CHAPTER 385: TO BE LOVED AND MOURNED

[TAMIKO]

"My Erasthai rejected me, your grace. I have nothing that binds me to the walls of Kawai anymore. And since I have to figure out a way to hasten my last breaths, I chose Sanjiro. I am not telling you this so you can jail me or something.

"As it is, I have embraced my omega side, which makes me the weakest of all the Lycans in Kawai at this point. An omega claimed by a traitor is always going to be a target of the rebels.

"Consider this my final service to Kawai, your grace. If you don’t have any more questions for me, excuse me while I go tell my warriors that they can go home to their families," Kosta said, his tone so respectful that he felt gutted.

But so did Tamiko.

The young prince was not sure how long he could hold on. He was as close to getting up and pacing, and it was messing with his mind. This was his last straw. His father was watching him carefully, and his uncle felt like the world was not the right place.

They had promised happiness and yet had delivered suffering into the hands of the kid they had promised to protect and love. But love wasn’t this... Whatever the fuck this was. Love didn’t ruin and they had turned both Tamiko and Kosta.

"Get the fuck out. All of you. Get out!!!" Tamiko bellowed the moment he was sure his Erasthai had stepped out of the palace. He didn’t have the strength to face anything right now.

He needed to lash out.

He needed to fight something, anything.

He needed to kill someone, and he needed to do it soon.

"My prince—"

"I will slap your fucking head off your neck if you don’t leave this room in the next second. Don’t test my patience. Get the fuck out! All of you! Get out and never come back!

"Go away! All of you!" Tamiko shouted as his shouts slowly dissolved into uncontrollable sobs.

He couldn’t take this anymore.

He couldn’t deal with the pain.

He just didn’t know what to do, and it was breaking him apart.

For ten years, he has been composed. He had a good price. He had done everything they wanted. Everything they asked of him. And now, at thirty-six, he was the shell of who he had been.

He was still a broken boy with no one to lean on.

He was ruined.

Damaged.

And he didn’t see anyone coming for him anytime soon.

"I won’t leave," Zaffuto’s voice insisted as he hugged his son tightly.

He couldn’t even remember the last time his son had cried this much. Hell, he had promised he would never let the tears make a show, and now his son was ruined, and he hadn’t done anything.

"Leave," Tamiko growled at his father.

"This is your fault. This is all your fault. I don’t want to see you, I don’t want to see anyone leave me be," Tamiko cried out against his father’s shoulder.

He couldn’t even stand anymore as he felt his knees buckling beneath him, and the king tried to steady him. His son had always been strong, and he was allowed a chance to be weak. He wouldn’t look at him differently.

"My little angel," Zaffuto said calmly.

Tamiko didn’t stop sobbing.

If anything, he was mourning.

He mourned the pain that he had caused both of them.

The pain that she had pushed toward Kosta so much that his Erasthai didn’t even want him anymore. He mourned the love that should have looked and one that he had given up selfishly, but was it selfish if he had been tricked?

He wanted to go back and turn back time, but that wouldn’t work in his favor, because the memories would stay. This was the kind of hurt that stuck for long, and Tamiko hated it.

"No. You... You don’t get to say that. I am going to find him, and if Yilena stops me, papa, I will kill her," Tamiko said, pulling away from his father harshly. He then wiped his tears, and before the king could let out another word, Tamiko was out the door.

He was going to his Kosta. The king knew that there wasn’t much he could do to stop his son. Tamiko had made his decision, and all he could do was respect his son’s wishes. That was the only way out right now.

He had to be a patient father. He had to understand, but why did it hurt that badly then?

"Should we stop him?" Danny asked when he noticed how angry Tamiko had left the king’s side. He had tried to stay as far away, but his best friend was hurting, and he wished there was more than an apology that he could offer Tamiko.

Danny was at a crossroads for that, and finally, nothing could have prepared him for the outburst. It was almost like Tamiko was back in Grealor, only that this time it was worse. Grealor had never tried to keep him away from his mate, a mate that he knew existed.

A mate he had loved and knew how he smelled. Grealor had been the devil’s source, but even Grealor had known when to draw the lines. But would Yilena understand that?

Would she see for herself that this was easily the worst possible thing that he could have done to the two Erasthais, or was this just another day for the woman to fawn over her power over Kosta and how the Lycan Chief loved her the most?

"No. Let him fight for what is his. There’s only so much we can control the storm because the tsunami comes and wipes everyone out. The levees are breaking, and not even my love will be enough to explain why this had happened to him.

"You can go back to your stations; no one will be doing anything today. And release the warriors. Tell them to go home by the order of the Lycan Chief," King Zaffuto sighed, and Danny understood him.

He wanted to say a lot more, but he was smart enough to know he was being dismissed. Perhaps in ten years, he had finally learned what it meant to be on the dark side of the Kawai palace, and boy, did he wish to see his best friend happy again.

"What is he doing?"

"Oh, my goddess."

"We are doomed."

"He’s been dormant for too long."

The whispers had started growing louder around Tamiko, and maybe he wanted them to get to Kosta, just like what Kosta had been doing had reached Tamiko’s ears. The only difference here was that Kosta hadn’t ruined anything in his wake.

He had just tried to distract himself from what was eating him inside. He had just tried to make things right for himself and had given in to the worst possible fate.

Kosta hadn’t caused a ruckus;

...but Tamiko was different.

Oh, he was very different and it is obvious in the way that he ruined everything that was in his path. His rage wilted flowers and killed the trees that were too young to fight against his aura.

And by the time he got to the Lycan Chief’s shelter, a third of Kawai was in ruins. Yet even then, the Lycans knew that this was the beginning.

"Oh, you’re so funny, lapochka."