Alastair:
Following the incident that happened last night, I made sure to quickly set the next day’s affairs in order at both the high school and my office that day. I’d have no obstacle in my way when it came to spending my last remaining hours with Valene trying to convince her not to leave.
“You do realize that the chance of success is slim to none,” Aziz voiced in the deep recesses of my mind.
“I do not need pessimism right now, Aziz,” he replied. “If you have nothing positive to add then there’s no need for this conversation.”
“Fine,” Aziz countered. “I am positive that your chances of success are slim to none-”
“Aziz!” I snapped with frustration. Silence ensued shortly after and I was thankful for it. I needed as much quiet as was inhumanly possible to keep myself centered enough to get through the day intact; because deep down, I knew…I knew that Aziz was right. I knew that Valene was well aware of my plot and she would not deviate from the path that she had chosen. She was quite stubborn that way. A subtle knock at the door pulled me out of my own suddenly pessimistic thoughts. “Thanks, a lot, Aziz,” I hissed before turning my attention to whomever it was intruding on my uneasy moment of reflection. “Yes, come in,” he stated bluntly.
Moments after, the door opened. “Alpha,” the deep accented voice greeted coming into my office. I had a feeling of it who it was before that door even opened. His voice only confirmed it.
For some reason, I paused for a moment after he entered my office but only for a second before I continued on with my work.
“I am strapped for time, so if it’s something concerning the rogue beasts then I’d suggest you hand that news over to Slaughter,” I said, though I knew bloody well that it had nothing to do with that. One could hope, however.
“You know that I am not here for that, Alpha.” I could hear the amusement in his words as he said them.
I placed the last stack of paper in its folder and dropped it on my desk before turning to face the young chap. “I had a feeling,”
Ares smirked and entered the office, closing the door behind him. “Are we going to talk about the elephant in the room?”
“I’m not sure that I have time, Ares,” I remarked.
“With all due respect, Senhor Wade, I think you should make time for this one.”
Where I had averted my attention from the young lycan to grab my things, I paused. “I do not know, Ares,” I confessed. “I do not know why these beasts are after Valene, and I do not know why they consider an heir of shadows,” I approached him with bitterness. “I have no idea what they see in my daughter that places her life at such great risk, but if I am being honest…right now I do not care. Right now, I only have one goal in mind and it is to convince her to stay. I’ll find my answers along the way.” I started for the door when Ares’s words stopped me in my tracks.
“You know…that her decision to leave is the right one, Alpha,” When I didn’t speak, I heard his stance shift and knew that he had turned around to face me. “As powerful as you are, sir, even you know that these attacks were benign in comparison to what will rain down upon us if she stays.”
“So what?!” I hissed. “You expect me to allow her to run off on her own-to fend for herself alone?! The girl is highly skilled but she is still….human, Ares! To send her off would be…would be sending her to her death!”
“Would you care so completely about her safety if she were not a blood of treasure?” The young lycan asked me and admittedly…just for a moment, I was offended enough to snatch him up. I waited for the feeling to subside, however, before I answered his question. The boy was always an overly curious lad. “Valene was my daughter well before I realized the treasure flowing through her veins. She has been a treasure to me since the night I adopted her into my life,” I said, setting the record straight. “The question is, would you be so intrigued and protective if weren’t?”
To this question, Ares snickered, and again I felt a well of frustration ignite in me. Then, to my surprise, he answered my question.
“Truth be told, I would not have noticed her off of first glance if her blood hadn’t lured me to her first. At least, that is what I’d like to think, but,” where his gaze had veered out into the scenery outside of my office window, Ares faced me again. “To be perfectly honest with you, Senhor Wade, it is not the blood running through her veins that draw my intrigue,”
“Then what is it?” I asked, thinking at first that he’d finish his sentence until he didn’t.
“It does not matter,” Ares replied. “What matters is that she is safe,”
“And how do you expect to insure her safety, young Barbosa?” I asked. Finally, we were getting to the crux of why he was here.
