Christoph clutched at his arm, which hung limp and broken at his side. He limped through the shifters and was instantly grabbed by Sam and Ben. Krista felt a shudder down her spine. He was a whole other monster they had to deal with, but instead of being hostile, Christoph was broken and drained.
From where she stood, her intuition revealed that he was afraid, and with good reason. His selfishness had almost cost her Ryland and the entire world.
"Brother," Christoph began, but Ryland held up his hand.
"You and I have a lot to discuss," he said. "But for now, rest, and reflect. Your cult, on the other hand, will have to disband, or they'll suffer under the rest of the shifter factions."
He nodded to Ben and Sam to take his brother away. Christoph struggled to walk, not even daring to look at the cult members that he had disappointed. The Wolf God and the Stars of Sulous would no longer be a threat to the world.
Krista took Ryland’s hand, holding it tight.
“We also have a lot to discuss,” she told him as she raised an eyebrow.
“Like what?”
"Like the massive temper tantrum that got you into this mess in the first place?"
“Can’t I just bask in this attention for a little longer? I did just happen to come back to life after being possessed by a Wolf God.”
“Of course you can,” Tristan’s voice cut in. “But first, let me just give you this.” A fist flew towards Ryland’s face. Krista gasped as Ryland’s head flew back. He clutched at his nose, checking to see if it was broken. It wasn’t.
Tristan shook out his sore knuckles, his face dead serious. “Consider that our talk…for now,” he said.
To Krista’s surprise, Ryland had actually cracked a smile.
“I think I rightfully deserved that,” Ryland said. “You look good in a t-shirt, Tristan.”
Declan stood by Krista’s side. “Wherever you went, did you bring back a different Ryland?” He asked with heavy sarcasm.
Krista looked into Ryland's eyes and placed her hand on his chest. She stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "I think I brought back the right one," she said with a smile.
"Rise and shine," Ryland awoke to Krista's nose nuzzling his ear. She kissed his cheek until he finally stirred. He gathered her in the crook of his arm, but she pulled away. "Wait! Wait!" She said, and then she held up a steaming mug in her hand. "Hot tea," she explained and passed him the cup.
Ryland breathed in the floral scent. “Chamomile?” He asked as he took a sip.
“You remembered,” Krista smiled as she got comfortable next to him.
“What day is it?” He asked.
“Tuesday.”
“But wait…I feel asleep”
“Saturday, yes. You’ve been sleeping for days.”
He couldn’t believe he had slept for so long. But his body was feeling incredible for it. Maybe it was finally shedding Sulous’s spirit that brought him his energy. “Have you missed me?”
“Since the day you first left,” Krista said, her voice soft as she looked up at him. Her lips barely touched the outline of his jaw. There was a brief silence that hovered between them. Ryland wove his fingers through Krista’s hair, knowing what still needed to be said.
"I'm sorry for the things that I had said to you," he explained. "I wasn't myself, especially on that day. Still, that's no excuse for my behavior."
“I understand. But now you have me to keep you in check,” Krista joked.
“I’m just thankful that you were able to find me in time. I still don’t know how you managed to gather the shifter factions so easily.”
"Well, once I had the whole oracle thing figured out, it didn't take much convincing them."
"Have they said anything lately? The alphas?"
“They’ve been regrouping for now. The factions …lost a few shifters during your rescue.”
She noticed the concern on his face as he held onto his mug. “Ryland, there was nothing you could do,” she had read his mind completely. “Even if you were able to fight alongside us, we still wouldn’t have been able to defeat Sulous.”
"You're right," he said. "I just know I have to go in front of the alphas again and explain myself. And…I think I need to resign as the Rogue's alpha."
“What do you mean?”
Ryland thought it would be best for everyone if he had stepped down from gathering the shifter factions. "These alphas came together when I couldn't," he explained. "If I try to lead them now, I'll only be a fool."
"Well, Tristan and I have an idea that you might like if you're interested," Krista smirked.
