19. A shattered prince

The pack was in turmoil from the lost of their brave queen. Everything was halted but on the third day of their king going feral, the pack experienced the worst feeling, the detachment from their Luna.

It felt like a part of them had been torn out, most of the females cried others were passive Agressive. But the one who felt it most was Benjamin, his mate was dead. He felt his heart stop beating although it was still drumming. Tears rolled out of his red eyes , he looked up to the roof of the cage he was in and howled painfully.

He began to shift between his human form and his lycan form, as he repeatedly called out his wife's name. The pain he felt was worst than being burnt alive, it was like he was slowly dying from a knife piercing his delicate heart.

His pack members stood outside of the prison he was in with their heads lowered, lossing a mate was the worst thing to ever happen to a wolf.

Benjamin continuously slammed the wolf baned cage with his human form, regardless of how weak he felt or the crimson traces it left. He transformed and tried to use his claws but it only left scratches on the cage. He soon grew frustrated and began jamming his body causing the cage to begin to bend although he was also getting hurt in the process.

The guards overseeing him tried to come close to sedate him but he managed to stab them through the gaps between the bars.

Samuel rushed in and tried to get close to his brother but also got stabbed, it was as if he didn't recognize anyone, all he wanted to do was get out.

His claws now had the liquid resido of the wolf's bane from constant scratching of the cage making him more dangerous. The poison was in his system but the Alpha didn't care if it kills him since it tampers with the swift healing powers.

Brian entered the prison with his little feet slowly stalking towards his father as he sang."I almost called you from the depths just to know how you are doing and say that I am okay, I don't want to think about the distance, I miss you but I will be with you soon. I love you, l love you."

Benjamin looked his son's way as the song his wife sings to him everytime before she goes on one of her adventures poured out of his mouth. His shoulders slummed , he stopped trying to breakout and slowly sat as his son got close .

Brian secretly dragged the sedative injection from his uncle's hand as he passed the man. He sat close to his father and continued singing. With his little hand , he wiped away the blood mixed tears flowing out of his papa's eyes.

He waited for the right moment when his father shut his eyes to inject his neck.

Benjamin didn't struggle, he just let his son do it. He looked at the boy with half closed eyes but all he could see was his mate's cognac eyes...

Brian broke down after his father fell asleep, Samuel picked up the boy with difficulty because of the bane in him and hugged him, he was too young to be experiencing such heart burn. He took him out of the place as the guards entered the cage to give Benjamin the cure for the wolf bane .

One month later...

Moon pack was still Mourning their Luna when the news of their alpha regaining sanity hit them, it was rare for anyone to come out of the feral bond of lossing a mate.

Brian was the most estatic, he had lost alot of weight since his mother passed. He tapped his feet anxiously as he waited for his father to come out. He even had a bath, eat his meal and combed his lush brown hair and held it together in a low pigtail, as a prince should, something he hadn't done in a while.

"Papa!"little Brian exclaimed as his now slender father came out with his uncle.

"My boy!" Benjamin said weakly, he dropped on one kneel and hugged his child.

Brian told his father expectantly. "Papa, I prayed to the goddess everyday so she could free you since she took mama. I thought she didn't like me and didn't answer but here you are papa, you are well and you will take care of me and we'll be fine! " He stoked his chin like an old man as he added,"I will find a way to thank her but how do you thank a god?"

Benjamin forced a smile but his eyes carried his sadness. He stoked his son's hair. "Brian, you know papa loves you right? " He asked and Brian's brows furrowed as he nodded slowly. "You will make a great king , I am sorry, you deserve better but I..I ..I ... Can't be the father you need, I am nothing without your mother, I can't do this without her. I know you won't understand it now but if you find your soulmate you will, I am sorry..."

Brian looked at his father in confusion, his uncle left them to reunite but now something in him wanted the man to return. He watched his father kiss his forehead and it felt as if it was the last. The man pushed a wall and a secret passage was revealed, it was one of the many secrets of their pack manor. The passage lead to different parts of the house but most importantly,it can get a person out of the Manor unoticed because scent get lost behind those walls.

For a few minutes, Brian couldn't assimilate what happened until his heart began to thump violently. "Uncle!" He screamed but didn't wait for a reply before entering the secret passage his father followed.

Samuel ran into the room in time to see the wall closing and dashed in.

Outside, Brian followed his escape hole after realizing that his father used the escape tunnel meant for his mother .

Samuel came out too late, he only saw the special escape route for the queen blocked with red mountain ash barricade and same thing for the little prince.

He instructed the guards not to follow him as he shifted and ran out of the house.

Brian pursued his father who was already in his lycan form with all his might. He didn't know where the wolf was going but he didn't want to abandon him although he was growing tired.

When they got a place with a lot of greenery and mountains, he heard his father yell his mother's name. He began to rain curses on some god, calling it, weak, unfair and unjust . To his uttermost surprise, the mountain refused to let him entered when he passed a peculiar rock.

He became picnicky and began to scream his father's name as he hit the invincible barricade.

A sudden flash of light got him hiding his eyes behind his hands, then he heard a voice that got his ears bleeding. "You dare to insult a god?! You will pay with your life!" The voice said.

Brian forced himself to look at the light and got a glimpse of a shadowy figure of a nine tailed man.

As the light faded, Benjamin laid on the floor lifeless. "Papa! Papa! Papa!"Brian called .

With his last strength, Benjamin looked at his son and smiled weakly. "Finally with you, mate."he said and Brian read his lips.

A tear dropped out of Brian's eye but he wiped it away, his eyes became redder as he watched his father decompose rapidly till he became dust. <"Father is gone..."> His wolf cried.

Brian still adamant to let his tears pour , he mind linked his wolf,<"no tears, he doesn't deserve it, he Left us. ">

Origin , his wolf whimpered, his soulmate is broken.

Brian turned around with a blank face but met his uncle's gaze. The man hasten his steps and bent to hug him. This time he didn't know what to say, he had said sorry so many times,he just carried him away from there.

He didn't know what to tell the pack,he only witness his brother decomposing and he didn't want to further trumatize the boy by asking him questions.

*

All the members of Crescent pack gathered under the great Kupa tree their pack spiritual rites were performed. They were on their knees as the shaman chanted the incantation prayer for the goddess to accept their deceased alpha.

Their hearts felt heavy, it has been three days since he detached from them during this period,the pack had been attacked by Black Moon pack who somehow found out about the death of their alpha. The attacking pack's alpha wanted to conquer their pack since they had no leader to challenge him head-on.

The warriors managed to ward off the attackers but they knew they would be back. Samuel challenged the alpha of their queen's pack to a duo but the sly Alpha just smirked and told his troupes to retreat.

After the material Burial, which was burying all Benjamin's possessions, Samuel was made alpha. He led the pack on their first hunt with him as they howled into the night.

Brian watched them with the same expression he had when he last saw his father as they ran, he turned and returned to the packhouse, a different person he had become.

During his teenage age, he went on a lot of battles which wasn't necessary since he is a prince but Brian was an adrenaline junky. He joined every group in his pack, from hunter to warrior to scout, and earned the respect of all in his age group.