17. Like father, like son
1279 Words
Chapter 17
Like father, like son
(Seraphine’s POV)
Once Renrik left, I collapsed beside the fire. I knew Alphas held an immeasurable amount of power and had a natural aura of dominance, but feeling it for myself was surreal. There were no Alphas in Hell. Valefar killed them all or simply didn’t capture them.
‘Standing up’ to Renrik had left me drained.
I tried to catch my breath and let my heart return to its normal rhythm, but a shiver shot down my spine.
Someone was nearby. Someone was watching me. While my body went stiff, I tried not to let on that I was very aware of the shadow creeping up on me.
“Hey-”
I pounced. I couldn’t shift into my wolf form without Valefar’s permission, but I could use the iron cuffs on my arms to whack someone around the head. That was exactly what I did and quickly regretted it as Kent whimpered and backed away, rubbing his red cheek that I’d just walloped.
“Ow, ow, ow. How can someone so small pack such a punch?”
“Kent?! I thought you were on patrol?” I gasped, too stunned to apologise.
“Patrol, eavesdroppin’ - same difference.” He rolled his shoulders and grinned, orange eyes full of child-like mischief.
My own shoulders sagged. “You were listening to me and Renrik?”
“Not deliberately,” his grin shortened into a kind smile. “I changed into my wolf form while I was scouting the area and with our keen hearing, I picked up most of the conversation. Sorry.”
So patrolling and eavesdropping really were the same thing for Kent.
I looked him up and down. His brown curls were cute, as were his large, orange eyes. Kent was taller than me, but not quite Renrik’s height. I couldn’t help but be nosy and ask, “what does your wolf look like?”
“Do you want to see it?”
“Only if you’re comfortable showing it,” I murmured, realising I didn’t quite know werewolf etiquette. Could I just ask someone to see their other shape or was that considered rude? Kent, at the very least, seemed more than happy to show it off.
There was the usual clicking and cracking noises as his bones and muscles contracted and constructed something new. Then a medium-sized wolf stood before me. His light-brown coat was bushy and looked incredibly soft. Long, large ears with white tufts of fur around them made it clear why he could overhear my conversation with Renrik so easily.
“It suits you,” I said, truthfully.
“Thanks,” a dual voice replied. A human voice pushing through the vocals of a wolf. “I feel more comfortable like this, but it’s easier to live life as a human. What about you, Seraphine? What does your wolf look like?”
I pouted and started to turn the fish over the fire, avoiding Kent. “Valefar stopped me from shifting without his say-so. I have no freedom to explore my wolf form. I was only ever allowed to transform when it would benefit his demonic deals.”
“What? Really? That really sucks, Seraphine. I’m sorry,” and I believed he really was sorry to hear my torture. “I’m guessing ‘Valefar’ is the name of the demon we fought yesterday?”
‘Yesterday’. I had been out cold for just one night. “That’s right.”
A violent ‘pop’ in the fire made me glare at it. The embers jumping up and down made me wonder what Valefar was doing. Had he conquered the banishing symbol that Renrik branded him with? Was he taking his anger out on the other wolves in Hell?
“We’ll stop him,” Kent suddenly said, sitting beside me and wagging his tail in slow, wide sweeps. “Ren will devise a plan to save the other wolves.”
“Are you sure?” Perhaps it was foolish of me for wanting to open up to Kent, but without Amber by my side I felt lost and vulnerable. Kent had a calming presence; he felt like a safe person. Maybe he was Renrik’s Amber. With that in mind, I decided to probe him. “There’s a lady in Hell, a member of the Warclad pack named Diana. She told me what the last Alpha Duskborne did.”
I noticed Kent’s posture shift. I could see his fangs as he grimaced. “So those stories even made it to Hell?”
“Was the last Alpha Renrik’s dad?”
“Tell me exactly what you heard, first.” The gentleness from Kent’s voice bled away; his warm reception reduced to freezing caution.
“I heard that the old Alpha left the Celesta pack to die. That the Veilrend pack had knowledge to fight off demons but chose not to share it with the neighbouring packs.” I recalled the imitation of Valefar’s ring that Renrik had used. I remembered that he said his brother was studying demonology. They used a banishing symbol against Valefar. The Veilrend pack definitely had the means to at least delay a demon.
So why did my pack fall?
Diana’s story was beginning to sound very true.
Kent shook his head. “It’s not really my place to tell you, but, yes. The last Alpha was Renrik’s dad. He-” Kent’s ears twitched. We both turned to the forest and saw the leaves rustling as Renrik returned.
The Alpha raised an eyebrow as he studied the two of us by the fire. “That was a quick patrol, Kenton.”
“We’re quite safe,” his tail wagged faster. “For now.”
I wrinkled my nose and latched onto the first topic I could think of, to avoid letting Renrik know we had just been talking about the Duskbornes. “‘Kenton’? Is that actually your name, not just ‘Kent’?”
Both Kent and Renrik gave me puzzled looks before their eyes blew wide open. “Oh my Goddess, I haven’t even introduced myself to you yet, have I?!” Kent cringed. “I’m Kenton Shadowclaw, Beta of the Veilrend pack.”
Renrik held up his hand like an ashamed schoolboy caught skipping class. “That’s my bad. I should have given the two of you a formal introduction. You already know that I’m Renrik Duskborne. I’m the Alpha of the Veilrend pack.”
I bowed my head, accepting their late introductions. I didn’t know if there was anything special I should be doing while meeting an Alpha, but if there was, Renrik didn’t pull me up on it. “Seraphine Lowell. As far as I’m aware, I’m the last of the Celesta pack.”
“Yes,” Renrik had a distant look on his face. “You probably are.”
Was that guilt?
I filled my lungs with air and courage. I had to address the elephant in the forest. “Look, I don’t blame you for what happened to the Celesta pack -”
“Seraphine-” Kenton whispered.
“Good.” Renrik’s clipped voice made me jump. “You shouldn’t.” His words were cold and nipped at my heart.
I understood that he was a pup back then, but he didn’t need to meet my words with such hostility.
I hardened my expression and kept my mouth closed. It appeared the conversation was over before it even began.
“Eat,” The Alpha commanded. “You’ll need the strength. We’ll set out for Veilrend as soon as you’ve eaten.”
But I suddenly didn’t have an appetite…
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