ON HIS THRONE of gold bars with its glorious size and intricate designs befitting his power, sat the Alpha King. With exhaustion evident in his drooping eyes and downturned mouth, he stared gloomily at the moon.

In turn, the full moon peered back down with a cold, light that was further magnified by the ornate glass dome that hung over him like an oppressive cloud.

Basking him in silver, the moon shone bright as it reflected off of Darius' face. Almost as if to emphasize how alone he felt in his opulent surrounding, the light filled the room with an unsettling sense of dread.

Darius used to kneel in reverence to the luminous night sky as its goddess rewarded him with her silvery light, and for every blessing she bestowed him.

But now, as he gazed upon her beauty from the same spot where he once prayed, his heart felt heavy. Consumed with loathing, it poisoned every corner of his being and fuelled a raging fire within him .

She was aware of when he lost hope in finding his mate.

She was aware of his loss of love.

She was even aware of when he lost faith in her, and when the animosity inside him towards her began to grow, but did she care?

No. She never did.

Darius watched in envy as those around him found their mates and started having pups. His younger brother, in particular, had already become a father of two - something which Darius felt was painfully beyond his reach.

Although he was happy for them, he couldn't help feeling like an outsider in the midst of such moments. Seeing his fate slowly being laid down before him, all he could do was stand by and accept that he may never be lucky enough to experience the same.

Rage boiling in his veins, Darius glared furiously at the moon with raw contempt, as if daring its serenity to match his own. Regardless of whether it was blasphemy or disrespect, Darius cursed the celestial being with ragged breath.

His humanity slipped away as he felt nothing but disdain for a world that had stripped him of his hope and deprived him of purpose, and the moon seemed to mock him with its eternal tranquility.

His demise was imminent.

The Alpha King, feeling the encroaching darkness of death's embrace, desperately counted down the hours that remained. With each ticking second, his heart pounded faster and harder until every moment felt like an eternity as he faced the looming specter of mortality.

Darius' stomach lurched when he considered the goddess' judgment. His brow furrowed and his fists clenched as waves of terror surged through his body, leaving him trembling under her unseen pressure.

With every passing second, visions of a bleak future filled his mind as he grew more and more certain that the goddess would soon take him.

She never showed him mercy, not once. His plaintive howls were answered with an unsympathetic silence.

Denying him that solitary joy, the Goddess, for centuries, withheld from him that one person he craved more than anything else. Instead, she made him the most powerful and respected wolf in all the land.

But in the end, Darius could seek no comfort in it without his mate.

Darius stood in a void of her making, surrounded by an emptiness that echoed back his every thought. He searched for any trace of her presence but found nothing - the only answer was a solemn silence.

He realized that maybe he was condemned to be alone, never to be set free from this prison of loneliness.

He groaned, feeling his strength ebbing away with each passing day, like a slow-acting poison was leeching the life from his veins. He knew he was inching closer to death - an ending that would be irrevocable, permanent and absolute; and when it came, there would be no more of him, no trace of his existence left behind.

The impending darkness of irrelevance consumed him, and with it the thought that he would not have those to honour his name. He sighed in disappointment, imagining a world where he'd go down in history as the "Mateless King", an empty title held by no one but himself.

He let out another long, heavy sigh, just as his mother emerged from her chambers in a storm of fury. Ripping the throne room's door off its hinges, she marched towards Darius, as her two ladies-in-waiting followed behind her.

Scrambling to keep up with her, their hands clinged on the fabric of the voluminous crimson gown as they desperately tried to keep the hem off the ground, so as not to damage the delicate embroidery.

Despite the distance between them, he could feel her seething rage and frustration as her steps were hard and purposeful.

Looking on, Darius couldn't comprehend why women would put themselves through the pain of choosing to dress in such discomfort, but at the same time, he couldn't help but be awed by how beautiful they looked in their carefully chosen outfits.

"Darius Seth Lucian!" He grumbled, turning his head away from her as she yelled.

"What is it, Mother?"

"I am certain that I did not raise you to become a weak-willed coward! Why do you so readily accept your fate like this, Darius?" In a thunderous voice, she questioned.

When he didn't respond, she whacked his thigh with her fan, which still elicited no response from him.

"Darius!" Alice yelled.

The Alpha King only then shifted his gaze to the Queen Mother. His stare was icy as he glared at his mother, his wolf within him snarling in disagreement.

He showed no signs of emotion even whilst tension and resentment built like a storm within him, as he struggled to comprehend why she was so angry. His bated breath seemed to fill the room until it was almost suffocating.

"Take a look at yourself! Just sitting there, and waiting calmly for the goddess to take your life. Why aren't you able to keep fighting?" She pushed back.

"What is there still worth fighting for?" Lacking the energy to express his annoyance at her rudeness, he asked in a groggy voice.

"You very well know the answer to that. I just don't understand... When did it come to this, my son?" Suddenly, with a softer glance, the Queen Mother inquired.

Darius felt the urge to roll his eyes at her outlandish remark, but he knew it would be futile to do so. Instead, he tried to remain poised and chose to respond politely. "The moment the goddess chose to smite me."

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Thank you for reading.