Page 157 of An Enigma for the Lycan Crown Prince

The seconds drag by with no one saying anything. I can’t believe he is not answering my challenge. That would be a first. No alpha would just give up. A fair fight would be the minimum, even for someone who isn’t the biggest fighter.

At least try!

Something in my father seems to snap all of a sudden, and without further warning he lunges at me. Regis, on highest alert, swiftly takes over, making me jump to the side.

“Not like that!” Samuel yells, angrier than I have ever heard him. “Abide by the rules for once, Caelum!”

Geneva reaches out her hand, takes Samuel’s arm and pulls him back. When he tosses her a surprised look at her, she just shrugs. “It’s his own downfall,” she whispers before nodding at me encouragingly.

“Well then,” I say, pushing my sleeves up. “Don’t tell me later, I didn’t give a fair fight.”

My father doesn’t answer, instead shifts to his lycan. He might only have been of beta blood, but his lycan is quite impressive. I have to give him that. But Regis is definitely more impressive. I let him come forward and shift to his form, his claws scratching on the ground, producing a metallic sound that startles me slightly.

Our claws! What happened to them?

The metallic sound seems to come from my claws, directly, whenever they hit the stony ground. They are much stronger now, feeling like iron, while their tips are dipped in silver. Is this why the claw mark we left on Flora isn’t healing completely!?

That’s new,Regis sneers.But I like it!

I can hear whispers around me but block them out, focusing on my father instead. He doesn’t seem to have noticed anything. As usual, he is so focused on himself that he doesn’t care for what’s happening to those around him. Regis is out for blood; he has been tense since Flora was abducted, and was only able to keep his cool because our intuition told us she was alright, and that the real danger was lingering somewhere else. Now, however, his tension is growing more and more. The betrayal cuts too deeply. He doesn’t care that Dad gave the order not to hurt Flora, it doesn’t matter that heonlywanted to keep her hidden for a couple of days to rile me up enough to feel the real wrath inside me.

Nothing matters but the fact that our own father doesn’t give a fucking shit about us!

Regis’ nerves seem to be hanging on a thin thread, ready to snap anytime.

My father’s lycan takes a step forward, his body tensing before he lunges at us. Regis has anticipated his move, meeting him mid-air, and slamming his head against his side, landing on top of him. Dad turns over and bites down on to Regis’ neck. With a growl, Regis draws his claws into Dad’s sides to free himself from his grasp. A whimper can be heard. With our new claws we are much more dangerous to fight against. Silver is deadly for most werewolves and lycans, and can leave scars in a battle.

With every passing minute of this fight the burn in Regis’ and my chest gets stronger. I can feel it again, the way my consciousness slips. The view in front of us gets blurred. Regis acts on instinct alone now, not able to rely on anything but his urge for revenge. Revenge for what our father did to our mate, for what he did to our mother, for the way he treated his true mate and his second chosen mate, for how he threatened them and our half-siblings, and for how he treated us our whole life.

For every time he slapped or hit me.

For how little respect he had for everyone around him.

For how little love he had for me.

Regis is towering over him now, biting down into his neck. It seems like his aura has pushed everyone into submission, our father included. Dad taps against the ground in a desperate attempt to stop the fight. He is giving up officially.

The victory and the title are ours.

But the burn inside us is so strong, so strong, it makes reality shift and get blurred. The suffocating feeling and the burning headache almost blind us, worse than when we tracked down Flora.

It’s happening again! Last time, we hurt our mate. By accident, maybe, but it was our fault for not being able to focus and control ourselves. What’s going on? Why does the control slip from us like that?

This is no good! There is no telling what we will do when we lose control. It’s like a blackout for both Regis and me in which we run completely on our emotions.

It’s scary and dangerous. I have hurt Flora once already. Who else will we hurt?

fifty

The Iron Alpha

*ELDEN*

Amidst the feeling of rage and panic, I can feel something else simmering in my mind, too. Something warm and gentle. I recognize the feeling instantly.

I told you I would find a way so that history won’t repeat itself,Flora says.

I don’t know what’s happening,I groan.It’s our head. Something hurts us. The pain makes Regis spiral.