Sirius Thames was not one to have his face in the limelight, but he was an important figure behind the scenes of many lives. He had investments in the world of medicine, and he himself worked as a well renowned psychologist. Through his career, he’d managed to network with many powerful people within the country of Delios. He was amongst the wealthy elite, and had a lot of influence within Creston. His importance could not be understated, and his sudden death came as a shock to everyone.

There were no obvious signs of how the man had died. He had no overlying illness, nor did his body suffer any wounds. He lived alone, and no one witnessed his demise. It had been several days since he’d last been seen, and no one was sure precisely when he had perished. It was like he’d just fallen over and died.

For a long time rumors were abound of how this may have occurred. Clearly, if there was no obvious cause for his sudden death, there must have been a supernatural reason for it. What manner of monster could have done this? The people of Creston would never find the answer, and his death remained a mystery for many long years.

But I have since learned the truth. At the time I, too, had no idea how this may have happened. In hindsight, however, the cause of his death was painfully obvious. While the common citizen couldn’t fathom the situation, an entire village had always been privy to the truth. You see, a different, more important man had died at the same time as Dr. Thames. While the doctor’s death was a tragic loss, everyone’s attention was focused elsewhere. The same night Sirius died, the world had lost Zachary Orion.

To those who weren’t in the know, these deaths coinciding together may have seemed like a coincidence. The two men were nowhere near each other when they passed, and there wasn’t a clear link between the two. But if you dug a little deeper, you may have discovered that Dr. Thames had been funding Orion’s political venture under an alias. As a matter of fact, the two men knew each other very well indeed. After all, Sirius was Orion’s omega.

For safety’s sake, the relationship between the two men was not public knowledge. However, it’s no exaggeration to say that Sirius was largely responsible for Orion’s advancement in politics. That money had to have come from somewhere. But he was more than just a servant to Orion. He was his friend, and a man the lycans remember fondly.

Before he fell to the same fate as his master, he served the people of Lupan Hollow with a genuine desire to help. He was a boon to Orion’s people, offering his professional aid to the lycans at no charge to them. Such was his duty as an omega lycan.

He was well aware of Orion’s broken family. If Daine had approached him, perhaps he would have helped her. But she was not too eager to seek help from a man so closely tied to her father.

Vince, too, knew of the doctor, but he was too stubborn to seek out his help on his own. Unbeknownst to him, Dr. Thames would become a very important man in his life someday. But that day had yet to come.

And of course, there was Isaac. Sirius was very familiar with him. It wasn’t for his profession as a psychologist, but rather for his all too common role as mediator. He had been tasked by Orion to play the middle man between him and his son more times than the doctor could count.

It wasn’t easy being Zachary Orion. His people had two polarizing opinions of him. The first was that he had disgraced Nebeous for his acts in the previous King’s Bout. He had fathered a disgraceful child, and it fell upon the queen to quell Nebeous’s wrath. His disgrace was his biggest shame, and since the day his daughter was born he’d been fighting hard to separate himself from his past. He needed to prove to be the good man he yearned to be.

In recent years the public opinion of Orion had shifted. He was working towards greater things, and through his efforts a brighter future was going to be born. The man was rising in the political field, and eventually he became the brightest light in Delios. He worked hand-in-hand with humans and non-humans alike, and he was going to bring salvation to everyone. Orion had become a hero, and perhaps the era of hunters and monsters would have ended sooner if he had survived.

It was through his struggles that Sirius had become his rock. He truly wanted to see Orion succeed, and did everything in his power to make it happen. Sirius provided the money, the connections, and the opportunities for success. There would be no Zachary Orion without Sirius Thames.

The world was on the brink of change, and if Orion’s dream were to succeed he needed Isaac to continue it. The doctor was more than happy to play mediator between the king and his heir. The final time this was asked of him happened not long after Isaac’s sixteenth birthday. Orion had called his son to his house within the city. It was a home legally owned by Orion, but funded and maintained by Sirius. This was always the perfect place for Orion to reach out to his son, away from the prying eyes of their fellow lycans.