Hades moved his hand down his she-wolf’s thigh to her ankle which he stopped. Since they had arrived and sat down she had not ceased the movement, the only indication that she was anxious. And that only happened when it involved her family and loved ones.
-Calm down,- Hades leaned closer and whispered to her.
She looked at him out of the corner of her eye but said nothing. But the alpha knew that at least with his touch and a little pheromone being released in her direction, the she-wolf had relaxed… a little.
-So well – Layan was suffocating within the four walls of his den, between the pack’s problems, without a beta temporarily available, the intrigue Victore had about his person, the mate who kept taking her hands off him, and his she-wolf in bed fighting for her life. Like… it was a lot even when he was the strongest wolf in all the square miles.
-Alpha, please- Victore gestured to the armchair next to the pair and across from him- This conversation is extremely serious.
Layan didn’t protest and sat down leaning his head on his hand. He felt exhausted, he was worn out and needed a good few hours of sleep that he hadn’t been able to get. At any moment he could collapse but he didn’t say it. He had to be strong and not only for himself.
-Speak,- he ordered Victore a little more sharply than he wished but at that moment he really didn’t have much control over himself and that was writhing inside him.
Victore looked unfazed at the way Layan had spoken to him. He understood him. And apparently so did the couple who kept quiet.
-Well- he began to say squeezing his fingers in his lap- This I am going to say in the first place cannot be known by anyone else and in the second I tell it to the alpha of the silver pack and its queen because it is related to you in two parts. Firstly because Layan was related to your father, the alpha Saisen and secondly now to his daughter Priscilla.
Hades frowned.
-My father?
-Your father and I trained with your mother to become alphas. Damn Celesia is cute as hell but she’s got an iron fist for training. He was already a full grown wolf and I was still a puppy- Layan told him as if that was the most normal thing in the world. He raised his eyebrow when he noticed the other wolf’s heavy gaze on him- I’m more than 150 years ahead of you Hades. Believe me, that time makes a difference.
Hades didn’t answer him. Rather, he turned his attention back to Victore who was looking a bit nervous.
-What else?
-The truth is that there is a small detail that both Saisen, Celesia and I hide. Priscila is moderately aware of the issue but it seems that she doesn’t understand it very well.
-Victore,- Layan’s voice was low, his fangs showing menacingly, -I was just getting to the point.
Victore swallowed dryly.
-Layan, if you suffocate him he won’t be able to talk. Repress your pheromones- Nebraska’s voice was dry in his direction and that’s when he realized he was releasing pheromones. They were so busy he hadn’t noticed.
Victore was able to breathe easier when the atmosphere stopped being tense and his head stopped throbbing. It was much easier to follow.
-See, the main issue here is that you, alpha Layan, have not merged with your wild side,- he blurted out without further ado.
…
…
…
-What?- the question came more from Hades than from Layan, whose eyes were wide open and his shock almost prevented him from speaking.
Victore nodded.
-The rational part of you has not merged with the wild one. So to speak, you have two consciences inside you. And your wild part is very aggressive because it hasn’t been tamed by your rational part.
-Wait, shut up.- Layan scrunched his brow and gasped.
-Layan?- Nebraska worried for him.
The alpha took a deep breath and leaned his head back against the backrest. Soon he opened his eyes in a storm of gold and blue.
-So, that thing that’s been talking to me and making me have mental gaps every time I…-he didn’t really want to say what he had the gaps in since he was standing next to the parents of the other participant in those gaps-is what’s drilling into my brain-?
Victore narrowed his eyes and focused on Layan. He was soon rebuffed and the imposter glued him to the seat.
-And apparently he won’t let anyone in,- he said, -Yes alpha, it’s the wild side of him.
Hades was shocked as it was the first time he had heard of a case like this and it had caught him with his defenses down. Knowing that the strongest alpha of all the packs wasn’t even a full wolf.
-Can you explain better what’s going on-
Victore nodded, wiping the sweat from his brow.
-As you know, everyone is born with only their rational side and as time goes by we grow and our instincts develop and that’s when we have our first transformation. That’s when we naturally merge, it’s a process that we hardly notice and we need the supervision of an older wolf to guide us without hurting us- he took a breath, now came the worst- But in the case of you alpha Layan both your development and the awakening of your wild part was a little late and not in the first years of development of a normal wolf. Maybe because he was too strong and his young body wouldn’t resist it.
