Chapter 81

~Grace~

I thought he’d kill him.

Alex had his hands wrapped around the Elder Lycan’s throat, his claws digging into the sides of his neck.

The Elder Lycan thrashed on the ground, hitting at Alex’s arms, but Alex was like a statue.

His expression was a mix of fury and anguish.

Yes! Kill him!

“Do it!” I screamed, but it was like Alex was frozen.

He wouldn’t budge.

What was wrong with him? Just finish him off! It wasn’t like it was difficult.

I ran over to him, standing by his side.

“What’s wrong? Just kill him!” I cried, looking frantically between Alex and the Elder Lycan.

Alex looked at me, his eyes full of sorrow.

And then, he let go.

“No, what are you doing!” I shouted as the Elder Lycan began to slip out of Alex’s grasp.

Quickly, Alex looked back to the Elder and grabbed onto his arm, pinning him there. He bared his teeth at him.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Alex growled. The Elder Lycan struggled once more, but finally stopped, laying on the ground, panting.

Yes, maybe now he snapped out of whatever trance he was in, he’d finally put an end to this!

Alex looked at me. He looked much more lucid, now. The rage disappeared from his eyes, and was replaced with sadness and regret.

I couldn’t understand.

I cocked my head at him. “Alex? What are you waiting for?”

He shook his head at me. “I’m not killing him, Grace.”

What?!

I barked, taken aback by his words. What did he mean that he wasn’t going to kill him? Of course he would, it would save the Black Lycan clan and he would finally get revenge for his family!

“I said, I’m not killing him,” Alex repeated, and I took a step back. Was this Alex? Had the ritual done something to him?

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“Why? This is everything you’ve worked for,” I responded in disbelief.

Alex laughed. It was a dry, barking laugh.

I didn’t understand what was funny about the situation.

“No, Grace. You’re everything I worked for. Not this,” he said, motioning his head toward the huffing Elder Lycan.

I sat down. Clearly, he was having second thoughts about revenge. I couldn’t understand why, but we needed to work through it before anything could happen here.

The Elder Lycan was lucky. For now.

Maybe that was just it. The Elder Lycan had some sort of hold over Alex, still. He’s manipulated him his entire life, I wouldn’t be surprised if he made Alex not want to kill him.

“Alex, he’s a murderer. And a liar, a betrayer, and who knows what else! He deserves punishment.”

“Punishment, yes. But not death, not by my hands. I’ve spilt enough blood,” Alex replied, giving me a serious look.

I shook my head, still not understanding. “So why stop here? Whatever you’ve regretted doing in the past, it’s in the past. But this is here and now, and right now, the Elder Lycan needs to die!”

Alex gave me a dark look.

“Alex, he betrayed your clan! He killed your family!”

He closed his eyes and looked away, his lips curling into a grimace.

“I know! I know, Grace. I know he deserves it. But I just can’t be the one to do it.”

I stared at him. For a moment, I thought I caught the glimmer of a tear in the corner of his eye.

I took a deep breath. “Okay. Why?”

Alex clenched his fist that wasn’t holding onto the Elder Lycan and looked back at me. “I’m… I’m not that man anymore, Grace. You’ve shown me a different path. You’ve helped me realize revenge won’t change anything about myself, it won’t make me feel better.”

I let out a puff of air. “So this is about me? Normally, yes, I would agree. Killing people without reason or remorse is awful, and I think everyone deserves a chance to redeem themselves.”

“And what do you think about the Elder Lycan?”

“I told you–that he deserves to die!” I cried, exasperated. “He doesn’t deserve any more chances, Alex! He’s old, he’s lived his life! And he spent it screwing over other people and making the world a worse place.”

Alex turned away from me. A slow, raspy laugh filled the gap between us, and I looked down. The Elder Lycan was laughing, looking at me with the one eye that wasn’t pressed to the floor.

“You turned him into a soft pup and now you regret it,” he rasped, laughing harder.

I bared my teeth at him. “You keep quiet or I’ll bite your head off myself!”

“You won’t. You’re too soft, too. Now you see why I led Alex down the path that I did? These are the choices one must make as Lycan King! You can’t handle the responsibility, and you’ve tainted Alex with your ideas!”

I darted forward, my jaws open, but Alex grabbed the back of my neck with his free hand. I growled in fury, but stopped my charge.

It was humiliating to be disagreeing with Alex in front of this crusty old fool! He had nothing valuable to say, I should just rip his tongue out of his mouth!

“Grace, please. I just want you to understand that I can’t do it. I don’t…The decision just doesn't sit right with me.”

“And letting a murderer run free does?”

He gave me a sharp look. “I never said he’d run free.”

“Look–It doesn’t matter what you want to do with him, he needs to die. He is the reason your clan is dying!”

Alex lowered his brows and looked down at the Elder Lycan.

I looked down at him, too.

“What were you planning, old man? Were you just going to kill off all of the Lycans just to keep them from getting ruled by a werewolf? Do you hate me that much?”

The Elder Lycan gave me a disgusting sneer. I could see his yellow, rounded teeth. “I never thought it would come to this. I hoped it would drive you away from this mess.”

I returned his sneer. “Well I guess that plan flipped on its head, huh? Now you’re in the hot seat.”

“If you rule over the Lycans, they will never have the same greatness they’ve always held. You’ll drag them down with your werewolf ways.”

I took a step closer, and bent my head down so my nose was in his face. “No. You’re the one who dragged them down with your pathetic, backwards ideas. I will rule as an equal partner with Alex and restore this clan to greatness.”

Alex gave me a proud look, giving me a warm smile.

I stood up tall, looking Alex in the eye.

“But in order to do that, he must die. Think about it, Alex. It’s the only way to break the curse. If he doesn’t die, there will be no clan.”

Alex’s smile faded, and he looked back down at the Elder Lycan. I could tell I finally broke through to him.

Maybe he’d finally stop stalling and this whole ordeal could be over and done with. I was sick of looking at the Elder Lycan and the mass of unconscious Lycans on the floor.