A loud growl erupted from father's throat, loud enough to send fine tremors up my arm. My hands instinctively moved to the hilt of my sword, to back my father up if need be. His eyes gleamed from the forest green colour they usually were to the bright blue of an alpha.
My gaze went to his fingers, the claws threatening to protrude from the surface. He was close to shifting. I struggled against the pull to bow my head before him, the aura all alphas had when they were close to unleashing their full powers.
Around me, Elena and her mother already had their heads lowered, so as Keyleth. Although, I watched the way her hands trembled and closed into fist—she was trying to fight it too. Alpha Reuel showed no obvious sign that he was affected aside the way his jaw clenched, and his goosebumps that had ridden up his arms.
He was struggling against the energy, fighting it to keep his pride intact. After all, father was ruler of the largest pack in the realm. His strength was beyond that of a normal alpha.
My gaze landed on the male leaning at the entrance of the throne room and I stiffened. Nothing seemed to affect him. He eyed my father, before moving to me. Whatever he saw must have entertained him because his lips curved up into a dirty smirk.
For some reason, that small smile frightened me more than the energy that came from father.
He kicked off the frame he leaned on with refined grace and stalked towards us. "I'm not here to fight," he said, his voice gentle but loud enough to be heard.
"Last I remembered, proper ethics to visiting a pack did not include barging in uninvited," a snarl left father's lips. He pranced forward, his back slightly bowed and his eyes gleaming.
"Then you must forgive me, as you have heard—my mannerism needs a little work."
Another snarl left father's lips. He looked ready to pounce on the alpha dressed in all black. I tilted my head at him, noting the arrogance on his face. The way he was relaxed in front of two other alphas and the fact he wasn't in his pack. Alpha Reuel hadn't said anything since he was spotted, his hands clenched at both sides.
"Why are you here Arias of Shadowfen?"
Arias?
My brows drew closer as I searched for the memory I had heard that name in.
Both of them were inches apart now, father's eyes remained gleaming but the other alpha—Arias—had his smirk in place.
"I think you are forgetting something Alpha Loren," Arias' voice lowered to a deadly tone, forcing me to take one step closer to father. His head snapped to me and his eyes…glowed. Not the usual blue of an alpha but his original colour of eyes. They glowed.
And then, an energy hit me. So powerful, my knees buckled this time and my head dropped down. I gritted my teeth together and tried to resist the aura he was releasing.
Beads of sweat coated my forehead, leaving the strands of my hair wet. I struggled to force myself upright, going against the energy pressing down on me. A grunt left my lips as I finally managed to lift my head.
The alpha hummed as his gaze lingered on me. Did he know it was me? The wolven from the gray building? I dispersed the thought immediately. There was no way. I had worn a cloak and kept my hood up during our encounter.
But the way he looked at me, the way his lips seemed to tip higher made me doubt whatever sense of sureness I had.
Father's lips pressed into a thin line as he matched Arias' stance. He was taller than father, making the wolven tilt his head up towards him as they sized each other up.
I took another step towards them, ready to intervene in case need be. This wasn't how I expected my day to go—everything had gone straight to shit.
For some reasons none of the energy coming from them affected me severely anymore.
"Why are you here Alpha Arias?" The words came out measured, strained, like he was using every atom of self control he had not to go head on with the wolven.
"Isn't it obvious?" He lifted an eyebrow. "To give you information on what you just encountered."
The tip of claws that had stretched out of father's fingers retracted immediately, his eyes shifted back to the forest green I was accustomed to, but he left the aura released. "How did you know what we have seen?"
Arias sighed, lifting his arm to run his hand through his hair. "Grym," he glanced around the space, then back to father. "That's what it's called."
"Wait, what are you even talking about?" I spoke up, finally fed up with the way noone was saying anything of what happened.
Something at the back of my mind told me I already knew what they saw. My wolven instinct screamed at me, telling me it was the creature I'd encountered at the gray building.
"Silence Oliver," father said, still holding Arias' gaze.
But Arias had broken the mini stare down they were having and had his eyes on me. His head tilted to the side, taking me in. Then, he let out a dark chuckle—the sound harsh enough to make me stiffen.
"I assure you, you don't want to know." Arias clasped his hand at his back. "The grym is something ancient. What you just saw should not exist."
"You speak like this isn't your first time encountering one." For the first time in forever, Alpha Reuel finally spoke, lifting his chin up to Arias.
The alpha of Shadowfen looked at him like it was his first time noticing him. "It's not."
"Do not mistake me, I haven't held hands and had drinks with them."
I rolled my eyes at that. Making jokes in a situation this tense? Could he be anymore audacious? Or he just had a death sentence.
Father's eyebrow shot up at that, causing Arias' smile to broaden.
"They're being manipulated by someone. Created and then used at will."
"Rogues." Alpha Reuel spat.
"It's hard to tell when most packs blame the rogues for every bad thing that happens."
"And you don't?" Reuel questioned?
"I believe everyone is capable of good and bad…Reuel."