Chapter 36 Dread taking root
Ruel's POV
Inside the main hall, the energy shifts. Every guard already within the hall drops their heads in deep bows.
Every side conversation and whisper dies instantly, so that the only sounds left are out footsteps and the faint rustling of the seer’s raven black cloak sweeping the floor.
Alpha King Andre walks slowly, inspecting everything with his razor focus. “Your base seems calmer than I expected,” he remarks.
I understand what he means and it pisses me off. So you has to meet the place in chaos to believe the issues I've been complaining about?
“We try our best," I keep my voice even. "...to keep everything in order even under very harsh conditions.”
He glances at me. “Is that so?” His golden eyes darken. “Interesting.”
A chill races down my spine. It's not everyday I disagree with him but I already know today is one of those days.
Alpha King Andre sits first. I follow, with Elric taking the chair at my side. The seer remains near the entrance, silent and watchful like an eerie shadow pinned to the wall.
The Alpha King lounges back in the chair like he's in the pack house but I guess he does own the whole of Vahl.
His fingers tap lightly on the armrest, slow and careless, as if this meeting is nothing more than a silly interruption to his day.
I sit upright with my hands clasped under the table so he won’t see how tightly I’m gripping my own skin. So he won't see how hard it is for me to restrain myself from confronting him.
Elric stays silent but I know he'll be speaking when I need him to.
Omar, short yet with a strong presence sits opposite Elric. Somehow I feel it's deliberate, just so he can infuriate Elric even more. And it works excellently well because suddenly, Elric’s glare stays glued to him.
Then with a barely hidden grin Scarface sits beside Omar. Fucking traitor.
“So,” Alpha King Andre finally says after a long silence. “You wanted my attention, Commander. You have it now.”
My jaw flexes. “I wrote you a letter months ago, Alpha King,”
He lifts one brow. “Did you now?”
“You know I did,” I say, failing to keep the annoyance out of my tone. “Before then I'd sent reports, requests, follow-ups to all unanswered letter... Yet I received no reply. Not even a denial.”
Andre shrugs, slow and dismissive. “I get many letters.”
Elric’s head snaps slightly, but he stays quiet.
I keep my voice leveled. “I am your Commander. Ignoring official reports for months is unlike you.”
“Is it?” Andre leans back even farther. “I suppose I must be slipping.”
He’s mocking me. He knows it. I know it. My wolf knows it. At this point the whole fucking base knows it.
I don't dispute his claim because indeed he is slipping.
“And when I tried to enter the pack’s northern gate last month,” I continue, “I was stopped by your royal guards. They informed me you had given orders that no one from this base should cross into the pack until you approved it.”
He smiles faintly. “Did they?”
“They did,” I snap but quickly correct my tone when Elric's finger touches my thigh. “Why?”
The king taps the table once. Then twice. Then stops.
“You know…” he begins casually, “I’ve been thinking a lot about... loyalty.”
Loyalty?
“Loyalty,” he repeats, swirling the word like a good wine in a cup. “It’s a rare thing these days you see.”
“Alpha King Andre,” I start. “If you believe I’ve wronged you…”
“Oh, I don’t believe it,” he interrupts lightly, his gaze turning wicked. “I know it.”
My heartbeat thuds once. Elric shifts beside me, his shoulders tensing just like mine.
Andre studies me for a long moment. His eyes filled with his true emotions… anger and distaste.
“I gave you a direct order, Ruel.”
I frown. “Which order would that be?”
“I said kill every stray.”
Elric straightens sharply. His gaze whips to me. We both know what he's talking about.
Alpha Andre’s smile widens, slow and cruel.
“What did you do, Ruel?”
My breath sticks in my throat and I force it out carefully, calmly. “They were babies,” I say. “Newborns. Abandoned and starving.”
“So?” Andre lifts one shoulder lazily. “An order is an order. Or do you now choose which ones you obey?”
My hands tighten under the table. Pain shoots up my arms, but I don’t loosen. “So that,” I say quietly, “is why you kept me in silence all this time.”
The king watches me with so much anger but doesn't say a word. He doesn't need to.
A vein pulses under my right eye. My wolf pushes hard against my ribs, furious, but I keep him down.
“You ignored every report,” I say. “Including the ones of my men dying. You waited until today to appear. All because I didn’t slaughter infants?”
Andre tilts his head, amused. “Infants grow into strays, Commander. Strays grow into threats… worst sempyrs. Isn’t that what I always taught you?”
My jaw clamps.
He chuckles. “I see. You disagree.”
Before I can respond, he leans back… and lets his aura explode.
It hits the room like a thunderclap.
The air thickens instantly. It's heavy, crushing… terribly suffocating.
Every warrior, every guard outside in the hallway, everyone within reach falls to their knees with groans that echo through the walls.
Elric collapses to one knee beside me, his teeth clenched as he breathes hard.
Omar and Scarface aren't spared either. The only person who isn't affected is the seer.
She doesn’t move, as if she’s made of wood.
My eyes widen as I realize that somehow, as insane as it sounds… I too am not affected by his aura.
I feel the pressure slam into me, but it doesn’t crush. It doesn’t burn. It doesn’t pull a single breath from my lungs.
Instead, it sparks something violent in my chest. And like an explosion, fury spreads within me.
This has never happened before. What is happening to me?
Alpha Andre’s eyes narrow slowly.
Thinking quickly, I feign a reaction, dropping to my knees while I force out a loud groan, pretending the pressure is breaking my ribs.
I bow my head, my fists pressing into the floor.
“F..forgive me, Alpha King Andre,” I grit out. “I… didn't…m..mean to be rude.”
The aura recedes at once.
Three warriors outside scream as the pressure lifts, collapsing flat on the ground, blood dripping through their nose.
Elric sags forward, panting.
Alpha King Andre rises slowly from his chair, his eyes locked on me. “It appears you’ve increased your stamina against your Alpha King’s aura.”
My stomach drops, dread taking root.