All I Want?... Your Horse 

[NOUR]

[That Evening]

"I didn't think you'd come. Thank you, really," the werewolf prince said to Alanor who was just staring at him with a bored face, like he had better things to do than come to the damned place. He had been done with any and all businesses with king Cassius. 

If anything, after the mission he had sent his vigilantes to, in Greroth, he would be done with the whole of the midlands and even the human world. 

He would solely focus on Udrad and bring the goddamn kingdom to its knees, without even considering that he was mated to the crown prince. That was something that Alanor considered an unfortunate birthright, and he wasn't going to focus on that.

"I don't appreciate being called like this, just so you know. The only thing stopping me from breaking your neck and feeding it to the hounds, is your father, the king, alright?" Alanor said to the prince who was looking at him amusedly. 

It was almost impossible to tell what he wanted Alanor to do for him, but maybe he was hoping Alanor could reverse the effects of the magic he had used on the king then again, the king had requested that himself, on the condition that the king warned his people about the vigilantes.

 "I know. But I really needed you to help me out here," the werewolf prince said, and Alanor rolled his eyes at the man, like he wasn't really serious about summoning Alanor this early and in Acrod of all the places. 

Was he high or something? 

"To fix you up? You look worse than your father, especially for a prince he's been hiding in plain sight. 

"Are you sure your brain cells aren't fried for trying to get me here?" Alanor asked as he looked at the prince amusedly, and the smirk the werewolf prince had was instantly gone, like the young Wynter had touched a wound that was yet to heal. 

Well, it sure did work, right?

"Alright, I would stay and watch you pout, when you look like you've been thrown against the wall more times than I'm planning to do with my life, but I have things to attend to so be quick about it will you?" Alanor said to the prince who was just staring at him like he was waiting for Alanor to finish mocking him. 

Of course, he looked a little too terrible but that didn't matter to Alanor. He had gold to get from mother dearest and he needed to see whether Criselda had recognized the vigilantes or she was counting on a prayer to the goddess to see her son again. 

Maybe Alanor was cruel but these were hard choices he had to make. 

"I need you to motivate Grant and give him the morale to run the kingdom," the prince said and Alanor stopped in his tracks, and glared at the prince. What the hell was this prince taking him for? 

"So you got me out of my home, where I was busy with my plans, to come and motivate my ex, who you somehow do everything to convince your father dearest to give the throne? Are you nuts? 

"Do I look like a motivational speaker!? Dude, I can't even motivate myself. How the fuck am I supposed to motivate someone who's obsessed with me?" Alanor asked the prince who was happy.

It seemed like the tables had turned and it was Alanor's turn to suffer but wasn't he already suffering for this? Wasn't he already paying the price by having an ex-mate so obsessed with him, that the idiot was even harming the werewolf mate the goddess had given him? 

"Oh come on. You talk like it's so hard. You just gotta show up in his room, and wait him out. Then say your goodbyes and shit. That should motivate him enough, please?" Prince Cassius said and Alanor just shook his head disbelievingly. 

He knew his friend was nuts, but this level of nuts was really something else. When the hell did he even get this desperate? For a crown prince, he sure was doing great at being a wuss.

 "What do I get in return, because that's something crazy, not to mention he might make a trip to Udrad and tell Unar about us. Do you know how wild that shit would get? Do you? 

"I need more motivation too,'' Alanor said with a smirk and the prince facepalmed. What the hell was he even supposed to do with the young Wynter, when the man was stubborn as hell even at this point? 

"I'll spread the rumors once you reveal yourself as the son of house Wynter," the prince said and Alanor rolled his eyes, again. 

Of course, Alanor would need someone to make it known that he had defeated the house of Udrad and even that he was the lycans beat who had managed to bring down Udrad, but he already had more than enough plans for that. 

"I already have people to do that for me. Make a better offer," Alanor insisted as he plopped on the prince's bed, making the young prince Cass sigh. His friend was a stubborn mule and he had to think of something else. 

They had known each other for a while now, and just like the prince kept prince Cass's secret, so did the prince keep the young Wynter's secret of course he had made an odd friend, but what else was there when the world was always going to be against the two of them? 

Young Cass knew that his father hid him, not just because his mother dearest had asked of him. 

The king had heeded the promise, because he had seen a potential revolution. Soraya was a human and if anyone knew their human queen had a kid then they would flip, especially since Soraya had told Cassius not to turn her into a wolf. 

It was hectic for both of them and when she died during childbirth, everyone assumed that the human kid had died too. But Cass had survived, and he wasn't a human kid, he was a hybrid, one of his kind. 

He was an anomaly and when Alanor found him, they had trusted each other, at a time when they were just two teens trying to navigate the world in a place where they were alone yet not alone.

"I can't think of anything right now. Think of it like I'll owe you a favor, yeah?" the prince said, and Alanor still wasn't convinced that it was the right price for such a fair. 

If anything, Alanor knew that Grant would probably want him even more if he showed up in Acrod. So it wasn't easy, not to mention his mate would probably flip. Oh, but there were so many factors at play at the moment.

"You are my friend, which means you'll obviously show up for/ me, so what more could you give?" Alanor said, like he was reminding the prince that their loyalty to each other was never going to go away. 

"I'll give you my horse once everything is done and dusted on your end—"

"Deal. You should have started with that," Alanor said and the prince facepalmed. Of course, Alanor had been eyeing his horse for a while now and well the prince wasn't always willing to give up his greatest treasure. 

"I hate you."

"Always, I know," Alanor said with a knowing smile.