Chapter 76 – Dad?
••• Aleena’s POV •••
We all watched as Colton opened the door. The moment it was opened, we could see a set of staircases. This must be a secret passageway… But did no one really notice it? Even the driver seemed to know the existence of this so-called secret passageway. He was the one who drove us here, for Goddess’ sake!
Before I could voice out my thoughts, Colton had descended the staircases, followed by Lucas and Witch Lily. I had no choice but to follow them, too, and Kyson followed me.
Colton used the light from his phone to light up the way. The tunnel was narrow, and it was only big enough to accommodate one person at a time.
He moved swiftly forward, even when the path branched out. He seemed overly familiar with this passageway, not even pausing or hesitating in choosing the right path.
We walked behind him, for Goddess knew how long it would take until we reached another wooden door. He pushed it open, and a creaking sound was heard. This door hadn’t been opened in a long time, that was for sure. He reached toward his side, and a click was heard. The space in front of us was then brightly lit.
Beyond the door that Colton had just opened was a medium-sized room. It looked like a secret room of a child and a teenager with toys and books filling the cabinets. The room itself was not shabby and could be considered well-kept. All the furniture was high-end, and there was not even a single speck of dust covering the furniture.
I wanted to ask Colton if this room belonged to him or someone he knew, but he had already opened a door located on the other side of the walls.
I peeked from behind him and saw another set of staircases. But instead of going down, those staircases were leading somewhere above the room.
All this while, Colton was silent. He moved decisively toward the narrow staircases, and we, as before, followed him in the same order – Colton, Lucas, Witch Lily, me, and Kyson.
The way up was as steep as the way down, but there were no branched-out paths. It led directly straight toward the end of the staircases, which was a sturdy wall. No matter how I looked at it, it seemed like a dead-end. It was just a plain wall with no door or handle.
How are we supposed to open it? It didn’t look like it could be open. So, it couldn’t be as simple as pushing it open, could it? Or was it one of those secret doors that could be opened by pressing a hidden lever?
Not much to my surprise, Colton reached out toward the wall on his side and pressed one stone on it. The wall in front of us swung open smoothly with no creaking sound this time.
I had no time to ask him how he knew about the secret lever as I saw the back of a man sitting down on a chair. The room looked like an office.
The man stood up, still with his back toward us, and Colton moved fast, circling his hand around the man’s neck.
The rest of us were about to rush forward to either help him or stop him when he suddenly shouted, “No one moves! I’ll be the one killing him today!”
Hearing his words, we were all rooted in our spots. Lucas looked ready to lunge at any time to save his mate, while Colton and Witch Lily looked calmer. I myself didn’t know what to do other than wait and see the situation’s development.
As we all stood frozen, the man swiftly threw Colton over his shoulder. Colton was caught unaware and landed on his butt.
“It’s still too early for you to beat me, Colton,” the man said calmly.
Seeing Colton’s anger toward the man, I was sure he was Alpha Zane, aka the Alpha King.
“I’m different than five years ago! I’m stronger now!” Colton snarled at Alpha Zane.
“It seems so. But you are still reckless. Why do you think it’s a good idea to sneak an attack against a werewolf?” Alpha Zane asked calmly.
His words made sense. It was careless to a werewolf attack sneakily. He could sense us the moment we opened the secret door. He should be able to smell our scents! Now, that was reckless of Colton and us, just like Alpha Zane had said.
“No matter what, I’ll kill you today!” Colton rushed forward, holding a dagger out of nowhere, and tried to stab Alpha Zane’s heart. Aloha Zane jumped backward, smoothly evading the attack.
“Are you resorting to using a weapon now instead of using your own claws?” Alpha Zane asked in an amused tone.
“Shut up!” Colton roared and attacked again.
We all watched silently as Colton kept trying to hurt Alpha Zane while the latter kept evading his attacks smoothly and calmly. There was no point for us in helping Colton since he didn’t seem to be in danger.
The more I watched their fight, the more puzzled I became. Even though Colton kept attacking Alpha Zane furiously, his stabs didn’t seem to target Alpha Zane’s vital points. And Alpha Zane was too calm. Shouldn’t Alpha Zane be angry with Colton? If I were Alpha Zane, I would become mad at my opponent.
The fight went on for a long time until Colton’s energy depleted, and his movements became slower.
“Shouldn’t you have calmed down after five years, Colton?” Alpha Zane asked.
