Among The Darkness

Three

Tabari places his hand on Akio's shoulder, spinning him around. He hands Akio his food and nods towards the guards stationed near them at all times when they left the palace.

"Akio I need to go."

"Why? We just got here," Akio whines.

"Akio. I will be right back. You distract the guards so I can leave. I just need five minutes. If I am not back in five minutes, get the guards and follow my scent."

"Tabari! What-," Tabari does not give Akio the chance to answer, turning to follow the strange man.

Tabari weaves through the crowd of people and down past the stalls. He walks down a narrow alleyway between two houses. He walks slowly, his body tense as he spots the dead end ahead of him.

"Well... I did not expect you to follow me." Tabari jumps, spinning around to find the boy with the shaggy black hair. He smiles darkly at Tabari. "I thought I would have to drag you away from those ignorant guards myself. But no, you came straight to me."

"Who are you," Tabari demands. His voice sounded confident in his ears but it did not reflect how he felt inside. He knew that he had to act strong in front of this potentially dangerous stranger. People loved to take advantage of the weak.

"Are you a member of the royal family," the boy counters.

"I asked you first. So you answer me first."

"Such a snappy attitude. All you need to know about me is that I hate weak and disgraceful omegas like yourself rising to power. You deserve to die a terrible death. Omegas do nothing but ruin our kingdom."

"Your king is an omega!" Tabari was getting angry with the boy. Angry and terrified at the same time.

Was this boy going to kill him?

"He is no king of mine." The boy pulls out a knife from inside his boot.

Tabari's heart skips a beat and he steps back only to hit the wall behind him. The boy lunges at Tabari with the knife in his hand. Tabari leans out of the way just as the knife comes swinging down. It hits the wall, splitting the wood.

The boy reaches out and grabs Tabari by his hair. Tabari screams as he is dragged backward, the loud noise echoing throughout the alleyway. He is yanked up and pressed against the boy's body, knife placed against his throat. Blood begins to trickle down Tabari's neck as the tip of the knife digs into his neck.

"Any last words, omega?"

The boy does not get the chance to slit Tabari's throat as he is thrown to the ground by Tabari's guards.

Akio had heard Tabari's scream and alerted the guards. They ran fast to be able to make it to Tabari. Just in time, it seemed as Tabari's neck was cut open by the movements of the boy being ripped away from Tabari. Not a lot, but enough for the blood to leak steadily down his neck.

Tabari pales at the sight of his own blood trailing down his fingers as he touches his neck. He begins to feel lightheaded and slumps back against the wall.

Akio cries out and leans down to his older brother. He presses his hands against the already healing wound.

"I am okay, Akio. We need to go home now. We are not safe here."

The guards haul the now unconscious boy with them on the journey back to the palace. Tabari shares a horse with Akio on the ride back instead of taking separate horses. Akio refused to be away from his brother.

By now Tabari's cut had completely healed. The only evidence of the attack was the thick blood staining his neck and shirt and the light headedness he felt.

Akio clings onto Tabari the whole way to the palace, afraid for himself and his brother. The sun had set which made it hard for the two omegas to see anything. It made them wary with the looming trees of the Evergreen Forest. No one knew what lay beyond those trees.

As the horses come to a stop in front of the palace, Keir and Collin are running out to comfort their pups. The guards had alerted the kings about what happened down in the town. Of course, Ansel would alert Keir and Collin about their pups' condition.

Keir, not caring whether his son wanted his touch or not, throws his arms around Tabari. Keir's wolf whines as he sees the blood on his pup's neck. Tabari's body becomes rigid as he feels his father's arms around him.

"Oh, Tabari! My sweet pup are you alright? Oh, of course, you aren't alright! You were brutally attacked!"

"Father," Tabari pushes gently at Keir's shoulders. "I will be fine. Please let me go."

Keir sadly pulls away from his pup. He looks into Tabari's eyes and smiles gently.

"I love you, my sweet pup."

Tabari swallows thickly, his words stuck in his throat as the man who tried to kill him stirs from where he lay on the ground. His hands tied behind his back tightly so he cannot hurt anyone else.

Rumi and Greyson stand behind Ansel as Ansel kneels beside the boy. The boy spits at Ansel and his mates growl at the boy.

"Why do you wish to see me die," Ansel asks the boy.

"You worthless pieces of shit deserve to die!"

"That's enough," Rumi says. "This will only get us nowhere. He will not cooperate. Just kill him."

"No, wait!" The boy scrambles up to his knees. "Wait you cannot kill me,"

"Why not? You seemed to have no mercy when you saw my nephew. Why should we spare you?"

"Because one day you will see how much omegas aren't needed! There will be a mass rebellion! The world will see our views! You will see,-"

"Kill him. He is wasting our time."

Rumi points to the knife that the boy had carried with him. Tabari's blood still sticking to the sharp blade.

"Slit his throat just like he was going to do to Tabari."

The boy's screams can be heard from behind as Rumi strides back into the castle. Keir and Collin tend to their pups as Ansel rushes forward to catch up with Rumi and Greyson follows.

"This just proves how much we need this fucking alliance. No matter how much we disagree with Bowyn's views. Especially now that people like that are now trying to kill us off. We need to do everything in our power to convince Bowyn Rowe to form an alliance with us," Rumi says, running a hand through his hair.

"Do not fret, Rumi," Greyson says. "Everything will go perfectly fine tomorrow night. Do not worry."

Ansel could not shake the sickening feeling that things were not going to go well tomorrow. Only time would tell...

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-LunaMoon