12. Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Eldrick

E ldrick blocked with his right axe and attacked with the left, the weapons like extensions of his body. The wooden shafts were his bones, their leather wrappings indented by his grip and swing. Their familiar weight and shape felt good. He felt good, as he always did sparring, training his mind and muscles. Adrenaline ran through him hot and cold, fueling his spirit despite the day’s events.

Eldrick readied his weapons with a smirk. Across from him, Claus grinned, his square jaw twitching with tension. Metal clanged, iron against steel, as the werewolves sparred. Eldrick’s smirk fell into a blank expression of pure concentration while Claus continued to smile with each swing after swing of his long sword.

Everyone had retired for the evening, leaving the training grounds of Lār empty aside from Eldrick and his uncle. Despite the cold evening breeze, they’d stripped their shirts and sweat dripped down their rippling muscles. All day, Eldrick had replayed his decision in the drawing room. Tovi’s fury. Kade’s disappointment. His own worry. With axes in hand, he breathed in the fresh air, relished its openness compared to Lār’s stony, windowless, thick walls. He faked his axe left, then spun right and swung .

One, two.

A beautiful vampyr sat in the dungeons, a princess, and her brother had captured Evelyn. What an absolute, migraine-inducing mess. He turned to movement and tuned out his endless worry.

One, two.

He advanced on the offensive twice that time, Claus matching each blow with as much muster.

“You’re getting old,” Claus said.

Eldrick laughed. “You’d know, wouldn’t you, uncle?”

Claus’s head tipped back, and he roared with laughter. Claus was four years younger than Aramis, and at 110, he was far from old. He appeared only a few years older than Eldrick aside from finer lines around his eyes and the various scars over his body from decades of fighting as a warrior. As one of the best commanders in the Vadon Mountains, he’d spent much of his time at the Void. When he wasn’t there, he’d trained Eldrick to be a leader, to be the future alpha of the Drengr pack.

Claus’s beefy arms grasped his sword, and he gritted his teeth at Eldrick, a menacing werewolf growl rumbling from his chest. His wolf always sat on the surface, the beastly magic only hairs away from unleashing.

Leaner and shorter than Claus, Eldrick possessed speed. Swift and efficient, he jabbed Claus with the blunt end of one axe in the gut and the other in his lower back as he toppled over.

His smirk returned, and triumph thrummed through his werewolf blood.

Claus whirled around, eyes dancing with delight. He sidestepped, spinning into an attack Eldrick almost missed, the curved edges of his axes colliding with the edge of his sword at the last second.

“Also getting slow.” His uncle winked.

The desire to disprove his opponent’s playful taunts steeled Eldrick’s resolve. Anticipation quickened his heart. He steadied his breath, gripped his axes tighter, and calculated his next move. To demonstrate how slow he wasn’t, Eldrick advanced towards Claus, attacking to the left, to the right, and head-on, repeating the assault with each step.

One, two. One, two.

Lār was the center fortress of the Drengr Village. It spanned over the north side, made up of an eight-story eyesore of a tower looming over everything with twin three-story annexes jutting east and west. On the backside, a wall extended from the annexes, outlining the perimeter of the training grounds for the Drengr warriors.

Eldrick hated Lār’s stark contrast against the lush Vadon Mountains, but at present, took advantage of its layout. He inched closer and closer to the surrounding wall. Claus’s focus began to waver between escape and defense. He flicked his gaze to the left, the moment of hesitation costing him and giving Eldrick the second he needed.

He overextended his reach with both axes, instead of clashing with Claus’s sword, he went over the blade and pulled. The hooked underbellies of the iron yanked the blade from his uncle’s grip, and Eldrick swung against his opponent’s dominant wrist. The blade glinted as it flew through the air and landed in the sandy training ground.

Weaponless and stunned, Claus’s eyes grew wide when Eldrick kicked him square in the chest. The brawny werewolf fell onto his back with a resounding thud.

Claus cursed to the stars and moon, a laugh latent in his breathless retorts.

Eldrick returned an axe to the holster on his trousers, extending his free hand to assist his uncle. “It is you, uncle, who is getting old and slow.”

Claus eyed him, his gaze so different from their father’s green one. Something lay in them. Mirth.

Eldrick reacted too late. Something hit his legs and he fell back. The night sky flashed above him as he crashed to the ground. He rolled as his uncle’s bludgeoning fist boomed into the sand. A laugh rumbled from his uncle, dark eyes elated .

