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Chapter 32 – Answers
Apollo stood twenty feet away from the lycan, staring him eye to eye. Legend has it that lycans were more feral in their wolf form, but this lycan looked crazed.
“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?” Wylder yelled as he moved towards us and the lycan let out an angry snarl at Wylder.
His nostrils flared and he looked around assessing the situation. His eyes reminded me of a swirling galaxy, obsidian black with glittery specks. Dom moved between the nine-foot-tall lycan and Apollo as if to protect the lycan. Aunt Anabeth’s Alpha wolf also stood beside her father.
“I think he’s found, Alpha Balthazar.” My mother called out as she moved closer, wearing a long shirt.
The lycan looked at her and nodded his head. Several long moments passed as everyone took in the legendary creature before us. Then he turned around and stalked towards the tree line behind him. He stopped at a very large Beech tree and continued taking deep breaths. Alpha Balthazar walked a circle around the tree before he stopped and looked up.
“Balthazar!” Ambrose called out and I noticed his clothes were covered in blood. He approached the irritated-looking lycan and I realized Ambrose also took part in the fighting upon their arrival.
“Balthazar, this is the Alpha King, Ares Crow. Your Majesty, this is my oldest friend in the world, Alpha Balthazar. He’s come to see your offspring.” Ambrose told me and Apollo nodded his head.
“Thank you for coming all this way, Alpha Balthazar.” My mother replied. “Ambrose, please take the Alpha inside while we tend to this mess out here. We have a lot to talk about. Jarvis will show you both to guest rooms and supply you with anything you need.”
Several warriors had already shifted back and were distributing clothing. Mateo and the chief warriors quickly started assessing the damage and casualties. Judging from the sorrowful howls from grieving family members and the pain of bonds breaking in my chest, I knew we had some fatalities.
We shifted and dressed as Paola rushed out of the pack house to wrap her arms around Mateo. Apollo mind linked with Storm to let them know the fighting was over. Wylder and Zeus quickly left to retrieve our mates and grandmothers from the lake. The Beech tree Alpha Balthazar seemed interested in shifted and a branch dipped down carrying Demeter. She smiled and hopped off, rushing to Dom.
“Pappoús, you’re back.” She threw her arms around his neck.
“We’ve lost thirteen, dozens are injured but should be healed by morning. There are more bodies than I can count on the other side. How do you want to handle them?” Mateo asked.
“Mass graves or incineration?” My mother asked me.
“Have the warriors gather and stack them in piles. Incineration will be quick, and we can float the wind west over the lake to carry ashes and scents.”
“Yes, Alpha. We’re running a parameter search right now, anyone caught alive—”
“WILL BE PUT DOWN IMMEDIATELY.” I ordered without a second thought. There would be no mercy for anyone who dared set foot on my lands with the intention to harm my pack.
I instructed Chris to make a list of our deceased so I can visit all of the grieving families this evening. I asked Demeter to work with Chris and prepare the graves for our lost warriors. Through the pack mind link, I gave the orders for everyone to stay indoors and away from the windows. The last thing I wanted was for pups to see the carnage stacked outside their homes.
Zeus returned with our mates and ushered them through the back door into the kitchen. Mateo moved to Dom and waited for my grandfather to shift back. He immediately laid a hand on Pappoús shoulder that turned icy white while he gave him healing. Pappoús always swore he felt ten years younger after each healing Mateo gave him and I was thankful that Mateo was always willing to take care of the family.
“So the big bad wolf, is he a science experiment or a real lycan?” Stryker asked my mother.
“Oh no, he’s the real deal. Cia can sense him.” She told us. “It’s the same thing she’s been picking up from Lukas, only she didn’t know what it was. Lycans have a strong but dark aura about them, though I’m not exactly sure why.” She said thoughtfully.
“Where the hell has he been for a thousand years?” Stryker replied.
My mother shrugged, and with a tone of indifference, she responded, “Cyprus.” 
We moved quickly to dispose of the bodies and restore the territory through the use of our elemental gifts. Poseidon arrived with what I recognized as nearly a hundred first-class warriors. Some looked injured but they all looked to be quickly healing thanks to their wolf healing. 
“Poseidon!” My mother gasped and ran to her youngest son who was still bleeding from his shoulder.
“It’s nothing mom. I just got scratched with a silver blade.”
“Mateo, quick!” She called out and Mateo was at her side.
“Where’s Zeus? I have a gift for him.” He smiled.
I looked beyond Poseidon’s injured shoulder to the warrior carrying someone draped over his shoulder. Apollo started snarling in my mind as he recognized the wolf that I once called father-in-law. A growl rumbled in my chest, and I felt a strong urge to rip his head off and mount it to a stake.
“Is that Randall?” Mateo asked.
