Rejected By My Mate, Chosen By Fate
Chapter 90

I looked up and saw King Cassius laughing for the first time, it was a very pleasant sight. He laughed heartily and he didn’t look like the evil king he was portraying himself to be but rather like a young man who would rather enjoy the small joys of life.

His laughter stopped as abruptly as it had started, I saw him wipe a small tear from his eye. “You know you’re very funny, little human. On another occasion, you would have been punished but since you’ve made me laugh after such a long time, I’ll forgive your ignorance. You can’t possibly help me, what would you know? I advise that you just stay within your limits.” He said and resumed his signature poker face but I wasn’t going to give up just like that.

“I’m sorry your Majesty but I’ll have to disagree with you, I know a lot more than you think and despite the fact that I might not know everything, I feel confident that I might be able to help you in some way if you would just let me.” I said confidently, praying that this sudden courage wouldn’t get me killed.

He looked at me intently for a moment and gave me a reply that I didn’t even expect to hear. “Alright, get over here.” He said simply and I was almost paralyzed by shock. Did he really just agree, just like that? I don’t even know what to expect anymore. How can someone be so bipolar? One minute he’s the most difficult person to please or get along with and the next, he’s this laid back and easy going type.

When I didn’t move from my spot, he glared at me. “You desperately wanted to help, didn’t you? I’m giving you the chance and you’re busy wasting my time. I said, “Get over here.”” He ordered and I quickly got up and walked over to him.

His captivating scent was the first thing I smelt when I got closer to him.

“Keep this in mind little girl, if you are unable to provide a reasonable suggestion or a good answer, you’ll instead face punishment.” He said and I nodded. But geez, what is it with Vampires and punishment? He glared at me and I pulled an apologetic look. I might never get used to being read like this.

“What can I help with?” I questioned, waiting for his orders. “Well, you’re the first human to hear about this so you’d better consider yourself very lucky.” He said and this got me curious.

“I’m looking to form an alliance with the werewolves. There’s a pack not too far away from this kingdom, the Silver Moon Pack and there have been known to be little fights between my kind and the wolves of that pack in the past. As a great ruler, I will not just go about waging wars and killing people, I will do my best to unite my species with that of others that are of equal standards.

It would be easy to take out that pack but doing that would be of no benefit to me or my kingdom. Not only will lives be lost, that move will further strengthen the bitterness between Werewolves and Vampires and that would not be beneficial. Other packs could also come together and try to retaliate for the loss of their sister pack and I do not want endless wars that will disturb the peace and balance that I’ve fought so hard to maintain.

So instead of a war, I’m proposing a peace treaty but the issue is, I have to find the perfect gift to give and I have no idea what it is. I’m trying to do some research about it but none of the books I’ve read about werewolves talk about what they would appreciate as a gift.” King Cassius said and I was completely appalled by his sincerity. Now I’m convinced that this scary demeanor he has all along is just for show, he seems to think that as a ruler, it would be much better if your subjects fear you but that oftentimes isn’t the case. If you seek to put fear in people all the time, they’ll see you as nothing but a tyrant and they’ll want nothing more than to witness your downfall but if you are fair and caring, and you do your best to protect them instead of punishing them, you not only earn their respect, but their allegiance as well. He’s a good ruler, why else would he choose peace over war but something just completely puzzles me. If he’s able to have a peace treaty with werewolves, why not do the same with humans? The way the vampires are treating the humans is very bad, they don’t value their lives at all and it’s not right. There shouldn’t be an inferiority complex, despite not being born with supernatural powers, I’ve read that humans are the most intelligent creatures on Earth. I think it would be beneficial if paranormals form some kind of alliance with humans instead of taking them as slaves.

Thankfully, he’s looking away from me and is still looking through a few books or else I’d be in trouble by now.

“Do you really want to know what would be the perfect gift of peace?” I questioned. “If you have an idea, just say it. I don’t like being made to wait.” He blurted.

“Your sincerity and integrity.” I said. “What?” He questioned. “The gift that wolves would value the most is your sincerity, they hate being deceived and taken advantage of, they desire integrity from every friend or acquaintance.

That is, after the treaty, keep all your promises, don’t attack them from behind, do not betray them. Werewolves can forgive anything else but betrayal and being stabbed in the back. If you remain a loyal friend to them, they will go to any length to protect you and honour your friendship. They maintain the spirit of family and oneness and that is why all of them are able to live and coexist in one pack house. If you want to become friends with them, you’ll have to fully accept them because they will consider you as family, well most of them.” I said, remembering my home. The thought brought a familiar warmth and peace to me.

“How do you know so much about werewolves? Don’t tell me you read about it in a book, no book has such in-depth information. You described it with so much emotion, just like you’ve lived with them before.” He said and my heart nearly skipped a bit. This has quickly gone downhill, he now seems suspicious of me and I can’t afford to say the wrong thing.

I laugh nervously and clear my throat before speaking. “Live with them? No, how could I? I’m just a human girl and just like Vampires, I don’t think werewolves are very friendly with humans.” I said but his intensely sharp gaze on me told me he wasn’t fooled.

“What did I say about lying to me?” He threatened. “I’m not lying to you, I promise. As regards to how I know so much about werewolves, the truth is, I met one when I was younger. He saved me from my horrible past and took care of me, he taught me how to love again and how to trust.” I said with a smile as I thought of Kayden. Though my words weren’t completely true, it wasn’t totally a lie, Kayden did save me from my horrible past that had threatened to consume me.

“Well that was totally unexpected but I’ll take your words for it since you seem to have deeply interacted with a werewolf. From your explanation, they don’t seem to care much about material wealth but they’re the more emotional type. I’m not an emotional person but I’ll try my best to uphold our relationship in good spirits.” He said and my smile widened.

“Yes, it would be good to see people coming together and coexisting despite their long term differences, it’s a much better future compared to senseless bloodshed.” I said and almost recoil backwards when the King suddenly brought his hand to my chin, forcing me to look up at him.

This time, his eyes didn’t hold any anger or irritation, there was something different, something I couldn’t even figure out.

“You turned out to be more helpful than I thought, little mouse. Keep behaving like this and your stay here will be made a lot more bearable.” He said and walked out of the library, leaving me to drown in my thoughts.

What just happened? Had I succeeded? Did he dislike me a little less? I had so many questions but absolutely no answers. I took a deep breath and kept the books back on their shelf. I then picked up the book I was reading and went back to my room.