⚠️ WARNING ⚠️: This story contains blood, gore, and murder.

   The silver tabby pricked his ears and caught sight of movement at the edge of his vision. Stupid rat, he thought triumphantly, stalking skillfully towards the animal. As he neared, he licked his lips. It was quite large, and carried no scent of disease or injury. Not a bad find.

   With a loud yowl, he leaped at the rat and sunk his claws into its shaggy brown pelt. It's eyes widened as it realized it was trapped, and it began to thrash wildly. The silver tom smirked and flipped it over onto its back, running a claw slowly along its belly. He started at the base of its tail and began to slice upward towards its chin. Its agonized wail as cut short as blood flowed from its massive wound. The tom settled down over his catch, his bloody paw tucked neatly under him.

   Before he could take his first bite, a clattering came from farther down the alley. He glanced over his shoulder and saw his mate, Harley, leaping gracefully from trashbin to trashbin towards him.

   "Hello, dear," the silver tom purred, brushing his cheek against hers. "Any news?"

   "Wonderful news, Prince Shard," the black molly purred, sitting beside him and drawing a forepaw over her ear. "Prince Web was injured in a fight with a dog. Fatally, perhaps."

   Prince Shard smirked. "That is wonderful news. One less cat I have to take out myself."

   "Since we're on the topic," Harley mewed slowly in her sly, manipulative voice. "When are you planning on getting it over with? The sooner they're gone, the sooner you'll be king."

   "I know," he growled. "I'm waiting for the right time. I can't let them suspect that I killed them."

   "So lure in a pack of dogs, or foxes!" His mate urged. "Blame it on the beasts! It can't be that hard to convince a bunch of clueless mange-pelts!"

   "Some of them aren't clueless," Shard warned. "Don't go off running your mouth about this. A few of them will catch on."

   Harley snorted. "You mean Princess Daisy and her friends? They're pathetic! They can't defy you! And if they did, they know they'd go to the dogs."

   "I suppose your right." The silver tabby tom stood and shook out his fur. He had finished the rat, and all that remained was a pile of bloody bones. "I'll go check on Web and see if his wounds are as bad as you think."

   His mate stood and they began to pad back to camp. "I hope they are. Oh, how wonderful it's going to be when you're king!"

『••✎••』

"How is he?"

"Alive," the white she-cat glanced at Prince Web's den, where two other she-cats were fixing up his wounds. "He can't stay conscious for long, and his tail was torn to shreds."

The silver tom nodded stiffly, his pelt pricking with excitement. "May I see him?"

"Of course, Prince Shard," the molly stepped aside to let him enter, and he hissed quietly in triumph. Your time is almost up, brother.

Two she-cats crouched over an unmoving gray form. One of them, a golden tabby, cast him a sideways glance. Her eyes widened when she recognized him, and she dipped her head. "Hello, Prince Shard—"

"Don't speak unless you're spoken to," he growled, shoving her out of the way to get a good look at his brother. "Web? How are you?"

The gray tom's eyes fluttered open. He blinked in confusion for a few moments before his blue gaze rested on his brother. "Shard? Oh, Shard, you're alright! You broke away from our hunting party, and then the dogs—"

"I know," the silver tabby's tail lashed impatiently out behind him, but he forced his gaze to remain sympathetic. "Are you fit to go on a walk with me?"

Prince Web's eyes flashed with uncertainty. "I'm not sure. You'll have to ask one of them," he gestured with his tail at the two she-cats, both of which were glaring angrily at Shard.

The tabby prince blinked innocently at the golden tabby. "Well? Is he?"

"He should be as long as he doesn't over exert himself," she meowed curtly, snapping her mouth shut afterward.

Shard nodded. "Come, brother. I have much to say to you."

『••✎••』

After what felt like hours, the two toms finally reached an alley at the far edge of the Alley Cats' territory. It was bordered on one side by a tall metal Twoleg fence topped with barbed wire, and on the other by tall dumpsters. Prince Shard had to heave his brother over them to reach the alley. As the silver tabby landed gracefully on the other side, he glanced around. He nodded sharply when he saw his mate's glowing yellow eyes flash in the shadows behind a metal bin. Good. Now let's get this over with.

"What are we doing all the way out here, Shard?" His injured brother panted. He was limping heavily, with blood still flowing out of multiple wounds.

"To do something I've wanted to do for a long time."

"I don't underst—" Web gasped as his brother crashed into him and pinned him on his back, claws extended and fangs bared. The gray tom's eyes widened, then narrowed. "Shard? What are you doing?"

The silver tabby bared his teeth. "Taking the what's rightfully mine."

"The throne?" The injured tom grunted. "But I'm not the king. I'm not even second-in-line."

"But you're older than me. That means you'll receive the throne before me."

Web's eyes suddenly widened, and his jaw dropped in shock. "You're actually doing this then? You'd kill your own brother?"

Shard smirked, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction. "Yes."

『••✎••』

"You got one!" Harley squealed in delight. "Just one more to go and you can take on your father!"

"His mate, too," the silver tabby reminded her, pausing his grooming. It had been a few days since he returned home without his brother, lying and saying that his brother had slipped and reopened his wounds, bleeding out until he died. "If I don't knock her off, she'll take over for my father."

The black she-cat nodded. "True. Where are you planning the next one?"

He shrugged. "I don't know—"

"Hey Shard! How's the hunting going?"

Both cats froze at the unexpected voice, but slowly, their frightened expressions turned to ones of triumph. Shard stood, facing the white tom. "I was just speaking with Harley. She said she... er, might be expecting!"

"Hello, Prince Ares," the black she-cat dipped her head to the royal.

"Hello." Ares didn't even shoot Harley a glance.

