Chapter 27

The Orhert

Gray.

As the goddess would have it, Clyde came towards my dungeon cell with a flaming torch in his hands and a disturbed look on his face. Immediately he got to my cell, I turned my back on him and faced the walls to show my disappointment and discontent.

“Brother,” came his low voice, but I was not budging, not when he had ignored all my requests to become his beta, not when I, who had sacrificed a lot of things for this back, was shamed in the most callous of ways. I was taken from my own personal chambers to the dungeon, and here he was in trouble, trembling and seeking the same affiliation he had murdered.

“Brother, the goddess has left us.” He said it again, and from his shadow before me on the wall, I could see his slumped shoulders as he sat cross-legged on the floor.

The goddess never said much, but her silence was a dreadful thing; many packs had been wiped out after they searched for directions from the goddess and there was no response. The elders said that the goddess was like a child that slowly grows silent as they are ignored over and over again. Her silence could only mean that we had done too many things contrary to her wishes, and she had now left us to die by our own bidding.

“And yes, I know this is incredibly selfish of me, but I am here to set you free.” He said. I could not simply let go of the anger that had now become a part of me.

“That’s a pity; I have become quite comfortable here. I’m afraid I’ve become fond of my dungeon cell.” I taunted,

“Brother, I know I have wronged you, but I am scared, and you are the only one I can tell this to. Everyone expects me to be this unshakable being, but I feel alone. Would you stand with me, brother?” Clyde pleaded; his eyes burned holes in my spine, and I turned around to look him dead in the eye, I wanted to see the face of my greatest friend, who had also become my greatest rival. My goal was to let him know the extent to which I was pained — as the minutes passed by and I still remained a mere nobody in a dungeon, my pain festered, morphing into a ruthless monster.

“You have kept me locked for no reason at all, like a peasant with an outstanding debt, and you dare to call me brother? These are no longer the old times when you whimper and I sacrifice myself to make you feel safe. You have already proven to me that my sacrifices are worth less than nothing.”

“I have wronged you, and I have acknowledged so. I am a fool, and I am sorry.”

“You have said everything, except that which I wish to hear. I care little for your apologies. You know why I am here, and until you realize your mistakes, I’ll find it really comfortable within this cage.”

I said in dismissal that I was not about to be released and continue being less than a delta for the rest of my life; it was better for me to rot with the rodents in this cell, and besides, I already had a plan in motion. I began turning my back on him again, but he stretched his hands through the cell bars and placed them on my shoulder.

“I’ll make you my beta; do not turn your back on me.”

Clyde.

Before I went to visit Gray in his cell, I concluded that I was not leaving the dungeon without him, even if it meant letting go of my pride as an Alpha. Gray was suddenly the only person I could confide in in the pack. They don’t tell you this, but alphas alsoneed friends to lean on. Gray had the opportunity to organize a mutiny with his level of influence in the pack, but he chose to ask me instead for the office of the Beta, and even when I imprisoned him, he passed my test by staying there humbly without plotting an escape or an assassination.

“I’m so happy you are here with me now.” Together, we see ourselves going to earn back the favor of the goddess.” I said to him, Gray had been brooding since we left the dungeons, and I understood his grudges, but this was no time for this. I had something important to show him.

“I’ll be in my chambers, Clyde. Let’s meet at midnight; you said you wanted to show me something important.

Gray said this and walked off into the night.

By Midnight, we were both ready, and so we walked off into the woods. We headed towards the huge oak tree, and beside it was a weather-beaten cottage. This was where our Orherts were trained; nobody else knew of this but I. Since I had no Beta, there was no use in disclosing the whereabouts of our Orhert to anyone at all. It was now my attempt at making Gray trust me fully and fight beside me when danger arose. My instincts were telling me that Jason was not over with us yet, and Jason was not just any foe — he was one you had to prepare for.

“Tell me this is what I think it is,” Gray gasped, seeing the Orhert as a great privilege for anyone at all, to see the great Orhert was a honor offered to a few persons only. The only person apart from the Alpha and beta who was allowed to be close to the Orhert was it’s mother, who died during it’s birth.

In the middle of the cottage lay a boy-like man with silver hair. Orherts were a peculiar kind of wolf that emerged from their mothers wombs as transformed wolves. Their birth was kind of a sacrifice because their mothers were torn apart for the wolf to emerge. It was the job of the Alpha and other hire-ups to train the Orherts to full power. Apart from their great skills, the Orherts were unable to understand human speech; in fact, the only thing human about them is their bodies before transformation, so they needed guidance. They were the power of a pack, as their skills surpassed those of any wolf. Our pack had lost three of our Orherts, and this was the last one. We had to protect it and utilize it wisely.

“The Orhert of the pack! Who would have thought, in all my years?” Gray exclaimed like an astonished child.