[GRANT]
"Then don't give them that chance. Don't let them humiliate you, because otherwise they will burn you out of whatever is left of the Acrod throne. They will ruin you and all that Acrod stands for, and that is something that Cassius won't accept with ease.
"Then there will be a war between Acrod and Udrad, one with stakes higher than that has ever been seen before," Aurora said softly.
Of course, she understood her grandson.
She knew how hard this was for Grant, but then what the fuck was she supposed to say to him?
Comfort him when she knew damn well that one wrong move from Grant and the entire kingdom would be in flames?
When she realized that her grandson was still pining for Alanor and was hoping that Alanor would use his privileges to make Grant his second mate, if not his third.
That was a long shot, and it didn't help that even now, Aurora could see that her grandson was living for Alanor.
That her grandson still hoped that Alanor would choose him.
That Alanor would come home after him.
That he was sorry about Unar and everything.
Even worse, that Alanor would clean the timeline and repair their love.
It was a crazy thing for a man like Grant to hope for, but for a lover, Grant's illusions and delusions were things that his grandma had gotten used to over the years.
Maybe if the universe were kinder this time, there wouldn't be bloodshed between the kingdoms, and all would be well.
Oh, if only it were that easy.
Grant didn't have to deal with Zaire and Lucius.
If only.
"I don't think—" Grant tried, unable to form words.
And Aurora understood that more than anyone would.
These risks had been cast at the game of life and death, and her grandson was the balance that could either topple it all or make it steady. This was a huge responsibility that Cassius had given him, and it was heartwarming and scary at the same time.
Aurora could tell that so well.
She wasn't sure if this was what Cassius was giving her grandson, but she was painfully aware that this was the one thing that Grant couldn't run away from.
"Just be careful, son. Cassius trusts you; that is all there is to this. Besides, he probably wants to show Alanor that you recovered well, got your shit together, and are doing great without him," Aurora added, even though a part of her didn't believe that.
Her mind was still reeling from the effects of the Merdel curse. A curse that had risen through the entire realm as if they had all played a part in the messing of Zuhair Merdel's children.
She remembered the day that Zuhair really died, the day the worst of curses took root in the entire realm. She remembered the way that life had changed and even the day when Udrad had been forced to bow.
The day that Alanor's rage had burned Udrad. The way that life had never been the same for them. Aurora recalled Unar's parents, the king and queen who made the world a better place, till they fucked with the Merdels, and Alanor had to kill them all.
Aurora recalled how Alanor's rage had hunted and burned Unar's parents down. And despite all of that, despite everything that had happened between the families of Alanor and Unar. How so much had shifted.
And yet even then, Unar still loved Alanor anyway.
Unar still chose to see past the rage that had cost him parents, the loneliness that had come with losing everything to the Wynter Nine. He chose to love and live with Alanor anyway.
And Aurora knew that a love like that was just as dangerous as it was unhinged.
A love like that didn't settle for anything.
And the fact that her grandson was still pining for the one half of such a love was driving her nuts, too.
But she couldn't say that to Grant. Heartbreak was not something that went away with ease, and she could only hope that her grandson wasn't that crazed. Oh, but this was a rule attesting to her faith, too.
"This is crazy. How am I supposed to pull this off?" Grant asked softly.
The truth was something that he knew deep down. He wanted to think the king was playing games with him, but at the same time, what Aurora said made more sense than his assumptions.
The werewolf king had never been one for games, and Grant knew that firsthand. This was never going to be easy, and maybe he had to decide when things got okay or if he had to choose logic over everything else that was coming at him.
Because there would be too many emotions in the next weeks.
That was going to be the most unstable period in his life, regardless.
"Just do you, son. The Wynter Nine don't forgive. They never forget anything either. So don't even think of trying to make a scene with Alanor, however pressing it will feel for you. If Alanor blinks, they will burn anything close to them.
"This won't just be another wedding, Grant. This will be a storm, one that you will have to thread very carefully because, from what I hear of Lucius Dumont, you already have your hands full with that one.
"Don't let it all leak into the Wynter Nine because that will be the kind of mess that your dear grandma won't be able to save you from," Aurora said in warning.
And Grant knew that this was not just a simple warning. This was the truth that came with Alanor.
The truth that could have been his, too, if Alanor had chosen him.
But then, Alanor hadn't chosen him.
Alanor had left…
… and Nour had paid the price for that.
"I think hell could be a better home for me than this week with the wedding preparations," Grant said exaggeratedly.
It was as if his world was truly coming to an end.
A miserable end.
While all the signs almost pointed to that he was trying his very best to be normal about this, even though nothing about it was reassuring on any stage. This was a different kind of insanity. Perhaps he just had to wait and see, right?
"Well, it's your fault," Aurora said with a smile, and Grant groaned at her.
"Yeah, great, because I wanted to be rejected," Grant let out in a failed whine.
"Not that… Your job. You got too good at it that you had a whole king leave the fate of his hundreds of thousands of people in your hands. That isn't the kind of thing that happens daily, and it goes to show just how much potential you have.
"Remember that, and you'll be fine. Besides, the wedding will only last a week, and they will all leave eventually. And you'll be back to being the custodian of the crown, while they will go on with their lives.
"Don't make Cassius regret trusting you, kid," Aurora said.
Grant just chuckled.
He wasn't sure what part of life this was, but then he had his grandma at least. The future was so unclear, and it was haunting as fuck, but then there wasn't much he could do. He had to just stay focused, however much it hurt.
"If you're going to fall apart over that Merdel boy, don't do it out there. Do it here, in the safety of the one place no one will judge you for crashing out. Not out there with all the eyes on you," Aurora said.
Grant looked at her with teary eyes.
His grandma always knew how to get through to him. She was always the only one he really had, and it hurt to think about everything.
Yet somehow, the thought of Grant coming home to her was making it all worth it.
At the end of the day, there was never going to be an easy way around the mess that their lives had been, and that was a reality that Grant was definitely going to have to face.
"Make sure they never see you bleed," was all Aurora added before gently patting her grandson on the shoulder. She loved him so much, and she hoped he knew that was enough.
Oh, if only she knew the devil she had raised.
"I'll just go to bed after this and wait for tomorrow to take care of itself," Grant sighed as his grandma disappeared into her bedchambers.