“Give her to me,” said Ares boldly, and yet with such nonchalance, I almost thought that I heard him wrong.
“Pardon me?”
He smiled. “I know, that it is the last thing that you’d wish to do. However, logically, it does make sense-”
“Of course, it makes sense to you! You have been snaking your way into a plan to get Valene since the moment you laid your eyes on her!” I exclaimed angrily.
“It makes sense to me, alpha because unlike you, I do not have roots in Shadow Veil. This place is not my home, but it is yours. You cannot pick up and leave to make sure that the girl is safe. But I can.”
“You are off your nut if you think I’d allow something so reckless-”
“You…know me,” Ares took a step toward me. “You know how much I respect you, Alpha Wade! And you also know how much my father cherished your friendship! Do you honestly think that I would intentionally go to such lengths to take something so precious away from you?” Before I could respond, Ares backed off. “I want her safe…just as you do. Whether she has gold blood or red. If you are invested in keeping her safe then I am.”
“I believe the boy, Wade,” Aziz muttered in the back of my mind.
With a harsh sigh, I rolled my eyes. As annoyed as I was, I agreed with my counterpart. “Unfortunately, so do I,” I said aloud before regarding the young lycan again. “I do trust you, Ares. And…as hard as it is to resist Valene’s blood, somehow I know that you and even Zevi would be capable of restraint, but can you honestly say the same for the rest of your pack? All you’d need is one…small papercut…one little bruise or nick, and your whole pack will crumble.”
“That is a weakness, alpha,” Ares replied. “A weakness that can mean life or death for my people,” he said and then shook his head. “That weakness has to be stamped out and it will be. One thing I assure you, alpha is that my life would be forfeit before any harm could come to your daughter.”
“Why would you risk that, Ares?”
Instead of answering the question directly, Ares came up with his own piece of logic. “Funny, you’ve been taking the risk for years, have you not?” He then headed for the door. “I do not wish to keep you from your daughter no longer, Alpha Wade. I will ask that you think about my proposal. I will accept your decision whatever it may be.”
As Ares exited my office, I stood there considering his words. I had a lot to think about.
Valene:
I took a duffel bag and packed only the essentials. I wouldn’t have roots to lay once I left Shadow Veil, and even if I did, I realized that I was not in the position to stay in one place for too long. I’d no doubt be on the run for the remainder of my life with these beasts on my tail.
The rest of my life, I thought as I absentmindedly looked into my mirror, mindlessly gnawing at my lip. When my tooth pressed down too hard and I broke the skin, I snapped out of it. Licking away the little droplet of blood left on my bottom lip I returned to packing the remainder of my clothes.
“Knicked yourself?” I heard someone say from the door of my room. When I turned around and saw, Harlyn standing there with large dark eyes and incisors displayed, I stood straight.
“I’m sorry, I-”
“It’s no longer here,” She inhaled the air. “It lingers-your blood, but I can no longer sense it,” Harlyn added as she entered my room. “I’ve fed already, anyway. So, you’re safe.”
I nodded, serving a small half-smile before returning to my things. “How are you?” I asked. “Last night was eventful and not in the best way.”
“Speak for yourself,” Harlyn countered. “I got to flame-on for the night,” she dryly chortled, and then silence followed before she asked, “How are you holding up?”
“Well,” I started. “My cobbler was ruined so, that definitely set the tone for a dreadful night.”
“Haha, well, I’m sorry that you didn’t get to enjoy your cobbler, but I’m sure you’ll find yourself in South Carolina one day to buy another helping.”
“Yeah,” I realized that she had a point. “Guess you’re right,” I chuckled.
“So, it’s true then.” I glanced back at Harlyn wordlessly asking her what she was talking about though part of me assumed what. “You’re leaving. Did losing Talon's vassal really affect you that much? You always acted as if you didn't like him. So why-”
"It's not just that," I countered.
"Then what is it?" asked Harlyn.
"I don't...it's just the right thing to do."
"So...you're just really going to pack up and leave town, then?"
