Chapter 39

~Alistair~

We were literally surrounded by werewolves, all of which I remembered clearly. Some had just been kids when I had been made a pariah, others had been teenagers. Aunt Salome was the oldest of them all, and asides her grey hair, she looked like she was their age mate.

My aunt was beautiful in every sense of the word, and even at the age of fifty, she still hadn’t lost her fashion sense and was very much interested in still looking attractive and young. When she was just a teenager, she had been made the assistant warrior head, and now, she was the Head of all the warriors. She still fought like she did when she was twenty five, and apparently, she was still very crafty.

I had underestimated her. All I had been thinking of was how to save Eliana from her hands, and I hadn’t been strategic while going to save her. I had just thought that I would defeat her and her two minions, take the only woman I had ever loved, and be on my way. When I had seen only her talking to Eliana, I should have immediately suspected that something was off. There was no way in the world that my aunt would be left unguarded, when she could be almost sure that I would show up.

One of the werewolves crouched before her, pulling out the arrow from her back, as she winced in pain, with blood gushing out.

Slowly, she staggered to her feet, and when she finally managed to be steady, a smirk appeared on her face. “You didn’t think you could take me down easily, did you?” She asked, in a sarcastic tone.

“I guess I must have underestimated you, my mistake,” I said, not allowing her get to me.

She dusted her gloves against each other, in her usual fashion. “Al, when I grew older, I also grew wiser. I did have doubts in my mind that you were going to show up, but I was fully prepared in case you actually did show up. I mean, anyone would do anything for such a pretty lady, am I wrong?” She noted, casting a glance at Eliana.

“If you do so much as touch a strand of hair on her head...”

“Oh, spare me the empty threats, Al. You are completely surrounded, and it doesn’t matter if you’re an Alpha or not. You are going down. Get me Katherine,” She ordered one of her warriors.

“Who is that?” I asked.

“She is the witch that is going to drain you of all your powers,” Aunt Salome replied.

Garrett scoffed. “You have no idea who you’re up against,” He boasted.

“Oh, hi there, Gar. It’s been a very long time. Why am I not surprised to find you in good terms with your fellow outcast? I feel sorry for Jen, having to look after both of you, even though she didn’t do anything wrong. It must be sad to be living away from her pack because she would rather be with the two most important men in her life,” She said.

“Did she tell you that she wasn’t happy about it?” Alistair asked.

“Oh, come on now, Al. She wouldn’t tell you, could she? Do you even care about her at all? You have Eliana now, and you’ve probably pushed her aside. I wonder how bad she must be feeling,” Aunt Salome said.

“Well, I don’t know how Jennifer might be feeling, but I feel really bad because you apparently have a thing of calling people by nicknames of one syllables. Why’s mine different?” Eliana asked, out of the blue.

Aunt Salome seemed to be baffled. “There’s fire on the mountain, and the only thing that’s bothering you is my choice of what I deem fit to call people? Well, if you must know, I only call those that are important to me pet names. As for you, we could have been best friends, but you chose to side with the devil. Deal with being called Eliana,” She said.

Eliana scoffed. “Too bad, I was already hoping that you’d call me El,” She said.

“Again, sweetie, that’s never going to happen,” Aunt Salome said, wearing a smile on her face.

Eliana walked gently towards her, and it was at that moment I understood that she was trying to cause Aunt Salome to be distracted. I gave a signal to Garrett, who understood it immediately, and prepared his sword.

Just as those werewolves of hers had sprang up from nowhere, startling us and making us look like fools, we were going to take them by surprise as well and make them look like fools.

“What if I told you I was ready to be a friend of yours? You see, I come from a wealthy home, and I’m accustomed to getting anything and everything I want, and it annoys me when everyone gets something and I don’t,” Eliana said.

Aunt Salome grimaced. “Oh. Is that so? You’re a princess, eh?” She asked.

“You heard Alistair call me a princess, didn’t you? Of course, I am a princess,” She replied.

Aunt Salome shook her head, disappointedly. “You keep disappointing me, Al. I thought you would go for strong and fierce ladies, not weak princesses,” She said, distastefully.

“Now, that’s where you’re wrong, Salome. This princess isn’t weak,” Eliana said, and so saying, she kicked Aunt Salome in the wound that was just starting to heal, causing her to growl loudly in pain.

