Chapter 255

255 Chapter Two Hundred Fifty Five

Lionel Haelstrom could barely contain himself as the car sped across the asphalt towards the capital of Lycaon. This was the third group heading there to defend the king. This time he’d chosen to go with them for he feared his father was in grave danger. Against his sister’s complaints to keep him in the pack, he left in a hurry.

His beta, seeing that the man could barely contain himself, had chosen to take on the role of driving. “Hey, Lionel, we should prepare an excuse to present to the alpha for disobeying his orders,” the beta tried.

Lionel barely heard his beta’s words. His mind wouldn’t stop running the different possibilities that could be taking place in the capital. It was only when the thick scent of blood hit his nose that he realized there was something wrong with what had happened. Looking forward, he noticed they’d just about reached the capital, “The smell of death is thick in the air,” his beta said.

“Add the smell of rogues to that assumption,” Lionel replied, getting even more unsettled in his seat. This was only getting worse than he had worried about. The car got ever closer to the palace and his fear for what awaited him only got worse the more he thought of it.

Along the streets, they noticed vehicles moving about on clean-up duty. Arrows were lodged all over the place. Some of them had missed their targets while others sticking out of werewolf corpses. The smell was pungent and the wolves wanted nothing but to get away from the source of it. “What happened here?” his beta alpha asked.

The car continued on through the city passing similar sights of the carnage that had taken place. They parked outside as there seemed to be more than enough cars that had come to see the king and prepare for the attack. From what the wolves could tell, the fight was all over. Breaking out of his daze, Lionel pushed himself forward to the palace, passing the open gates. What awaited him on the inside forced him to halt even more. Arranged in many lanes as far as his eyes could see were caskets of different designs.

At first, he didn’t want to believe what he was seeing, but soon enough, he was sure of what was before him. The caskets contained the fallen on the side of the hunters and werewolves that had come to help out. Each hunter that intended to pass by them spared a second to bow in silence to those that had fallen in the battle before proceeding on their way. A few of the hunters stayed by the caskets of those they knew and they were left to grieve for as long as they needed.

Mustering his courage, Lionel moved from one casket to the other, noting the names that were written on each. His mind searched for a single name... He had to make sure his father had made it out of the battle alive. He didn’t know what he would do otherwise. After going through them for what felt like an eternity, he reached the last of them and confirmed that his father’s casket was not among them. “Let us enter the castle. Perhaps that way, we shall...”

“Lionel, is that you?” a familiar voice reached his ears. The werewolf turned to see the face that had now been etched into his memory. One of the first faces his eyes had been graced to see the moment he was born. His father stood at the far end of the group of caskets with his father in a cast. His injuries were clear, but the red-eyed man was clearly alive and that’s all that mattered to Lionel. The man rushed up to his father and engulfed him in a hug, glad he still got to keep his father.

.....

Skipping over the greetings, Lionel asked the king, “What on earth happened here?”

“It was a war, Lionel. What else do you think happened? Thousands upon thousands of rogues attacked us. I never even thought the rogues could even make that big of a number,” the alpha replied, “It’s good to see you are well, Lionel. I thought I was clear when...”

“Let’s skip the scolding, father. I tried simply sending more warriors to ensure your safety, but I couldn’t relax knowing you could be in danger,” Lionel replied, “And it seems I was right. What happened to you?”

“I’m fine, Lionel. Just got beaten up by one of the rogue king’s generals during the battle. I had no idea those monsters were packing much strength,” the man said, wincing at the memory of what had happened to him.

“If you had trouble with another alpha, I’m now worried,” Lionel exclaimed, taking another look at the cast his father was wearing on his left arm.

“It’ll heal, Lionel. Don’t worry about...”

“Alpha Lionel, I didn’t think I would see you here,” a voice interrupted them. Lionel turned to face a yellow-eyed werewolf approaching him. The man had once been a proud delta but had been demoted by the prince of Sirius in a fit of provoked anger.

“It’s good to see you made it out of this ordeal unscathed as well, Victor,” Lionel replied, noticing the wolf barely had a scratch on him.

