Chapter 470: The Strays
Nigel had just fallen asleep after shifting sides for what felt like an hour or two. The pain of having to separate from his wife and his babies, and the uncertainty of the outcome of tomorrow's clash was giving him a hard time falling asleep.
But the sleep that he got after such struggle was disturbed when his senses picked up the presence of someone who shouldn't have been running there in the vicinity.
"What's that sound?" Nigel opened his eyes wide and thought, "I hope the vampires didn't reach here way earlier than they were supposed to!"
Nigel jumped up on his feet at once, got out of his tent, and ran towards the direction where he picked up some rustling sound.
As he approached closer and closer, he could smell that the other party was also a werewolf. Thankfully, that werewolf was not emitting any kind of hostile smell. "Is someone joining in late? Or did someone go for a night stroll?"
Nigel sensed that werewolf stopping on its track, most probably because it also sensed Nigel running in its direction.
When Nigel reached near the beacon of that smell, he couldn't help but facepalm himself and shout at that naked man, "Wulfric! What on earth are you doing here? Did you run away from the Palace again?"
"Um, I… I wanted to participate in the wa–" Wulfric suddenly got a tight slap from Nigel. His cheeks turned red within a few seconds and his ear rang very loudly.
"Brother…" Wulfric whispered in a hurt voice. He furrowed his brows and gave a shocked expression to his brother. Never in his life had he seen Nigel this angry. And he was also scared to see Nigel glaring at him with rage.
However, Nigel didn't care if Wulfric was hurt or scared or whatever.
He just angrily scolded his cousin again, "You are the Crown Prince of Aberdeen, you rascal! How can you be so careless and childish? We are in a war. And this is a battleground, not your playground. This is not a time to be escaping from the security of your Kingdom and coming here to play."
Wulfric hung his head low and answered like an innocent baby, "Brother, I didn't come here to play."
He looked up at Nigel with conviction and added, "I came here because I am the Crown Prince. And it didn't feel right for me to stay protected behind the four walls while my pack members are here putting their lives on the line."
Nigel sighed and pushed his hair back in frustration. He then tried to make his fool of a brother to return back, "Wulfric! This is not the time to be all melodramatic, alright. Who will take over the throne if something unspeakable was to happen to you? So, please, just go back home."
However, it didn't seem like Wulfric was in a mood to return. So he insisted, "I promise I won't be on anyone's way. And it's not like I can't fight! I can fight almost as well as you. And I want to gain war experience. I can't develop if I am always locked away inside the Palace.
Also, you are here, aren't you?"
"I don't want to take responsibility for you. I can't, when I already have so much on my plate." Nigel furiously pointed towards Aberdeen and screamed, "Now run back before I lose my patience."
"Uh–" Wulfric was about to protest again but he stopped when he heard a sound of twigs cracking from far behind him.
Both Nigel and Wulfric were now in a high alert mode.
Nigel's brotherly instinct kicked in and he went and stood in front of Wulfric. His eyes glowed amber in color so that he could see clearer and further.
And when the culprit of that noise came into his view, Nigel clenched his jaw and fisted on his hips. He turned to see Wulfric and asked, "And why would you bring him along when you know that he is a new wolf?"
Wulfric was already copying Nigel's posture. He shrugged his shoulders and denied that accusation, "I didn't bring him along, I swear. And I didn't even sense that he was following me all along. Else I would have asked him to return."
Nigel obviously didn't buy what Wulfric was saying. He rolled his eyes at Wulfric and turned to see Fenris who was now approaching closer. He was running towards them in his wolf form.
When Fenris reached in front of his brothers, he changed back into his human form. Unlike Wulfric, Fenris was wearing his magic imbued cloth that the Mystic Coven had gifted him when he was still in Wyverndale. So when he turned back to being a human, Fenris was not naked like Wulfric.
Fenris was still catching his breath when he also got a tight slap from Nigel.
Nigel narrowed his eyes at Fenris and scolded him as well, "Are both of you out of your mind? Why would you crash a battlefield as if you were crashing a wedding?"
Before Fenris could even defend himself, Nigel caught both of his brothers by their ears and asked angrily, "Now tell me, whose idea was it to come here like this?"
"Aah! Aah! Aah!..." Both Fenris and Wulfric were screaming in pain.
"And what are the two of you trying to prove by coming here? That both of you are brave Princes who wouldn't let their soldiers face the war alone? Or are the two of you thinking of yourselves as the mighty heroes who came to the rescue of the others at the last minute?" Nigel gritted his teeth and shouted, "Tell me before I rip off your ears!"
Fenris kicked Wulfric on his calf and put the blame on him, "I saw this pup running away from the Palace. And it didn't take a detective to know where he was headed. So I followed him here so that I could keep an eye on him."
"Nobody asked you to follow me here, you new pup." Wulfric snarled at Fenris and shouted, "Nobody needs to keep an eye on me. I can take care of myself. And I fight better than you, you stupid. Why are you even here when you are the one who needs protection?"
Fenris air-punched Wulfric and growled back, "Yes, you are better at fighting than me. But you are more stupid than me. And I followed you because I was worried thinking some stray vampires could attack you."
Wulfric's glare on Fenris softened a bit upon hearing that his brother was worried about him and thus, followed him.
Nigel let go of Fenris' ear but kept on holding Wulfric's.
He heaved a deep sigh and he asked both of them in frustration, "Don't you two have a sense of responsibility? How can the two of you act so rashly? Have the two of you ever given a thought to what everyone back at the Palace might be going through after realizing that both the Princes are missing?"
Fenris gave an accusing look to Wulfric and replied in a soft tone, "I wrote a note and left it in my room. They will know that both of us are here."
Nigel left his hold on Wulfric as well and he firmly said to both of them, "I don't care if they are aware of your whereabouts or not. What I know is that the two of you are leaving this instant. And that's final. Now leave!"