Nicholas’s POV

I stepped entirely out of the heavy, freezing shadows.

My bare feet aggressively crushed the jagged, icy rocks beneath me. I didn’t feel a single drop of physical pain. The freezing night air violently whipped against my bare chest. The massive, raging river roared violently in the deep, dark gorge far below us.

The tall, heavy figure finally turned around.

The harsh, pale moonlight violently hit his face. It was completely covered in thick, jagged white scars. The massive, brutal claw marks I left on his skin all those years ago had completely ruined his features. His jaw was violently twisted. His nose was broken. But his dark, empty eyes were exactly the same.

My father.

He looked older. He looked incredibly feral, completely dressed in a heavy, dark overcoat that smelled entirely of cheap gin and stale sweat. But he still forcefully carried that dark, arrogant Alpha aura. He stood there like he completely owned the freezing forest.

He let out a sick, twisted smile. It absolutely didn’t reach his dead eyes.

"You guessed it was me all along, didn’t you, son?" his rough, gravelly voice violently echoed over the roaring water.

I sneered bitterly. My heavy chest heaved with pure, toxic adrenaline. My massive hands violently curled into tight, lethal fists at my sides. My thick nails aggressively dug so deep into my palms that hot, dark blood began to heavily drip onto the frozen dirt.

"Yeah," I growled darkly. My deep voice was pure, lethal ice. "I knew it was you the absolute second I saw that carved crest in the trees. I knew exactly who left that bloody, twisted mess for me to find."

I took a slow, completely heavy step forward.

"I just didn’t expect you to actually still be alive," I spat completely viciously. "I should have entirely ripped your fucking throat out when I had the chance. I should have completely made sure you were dead before you hit that freezing water."

My father let out a dark, booming laugh.

The horrific, familiar sound violently clawed at my brain. It instantly dragged me right back to the suffocating terror of my absolute darkest childhood nightmares. I could completely hear the heavy thud of his fists hitting my mother’s fragile body. But I wasn’t a terrified, weak little boy anymore. I was the Alpha King. I was the most lethal predator in the entire underground world.

"You were weak," my father spat completely arrogantly. "You hesitated. And that pathetic hesitation gave me the absolute perfect opportunity to survive. I dragged my violently broken body completely out of that freezing river. I hid entirely in the dark shadows while you stole my crown."

He took another heavy step forward. His dark coat violently flapped in the freezing wind.

"I have been waiting for this day, Nicholas," he snarled. His dark eyes aggressively burned with pure, sick greed. "I watched you completely take my throne. I watched you foolishly rule over my forty-two families. I patiently built a massive, ruthless army in the dark. I have been entirely waiting to take back absolutely everything that belongs to me."

"Nothing belongs to you," I roared violently.

My terrifying Alpha aura aggressively exploded out of my massive chest. It violently crashed into his aura. The heavy air between us actually crackled with raw, absolute power.

"You lost your absolute throne the second you became a complete monster," I growled darkly. "You violently abused your own pack. You lost your empire. And you are absolutely never getting it back."

My chaotic mind aggressively flashed straight to Irina. My incredibly beautiful, completely fragile mate. The sweet, warm scent of vanilla heavily coated my lungs. My completely innocent son, Luka. The tiny, precious pup heavily growing entirely inside her womb.

I would completely burn the entire underground werewolf empire to absolute ashes before I let this sick bastard take a single step near my family. I would violently slaughter every single rogue in his pathetic army.

"A monster?" My father suddenly tilted his massive, scarred head. His sick, twisted smile grew entirely wider. It was absolutely chilling. "You dare call me a monster, Nicholas? Just look completely at yourself."

He aggressively threw his heavy arms wide open.

"The whole world entirely calls you the Mad King," he mocked viciously. "They completely fear you. They absolutely despise you. They whisper in the dark that you violently slaughtered your own parents in cold blood for a taste of absolute power. You are the absolute monster now. You are exactly like me."

