Chapter 318: _The First Born’s Claim
Ryker rose up into the clouds from the top of the fortress, his arms spread wide.
His gaze was locked on us, a cold grin curling across his face. But what really sent shivers through my soul was the fact that he seemed like he was staring directly at me especially.
Kaelos held my hand tighter beside me, taking a single step forward. "We finally meet, Lord of the North."
Ryker sniggered, the sound echoing for miles.
"Indeed, brother. Sorry, we didn’t meet sooner. Been planning on how to take the throne and all for decades now." Ryker said as if it were the most casual thing to say.
Yet, I felt Kaelos stiffen, feeling his dread and confusion like it was mine.
"Brother?" Alpha king Soren echoed, sounding like he was seconds away from ripping someone’s head off.
After all, the man taunting us was responsible for the death of his father, the previous South American Alpha King.
He glanced first at Kaelos and then back at Ryker, squinting his eyes. Everyone else was probably thinking the same thing I thought when Ryker first told me about being Kaelos’ brother.
The resemblance.
"Uncanny resemblance, right?" Ryker chuckled dryly, shaking his head. "Yeah, you could say my father’s genes were pretty good at copy and pasting. But I’m the original. Born decades before Kaelos."
I clenched my jaw, glaring at the bastard. Meanwhile, Kaelos was just silent, his emotions becoming more and more uncertain as the others argued.
"How dare you make such bogus claims?!" Alpha King Thorian snarled, his voice booming through the snowy field. "I can sniff it from all the way here. You’re—"
"A true hybrid." Ryker chimed with an acknowledging nod, his eyes fleeting to me. "Just like the Vein-born. Except, I don’t come from a bloodline with ties to chaotic magic underneath the continent."
Silence.
It seemed like everyone was trying to process all that they’d just heard.
But Ryker was having a field day toying with everyone, his voice echoing again. "What? Do you want us to go mundane and conduct a DNA test? Or, perhaps a blood ritual to prove—"
"He’s telling the truth." Janelle suddenly spoke up, her voice solemn. Her silver hair blew around her as she glanced over her shoulder at us. "Ryker is Kaelos’ brother."
My gaze fell to her purple ring which glinted with a bright light. That’s how she knows...
"Thank you, child of Selene." Ryker’s voice was calm, like everything was going according to script. "This is perfect! With all the Alpha kings present here, you can help do the right thing."
Alpha King Maddox boomed with his thick accent. "And what could that be?"
I had a bad feeling about where this was going but most of all, about how calm Kaelos seemed to be.
"Kaelos?" I called out to him, tightening my grip on his hand but he still remained silent, never looking away from Ryker.
Meanwhile, the Lord of the North’s grin became even more smug as he thundered. "I am the true Alpha King of North America by birthright. The firstborn of the late Alpha King Balthazar."
Alpha King Arakida was sceptical. "Even if you’re Balthazar’s son. Do you carry the Alpha King bloodline? The wolf and might of one?"
One major difference between Alpha kings and other werewolves apart from their devastating strength and power... Was their wolf.
I saw Alpha King Mwansa shift back in Blood Oak... Into a similar bipedal beast as Kaelos, except my mate’s wolf stood taller.
Gamma Zane, Kaelos’ paternal uncle, never showed such transformation, so being born to the bloodline of an Alpha king wasn’t a guarantee of being one.
Anyway, Ryker clenched his outstretched hands into fists, his voice booming with confidence. "See for yourself."
Suddenly, a blood-red aura surrounded him, spreading out like a cloak for several meters. The pressuring force that came from the aura was... Oddly recognisable.
I stiffened subconsciously, my eyes quivering. Sirena howled with hesitation inside me, like she was afraid of what we were staring at.
"An Alpha King’s aura..." Alpha King Maddox whispered with awe, shaking his head.
"How can this be?" Thorian added, his voice filled with disbelief.
"There can only be ONE Alpha king in a continent. It’s been the way for millennia." Ryker said calmly, pointing a finger at Kaelos. "As members of the council of Alpha Kings, I ask that you force Kaelos to step down peacefully."
I couldn’t take the bullshit anymore, ignoring the pressure from his Alpha king aura and withdrawing my hand from Kaelos.
"Odessa..." He tried calling me back softly, but I ignored him, glaring at Ryker.
"You’ve got some nerve. You know that?" My voice snapped through the tension, sharp and defiant. "Kaelos has ruled the packs of North America for over a decade. Where have you been during all this? Why didn’t you come forward to challenge him when he was younger?"
Ryker sniggered. "Well, it wouldn’t have been much of a fair fight now, would it? Besides... You of all people should know the bias against hybrids like us."
My jaw tightened but I persisted. "Which is more reason why you don’t deserve the title of Alpha King."
"Low blow coming from the Luna Queen of chaos." Ryker sneered, his voice dripping with mockery. "If the continent can turn a blind eye to you being Luna Queen then—"
"Unlike you, Odessa hasn’t been terrorising the continent for years." Kaelos finally spoke up, his voice firm. "She’s been by my side, trying to make a difference."
I glanced at him, smiling warmly and he did the same.
But that warmth didn’t last long.
"Terrorising? You mean me gathering rogues and making them something more than rejected wolves?" Ryker snorted. "You mean showing the world who you really are? A fraud who sits on the throne of a man you murdered?"
Kaelos’ anger suddenly burst out like a flood, taking shape in the form of his Alpha King aura. His was a bright silver, searing and sending cracks on the ground underneath our feet.
But it was also warm, making me feel... safe. Protected.
"And YOU sent the witch who caused the death of my mother!" Kaelos boomed, his voice sending shockwaves that blew snow and dust everywhere. "If you want my throne... You’ll have to fight for it."
The second those words dropped, the wind picked up speed. The night sky and the blood moon seemed to pulse with an almost otherworldly glow, a sickly silver light shining from Ryker’s eyes.
I scanned my gaze on the faces of the other Alpha Kings. They were all nervous, uncertain, seemingly confused about how to move forward.
And as for Althea? She slowly rose to her feet, her purple robes flapping around her.
"We have to leave immediately." She warned, her voice like an omen.
But when the howl of the wind started sounding like the screams of lost souls, the hair on my skin stood on end... I knew something horrible was about to happen.
"I accept your challenge, little brother." Ryker’s voice was cold, devoid of the playful confidence from earlier.
Suddenly, the blood moon blackened, shifting from bright red to crimson and then finally... Pitch black.
Dread surged through my being, my heart thudding heavily as Ryker pointed his claws at us, an orb of dark energy building up in the middle of his palm.
"Just know that I, the Lord of the North, was gracious enough to seek peace first."