Answering the question of my leaving would provoke a feeling of reality that I wasn’t sure my mind was fully prepared to accept, but it was a fact that I could no longer ignore. Nevertheless, I did not verbalize my answer and simply nodded before zipping my duffle bag.
Harlyn sat down on my bed and looked up at me as I stood bent over my bag checking to make sure that it was secure.
“You’re not going to survive out there, Vali,” her comment was blunt and to the point.
“I have to try,” I simply replied.
“And if you fail?”
“Then at least I know that no one else will die because of me,” I said.
“That is so stupid, Vali!” Harlyn expressed with agitation. “Who cares if they die!? You can’t just decide to leave because-”
“I…care, Harlyn! I do!” I quipped, matching her aggression with a bit of aggravation of my own. “They’re people too! They spend their whole lives trying to see to your every need. The least that can be done is to protect those who are deserving of it!”
“And who is going to protect you, Vali, huh?” Harly snapped standing on her feet. “You die so these crooks and moochers can live?! It is utterly ridiculous! What-what do you want to die? Is there some sort of vindication in playing the martyr all of the time? Do you think that will make you more important? Because it won’t! The only thing that it will make you..is dead! Daddy will…will…” Instead of finishing her sentence, Harlyn shook her head and closed her eyes. “Valene, staying here…as our vassal. At least we can protect you. Daddy can protect you-the pack can protect you.”
“You don’t get it,” I found myself saying before I could stop myself; not that I would have in the first place. “You never will,” I murmured.
“And what is that supposed to mean?”
I sighed and faced Harlyn, the girl that I’d always counted as the closest thing to a sister in my life. “You’ll never understand why I do the things that I do because you…”
“I what?” Standing to her feet, she stood at eye-level with me. “You have something to say, Vali, say it.”
“We are not the same,” I quipped instead of telling her the truth about how I felt.
“That much is obvious, but I’m sure that’s not what you were going to say.” she countered. “Tell the truth. Do you think that you are better than me? You think that I am too self-absorbed and selfish to understand why you want to risk your life to save others?”
In truth, everything that she was saying was factual to me-everything besides the notion that I thought so much of myself to assume that I was better than her. I did not continue on the path of that subject, however. Instead, there was something else that bothered me even more about this conversation.
“I am leaving in a few hours, Harlyn,” I stated, not bothering to keep up the pretenses of being her vassal anymore. “Do you really want to spend this time arguing?” I asked. “Surely, you can find some memory in the past that would provoke some kind of emotion from you for me outside of anger.”
She didn’t answer me, and that hurt me more than I ever could have imagined it would. Did Harlyn ever truly consider me a sister?
“Val? Harly?”
The sound of Master Wade’s voice averted both of our attention, but not fully. Not for me anyway.
“Is everything alright?” He asked.
“Yes,” Harlyn answered without hesitation. “Just..saying goodbye to Valene,” she replied and headed toward the door. On her way past her father, she kissed his cheek. “Have fun, daddy.” she then glanced back at me. “It…was nice knowing you, Valene,” she said and then disappeared.
When she did, he reluctantly came further into my room. “What was that about?” he asked.
I shrugged. “You know, Harly,” I said. “She’s just…being Harlyn,”
“You know that she’s not good at expressing her emotions. I’m sure it’s bothering her that you’re leaving, Valene.”
I didn’t want to talk about it anymore. Whether she was upset about it or not would not change my mind on the matter. “I’m sure you’ll find a vassal far more suited to her needs,” I said.
“Valene, you know that you were far more than a simple vassal to her…to me-”
“I…please,” I whispered, not wanting to discuss this any further. “I just…” instead of even bothering to explain how I felt about his attempts at affirmation, I changed the subject completely. Switching out my solemn expression for a smile, I looked at him. “What are we going to do for my last day?”
I know that he didn’t like the idea of not continuing the subject. It was apparent that he had more to say but, I appreciated that he respected my wish not to pursue the subject further.
Master Wade smiled. “Come, let’s see what we can get into.”