Chapter 101 Neither friend nor foe
~ Kael's POV ~
“They say blood is thicker than water. I want to assume that you don't know my daughter because if you did, you would not be asking me such questions,” Alpha Dylan said, a small and confident smile resting on his lips as though he believed the statement alone should settle the matter.
A laugh escaped me before I could stop it. It was low and humorless. I had expected him to lean into the resemblance. I had anticipated that he would attempt to use the undeniable similarity between himself and Lyra as the cornerstone of his claim. But if he thought I would accept that as sufficient proof, then he had already miscalculated.
“A rogue Alpha from nowhere else but Shadow pack expecting me to accept mere resemblance as proof of blood relation is laughable,” I replied evenly.
Understanding dawned in his eyes almost instantly. He knew exactly what I was implying.
“All these years,” he began, his voice calm and measured, “I have heard and believed that Alpha Kael of Ironfang was not only strong, but wise, insightful, and most impressive of all, immune to magic.” He tilted his head slightly, lifting his brows as if genuinely curious. “If magic were at play in my appearance, should you not be able to detect it? Or am I to conclude that what I have heard all these years is nothing but exaggerated tales?”
For a moment, I found myself without an immediate response. He had a point, whether I liked it or not. I had sensed no trace of illusion clinging to him. No distortion in his aura. No artificial manipulation of scent or presence. He stood before me solid and real.
Until now, I had also noticed something else. Despite the absence of fear in him or his men, there was respect. It was subtle but unmistakable. He carried himself like someone who understood hierarchy and power, and who acknowledged mine without resentment. That alone earned him a fraction of mine in return.
Before I could respond, Dagan’s voice cut through the thickening silence.
“Why now?” he asked sharply.
Every gaze shifted toward him, including mine.
“How is it that all these years you never once checked on your so-called daughter, who does not even know you exist, until today?” Dagan continued. “What changed, Alpha Dylan?”
I turned back to Dylan in time to see his eyes narrow slightly at Dagan.
“You are the Beta, I assume,” he said slowly. His gaze sharpened as though searching for something beneath the surface. “Why does it feel like I have seen you somewhere before?”
“You must have a faulty memory, Alpha Dylan,” Dagan replied, his frown deepening. “I am certain we have never crossed paths.”
Dylan did not look convinced. His stare lingered, assessing and suspicious. The tension between them grew perceptibly until one of the wolves behind Dylan stepped forward. From his posture and proximity, I deduced he was Dylan's Beta.
He leaned in and whispered something into Dylan’s ear.
I strained to catch the words, but the language was unfamiliar. It rolled off his tongue in sounds I did not recognize. Dylan shifted his eyes to me as he listened, his expression unreadable. Only after the whispering ceased and his Beta stepped back into place did he finally speak again.
“So, Alpha Kael,” he said calmly, as though the conversation had not just shifted beneath our feet, “do I get to see my daughter now?”
“You did not answer the question my Beta asked you. That question is important to him and to me as well. Answer it, and we will arrange something,” I told him evenly.
Silence followed.
For a brief moment, he looked away from me. His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly, and I could have sworn I saw something flicker across his eyes. It looked like pain. It was quick and restrained, but it was there. By the time his gaze returned to mine, the vulnerability had vanished as though it had never existed.
“I have been checking on my daughter once every month since she turned two,” he said steadily. “She does not know me because I was not permitted to speak to her or interact with her, but I had been allowed to see her, once every month, until you took her away without provocation.”
I lifted my hand, cutting him off before he could continue.
“Unprovoked?” I repeated, my voice still controlled but firmer now. “I never act without legitimate reason. There was a provocation that led to her capture.”
“Then enlighten me,” he replied without hesitation. “How does someone who does not know you provoke you enough to warrant being taken from her home?”
“My people were being killed,” I answered calmly. “And their deaths were linked to her.”
He studied me for a long second, then asked, “Do you truly believe that keeping her in your custody will stop your people from being targeted?”
A short laugh escaped him as he shook his head slowly.
“I would like to believe you are not completely unaware of the times we are living in or of what is happening beyond the borders of your Pack,” he continued. “However, I am certain there is information I possess that you do not. I am neither your friend nor your foe, Alpha Kael. But I can become either, depending entirely on how you handle my request and the condition in which I find my daughter.”
I had never underestimated anyone before despite the confidence I have in my strength and skills. So irrespective of the unusual circumstances surrounding my visitors and the fact that my instincts told me he was not lying, I chose calm over impulse.
Dagan, however, did not.
A loud scoff left him before I could respond.
“You speak boldly for a rogue Alpha,” he said sharply. “Anyone listening to you spewing threats would think you command the largest Pack in the land.”
Dylan turned toward him slowly as I slipped my phone from my pocket.
“And you speak carelessly for a Beta who serves a respected Alpha,” Dylan replied, his tone composed. “Also, I haven't threatened anyone, Beta Dagan. Yes. I remember your name now,” he said with a trace of pride in his voice.
That caught my full attention. He had not been bluffing earlier.
“I will speak however I choose within my territory,” Dagan shot back heatedly. “You would do well to remember where you stand.”
“Of course,” Dylan answered simply, a faint smile touching his lips before he shifted his gaze back to me.
While their exchange settled into tense silence, I quickly typed a message with clear instructions and sent it to Elder Rowan. Once it was delivered, I slid my phone back into my pocket and faced the man claiming to be Lyra’s father.
“Alpha Dylan Vale,” I said firmly, “your daughter is on her way here. If she arrives and agrees to speak with you, I will permit you entry.”
The words had barely left my mouth when Dagan turned to me with a look of unmistakable disbelief.