Cora swallowed hard and heard the door close behind her with a determined thud.
5. FIRST CHANCE
The training ground for Steven´s Werewolves was a dirt-covered field behind the monastery that kept them out of the public eye, free to employ all the sketchy techniques imperative to magic battles. With no word from Jen on their next assignment, the young Alpha had his whole group outside for a workout. He was in dire need of something to do a week after his pack´s return home with their valuable prisoner. The pack had formed pairs, Erin with Ian and Danny with Jason, while Lynn and Mark stood on the sidelines, a satchel full of mixtures at their feet. Steven -knowing his strength wouldn´t allow for an even match with neither of his Betas even if they came at him two at a time- had decided to simply observe, spending hours pointing out mistakes and flaws in his friends´ fighting tactics. Their reservations though, not wanting to accidentally hurt each other, got tiresome soon despite the Alpha´s warnings. His efforts to spite them with derisive comments got to Danny and a sudden kick out had Jason on his knees, roaring in pain. A large cut appeared on the head-Beta´s forearm that healed immediately, but the smell of blood and the sound of tearing flesh was enough for Ian to get distracted and find himself flat on his back, a cackling Erin above him.
“Careful babe or I´ll start keeping score,” the blonde smirked. Ian grunted, the wind knocked out of him, and accepted her proffered hand.
“Okay, enough!” Steven walked over to his pack with a frown. “You lot suck.”
Danny couldn´t hold back the sarcasm that came within the security of his family. “You love us, really.”
The Alpha rolled his eyes but refrained from commenting, deep down approving of Danny´s attitude after years spent tearing the Beta´s walls down. “Let´s shake things up a little and work with your senses for a while.” He gestured for his two Humans to join them and they hurried over, carrying their paraphernalia along like armour.
“Here, drink this,” Lynn said, offering Jason a vial full of a red liquid.
“What is it?” The Beta asked suspiciously as he took the tiny bottle from the healer and gave it a hesitant sniff.
“It´s supposed to dull your hearing and reduce it to human levels,” Mark answered.
“A potion huh?” Ian hinted at the fact that they were about to use magic, only to be silenced by Lynn´s raised eyebrow.
“Problem?”
“Nope. No problem here,” he said, grabbing the back of his head and shuffling his feet awkwardly. Steven brought his hand up to cover his slowly quirking lips at the sight of the Beta´s discomfort. Lynn never failed to make everyone cower without putting any real effort into it.
Jason tried to bring everybody back on track despite his impending suffering. “Why do I need to drink this?”
“Because you need to learn how to use the rest of your senses,” the Alpha clarified. “You are going to stand with your back to us and the rest will attack you from behind. You have to defend yourself and predict their moves by using your sense of smell alone.”
“Oh man! I´m going to get my ass kicked!” Jason wailed.
Erin snorted but Steven silenced her with a look before giving his full attention to his second. “You have learned to rely too much on your hearing. What happens if next time Danny isn´t with you to sniff out the enemy?”
“Fine! But then he,” he pointed at Danny, “is going to take a turn.” Jason downed the potion with a single sip and grimaced at the aftertaste. He went to assume position but a messenger interrupted them and he let out a sigh of relief as he rushed back to his Alpha´s side.
A scrawny kid bowed in front of the Prince, a few feet from the pack. “Sir, the Queen asked for you.”
“I´ll be right there.” Steven dismissed him and turned back to his Betas. “Jason with me. The rest of you start with the sparring again.”
Jen was pacing back and forth impatiently in the council room, waiting for her brother to appear. Joe was watching her calmly, sat on one of the table-chairs ready to assist, a little curious about the forthcoming exchange between the two Alpha siblings. What the Queen was about to ask the Prince to do should go against the man´s principles, not to mention against his desires if Joe´s assessments were correct.
“You sent for me?” Steven asked after making sure Jason had closed the door behind him, sparing a glance at his uncle.
“I have your next orders,” Jen said and looked at Jason. “He doesn´t need to be here.”
