50. The Iron Alpha

fifty

The Iron Alpha

*ELDEN*

A midst the feeling of rage and panic, I can feel something else simmering in my mind, too. Something warm and gentle. I recognize the feeling instantly.

I told you I would find a way so that history won’t repeat itself, Flora says.

I don’t know what’s happening, I groan. It’s our head. Something hurts us. The pain makes Regis spiral.

Flora’s image gets more distinctive in front of my inner eye, until I can see her fully. It’s beyond my knowledge how she is able to do that. I just know that she is truly amazing. The headache, she says quietly. You are fighting it, aren’t you? She reaches out her hand to touch my cheek, warmth flooding through her touch.

Her mother used to call her the Child of Light. It makes so much sense now.

Stop fighting it, she whispers. Just stop fighting it.

With her words echoing through my mind, I feel like the lights have been switched off all of a sudden, dipping everything into darkness. But it’s not the darkness of an abyss, it’s more like the blanket I used to pull over my head as a child when I felt scared.

Don’t fight it.

There are little dots of light fluttering around me like butterflies. I follow their trail until I step out into a beautiful clearing. Where am I? I certainly didn’t materialize somewhere else. So, this has to be a place in my own mind. I remotely remember a blurred memory I have of the moment I saw my mother die. I was just a little kid then, not able to deal with the pain and reality of what happened. I found myself in this very meadow, with my small lycan with me.

“It’s the place we share together,” I mutter, turning around to check my surroundings, until I find him. “Regis!”

He is standing close to a forest, a look of confusion on his face. He rushes to me when he spots me. “We need to go back to the fight!” he demands.

“Stop it!” I demand. “Flora helped us get here.”

He tilts his huge head in confusion.

“Your headache is gone, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Your senses?”

“Everything is there again,” he admits.

“Good,” I say firmly. “And now listen, we are not going to do that,” I say. “We are not killing our father.”

“He abducted our mate, he killed our mother, he hurt our stepmother. All he touches turns to something rotten because he destroys everything and everyone,” Regis snarls.

“I know, and I hate him. But we are not going to kill him after he tapped out of the fight. We are not that kind of alpha! We are not going down in history as the young alpha heir who lost control and killed his father and is only who he is because the Council had his back. We are better than that! We are our own person. We have fought all these years to stay in control, to be better than our father, to be good enough for our mate. And this is our chance to finally prove it!”

Regis frowns. His fur is pitch-black, so are his eyes, but I still can gauge his expression. “Our mate would forgive us.”

“Yes, she would because she always forgives us, even when we hurt her.”

At that Regis seems to falter a little. “I didn’t mean to-“

“But it still happened. It was an accident, but we weren’t supposed to kill those humans either, and our mate knew that. An accident like this can never happen again! We are going to build this pack from scratch again, and we’ll do it with a clean slate, not as a murderer and not as a lawless lycan alpha with too much power at our hands.”

I keep staring at him, until Regis lowers his head. “Alright, I agree,” he says simply.

By the goddess! I did it? I just won over my own lycan?

Well, to be fair, Regis might have always had a bit of a short fuse, but other than that he was also a voice of reason at times.

“Let’s go back,” I tell him. “Let go of him once we do. I promise I have something else to give him. We don’t need to kill him.”

“Let’s go,” Regis agrees.

With the blink of an eye, we have left the meadow. I make a mental note to learn properly how to use this and how to further connect with my lycan. This is interesting. I doubt it’s common for human and wolf spirit to be able to visit their own shared space and connect like that. It’s something I need to build on. Maybe I can help others one day.

Like a calling.

I have never felt like anything was my calling. I have worked on becoming alpha and living up to the expectations around me, because of my heritage, of being a royal lycan of alpha blood with a prophecy surrounding me, and because the Council wants to groom me into becoming their king one day. The only one who accepted me the way I am was Flora. I grew alongside her and was able to build friendships and become my own person.

But this here, this connection to Regis and this knowledge on how to deepen a bond to our wolf spirits is something special. And it makes me irrationally happy that I have found one thing about me that’s not deadly or some sort of violent power. It’s kind and helpful and healing.

There is a flash of light in front of my inner eye, as my vision opens up to our surroundings again. Regis is still towering above our father, but now steps back and lets go of him as he promised.

