Prologue
1017 Words
Third Person POV
Fifteen Years Ago
The battered old station wagon shuddered as the man driving it kept trying to push it to higher speeds. Not because he was being followed - he'd made sure of that - but just because he was ready to finish his mission and go home. He cursed the car under his breath as he flipped a cigarette butt out the window. He flipped through the radio stations, trying to find one that wasn't pure static. He glanced in the rearview mirror at the two little boys sleeping in the backseat. He smiled his sadistic smile. If he had his way about things, this would be the last time he would ever lay eyes on them. Oh, his holier-than-thou brother and his brother's b**ch of mate would look for them, but they'd never find them. He'd made sure of that. And the boys were only three, so they'd forget all about their parents and their home in no time.
'This is wrong, Arthur, and you know it,' hissed a voice in his head.
A low growl rumbled through his chest. 'Shut up, Jaxon,'
'They're just pups, Arthur. Pups! And you're dragging them away from their parents! You know, the King and Queen of all beasts?! You're going to get us both killed!"
He grumbled and blocked his beast out. He was nothing but an annoying know-it-all. So what if the boys were just pups? They were pups who threatened his position in line to the throne. After this, he would only need to get their father Sebastien out of the way, and the throne was his. He muttered to himself that if only he wasn't such a softie, he could've just taken the boys out already and not had to take this cross country trip. But the beast in his head wouldn't allow him to kill them, so this was the next best thing.
It had been a rough trip, with the boys looking for their parents at first and crying, but he'd managed to convince them that good ole Uncle Arthur was taking them on a grand adventure. Last night he'd finally had enough of their yammering and slipped them some melatonin. Didn't take long at all before they were snoring and he drive without using the earplugs. He finally found a radio station that had a decent signal and started singing along to the oldies rock in roll coming through the speakers.
He turned into the driveway of the suburban two story home whose address had been in his GPS for the past five days. Despite the fact that it was not yet daylight, the young couple and their toddler daughter were waiting for him on their front porch as the car came to a stop. He popped a breath mint into his mouth, plastered a fake smile on his face, and exited the car. Tanner and Carrie Canton, along with their daughter Sarah, descended their front steps and walked over to greet him.
"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Canton! And hello, beautiful Sarah! Aren't you an adorable little princess this morning?" he greeted them. He shook hands with the two adults and patted the little girl on the head. She was dressed in a sparkly purple dress and clutching a plastic purple wand in both hands as she hid behind her mother, staring out at him with wide eyes.
"Good morning, Arthur," Carrie said with a smile. Tanner simply nodded and smiled as he shook Arthur's hand. "How are they doing?"
He sighed, putting a concerned expression on his face. "It's been a difficult few days for them," he said somberly. "They don't understand why their mommy and daddy just left them at the agency like that. Poor kids, they were only able to bring them in in one outfit apiece, and no toys. The boys don't appear to be malnourished, but the parents were a different story. They didn't look like they'd eaten in awhile. But another agent was helping them to find food and shelter. And at least they did the right thing, giving the boys up so they didn't have to be homeless too."
Carrie sighed. "Poor little guys, they must be so devastated."
Arthur nodded, keeping the concerned look on his face while inwardly rolling his eyes. "Yes, I believe they are," he told her. Poor little things, they've been making up wild stories about their mommy and daddy being King and Queen, and them being princes. And it's like they're so starved for love and affection, they've even started calling me Uncle Arthur." He shook his head sadly.
Carrie peeked through the window at the sleeping boys. "Which one is which?" she asked Arthur.
He glanced back with a slight frown. "Ah, that's Jamisen by the window and Johnathon on the other side," he told her.
He pulled out the stack of papers he had in his briefcase. "So, there are a few places here I need you both to sign, then they're legally your sons," he said with a smile.
Within moments, unbeknownst to the Cantons, the boys' name spellings had been changed - Jamisen's name spelling had been changed to Jameson and Johnathon was changed to Jonathan. Arthur figured there was no way they were going to find them, so why go to the trouble of picking out new names?
He tucked the papers into his briefcase, promising to send them a copy soon. He planned on stopping at the first Kinko's he saw and printing off a copy to send back to them, before destroying the original.
The Cantons invited him to stay for breakfast, but he politely declined. He had no sooner pulled out of the driveway than the sinister smile reappeared on his face. His I'm-the-king-and-you'll-never-be-king brother and his I'm-better-than-everyone sister-in-law were going to s**t bricks when they realized their precious sons were gone. Heads would probably roll, but he'd covered his track well enough to ensure it wasn't his head.
Now, to get rid of the last obstacle on his way to the throne - his brother, the King.
- Writer
