Page 32 of The Silent Mountain (Under the Werewolf Crown #2)

thirty-two

The Truth

*ALANA*

E lio and I walk mostly in silence, both of us scared to startle any enemies. I try not to think about Lorelai, hoping she made it out of there alive, but something inside me tells me that the chances are quite slim. I don’t know her well, but I know she has saved my life. Maybe it wasn’t the best decision to bring us here, but I am sure she had no other options at that moment, and without her, I would probably be dead by now.

I am not sure how long we have been walking. An hour, maybe even two. This underground path is much longer than I anticipated, meaning the island is much bigger too.

“How can this path be so long?” I whisper, not able to hold my thoughts back any longer.

“No idea,” Elio mutters. “I have been wondering the same. I mean, we have no records of a bigger island, and we can’t be too far away from the shore either.”

“It has to be enchanted,” I say quietly. “It probably looks small and unimportant from the outside.”

“If only we had known,” Elio says. “It’s… usually us dragons have a very good sense for the mystical side of things, more so than other shifters.”

“You mean, you can spot mysterious natural occurrences or read them?”

“No,” Elio explains. “Sorry, I worded it wrong. There are other shifters and the fae, who can read nature much better than we do, but we have a sixth sense for things that are enchanted or cursed. Had we been at our full power, we would have never missed this island.”

“But you did, because you are still so few in number and are only growing now,” I conclude. “Right, Favian told me that only he can currently fly a huge distance over the ocean.”

“My brother has to shoulder everything at the moment,” Elio says, sounding sad. “There are tasks no one can help him with. Back in the day, my father had his siblings and his powerful advisors. Favian only has Stefan.”

“But he doesn’t trust him,” I conclude.

“Exactly.”

“Do you trust Stefan?”

“I don’t know,” Elio admits. “Some things are weird. Where was he during the years of war? Favian knows about every other clan member, what they did, where they hid, what happened to their family, but Stefan is a mystery. He is loyal to the king, you know, so he should have either tried to save Favian from his capture, or found and protected me.”

“Favian said something similar to me,” I admit.

“It’s just… shady.”

“But he has been a good support to Favian, so far,” I point out.

“That’s what’s so confusing. He puts Favian over everything, as he should. As the king’s advisor, his focus is on the king, not necessarily on the clan members, and Stefan fulfills his tasks to the fullest. It’s so weird…” He pauses. “The reasons don’t matter. The fact is that we dragons have only just started to recover our strength and weren’t able to spot all the mysteries that have been brooding in the darkness.”

I tap my bottom lip with my fingertip while thinking about what Elio said. “Maybe that’s why whatever evil is haunting the dragons has chosen this time to attack. They must know that the dragons have started to slowly rebuild the kingdom again. Every day they get stronger.”

“You mean, it was all planned?” Elio asks.

“Yes, from the mare invading the clan, to the birds, and even the curse spreading, it all sounds planned. It’s only thanks to Favian’s fast thinking and his ability to put his own feelings aside that he asked for Erin’s help, and Erin managed to provide a protective potion for us.”

I feel a twinge of pride for my mate. Despite all his trauma, he managed to put it aside during the moments that mattered. He is going to be a fantastic leader. And I am going to make-it-the-fuck out of here alive to support him!

“I think the mare was supposed to attack you,” Elio says.

“You already said that once, and I think the same now,” I admit.

“I did, didn’t I?” he says, looking flustered.

“You have good senses, Elio. Don’t put yourself down. Soon, you will be eighteen and your dragon at full power. I know Favian is counting on you, and I am too.”

His eyes gleam slightly when he hears my words. “Let’s make sure to get out of here in one piece.”

“Exactly what I was about to say.”

*FAVIAN*

I am heading back to the palace at such a fast pace that the others can barely keep up. Stefan is basically chasing me, while Erin gives up midway and settles for a slower pace.

“Your Highness,” Stefan pants while he runs after me through the corridor and into my office. “Wait… Favian. We can’t do that!”

“You don’t even know what I have planned,” I say shortly. Not that anything he has to say could stop me.

“You plan on following the birds,” he says promptly.

“Then you do know what I have planned,” I say. “And I don’t need to explain it anymore.”

“You can’t do that, Your Highness!”

I feel my eyebrow ticking again, as with every time I can’t quite control the anger burning inside me. I have tried to be more patient with Stefan after my talk with Alana, but he is not choosing a good time to push my limits.

I notice how Erin and Theodor come into the room too, and I only vaguely wonder when and how Erin alerted Theo, but I am not complaining. I’ll need all the help I can get.

“It will put your life in danger,” Stefan points out.

“My life? All I know is that Alana’s and Elio’s lives are in danger.”

“But Your Highness, you have to think of the clan and-“

In a sudden burst of anger, I slam my hands down on my desk, feeling how my beast is pushing to come forward. “The clan?!” I snarl. “Every single decision I made was for the clan! But now I am going to be selfish, because Alana and Elio are more important to me. Can’t you understand that?”

“But the clan and the dragons will become extinct without you,” Stefan utters.

“The clan, the clan!” I spat. “You are always pointing out what I have to do for the clan. But what did you do for the clan? As far as I am concerned, you weren’t around much. While one clan member after another fell, you were hiding.”

I can notice how he pales at my words.

