[NOUR]
In all his years as the king's most trusted enforcer, Grant Hindley had never imagined himself in this position.
Not even in his worst dreams.
This was worse than what life could give him, and yet, as the king left him with his council and the smug werewolf bastard Lucius, the enforcer knew that he had to do his best. He was the custodian of the crown. The king's most trusted wolf in the entire realm.
And now he was not just that.
He had a wedding to plan, and it was the wedding of his worst nightmare that was staring at him like life was worth nothing.
Grant despised all of this.
Fuck.
"What just happened?" one of the councilmen asked, like he couldn't understand what the thought process was for the king to demand that a weekend be done.
Of course, they wouldn't be able to question King Cassius directly because they weren't ready to be charged with treason.
But it didn't make it all any easier; it was as if the world itself was closing in on them, and they didn't even have a way around it at the moment. This was pure madness, and there wasn't a soul who thought otherwise.
"I never thought we would be helping with wedding preparations of all the things in this kingdom. What have we been reduced to?" another council member asked, like this was insane.
Honestly, it felt like a needed evil to Grant himself.
There was no way that the crazy king of Acrod had decided to meet them in a wedding ceremony. It was unhinged and clearly not what they had expected for their first meeting with the king this openly.
It wasn't part of the plan, but a part of Delbert was excited to see what this would come out as. He was excited to see for himself whether they were truly fucked to or if this was just their way of making the council tense even further.
And in silence, Delbert watched as the council debated. As they tried to wrap their heads around the one thing that they had never been real for them this time. A king's command, one that no one understood what to do with just yet.
But one thing was certain, defiance was not an option because everyone knew what king Cassius may have been level-headed for a king, but he was every inch the madman that the Lycan king of Udrad was.
He was every inch the monster that the beast of the Midlands was. No one was going to challenge him anyway.
It wasn't like there was a way to get out of this.
"The king sure does have a sense of humor," Farah, one of the king's trusted allies and a member of the council, laughed as she stared at Grant and then at the two men she would willingly die for.
It wasn't even a question of how.
It was a question of when.
Farah and Ferhat were the only ones left of the Lycan team in Acrod, and they were going to do their best to make sure the two were comfortable, regardless of the levels of insanity that blurred the pathways of Acrod and even the council itself.
"Imagine the mighty enforcer having to arrange flowers and make sure a whole-ass wedding is perfect. That's some hilarious shit," Delbert mocked.
The council went still for a moment. It was as if everything was sitting and no one knew what to truly make of it. Which was understandable, truly, because this was out of the ordinary.
Sure, the word hadn't reached the people of Acrod yet, but the thought of this being a reality within the kingdom was stressing Grant the fuck out. He despised every minute that he was spending here with the duo.
It made no sense, but life had stopped making sense a while ago.
They all just had to come together and make it work regardless.
"Watch your fucking mouth," Grant snapped icily.
Delbert just laughed, like the idea of this being a reality was insane and at the same time interesting as fuck. He was being forced to prepare a wedding for the warlord he had messed up and didn't even know it.
The poor man didn't know that karma had come back with another face, and he was already so pressed about it.
What if they told him the truth, yeah?
Would the mighty enforcer be able to handle it himself?
"Oh, come on. Why should he? It's a wedding, isn't it? Besides, everyone should make themselves useful, and most especially you," Nour said calmly, but there was a warning in his tone.
A warning for the man he hated with all he had and didn't have.
A warning for the man who had dared to ruin his life and create the current situation.
A warning to the man who was never going to get a second chance at a life that would have been simpler.
He had had his chances, and he had fucked it up. Now he had to bear the brunt of it all, and honestly, at this point, no one was going to give a shit what Grant thought of and what he didn't.
Because Nour was back. Not as the omega who had let himself be bested in the name of love and society, no. He was back, as the psycho prince hiding behind a facade that would eventually fall off.
If not today, then tomorrow, and the king would know who the enforcer had scared to mess with. And they would understand what price there was to pay for playing tricks with the psycho werewolf prince.
Perhaps that was the whole motivation for Nour at this moment.
Otherwise, what the fuck was even going on?
"You—" Grant grumbled as he stared daggers at Nour, who was not fazed at this point.
The young prince was determined to have the time of his life, and he didn't care if the world went dark. Grant was the only statue left in that tearing darkness. He didn't mind it, really.
"Perhaps the king just wants the custodians of the crown to be more active and visible to the people of Acord. A wedding is a social event, so there will be more people paying attention—
"... and understanding what role the king gave Grant as the enforcer of the kingdom. Besides this way, the people will know that even without the king, Acrod will still be safe," the councilman from before said.
Nour stared at the man, wondering if this was the reality for the council.
Of course, he knew what his father was doing. He had seen it from the moment his father had seen him bruised, battered, and broken because of Grant. He knew what this would mean, easily now that the one about Delbert was being publicized.
Gods, he knew it all.
But it didn't make it any simpler because there would still be things that they had to surface align the way, and that they had to be prepared for even then. A social event for a high lord and his Lycan beloved.
That was what the councilman before him was insinuating: a bond between a Lycan and a wolf.
That was all for them.
It was interesting to see what they would do now, even if a part of Nour was already glaring at the man for his suggestion.
You would think that the councilman suggested a treasonous explanation. But it was what it was, wasn't it?
"I like you thinking, councilman…"