Chapter 276

276 Her Name Was...

The boy spent his time cleaning his father’s office, putting away the bottles and trash lying around. He arranged his father’s desk in the best way that he could.

After having paid attention to the matters the beta alphas often discussed, he found that some of the documents on the king’s desk were of things that he’d heard about.

Cole arranged the work into piles of finished and unfinished. There were those he tried to go through on his own, leaving drafts of his solutions in the finished pile and others he arranged in a way the king could go through as fast and efficiently as he felt possible.

Things he didn’t understand at all got their own pile as well. When he was done, he sat on the sofa on the other side of the king’s desk and nodded off from waiting for the king to wake up.

The king woke up moments later to an organised office with his head pounding in pain. Before he could appreciate what had been done for him, he saw the boy sleeping on the sofa.

A scowl immediately graced his face. One that Cole had now grown used to, “Get up, boy. What are you doing in my office?”

Cole’s sharp ears picked up on the harsh voice and his reflexes kicked in, allowing him to seat up and react quickly, “Oh hi... Father...”

“You should stop calling me that. I am the alpha of the Lycaon empire. So you will address me as such,” the king barked, rubbing his face before looking about his desk.

It was not in the order he had left it and he could tell from the boy’s childish handwriting that he’d been messing around with his work.

.....

The picture frame in his hand told him the boy had not touched it. “You have some brains to know you shouldn’t have touched this. What were you doing at my desk?”

“Well, I hadn’t come to get into your work or anything. I just came here to talk to you. I heard from the beta alphas that you had a meeting tomorrow in the morning, so I thought I would help with some of the work. Let me...”

“This is none of your concern. Do you hear me? You don’t come into this room. You don’t show your face. Damn it, have you forgotten everything I’ve told you till now? Has nothing got into that thick skull of yours boy?” the man yelled at Cole. The boy was quiet for much longer than the king could wait, “Well boy, what do you have to say for yourself?”

Cole sighed, “I came earlier to ask you something about...” the boy swallowed. The words were stuck in his throat. He hadn’t thought it would be this hard for him to say it. Breathing in deeply, he spoke up “I wanted to ask what she was like... the queen. My mother. I’ve heard only what everyone knew about her, but I know there isn’t someone who would know more about her but you. So I was thinking...”

“You have no right. None whatsoever... Do you hear me?” the king bellowed and watched the boy shrink back from his fury. Even after his outburst, however, the boy didn’t rush for the door. He stayed in his seat.

“I can’t be injured or at least, it’s difficult,” the boy reminded the king before he could strike him.

The king sighed and rubbed his temples. The boy was still before him and very insistent on staying... and it was getting on his nerves, “This boy must be testing my limits,” the king mumbled to himself. To Cole, “Yeah, what of it?”

'

“Well, the reason for this power is all the needles and poisons that you had injected into me. I can’t blame the scientists since they were only ordered by someone else. I know the person responsible for all my suffering though.”

‘The boy’s finally gone mad. It wasn’t a secret to him that I ordered all that,’ the king inwardly sighed, watching the boy speak.

“It’s my mother,” the boy answered bluntly, keeping his eyes away from his father.

The king’s anger began to boil anew, dwarfing what he’d felt before towards the boy. Through gritted teeth, “You’ve got some nerve to say such a thing...”

“No, Father...” the boy cut him off. His breath became sharp and uneven. He had never stood up to him before, but he had to one day and today was the day that he’d chosen to do that. The king was surprised by the behaviour.

“Oh, is there something you want to say? Come on... Let’s hear it.”

“I have heard stories about my father and mother. I have heard of the kind and dashing Alpha Trevor Lycaon,” the king smirked at the boy’s words, “But that’s not the person I’ve come to know. When the kind king looks at me, he scowls and starts thinking of ways to remind me of the sin I committed.”

“Sin?” the king wondered, almost shocked by the boy’s words. Cole continued as though he’d missed his interruption.

“My crime of being born and robbing him of his mate. I can’t imagine what that must have been like... After all, that day, you lost the most important person in your life and merely gained a reminder of that,” the boy was finally done seething.

Little Cole took his seat once again, “I’ve thought about so many things. Royals’ minds develop fast. I knew I had to have done something wrong at a young age and I soon found out what it was.

