THORN IN MY FLESH

A FATHER'S LOVE

Alonso walked down the staircase and went to the bar to order for a chardonnay. As he took a sip from his cup, he thought about the male royals he had encountered and how shielded he was, in comparison to them. He thought about Reginald, the prince who was disgraced for choosing to follow his heart. He thought of Rafe, the current crown prince, obligated to choose duty over love for the sake of his people. He thought of Conrad, the vampire prince who didn't have a say on anything concerning his own life and had it mapped out for him by the vampire council.

Growing up, Alonso was labelled publicly as the son of his fathers mistress. It wasn't an uncommon practice among mages for the men to cheat on their mates in a bid to sire magical gifted offspring. However, in Alonso's case, his mother was his father's fated mate. Fate played a cruel joke on them by making his father, the son of a coven leader, and his mother one of the most beautiful and powerful bellatrix saga. A race of witch warriors who never marry and train their entire lives, preparing for battle. His mother bore him and raised him till he stopped weaning, before sending him off to live with his dad and his father's chosen mate - a childhood friend of his father's who also a son.

His stepmother hated him and made his life a living hell whenever his father wasn't home, which was a lot. One day when he just turned eight, his father returned early from a council meeting to find him being held down by servants while his step mother whipped him for daring to talk back at her, after she insulted his mum. Needless to say, the marriage ended, and it took the intervention of the mage council to stop his mother from killing her because she was pregnant with her second child. His relationship with his father became sour, and he rebelled a lot until he was sent to live with his fathers parents, who were both coven leaders, and that was where he met Alexis. Whereas he was broken and quiet, she was chirpy, confident, and sassy despite her own troubles and soon broke through his defences and became his life-long best friend. His relationship with his father improved over time, but by then, Alonso had grown a reputation of always getting into trouble, sometimes with Alexis in tow.

When he went back to his mother camp to undergo his training in preparation for his rite of passage ceremony, Alexis left everything behind to be with him, though she was not allowed to practice magic. That was when the rumours about them being lovers began, and neither of them tried to correct the narrative. When he finalised his training, he was sent back to take his rite of passage exams and excelled as the best candidate, breaking every recored ever set before him. He was ranked as SSS, surpassing both of his parents, who were both SS rank. Everyone thought he would follow his father's footsteps and take the council exams to become a member of the council or join the army like his mother, but he chose to follow Alexis into the dark continent where she had gotten a full scholarship to study criminal law and chose to study international business and law. Even more surprising was that his father paid his full tuition without questioning him and supported him and Alexis both publicly and privately. Alonso realised how much he had taken for granted and how much freedom both he and Alexis had been handed.

He heard his father's voice from the distance and looked at his cup wondering how he was already drunk, but then he saw the older version of himself come out from a corner, followed by a small entourage, shouting.

'Where is he?! Where is that boy?! I swear I am using him for lightning practice when I get my hands on him!' The older man said, making Alonso smile as he got up to meet him.

'There you are, you brat!' His father said, pointing at him.

'What part of 'don't get involved' did you not...', his father ranted but stopped mid sentence in shock, when Alonso hugged him.

'Alonso?' His father said, looking at his assistants who looked back at him puzzled.

'Hey buddy, what's wrong?' His father asked worriedly, but Alonso shook his head, indicating nothing. His father patted his back, saying,

'Please tell me you and Alexis didn't burn down another house,' making father and son chuckle until they separated. His father looked at him and smiled with pride.

'I am sorry i made trouble for you with the council. Again, "Alonso said.

'f**k the council. You are a hightower by blood and wouldn't be my son if you didn't do the right thing.'

'I thought you came her to use me for target practice,' Alonso said.

'I am still tempted to because you didn't think it was 6 to call me for help. Instead, you called your mother. You dumbass, "his father responded, smacking the back of his head. They proceeded to sit in one of the lounges on the lower floor of the building.

'So what's the update?' His father asked, and Alonso gave him the status report. His father listened attentively and smiled when Alonso finished.

'Good job, Alonso. You and Alexis handled the situation perfectly. I doubt upur uncle, and I could have handled it better. Where is Prince Conrad now?' His father asked

'Upstairs. Flora will lead you to him,' Alonso said.

'And where is Margery Woodland?',' his father asks, looking around.

'She's with her husband'

'And Alexis?'

'I left her in a meeting with the Rafe, the lycan prince,'

'I will be taking over from this point.

Thankfully, there are no casualties, though you attacked without provocation.You even offered the vampires shelter from the sun, which is a great diplomatic move,' his father said, standing up.

'What are you going to do?' Alonso asked

'If you're so curious, why don't you come along?' His father asked.

'No thank you, vice supreme,' Alonso responded.

'I will make a diplomat out of you yet,' his father teased before accepting a bow from Flora and exchanging small talk with her before following her to meet Prince Conrad.