“Well, it wasn’t easy. I can tell you that much. Thankfully, I never got to meet a general like our alpha. I know I would have been killed for sure. Have you paid your respects to his majesty?” the man said to him.

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, you haven’t heard...”

“Victor, watch your tongue,” Alpha Maelstrom thundered. In a lower tone, “If someone hears you saying such things with a tone that’s almost happy, you might just join the fallen.”

“Apologies, alpha... I do advise your heir to pay his respects though. It would allow us all to accept what’s happening much faster,” the man returned with a slight bow.

'

Lionel walked past the man and went straight into the castle, completely oblivious to the calls of those that watched him go. His mind couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The possibility of the hunters winning the battle would only mean they were able to save the king’s life. Why then would the king be dead?’

The man reached the doors that led into the king’s chambers only moments later and found a crowd standing by the door in silence. A few were let in every few minutes for a reason Lionel had still refused to believe. He believed there was something else they could have been accessing the room for. However, the more he noticed their solemn expressions, the more he came to the brink of acceptance. His pack made it to him and waited with him as their turn to enter finally came. Inside the room, was a neatly designed casket, open at the head only to allow all that entered to see the person it contained.

Lionel froze at the sight of the king before him. As he looked down on the king’s corpse, the man’s eyes closed and finally peaceful, Lionel didn’t notice the slight smile that graced his face.

The widow seated at the other side of the casket smiled along with him. He’d been one of the few to visit the king once before. A memory that he’d buried a long time ago resurfaced, reminding him of the pain the king had been in when he’d been alive. His failing body was only causing him more pain. Lionel had never known how the man had survived this long, but now that he saw him rest peacefully, he couldn’t hold back the smile that graced his face.

“How was he in his final moments?” he asked the widow.

“Well, he was braver than I remember him. He didn’t fear death one bit and once he was gone, the man that had taken his life was more terrified than the one he had killed,” the woman replied. Lionel wasn’t so sure what the woman meant, but he was comfortable with his ignorance. For now, he would grieve the king’s demise.

.......

“Hey, Katie... wake up. We’ve arrived,” a voice urged the sleeping girl to wake up from her sleep. Cole watched the girl at his side try to rub the sleep from her eyes. When her eyes did open, the bright blue light of her werewolf’s returned before dimming to a normal bright blue.

“Oh, hey Cole, where are we?” the girl asked him.

“Where else? We’re at the palace,” the royal responded.

“That doesn’t make sense... Did they bring all the students to the palace with us,” she asked him.

“No, it’s more like I carried you into the car that brought us to the palace,” Cole responded, chuckling at the girl’s sleepy behaviour, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this tired in your entire life. It’s a new look on you.”

“Oh, shut up, Cole. And yes, I am tired,” Katie responded, pinching the bridge of her nose as she sat up. The car they sat in had gone silent and she was slowly becoming aware of her surroundings, “Cole, let’s open our mind link to the two packs again. There is no reason to hide what happened anymore now that the rogues know about it.”

“Yeah, I was going to ask you that when you got up, but now that you’ve said it, I’m worried,” Cole responded.

The girl smirked... Her whims were starting to have an impact on Cole as well. It was a privilege she enjoyed very much as someone that was trained by the Chase hunters, “Well, maybe we’ll find out something by doing that.”

When Cole did not reply, she looked to her side and noticed he’d gone completely silent and spaced out, “Cole, are you okay?”

“I’m not so sure. At this distance, I shouldn’t be able to sense something as far as Lycaon... But...” he paused and looked down in thought, “No, maybe it’s nothing.”

“Well, if you were trained by my parents, they would tell you to investigate that feeling because it might be something indeed,” Katie responded. As soon as the words sank into the alpha, he was out of the car and rushing up the stairs of the palace. Katie sighed and took it upon herself to get their luggage back to their room, “I better tell him that I’ve been meaning to have us go to Lycaon as soon as we got here... I have a bad feeling of my own,” she said to herself as she got out of the car and watched him disappear from sight.

“Do you need help with your bags?” someone asked her and she nodded, accepting the help as she was tired.