other off, all the time not knowing it was me who was pulling all the strings in the background."
"And as soon as the number of werewolves and vampires dwindle down," Lucius continued on, with victory clear in his eyes. "We strike them all down."
"And me," I asked numbly, barely able to form words in my shocked state. "What are you going to do to me?"
Scar-man regarded me intensely for a second and I felt like falling down at his feet. How did my life change so much in a matter of days?
"A long time ago, I almost lost to a silver wolf," scar-man finally replied quietly. "I will not let history repeat itself again."
Scar-man paused, giving me a long look before continuing on.
"I was going to kill you, Ariel," he said softly before looking proudly at his son, who in return smirked cruelly at me. "But I think you'll be better off alive than death. Especially now that you're my son's pet."
The last of his words were the killing blow and tears dripped down my face again. I couldn't believe it. I was completely at his mercy.
Lucius' laugh sent chills through my bones and no amount of covering I got from the other wolves and Leon, will erase the cruel sound from my mind.
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