49. The Downfall

forty-nine

The Downfall

*ELDEN*

I can feel it again. There is this knot in my chest that seems to be burning, like it did when Regis and I were searching for Flora. I am still not sure what it is. It doesn’t feel like normal anger, it’s so much deeper. Vincent is driving while Flora tries to keep the conversation as light as possible, but none of us is really feeling it. The realization of what happened with Flora and Janice- and why- is weighing too heavily on everyone.

Vincent halts the car in front of the pack house. “And now?” he asks quietly.

“Simple,” I say shortly. “I don’t even need to think twice.” With that, I get out of the car with Flora and Vincent hot on my heels. We are already expected by Samuel, who looks surprised and relieved when he sees Flora.

“You found her!” he exclaims.

“Yes,” Flora smiles. “I am sorry for worrying you.”

“But what happened?” he exclaims.

“Where is my father?” I ask.

Samuel looks at me, stunned, before tossing a gaze back to where Geneva has appeared from. Our voices must have attracted her. “I saw him briefly,” she says with a frown. “He wanted to talk with some of the elite warriors.”

“Good,” I say. “That’s actually perfect.”

I hand Flora my backpack to hold for me, before looking at Vincent. “I will need you.”

“Don’t worry, I am not going anywhere,” he says. And then, after a short pause, “I am actually burning to see this.”

“Me too,” Flora says quietly. “I think it’s time for his downfall.”

This is something I would have done anyway, even without support, but knowing that they have my back and support my decision helps tremendously. Samuel looks completely confused, while Geneva looks equally perplexed at first, before there is suddenly a hint of understanding in her eyes. She looks at Flora for a moment. “It can’t be,” she mutters.

“We all know he would do anything for his own means.”

“But you are his son,” Geneva says quietly. “Kidnapping his mate-”

“You can join us,” I tell her. “So, you will know for certain and have proof.”

“I am definitely coming,” she says. “Samuel?”

“I am coming also,” he says.

With my entourage behind me, I make my way back out of the packhouse and towards the training area. The warriors are outside, gathered around my father. I am not sure what he is doing, and by the look on their faces, the warriors aren’t so sure either. By now, however, my little group has attracted some attention. I don’t know why exactly, but something seems to draw the warriors and other pack members to me right now. Soon enough, I can also see Emilia hurrying outside to join us.

The burn inside me gets stronger again, the closer we get to my father. My eyes are pinned on him, while the rage just seems to eat through me.

“Goddess,” Vincent says. “It feels suffocating! Dude…”

“It’s his alpha aura,” Samuel says, almost sounding joyful when he says it.

Once I reach the group of warriors, the burn inside me gets so strong, for a split second my view gets blurred again. I shake it off and push past the other men. They readily make place for me, moving away as if they are in pain.

“You!” I say when I finally reach my father. He looks at me, grimacing in pain and pressing a hand against his forehead. “You had my mate kidnapped! Don’t even deny it. I know it. Flora knows it.”

“What!?” Emilia exclaims. “Caelum?” She pushes forward, and I readily let her. “No, you didn’t! Tell me you didn’t abduct your son’s mate!”

Dad stays silent.

“Goddess, Caelum,” Samuel mutters.

“You involved humans, shared our secrets with them and had them abduct my mate,” I snarl.

“You truly got directly involved with the humans?” Geneva asks, alarmed.

“How could you?” I ask. My voice feels bland and cold, foreign to my own ears. When he stays silent, I feel the pulsating anger in me grow again. “Tell me why!” I demand, pushing against his walls.

He groans. “You needed to reach your full potential!” he exclaims. “And I was right; look at you now!”

So that’s his excuse? He just wanted to upset or traumatize me so much that Regis would lean more into the powers we still were developing and discovering for ourselves.

“I would have reached it,” I yell. “Easily with some time, without you dragging my mate away.”

“But you can’t become alpha, when-“

“Says who?” I ask. “You were alpha, and you had nothing going for you aside from my mother’s name. You only got the position because of her. The pack was her legacy, it’s the Alcott legacy! And I know it never mattered to you. You couldn’t care less about her or the pack. Yet, I thought maybe you still had a tiny bit of respect for the pack, or for me, in you. But even that hope you had to shatter.” I pause, taking a deep breath. “I have had it. I am not waiting until next week. I challenge you for the alpha rank, now!”