Engaging his core, Eldrick righted himself and lunged. Muscles stretched. Bones broke. Fur sprouted from his sun-kissed skin. The bones of his face ached as they elongated into his werewolf form’s snout, and he bared his sharp canines. He charged, landing over his uncle in a single jump. With claws grasping Claus’s shoulders, a growl emitted from him deep, long, and with his alpha baritone.

The muscles in Claus’s rather taut body had no other choice but to stand down—the animalistic power in Eldrick’s blood commanded him to. As he released Claus and backed away, his uncle’s face split in a wide grin, a deep laugh shaking the werewolf’s chest.

“You needed the fight, didn’t you,” he said.

Eldrick shifted out of his werewolf form and sighed. His uncle never missed anything. He raked his hand through his hair, the wisps over his forehead soaked with sweat. Adrenaline coursed through his spent muscles, his heart pounded in his chest, and yet Eldrick’s mind still reeled with his decision to lock Tovi Verena in the dungeon. He tried to tell himself his father had agreed; it had been a sound alpha decision. But his brother’s anger and hurt-filled eyes flashed through his memory.

Never let your emotions cloud your judgment.

Claus had taught him that lesson the day his mother died. A stern lesson. A harsh lesson. A lesson Eldrick never wanted to learn again. He couldn’t afford to when he became alpha, not when good leaders led with their heads. He’d sought the training grounds to release his emotions, to rid his guilt of denying his brother and the attraction for Tovi. Both still wormed in the pit of his stomach.

“Out with it already,” Claus said. “I can hear the gears turning in your head.”

Eldrick shook his head. “Did I make the right decision?”

Claus raised an inquisitive brow and scratched his clean-shaven jaw. He headed for the watering jug near the training grounds veranda. Warrior ruins—swirls, phases of the moons, and variations of the wolf—had been carved into the pillars. The specks of silver embedded in the etched stone twinkled like the stars awakening in the sky above .

“Why do you think you didn’t?” Claus asked.

Eldrick followed in step beside him. “I let Kade down, and I’m also risking his life without a guide.”

“True,” Claus said with a tip of his head. He handed Eldrick a mug of water. “Why didn’t you agree with the terms your brother set and form an alliance with the princess, then?”

Eldrick took a swig of refreshing water. “It’s too much of a risk. Hours ago we learned she even existed.”

“Is that why you haven’t killed her?” Claus asked.

Eldrick’s grip tightened on his mug. “Yes, I figured we could learn from her. We’ve never seen a vampyr like her. Her existence shows us how little we know about the enemy. It would be stupid to kill a source of more knowledge. Besides, seeing she’s a princess and the heir, killing her might be an act of war. I’d rather not start one, especially with a foe we don’t fully understand.”

Claus sighed. “Ah, that is true and smart. Yet, you haven’t rushed to tell other alphas.”

Eldrick scoffed. “And cause an uproar for no reason? If I told the rest of the packs, I’d have to reveal Evelyn Carson is also a captive of the vampyrs. That would cause more fear on both fronts, the witches and werewolves. If that news was released, it would be disastrous. With the missing werewolves, sanity is barely holding on by a thread. If our people also learned we’d been lying for the last two years about Kade and Evelyn’s union…” Eldrick shook his head. “We’d rob them of the false hope we’ve created.”

Claus sighed. “That is true. So, why are you doubting your decision? Your reasons are sound.”

His brother’s anger flashed in his mind. “I’ve been unfair to Kade—”

“No,” his uncle said, “you’re looking at the situation with a rational perspective. It’s wise.”

Eldrick straightened, his uncle’s approval catching him off guard. Ever since the day his mother had died, ever since he’d led to her death, Eldrick had chased making the right decision and snuffing his emotions. To hear his uncle acknowledging his efforts brought on a wave of grounding reassurance.

“You think so?”

“Evelyn is a part of the prophecy. Your brother should go after her, regardless if she is his mate or not.” His uncle sighed. “As for our prisoner, it’s best if you have a sound judgment on how you handle that situation before it’s too late.”

“You think I should kill her and be done with it?” The words came out like sticks and stones, scraping his throat. He didn’t understand why. He’d killed vampyrs before. To keep his pack safe, to protect them, to do what was right. Perhaps it was because she was so different from the vampyrs he’d faced in the past. What he didn’t know about her made her a worse threat. Moons, she’d made it into the village right under everyone’s noses. How many other vampyrs were doing the same? Eldrick exhaled. He’d underestimated vampyrs once before. He wouldn’t do it again.