I could have solved it all my way, but the new queen taught me everything about being royal. My responsibilities and what it means for me to be who I am. What it means for me to be a firstborn. Many times I wonder if I could ever be as strong as you are...”

“Strong?” the king asked, this time Cole heard him. The king’s rage had simmered down as he got to hear the thoughts that swarmed his son’s mind and not the boy he always scowled at when he saw him.

“Yes, strong. You lost her and yet here you are, still running the kingdom. They say many would take their own lives in that situation, but you are still running the Lycaon empire in spite of all that,” Cole praised the king.

“What makes you think you are not strong?” the king sighed, going through the other documents that were laid in the unfinished pile.

“Well, for starters, I haven’t felt the kind of pain you have, but I already feel like I’m at my limit,” the king paused at the boy’s response and tried to decipher, ‘limit... what limit?’

“I have thought about it so many times. What would it be like to be free of all of this? What would it be like to leave my life behind? At this point, anything is better than what I’m going through right now.”

“What gives...”

“You know father...” the boy cut him off once more, letting his eyes wander the portraits in the room, “You might have lost your mate that day... but I... it was like I was born without a family.”

Silence took over the room... the king’s eyes looked misty as he thought through the boy’s words. The two of them had never had a conversation. ‘They grow up so fast,’ the king thought to himself.

Realising he’d missed the boy’s entire childhood life. “What kept you from running then?” while the king didn’t want to think of it, curiosity tugged at him.

“I’m royalty... and your only heir. The entire werewolf empire depends on us. If I were to vanish one day, I would forsake many of them.

I read the documentation on the transfer of the power of a royal in case an heir was not present. I didn’t like it either. So... countless times, I have dismissed the idea. I was stuck for a long time, but everyone has a breaking point... or so I’ve heard. Before deciding on leaving, I decided to come here and talk to you first,” the boy explained.

The king looked from the boy to the picture frame in his hand. The similarity between the two people was uncanny. In mind as well, now he believed.

The boy reminded him so much of her that it hurt him every time. He’d tried everything he could, but the boy wasn’t going anywhere. He was more of a constant reminder than the pictures and the memories he heard. He was a spitting image of her in character as well. It was like she was right in front of him, but not the same and it tore at him.

And now of all times, he was channelling more of her than he’d ever thought possible. The queen had died to bring a miracle into the world. “Do you hate me, Cole?” the king asked.

“No, I don’t,” the boy chuckled, “I merely admire you. I know it’s weird, but I also know you’re not perfect. You were bound to snap one way or another and if I was going to be on the receiving end, I wouldn’t have minded that much. The empire is still standing and many werewolves look up to you.”

“What brought you here, Cole?” the man sighed, “I could just call on the beta alphas to give you a thrashing for your behaviour?”

The king looked up when the boy wouldn’t answer. Cole had his eye pinned to a portrait somewhere else. Turning to see what he was looking at, he came face to face with the former queen, “What would she have said to bring you back?” Cole asked.

“I won’t try to think through that question. I know what she would say and I wouldn’t be so happy to hear it either. Cole, confronting me about what’s happened the past years is not going to fix anything,” the king finally said to him.

“I know that, father... And that’s not what I came here to ask you about. I just... wanted to know what she was truly like. I’ve heard stories from almost everyone in the palace, but not from the person that’s supposed to remember her the best,” Cole answered before smiling dejectedly, “I guess I won’t get that much. I’ll let you be, father... I’m sorry for bothering you.”

The boy bowed and turned to leave swiftly. The boy’s swift movements were enough to hide the tears that had started to stream down his face, “Cole, wait...” the young prince froze in place, “Take a seat.”

The king resigned to his seat. Looking once more at the files the boy had tried to solve on his own, he found that he’d done the work wonderfully.

There was nothing wrong with the boy his wife had given him. Even after doing all he’d done to him, the boy still tried to reach out to him... just like his mother had done before him, ‘Your son is just like you,’ he thought to himself, wiping the glass protecting the picture in his hand as though she could hear his thoughts.

The face of the beautiful Queen Helena’s warm smile filled the king’s mind as though encouraging him to take the first step towards reconciliation with his son.

‘What’s wrong with the two of you?’ He handed the picture he was holding in his hand over to the boy in front of his desk. Cole, slowly took it from him, “Her name was Helena and she was the greatest person I’d ever met.”