“What does the clan even matter to you?” I hiss. “Why are you even here?”

“I am here for you,” he blurts out. “I am not going anywhere as long as you are here!”

I stare at him. “What?” I gaze at Theodor, who looks equally surprised. I know he doesn’t like Stefan at all, for simple reasons. He knows Stefan could have probably saved Elio, Maggie, and him had he searched for them. Some things are hard to forgive and forget. I don’t link him for his thoughts, I already know them. It makes me miss Alana even more, since she has a much more rational and calmer outlook on things sometimes.

“Explain yourself,” I demand. “This has been going on for too long now.”

Stefan looks torn but doesn’t say anything.

“You claim you are here for me,” I push. “But where were you when I was in captivity? Most of the clan members think you are a traitor!”

“I am not a traitor!” Stefan exclaims, his eyes flashing with anger and hurt. He barely shows his emotions, usually, so this comes as a surprise. He looks exhausted all of a sudden. “Do you think I am a traitor?”

Do I? I try to think of the last couple of months and the work Stefan put into the clan and into protecting me. “No,” I say. “But I don’t know what else you are.”

“What do you think?” he asks Theodor.

“I think you are a coward,” Theodor says promptly.

“You have no idea how things were for me,” Stefan exclaims. “And what I had to battle. You don’t know anything.”

“So, what were your reasons?” I push.

Erin clears her throat, glancing at Stefan. “You are making this very difficult. Why don’t you just tell them?”

Stefan sighs. “I was under the command of the late king.”

“What…” I blink. “My father commanded you?”

“It wasn’t just a command, it was a promise deeper than anything else,” Stefan admits.

“You are talking about an oath between your beast and his?” I ask.

“One after another, the royal court was falling,” he says quietly. “On the night before your father was killed, he sought me out. He told me I am the only one he trusted enough to stay alive and the one with the best judgment. He wanted me to run and hide somewhere and survive until the war was over, and then to return and serve you. His focus was on you only. In a way, I agree with Theodor’s anger because it was unfair to Elio, his only other child, who managed to escape death. But the oath prevented me from doing anything but wait.”

I stare at him. “By Aengus.” I sigh. “But my father could not have known that I’d survive!”

“He knew of the prophecy,” Stefan admits. “And he hoped you would make it.”

“My father knew of the prophecy?” I frown. “I doubt it. Not to badmouth my father, but he wasn’t smart enough to correctly read the prophecy, and he for sure didn’t have the right allies to help him. Unless“—I look at Stefan—“you understood the prophecy correctly.”

“I had an interpretation of it,” Stefan admits. “And told your father about it years before the war. He dismissed it back then, until the last days he was living. He must have remembered it again at that time.”

“Why did you never say anything?” I ask. “I thought you abandoned us; everyone here thinks you abandoned them! I even asked you about it when you returned, and you just gave a weak excuse.”

“He isn’t wrong, Stefan,” Erin says quietly. “You cannot play martyr, suffer silently, and expect everyone to understand you.”

“You were able to do it, Erin,” he mutters. “See through the facade.”

“Yes, but I am an outsider,” she says. “I don’t come from a place of hurt and trauma. The dragon shifters went through years of war and loss; they have lost almost everything. There is not one single person here who hasn’t lost family or friends. You cannot expect the same perspective from them that you do from me.”

“Maybe part of me wanted to punish myself for hiding, while everyone either died or fought.” He sounds unusually tired. To my own surprise, I feel like my anger has vanished completely. I didn’t expect him to be under an oath.

“I apologize for my harsh words,” Theodor says to him.

“It’s alright. I probably would have thought the same,” Stefan admits.

“And now?” Erin asks.

I let out a sigh. “I know, you aren’t happy about this, Stefan,” I say. “And I understand why. But without Alana and Elio, there is no chance for me to see another day. I am bound to Alana. There is no possible way I would survive losing her. Can’t you see that?”

“If you put it like that,” Stefan sighs.

“Besides, we need to take risks,” I say. “I have been passive until now because my goal was to protect the clan, but the danger is constantly looming over us, and we have been attacked more than once by different threats. It’s too much. We have to fight back before the threat comes for us again, and certainly before it has harmed Alana and Elio.”

“I agree.” Erin surprises me by agreeing.

“Thank Aengus, that Alana is with Elio,” Theodor mutters. “They face a chance that way.”

“I believe in Alana,” I say firmly. “And in Elio. They are both strong. Elio has persevered through years of war, and Alana is a warrior. I want to believe that they won’t give up easily.”

“So, what’s the plan?” Erin asks.

“Release the birds and follow them,” I say. “They are clearly coming from somewhere. The curse has to be binding them, and whenever we fought them, they retreated over the ocean.”

“I have a potion that makes it easier to track them in case we lose sight of the birds,” Erin says. “And I guess I could put together a couple of potions to protect us in a fight, with Cassie’s help.”

“You are coming too?” Stefan asks, alarmed.

“Of course,” Erin says.

“Alert our best warriors,” I tell Theodor. “We will be moving out at night, so that the darkness might protect us from the eyes of our enemy.”

“Will you be able to fly a long distance?” Erin asks.

I look at Theodor. Only he can answer her question, because I know I can fly the distance, but as for my warriors…

“I can,” Theodor says. “And I am sure our best warriors can too. We are stronger today than we were months ago.”