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The vast majority of my timeline is based around the fic Worthless Pride. (Apologies to the author. It kind of just happened.) I recommend giving that a read to gain a better understanding of the events of my life as an alpha pack leader with a vision for the future in an ancient world of kingdoms ruled by corrupt kings and malicious ne'er-do-wells who favoured the old, barbaric ways.

One notable difference was that Matsukawa and Hanamaki played major roles in my life after meeting Toru. Matsukawa was a merman and Hanamaki a beta assassin from the Western kingdom originally sent by Toru's father, the king, to dispose of his "disgraced" son. As Hanamaki explained, the king evidently thought this the perfect ruse just after forging an already tenuous alliance via my arranged union with Toru.

Needless to say, Hanamaki didn't succeed in his mission, primarily of his own volition. He had happened across Matsukawa whilst observing the Southern castle from the beach. As he told it, the Goddess's voice lured him toward the water, but the ethereal merman perched on a half-submerged boulder had ever so casually knocked him back to his senses just in time.

Merfolk were, for a long time, just a part of the legends that surrounded the Southern kingdom's beliefs when it came to their connection with the sea. Merfolk came into being as the departed souls of Southerners whom the Goddess claimed as her favoured children, or so the stories went. They were thought to be, in essence, ghosts, or at the very least spirits, but more profound. Nobody had actually lain eyes on one for centuries, though, until Matsukawa presented himself.

He did confirm that his kind indeed carried the souls of the departed, albeit how they came to be was more akin to reincarnation, a "blessing" of sorts from the Goddess. Alas, while they were given new life in a new form, they were bound to the sea and forbidden from seeking those from their mortal lives.

Understandably enamoured, Hanamaki allowed Matsukawa to convince him to spare Toru, for this was the Goddess's will, and instead watch him from a distance, like a protective shadow. Of course, it was only a matter of time before I found him. I very nearly killed him, too, if he hadn't pled his case so convincingly. I found it strange that a foreigner (more specifically, a Westerner) had so much insight on Southern folklore and tradition, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt until he told me his story.

I often met with Hanamaki in secret and during one of our meetings I was introduced to Matsukawa. With this proof to substantiate Hanamaki's tale, I had more than enough reason to place my trust in him, such that (after being reassured that Toru did not know of this man during his years spent in the Western kingdom) I selected Hanamaki as one of the personal guards to attend Toru when I was forced to leave him at Meili's castle under the guise of making him my paramour.

I was initially surprised to learn that the two had gotten on rather well during their time together there and, once again, very nearly killed Hanamaki when I could smell him all over my wife, but he assured me that he had merely been summoned to Toru's chambers for comfort some nights and nothing more. You know, as if sharing a bed with my wife in any fashion wouldn't piss off the raging beast of a pack leader's inner alpha. It's fine, though. It's fine. Totally fine.

(It wasn't fine. I had to enlist Kyoutani's aid in an impromptu wrestling match just to let off some steam. He told me after that that he was never going to wrestle with me while I was angry ever again. I didn't blame him.)