“Tell me.”
"Tristan can tell you himself. I just came up here to have a little alone time before you get back into alpha mode."
"What makes you think I'm not in alpha mode already?" Ryland gave a sly grin and rotated himself on top of her, careful to place his mug of tea on his nightstand. Krista put her hands on his waist, caressing the deep V near his sweatpants. "Oh, I think I'm having a vision," Krista said.
“Does it somehow involve me inside of you?”
“Why, yes, I think that’s what I’m seeing. There’s something big and hard in my future.”
“Hey, I’m seeing it too—maybe we’re still connected somehow.”
"Give me a few moments and I guarantee you'll feel a connection."
Ryland buried his face in her neck, his teeth grazing against her skin as he playfully roughed her up on the bed. Krista laughed into his shoulder, pressing her palms into his chest. It wasn't long until their clothes were thrown on the floor, and the alpha lost himself in the pleasures his oracle had to offer him.
"What was the body count?" Ryland asked Tristan as they wandered in the tunnels.
"About twenty," Tristan said, shining a small flashlight on a clipboard in his hands. "Three of those were Rogues. We've identified the others and have passed them along to their proper pack for burial."
“Thank you for keeping track of the data,” Ryland planted his hand on Tristan’s shoulder. Tristan jolted, not expecting the gesture. He stopped in his tracks while Ryland carried on.
“You’re welcome, Sir,” he said.
“Please, you can just call me Ryland.”
He turned and saw Tristan hiding a smile as he carried on behind him.
“Krista’s been helping keep watch during the cleanup,” Tristan explained as they turned into the next tunnel. “All she has to do is flash them a glimpse of those fiery blue eyes, and they snap back into action.” Ryland couldn’t quite concentrate on Tristan’s words.
It was the place where Ryland had squeezed through by himself. He was already anxious to encounter what was waiting for him on the other side. There was a phantom pain in his arm, and he shook his head to rid himself of the thoughts of the whispers that once haunted him.
“Are you alright?” Tristan finally caught on that he wasn’t listening.
“This place really gives me the creeps,” he admitted.
“I can understand why,” Tristan said. “We’ve been extra careful trying to keep this clean-up under wraps. We wouldn’t want curious eyes from the city poking around here and exposing us. Thankfully the television stations have been too preoccupied with the earthquakes to look into stories on an ancient Wolf God.”
A cold shiver passed through Ryland.
"Tristan, do you think I should give up being an alpha?"
“Why would you ask something like that?”
“Well, because…I was thinking…that maybe you’d want to take over for the Rogues. You have excellent management skills, and the pack has always respected your decisions.”
"While I'm humbled and honored at your offer, Ryland, I've been working something out with Krista that would hopefully bring all the shifters closer together. Believe it or not, I've gained some influence from your brother's practices."
Ryland shot him a nervous glance, but Tristan laughed it off. “We’re not starting a cult,” he explained. “We’re just adopt
ing his ideas of uniting the shifter factions. Oh, we’re here. I’ll have to explain later.”
The room was as cold as the day he had left it. The smell still wafted around Ryland, dirty water and musty concrete. Members of the Rogues were scattered in groups around the chamber as shifters cleaned up pieces of concrete from the ground.
“We didn’t want to kill anyone,” Tristan said. “But we also didn’t want to let your brother’s cult get off so easily without proper punishment for their deeds.”
Ryland looked across the floor of the chamber, noticing a soft blue glow on the other side. Krista sensed his arrival and turned to give him a wave.
“She’s lucky to have you,” Tristan said.
“Quite the opposite,” Ryland said. “I owe that woman my life.”
“There’s a way to prove that, you know.”
"I'm dating a psychic, an ancient oracle no less. Do you really think I could get away with a surprise engagement?"
A voice perked up somewhere in his mind.
“There’ll be no talk of engagement until you take me on a proper date first!”
