Silent Energies

Chapter Seven - An Old Pups' Tale

Walking back towards the Manor holding Katy’s hand made Elias feel invincible.

If only Rainier Darkfang could see me now, he thought proudly. The thought of showing Katy off to the bratty son of his former clan’s Alpha gave him a wry smile, and he stood a little taller.

He looked down at his giant fingers, laced through Katy’s much smaller ones, and knew instinctively that he would always protect her. No matter what happened, he would kill anyone or anything that dared to stand against her.

Elias thought about Katy’s earlier question about whether Cynanthropes had fated mates. He knew it wasn’t common, but he had heard of it happening. More in an urban legend sort of situation, rather than actual lore.

But he had heard of it.

He wondered about their story… He had known when he first outed himself as a Weredog to Katy, that he would love her forever. He didn’t know why he had trusted her, but he just knew instinctively that she would never hurt him or shun him.

He had also heard the prophecy about a Weredog that was mated to a powerful witch when he was just a pup… It was his former clan’s equivalent to a puppies’ fairy tale when he was growing up. His mother had told him all about the evil Alpha who would throw out the true son of his father after he took over the clan when his father died. The story went that the exiled son would return with his mate, who was a powerful witch, and together, they would overthrow the evil tyrant and bring the clan back to safety.

Elias’ mother, Sable Darkthorn, died when he was only 10 years old. The old Alpha, Lucian Darkfang, had taken him in and kept him safe, but the time for fairytales had passed along with his mother. He was educated until he was old enough to begin work, and Lucian had always been kind to him.

Lucian and his wife Rowena had a son named Rainier, who was 2 months younger than Elias. Although Elias and Rainier had grown up together, they were never friends. Rainier was insanely competitive and had always found ways to compete with Elias throughout their childhood. The little prince was insufferable when he lost, and Elias had let him win most of the time, simply to buy himself a peaceful life.

Lucian had taken a genuine interest in Elias, although he never told him why. There were rumours among the omega staff at the clan house, of course, but Elias was never sure how much to believe them. Idle gossip had never been his thing.

One of the old housekeepers had once begun telling Elias about Lucian and his mother, Sable, who had apparently been quite the couple in their younger years. Of course, when Rowena showed up after a drunken Clan party one night and announced that she was pregnant with Rainier, Lucian was pressured into doing the decent thing ‘for the good of the Clan’ by her parents.

Rowena’s parents were Vexen and Azazel Darkspell, members of the Clan’s elite upper class. They were incredibly wealthy and never missed an opportunity to flaunt their superiority over the lower ranking Clan members.

Apparently, they were unbothered by their daughter getting pregnant out of wedlock, so long as she became the Alpha’s wife before the pup entered the world. Elias had only met the Darkspells once, and that brief meeting had been enough to inspire him to vow never to do it again.

Rowena was scathing towards Elias on almost every single occasion that she interacted with him during his time at the Clan house, so he very quickly worked out that it was much safer to stay away from her. He never really understood why she hated him so much, but figured it was something to do with the fact that her darling baby boy Rainier did, and so it just carried on down the line.

After Lucian died and Rainier took over as clan Alpha, he had given Elias a choice. Elias could either be exiled from the Clan and leave with nothing but his life, or he could fight Rainier and be killed in front of everyone. Since Elias lacked the need to risk his life simply for the sake of his ego, he figured it was better to leave with his life and try to make it on his own.

In all the years since his mother told him the old stories as a pup, it never occurred to Elias just how similar his story was to the beginning of the old legend.

Until now.

X X X X X

Katy and Elias had walked back to the manor in a comfortable silence, holding hands the whole way. They had never felt the need to fill the silence with empty words, but by the time they were sitting on the terrace, she could tell that he was miles away.

“Penny for your thoughts…?” Katy smiled, trying not to marvel at how chiselled his jaw looked while he was deep in thought. The question seemed to shake him back to the present. A sheepish look crossed his handsome face, and he shrugged.

“Sorry, I was thinking about what you said earlier about us Cynanthropes having fated mates… It’s not really a thing, but there are a few of the stories we tell our pups that have kind of the same story...” Katy squeezed his hand reassuringly, giving him the option to continue if he wanted. He took a deep breath and went on.

“My Mum used to tell me one old story about a Weredog that got exiled by the Alpha’s son when he succeeded him, because the dog was actually the Alpha’s true son... The legend went on that the dog would meet his fated mate, who was a really powerful witch, and they would go back and overthrow the evil Alpha’s son…” Katy was intrigued.

“But… I’m a witch…” Elias nodded. Katy was confused…

“Wait… Do you think we’re the fated mates in the story…?” Elias shrugged.

“I mean, it seems kind of crazy, I totally agree… But after you asked me about the fated mates thing, I realised that I knew, like, immediately when I met you, that I was meant to be with you.” He spread his large hands wide and shrugged again. “I mean… It would explain a lot…”

Katy was quiet, taking in the magnitude of this information. Elias began to look worried.

“You okay…?” Katy flashed him a smile.

“Of course! I mean… We might be the fated mates from your old fairy tales... And we might have been always meant to be together… And we might have to go back and overthrow your old Alpha’s kid at some point to save your former Clan…” She shook her head with a laugh. “ But who wouldn’t be fine about all of that!”

Elias looked relieved and might have been about to reply when Jayson walked up to the pair with several printed pages. They both turned to look at the temporary butler and he flashed them a friendly smile.

“Sorry to interrupt the moment guys, but I have your travel itinerary here.” He handed the pages to Katy, who thanked him and quickly flicked through the information. She looked up at Elias and smiled.

“So, have you ever wanted to go to New York?” She winked, and Elias groaned in mock protestation.

“Not New York! Ugh, it’s so busy, and the people, and the chaos… Yuck!” Katy laughed.

“… And me…?” Elias grinned and winked at her.

“Well, in that case, I’m sold! Let’s leave right now!” Katy swatted at him with the folded paperwork.

“Close! We leave tomorrow morning... So, you’ll need to be ready to leave by….” Katy looked to Jayson for clarification.

“The car will be ready to leave at 9:30am.” Katy nodded and looked back to Elias.

“Done, although we’re going to have to drag your zombified butt out of bed to be ready that early!” A cheeky grin spread over Elias’ face as he teased her, and Katy pretended to be offended.

“Right! Well, you can bloody run to the airport then, with an attitude like that!” She shot back. Elias roared with laughter and winked at her.

“And I'd probably still beat you there!” Katy shoved him and tried to dodge out of the way as he grabbed her waist, pulling her onto his lap. Jayson recognised their need for privacy and took this opportunity to excuse himself, citing his other duties.

When Katy and Elias were alone on the terrace again, she ran her fingers through his sandy blonde hair, massaging his scalp gently with her nails. His eyes closed with a blissful smile, and that low rumble that just ... did things to her insides escaped him again. Katy smiled down at the pure enjoyment on his face and lowered her lips to his, kissing them tenderly, holding his head in her hands.

X X X X X

The kiss sent lightning bolts rippling through Elias’ entire body. It was so gentle and tender. He opened his mouth slightly and deepened the kiss, his tongue flirting along her lips until her mouth opened in response.

Their tongues danced together, teasing and licking, until Elias felt himself beginning to get hard. He groaned in exasperation and pulled away from the kiss, looking off into the distance to try and get a hold of himself. Katy was puzzled at first, but when she realised what the problem was, a wicked smile spread across her face.

She stood up and pulled his hand. Elias looked back at her and tilted his head at her. She winked and pulled him towards the Manor.