Genevieve

Chapter 6: Apology

As the doors flung open, and various wolves charged to attack the king, the guards stood as a shield to protect him along with Gen who wrapped her arms Markus. Markus was enraged and flustered at the same time. What was happening? How dare someone interrupt his party and try to attack him?

The girls were evidently frightened as well, but the first thought which came in Gen's mind was to shield Markus and so she did. It was a protective instinct. Her eyes were shut tightly, and her arms squeezed his torso. She waited a few seconds for any sort of impact, but when she felt nothing, she opened her eyes. A set of eyes stared right back at her, and they both searched each other's eyes for answers to questions that roamed in their minds. When the situation got under control, the VIP's- Markus, Genevieve, and Bella, were escorted to a safe place.

"Are you okay Markus? I was so worried!" Bella exclaimed but Markus wouldn't even look at her and kept staring at Gen.

"Are you fine Genevieve? You shouldn't have jumped in front of me, it isn't safe for you!" Markus argued in a high tone, even though he tried to keep his tone low. But he was frustrated at the same time thinking about what could've happened to Gen. She was a human, no match for the werewolves who would've injured her severely if the guards would've been late.

But the main question was: who were the wolves attacking him? He ordered his guards to brief him about the situation.

"King, the mine has collapsed causing various casualties and injuries. The families have gone rogue and are furious because the wolves were overworked and without any safety equipment. They demand that you- step down and we get a new king." The guard gulped before uttering the last few words.

Markus was more upset about the collapse of the mine compared to the deaths and the injuries. It was not like he was responsible for it. Werewolves were naturally strong, and he felt that there was no need to provide any equipment, it would just be a waste of money. He chuckled when the guard mentioned about him stepping down and the kingdom having a new king. The audacity.

"Restore the mine, anyhow. I am not responsible for the accident, and I don't care about what they say, remove every single rogue from my kingdom" Markus was fuming with rage but tried to stay calm and collected.

"What is a rogue Gen?" Bella questioned. "They are the werewolves who break off their ties with a pack or are kicked out of the kingdom, so they have savage or destructive tendencies." Gen explained.

Gen was shaken up after she heard about the accident, and also disappointed to see Markus' reaction. He felt no remorse or sympathy for the families or pain due to the loss of lives or injuries.

"Markus, you seem to be forgetting that you are the king, and they are your people. You can't just shrug off this incident and act so insensitively. As a king, you have to console them and be with them in such situations. This is your pack; you represent them, and they have you to turn back to. You can't just treat them so harshly and just dismiss them." Gen argued and Markus started getting affected by her words.

"I just think we should compensate them with money." Bella suggested and Gen counter-argued, "That is not-" But before Gen could state her point, Markus stood up and left the room. For him, money was the easy solution and he felt that it could solve everything. Gen tried to follow him and stopped him before he would make the worst mistake.

"Offering them money is a wrong decision. It will enrage them even further. We should think of another way." Gen reasoned.

"Let me handle it Gen. Don't worry, everything will be alright." And she hoped so too that everything would be alright, but deep down she knew that the chances were zero.

Markus had bags of money delivered to the houses of the victims, and even had everything paid for the injured. But every bag was returned and even the injured refused to let Markus pay. He felt humiliated and called the families ungrateful. He didn't want to waste more of his time handling the rogues and wanted to spend more time with Gen.

But when the news of a revolt reached his ears, he got tensed and angry. The rogues were testing his patience and he wasn't just going to sit and take no action. But the number of supporters on his side diminished as well. What bothered him the most was that Gen ignored him like a plague. She wouldn't look at him, talk to him, or eat with him. Hell, she would change her direction and walk the opposite way whenever Markus tried to approach her, and that made Markus restless.

Gen obviously had her reasons. Markus was so full of himself that he wouldn't listen to anyone but himself. That was not how a king should behave, he behaved like a twelve-year-old. He was arrogant, selfish, demeaning, awful, and every other bad word Gen could possibly think of. She agreed with the rogues that he should be removed and replaced. A self-obsessed king was not welcomed. He had no empathy, no sympathy, no compassion, nothing. She couldn't even stand seeing his face, and it was her bad luck since his face was everywhere in the packhouse, so she mostly stayed in her room.

After a week, Markus had had enough. So, he knocked at Gen's door and entered even before she could answer.

"Are you mad at me Gen? I hope you don't mind me calling you Gen." Markus liked that nickname for her.

"I am not speaking to you." Gen replied and looked away. Markus was slightly hurt but stood in front of her and questioned again.

"Why not? We were getting along just fine."

Gen couldn't help but meet his eyes. His eyes had a sense of worry, but that just made her snort.

"You seem worried about me not talking to you, but not about your own kingdom." Gen criticized.

"So that is what this all is about. Fine, tell me what I should do." Markus offered to listen, but Gen glared at him in response.

"You didn't want to listen when I tried to reason with you, but now you want to." Gen was offended, big time.

"I'm sorry, please help me." Markus pleaded and Gen finally gave in.

They decided to visit each and every house of the people who were affected and offer a personal apology. But every place they visited, they were shunned, and the doors shut at their face. Markus couldn't face more of this embarrassment and decided to stop right after the first house.

"You can't just give up. You need to show that you are sincere and that you actually feel bad and empathize with them." Gen argued. "You should be willing to even bow down in front of them and beg them for an apology."

Markus was offended by her comment and uttered in response,

"A king only bows down in front of his queen"