Mated to A Rival Alpha-Chapter 79: The Truth Does Hurt, Sometimes

[DRARUN] 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"Well, I want something in return. It’s not my fault that you screwed up, the three of you should have known better than to mess with that witch, otherwise, he wouldn’t have killed you and woken you up with vampire blood, no?"

Paloma had felt betrayed when Nathaniel changed from a werewolf into a vampire, he had betrayed their friendship, and more and she had never gotten over it. So here and now, she wasn’t going to pretend to be okay with it. The two of them had issues to sort out.

"Name it, I’ll give you what you want," King Nathaniel said, looking desperately at Paloma like she was his only hope this time. If it were any other day, Paloma would have been happy to have the vampire king at her mercy, but today wasn’t just it.

Today, the king was a father, curious about even the slightest information about a daughter he knew nothing about. He wanted to know more about the child his girlfriend had denied him, and the fate that his child had to face because she was never protected.

"Careful Nate, I may just want the whole of Drarun," Paloma said, a permanent smirk sitting on her face, and yet at the same time, she couldn’t help but feel a surge of anger at how late the king was to his own daughter’s reality.

It was a mess, and she despised everything that led them to this desperate point.

"Whatever you want, I’ll give it," the king said, not even batting an eye as he stared at his old friend, the desire for hope lingering in his eyes, while his friend just kept smirking angrily at him. Anyone would have thought that she wanted him dead, but she was mourning their friendship.

"I want a treaty, your vampires must not attack my rogues, and you guys must be ready to provide us with food in case we run out," Paloma said, knowing so well that Drarun never got into any treaties.

The vampires had made a name for themselves with their toxicity and brutality to the point that no one wanted to cross them and people were scared of associating with them. Even the witches in the valley of the Whites had kept their distance.

What Paloma was asking for was technically impossible, because it had been years since the last treaty was ever signed in Drarun. But maybe, just maybe, this was the beginning of a new dawn for the supernatural world.

Maybe this here was the reality they needed to face, the simple reality that they were all parts of the system and needed to work together to make their world a better place.

"Done," the vampire king said, without hesitation and without even thinking too much of it. He was pretty much telling the queen of rogues that his vampires would be there for them. That his vampires would always lend a hand in case the rogues needed one.

The rogues were feral enough on their own, but with a whole army of undead backing them up, they would be notorious, and uncontrollable. They would probably spite people just because they could, but was that something that Paloma was working towards?

Did she want a nation of ferals that didn’t hesitate to go feral on anyone and everyone? Probably not, but anyone could tell that this was the only smart move she could play with the king. It wasn’t even about their friendship anymore. This was Paloma being a leader to her people.

"Don’t mess with me, Nate. You and I both know it won’t be good for you," Paloma chuckled humorlessly as she stared into her friend’s eyes, but king Nathaniel wasn’t bluffing. He was ready to give it to her if it was the only way he would get his answers.

"Did we have a daughter, Paloma?" he asked again and Aploma let out a sigh. She knew she couldn’t drag it any longer because one way or the other, her friend would know about it. There was a time they were a close-knit group of best friends, but times had changed anyway.

"Yes, you did. She was the Calindra Luna, but well, Rania had to just stab her, and poof she died. The first hybrid died, well you could have been a hybrid, but you screwed up.

"So yeah, your daughter was murdered on that battlefield," Paloma said, her voice so stiff and strained that the king could have thought she was pissed at the occurrence.

However, just as she was strained she looked at her friend, a simple smile of reassurance showing, even though she wasn’t sure what to do to make Nathaniel feel better. Maybe she wanted to go back to their past, but they were thirty years too late. All of them.

"You’re lying, impossible," Nathaniel said, as he sat on the edge of his seat, his eyes staring into Paloma’s soul like he was hoping that the rumors were false. He couldn’t have possibly had a child, right? Oh, the face of denial in betrayal.

"You’re still denying even when everyone knows that Obren is going to have the first Luna trial?" Paloma asked the king, disbelief clouding her features. Sure, she had known that Nathaniel would be in denial, but this deep in? Damn, he was fucked in all seven ways to hell.

"Luna trial?"

