Chapter 45 Again, Wolf!
Liam was practically burning with fury. He was the last one to have completed the full moon ritual among them. He still couldn't fully control his body. Which made the pain he was experiencing all the more difficult to rein in his emotions.
Kael had felt it the moment he wrapped his arms around him. Liam's body had gone rigid, his breath ragged and sharp; the rage and grief inside him practically coursing through his veins.
In one swift motion, Kael grabbed Liam's head and turned it toward him, looking straight into his eyes. Amber wolf halos blazed in the dim light of the cave.
"Liam… you need to calm down," he said.
But Liam didn't seem to be hearing any of it right now. His eyes were still burning with fury and pain.
Kael tightened his grip on his jaw. He lowered his voice, but his words rang out like a command.
"You need to calm down. Now."
He was holding his gaze, drawing on his Alpha power.
An Alpha's will could command that ancient bond that echoed through the blood of the pack.
But Liam had already crossed that threshold. His blue eyes flooded blood-red and the claws splitting through his skin were proof enough that the shift had begun.
"You need to lock me up!" he snarled, writhing with a ragged voice.
Kael finally turned his eyes to the twins. "Take Liam down to the cellar. Now!" he ordered.
The twins acted immediately, supporting Liam by the shoulders and leading him down to the cave cellar beneath the stone manor.
Asia stood in a corner, curled into herself. How long had they been asleep? Was there still a battle outside? And most importantly — would everything go back to the way it was? Her mind was spinning with these thoughts.
Eva noticed the state she was in and slowly made her way over. She sat down on the rock beside her. Asia's glance flickered with something like irritation, but Eva didn't care.
"Where did we meet?" she asked.
Asia furrowed her brow. "What does it matter?"
"It matters to me." Eva smiled. "Not everything about my past is clear to me. And from the way you look at me, I can feel that we were close."
Asia clenched her teeth. There was a deep longing in her eyes. "The person I was close to isn't you. That person sacrificed herself for us. She died," she muttered.
Then she stood and took a few steps toward the stone manor, pausing just before she moved away. "You're nothing but a little witch playing house with an old Alpha," she said, and walked off.
Eva had never thought any of this would be easy. But something had become clear with this encounter. These people didn't want the version of her that existed right now. And they had no intention of accepting her either.
So in that moment, she made a decision. She wanted to awaken all of her powers and her former self — completely, and as soon as possible.
A war was coming, and Eva was determined not to leave them to face it alone.
Kael slowly approached Rai. Rai's body looked thoroughly drained. He leaned in and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Are you alright, old friend?" he asked.
Rai truly looked exhausted.
"Homay's light isn't on me anymore… What's happening?" he murmured.
Kael knew the answer to that. But he wasn't entirely sure how to tell Rai. He slowly sat down beside him.
"There's a new Guardian Alpha now," he said.
Rai's eyes went wide. He stared at Kael in disbelief.
"What happened? Did I do something to lose Homay's light?" he asked.
Kael shook his head.
"I don't think so… No, I don't believe you did anything like that, Rai. Easy now," he said. "There's someone of the Guardian lineage now. Just like you."
Rai began to think. Eva was of the Rose women's bloodline. Rai came from the blood of a Rose Guardian. He was the last of his kind...
"Wait a moment…" he said, his brow creasing. "So there's a Guardian child? Someone bore a Guardian?" he asked.
Kael gave a slow, heavy nod.
"Yes… But with the worst possible choice of a mate."
Rai's frown deepened.
"What do you mean? Kael, you need to tell me."
Kael drew a long breath.
"That corrupt blood… managed to claim one of the Rose women."
At that, Rai's face went taut. A dark fury swept over his eyes.
"No," he said sharply. "We destroyed it. The corrupt blood is gone. Its body was torn apart, its soul imprisoned. It doesn't exist anymore. How is this possible?" he snarled.
Kael's voice was hard.
"It managed to leave its seed behind. There's a family in the present day that carries its bloodline. And the eldest living member of that family deceived Alayra — one of the Rose twins — years ago," he said. There was genuine revulsion in his eyes.
Rai held his breath. He was terribly weak, struggling to gather his thoughts. What he'd just heard had landed like a weight.
"Alayra… brought Eva's new body into the world," Kael continued. "And a male child was born the very same night."
Rai took his head in both hands. Everything he had come to know as truth had turned to ash in an instant.
"So there's a new Guardian Alpha… who shared the same womb as Eva," he murmured.
Kael gave a confirming nod.
Rai drew a deep breath.
"What do you think will happen to me then? I haven't tried to shift yet. Do you think I can still shift?" he asked.
Without a word, Kael seized Rai's arm. He pressed his claws deep into his skin, opening a sharp wound. He was checking the pulse of the wolf within him.
Kael closed his eyes. He listened for a moment. Then he smiled. He clapped Rai on the shoulder.
"Don't worry, old wolf. The pulse of the wolf inside you is still beating. It's still there," he said.
He added with a trace of something like sorrow in his expression,
"It's just that you're no longer an Alpha."
The tension in Rai's face softened just a little. He smiled faintly.
"I was already planning to retire," he said. Then he threw a punch at Kael's arm and grinned.
"I hope to God there's no war out there in that world. Because I want to fish by a lake and drink wine in a little house on the water."
Kael smiled.
"I'd like to say there's no war outside," he said. "But I can't say that until we figure out what's happening here, old friend."
His gaze drifted slowly toward the bloodstained Sacred Oasis.
His jaw tightened, his teeth locked together.
"But we will find out," he growled, through clenched teeth.
The veins at his temples pulsed. His eyes sharpened, the Alpha within him fully awake.
It seemed… the demon hunt had begun...