The Furrowing Bad Liar

[NOUR]

Delbert was gone by the time the young prince woke up. He looked so tired and defeated, and he looked like shit, even though he was way better than what he had been like earlier.

However, he felt different, like there was something that had changed in his life. Maybe it was because he had healed, or maybe it was because the junior warrior had claimed him as his erasthai.

Nour knew a lot about the Lycans, thanks to Alanor and he was aware that Lycans never just called anyone their erasthai, which meant that he had found an extra person to lean on when everything went sideways.

"Wow, he really had a lot of fun tearing through me, huh?" Nour wondered as he took in the sight before him; it didn't make the blood sputters on the wall and the floor any more welcoming for him. 

That right there was the reminder of the monster he had been mated to, a man who didn't deserve him, and yet a man that Nour was determined to stay mated to, for some reason.

"Are you in there? Nour? Open up!" a familiar voice shouted at the door, bringing the young prince back to his reality. 

"Goodness, Anhora, what the fuck are you doing here?" Nour asked as he walked over to the door, only to see his friend staring at him in shock and complete silence. For a man who had been loud, Anhora sure was silent right now.

"Di… What… Did Grant do that to you?" Anhora asked the worry in his voice making a show after a long silence. The poor omega looked like he had seen a ghost that he wasn't meant to.

"Hey, snap back okay? What the hell are you doing here and why the fuck do you look like you saw the ghost of Acrod?" Nour asked loudly, in a bid to bring Anhora back to reality. 

However, his voice had garnered attention, and soon enough, there were whispers around him. He was already used to those whispers, but this time, they were different, making the young prince wonder what the hell was even going on. 

"What the hell is wrong with all of you?" Nour asked the crowd that had gathered. He hated this kind of attention, and the pity in their faces was making him want to puke his guts out.

"Who did that to you? Did Grant hurt you?" Anhora asked while the crowd continued with their murmurs.

"He looks so terrible."

"Poor thing still has an attitude when his body is that swollen."

"He is bleeding a lot, perhaps that is the price to pay for being mouthy."

"No one deserves to be hurt by their mate."

The whispers were endless and soon enough, Nour had enough of them. So, he just grabbed Anhora and pulled him into Grant's house, before slamming the door so hard, the house shook. 

Anhora was still in shock. 

Yesterday, Grant had asked Nour to come with him ever so nicely but now the young prince looked like he had endured a version of hell that even the Ruby wolf of Acrod couldn't have possibly made real. 

"Why did he do that to you?" Anhora asked frustratedly once he saw the mess that was on the walls. It was obvious that the young prince hadn't harmed himself, given Nour's scent had filled the room, in the most unpleasant of ways. 

Anhora could feel his heart sinking into his stomach with every drop of blood and every stain he could smell his friend on. This just wasn't fair and the goddess had to be the cruelest of people to make the young prince go through this.

"What?" Nour asked, confused. He was feeling okay and he was sure he looked better. However, it took him a few minutes to process the fact that Delbert may have healed him, but he had left the illusion of a broken and hurt Nour to everyone. 

The magic prevented Grant from knowing that his mate had healed and it allowed everyone in Acrod to know what the fuck Grant had done to his mate. So Nour figured he could keep the farce going, seeing as Delbert was protecting him.

"Oh… This? I'll be fine. I've experienced worse," Noru said casually, making sure to add the pain in his voice as if that was meant to trigger the omega's best friend. Of course, it worked, seeing as Anhora was losing his cool.

"Wanna help me clean up? I wouldn't want him to find my blood on his walls. I don't wish for another beating," Nour said casually, breaking Anhora's heart even more. It was a cruel sight, and it was one that Nour was sure would reach his father.

"Reject him, Nour. No one will blame you. Reject him," Anhora whispered as he looked at his best friend's swollen form. It was heartbreaking to the point that Anhora wished he was someone powerful. Maybe he could have protected his best friend.

"I can't. We omegas almost never have mates, Anhora. He is the only one I have—"

"I shouldn't have dragged you to the mating ball. Forgive me, please," Anhora said, making Nour stare at him confusedly, before realizing that his best friend was blaming himself for what had happened.

"We can never outsmart fate, Anhora."

"But we can change it, somehow," Anhora said and Nour chuckled. 

"What matters is that I'm alive. Besides, you know I always get my vengeance," Nour said and Anhora sighed. 

"Well, if you need me to kill him, I will help," Anhora said earnestly.

"He's my mate. If we kill him, I will die too, remember?" Nour said and Anhora grumbled before he went to the chicken and grabbed a few supplies to clean up the blood on the wall. 

Nour offered to help, but Anhora refused. Instead, he made Nour take a warm bath to heal his wounds.

"Take care of yourself okay?" Anhora said once he was done cleaning the blood all over. He was good at cleaning messes and Nour's were messes he had gotten so good at, so this hadn't been an issue for him.

"I will," Nour said, hugging his friend who insisted that he rest.

"If you need me—"

"I know, brother, I know," Nour said as he watched Anhora leave.

As Anhora left, Nour was certain Grant wouldn't be coming home, so he prepared himself to go on his usual missions. He had been dormant for a whole month and needed to resume operations to give Grant a hard time as the Ruby wolf. 

His preparation didn't take long because, in thirty minutes, he had shifted into the Ruby wolf, the big black and grey wolf that many feared and ran away from. 

He loved what he was seeing in Grant's mirror and a part of him hoped Grant would run into him, so he would tear the man apart and teach him a good lesson.

Well, he knew that was a stretch, but then what he hadn't expected was for Grant to come home early, much less, see him in his truest form, the wolf that had been his ultimate doom.

"No way," Grant said as she shook his head, a gesture that told Nour that the bastard had been in the brothels and the taverns drinking his life away. How sweet of him to waste himself away, right?

"Heard you were looking for me," Nour said in his Ruby wolf voice, as he penetrated Grant's mind link, making the enforcer stumble and fall. However, Nour didn't stop. Instead, he growled as he made his way towards the wolf he despised.

He could see the disbelief on Grant's face and more than anything, he could see the sheer horror on the man's face, and that made the young prince happy. He contemplated letting out a loud growl and bringing the attention to Grant's house, but it was too soon.

Nour didn't want anyone coming to Grant's aid. In fact, he wanted the man to think he was insane and drive him nuts even more. That was the one thing that Nour had been planning for years.

"What did you do to my mate?" Grant asked possessively, making Nour stop in his tracks. Surely the man who had beaten him to a pulp wasn't asking about him at the most crucial of times, no?

"You mean the one you left half-dead?" Nour asked and Grant let out a warning growl.

"Where is he?"

"If you want him back, meet me tomorrow at the riverfront. I'll tell you my demands then. If you fail to show up, the entire midlands will know of what you did to your mate. Including your little crush, Alanor Wynter."