69

Thane couldn’t believe the sight that met his eyes as he unlocked the cellar door. He had hoped that they would have been done with the Claiming so that he could return the ink, but turns out that wolves have other ways of claiming people.
Sia was on his knees, face twisted in agony and Thane could see why. The little wolf has her fangs buried in his neck. He had always known that Crinka could not be trusted, and now seeing her marking his elder brother in her wolf form only confirmed his suspicions. She was crazy!
Snapping out of shock, he whipped the silver knife out of his pocket and slashed at a pocket of fur. The wolf howled in pain but his mission was accomplished. The wolf retracted her fangs, and slowly turned on her paws, facing Thane. She was small, very small but utterly dangerous. Sia fell to the ground, grasping his neck. Thane knew that his wound wasn’t going to heal, and Izal would have to look at it.
He grabbed Crinka’s wolf by the jaw, and tried to hold her off until hopefully someone swung by. She kicked him with her paw, but he didn’t relent. He tightened his grip, and made small cuts with the knife where he could. Her howls were like music to his ears. If only they could be louder, she would be able to drive someone’s attention to the cellar.
“Crinka, I don’t want to hurt you, so be a good little wolf and shift.”
She snarled at him, trying to throw him off. This only upset Thane.
“Shift,” he said, tone infused with authority. The wolf only rolled her eyes. The audacity! Thane risked a glance at his brother. He was sprawled out on the ground, staring at the wolf, eyes blank. Thane cursed. Of all times to go into shock, why now?
“Father, I heard howls coming from here, woah! Is that a wolf? More so a red one?”
Thane nearly smiled when he saw Waxlyn come into the cellar. She was dressed casually, and kept sneaking glances at the little beast.
“Oh, thank goodness you’re here Waxlyn. Here, take this knife and stab this wolf with it.”
His daughter gaped at him. “Father! Why would I do that? The wolf is hurt and uncle Sia always says that violence is not the answer.”
Thane gritted his teeth, as he tightened his grip some more. What sort of child is this?
“Well, Waxlyn, as you can see, we need to resort to violence. The wolf is trying to kill me.”
“Eighty bucks.”
Thane stared at her outstretched palm. “What?”
“Give me eighty bucks now and I’ll stab the wolf for you.”
“Are you serious?”
“Uh huh. You always told me that there’s nothing like free service and I should always collect my money’s worth for the services I render. So, if you want me to stab the wolf, drop ya eight bucks.”
She was serious. Thane was dumbfounded. How could he have begat such rascal?
“I’ll give you sixty if you call your uncle Izal, and twenty if you will just take the damn knife!”
“It doesn’t work like that father. You have to pay for saying a swear word. That’s two tasks now, the price is bound to go higher but since you are sweating so much, I’ll give you a discount. Now, you just have to pay a hundred and fifty bucks.”
“Jesus Christ!”, Thane exclaimed. “Where do you want me to get a hundred and fifty bucks from?”
“That’s your problem father, not mine. Do you want my help or not?”
“Of course, I want it! That shouldn’t even be a question in the first place!”
“Good. So drop ya money. I know you’ve got something in those pockets.”
“Gah! Waxyln I don’t have a dime! Can’t you just do it for papa? Your uncle is going to die if you don’t help us both.”
She spared Sia a glance. “First off, I’m not even supposed to talk to you after all the things you’ve done, but here I am, attempting to negotiate with you and you’re not willing to listen! Secondly, my uncle is not going to die. I’ve never seen a royal prince die from a wolf bite before!”
Thane stared at her amazed. “You’ve not seen a wolf before!”
She stuck her tongue out at him. “I have now. So, are you paying or should I take my services somewhere else?”
“Fine dammit! There is some change left in my pocket!” She smiled. “I knew it!”
She carefully avoided the wolf and walked to Thane’s behind. She snatched the currency notes from her father’s pocket.
“I’ll be taking this too,” she said, taking the gem she had found in his pocket.