I gaze around, noticing how Flora waves at me happily. Vincent doesn’t look shocked or surprised at all, just grins. Samuel, however, looks very relieved. When more and more of my surroundings become clearer, the noise of the warriors and pack members around me reaches me, too.

They are…cheering?

For Regis and me?

“We have a new alpha,” one of the men exclaims.

Further cheers fill the area.

You were right, Regis says. He looks crestfallen. I would have killed him.

We are the strongest together, I tell him. As a unity. Let’s not forget that. I wouldn’t be where I am without you.

He looks content at my words and nods. Once he has retreated to the back of my mind, I shift back to my human form. Dad has done the same. There are nasty claw marks on his side that don’t seem to heal properly.

“You looked amazing, man,” Vincent exclaims. “Fuck, the claws on Regis were insane!”

“Iron and silver claws,” Geneva says with a smile.

“Yeah,” Vincent grins. “He is our Iron Alpha.”

“Am I the Iron Luna then?” Flora asks.

“Aw,” Vincent says. “If you look at me so cutely, of course you are.”

She smacks his arm in annoyance. “Don’t call me cute, or I will shoot silver at you.”

“I have a feeling that threat isn’t going to get old soon,” Vincent says with a shiver. “Ugh, creepy.”

The noises around us are getting louder, with more and more of the pack members chanting my name. Some of them seem to have picked up Vincent and Flora’s argument and throw in the new nicknames for us.

“Just fantastic, thank you, Vince,” I mutter.

“You are welcome,” he grins. “Every cool alpha needs a cool name! It’s a superhero name.”

“Yeah, thanks for nothing.”

“I like it,” Flora says with a happy beam.

If she and Celeste like it, I like it too, my lycan, the biggest simp of all, admits. I am clearly outvoted.

Goddess, my body feels tired. I should be happy about this outcome, but I just feel so drained. However, there is still something else I need to do though.

Flora told me not to battle the headache. I thought it would simply help me regain control, which it did, but it also did something else. It showed me what my mind was truly capable of. Glancing in the future was just one part of it. My father wanted me to reach my full potential? Well, I will show my potential to him now. I step closer to him. He is sitting on the ground, disheveled and, for the first time in his life, looking truly defeated.

Staring into his eyes I allow my gift to come forward, traveling deep into his mind. He struggles against me entering his mind like that, but I push past his defenses and let my gift show him what he needs to see.

“What are you doing?” Dad gasps.

I keep sending him the future I found. The one that could have been if he made different decisions. Mom is still there, an elderly woman now with Flora’s and my child on her lap. And Dad is in it too. He is respected and valued despite his mistakes, because he always worked to better himself. He is play-fighting with a little boy, my son, in a future that will never happen that way because he ruined it.

When I have children, he won’t get to know them, he won’t be in my life.

“It could have been,” I tell him, noting that he has tears in his eyes. “This is what could have been, but will never be. Not for you, at least. It will be for Flora and me. And for our friends.”

I take a step back, my eyes meeting Emilia. She looks tired, and for the first time that I have met her she looks truly exhausted. “Emilia,” I say quietly. “You know, you will always have a place in this pack. You helped Flora and me so much.”

Emilia smiles tiredly. “Thank you, Elden. Truth to be told, there is a lot I have to think about. About the decisions I made in my life and why they led me to this moment. You and Flora have become very dear to me, but I doubt this is a place I can remain. There are so many questions for me…”

“If there is something you want to do to help you find your answers, we will support you,” I reassure her. I get it. In a way, she was my father’s prisoner, just like my mom, just like his fated mate, and even Tobias. They were all hurt by him. For most of them Silverlake was never their home or their safe space. It was their prison. Emilia probably blames herself for getting into this situation, something I can sympathize with all too much. I really grew to like her as a family member, although our bond only grew recently. I will miss her if she leaves, but if she wants a new start somewhere else, then I definitely want to support her.

She smiles at us. “I will think about it.”

Samuel takes a step forward towards my father. “You need to do it,” he says shortly. “I will order you anyway, but it would be better to save your dignity and do it yourself.”

Dad looks like he is barely able to move, but he whispers something inaudible. I frown, curious as to what he just said, when I feel a sudden surge of power in me. What’s that?

He denounced his title. Because we won over him, it went directly to us without any ceremony! Regis exclaims, full of pride for officially being alpha now. We did it!

