Bloodbound to the Beastly King

Thorne's footsteps echoed in the hallway as he walked towards his office with Caelum and Mason behind him.

He rubbed a hand over his face tiredly. "What's the situation?"

Caelum shared a look with Mason as Thorne paused outside his office, pulling the door open.

"A man went missing a week ago. But we found him," Caelum began.

Thorne glanced at him, brows raised. "And?"

Caelum stepped closer, shaking his head. "He was dead when we found him, but that's not the point, my king. His case is highly similar to the late Lord Varrick."

At this, Thorne frowned. "Lord Varrick?"

Caelum nodded. "Yes, Your Majesty. His case is highly similar to the lord's. He was missing for a couple of days and found exactly the same way we did Lord Varrick."

"Was his insides gutted out?" Thorne asked.

Caelum nodded curtly. "He was drained, My King. Exactly like Lord Varrick was drained," he replied.

Thorne nodded, running his hands through his hair. He walked towards the window, gaze flickering over the land. Behind him, Caelum and Mason shared a look again. Thorne turned around. "Was the said man amongst those who have been missing for the past months?" he asked.

Caelum shook his head. "I'm afraid he wasn't a part. This is a new thing."

"It's not new if it's happened before. I stayed too long on Varrick's case, and now whatever is doing this has now grabbed another of my people."

"Tell me, apart from both their insides being drained, what else is similar between both cases?" he asked.

Caelum paused, reanalyzing it in his head. "The marks… They were the same on the man as Lord Varrick's. Also, the man's face was untouched. He was torn from limb to limb and drained."

Thorne nodded. "So it's the exact same thing. There's no difference."

"Yes, my king."

"The man, what position did he hold? Is he an alpha? A noble?"

"None of the above, Your Majesty. He was a merchant. He was involved in golds."

"Was he the owner? The one who called the shots?" Thorne asked.

"I believe so…" Caelum's eyes narrowed. "Do you think whatever this is only goes for men in high-ranking positions?" he asked.

Mason shook his head. "Being a merchant who deals in golds isn't a high-ranking position. I don't think that's it," the gamma said.

"Any connection between Varrick and the said man? By the way, what's his name?" Thorne asked.

"Timothy, and no, Your Majesty. I looked into it, but there's no relation between the two."

Thorne folded his arms against his chest, jaw clenched hard. What could be the connection?

"What if there isn't a connection?" Mason piped up. The other two men looked at him.

"What do you mean?" Caelum asked.

"I don't think the connection is between Lord Varrick and Man Timothy. I think there's something we are missing here," the gamma replied.

"Yes. What we are missing is what is doing this. From what we've deduced, not even wild rogues would do this. Rebels are too busy with their cult of worshipping Khaos to do this. Besides, the marks on their bodies show that a wolf didn't do this," Caelum replied.

"So, what thing is this?"

"Caelum," Thorne finally spoke, and the two went silent. "Yes, Your Majesty."

"If a wolf didn't do this, then it's some beast we don't know about." The gamma and the beta shared a look, yet again.

"I want to know everything there is to know about this Timothy man. Who he is, what other job he does aside from being a gold merchant. His family, how many pups does he have. Does he have any relations to a noble or the councilmen. What connections does he have. I want to know everything about this man."

Caelum straightened, giving a sharp nod. "As you order, Your Majesty."

"And…" Thorne continued, "The guard… the one who saw Radek that night. Bring him to me."

Caelum's eyes narrowed. "The guard?"

Thorne nodded. "Yes, the guard. Bring him to me this instant."

Caelum nodded again. "Of course, Your Majesty. Please excuse me." He replied, bowing then stepped out.

______

Caelum hurried out of the office, with one thing in mind. Finding the guard. He walked towards the warriors' quarters, barely replying to the greetings he got on the way. It had been a while since he came to the warriors' quarters.

After everything that's happened, he's barely even had the time to train the warriors.

He got into the quarters, and as usual, there were quite a number of guards outside sparring in their free time and some resting. It wasn't an unusual sight.

They all stopped the second they saw him, all staying in a row and bowed. "Beta."

They greeted in unison.

Caelum's gaze flickered over them all, nodding. "I trust you all have been well in my absence and the king's," he said, his voice ringing out.

"Yes, Beta! All thanks to His Majesty's mercy," they said in unison again.

Caelum nodded again, eyes searching around for the guard to no avail. He tried to jog his memory to remember his name, but it was of no use.

"Where is Guard Renan?" he asked.

The men looked between themselves. "He should be in his room, Beta. Shall I call him?"

"Do that."

Barely two minutes later, Guard Renan came running out, sweaty. Caelum's eyes narrowed at the sight. The other men snickered at the sight. "Were you sparring in your room, Renan?" Caelum asked.

"N-no, Beta," Renan stammered.

In his peripheral vision, Caelum saw a maid sneaking out of the premises and rolled his eyes internally. Thorne had placed a rule for the guards here. Those who signed up to be a warrior or a guard weren't allowed to bring a woman in. He claimed it distracted them, but Caelum knew it was bullshit.

The king wasn't getting any, and thus… his men couldn't either.

But now… it was certainly a different tune. Caelum shook his head. Thorne without Adina was such an insufferable man.

He shook his head. He wasn't here for that, though.

"You may all return to what you were doing," he said and turned to Renan. "Come with me."

Caelum and the man stepped away from the rest slowly. Once they were some feet away, Caelum turned to the guard.

"The king has asked for you."

The man's eyes widened, his face paling instantly. "T-the king? M-my Lord, have I done anything wrong?" he stammered, scared.

Caelum shook his head. "Before I take you to him, tell me, the guard who reportedly saw Alpha Radek that night in the dungeon four months ago. Where is he?" he asked.

The guard's eyes widened even more than when he found out the king wanted to see him. "M-My Lord," he stammered.

Caelum's brows raised, he frowned. "Speak," he ordered.

The man inhaled deeply. "S-something happened, my Lord. We went on a hunt outside the palace as usual. When we returned, he was gone."

Caelum stiffened. "Gone? What do you mean gone?"

"He didn't come back with us… He disappeared, but when we saw him again, he wasn't alive."

"What?"

"People say he committed suicide. It wasn't a surprise to most. After that night, he had been acting strangely. Those who saw him said he dove into a river nearby and never came up until days later."

"And I'm just hearing of this now? No reports to the king or myself? Have you lots lost your minds!" Caelum growled, the others stiffened hearing his voice.

The guard lowered his head in shame. "Forgive me, my Lord, but this happened during the time the former general was regent. We made reports, but it must've gotten lost under everything," he said.

Caelum's jaw clenched as he exhaled. So, a key witness, the only guard to have seen Radek the night he was locked away, died suspiciously during the time Elara was regent. The same Elara who asked no one to report to the king that Radek had lost control that same night.

"No one thought to report it to the king once he was back!" he snapped.

The guard stayed silent, head bowed low.

Caelum scoffed, shaking his head in disbelief. "Lost under Elara's rule," he muttered. "Typical."

He turned on his heel. "Come. You're going to tell the king everything you just told me. Word for word."

The guard scrambled to follow. "Y-yes, my Lord."

As they walked through the palace corridors, Caelum's thoughts ran wild. First Lord Varrick. Now this merchant. And the only link to Radek conveniently drowned himself in a river the exact same time Elara was ruling the kingdom to shambles, and somehow, the reports got lost under everything that was happening. No one thought to report until now?

Something wasn't adding up.