Page 20 of Abel

A brown-haired lady, who smelled of spices and powdered sugar, opened the door and cocked her head.“Yes?”

“I need to see Esme.”She started to open her mouth, but he cut her off, “This isn’t a negotiation, let me in.”

Esme called to the woman, “It’s okay, let him in.”

The maid gave a bow and opened the door.As Abel entered, the ten other women in the room fled into the bathroom.Esme sat in front of a mirror fixing her hair.The flowers braided into her blonde locks made him almost sigh at her beauty.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Abel cleared his throat.“How are you doing?”

“Well,” Esme stared at him through the mirror.“I should be dead tonight from my sadist husband torturing me.So I’d say I’m as good as I can be.You?”

“About the same.”

“Why are you here?”She questioned.

He wanted to tell her what he was about to do, but telling her would mean she’d be seen as an accomplice.“I just wanted to tell you, you look beautiful, that’s all.”

She brushed off his compliment.“Have you seen Nyc?I need him to be here by my side.”

“Haven’t seen him since this morning.”He could tell by the pinched look on her face that she was starting to get irritated by his presence.Abel held up his hands in front of him and took a step back.

Abel’s eyes darted around the room, searching for a reason to stay.“If I see him, I’ll tell him,” he muttered, hoping that would soften her.

But she wasn’t satisfied.She glared at Abel, her hands clenched tightly into fists.“Thanks.Goodbye, Abel.”

He opened his mouth to speak again, but Esme cut him off with a cold stare.“Esme, I—”

“Good.Bye.Abel.”Her voice was firm but icy.Each word came with a warning, and it wasn’t a warning he wanted to test.He nodded and shut the door behind him.

* * *

The heavy woodendoors creaked open as Abel stepped into the grand hall, his heart pounding in his chest like a relentless drum.One quick glance into the wedding chamber already gave off an atmosphere of dense anticipation and unease, an undercurrent of fear snaked through the crowd.He could almost taste the air of trepidation that hung over the assembled wolves, but he knew there was no turning back now.

Abel made his way to the antechamber reserved for the groom.He didn’t bother to knock, niceties have no place in war.Pushing the door open, Remus turned to glare at him, and Abel kicked the door shut.

“Ah, Abel,” Remus sneered from the front of the hall, his sinister smile revealing razor-sharp canines.He stood tall and imposing, his muscular frame adorned with intricate tattoos and symbols of power.“Have you come to wish me and my bride well?”

“There won’t be a wedding, you and I both know only one of us will see that altar.”

Remus let out a sharp laugh.“You think you’re going to marry her?Does she know that?I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t want you doing anything to provoke a war.The king is too frail to endure a battle.”

“What makes you think there will be a war if you’re not here to lead your pack?”

“Look, kid, this isn’t the underworld.Your brother can’t just stride in here to murder and intimidate your family’s way to power.You’d have to fight for it yourself, and I don’t think you have the stomach for it.”

Abel growled and bared his teeth.The air crackled with tension as Remus circled around the nearby table, their eyes locked in a dance of calculations and deceit.Time seemed to slow, the chamber went eerily silent, save for the ragged breaths of the two wolves

“If you’re gonna do something about it, then do it.”Remus taunted, his voice dripping with malice.“Or are you just as pathetic as I thought you were?”

“You’re wrong, you know?Murder didn’t come naturally for my brother.He was a farmer, he grew life.Murder broke him.”Abel snarled.

“And your point is what?”

“I’ve never had the same problem.”As much as he might have wanted to draw this fight out and make Remus suffer, Abel wanted to be at Esme’s side more.The wolf inside himself shimmered into a state between life and death fast enough that Remus never saw him move.In a flash, Abel materializing behind Remus, Abel’s wolf surged forward.His giant maw sank his teeth into the man’s neck.The moment he pierced the skin, he’d bitten down hard enough to break Remus’s spine.He wasn’t going anywhere,and he wasn’t shifting into his wolf form, either.

The wolf snarled and shook its head, adjusting his bite until Remus lay limp on the floor, his head barely holding on by a few pieces of flesh.Shifting back into his human form, Abel stepped on the body and grabbed Remus by the hair, yanking the head clean off the corpse.

“I’m used to slaughtering animals, asshole.”

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