“And what now?” Flora asks Samuel and Geneva. The latter has two warriors take my father to the infirmary where he can get treated, for now. The room will be guarded so that he can’t get out.

“We will deal with Caelum,” Geneva promises. “After everything he did, he can’t stay here.”

“I wished we could imprison him,” Samuel says.

“That would be a political scandal,” Geneva says, clearly displeased herself. “Elden and Flora don’t need that now. The easier their start into leading the pack, the better. Turning him rogue would be difficult, too. He has too many connections.”

“What are you thinking about?” Emilia asks.

“We will exile him from the pack,” she says. “And take him with us to Paris. He has a house there where he used to meet his mistresses.”

Emilia sighs. “Oh? So that’s how he did it.”

“Just so we are clear, you are not bound to him,” Samuel tells her. “I know he marked you, but we will dissolve the bond, so you are free to do as you please.”

“I thought it would be funny to put him under house arrest in that house,” Geneva says.

“Where he met with his mistresses?” I ask.

“Yes, he can live there on his own. The guards of the Council are fantastic. We will make sure he doesn’t go anywhere. We will control every step he takes, every call he makes. He won’t be able to meet anyone unless it’s approved by us.”

Emilia and I share a look, then I burst into laughter. When I notice the others are looking at me in worry, clearly scared that I might be having a nervous meltdown, I shake my head. “It’s hilarious,” I say. “He used to confine my mother to her room, making sure to control what she did, and who she talked to. He imprisoned her in a golden cage. Then, he did the same to Emilia. And now, the same thing will happen to him. I love that for him. He can rot there on his own and think of the things he won’t have or experience. I made sure to show it to him in detail.”

“I am glad you approve,” Samuel says. “I thought you might push for him to get thrown in a cell.”

“No,” I say. “I mean yes, if it were for me, I would prefer a cell for him. But then, there would be people who pity him. People who don’t know what he did and who might not care. But having him be exiled to a beautiful yet very lonely house makes us all look like the better person. He wronged his pack and his family, yet they gave him a second chance to live the rest of his life in peace. Oh, how generous we are! It will be a miserable existence, but no one will care because to them it looks generous.”

“Man, you have a mean streak to you,” Vincent says with a grin. “I like that. Gives you some edge.”

“Well, then we will inform the Council and set things into motion,” Samuel says contently.

I notice someone approaching me. It’s my father’s former beta, Oliver. “Sorry for interrupting your talk,” he says. “I just wanted to congratulate the new alpha and luna.”

“Thank you,” I say.

“I am sorry I was so useless all these years.”

“You did what you could,” I say. “We all know that.”

“We hope you are staying?” Flora asks.

“If you want me to.” Oliver looks at me, and I nod.

“I was hoping you could help out Vincent a bit. Calvin is responsible for all our security measurements, but Vince will need to do most of the more social and political interactions together with me.”

“Of course,” Oliver says, smiling in relief. “I would love to help.”

“What about Tobias?” I ask.

“I’ve informed him quickly of what happened,” Oliver says. “He wants to congratulate you in person. He was very happy, as you can imagine. I don’t think he will want to return to the pack, though.”

“I think we all understand why,” Flora says quietly.

“I just wish we could give him a chance to start over somewhere,” Emilia mutters. There is a certain longing look in her eye. It’s probably a wish she has for herself too.

“I might just have an idea,” I say, as my mind just starts to form an idea for all of my father’s victims. “But I will need to research it further and discuss it with someone. I don’t want to say any more than that for now.”

“I am curious what you are coming up with,” Geneva says. “But let’s all wait patiently.”

“That said, we will still have the Alpha and Luna Ceremony, won’t we?” Samuel asks.

Geneva laughs. “Elden, you can’t take that away from him. He is so excited about it!”

“I won’t,” I promise. “It’s about time Silverlake celebrated their luna. This is Flora’s victory as much as it’s mine. Without her, I wouldn’t have succeeded.”

“I doubt that’s true,” Flora says. “I think you would have done well anyway, but-“ She grins. “I won’t say no to a huge party.”

“That’s the spirit,” Geneva chuckles. “For now, how about you all go home and get some rest? Let Samuel and I deal with everything else.”

We all happily take her at her word. She also promises to await Calvin’s return, both to fill him in on what happened and to see what he has to tell her about the humans, and if he was successful in handing them to the police.

For now, Flora and I head home to her cottage, where we shower briefly, before we drop into our bed.