Sometimes Duty Was The Death of Love

[GRANT]

"Yes sire, he is in the palace," Delbert responded as he looked at Grant. 

The Lycan warrior still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that this man was the same man who hurt his Erasthai. He had this great desire to fuck up Grant and if it wasn't for the hound with him, Delbert would have probably done it. 

The fact that he had seen Nour break apart in the past six weeks was making him want to ask Alanor for tips on how to smash Grant because this man was an asshole. Oh, how Delbert had so much to do to Grant. 

He may not have had the chance to do it at the moment, but with his erasthai gearing up to revive the Ruby wolf persona again, Delbert swore he would do whatever it took to make sure that Grant never had a night of sleep. 

Until then, he had to wait until they were done with the Alanor issue. Delbert knew his twin, and he could feel Alanor in Udrad, but he couldn't tell that to these three, because they needed to figure it all out on their own. 

His bond with his brother was one that would remain secret for as long as Alanor didn't have his vengeance yet. He would show up, if Alanor was in danger but until then, he would be the junior warrior to an enforcer he already had a blade for.

"Are you okay, warrior? You look pale," Ulrike said when he noticed how pale the enforcer had gotten. It was like the warrior was a few seconds close to snapping, but then he was holding himself back. 

"Yeah, yeah. My bad. Please, the king is in the palace," Delbert said to the enforcer, and Grant just nodded, before he and Ulrike saddled to the palace. 

Acrod had been lively as usual and Grant could tell that none of these people knew of the rogues attacking the vampires. Sometimes it really helped to stay within the castle walls, because then they would be safer from the dangers lurking outside of Acrod.

When they got to the palace, it was like the king was already expecting both of them, because the moment they stepped into the palace, the warriors at the doors left their stations, to allow the king some privacy with his guest and warrior.

"I see you were expecting us," Ulrike said to Cassius who just nodded knowingly given that he was in communication with his enforcer.

"The rogues are becoming a nuisance and I figured it was just a matter of time before you came back to seek help for Zelina. It is still a risky situation out there and the ferals would attack my home.

"You and I know better what happens when the ferals interact with normal wolves. It's too much of a risk, and I can't help it. You guys can kill them, I have liquid silver in gallons, and I am more than willing to give it to you.

"It will slow down the rogues and give you guys the chance at winning. That is all I can do, besides there are high chances that your mate will come for my people. I don't want that, none of us want that," King Cassius said, and Ulrike just sighed.

Of course, he hadn't been expecting King Cassius to give him wolves to help in the war, because that would be considered a war between the wolves, and no one wanted that. The rogues hadn't attacked Acrod and Cassius didn't have a reason to go after them anyway.

Ulrike looked at King Cassius and frankly, he understood the guy. Zelina was dangerous when she was pissed and the fact that her children were in danger, made her a lethal weapon, and Cassius needed to be ready for when she came to attack.

"I know, I expected that. Anyway, I only want one warrior from your end. I have come to officially seek Grant to help me in my mission. We could use him as a warrior in the field since he has some good skills that could help us.

"I'm not asking for your whole army, Cassius—" Ulrike tried to argue out and the werewolf king interrupted him, letting out an exaggerated sigh. What Ulrike was asking for was greater than half of Acrod and he knew it.

"I know Ulrike, because you're asking for my enforcer and best warrior, who serves almost like my beta. You and I both know that he's worth half an army of wolves, Ulrike," Cassus said and Ulrike just nodded, like it was the simplest thing he could ask for for a king.

Grant looked at Ulrike wondering why he had to officially come and ask for Grant, when the king had released him to come with the hound earlier on. But then a little more thoughts later, and the Acrod enforcer knew that the king valued him.

If the king was to let him go into war, then he would be representing Acrod.

Ulrike didn't want to put Grant in a position where it would be easier for King Cassius to cast him out, if the mission went wrong. They were at war for Alanor and so much could go sideways. The least they could do at the moment was to just hope that all of this would be worth it.

"I know, I didn't want to ask for half your army, because that would be putting you in a tight spot, so I asked for just one," Ulrike said as he looked at Cassius impatiently.

The werewolf king could tell that time was of the essence to this pair and if they had come to seek official release, then it only meant that whatever Grant and Ulrike would be doing out there, would probably include the murdering of the ferals or even crossing the limits of humanity.

Ulrike was smart for this, and King Cassius knew it too.

"Do you want to go with him, Grant? If you don't, he can always pick another warrior," Cassius said to his royal enforcer, trying to remind Grant that he actually had a choice.

He could choose to ditch Ulrike and stay home, where it was safe, but then that would leave him curious about how things would turn out beyond Acrod. Or he would agree, and go have all the toxic fun with Ulrike.

It wasn't a lot to be proud of, but it was certainly an experience to look forward to.

"Yes, my king. If you would allow me, I would love to go with the hound leader," Grant responded respectfully before adding;

"As for my responsibilities as the enforcer, the warrior Delbert is well versed, since I trained him, not to mention my mate, Nour, is also well versed with the training. Both of them can handle the warriors until I come back, or if I come back."

Ulrike looked at Grant, when the enforcer said if he came back. He wondered what was going on in the warrior's head and for a moment, Ulrike felt like Grant had a grasp of what was happening, a little too much.

Ulrike knew they are going to a war that could end with all of them being dead, and he was ready for that, but hearing Grant admit to it, made him feel sad for the enforcer, and for a moment he wanted to retract his request and let Grant be with his mate, Nour.

They hadn't known themselves for long and here they were, being separated by a war that shouldn't have happened in the first place, but then nature was a bitch.

"Alright then, be careful out there, Grant. And Ulrike, bring me back my warrior, if you must," Cassius said, and Grant just nodded.

"Thank you, Cassius. We'll take our leave now," Ulrike said to the wolf king, and they walked out of the throne room. It was a huge place and Grant wondered if he would ever come to this palace again.

Grant was slowly learning what Alanor meant by the dangerous paths in his life, and now that he was treading them too, he wasn't sure if he would have been able to live with himself if he heard each time that Alanor was in danger. He would have probably gone insane faster than anyone else.

"This should be fun," Grant said excitedly and Ulrike just smiled at him. He was excited for now, but once they faced the threats out there, there was no telling whether it would be fun anymore.

"Probably," Ulrike said, at the same time someone spoke.

"So you were just going to leave without saying goodbye?"

"Nour?"