Claimed By The King(s) Of Kings

Vance

I will never understand why anyone would willingly choose to piss off Malric. It’s a slippery slope that ends in pure suffering every single time.

Vance leaned against the wall, watching cold-eyed as Sean struggled in the indoor pool. Every time Sean managed to kick to the surface, the iron weights bound to his waist dragged him right back under. It was hardly a surprise he had ended up in this predicament; his big mouth had practically written the invitation. If he hadn’t insulted Malric on the field, foolishly bringing up Travis and the slap, he would probably be out hanging with his friends right now. Instead, he was drowning in increments.

The heavy double doors of the natatorium swung open, and Max scurried in like a rat eager to deliver news to its master. His desperate loyalty made complete sense: he had been promised a seat on the high council once Malric and his brothers ascended the throne.

”I delivered the invitation, Your Grace. Travis will be at the bash,” Max said, a sly smirk spreading across his face. A faint flicker of cold amusement glinted in Malric’s eyes. Vance smiled to himself, pushing off the wall to join his brother and the lackey.

”You’ve done well, Max. I’ll make sure you’re properly rewarded,” Malric replied, his expression twisting into a unhinged smile. He was closer than ever to putting that little upstart Travis in his place. He would have dealt with him long ago if Roiner hadn’t suddenly decided to play the hero.

Max bowed slightly. ”I shall take my leave now. Please let me know if you require anything else.” He turned and left, not bothering to spare a single glance at the Lycan fighting for air in the pool. His mind was entirely consumed by the promise of his upcoming reward. ”Everything will be perfect tomorrow night,” Malric mused, staring at the rippling water. ”We’re going to give our sweet little rat a night he’ll never forget.”

”Indeed,” Vance said, matching his brother’s crazed smile with a terrifying one of his own.

”Help! Merc—glub—mercy! Please!”

Sean’s strangled screams echoed off the high, tiled walls of the indoor aquatic center, breaking through the celebratory atmosphere like a shattered glass window.

Malric turned slowly away from Travis, his crazed smile melting into a cold, cruel sneer as he stepped toward the edge of the pool. He looked down at Sean, who was flailing wildly, his lungs burning, his fingers clawing uselessly at the slick blue tiles as the iron weights bound to his waist repeatedly dragged him under.

”Where is all that arrogance now, Sean?” Malric mocked, his voice dripping with venom. ”Where is the big mouth you had on the field earlier today?”

Sean’s head bobbed above the surface for a fraction of a second, his skin ghostly pale, his bloodshot eyes wide with sheer terror as he gasped for a single breath of air. ”I was... cough... I was foolish! Forgive me! Forgive me, my prince!”

Malric threw his head back and laughed, a dark, hollow sound that sent chills down Vance’s spine.

”I am not your prince,” Malric snarled, stepping right to the lip of the pool and staring down at the drowning lycan with unhinged glee. ”And I do not show mercy. You will serve as a very loud, very wet lesson to anyone else in this academy who forgets their place.”

Vance leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms as he watched his brother gloat.

Honestly, Vance thought, shaking his head slightly, Malric would much rather it be Travis Whitelock drowning in that pool right now. He’s just using poor Sean as a coping mechanism because Roiner won’t let him touch the Whitelock rat.

The heavy double doors of the pool house suddenly swung open with a loud thud.

Theo stepped inside, his eyes instantly scanning the scene before settling on the thrashing body in the deep end. A deep scowl carved into his forehead, and his voice was laced with pure irritation as he snapped, ”Malric, why on earth is he still in the water? He’s going to die!”

Malric didn’t even turn around. ”And why should I care if he does?”

”Because the absolute last thing we need right now is to be covering up a murder!” Theo hissed, marching over and gripping Malric by the shoulder to pull him back. ”Especially not while you’re throwing a tantrum over Travis slapping you! Get him out of the water already. Roiner will not like it if someone dies in his pool.”

Malric whipped his head around, his eyes flashing dangerous crimson. ”Fuck Roiner! And second of all, this pool was built with my money. So it’s my pool, and anyone I damn well please can die in it!”

It was true. The grand aquatic facility had been funded entirely by Malric during his first year at the academy. Irony of ironies, Malric never actually used the pool himself, he despised large bodies of water and couldn’t stand being submerged. He had built the entire complex for the sole purpose of holding private trials, imposing discipline, and teaching arrogant students a lesson.

Vance stepped forward, waving a hand lazily to diffuse the rising tension between his brothers. ”Chill out, Theo. We’re not actually going to let the idiot drown. Besides, Roiner isn’t even on campus right now. He went to the cathedral to pray.”