“Even if I end up going alone, my second in command has every right to know what´s going on,” Steven spat out. “So why don´t you tell me what you need me to do and let me worry about the logistics.” He would allow being ordered around but not when it came to how to lead his own pack.
Jen wasn´t very fond of that outburst but before she had a chance to respond Joe cut in. “We arranged a meeting with Larson´s people. We need you to pass on a message.”
Steven took a deep breath and relaxed his shoulders, looking calm and collected on the outside while his insides were brewing up a storm. The slight movement went completely over Jen´s head but his uncle didn´t fail to notice it, neither Jason´s subtle look at his Alpha. “What´s the message?”
Jen took the reins of the conversation once again before Joe had the chance to sidestep her. “We have their Princess. If they want her alive, they´ll have to surrender their claims to the northern villages. People out there have suffered enough.”
Steven took a moment to acknowledge the words. “Where will this meeting take place?”
“Bay Valley. At the ancient castle´s ruins.”
“Are you crazy?” Jason exclaimed, his nostrils flaring with each breath. “That is right in the middle of Magic territory and you want to send him in there alone? That´s suicide!”
“If your whole pack moves in they will perceive it as a direct threat,” the Queen insisted, patiently for a change.
“Surely they expect him to have some backup,” Steven´s Beta argued his point, reluctant to let his friend face the rendezvous alone.
“I already told them that my brother will go alone. Besides, he will be only meeting a single person. Human. He won´t need any backup.”
“And you trust them?” Steven asked.
“You think I´m a fool? That place was contaminated during the last battle. No Magic can enter without being stripped of their powers. You will be perfectly safe.”
“Fine,” Steven acquiesced, scrubbing his face with his hand, all the fight leaving his body and making him appear overtired.
“The meeting is in two days, noon. Go get ready,” Jen dismissed them and turned to Joe ready to discuss the next topic in their daily agenda. Joe watched his nephew leave with a heavy gut-feeling, knowing his resignation could only lead to trouble.
“I don´t like this,” Jason informed his Alpha as soon as they were in safe hearing distance from the council room.
“Yeah, me neither. But an order is an order.” Steven shared his friend´s apprehension completely, but the truth was he was looking forward to getting out of town and his family´s constant monitoring. He chose to focus on that, because the other part of his mission made him uneasy. Trading people was a low point. And that place? He shuddered at the mere thought of it.
“I´m not letting you out of my sight,” said Jason determined.
“I wouldn´t dream otherwise.”
When they entered Steven´s room the whole pack was waiting for them.
“Didn´t I tell you to keep training?” Steven asked irritated as they jumped up from his bed and surrounded him in concern.
“You did,” Danny said sheepishly.
“No one is doing as they are told anymore.” The Alpha tutted, trying for playful but falling short.
“We could sense Jason getting all worked up. We wanted to know what´s wrong,” Ian countered calmly. Steven couldn´t begrudge them their loyalty so he started going over his conversation with Jen, Jason occasionally chipping in and mostly
to express his scepticism.
“Mark or I need to come with you too,” Lynn said after the two men finished explaining the situation to their friends.
“I´m supposed to go alone and Jason has already invited himself along. I can´t afford to take you with me too.”
“But we are Humans,” Mark reasoned, “and you will be walking into Magic land. You´ll need one of us to counteract anything they may throw your way.”
“If this is a trap I need you to be safe,” Steven argued.
“Besides,” Jason supplied, “if anything goes wrong you are the only people who we could ever hope to find us. So stay here and, hopefully, you won´t be needed.”
“Well, to be fair, there is someone who would have a better chance at getting to you,” Lynn chirped.
The Alpha kept his voice low but every bit fiery. “What´s that supposed to mean?”
“I´m just saying, that cute little prisoner of Jen´s? She would know where her father would take you with her eyes closed.”
“Oh sure. Let´s ask the witch how to save the Werewolf,” Danny mumbled.
“Actually, Lynn has a point.” Ian caught his bottom lip between his white teeth, mulling something over in his head. “With her magic neutralized she is just as Human as Mark and Lynn. Not to mention she has better knowledge of both the terrain and the people.”
