Chapter 105
“If I say I will protect you, have you grown so bold as to accuse me of lying?” Dax retorted quietly, his steady gaze holding his son’s nervous one.
“If you fight him –” Reyland pushed back urgently.
“Who said anything about fighting?” Dax cut in again.
He placed his second hand on Reyland’s other shoulder and turned the large man to face him.
“I will protect you. This pack, will protect you. Your brother, will protect you. That…she-wolf, will protect you,” Dax continued.
Reyland’s lips parted as his eyes widened.
“Do you know that she offered an oath for you?” Dax continued flatly before Reyland could interject.
Reyland gasped. He made to step back, but his father held him in place.
Dax stared at him, nodding slowly.
“She asked my leave to bind her life to yours,” Dax stated dryly.
“Fa–” Reyland breathed, shaking his head as his father continued to nod.
“She said she would give her life for you,” Dax droned, as if Reyland had not spoken.
“No –” Reyland whispered shakily.
“So, my child, when I tell you I will protect you. Do you believe me?” Dax asked patiently.
Reyland, pale-faced and sweaty, stared down at his father.
“What does that have to –” Reyland replied, his brow furrowing as his chin shook and his eyes quivered.
“If that child can swear to protect you, what do you think I, your father, would not do for you?” Dax asked patiently.
Reyland shook his head, swallowing nervously.
“If a little girl can stand for you, what do you imagine I would allow to happen to you?” Dax pressed, his hands tightening on his son’s shoulders, his gaze steady and unflinching.
“Father,” Reyland croaked, “she is not the Alpha of a pack. Hundreds of lives are not on her shoulders. Her family’s lives are not on her shoulders. The Alpha King –”
“You don’t trust me,” Dax murmured, turning his back to Reyland.
“No, father, it’s not that,” Reyland reached out, placing a large hand on his father’s shoulder.
Reyland’s hand was trembling.
Dax closed his eyes, his back still to his son.
“I trust Grandfather. We know what he can do. He has been doing this since before we were born!” Reyland pressed, his pitch rising as he went along.
“We?” Dax droned, turning back to Reyland, an eyebrow raised.
“You really think too much of yourself, young one,” Dax stated flatly, gazing at Reyland with an exaggeratedly neutral expression.
Reyland smiled despite himself.
“That’s not what I meant –” he commented lightly.
“You seem to be saying many things you don’t mean –” Dax tossed back flippantly, his gaze shifting to Reyland’s hand on his shoulder and then back to his son.
“And you seem to be trying to start a quarrel, Father,” Reyland retorted with a small smile, sliding his hand off his father.
Both men gazed at each other.
Dax’s tight expression was relaxed; Reyland’s fearful one was calm.
Nobody can take my son from me, Dax mused as he stared at his son again.
Nobody.
Marian’s face flashed in his mind.
He pushed it out.
Nobody.
The Alpha King’s halls flashed in his mind.
No.Bo.Dy.
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By sunset, Corien, Gravan, and Marian had all left the dorm.
Corien had gone to the Alpha mansion. He knew Dax was not there, and he knew the Luna would be there, so, he went to keep the Alpha’s family company.
Gravan had gone to the pack hospital. He knew there were still a number of recovering shifters from the red wolf’s attack three days before, and wanted to help the staff out, just as he had been doing since he got well enough to do so.
Many of those affected by the rabid wolf’s Alpha Cry were still in pain. Especially those who had shifted against their will.
As Gravan knew firsthand what it felt like to be moved against one’s will, he had been very helpful at the hospital.
Also, his ability to mind meld had helped many of the injured.
So, he went to the hospital to help out.
Marian had gone into the woods.
She had stripped, folded her clothes neatly, shifted, and let Dinka run. Her wolf had run for four hours, while Marian had examined the surging energy within her.
It was new, fresh, powerful.
After her father’s information, Marian had felt lost. She had wanted to see only one person, but he would most likely be with his father, so she could not go to him – to Reyland.
Since Reyland had not been available, she needed to think on her own.
So, she had relinquished control to her sister and had gone inside herself, away from everyone and everything.
And her sister had gone to the wild.
In Dinka’s mind, the yellow hue had grown stronger. The usual clear, at most misty, view in her wolf’s mind, in her own mind as well, was gone.
Marian had closed her eyes, gone into a meditative state, feeling and measuring the growing power within.
Her breathing had been slow and steady as Dinka had run, leapt, skidded, and swum.
That was when Marian’s eyes opened.
There were not many deep bodies of water around the pack grounds. In fact, the only one was Reyland’s Lake.
The closest other was outside their territory, and Dinka would not have gone that far.
As Dinka dipped herself in the icy cold water, Marian glanced around.
This was her second time in the Lake.
The first time, her body had felt heavy. She had assumed that had to do with her tiredness, her not having eaten for almost a day.
This time, she felt light.
The first time, the water had been dark, even with her wolf sight, she had not been able to see more than a few feet in front of her face.
This time, she could see clearly.
Marian inhaled, in her mind.
The lake was shimmering. But it was evening. Such a sight should not have been possible underwater, but there it was before her.
The water seemed alive.
There were no fish, no particles of anything. No algae, no tiny insects. Nothing.
She opened her mouth, but Dinka was already doing the same.
Dinka could see everything Marian could.
Dinka, as well, had been stunned by the sight and the feel of the water. The water felt like silk on her fur. She had been twirling around as she dove deeper, amazed at the sensation.
Dinka opened her mouth. She swallowed some of the water.
Almost instantly, Dinka jumped out of the lake.
She swept upward and out of the water, spitting and spurting.
Hacking out what she had swallowed.
“D.! Are you okay?” Marian called out in their mind space.
“No! Yes! I’m fine,” Dinka snarled.
“What happened?” Marian asked, bewildered.
“The water, it’s burning! But…it’s fine now. I guess it’s not for drinking!” Dinka replied humbly.
Both Dinka and Marian paused at the same time.
Dinka’s snout pointed upward.
Two seconds later, the wolf sprinted away from the lake.