The Fall Of Lucian
Chapter 14

Deisy along with Ria arrived home when most everyone was resting. The young albino girl was greeted by her beta, who gave her news of how they had spent the day. Luckily everything was fine, nothing to worry about.

After returning to her human form, Deisy just wanted to rest in her bed. The trip back was quite long and tiring. If she was in that state, she couldn’t imagine how poor Ria was.

The albino made her way to her bedroom, when she was interrupted by the appearance of the matriarch.

-My lady,” she called in a whisper.

-What is it?

-The man has awoken, and says he wants to see the albino woman,” the old woman whispers, as if trying not to be overheard.

-Did he tell you why? -In her weariness she had forgotten that a dying human was in her domain.

-No, my lady, but he insists on seeing her.

Deisy is silent, then nods to the old woman. The woman understands, and leaves immediately. She wondered what the man could possibly want; she purses her lips then redirects her steps to the dungeons.

Everything was deserted, the only ones who could be seen walking were those who stood guard at night.

She advanced quickly to the cells where the guard on duty opened the gate for her. Torches lit the way to where the dungeons for the prisoners were located.

The alpha’s white dress was already a mess due to the mud on the floor. He didn’t care, however, and kept moving forward, until he reached the cell where the human was.

Deisy saw him on the other side of the bars and kept silent, it looked like he had fallen asleep. She waited a little longer, and when she saw him move with difficulty, the young woman decided to enter the dungeon; the creaking of the door alerted the stranger, who turned his face.

-You have come! -he said with his eyes wide open.

-What do you want? -she asked with characteristic coldness.

-I wanted to see you, when I woke up I saw an old woman I didn’t know.

-That woman is the one who has been tending to your wounds, you should be grateful to her.

The stranger is silent as he watches Deisy cautiously. She felt a little uncomfortable with the way he was watching her, it made her so uneasy that it made her want to leave the place.

-Have you remembered who you are? Why are you here?

-No, I still don’t know who I am.

-I understand, in the morning I will notify the matriarch about what is happening to you, maybe she can do something for you and your memory.

-Matriarch? What is this place? Am I in a cell?

She looks into his eyes and notices that this man really seemed lost. He didn’t know anything, or he must have been quite agile in hiding his emotions or intentions. But at first glance, he was a pretty normal guy.

-Yes, I had you brought to this place to be taken care of.

-To a cell?! What did I do to be kept in a cell? -he asks captiously.

Deisy is silent, even she didn’t know, but it was better to be safe than sorry later. The albino walks over to him, and pulls down the sheet covering his wound, and the most important part of his body. One she did not wish to look at.

-What, what… what are you doing? -The man stammered, he could have sworn he was a little embarrassed.

-I’m checking the progress of your wound, by the time you’re better you’ll be sent elsewhere.

She covers her body again and pretends to move away from him, but then, something happens that she didn’t expect. The stranger grabs her wrist and stops her from leaving.

-Where are you going to send me? -She looks into his eyes, and sees some fear in them.

What was the man afraid of?

-Far away from here.

-Why? What have I done?

-I don’t know, but it’s what someone will try to find out. I’m sorry, but you can’t stay on my land,” he replies, looking at the man’s grip.

-But what if I want to stay here? -The albino looks up and stares at him.

In the dim light of the dungeon, the human’s eyes glowed brighter than usual. They were so inviting.

-You can’t, I won’t let you stay.

-You save my life, and then abandon me to my fate.

-Deisy releases her grip on him roughly.

-And what’s the use, if you’re going to send me somewhere else.

-And what difference does it make? You’ll be treated the same as you are here.

-If there is, you won’t be wherever you’re sending me.

He looks at her sideways, creating a visibility of the colour of his eyes that is quite penetrating. She shudders at the rapturous look that was set on her alone. Deisy tries not to look disturbed by the man, so she hides it well enough.

-That’s absurd,” she replies and ends up turning around to leave.

-At least they could take the shackles off my feet, they’re torturing me.

