Chapter 267: _Unravelling Of The Skeletons In His Closet
"You dare attack me?!" Alpha King Balthazar roared from the TV as I, in my wolf, tore through the place like a natural disaster.
At first, he tried putting up a fight in the clip, and people began commenting around the plaza on who they thought would win, some not recognising that the "beast" was me in my wolf form.
"This must be a video showing the hidden battles late Alpha King Balthazar fought for us." A woman chirped from a corner to her friend.
"But then who was he talking to at the beginning of the clip? What is even going on?"
"That beast looks like another wolf if you’re able to follow the frames accurately." A man said.
"Are we sure this isn’t AI?"
My eyes twitched as Odessa’s grip on my hand tightened beside me.
"Kaelos... I..."
Before she could finish that, the scene that I had been both anticipating and hoping not to see flashed through the scene.
It was first a flash of red light and then a growl... But when it all cleared off what remained was a bloody scene. The throne room was a mess with rubble and dust.
Blood painted the walls and pillars.
When I saw that blood, my memories flashed with the feeling of blood dripping down my claws. Warm blood... from my father.
And lying on his throne was the great Alpha King Balthazar, his once fierce silver eyes now lifeless orbs and a huge bloody hole with his organs sticking out blown through where his chest was supposed to be.
"Ahhh!" A little girl in the mall’s crowd screamed, causing my stomach to turn.
How many little children watching this all around the world were screaming?
"T–That beast..." A man yelled, pointing at the large TV screen at the centre of the plaza.
"It’s the Alpha King! Alpha king Kaelos!" A woman screamed beside me, stepping away and shielding her child from me.
On the screen, standing in front of my late father’s freshly dead body was the beast who killed him:
I, in my full wolf transformation.
My furry chest heaved heavily in the clip, my gaze fixed on my father’s body.
The camera was shaking at this point and everyone could hear the terrified breathing of the woman who took the video, Madame Greyheart.
I could feel all eyes turning to me as people began recognising the "beast", some whispering with judgemental looks and terror already.
Anyone in this pack would be able to put the pieces together. After all, how many Alpha Kings on the planet could transform into a bipedal wolf with dark red fur?
I glanced slowly at Odessa and felt my heart squeeze.
Her eyes were wide open with terror, her lips parted as she stared at the screen. She shook her head slowly while batting her eyelids, trying to compose herself.
"O–Odessa..." I whispered but she shivered, slowly withdrawing her hand from mine and staring at me like I had grown two heads.
Meanwhile, the clip on the screen finally ended with the beast, me, growling violently before tearing through some guards who dared attack me, my red eyes glinting through the dimly lit throne room as I charged toward the camera.
And just when I was a few meters away... The clip flickered into static.
"Y–You killed your father..." Odessa stuttered with disbelief, her teary eyes still fixed on me. "How do I... Why did you... Kaelos..."
I could feel all the complicated emotions swirling through her, and I felt like holding her. I felt like making her look me in the eyes and assuring her that it wasn’t what it looked like.
But the clip had been broadcast for the world to see. Regardless of my excuse, they will now see me as a monster who murdered his father.
’The bastard was about to slash you on the face all in the name of discipline!’ Damon growled in my head with agitation. ’What were you supposed to do? Stand there like a wussy and take it?’
I clenched my jaw, lowering my head. ’I shouldn’t have shifted into you. I didn’t mean to kill him.’
’Well, too bad. The guy was a menace anyway and needed to go. Have you forgotten the atrocious things he sent us to do during the heat of the war? What he sent YOU, a teenage boy, to do?’ Damon spoke with disdain.
I glanced around and noticed the murmuring and glances of the people standing around us increasing. Some drew out their phones to record me while many backed away with fear in their eyes.
We need to head back to the mansion and work on damage control...
"Come on..." I held Odessa’s hand, staring at her hesitantly when I saw the confused expression on her face.
She gawked at me, as if questioning everything. Like she was questioning... Us.
That was the biggest blow to my gut, as anger and disappointment simmered within me.
She’s my mate.
She’s supposed to be by my side regardless of what storm comes our way.
’Not when the storm is televised patricide...’ Damon muttered but I ignored him as I pulled up the hood of the pink hoodie I wore while pulling Odessa with me.
"Sir?" Caroline called back behind us, forcing me to glance back at her. "I’ll be back with the bags. I need to go pay the cashier first."
I simply nodded at her before I continued walking through the sea of judgment from the crowd in the mall, all of them giving way not out of respect.
But with fear and silent judgment.
This was only the beginning...
.
.
"Can you explain what the hell I just watched?" Odessa snapped with a shaky voice the minute we stepped into my room, pulling her hand out of my grip and turning around to face me. "Because it looked like you killed your father. Your father, Kaelos."
I ground my jaw, my hands balling into fists as I stepped away from the bedroom door. "Yes, Odessa. My father, Balthazar Bloodoak. Are we pointing out the obvious now? Do you want to judge me now?"
She frowned, her lips parting for a few seconds before she flung her arms into the air. "Judge you? Kaelos, I want to understand why you kept such a thing from me all this time if we’re supposed to be moving forward. Why—"
"Who the fuck would want to admit to murdering their own father, Odessa? Who?!" I interrupted, shaking my head as I took a few steps closer. "This has been one of my best-kept secrets. One that I know the repercussions from the world if it leaks out."
Her eyes softened, her lips parting and closing repeatedly like she wanted to say something but didn’t know how to.
She was silent in the mind link as well.
Closed off.
How did a simple shopping date turn into an unravelling of the skeletons in my fucking closet?
"You... You said it’s been ’one’ of your best-kept secrets..." Odessa muttered just then, her footsteps silent but heavy with tension on the marble floor as she walked closer. "Does that... Does that mean there’s more you aren’t telling me, Kaelos?"
My eyebrows furrowed, my lips trembling with frustration but before I could answer, a knock sounded on my bedroom door.
"I’m sorry to disturb you, my Lord... But the elders of the pack and the African, Australian and European Alpha Kings want to speak to you. The last three are requesting an urgent video call." Layla’s voice managed to sound calm behind the door.
But I clicked my tongue when I heard all that.
The reckoning had already begun.