ALPHA DINERO'S POINT OF VIEW.
The air thickened with tension the moment I saw his face.
My breath hitched. My heart? It sank, but not out of fear…out of disgust.
Standing just beyond the swirling fog that had crept in with unnatural speed… was my brother.
No…my twin.
"Lycan," I said, as I made my voice low but sharp as a blade. "What are you doing in my pack?"
He emerged from the shadows with a slow clap and a grin that never quite reached his eyes. The same eyes we shared, only his now look so wicked red when the moonlight hit just right.
"Oh my goodness," he said, spreading his arms as if greeting an old friend. "Am I really that bad, that my own twin brother can't even say welcome home?"
He chuckled lightly, like this was all some kind of game.
"Come on now, Dinero… is the Crystal Pack not for all of us? Or did I miss a rule stating exiled brothers aren't allowed back on sacred land?
By the way I heard rumors that I now have a grown up niece though she should be the age of eight…please where is she, tell her that her uncle is here."
His voice dripped with mockery. It was like hearing a familiar song played on broken strings and I needed no one to tell me the kind of message he was trying to send to me.
I took a step forward, barely containing the growl building in my throat. "Stop playing games and answer me. What are you doing here?"
Lycan raised both hands in that same infuriating way he used to back when we fought as teens…fake surrender, smug expression.
"Alright, alright…Fine. You want the truth?" He leaned in, his tone dropping. "I'm here to take what belongs to me."
I frowned. "Which is?" I didn't waste time to ask him with so much anger in me as I'm tired of dealing with him again.
"The Alpha seat," he said casually, as if ordering dinner. "I'm here to claim my position as the rightful Alpha of the Crystal Pack."
"You've lost your damn mind," I snapped. "You were never chosen. Our Moon Goddess made that decision long before his death. The pack didn't trust you then, and they sure as hell don't trust you now."
Lycan tilted his head, pretending to think. "To hell with your Moon Goddess, what can Moon Goddess do so well?
Is it the Goddess that's full of partiality or the one that doesn't exist and come to think of what you said earlier… Well, people change. Maybe now I'm more… persuasive."
He was enjoying all of this and I know my brother not to be the talking type as he should be attacking me right away.
Beside me, Iris, stepped closer as her hand brushed against mine, and her calm but firm presence steadied me.
"You'll never be Alpha," I said through gritted teeth.
He sighed dramatically. "That's disappointing to hear, but not surprising."
Lycan began to pace slowly in a circle, as his eyes never left mine.
"But I'm not completely heartless, I'll offer you a compromise and it states that you surrender…peacefully, just step down as it wouldn't take a lot for you to do so.
Once you do it, I'll let you and your precious Luna remain here in the packhouse and you'll even have rooms, privacy. Can't you see how generous I have become."
He paused, then smirked. "All I ask… is that you bow."
I laughed, dry and full of disbelief. "Over our dead bodies."
As Iris didn't flinch but her hand slipped from mine and she took a step forward, shoulders squared.
"You'll never rule this pack, not while we're still breathing."
Lycan's smirk twisted into something darker. His eyes gleamed with malevolent amusement.
Then came the laugh.
"Mwa hahahahahaha!"
It echoed unnaturally, like it didn't belong in this world. Even the trees seemed to recoil. The wolves near the perimeter let out whimpers, sensing the shift in energy.
"Oh, brother," Lycan said, voice now lined with venom, "You really think this is like before? You think you can beat me again like the good ol' days, when you do beat me into the training mat and our father clapped your shoulder and not mine? Or when you beat the hell out of me on our last duel?"
My jaw tightened and I said nothing.
He stepped closer, his cloak dragging behind him like a black river.
"I've changed, Dinero. And I didn't just train. I transcended. My power… my gift… it comes from a place far deeper than you could ever understand. A place beneath the earth, beneath our history, beneath the Moon Goddess herself."
The wind howled louder now. Clouds above twisted unnaturally, darkening the sky.
Lycan lifted both hands slowly. They sparked…first with tiny embers, then with full glowing flames. The energy crackled, forming two dark orbs, spinning rapidly between his palms.
"This…" he hissed, "is my true power."
"Lycan, don't…" I barked, already stepping forward to stop him as dark magic is forbidden and shouldn't be used in the sacred place of the packhouse.
But it was too late as I was his target and he didn't waste time as he flung the glowing balls of energy toward me with terrifying speed. I barely had time to shield myself.
One slammed into my chest with a heat that scorched flesh. The second hit square into my ribcage and sent me flying like a ragdoll.
I crashed through the wooden frame of the veranda. My back hit the stone wall with a sickening crack. I collapsed, pain radiating through my entire body. It felt like my bones were trying to tear themselves apart.
"DINERO!" and, Iris, didn't waste time as she screamed.
I saw her rushing toward me, but the edges of my vision were darkening as I could barely breathe.
The taste of blood filled my mouth.
And through the pain, I looked up…and I saw Lycan standing in the center of the yard like a conqueror as he was feeling like a god.
His arms were raised and his face was looking triumphant and his eyes burning with hunger for power.
This was no longer a visit, this was a war and I watched him flying towards me with so much swiftness but then someone stopped
him as the energy came from a different direction.