Thane’s jaw dropped in surprise. “You said you only wanted a one hundred and fifty bucks!”.
“And then you swore,” she said, putting the valuable items in the pocket of her coat. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I am going to call my uncle.”
“Wait! You haven’t stabbed the wolf!”
Thane cursed as Waxlyn skimped away. Angrily, he kicked Crinka’s fore legs with his boot clad foot. She didn’t expect it, and fell. He quickly grabbed the knife, and stabbed her furry paw to the ground. Never had he been happier about small cracks in the ice. That should hold her off. He stalked to Sia, and helped him sit up. Thane inspected his neck. She had marked him alright, he concluded, staring at the two punctured holes that were starting to close. He waved a hand before Sia’s face, nothing. He has probably passed out. Icelanders, especially the latent ones, were the weakest after losing blood. Sia had it bad. He carefully laid him down on the ice, hoping he would wake up soon.
Unknown to Thane, Crinka had freed herself from where he had her pinned. She snuck up on him, and before she could attack him, Thane got up and quickly turned, giving her a punch that knocked out her windpipe. Crinka fell to the ground defeated and Thane stared at the wolf with disgust. Now where the fuck was Izal?
“If you had everything under control, why bother send for me?”, Izal asked as he stepped into the room, carrying the first aid kit.
“I was hoping you would bring Kayne,” Thane muttered, stretching his limbs.
“Now why would I want to be with a child who doesn’t sit still? What happened here?”
“She marked him. The stupid red wolf marked him! Now Sia is going to lose all his powers if he had even any, and he’s going to become a wolf.”
“Don’t be silly Thane. A werewolf bite has no effect on an Icelander. And the she wolf was simply laying claim on what’s hers.”
“Sia is not hers,” Thane snarled. “Plus, it’s supposed to be the other way around. What are we going to tell father? That his favourite son has been claimed by a wolf?”
“You’re overreacting Thane. There’s something we’re missing here. What I want to know is what triggered her shift? Rogue wolves don’t actually shift unless intended for survival, which means the she-wolf thought that the only way she could protect herself from the Claiming, was to claim Sia.”
“That makes no sense. Why won’t she have just gotten the tattoos? I know she doesn’t like them, but it’s just ink.”
“That’s why I said you should have called someone else,” Izal growled. “I still believe she was protecting herself. You see this ink was mixed with concoction that’s unsuitable for wolves. And seeing how small her wolf is, I’m guessing she’s an omega and omegas aren’t likely to survive a lot.”
“So, you’re saying that since she knew she wouldn’t survive the Claiming, she just had to mark Sia so one way or the other they’re bonded without her getting claimed?”
Izal nods.
“That’s just wow. So, what do we do now?”
“Well, we’ll just have to wait for them to wake up.”
“Why? We can just wake them up now.”
“No. Sia needs to recuperate. He fainted from shock.”
“I still can’t wrap my head around it. What did he have to be so scared about? A red wolf?”
“How would I know? I’m not Sia,” Izal replied and walked over to the wolf.
“Er… Izal? You might want to stay away from her.”
“Nonsense. I’m just checking if her wounds are deep. Good thing they’re not. Did you try to get her to shift?”
“Yes, but she wouldn’t obey.”
“Of course, she wouldn’t. She’s a spitfire. This one. She might listen to Sia. He’s the only one she ever listens to.”
“I wonder why. Anyways, I’m going to get me some dinner. You want anything?”
“No. Just check up on Yale for me.”
“Why can’t you do it?”
Izal looked away. “I still haven’t had the time.”
“Fine and I won’t force you to talk to him. I’m a father too Izal, and I know that it’s sort of difficult connecting with kids you’re older than, but you’ve got to try. Waxlyn might be a lil annoying at times, but she’s my baby girl, and I love her so damn much.”
Izal rose a brow. “You trying to say that I don’t love Yale?”
“If you do, you certainly don’t act it. Try and spend time with the lad Izal. Tomorrow might just be too late.”