"Where are the rest of the cats?" Shard asked, blinking into the shadows to see if there were any gleaming eyes.

His brother flicked his tail tip dismissively. "They've all gone home."

"Perfect."

"What—" Ares broke off with an enraged yowl as his brother's claws raked his muzzle. He stepped back, shaking crimson droplets from his muzzle. "Oh, you'll pay for that one."

   Ares roared and rose to his hind paws, towering over his much smaller brother. But Shard was always faster, and as his massive brother crashed down, he managed to duck and roll out of the way. He ended up just behind the other tom's hind paws, and gave a sharp swat at both of them. The white tom grunted and collapsed, but was up again in an instant.

   "What are you trying to do, brother?" Ares growled as they began to circle. "Just in the mood to pick a fight? I must say, you've chosen the wrong cat."

   "No," Shard snarled, his eyes narrowed into slits. "I'm here to claim the throne."

   Ares stopped circling to chuckle coldly. "You? King?" He snorted. "Never. You'd make a terrible king."

   Shard curled his lip and growled, leaping at his brother again. Ares didn't move until the last heartbeat, when he thrust his shoulders forward and flung his brother backward. The silver tabby did several backflips in the air before crashing into the hard stone ground. The prince yowled as pain flared along his left side. My shoulder!

   "I told you not to mess with me, brother." Triumph gleamed in Ares's amber eyes as he lunged forward, fangs bared for his brother's throat. As teeth sunk into his scruff, Shard went limp with a shudder, keeping his eyes shut tightly. He felt the white tom's hot, stinking breath in his ear. "Do you surrender?"

   "Never." The silver tabby tom exploded upward once again and heard a sickening crack. As he landed, he whipped around, and let out a yowl of triumph. "Told me not to mess with you, huh?" Shard cackled coldly over his brother. "A poor choice of words."

   Shard padded nonchalantly over the corpse, making sure to step on his broken spine. Harley's eyes shone with hunger as she approached him. "Another one down."

   The prince smiled. "Two more to go."

『••✎••』

   "Nice catch," Harley purred, sauntering over to her mate's side.

   Shard stared down at his bloody fur. "I couldn't have done it without you."

   "Now you just have to pick off the king," the black she-cat meowed joyfully. "That should be easy."

   "I don't think so."

   Shard and Harley whipped their heads around. The prince's hackles lifted as a familiar white she-cat padded towards them. "Daisy? What are you doing out here?"

   "I followed you," she meowed bluntly, her eyes blazing. "I thought it was strange that you were with both Web and Ares when they died. And my suspicions were correct. Shard, how could you kill your own brothers? And now father's mate? Who are you!?"

   Shard narrowed his eyes and sunk his claws into the dirt. "You know perfectly well who I am."

   He was about to leap at her when she smirked. "Go ahead and attack me. I told my friends where to look for me if I don't return. They'll throw you to the dogs!"

   The silver tabby smirked back. "Not if you're found at the scene of the crime." Swiftly, he darted forward and swatted at her muzzle. Being a defenseless, un-trained she-cat, she backed away, hissing with her fur bushes. Harley yowled from behind her, making her whip around, trembling.

   "You shouldn't have followed me, Daisy," Shard meowed, his voice devoid of emotion. "You didn't have to drag yourself into this."

   "I don't regret it." The she-cat held her chin high. "What are you going to do?"

   "I'll tell them you did it." Before their conversation could progress any further, Shard blinked at Harley. "Keep her here, but get out when you hear us coming, ok?"

The black she-cat nodded, then hissed and struck Daisy again, claws unsheathed. "You got it."

"Help! Help! Daisy killed Queen Flora!"

Cats were instantly out of their dens, pelts bristling and eyes wide with shock. A large dark gray tabby tom stood directly outside his den, his eyes round with grief and disbelief. "Shard, what did you say?"

"Daisy killed Flora!" He shouted again, trying to look innocent and afraid. "She's down in the east alley. I tried to stop her, but she wouldn't listen!"

"K-King Moon?" A tabby tom padded up to the grief-stricken gray cat. "What should we do?"

The king sighed heavily, suddenly looking several years older. He lifted his head and gazed at his son. "Take me to her."

Shard nodded, then turned and bounded away. He heard his father's pawsteps stumbling after him and felt a prick of satisfaction. This is my chance. I'll kill him too, and blame Daisy for it all! Oh, you picked the wrong day to play detective, sister.

『••✎••』

Furious yowls echoed around the alley.

"You killed our king!"

"And your own brothers!"

"The queen, too!"

"Throw her in with the dogs!"

"Silence!" The silver tom blinked down at the cats gathered below him. He was perched on top of a tall wooden fence bathed in moonlight. "Daisy, what do you have to say for yourself?"

The white she-cat met his gaze for a moment, then curled her lip. "Only one thing, brother. I hope this has made you happy. I hope it was worth it to slaughter everyone who ever loved you so that you could rule."

   No cats gasped. Not a single one of them believed her. King Shard smirked, but deep down something tugged at his belly. Grief? No, it couldn't be. He was King now, after all! He got what he wanted! He shoved it away and glared evenly down at his sister. "Then I condemn you to death. Toss her over."

   The silver tabby stepped aside to let four massive, burly toms shove Daisy up and over the fence. She landed with a heavy thud on the other side, and a few heartbeats later, heavy barking echoed across the yard. Shard looked away, gazing down at the cats. His cats.

   He smiled at Harley, who's eyes gleamed with bloodlust. Shard's smile faltered, but he quickly forced it back into place. This is what I wanted, he reasoned, shaking his head to clear it. But a sinking feeling still hollowed out his belly. ...Isn't it?