The Alpha Prince's Bodyguard

Chapter 5

Rhys walks out of the meeting room when the meeting is unofficially concluded. It is obvious that there is no more information to be gained, at least by him, and they make it known that he is no longer required. A gathering of five of his so-called family making it obvious that he is not part of it incase he didn't already know.

Exclusion is hardest to take when it is from people that share blood. Even worse, when it is so obvious and repeated. He can understand the hate from his father in a strange way, but he feels like the hate from his brothers is completely unwarranted, maybe they are just programmed to hate him and there was no chance for anything different.

Even through it all. He doesn't hate them, or maybe he just doesn't want to waste time on such meaningless things.

He may not hate them, but he doesn't feel brotherly love towards them, as the whole setup is so dysfunctional that it is impossible to.

Rhys walks out leaving the other five talking excitedly. He knows that it is likely that Alaric is telling his brothers everything that is ahead at this moment, leaving him out of the loop, but even if he stayed, Alaric would never speak in front of him, the others would just move to a different location in an effort to avoid him.

He glances sideways at the five elite bodyguards.

Ve is first, not in order of authority, of the bodyguard or even the master. It is just that they arrived first.

Behind Ve stands four towering men, so strong, so intimidating, so normal, so expected. Rhys grits his teeth together as he walks past them feeling Ve drop into line behind him. Ve is just always there, always doing exactly what she is meant to be doing, doing what is expected of her, but on the eve of this, it is just another farce.

She is a physical representation of his low status, just a long-running joke that seems to be his life.

It is as if he can feel the other bodyguards, people that should be beneath him, laughing at him just because of Ve’s presence.

Twelve has been with him for fifteen long years. It is the longest running hoax. When Rhys first saw her at age eleven it was the single most heartbreaking thing (short of his mother leaving) that had happened in his short life.

Alaric made a point to award the elite bodyguards to the son's all at once. He made such a big production of it. He had hyped Rhys up so much about it, to the point that Rhys naively believed that Alaric was finally on his side, that he had something so special. That even if he could ignore Rhys in every other way, he took Rhys' safety and security seriously.

That was the last time he believed his father. It was that day he knew his father was a lost cause, and he should never expect anything from that man. Up until that point, he had tried so hard to win his father's favor. While he felt he was fighting a losing battle, he didn’t give up hope and that is why he was so willing to believe, even after six years of mistreatment, that things were finally looking up, and his father had finally recognized his sincerity.

The presentation was done in front of half the pack, and he was the last of the sons. He was standing up on the stage with his brother's, seeing the large bodyguards that they had been given. While the bodyguards were only barely teens at that stage, anyone could see that they were already full of strength and were going to be something special. The new elite bodyguards were already a sight to behold beside the already impressive five royal sons.

At that time Rhys had allowed his imagination to run wild about how superior his own was going to be. He thought that this would be a single act that made up for the years of neglect that came before.

When he was presented with Ve, his entire heart dropped, his veins ran ice-cold and his heart froze over, it was impossible not to feel shame. He could hear snickers and sneers from the crowd, as if everyone was betting that his death was imminent. The look on his father's face at the time was something that is still burned into his memory.

That was the turning point, as if he wasn't treated badly enough by others before that. That was the king's tacit permission to ridicule him. He has managed to stop most of that with his indifference and innate authority. Once he received his wolf, no one dared to make such an error.

While he never punished anyone for their wrongs, because he knew that they weren't the ones that needed punishing, they were all just going with the flow, seeking favor instead of thinking about the young man they were hurting in the process. His wolf was impossible to ignore and no one had the confidence to test the theory unless they were under the king's direct command.

Suddenly, he had this little girl following him around at all times. For so long, he couldn't even hear her voice because every time that sweet voice sounded it just punched him in the gut once more. Every word slicing through his dignity. The worth of the young man was so easily rattled, yet he pushed through.

Rhys basically holds his breath until he walks out the front door and into the fresh air, taking in a big lung full of clean air. It does not soothe the aching in his chest, his whole body feels it.

He doesn't stop walking from the building onto the grass, across the grass straight into the tree line. Even then, he keeps walking further and further away from the castle until it is barely a speck on the horizon. The two have not been able to see it for a while as the trees provide a sanctuary, separating them from the rest of the world.

"Are you not even going to ask me how it went?"

Ve’s violet eyes flash as she looks around herself. She has been on autopilot. Her mind is everywhere but here, she hasn't abandoned her job so much. She knows that there is no danger lurking, but beyond that she didn't even notice where they were.

"Am I supposed to?"

Rhys stops and looks back at her, the woman wrapped head to toe in black. All she has is a faint scent of a sports deodorant and conditioner, no perfume, no scent of makeup, nothing. No big announcement that she is close. She could fade away at any time and leave no sign that she existed. If he couldn't feel her presence, it would be like she was never even there at all.

Silent, scentless and unimposing, three words that completely sum up the woman.

It is ridiculous, because up until he started dating Arrabella, he was used to keeping everything bottled up inside. She probed him for all the information. So, over these last six months, he has somehow become accustomed to speaking out his grievances. Now that he can't find Arrabella, he is not even sure why he thought that he should speak to Ve in the same way.

The thought that he suddenly doesn't have a sounding board irritates him, forgetting that Ve has been there even when he is talking to himself, rarely talking directly to her. Just muttering his grievances to himself. Nothing really changed when he got together with Arrabella. It was just the fact that someone answered, there was always a listening ear, just the responses that lacked.

It is the fact that he can’t find Arrabella, he had to see his father and Ve doesn’t care, it is too much for a single morning, the stresses eating him alive. Now that Ve doesn't even humor him with a pity question or a basic show of interest.

"You don't even care to ask?"

Ve’s violet eyes are blazing, any hint of the dullness that was there before is gone as she stares at Rhys. She is at tipping point. Her whole life is leading to this precipice, she is taking everything on the chin, every look, every word, every insult, now that one person she thought she had is gone. It was all an illusion, the mask has been torn off, and now it is impossible to recover.

"Should I?"

Both have had their absolute fill of adversity, each taking more than a normal person might encounter in a lifetime each and every day, they are both drowning in very different ways, they are both very much alone in this life and are more than willing to take out their displeasure on the wrong person. Rhys' eyes blaze with an equal fury as Ve’s. His anger at the whole situation, having a target, and it is impossible not to vent.

"It affects your future as much as it affects mine, yet you act so uninterested"

The elite bodyguards of the sons that fail will meet much the same fate because they can only be seen to be loyal to one person. They are too much of a risk to be allowed to stay. A second bodyguard will join the ranks to protect the new king, but he will never have the position of the elite bodyguard. The singular elite bodyguard is for life. The other ones come and go and are interchangeable on a whim.

If he fails, she fails alongside him.

The anger in Rhys' voice ignites her own anger to eruption level. The precipice is past, and now she's just free-falling into a pit of anger. The grievance is real, and she needs to air it in the most unhealthy way possible.

Nothing much more can be expected of someone that has stayed quiet for fourteen years.

"Trust me, it is not an act, it makes no difference to me what was said. My job is my job. Nothing more, nothing less"