“In your dream!” Colton snarled.
“Isn’t it time for you to come home?” Alpha Zane asked.
“You killed Mom and Sis!” Colton roared and leaped forward again.
“You know it wasn’t the case, Colton,” Alpha Zane dodged easily.
I looked at Kyson, and we shared a look. Something was wrong with Colton’s and Alpha Zane’s conversation. It didn’t seem like they were enemies. Even Colton didn’t look like he wanted to kill Alpha Zane for real.
“Keep telling yourself that! Keep denying that to make yourself feel better!” Colton yelled and attacked again. And this time, his dagger was pointed straight at Alpha Zane’s heart, and Alpha Zane looked ready to accept the attack.
Lucas, Kyson, and I were about to rush forward to stop Colton, as it wouldn’t be wise to hurt the Alpha King, but Alpha Zane’s voice stopped us.
“Don’t move!” he boomed at us, and his Alpha aura rolled off, making us freeze in our tracks. His aura was so powerful that even Kyson and I were affected as Lycanthropes’ Alphas.
Colton stopped for a split second before he screamed, struggled against the Alpha aura, and successfully plunged his dagger into Alpha Zane’s heart.
I felt myself going pale. If Alpha Zane wanted revenge, we’d be dead – his aura alone was enough to oppress all our movements.
But what I imagined would happen didn’t happen.
Instead, Alpha Zane asked Colton calmly, “Will this make you happy?”
Colton gasped and staggered back as if he couldn’t believe he had hurt the Alpha King.
“Why… Why didn’t you block or dodge my attack?!” Colton looked flustered and reached out his hand to pull out the dagger.
Alpha Zane’s hands moved faster, and he pulled the dagger out himself. I sighed in relief when I saw Alpha Zane look fine. I guessed the dagger didn’t hit his heart after all.NôvelDrama.Org © content.
“Isn’t that what you want? You want to kill me, and I’m willing to be killed by you if it’ll make you happy,” Alpha Zane shrugged.
“I didn’t want to kill you that easily!” Colton retorted, but he was still looking flustered.
“Then how would you like to kill me? Would you like it if I attacked you back?” Alpha Zane asked, and there was a tinge of helplessness in his voice.
Colton opened his mouth and then shut it again. He looked kind of conflicted.
“Come on, Son. It’s time for you to let go and come home. You know I didn’t kill your mother and sister,” Alpha Zane said, and it looked like he was coaxing Colton.
Son? Colton is Alpha Zane’s son? Alpha Zane, the King of Alphas, is Colton’s dad? Doesn’t that make Colton the Prince of werewolves?!
I saw Colton glare at Alpha Zane.
“Colton, Alpha Zane, is your dad?” Kyson asked the question that seemed to be in everyone’s mind.
“He is,” Colton snorted.
“And he killed your mother and sister?” Lucas asked with doubt.
“He did. Indirectly,” Kyson snorted again.
Silence ensued in the room. Indirectly? So, Colton’s hatred for his dad was actually not truly because Alpha Zane killed his mom and sis? What is going on?!
“He promised to keep them safe but came back alive alone. He let them die,” Colton spat.
“Colton, you will know the truth soon,” Alpha Zane said helplessly. It looked like Alpha Zane loved his son a lot.
“What truth? Everyone knows the truth. You failed to protect them,” Colton snarled again.
Okayy… This news is a little hard to process. Colton kept saying Alpha Zane killed his mom and sis, but that wasn’t the case. No one knew what happened to the Luna of the Night Shade Pack. She was as mysterious as Aloha Zane himself, even more so if I could say so. And there was never any news saying she wasn’t alive, killed, or otherwise. So, what exactly happened?
“Colton, you brought your mate and friends here. I should be more graceful in welcoming them,” Alpha Zane said, and he turned around to look at us.
All this while, he had his back toward us while fighting Colton, so I didn’t really know what he looked like. But when he turned to see us, I was struck by a feeling of familiarity.
I felt like I had seen him before. But where?
I gasped as realization dawned on me.
It can’t be… He can’t be…
But that dark hair, those baby blue eyes, and the slightly cleft chin… Yes, it is definitely him.
Even though I only saw him for a few seconds, I was sure he was the person in one of the memories Rose had shown me.
But how could it be? I saw him die! I saw him being killed!
“Dad?” I blurted it out without thinking.