Poseidon flashed a savage smile, knowing that Randall was behind the suffering of Zeus’ mate. “We caught him and some of his traitors running east, away from the war. He must have realized it was a suicide mission once he saw Ares in the sky raining down fire.”
“I promised Zeus he could have him and he will. Take him to the lowest cell in the dungeon, I don’t want Hazel to sense her father near, she might lose control of her element and set him on fire.” I replied.
“Wait, did you say father? Did I miss something, who has the fire element?” Pappoús asked in disbelief.
“Let’s get this garbage locked up where he belongs, and I’ll get Alpha Dimitri caught up before we have lunch with Alpha Balthazar. Poseidon, you will let Mateo heal that shoulder and join us for lunch.” My father announced.
Everyone made their way to their rooms to get cleaned up while Mitza and Grandma Syble helped Selene with lunch. Eudora was seated in the corner chair of our chamber, holding a sleeping baby. I placed a kiss on both their heads and hurried into the shower. So many questions swirled around in my mind about lycans and Alpha Balthazar.
I finished dressing and reached for my mate who seemed tense.
“How are you feeling?” I asked and she simply nodded her head.
“Nervous.”
“We’re going to get answers to our questions, this is a good thing.” I kissed her lips again and ushered her out of the chambers to the private family dining room. Everyone seemed eager to see what the ancient lycan looked like in human form.
Ambrose greeted us first. “Ah Eudora, Cassi was just filling us in on everything. I’m so sorry, I had no idea my brother was behind all of this.”
We took our seats around the dining table and waited for Aunt Anabeth, and Alpha Balthazar to join us. The kitchen help entered with platters of chicken and lamb kebabs, saffron rice, grilled vegetables, Persian salad, and pita bread. Wylder was the first to reach his hand out for a kebab, but my mother was quick to slap it back.
“Don’t be rude. We’re waiting for our guest.” She snapped.
I looked over at Zeus, whose knuckles looked like they were healing from the first round of ministrations he provided to Randall in the dungeons. I linked Zeus asking him to be sure not to kill Randall just yet, I still wanted to question him about Azazel. He assured me that Randall was going to live a long and agonizing life.
We continued to wait in anxious silence when a snarling growl reverberated in the corridor outside the dining room. Everyone looked towards the door as we recognized the snarling growl of a lycan. I’d only seen Alpha Balthazar in lycan form and had no idea what to expect, though I envisioned an elder like my Pappoús. My curiosity was quickly laid to rest when the doors were yanked open and the lycan stalked in.
“Balthazar, is everything okay?” Ambrose stood and walked over to greet his friend.
Alpha Balthazar was nearly a foot taller than Ambrose, who was already six-foot tall. He reminded me of a Greek or Persian warrior of the Gods, who seemed untouched by time. He was holding his aura back, but he couldn’t hide it from me or another Alpha. I knew lycans lived for centuries, but I wasn’t sure for how long or how their aging process works. For someone who’s lived hundreds of years, he could easily pass for a person in their early thirties.
Ambrose introduced Alpha Balthazar and they both took a seat at the table. Though most of us did a fairly good job at trying to hide our surprise, Xena openly gawked at him. He was dressed in black slacks, a black dress shirt, and his sleeves were rolled up. Everything about him, from his long hair to his amber eyes, looked dark against his olive completion. My mother started passing the platters around and everyone filled their plates. Well, everyone except for Ambrose of course.
“The sleeping pup is your offspring.” Alpha Balthazar nodded in the direction of Eudora’s parents who sat quietly in the corner holding Lukas.
“He is.” I nodded, sensing something had irritated the Alpha again.
“My beast recognizes him as a lycan pup.” He confirmed.
“So lycans can shift at a young age?” My mate asked.
“No, not usually.” He took a long drink from his wine. “Only the strongest lycans have been known to shift at such a young age.”
“Do you know how old you were when you shifted?” My mother asked.
“I was born human.” He told us. “My ancestors are from, what is now called, the Mesopotamia region. I’ve been alive for two thousand years.”
“And honey you’ve been preserved like a Greek statue.” Grandma Dori quipped.
“Where the hell is the fountain of youth?” Wylder asked and Balthazar chuckled.
“It wasn’t a fountain, but rather a Goddess who cursed me.” He replied.
“Goddess?” Wylder swallowed hard.
“Oh, Wylder knows all about Goddesses!” Stryker laughed as Wylder nervously glanced at his mate, seated beside him.
“Like my father, I was a shepherd. I spent the nights chasing away wolves from the flock. That’s when I met her. The ancients worshiped her as Inanna, but the Babylonians knew her as Ishtar. She’s one of the oldest Gods known to man, the Goddess of sexual love and war. When she fell out of love with me, she turned me into a beast so no other would have me. She cursed me to a life of immortality.” He explained.
“And… immortality is a curse?” Wylder asked.