Steven screwed his hands up into fists, then flexed them out, over and over, fighting the urge to scream. He did not like the way this conversation was going.
“You should go see her,” Mark gave his input once the moment of realization hit. His fellow healer was a canny woman.
“Seriously?” Steven chuffed out a laugh.
“I don´t see the harm in it,” Jason said, his mouth twitching.
“You people are glaringly obvious, you know that?” The Alpha had started getting amused despite himself.
“What´s wrong? Afraid of her puppy eyes?” Lynn smirked.
“Fine, fine. I´ll go,” Steven said rolling his eyes skyward. “Just don´t be surprised when I come out of there empty handed.”
Cora had been spending the week shut in her new prison room. The door was unlocked and no guard had been placed outside but she didn´t dare pass the threshold. She was certain the Werewolf Queen would know the minute she stepped foot outside and she didn´t like her odds at all. The only person who had ever visited and spent time with her was Lynn and they had developed a mutually benefactory relationship; Cora would give her any information she had about spells and how magic worked while Lynn provided her with some company and comfort. Still under the microscope by Jen, the healer wouldn´t dare bring anything with her so the foreign Princess didn´t have anything to pass her time with the long hours she was spending all on her own. Lynn wouldn´t dream of causing more problems for Steven; Jen would jump at the opportunity to tear him a new one.
Cora, in lack of something better to do, had memorized a schedule of sorts. Every morning at seven o´clock -regardless if she was still asleep or not- a maid would bring a small basin full of water and a towel to clean herself up with and then they´d leave her alone until noon when a different person would bring her lunch. Most days, this was the only meal they would bring her; even her father was more generous than that. The rare times they would bring her dinner it was leftovers that were better suited to a dog, so she never touched it; she liked to think she had still some dignity left. She had started losing weight though, her white dress falling down her right shoulder where she struggled to keep it in place by tying it in a knot.
That afternoon when the door opened, Cora half-expected Lynn to burst through in her usual brisk steps. She was pleasantly surprised when Steven walked in instead, hoping against all hope that her situation was going to improve. But the Alpha froze in the doorway trying to take everything in and silently cursing himself for not getting up there sooner. The young woman was sitting in front of the fireplace looking up at him as he was cataloguing her surroundings. His gaze wandered to the walls and Cora followed it, immediately understanding his trace of thought.
“It´s particularly cruel, isn´t it? To have seen the world after so much time and then have it taken away,” she mused.
Steven finally turned to her, his mouth clamped shut. His eyes rested on her still bloodstained dress and the Princess noticed again.
“It´s okay,” she shrugged, “I didn´t expect anything more.”
“I didn´t know,” the Alpha blurted out and sat in front of her.
“I hoped so.” It came out as a breathy sigh and she dropped her gaze to the floor, waiting for him to speak his mind.
The new angle allowed Steven a glimpse of the scar that remained on her cheek after Jen´s blow. He gently lifted her chin to make eye contact again, his free fist balling up. He tried to clear his throat and find his voice but all that came out was a broken “I´m sorry.”
Her small smile unfurled into a real one. “It´s not your fault.”
The Alpha´s lips thinned into a mockery of a smile and, achingly tender, he reached out to fix her dress. His fingertips accidentally touched the bare skin of her shoulder and she flinched back, a shadow of fear in her usually trustful eyes.
“You shouldn´t do that.” She quickly collected herself, resolutely looking off in the distance radiating waves of embarrassment.
Steven stared at her trying to decipher this new reaction. She certainly didn´t have a problem with touching before. On the contrary, she was touch-starved and she should cherish whatever contact was offered to her. Perhaps she was upset with him for leaving her in the dark once again. She didn´t look like the kind of person who would hold a grudge though. Maybe someone had hurt her since the last time he saw her, but that was unlikely too. He might have actively tried to avoid her but, surely, he or one of his Betas would have heard if Jen was doing anything shifty. Plus, he was quite certain Lynn had been visiting the witch behind his back; she always smelled too much of caramel and smoke, a scent he had associated with the young woman in front of him. His clear-sighted healer would have definitely noticed something.
