ALKAROD
Alpha Rasmus stood by the window of the infirmary, hands locked behind his back. He had been spending more time in this room with his sick son and ever-teary wife, more than in any other room in his palace.
The room reeked of fear, desperation, and near death – which Alpha Rasmus harbored in the pit of his heart, in the gut of his stomach.
He had developed a hobby of staring outside the window. Perhaps the light and fresh breeze from the outside world would refresh and illuminate the nightmare his life had turned out to be since his son’s sickness.
Moons had come and gone, yet hope was still far-fetched. And with the recent developments of the Lycan king, believing that there would be good news soon would be nothing but wishful thinking.
Rasmus could not afford to wish. He could not intentionally break his own heart in such a manner.
His Luna, however, did not share in his sentiment.
His wife seemed to seize every opportunity she could find to cry, wail, and wish death on Elora. Rasmus had learned he would have to practice the art of standing meters away from her, so as not to be annoyed by her whining.
“Oh! Ethan! My darling boy,” She cried out for the umpteenth time that morning.
“You have never wronged anyone, you have always been a sweet boy. You do not deserve anything she’s doing to you!”
Rasmus tilted his neck to cast a glance at his wife. The woman fell to her knees, clutching the right leg of their now unconscious son.
“You have always been a wonderful boy. Why is the world so cruel to you?! Why has the goddess decided to take away my only source of joy? The only reason I live…”
He clenched his fists by his side, grinding his upper jaw against the lower while fighting to stay quiet.
“Oh! How I wish! How I wish we could…”
That’s it. He had heard enough.
He turned to his Luna, a deep scowl etched on his vile facial features.
Just as he parted his lips to speak, the loud knock on the door intercepted his thoughts. He looked up at the door, and down at his wife again.
“Put yourself together, you are the Luna of Darwin pack!” He spat out, as he brushed past her and headed for the door. Rasmus knew it would not be the doctor at the door. The doctor would not need to knock.
From the corner of his right eye, Rasmus watched Luna scramble to her feet. She settled into her chair, which was planted by their son’s bed, and wiped her tears with the sleeves of her dress.
Rasmus sighed and focused his attention on the door. He turned the knob and pulled it open, revealing the face of his messenger.
Rasmus quirked a brow at the young wolf. The man bowed his head as courtesy demanded, and stretched a sealed envelope towards him.
His gaze dropped to the white envelope in the young man’s hand, sheer curiosity clouded his dark eyes. Rasmus caught sight of the blood-red seal and his eyes widened.
He could recognize the Elven seal even in his sleep.
Greedy finger snatched the envelope from his messenger’s hand.
The young wolf – although visibly taken aback – raised his head to speak.
“A message from the Elven territory, alpha.”
Alpha Rasmus heard a chair shift behind him. He could tell that his wife had jumped to her feet when he felt her presence hovering very close to him.
He frowned.
“You are dismissed.” He waved his hand at the young male, before banging the door in his face.
Rasmus turned his back to the door, facing his wife. He took his time to look over her with distaste, while his fingers ripped open the sealed envelope.
His Luna was almost drooling. Her ears had stood straight, and she panted like a fucking dog who had been chasing a rat for miles.
Once he slid the inner note out of the envelope, she all but jumped at him.
“It’s from the Elves! What does it say?!”
Rasmus dropped his gaze to the note, while he spread out the paper for his hungry eyes to skim through the ink on the paper.
He was silent for the first ten seconds.
“Oh! Read it out, my lord. It can’t be bad news again! Another dead end?!” His Luna’s hands flew to the top of her head as she cried out.
“Whatever shall we do, Rasmus!”
“Woman!” Rasmus yelled.
Silence fell upon the room immediately.
“Allow me to concentrate.” He spoke through bared teeth. She turned away from him and returned to her chair. Once she was settled and no longer getting on his nerves, Rasmus proceeded to read the letter.
“Greetings, Alpha Rasmus of Alkarod.
I have good news for you, as you must already know.
I, Yaris, have devised a full-proof and highly efficient plan to get the girl you seek to cure your son.
It is time, Rasmus, to ready your troops. The plan would still fall on their shoulders at some point.
You would receive another letter from me once it is time for the next step.
Congratulations are in order. Be careful, and remember our deal.”
Rasmus hitched a breath. After the first sentence, he had not wanted to get his hopes up, but after the second, and then the third, Rasmus knew there was every reason to celebrate.
“The goddess be praised! Oh! The goddess be praised!”
He threw his hands in the air with glee! By the goddess, he could not remember the last time he had screamed at the top of his lungs, as he did the second the note touched the ground.
Or it didn’t. His Luna had jumped from her chair to catch the flimsy paper in midair.
“What does it say? What does it…” Her voice trailed off. Her eyes must have caught the good news as well.
“Heavens! I knew it! I never gave up hope, Rasmus! We never did!” She screamed and rushed to the side of her son.
“Can you see this, Ethan? Can you hear me? You would be well soon! You would be back to us!” She turned to look at her husband, and their gazes locked.
Tears rushed down Luna’s eyes. It was a dream come true for both of them. Just when they had thought they would lose their son, the spark at the end of the tunnel was more than enough to fuel their hopes.
Yaris had given him something to hold onto, hope for a brighter future. For that, Alpha Rasmus knew he would be eternally grateful.
He rushed to his son and placed a soft kiss on the boy’s forehead, beads of sweat trickled down his face.
“You will be well, my boy. There is hope. There is hope.”
“We must inform the court, Rasmus! We have to tell everyone…”
“No.” He cut in, raising his head to look at her.
“We must be careful who we trust. The Lycan king was able to infiltrate our camp under our very noses, he could not have done IT without an insider. We must be tactical, and very cautious. The Lycan king certainly has more tricks up his sleeves. We cannot say anything yet.”
“But…”
“I would write a letter to Lord Kain myself. Asides from him, no one else must know of this development yet. Do you understand me?”
Rasmus needed to be very careful. One wrong move and they could lose everything, including their lives. Since the Lycan king had become very interested in Elora, issues concerning her had become a lot more delicate and needed to be treated as such.
If word slipped and got to the Lycan’s ears, Rasmus knew the young king would not hesitate to burn his entire pack to the ground. Yes. He was that fear, that violent.
His question pulled her attention, and she nodded, although reluctantly.
Relieved, a broad smile snatched his hard features.
“There’s hope, my Luna. There’s hope.”