Aunt Salome's werewolves had not been expecting it, and were surprised when Garrett attacked them with his sword, and I shot arrows at them, sending them crashing heavily to the floor one after another. The main reason we had wasted time in coming to get Eliana was the fact that we had gone back to my apartment first of all to get the weapons which we were now using against our enemies. I had several weapons of different kinds tucked away in a safe, in the basement of my apartment, and I was most grateful to Garrett for bringing up the idea to get weapons to defend ourselves, instead of just using our claws and fangs, as tools for destroying our enemies.

We were winning the battle, and Eliana was busy with my aunt, sitting on her wounded spot, and dealing her with blows, not minding how hard she screamed or how hurt she was. Aunt Salome was going to heal anyway, but for the moment, it felt right that she got all the pain she deserved and more.

“Alistair,” I heard a voice, which I hadn’t heard in ages, call.

I looked up for a moment, wondering the direction it had come from. Brushing aside what I had thought I heard as a mere hallucination, I tried to fire an arrow at one of the werewolves approaching me, with his mouth wide open, ready to scratch and bite me, but the voice came again.

“Alistair,” It called.

I was taken down memory lane, and suddenly, all the broken pieces seemed to form a single whole, as I did not only remember where I had heard that voice, but was also reminded of the person who spoke in that exact same way.

“Mother?” I called.

“Fuck! No! Alistair, it’s a trick. Focus!” Garrett yelled, still fighting off one of Aunt Salome’s men.

Even though the word “Focus" played and replayed in my head for about a dozen times, all I could concentrate on was the voice that kept on calling my name repeatedly. Whenever my mother called me back then, I always felt overcome with joy, because it rarely happened. She called other people by their names, and cared for them, but was distant to me.

I yearned for my mother’s attention and care when I was much younger, and even after twenty-five years, it was obvious that I still craved it desperately, so much that even when I knew she was long dead, I still had a tiny ray of hope in me that she could possibly be the one who was calling me by my name.

“Alistair,” The voice came again.

“Mum?” I replied, walking towards the sound of the voice, as my bow clattered to the floor.

“Watch out!” Eliana yelled.

Her warning had come too late as an arrow was fired at me in that moment, and I fell to the floor. Weakly, I still looked longingly at the direction from which my supposed mother’s voice had come out from.

The witch who never seemed to grow old, with the aid of numerous ageing spells and had been dwelling with my pack as the last of her kind from Algeria, Katherine, walked in with quick strides, wearing a smirk on her face. With just her hands raised, Garrett and Eliana were sent flying in opposite directions, landing on the ground with a heavy thud.

“Leave her alone. She’s human. She won’t heal so easily,” I managed to say, with clenched teeth.

“While the love you have for this human is beautiful, no doubt, I must say that being with human beings for so long has caused you to lose your sense of discernment. I can’t believe you actually thought your mother was the one calling you. You were right, Salome. The kid still craves the love of his mother,” Katherine noted, giving Aunt Salome a hand, as she rose.

“You knew?” I questioned Aunt Salome, trying to ignore the pain that the arrow in my stomach was bringing to me.

Aunt Salome wore a smirk on her face. “Of course, Al. What were you thinking? I always have a Plan B,” She said, exchanging knowing glances with Katherine.

She made a gesture to two of her minions, and they nodded, showing that they understood her, and although I tried to know what they could possibly be playing at, I was too weak to actually figure anything out.

The guys came up to me, dragged me to my feet, and even though I struggled to wriggle free out of their grip and fight them back, they overpowered me and took me to a tree, where I was chained, and as if that was not enough, Katherine used her spells to tighten the hold of the chains.

I clenched my teeth, shaking vigorously, in an attempt to break free from the chains, while they tied Eliana and Garrett, side by side, with the aid of a strong rope. They were tied against a tree that stood opposite mine, and even though they both tried to fight their way out of it, they just remained stuck.

Aunt Salome clicked her teeth, then burst into a fit of laughter, and soon, Katherine and the werewolves that were present joined in the laughter, making me fume with rage, and I could tell that Eliana and Garrett were irritated as well.

“Ha ha ha,” I mimicked, eyeing them fiercely. “What’s so funny?” I demanded, enraged.

A wide grin appeared on Aunt Salome’s face. “You should know, Al. You all are making us laugh by trying to get out of your captivity, especially you. How come you’re trying to break free from the same chains that have been spelled by Katherine’s magic? You seem to have forgotten a lot, which isn’t supposed to be so, because we, werewolves, possess the greatest memory,” She said.

“Now that you’ve gotten me, what are you going to do?” I asked, already knowing what the answer would be.