“Get out of my head!” Ryland called out to Krista. She gave him a playful smile and went back to supervising the pack of shifters hoisting concrete from the sewer water.
Scanning the crowd, Ryland noticed someone was missing. “Where’s Christoph?” He asked Tristan. “He didn’t-”
“He’s still very alive,” Tristan said. “But we’ve kept him separate from the others. We couldn’t have him stirring them up again.”
It was déjà vu, only the tables were turned as Ryland stepped into the smaller chamber nearby, where his brother was sitting against the bars of a cage.
“Hello Christoph,” Ryland crouched to make eye contact. His brother was tired, his broken arm bandaged up in a splint. “Are they taking care of you in here?”
“Would be nice to have some reading material,” Christoph said, his voice weak. Ryland turned to Tristan.
“Can you leave us alone for a second, please?” He asked.
The door closed behind Ryland, and there was a heavy cloud of awkwardness between him and Christoph. He figured the only way to dispel it was to keep talking— he hoped his words would tear down the walls that separated them.
“I suppose you’re going to give me my sentence, then? Beheading perhaps? A stab through the heart?” He was surprised that Christoph was the first to speak.
“I’m not going to meet violence with more violence,” Ryland said.
“Well, that’s a first.”
“A first in many firsts. I believe I’ve grown into a better person because of this.”
"What about a better alpha?"
Ryland shook his head. "After you killed me…it really opened my eyes. I thought I could be the best on my own. But now I realize that it takes not only me but everyone else around me to be great."
“How sweet,” Christoph rolled his eyes under the lens of his glasses.
"That includes you," Ryland said. Christoph looked up from his feet with curious eyes. "I can't let you out on your own, just yet. Everyone still thinks you're a psychotic cult leader. Hell, they're probably right. But…I want you to come back to the Rogues and get the help that you need."
“I can’t do that,” Christoph said. “After everything I’ve done to you…”
“I know what it’s like to get lost in the dark. We don’t have to stay there forever. I’ve learned that there are people who are always willing to pull you out.”
He held out his hand through the bars. Christoph thought it over, his eyes were suspicious of Ryland. Ryland didn’t pull away. He looked at his brother with sincerity and hope.
A smile spread across his face as Christoph took his hand and shook it with his remaining strength. “Okay,” Christoph said. “I’ll do it.” It was almost as if they were kids again, making up for a minor argument, before they’d go outside and play ball in the backyard.
“Great,” Ryland said, standing up from the cage. He knew it would take a lot more than a handshake to get his brother back on the right track, but it was a good start. “Oh, by the way, I actually did bring you some reading material.”
He reached into his jacket, pulled out a square photo album, and passed it to Christoph through the bars. “What’s this?” Christoph asked as he opened it up. “Oh, wow,” he said as he realized. Ryland watched while his brother silently flipped through the pages, his mind deep in nostalgia.
“I’ll see you soon,” he said to Christoph.
“Yeah…you will.”
They exchanged a final smile before Ryland passed Christoph a flashlight to look at the book some more. Then, he closed the door behind him to rejoin Tristan and Krista. He felt a wave of satisfaction, that finally, some things were falling into place for him, and that someday he would really have his brother back.
EPILOGUE
A gavel fell onto a podium, its hammering sounds filling the room and silencing the hundreds of voices in the Rogue's warehouse. Tristan adjusted his necktie and placed his hands firmly on either side of the podium. "Welcome, all of you," he announced. "To the first-ever gathering of the Shifters Union!"
The shifters from all five factions cheered from their seats. Behind Tristan was a long table, where each alpha had their own seat. Attached to the table was a new emblem, a gold star with a wolf’s head in the middle.
Tristan shuffled his notes in front of him as he spoke into a microphone. “These past few months have been full of darkness and danger. As an ancient shifter oracle pointed out, we were once separated by our own differences. We drew lines claiming there was peace between us, only to drive ourselves further apart from one another,” he cast a knowing glance at Ryland, who straightened up in his seat.