Malric let out a sharp, mocking bark of laughter. ”Probably praying the Goddess grants him a fated mate, a gift she is far too wise to ever waste on a half-breed monster like him.”

”I know right, he’s a fool” Vance smirked, joining in on the snicker as they made fun of the brooding hybrid headmaster. ”

Theo, however, didn’t laugh. He stared down at the water for a long moment before crossing his arms, his tone suddenly shifting from annoyed to unusually quiet and serious.

”Have you guys ever thought about it?” Theo asked softly. ”Finding your fated mate?” Malric and Vance both stopped, turning to glare at Theo with identical looks of utter confusion.

”Why the hell are you asking that?” Vance asked, raising an eyebrow. Theo shrugged, looking away toward the stained-glass windows. ”I don’t know. I just... wondered.”

Vance snorted, tossing his head back. ”I’ve never thought about it for a single second. Honestly, I don’t think I even have one. Fated mates sound like a massive pain in the ass.” He expected Malric to chime in with a cruel joke, but when Vance turned to his older brother, Malric’s expression was strangely distant. His harsh features had softened, his eyes staring blankly at the rippling water.

”I think about it,” Malric said, his voice dropping into a tone so quiet, so devoid of his usual venom, that Vance almost didn’t recognize it. ”In fact... I’ve prayed about it.”

Vance blinked, stunned into silence.

”I might despise our parents for a thousand different reasons,” Malric continued, his gaze drifting upward toward the high ceilings. ”I don’t look up to their rule, and I certainly don’t look up to their choices. But their love? The way their souls were so utterly bound that the world itself couldn’t tear them apart? That is the one thing I respect. That is something I want for myself.”

Malric turned to face his brothers, a breathtaking, desperate sincerity shining in his eyes that looked utterly surreal on a violent prince.

”I want a mate who was forged for me before the stars were named,” Malric murmured, the words falling from his lips like poetic scripture. ”I want a love so absolute, so devastatingly pure, that her very breath dictates the tide of my soul. I want someone who looks into the darkest, most wretched corners of my spirit and chooses to stay anyway. A love that doesn’t just endure the darkness, but burns so brightly it makes the darkness bow.”

Vance stood frozen, his mouth slightly agape as he stared at his brother. Oh my Goddess, Vance screamed internally, his mind practically short-circuiting. My crazy, ruthless, murderer-of-a-brother is a freaking romantic!

Breaking out of his shock, Vance lunged forward and slapped both hands down on Malric’s shoulders, shaking him violently back and forth.

”Oh my Goddess, brother!” Vance yelled, bursting into a mixture of laughter and genuine awe. ”Look at you! You’re such a hopeless romantic! I’m sure the Goddess will hear your pathetic little prayers and grant you a fated mate!”

Malric shoved Vance’s hands off with a scowl, but the crimson flush creeping up his neck betrayed him. ”I’m serious!” Vance wheezed, wiping a tear from his eye. ”You’ll probably meet her the second we graduate from this academy and leave all this drama behind. Hell, maybe I’ll even meet mine once we’re done here!”

Malric flicked his fingers hard against Vance’s forehead, sending him stumbling back with a wince.

”You’re an idiot, Vance,” Malric muttered, though the cruel edge had completely left his voice. ”Chances are, given our bloodline, we’ll end up sharing a fated mate bond anyway, just like our parents and ancestors did.”

Vance gasped dramatically, slapping a hand over his heart and staggering backward as if he had been struck by a physical blade. ”Ouch! My head! How dare you suggest I share a woman with your dramatic ass!”

Theo let out a rare, genuine laugh, and even Malric couldn’t suppress a dark smirk as he turned back toward the pool.

With a lazy flick of his wrist, Malric snapped his fingers. The heavy iron chains bound around Sean’s waist suddenly unlocked with a loud click, dropping to the bottom of the pool. Sean gasped, hauling his exhausted, half-drowned body over the tiled ledge, coughing up gallons of water onto the floor.

”Get out of my sight before I change my mind, Sean,” Malric commanded without looking at him.

As the bruised lycan scrambled away on his hands and knees, Malric’s smirk broadened, his thoughts drifting away from poetic romance and back to the wicked scheme waiting for tomorrow night.

”Get your masks ready, boys,” Malric whispered, his eyes glinting with malicious promise. ”Tomorrow night, our sweet little rat Travis is going to learn what happens when you cross a prince.”