Page 93 of Pack Captive

He stepped forward, pressing his muzzle against my palm, and several faint images flashed into my head—a female wolf, the forest in the valley, a bloody fight—and I realized I was seeing Trion's memories, preserved in death.

"It's good to see you again, Trion." There was a lump in my throat as Trion's ghost looked back at me.

He suddenly shivered, his form wavering, and he dissolved into a silver mist that quickly faded.

"That didn't last long." I felt oddly disappointed, even though I should've been ecstatic that I'd managed it at all.

Calian spun me around, gripping my shoulders. "Ayla, you just did something the world hasn't seen in generations. This is game changing for all of us."

I tried on a smile, but I was still shaking from both the cold and the sudden tiredness that swept over me.

"I just don't understand why I've never done it before." I let Calian lead me from the vault, closing the heavy door behind us. "Not once in my life until I came here."

A familiar tapping echoed down the corridor. Yasemin came into view, leaning on her cane.

"Because you weren't with the pack you were meant for when you lived in the valley." She raised an eyebrow at Calian. "Your presence is required in the training grounds. Please see to it and get the messenger out of my temple. He's putting his dirty paws all over the floor we just swept."

Calian let out a silent sigh, then leaned down and kissed me, right in front of the Elder Caller. My face flushed as though I were doing something wrong.

It was because Ryden was her son, and she'd picked up on the tension between us all the other day.

I was afraid she'd think I was playing games with the Alpha, the same as Tyra had.

And I still hadn't forgotten her harsh greeting when I'd arrived. Messing with her son was going to land me in a world of pain.

"I'll come for you later," he promised, and squeezed my hand before shifting and racing towards the exit.

Yasemin rested both hands on her cane and looked up at me. "He's a tall drink of water. Always very angry, that one."

"I can see why."

"So he's told you his story." She eyed me shrewdly. "I've known him since he first came to Lykos, brought back by my husband. I fed him at my own table and tucked him in."

I couldn't help but smile. I bet young Calian had loved that.

"Very few people know his story, or Ryden's. What they went through together."

I fell in at her side as the elder began walking towards the stairs, her cane tapping again.

"Would you tell me?" I asked, curious to know more about the Alpha. How he seemed like sunshine one moment, and a storm waiting to break loose the next.

Yasemin considered that. "I'll tell you about my son. You see, his father was from the north, like Calian. He was a great Alpha...it was only because of him that we banded together enough packs to take Lykos from the shadow wolves. Ryden was expected from a very young age to take after him."

I offered her my arm as we walked up the stairs, listening intently.

I knew what it was like to have responsibility thrust on your shoulders from birth. From the minute I could walk, I was expected to take part in rituals and support the pack.

"He was only fifteen when Fenris attacked Pack Tempestas, and he and his father found Calian several weeks later, wandering in the wilds. Those two didn't get along at all when they met." Yasemin chuckled. "My husband insisted on taking him in, given that he was from a northern pack himself. Ryden and Calian in the same house...it was like trying to mix fire and ice."

"But he slowly opened up to us. Calian always kept his feelings bottled up, and a few years later...the role of Alpha was passed on to Ryden. My husband was too old to lead them anymore, too damaged from the relentless fighting. Fenris sent his best men, hoping to kill my son before he could win over the pack."

I pushed the door open, and Yasemin stepped out of the necropolis. She led the way to the tea room, but there was no sign of Kadin in there.

She settled on a pillow on the floor, patting the one next to her. I sat obediently next to her. "Calian had joined the Claws and spent several years training with them, I think to get away from Ryden. He hated being part of the center of attention. But when Fenris’s Berserker came and broke down the wall...that was when both my son, and my adopted son, realized they worked better together than apart."

The Berserker...we'd heard stories of him from a long time ago.

I'd been young when the Warriors had gathered around the fire in the village and told tales about a wolf made of stone and blood, who had towered over the heads of every other wolf and had broken down walls with his claws.

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