"But I have seen how the five shifter factions have come together in times of darkness and turmoil," he continued. "They have fought a mighty evil, and we are all stronger because of it. Now, as the head ambassador for the alphas, I am pleased to announce that we are erasing the lines that divide Central City. Today, and from now on, the five factions will unite as one union. Please give a round of applause for your Shifter Council."
More applause filled the warehouse as Ryland, Declan, Ben, Sam, and Rizz stood from their seats. They exchanged handshakes, hugs, and wrapped their arms around each other’s shoulders. Never before had Ryland felt so accepted by the other shifters. From now on, he wouldn't be just an alpha—he was one of many powerful leaders. He would stand with his pack instead of behind it.
The Rogues, most of them returned after their exodus from the warehouse, clapped and celebrated Ryland for the first time instead of being afraid of him. Ryland straightened himself up for them, and as he did, he caught someone else clapping for him out of the corner of his eye.
Christoph, wearing a black Rogues jacket, stood in the doorway to the meeting hall. He smiled proudly at his brother and raised his fist in solidarity. Ryland returned the gesture before his brother put his hands in his pockets and returned to his room.
“Not too bad of a plan, huh?” Tristan placed his hand on Ryland’s shoulder, pulling him from his trance.
“I’ll admit, you had me worried when you said you were adopting some of the wolf cult’s beliefs,” Ryland said.
"He's doing better, isn't he, Christoph?"
"He still has a way to go, but I'm finally starting to recognize him again. Now, don't we have this meeting to continue?"
“You’re absolutely right.”
“You do the honors, Ambassador.”
Krista held her concentration, her mind focusing heavily on an object in a distant place. She could see a cave, tucked away in a misty mountain. Moss hung from the ceiling, and old burnt out torches lined the walls. Just up ahead, there was a skeleton in an opened stone coffin, its bony hands clutched tight around a folded square of fabric. “A king,” the oracle’s spirit told her. “Powerful and of shifter-born. He rests with the artifact, yet to be disturbed.”
&
nbsp; Until we can find him, Krista thought. She admired the power that continued to flow through her even after she had used the oracle's spirit to defeat Sulous. Her power was even more enjoyable now that she could use it whenever she wanted. She hoped there would no longer be terrifying, nightmarish visions whenever she slept.
She adjusted her vision, now focusing on the ancient symbols scrawled in what appeared to be blood on the square of fabric. Squinting in her mind, she roughly translated it: "Blood and bone are sealed for now, until the king is awakened to unleash his wrath."
Before she could read any more, a door slam echoed in her mind and made her vision become unclear. Then, she heard footsteps rushing up the stairs in her loft. "Krista! Did you find anything?" Ryland's voice pierced through her thoughts, ripping her straight from her vision and back to reality.
As her eyes opened, Krista panicked and she fell towards the floor of her loft. She landed right in Ryland's arms and clutched her head. She felt groggy as if waking up suddenly from a nap. "Well, I did find something," she said. "Until I was interrupted..."
Ryland looked up at the place where Krista had been hovering. "Is there any way you can control the whole…levitation thing?" He asked. "I would think that before you go on a vision quest that you would sit somewhere safer. like the couch…or maybe your bed?" He gave a devilish grin, and Krista playfully pushed him away.
“How did the first meeting go?” She asked.
"Fantastic," Ryland filled her in excitedly on the shifter's pledge, that the alpha's would now gather and make decisions as a group rather than representing separate factions. After he had been rambling on for some time, he stopped when he noticed Krista's smile creeping across her face.
“What?” He asked. “Something wrong?”
“Not at all,” Krista said, wrapping her arms around him. “I’ve just really loved seeing this side of you all the time. When we first met you were so broody,” she contorted her face into an angry one. “Grrr, get away from me. Grrr, I’m cursed and nobody understands.” Ryland picked her up and carried her over to her bed.
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