Caleb's face reddened with anger. He scanned the room. Everyone was flitting nervous glances at Daryn and the servant. Then he looked at the man and snarled. He bent down a little and curled his claw under his chin. "I can kill you this instant."

"Then kill me," said the servant as more blood dropped from his chin where Caleb had poked his claw.

​​

"Who is Jhun?" he growled.

The servant jerked his head up as his eyes became wide. There was fear mixed with apprehension. "I— I don't know," he stuttered staring unblinkingly at Caleb. The claw poked further in his flesh.

Caleb said in a cold, dangerous voice. "I will hang Clive with your intestines after I take them out slowing and painfully while keeping you alive." He turned to look at the servants and ordered them with a growl so menacing that all of them quivered, "Get Jhun here and get this man's family in the castle now."

"No!" the servant pleaded. "Please don't do that. Don't involve my family! No, please don't!"

"You should have thought that before poisoning Elize and thinking of poisoning our guest," said Caleb as he walked away from him towards the throne. A young man wearing white silk robe with a golden hem over white shirt and pants was standing near it. He seemed to be trembling as he saw Caleb striding towards him. "The new high priest?" he asked, raising his left eyebrow.

"Yes, my liege."

The servant kneeling behind yelled and cried but Daryn made him quiet by delving in his brain, extracting his nightmare and throwing it in front of his eyes. The man was now seeing his gut being taken out by the new king.

Daryn was highly impressed by Caleb's new ability. He walked to him with a gaping mouth. "How did you know?" he asked, pointing his thumb behind at the servant.

He shrugged. "It just happened." Then he looked at the young priest and asked Daryn mentally, 'Why such a young boy? I am sure there were older ones out there and they would have resisted?'

'This one is so new that he knows things in theory and has hardly ever performed his duties in the temple or the court. So he wouldn't have any idea about the treasons taking place in the palace. I thought it would be better to groom him. You know—young blood!"

"That's an interesting theory!" Caleb commented.

The servants brought Jhun within five minutes. He was the head cook in the royal kitchens. A burly man with grey eyes and grey hair, he stood in front of Caleb with his chin up.

Caleb's first impulse was to kill him, but he restrained himself and glared at him with so much anger that he clenched his fists until the knuckles were white. The need to kill this man gnawed inside him to the extent that his wolf clamored him. Rotten, stinking and decaying like a septic wound, the only way to suppress the urge was to wring his neck, which he knew would be the only effective antibiotic. And at that time he realized how much of a savage his beast could be. His fangs sharpened and his claws straightened. "Why did you poison Elize?"

Jhun gave a throaty laughter. "You are no match to my queen. She will soon come back and remove you!"

"Why did you poison Elize?" he asked again so menacingly that Jhun became quiet. Everyone around them fell silent and watched him. Fear was palpable.

"Both you brothers are the same bastards! Your mates are mortals who have been turned into something they never were. What weaklings! You think you can rule Ixoviya with them." Jhun spat on the floor. "No one can rule Ixoviya except Sedora! She will come back and you all will die. That sickly woman in your chamber, she will also die!"

Caleb lunged at the man in front of him with all his might. He sank his claws in neck and in his stomach.

"Arghhh!" Jhun gurgled blood.

Little did he realize that Daryn had lunged at him from the back and had slashed his back. Within a few seconds the man was lying on the floor in a pool of blood and the brothers were seeing him with bloodshot eyes.

"How dare you?" Caleb snarled.

The men present in the court were horrified. Some gasped and some stepped away from them with frightened expressions on their faces. All were shaking with fear. Two council members came and they flicked their hands in the air to clean the mess by magic.

"We are sorry, my liege," said one of them.

"Find everyone associated with Jhun and throw them in one dungeon. I will personally tackle them," said Caleb and turned to walk to the throne. But just before he stepped up, he said, "Take his guts out and hang that servant with them."

Men stared at him with wide, horrific eyes. The gory site in front of them was repulsive. The message was clear—no one could mess with the mates of these brothers. If they even thought of doing as much, they would meet the same fate.

When the brothers' anger calmed, they proceeded to practice for the ceremony. The young boy, the high priest, was shaking with fear. Since he knew the whole process well, he simply taught Caleb what to do. Everything was done in hushed silence.

An hour later Caleb went back to his room. He heard water flowing in the tub and smiled. Elize was taking a bath. Servants followed him inside with royal clothes, scepter, sword and various gold ornaments that he was supposed to wear as the king.

"I wish Elize was sitting beside me as my queen," he breathed when the servants started making him wear the outfit.

"My liege, when will you marry her according to Ixoviyan customs?" asked one of the servants.

Caleb's brow knitted.

"My liege, you are a Lykae, but you are also a sorcerer. You will have to marry m'lady according to our customs."

His lips curled up. Why didn't he think of it before? "Explain to me the customs," he said.

The servant went on to explain to him everything about the marriage in their world while dressing him. By the end of it, Caleb had so much gold on his body that it shone more than his clothes. However, surprisingly he found that he liked all the gold. Instead of feeling garish, he believed that this was necessary.

Once fully dressed for the ceremony, he looked at the bathroom door fondly and said to the servant, "Once she comes out, help her get dressed." He found it odd that she was taking so much time to come out of the bath. He had an urge to go and check her out but he knew that she was too disturbed.

"Yes my liege!" he said.

Caleb left the chamber and proceeded to the court. As he entered the heavily crafted doors, he saw that every council member was standing on two sides. His eyes caught a glimpse of Lazarus, Emma, Ileus, Dawn and Brantley. All of them nodded as he passed them. Daryn was standing right next to the throne holding the crown, which was on a red cushion in a tray.

The high priest started conducting the ceremony as soon as he reached the throne. He so wished that Elize were there to see all this.

---

Back in the royal chambers, Elize was writing a letter.

"Dear Caleb…"