"Yes, because Yanna was the first werewolf Luna to be murdered, even though it was five years ago. And the king and everyone in Obren, well they didn’t have enough power to get the perpetrator to justice, considering Yanna had been killed in a pack war," Paloma said like she was talking about the weather.

There was nothing good about what Rania had done, but the fact that she was willing to do it again if Yanna had been alive, sent shivers down Paloma’s spine. However, Paloma couldn’t tell that to the desperate father. He was already broken enough for a lifetime.

"Didn’t have enough power? Why the hell is Seojoon the king then?" Nathaniel asked angrily, not believing that the king, who was the highest authority in Obren, was unable to get justice for one of his pack lunas.

The idea itself was absurd, considering lunas were loved by most people. They were the motherly figures of every pack, and with one gone, the pack would most likely descend into chaos. And Calindra did go into chaos, even if it was just for two months.

Even then, the king didn’t think he could bring Rania to justice even though the woman bragged about murdering the Calindra luna every chance she got. It was like she was calling onto everyone to come and arrest her, but one of them had the balls to show up.

"You’re asking me? You’re the one who imprisoned his son for thirteen years. Who knows if he just snapped and decided to pay you back?" Paloma said, knowing so well that her words were ruthless, but maybe it was time for Seojoon and Nathaniel to make up.

They had been friends for fucks sake and maybe the luna trial was their hope to rekindle their friendship.

"He killed my daughter?"

"Are you dumb or what, Nate? Kim Rania, the girl who came here to rescue Jungwoo, was the one who killed Yanna. If you can’t remember her, then I’ll jog your memory. I assume by now, you already know that Obren has two psychos.

"And you also know that one of them is Jihoon of Calindra and well the other one is Rania. Did that jog your memory enough or do I need to delve deeper?" Paloma said, clearly enjoying the vampire king’s misery.

This was the lemon that Paloma would make a lemonade of, but she wasn’t making it so she could drink, no. She was making it so that someday, it would be acidic enough, for Rania to get the justice she deserved.

Paloma didn’t care how many years it took, but no matter what happened to that psychotic Incayon alpha, Paloma would always stand by her, which was also strange considering Rania was the one who had banished her.

"I remember. Anyway, why call for the trial now?" Nathaniel asked, as he got up. He was tired of sitting on his throne and needed to feel relaxed, even though nothing Paloma said was relaxing at all. he had been in the dark for so long and he hated it.

"You should thank Seojoon’s son. The one you kept trapped here for years. He wanted to see his sister, and well, things didn’t go as planned, especially considering Rania was his best friend. I guess Rania felt an obligation to her best friend and told him that she killed his sister.

"Oh, by the way, Rania knew your daughter was a hybrid by that time, so it was premeditated. What you do with that information I don’t want to know," Paloma said and the king looked curiously at her.

Paloma never outed people unless there was more to it and with her history with Rania, at least the one everyone knew, she had no reason to defend the woman anyway.

"Was that why she banished you?" Nathaniel asked curiously, though Paloma wasn’t even worried about that

"No, she banished me because of something else. Something that could bring the supernatural world to a standstill. I heard and saw something I shouldn’t have, and she didn’t like it, so she threw me out," Paloma said calmly, making Nathaniel even more curious.

"Someone finally shut you up," the king let out an amused laugh.

"You think it’s funny huh? And you’re sitting there with a dead daughter you don’t even know what she looks like. Anyway, what will you do? Will you pressure Seojoon to punish her?" Paloma asked curiously, not taking any offense to Nathaniel’s light mockery.

"Yes. It’s the only thing that I can do now," the vampire king responded and Paloma facepalmed. She really had to pump some sense into a whole-ass king who should have been doing the thinking for himself.

"You really are stupid, Nate. You do realize that it will be like telling the whole of Obren that the queen had another child, who wasn’t even the werewolf king’s child?" Paloma asked, staring into her friend’s soul, like theta always did as kids.

Maybe that would make Nathaniel realize how risky his idea was.

"What do you want me to do then, Paloma? I failed as a father. This is the only way out. Besides, I was thinking it was a hoax at first, but hearing you say it, confirms it all," Nathaniel said sadly, and Paloma looked curiously at him.

"I could also be lying to you, just so I can get what I want too, y’know?" Paloma said and the king just smirked knowingly.