Chapter 183

Chapter 183
Reyland remained in that state for a full two hours, until his father, Alpha Dax, brought his mind back to the room.

“You still don’t wear your boots,” Dax droned.

“Why would I? They will only rip when you shift,” Reyland replied casually.

“How do you feel?” his father continued in the same tone.

“Strong,” Reyland replied confidently.

“Still tired?” Dax asked inquiringly, moving from the entry of the living room to the chair behind Reyland.

“Not anymore,” Reyland replied causally, turning on his buttocks to face his father.

“What did you tell the Alpha King?” Dax asked as he sat on the couch, his eyes averted.

“To give me time…” Reyland replied slowly.

“I see…” Dax murmured, crossing his long legs, knee over knee, as he rested his back on the sofa and clasped his hands, resting them on his thigh.

Reyland swallowed.

“Father, we need to talk about Bloodrayne,” he said slowly.

“Speak, Child,” Dax replied evenly, turning his blue gaze on his son.

“You know their Alpha is the King’s son, yes?” Reyland said patiently.

“Yes. Jackson debriefed me,” Dax replied neutrally, lowering his head half an inch, eyes still on Reyland.

“That makes the one with Marian my –” Reyland continued in the same tone.

“It makes him nothing,” Dax cut in casually.

“He is your –”

“He is nothing.”

Reyland unfolded his legs and stood. He strode to the window while his father remained seated.

Reyland had rearranged his sitting room, all furniture was back in their original place from when he had moved things at his father’s last visit.

Dax was seated where he, and Luna Diane, had been on Christmas morning.

His eyes followed Reyland.

“We have Bloodrayne shifters in our dungeon. We have their prince in our hospital. We need to hold a conclave with the Bloodrayne Alpha,” Reyland commented, leaving the other topic behind.

“To what end? Those animals only understand one language,” Dax retorted quietly.

“Yes, and we, Lightmoon, own that language,” Reyland replied calmly.

Father and son gazed at each other.

Reyland turned his gaze to the window.

“He wants our red wolf,” Reyland remarked, his eyes steady as he stared out the window.

“She is injured, he will not be excited about that. He will want compensation or something extra. He will hesitate to ask for the Lycan. It is his father’s grandson. He will be careful,” Reyland continued, thinking strategically, speaking one step at a time.

Dax eyed his son. His best advisor. Even from a young age.

His firstborn had always been wise.

“And his son?” Dax chipped in, “Will he not ask for that?”

Reyland’s body stilled. He seemed like a statue.

“That one,” Reyland rumbled, “will not leave this place.”

Dax stood.

“What do you mean?” he asked warily.

“He will not leave without Marian,” Reyland explained, without looking away from the window.

“What does that mean?” Dax growled.

“It means, Father, that we must have a conclave,” Reyland replied distantly.

“We need to talk to them, we need to convince them that peace is a better option. It will be hard, but we must do it,” he continued steadily.

“They are all around. Outside. They are almost feral. Only the strongest of Lightmoon will survive if they attack.”

“The Alpha King’s departure is known to them. Even with our allies, this is our home. Many will die.”

“We can save lives, Father,” Reyland remarked without missing a beat as his eyes drifted back to his father.

“Or we can continue to destroy them,” he stated calmly.

“Not once, but twice, I was unable to stop a slaughter. Now, I can. And, I will,” he said firmly as Dax made to speak, his eyes holding his father’s with the same intensity as his tone.

The pack Alpha pursed his lips as his jaw twitched.

“Bloodrayne can’t kill me,” Reyland continued, “and I won't let them kill anyone who belongs to us or who trusts us. This is Lightmoon, my Father. We live and die –”

“For Blood and Honor, I know the words, my son,” Dax rumbled.

“Then we are agreed?” Reyland asked evenly, his eyes searching his father’s.

Dax’s gaze was hard, his face was tight.

There was a short pause.

Then, the Alpha’s expression softened.

“We are,” Dax replied quietly, his shoulders relaxing.

For the first time in a long time, in years, Dax exhaled.

The Alpha closed his eyes. He moved back to the chair and sat heavily.

He reopened his eyes, gazing at the space in front of him, his mind far away.

Reyland remained silent, watching his father.

After a while, he turned back to the window.

Then, into the silence, he spoke again.

“You need to fix things with Corien,” Reyland murmured.

Dax barked out a long laugh. Self-deprecating.

“That is not possible.”

“It is, if you give him a chance.”

“A chance to do what? To kill my wives? To kill my children? As penalty for what I did to his?” Dax remarked incredulously.

“He will never do that,” Reyland replied placatingly.

“Do you think you know him better than I do?” Dax retorted sarcastically.

“I think you measure yourself by an impossible stick, and you use that stick to beat everyone around you. I think you have punished yourself…for years…and refuse to give yourself any quarter,” Reyland replied calmly, conversationally.

“What do you know about us?” Dax snapped.

“Everything,” Reyland rumbled. “Too much. Don’t worry, it has nothing to do with this, he remarked, gesturing at his body, “Jackson told me.”

“Jack…” Dax murmured, almost a whisper, turning his gaze away from his son.

“He is my friend, Father. I trust him with my life,” Reyland replied evenly, addressing what this father had not said.

“Apparently,” Dax said cuttingly.

“Alpha, we are talking about you and your friend, not me and mine,” Reyland replied patiently, but with a tightness to his voice.

“Corien is not my friend,” Dax replied mechanically.

“Then what is he? Have you even given this thing between you two a name?” Reyland all but snapped back at his father.

Dax head snapped up at his son.

Reyland pulled back his tone and volume.

“I do not mean to lecture you, Father. But Alpha Corien is important. To you. To all of us. A second father. We, all of us, grew up with him at your side, with you at his. I can sense the wounds in your soul, Father. Those are wounds that can only be caused from a shattered bond.”

“You have not released him. I sense that, too. But he has broken from you. He is strong enough to do that and keep walking.”

“You are strong enough to take that and keep moving. But for how long will you both deny what is in front of both your eyes?” Reyland pressed, leaning forward, his palms open, one placed on top of the other as he stared insistently at his father.

Dax looked away, his face turning to stone.