-But if you say I woke up late because I have no memory of it, nor of being trained-another mental one that had passed so many years that he didn’t remember. A hole in his life where there was only pain.
-Alpha, you awakened your instincts in the midst of war. Where the reunification of the packs was taking shape,- Victore explained, making the two alphas tense up. That was the black era of wolf history and few dared to talk about it- the reason you don’t remember is… it’s… my fault-.
A large growl was heard in the room. Layan glared at him but didn’t move from his seat. Victore knew he had better keep talking or the alpha would rip his throat out.
-Alpha, I’m really sorry, but it was the only way for you to survive,- he said.
-You’d better explain better Victore- Layan’s voice was extremely low, almost unrecognizable. Nebraska unconsciously clung to Hades clutching his arm tightly, preparing herself in case there was a confrontation. Whatever happened she would not let her partner intervene for if he did, strong as he was, Layan was quite strong and she did not want to take the injured father of her children back.
Victore was tense but continued.
-Alpha, this is hard to say, but you awakened your instincts when your parents were killed in front of you- the statement made those present go white.
Layan didn’t remember much from that time. He barely had any memories of his parents who he saw little of as they kept him training most of the time or were busy, being the alpha and queen of the pack. But there were traces of some memories, of screams, blood, fire, the cry of a cub and … and … there was nothing else. Just darkness until she woke up.
-What happened?- he put his hand to his head and pressed his temple, -And tell everything?
-Alpha, that day we were attacked in the middle of the war after being betrayed. The alpha and the queen were killed by their own beta. You had your sister in your arms, she was just a cub a few months old. It was all very fast but you transformed and killed not only the beta, but everyone else in the room except Leila and me,- he explained. It wasn’t you.
-It’s normal to lose control at the beginning,- Hades justified Layan, although there was something strange about it.
-Yes, but normally when you lose control, you regain it soon after or you just go for a run. But our alpha never did. Rather, he ran away and took on all the invaders and tore them apart. To control him we need five wolves and chain him up so that he doesn’t even kill them.
-Layan asked the question directly into his head, trying to make contact with the voice that did whatever it wanted.
He heard a loud growl in the background.
-And he would do it again. They killed mother and father and destroyed the pack. They deserved to die.
-I see,- Layan opened his eyes more calmly than usual, -He says it was him. What’s inside me,- he said to those present.
-Can you talk to him?- Victore looked impressed.
-He’s cooperative when he wants to be, but if it’s Priscilla he’s a pain in the ass taking control of my body or insulting me in the head.
-Your wild side is the one that relates to my daughter,- Nebraska tensed up, -What did he do to her?
Layan looked at the she-wolf.
-Victore was the one to finish the sentence and the pair looked at him with their eyes changing color.
-That’s not the main topic right now,- Layan interrupted them before the atmosphere became thicker. He wanted to know more about their past- Why did you say it was your fault that I don’t remember that time?
-Layan, later you and we are going to talk,- Nebraska warned him before focusing on Victore again.
-Well, alpha, in order to save him I had to seal his wild side. I am the son of omega and I have some abilities. As the queen herself can control the mind in my case I can seal areas of consciousness making me forget things or even seal part of a person to make them act differently. In your case I was forced to seal your instincts because you were destroying yourself. I was only able to do it two weeks after you were too weak to let anyone get close to you.
-That’s why when I woke up it had been what… a month? My parents were gone, everything had changed-
Victore lowered his head.
-It really was a difficult time and I had to make many decisions, for the sake of Princess Leila and you. Their mothers left them in my care and I had to watch over their lives.
There were a few minutes of silence after that. Victore didn’t know what was going to happen, Layan’s face was a blank canvas. Until shortly after he finally spoke.
-Despite everything that happened and what you did, I know you did it I can’t blame you Victore- layan relaxed his shoulders- I thank you after all, even if now we have to deal with this, but I’m an adult wolf now and I can take it- -I’m a wolf now and I can take it-.
Victore nodded.
-That’s why I really gathered you all here. This part of the story was important to alpha Layan but the next one includes you- he focused on both Hades and Nebraska- It’s because of Priscilla-
-What about my puppy,- Hades couldn’t help but pull out his fangs. Nebraska patted his thigh.
-You don’t intimidate him either,- and her husband calmed down.
Victore followed more confidently knowing he had the she-wolf on his side.
-Well, the problem is that Priscilla was the one who awakened Layan’s wild side. And maybe we can use that to our advantage to destroy Liam.