Under the vampire Lord's protection
Chapter 224: An investment

Chapter 224: An investment

They weaved through the trees faster than the breeze, their speed soaring exponentially in their wolf form.

Silas concluded there were many more of them than on the night of their previous meeting.

Indeed, when their howls echoed like thousands, it meant they were a dozen, but the baying reflected tens of thousands... That was when their numbers exceeded the dozen.

The vampire stood behind the gates of the property, awaiting their Alpha to exit the forest and face him.

The cracking of bones reached his ears before Cynric’s morphing figure came into view. The rest of them followed shortly after him.

By then, the gates separating them were completely open.

When they finally landed on their feet, their Alpha spoke first, "You have something of mine,"

That night, Cynric’s features weren’t as... Flexible as per his usual. He cracked no joke, not even at Silas’ depends.

Then again, his temper was justifiable. After all, the life of his son was at stake. A son that nearly sparked a feud that no one asked for.

"That... Thing of yours came seeking his mother," Silas stared him in the eyes.

"Did he find her?" even when he spoke calmly, Cynric’s deep voice never rose above growling range.

"He found a caring, motherly figure, but she was never his to keep,"

Cynric nodded slowly, communicating his understanding without the need for further elaborating.

"Since he hasn’t caused any damages that call for consequences, I’d like to retrieve my son and be on my way,"

Of course, Cynric would have a hunch that had his son committed the irreparable, Silas wouldn’t have greeted him so... Kindly.

The boy did nothing worth a mention, but the vampire was no fool. Remus would have faced the consequences of his actions at the hands of his father no matter what.

That was the way of wolf folk. That was the way of Cynric. If one was to step out of line, they had to pay the price. Not even a child was exempt from that rule, not even the Alpha’s child.

"She’s asked for a moment,"

At those words, Cynric’s eyebrow twitched, "What for?"

"I never asked," yet another sharp and cold response from Silas who never once blinked more than necessary.

As a heavy sort of silence crept in on the scene, his diamonds went over the members of the pack standing tall behind him, always on their guard, ready to pounce no matter the danger.

It was a familiar scent together with two sets of footsteps that put an end to that miserable staring contest both sides had engaged in.

From the manor, two silhouettes marched forwards, straight towards them. One was much smaller and feminine than the other. Through her scent alone, however, Silas immediately recognized Arabella.

The second individual turned out to be one the vampires that worked for the clan. On his back he carried something or someone. Null doubt the unconscious body of Remus.

The boy had his arms around the man’s neck, still snoring peacefully, deep in his slumber cozy that promised to end very soon.

"Those look good on you," Cynric’s words reverberated through the dirt beneath their feet.

Following the wolfman’s gaze, Arabella’s hand rose to hover over the bite marks Silas had left on her neck, but she did not cover it for long, allowing her hand to fall as quickly as it’d gone up.

Her gemstones never flickered away, soldered on Cynric as though defying him to make a move.

"Hand him over," when she said nothing, Cynric turned his attention to the vampire carrying his son.

"Not yet," Arabella finally spoke, voice meek but steady. It, every bit, resembled the tone she’d adopted with Silas in the infirmary before they separated, "Not until you promise not to hurt him,"

A sneer escaped one of the wolf people behind Cynric. A female that Arabella instantly identified as Ayyura.

The smirk on the wolf woman vanished the moment Cynric’s eyes landed on her.

"You forfeited the right to make demands from me when you didn’t choose me," the Alpha turned back towards Arabella, "Unless you’ve changed your mind and decided to make sure that no harm comes to him," Cynric extended an inviting hand for her.

Although he did not allow it to show, Silas’ heart skipped a beat when her feet led her closer to the wolfman. He fought the urge to stand between them. After all... If she’d chosen him then...

Silas never got to the end of that thought as instead of taking Cynric’s hand, Arabella placed a folded piece of paper in it.

"You are right," she started, "You do not owe me anything. That is why you won’t do it for me, but for your clan,"

Cynric wasted no time and straightened the paper. Immediately, one of his eyebrows rose up his forehead.

"What is this supposed to mean?" he flipped it back towards her, allowing Silas a peek at it by the same occasion.

On it was a line of squares drawn in various combinations and sizes, some of them repeated in some parts.

"This is one of the lines I’ve managed to remember from that notebook I’ve told you about," she stated dryly, "This whole time I wondered why you simply let me go without a fight and only tonight did I realize that you were making an investment," she nodded along with her own words.

Despite being left in complete darkness, Silas made no attempt at getting answers and instead allowed her to go on.

"I don’t know what you are talking about,"

There it was... That entertained expression on him that always transpired through him tilting his head slightly to the side and offering a half smile to whomever stood before him.

"You know, in the past few weeks I wondered why there was no mention of these scriptures in the books I’ve read about wolf folk," she took a deep breath, "Then again, the people that wrote those books were less likely to be wolf folk and... In the centuries of time during which folks of different nature celebrated Ostara in the great caves, you’d think one of them would have noted the writing on the walls. That is if they were ever there in the first place,"