Styx checked the clock beside his king-sized bed and saw that it was 6:30 am already. He had been informed of Charles' absence since the previous night by his aide whom he employed to watch him.

He had been getting hints about how Charles had always wanted to become the King and he was preparing for him as well without his knowledge.

After Lyne had narrated her dream to him, he held it at the back of his mind.

He rose from the bed and went to his palace so he could catch him when he arrived and as predicted, he did walk in, wearing a brown leather jacket, black gloves, and boots.

Charles walked in and stopped when he saw his father seated on the throne.

"What a stressful thing it is to be the King. Not getting your healthy eight hours sleep, old man? Or are you worried someone will come stabbing you in the chest?" He asked, a dark smile tugging the corner of his lips.

"Where have you been?" Styx replied, trying hard not to sound like he suspected him but to sound like a father who was merely concerned about his son's whereabouts.

"Why do you care?"

"I was in my room enjoying my "healthy eight hours sleep", when I was told you weren't in your room in the twelfth hour. Not like you're a guard, you shouldn't be up that early."

Charles chuckled, running his hands through his rumpled blonde hair.

"What are you now, father? A spy?"

"What are you planning, Charles?"

He placed his lips between his teeth, a smile played on his lips before he moved to the shelf that held drinks in the room.

He grabbed a scotch and poured it into two glasses. Walking up to Styx, he offered a glass but he didn't budge.

"Well, more for me, less for you."

He commented and giggled before downing the drink.

"So, what were you saying?"

"Charles?!" He heard someone call his name and he rolled his eyes at his sister, Korba.

"Where have you been? I wanted to talk to you but you just vanished." She was wearing her fighting gears and her body was covered in dew and mud.

Charles eyed her and narrowed his eyes.

"Have you gone out to look for me?"

"What else could I have done? Shelbrooke was here and I believe he came here for trouble." Korba stared at her brother and frowned at his calmness.

"You knew he was here?"

"Korba dear, don't stress yourself. You still have a long way to go in the military." He patted her shoulder and left for his room leaving her to her thoughts. 

"This is strange." Korba retorted as she sat on one of the seats meant for her Father's subjects, tired.

"Charles has a plan," Styx spoke up as he looked at his daughter intently. Evelyn had given birth to Korba, Charles, George, and Georgina before she gave up the ghost after delivering the twins due to a chronic condition she was in after childbirth.

Now, he had just two wives who were still alive but they are both living their lives in New York. They're only present for the family vacation in the South Jungle whenever they feel like it. 

He sighed and his mind wandered back to when their family was one big family, complete and alive.

"Dad, can we go hunting please?" Five years old Korba had come running to him in his room and he carried her in his arms.

"Not today, Korba." Her little happy face turned sour as she heard that.

"I'll try to do that some other time."

"Promise?" She asked and he nodded.

However, he couldn't do that anymore as they started getting into one problem and another with plenty of invaders. There, he had met a lady in the forest lying on the ground. In his wolf form, he had moved around sniffing her body.

He noticed she was human but was still alive. He carried her back to the palace but she had lost her memory and couldn't find her way back. He had no choice but to keep her in the palace. He gave her a new name, Tara, and soon fell in love with her. 

In a few weeks, Tara joined the army and she fought efficiently, earning her respect from everyone. After training one day, she came running into the palace and told him she wanted to follow him to the battlefield. Although he tried to convince her to stay back as she was purely human and could therefore die easily, she refused and stood her ground on following him to fight wars.

After her death, he named her newly born child what she begged him to. He called her Lyne and when he found out she had no wolf as well, he decided to take preventive measures so as not to lose her as well. He, therefore, called her Hope in his heart because he still hoped that one day, she would find her Wolf. But it never happened and he concluded that she was pure human just like her mother. To avoid a repeat of history, he kept her away from training.

He couldn't bear to lose yet another lover, another hope.

His only hope.

Blinking his thoughts away, he realized a tear streamed down his cheek and he quickly wiped it away but it was too late as Korba had seen him already.

"Are you crying?" She asked, wide-eyed as she had never seen her Father emotional after her stepmother's death.

"No, I'm not." His voice was steady again.

"Sooooo....what fell from your eye? Rain?" She asked as if mocking Styx.

"Well, whatever. I don't wanna know." She rose and walked out of the palace.

Styx sighed, his heart squeezed as he wondered if he had done the right thing to leave Lyne in the vampire's hands. 

"Lest I forget!" Korba's loud voice startled him and he almost jumped off his throne.

"Hey!" He thundered. "What did I say about being creepy?" 

"Sorry, Dad." She sighed and rolled her eyes. " I just wanted to tell you that Azrael and I have chosen a date for our wedding."

"Ooh... Interesting." He nodded, his mind still filled with Lyne.