His uncle crossed his arms, dark eyes narrowing as he thought. “You could kill her and be done with it. It’s an act of strength amongst the packs, and it would send a message to our enemies: don’t step foot on our lands. But…”

“But?” Eldrick’s heart thudded in his chest.

“What if you considered the alliance?”

Eldrick’s heart skipped a beat, and he blinked, unsure if he heard his uncle correctly. “You said—”

“Your instincts are right, Eldrick. There is nothing wrong with your choice, but perhaps there is more than one right choice in this scenario.”

Eldrick swigged his water. “Enlighten me.”

“Accompany your brother and the Gray Fenris with the princess. Enter Drystan and you get a firsthand experience of what our enemies truly are like. You said it yourself, you hadn’t killed the princess because you wanted to learn from her. Think of the things you could learn in her homeland.”

Anticipation quickened through Eldrick. “Are you suggesting I actually make a deal, or are you saying I should manipulate her? ”

Claus shrugged. “ Manipulate is such a harsh word, but there are times as a leader you must twist a situation to get out of it what is best for you and other werewolves. Make the deal. Assess her and Drystan along the way. Good riddance if she doesn’t prove herself. She’s the one that claims to need the alliance, not us. We have nothing to lose. Though, I doubt she’ll prove trustworthy, even if she helps get Evelyn back.”

“She’s a vampyr,” Eldrick said, curling his lip as he downed the rest of his water. Its chill ran down his gullet, freezing his rib bones.

“Precisely.” Claus gave a curt nod. “It might also give you a chance to show Aramis you’re ready.”

“Ready?” Eldrick asked.

Claus’s dark eyes studied him. “Between the missing werewolves and what we now know about the vampyrs, the Drengrs need an alpha fit to lead. Look, you know I respect your father, as my alpha and my older brother, but he is declining, Magu.”

Magu.

A nickname used only for those next in-line to become the alpha—a reminder for Eldrick’s future, his duty. He’d been preparing for years to become alpha of the Drengr pack, and his blood ran with alpha strength. The firstborns were leaders, but not all were alphas. That was magic, a fate bestowed to their wolf. Eldrick’s grandfather had possessed it, as had the many generations before him. But being leader of the Drengr entailed more than any other alpha. Ever since the first whispers of the prophecy and the first Son of the God, Finton, had been born, a ruling pack and alpha had been declared. Back then, the honor had been bestowed on the Johannes pack, Finton’s pack, but ever since Kade had been born, it had transitioned to the Drengrs.

Eldrick inherited that responsibility.

“You’re suggesting my father would let me ascend,” he whispered.

Alphas traditionally ascended when their predecessor died, and the werewolf magic zapped the title into place. With his father still alive, Aramis had to grant Eldrick the honor directly. There’d been whisperings of it over the last year, especially since Eldrick had stepped into many of the alpha-expectant duties, helping his father lead. Meetings with neighboring packs, visiting the Void for routine updates, receiving guests in their own village and welcoming them. Yet, his father had never once mentioned ascending.

Had his efforts not been enough already? He tried not to care or worry, tried not to be angered and saddened all at once.

One, two.

Eldrick breathed away his disappointment. There was no sense harboring it when it didn’t help.

Claus sighed. “You and I both know the rarity of an ascension. I think it might be less of your father believing you’re ready and more of a battle of pride, but if you showed him something worth considering, something he could not dismiss, you might have a chance at persuading him in the right direction.”

“You think learning more from the princess will do that? I am needed here.”

Claus held up his hand. “You’re also needed in the fight against the vampyr. Keep a close eye on the princess. Learn her motives. Her true intentions. Perhaps you can learn information about the missing wolves, too, and if the vampyrs are to blame. Learn your enemy, Eldrick, and when you return home with the Daughter of the Goddess and the secrets of the princess, perhaps your father will see you in a new light. Lead with your head, come back with the facts. Return home an alpha.”

An alpha.

Eldrick’s nervous heart slowed. That’s what he’d always wanted, wasn’t it? He’d been destined to be the Drengr Alpha, the leader of his pack and people. He’d dreamed of it, had trained for it. Eldrick had to allow the data and facts to outweigh his emotions.

The fact was, his uncle was right. By joining Kade’s mission, he’d get insight about Drystan as well as the opportunity to learn more about the princess who desired an alliance. He’d have a front seat to facts, and when he came home, he’d present them to his father and demonstrate he was ready to ascend and finally assume the duty he’d been born for.

Determination swelled in his chest.

Eldrick took a deep breath, meeting his uncle’s gaze. “Alright. I’ll do it.”