The look on his face would be priceless if I wasn’t too pissed off to care. “What?” he mutters his question.

“I challenge you,” I repeat. “I am pretty sure you heard it the first time.”

He hesitates, which is hilarious given that, not too long ago, he was smacking me around during training, just to show me his superiority. I was a young teen back then, a kid; of course he could easily beat me, but now things are different.

“Caelum,” Samuel intervenes, to my surprise. “Accept the challenge. At least go down with a hint of respect and dignity.”

The seconds drag by with no one saying anything. I can’t believe he is not answering my challenge. That would be a first. No alpha would just give up. A fair fight would be the minimum, even for someone who isn’t the biggest fighter.

At least try!

Something in my father seems to snap all of a sudden, and without further warning he lunges at me. Regis, on highest alert, swiftly takes over, making me jump to the side.

“Not like that!” Samuel yells, angrier than I have ever heard him. “Abide by the rules for once, Caelum!”

Geneva reaches out her hand, takes Samuel’s arm and pulls him back. When he tosses her a surprised look at her, she just shrugs. “It’s his own downfall,” she whispers before nodding at me encouragingly.

“Well then,” I say, pushing my sleeves up. “Don’t tell me later, I didn’t give a fair fight.”

My father doesn’t answer, instead shifts to his lycan. He might only have been of beta blood, but his lycan is quite impressive. I have to give him that. But Regis is definitely more impressive. I let him come forward and shift to his form, his claws scratching on the ground, producing a metallic sound that startles me slightly.

Our claws! What happened to them?

The metallic sound seems to come from my claws, directly, whenever they hit the stony ground. They are much stronger now, feeling like iron, while their tips are dipped in silver. Is this why the claw mark we left on Flora isn’t healing completely!?

That’s new, Regis sneers. But I like it!

I can hear whispers around me but block them out, focusing on my father instead. He doesn’t seem to have noticed anything. As usual, he is so focused on himself that he doesn’t care for what’s happening to those around him. Regis is out for blood; he has been tense since Flora was abducted, and was only able to keep his cool because our intuition told us she was alright, and that the real danger was lingering somewhere else. Now, however, his tension is growing more and more. The betrayal cuts too deeply. He doesn’t care that Dad gave the order not to hurt Flora, it doesn’t matter that he only wanted to keep her hidden for a couple of days to rile me up enough to feel the real wrath inside me.

Nothing matters but the fact that our own father doesn’t give a fucking shit about us!

Regis’ nerves seem to be hanging on a thin thread, ready to snap anytime.

My father’s lycan takes a step forward, his body tensing before he lunges at us. Regis has anticipated his move, meeting him mid-air, and slamming his head against his side, landing on top of him. Dad turns over and bites down on to Regis’ neck. With a growl, Regis draws his claws into Dad’s sides to free himself from his grasp. A whimper can be heard. With our new claws we are much more dangerous to fight against. Silver is deadly for most werewolves and lycans, and can leave scars in a battle.

With every passing minute of this fight the burn in Regis’ and my chest gets stronger. I can feel it again, the way my consciousness slips. The view in front of us gets blurred. Regis acts on instinct alone now, not able to rely on anything but his urge for revenge. Revenge for what our father did to our mate, for what he did to our mother, for the way he treated his true mate and his second chosen mate, for how he threatened them and our half-siblings, and for how he treated us our whole life.

For every time he slapped or hit me.

For how little respect he had for everyone around him.

For how little love he had for me.

Regis is towering over him now, biting down into his neck. It seems like his aura has pushed everyone into submission, our father included. Dad taps against the ground in a desperate attempt to stop the fight. He is giving up officially.

The victory and the title are ours.

But the burn inside us is so strong, so strong, it makes reality shift and get blurred. The suffocating feeling and the burning headache almost blind us, worse than when we tracked down Flora.

It’s happening again! Last time, we hurt our mate. By accident, maybe, but it was our fault for not being able to focus and control ourselves. What’s going on? Why does the control slip from us like that?

This is no good! There is no telling what we will do when we lose control. It’s like a blackout for both Regis and me in which we run completely on our emotions.

It’s scary and dangerous. I have hurt Flora once already. Who else will we hurt?