My heavy jaw locked violently. My teeth physically ground together.

The dark, horrific memories violently slammed completely into my mind. The thick, absolute metallic stench of my mother’s blood. The sickening, loud crunch of her delicate neck breaking. The hot spray completely blinding my young eyes.

"I didn’t kill her!" I completely hissed. My glowing golden eyes burned aggressively with absolute, unchecked murder. "You did! You violently killed your own fated mate!"

"Of course I did," he laughed entirely casually.

The absolute lack of remorse in his rough, gravelly voice completely stopped my racing heart. The freezing wind seemed to violently freeze around us.

"You think I just lost control?" my father sneered aggressively. He took another heavy step toward me. He completely wanted me to hear every single dark word of his sick confession. "You think I was just blindly consumed by rage when my massive jaws crushed her throat? No, Nicholas. I entirely knew exactly what I was doing."

I froze completely. My massive, heavy muscles went entirely rigid.

"What?" The single, broken word violently ripped from my incredibly dry throat.

"She was completely weak," he spat disgustedly. "She was always crying. Always violently whimpering in the absolute dark. She was a pathetic, fragile Omega who completely made me look soft to the other Mafia families. But when she violently threw her fragile human body directly between us? It was the absolute perfect moment."

His dark, empty eyes violently gleamed with pure, twisted triumph.

"I intentionally killed her, Nicholas. I completely tore her delicate throat out entirely on purpose. I aggressively bit down knowing it would absolutely end her miserable life."

My chest violently heaved. I couldn’t completely breathe. The absolute shock aggressively paralyzed my lungs.

"I entirely knew the heavy pack guards were violently rushing up the massive stairs," he snarled viciously. "I entirely knew I couldn’t possibly beat you in a fair, physical fight. You were incredibly young, fast, and completely fueled by rage. So, I completely destroyed your absolute mind instead."

A cold, absolute terror violently flooded my hot veins. The sick, twisted truth aggressively slammed into my brain.

"I wanted them to entirely find you completely covered in her hot blood," he laughed darkly. "I completely wanted them to absolutely believe you slaughtered her for the mafia throne. I purposely cursed you, son. I intentionally gave you that heavy, suffocating guilt that completely broke your sanity. I made you the Mad King. And it worked absolutely perfectly!"

My entire world violently stopped.

The roaring river faded completely away. The freezing wind absolutely died in my ears. All I could completely hear was the sickening, horrific sound of his dark laughter. All I could entirely smell was the foul, bitter stench of his absolute pure malice.

He didn’t just accidentally kill her in a brutal fight. He violently used her brutal death as a calculated, sick weapon. He intentionally completely destroyed my absolute soul. He intentionally made me violently hate myself for years. He made me absolutely believe I was a completely broken, terrifying monster.

He tortured me from the absolute shadows for my entire life.

Something heavy and dark violently shattered deep inside my brain.

The absolute last fragile thread of my sanity completely snapped into a million jagged pieces.

I didn’t feel entirely human anymore. I was pure, unadulterated, absolute violence. The lethal, aggressively raging beast inside my massive chest completely took over. A deafening, absolutely terrifying roar violently ripped completely out of my throat. It aggressively shook the massive, ancient pine trees. It completely drowned out the roaring river.

"I am going to completely slaughter you!" I roared aggressively.

My heavy bones violently cracked. My massive muscles aggressively bulged and completely tore right through my heavy dark clothes. The violent shift was absolute, burning agony, but I completely welcomed the searing pain. I didn’t hesitate for a single, absolute second. I didn’t hold back a single ounce of my terrifying, dominant Alpha power.

I lunged completely forward.

My massive, lethal claws aggressively tore completely through the freezing air. I crashed violently into his massive chest. We aggressively slammed completely into the frozen, jagged ground.

My massive jaw aggressively snapped open, and I violently tore my lethal teeth straight into his thick flesh.