“Come here,” he beckoned and Cora walked on her knees to sit next to him. She rested her head on his shoulder and let out a contented sigh. Steven sat up ramrod straight, tension almost breaking his back but not having the heart to move her.
“I´d like it if you visited more often,” she grinned up at him in the soft candlelight. “Or your friends. I like them too.”
“You are not on vacation here. I don´t think your current situation warrants any visitors.” Regardless of his own confused feelings, he knew he should stop encouraging that kind of expectations. His pack needed him and any move that could cause a rift between him and Jen would result in their exile. His sister had already threatened him with that once. Next time she would keep her word. “Besides, you are just experiencing a Stockholm Syndrome of sorts. You would attach yourself to anyone who came through that door first.”
“Then why are you here?” She withdrew from him, scorned. The unexpected venom in her voice allowed Steven to look at her with unerring clarity for the first time since he stepped inside the room. What did he really know about her? She was a powerful witch. Magics were killers. Magics killed his two brothers. Magics took away Jen´s life.
“Let me be clear,” he said, voice cracking with too many years of pent up hate. “You are here for us to use as we see fit.”
“And what is it that made the great Alpha Prince come seek his enemy´s advice himself? Hasn´t your Human extracted enough information yet?” Her last sentence confirmed his suspicions about Lynn. He would have to talk to her. She had no business with a pathetic, deceitful liar.
“It doesn´t matter. I will never trust anything that comes out of your mouth.”
“Then leave!” Cora all but screamed in frustration. “And tell your friend that she´s not welcome anymore either.”
Steven´s eyes went wide at the outburst. He stood up, hands behind his back, and spared her a pi
tiful glance that only seemed to aggravate her further. “Truth hurts, doesn´t it?” He continued poking her.
She picked up a candlestick and chucked it as hard as she could all the way across the room. He easily avoided it but her own actions made her panic and cover her mouth with her hand to keep the apology inside.
“What the hell is wrong with you? You are nothing but a spoiled child,” Steven yelled as the two stared at each other, no one backing down.
“Leave,” Cora finally said, her voice raspy from misuse.
“I´ll have a talk with my sister before I leave. Maybe a few extra restraints are not so bad an idea.” Steven shook his head and left the room, closing the door behind him firmly.
The girl sat back down in front of the fireplace, not bothering with the candlestick that had broken into pieces upon hitting the wall. She drew her knees up to her chest and hung her head between them, arms curled over her middle as the shaking started. There was something wrong with the Anders land. Something that made her magic flare up and -with no outlet- made her emotions skyrocket. Good luck explaining that to a bunch of angry Werewolves without getting herself executed. Maybe it would be better if she was left alone after all.
6. BROTHER, FRIEND, SON
The ancient castle´s ruins were what had remained of a 17th century stronghold that used to control the entire Bay Valley; a strategic spot at that time in history considering its place and the surrounding arable land. During the supernatural war, Larson had restored it to its former glory and had used it as lab facilities where he had experimented on Werewolves long after the ceasefire. Many terrible things had happened there in his effort to understand what effects different kinds of magic had had on the shifters. Once Moira Anders caught a drift of what was happening inside those labs, she sent an entire army to take the Magics out and free any Werewolf that was being held there. Her Human soldiers, in a fit of brilliance, managed to cast a spell that made magic useless in that place so it looked like an easy battle. However, Larson had some Humans on his side as well, trained to fight without relying on any sort of special powers. Werewolves managed to win the battle but at great cost; Moira lost her two eldest sons. The fact that Jen agreed to a meeting there, made Jason all the more anxious. The last time Steven had stepped foot inside Bay Valley, he had watched his brothers die and -understandably- he was afraid of his Alpha´s emotional reaction. As much as he sympathized with him, he needed him to keep his head in the game and that was the main reason he had insisted on tagging along.
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