“Are you stupid, or are you pretending to be stupid? Katherine is going to take all your Alpha abilities, and channel them into me,” Aunt Salome revealed.

“I thought you said you were going to make sure the powers got into someone worthy of being called an Alpha,” Eliana commented.

“And aren’t I worthy of being called an Alpha?” Aunt Salome retorted.

“You should have just said you wanted to steal Alistair’s powers, you old hag!” Garrett yelled.

“Enough!” Katherine yelled.

“You see, Katherine can’t stand anyone talking ill of me. If you continue to do so, you may never use your tongue again to speak,” Aunt Salome said, planting a kiss on Katherine’s lips, smiling at her.

“Calm down, now, darling. Let’s just do what we’re here for and leave them alone,” Aunt Salome said, standing in front of me.

“Place your hands on his shoulders,” Katherine commanded.

Aunt Salome did as she was told, and I didn’t even bother trying to resist her. I had an arrow in my stomach and I was getting weaker. Also, I knew it was pointless to continue trying to break free. Katherine’s magic was powerful, and there was no way to undo it, except if she decided to do so herself.

Katherine came to me, used a pin to prick my arm, and asked Aunt Salome to lick my blood, which she did without even the slightest bit of hesitation. She then closed her eyes tightly, raised her hands to the sky, and began to chant some incantations repeatedly.

“It’s over,” I heard Garrett mutter.

“No, it’s not over yet,” Eliana said, still expressing faith and hope in me.

I looked at her with sad eyes. At least, Aunt Salome had been merciful enough to spare my life and just take my powers without killing me. I could still be with Eliana, but a part of me will forever be gone and I’ll forever regret not being able to keep the only thing my father ever gave to me.

“I believe in you, Alistair. You can break free. Use the power of your mind,” Eliana said, looking at me, with determination and confidence in her eyes.

If only I had that kind of faith in myself, I’d surely be able to move mountains. I felt weak, hopeless and tired. I wanted to fight back, but I didn’t have the will to do so, because I knew I’d fail terribly.

“I can’t,” I muttered.

“Then, you’re not the man I fell in love with. The man I fell in love with defeated the Beast of Vengeance and saved my life ten years ago. Yes, Alistair. I finally remembered. It was you who saved my life ten years ago, and you helped save my friend’s life just recently. It’s time to save your own life. Don’t give up the only thing you got for your father. Break free. Be the man I fell in love with. Be Alistair Duke,” Eliana said, without pausing for breath.

The man she had fallen in love with didn’t give up so easily. He wasn’t a weakling, neither was he someone who just succumbed to whatever he was told. He was thick-headed, strong-willed, and could do what everyone thought was impossible if he set his mind to it.

That man was me. It was me.

Growling loud, my fangs appeared, same as my claws and paws. Angrily, I pushed through the chains, and a few moments later, the chains clattered to the ground, sending Aunt Salome into a daze as she looked at me with her eyes and mouth opened wide, in shock. Katherine’s incantations instantly became halted as she looked at me, befuddled, and moved backwards in fear.

Eliana’s words had given me a strength I had never known existed in me. Even the so-called powerful witch was no match for me as everyone could now see. I tore the rope used to bind Eliana and Garrett with my claws.

The werewolves tried to attack me, but when I growled loudly at them, they trembled in fear, and fell to the ground. Aunt Salome stood, shaking like a leaf, watching how her mission had failed woefully, and looked up to me with pleading eyes as I approached her, menacingly.

I felt a hand touch my shoulder, and when I turned around to break the person in two, I mellowed, seeing it was Eliana. She smiled at me, looking really satisfied and impressed.

“You’ve proven to be the man that I fell in love with. You know that as someone I love, you would let your aunt go, right?” She said, in a calm voice.

I glared angrily at Aunt Salome with my glowing red eyes, but when I looked back at Eliana, and all she did was smile and remain a calm composure, the beast in me got tamed and soon, the fangs, claws and paws vanished, and I appeared to be fully human again.

Taking Eliana in my arms, I stroked her hair lovingly. I had been late to rescue my parents, but for the very first time in my life, I didn’t feel guilty about it anymore. I felt peace, because I had finally done an act that made up for that lateness. I had saved Eliana’s life in time, I had protected Garrett, as well as cherished the only gift I ever got from my father.

Right here, right now, everything was perfect, and I just wanted life to remain this way. I had gone through many troubles already, and I prayed fate only brought good luck to me henceforth.