“I cannot age or be killed. Ishtar cursed me to live this way until the Moon Goddess granted me a mate and I fully claimed her. She did this because I was not born a lycan and knew the Moon Goddess had not created a mate for me to break the curse.” He let out a low growl and fought back his irritation.
“Lycans are blessed with mates from the Moon Goddess?” I asked.
“Yes. The Moon Goddess is our creator as well. The moon has two faces, the light side, and a dark side. Werewolves are born from the light side, you need the moon in the sky to shift. Lycans originated from the dark side of the moon and cannot shift on the night of a complete full moon. Lycans were meant to rule over all shifters, and for thousands of years, they did.”
“Is that why your aura feels darker?” My mother asked and he nodded his head.
“Are there more lycans out there?” I asked.
“No. Your offspring is the first in a thousand years. Your Greek ancestors are the royal lycans. They however did not rule fairly in their last few centuries. They hunted those born with the magical gene. Witches and warlocks nearly went extinct.” He explained.
“What about werewolves?” Xena asked.
“Werewolves were looked down upon as lowly creatures, those who were fated with lycans were rejected for fear of producing werewolf offspring instead of lycans. What they didn’t seem to understand at the time, is the lycan gene is dominant when a lycan produces offspring with their fated mate.”
“What about vampires?” Eudora asked.
“They were created in Egypt by some of the last warlocks out of desperation for survival. They used ancient dark magic to summon a Demon from hell to bring life to the vampires. The same dark magic Azazel has been using to stay alive and prevent the rise of the Golden Age.”
“The Golden Age?” My father asked.
“Yes, it’s been long foretold that the lycans would rise again and rule in the Golden Age.” He said as he bit into a kebab.
“And the wars that the werewolves have been facing with hunters, are all part of the ploy to stop lycans from rising?” I asked, knowing the answer now.
“Yes, the Golden Wars.”
“Did lycans have elemental gifts?” My mother asked.
“No. The Moon Goddess blessed four of her daughters with the four elements. That is where your gifts come from. The gifts were given to the werewolves to help ensure the survival of their kind.”
“Could these wolves have ended up in Alaska?” Zeus asked.
“I don’t know. But one of the elemental daughters, or a descendent, eventually crossed paths with a werewolf from the Theodorus line, giving them the earth element.”
Pappoús shook his head. “It seems my Theodorus ancestors were plagued with tyranny.”
“We’ve all got some of those in the family.” Grandma Dori assured Pappoús. We continued to eat in silence as we considered what Balthazar had just shared.
“If you think about it, Ares is related to werewolves, lycans, vampires, warlocks, and even mated to a human. I doubt he’ll want to destroy any species.” Stryker added.
“Which is why the Gods selected him.” Balthazar nodded.
“So we just need to neutralize Azazel.” Wylder said and then turned to Ambrose. “Sorry, I know he’s your brother and all.”
Ambrose smiled. “No offense taken. It’s time to send him back to hell.” 
“If we’re attacked tomorrow night, do you think Azazel will be with them?” My mate asked no one in particular.
Ambrose replied, “I don’t know if he’s foolish enough to show up here tomorrow night, but if he does, I’ll be waiting with other vampires. Silver and poison will not work on us.”
“It won’t work on me either.” Alpha Balthazar added.
“Lycans are immune?” Poseidon asked and rubbed his almost healed shoulder.
“No. As far as I know, lycans are no different from wolves in that regard. But I’m immortal, I cannot die no matter what they use.” He told us. “I will stay and fight tomorrow night. I can shift with the absence of the moon in the sky, that’s when lycans are their strongest.”
“How did the lycans die out?” Wylder asked.
“Lycans can only reproduce lycans with their fated mates. Many started picking chosen mates, while others were hunted down by warlocks and their vampire armies, which also caused a problem in the mate matching game the Goddess fated us with.”
“And I’m supposed to repopulate an entire species?” My mate asked sounding shocked and distant.
“Well, your offspring will. They will pass the lycan gene to their offspring, and they will pass it to their offspring and so forth.”
“That means the babies are—” Eudora’s eyes were wide with shock.
“Yes, your twins are lycans as well.” Balthazar nodded his head.
“Twins? Did he say twins?” Grandma Dori asked.
“Twins!” Yia-yia clapped.
“Wait, twin lycans?” Zeus asked. “Will my offspring also be lycan?”
“No. Your brother is a Demigod from the royal bloodline. He’s awakened the lycan gene.” Balthazar answered. “However, your sister will also produce lycans, should her mate claim her.” He added.
“Demeter?” Xena asked.
“Is that the name of the youngest pup?”
“Yes, Demeter is my only daughter.” My mother answered. “Speaking of which, where is Demeter?” She looked around the room.
“Why would Demeter’s children be lycans and not the others?” Yia-yia asked.
“Because I’m her mate.” Alpha Balthazar answered.