The albino doesn’t say anything, she just walks without looking back. She could feel the man’s gaze on her, he was very shrewd; despite saying he didn’t remember anything, he was a guy to keep an eye on.

However, those damn jolts he caused in her were irritating. She didn’t like it, didn’t like him at all.

He watched her until she disappeared down that almost dark corridor. He turned his eyes to the front and could only stare at the ceiling.

Who could heal in those conditions?

He wondered again and again why that albino was so suspicious as to keep him confined in that damned mouldy cell.

Then he looks at the trellis, that albino woman was making him curious, the truth is that he was impressed by her incredible beauty. Despite the lack of illumination, he could detail that her skin was extremely appetizing.

She was no ordinary woman.

He moved his foot a little, it was frustrating to feel tied to a chain like this without being able to move, but now his concern stemmed from the albino’s decisions. If she sent him away like she said, would he never see her again?

-Shit,” he mutters.

The man tugs on the foot chain again, but it was no use, he would never free himself from that shackle. He half tilts his head forward and sees the wound on his side.

-That doesn’t look good at all.

The wound was bleeding only a little, but it was too big for his liking. He didn’t really like the look of it.

-Hell, if I don’t die from this, I’ll probably die from the fever or being starved.

What little he remembered of being there was that no one had offered him anything to eat, and that was proving to be a problem for his stomach, which was protesting every now and then.

[…]

The next day, the albino ordered food to be given to the prisoner since he could now hold a long conversation with a person. It was obvious that he was not going to die, and it was just as well, for when he remembered what had happened to him, they could watch out for him.

-My lady, has the human said anything to you? -Ria asks as she combs her long white hair.

-She doesn’t know who he is, he says he has no memory of what happened to him.

-And do you believe him? The people in the village are a bit scared, rumour has it that it’s not good to have a human in the herd.

Deisy knew, a human could bring more people to their land and that would end in disaster. King Eren had decreed that it was forbidden to kill people, out of respect for his wife who was a hybrid.

If they were to have any kind of altercation with a human, it would have to be resolved in a non-violent manner. It was natural for people to attack a huge ferocious wolf; for that reason a way had to be found to render them unconscious without having to go to the point of killing.

-What if the man becomes aggressive? -Deisy looks down, how could he be aggressive when he looked at her like that?

-That’s why I’ll be personally taking care of it. Nothing bad will happen in the herd, I’m going to protect them all. Besides, my beta is pretty tough, with his help we’ll be fine.

-Will you send that man to the castle as the prince ordered?

-When he gets better, I’ll send him with a squad.

Though she wasn’t sure if that was a good idea. Not because the journey was too long to send her men with a stranger, but because something inside her told her not to.

[…]

That same morning, Eren and Ethan had made good progress on their journey, reaching the middle of the mountain. Both wolves were stopped by a strange scent that reached their nostrils.

They looked at each other, and imagined they were getting closer.

-I think we should split up for a couple of hours, what do you think? -Ethan suggested.

-I don’t think that’s a good idea, maybe that’s what he’s waiting for us to do.

-If we don’t split up, we won’t be able to cover as much ground.

-“Alright, after an hour we’ll meet at this same spot.”

“Done!”

The wolves scattered, each taking a different path.

It was the only way they could cover more ground, Lucian was very shrewd, finding him would not be easy.

Because of Eren’s wolf’s fur, his camouflage was perfect, barely distinguishable in the white snow. That gave him an advantage on the battlefield.

He searched and sniffed cautiously, the trail he perceived a moment ago was not present on those sides of the mountain, it seemed strange to him that it vanished like that. The wolf looks around, sniffs the air but smells only ice.

Eren frowns, and his wolf growls.

Something wasn’t right at all…

[…]

After running after that scent, Ethan stops dead in his tracks as the scent of death mingles with the smell of ice. The alpha sharpens his senses, but he heard nothing, smelled nothing.

His wolf growled loudly, his back had thickened from one moment to the next. The mountain breeze grew thicker, managing to drag the snow everywhere.

-Come out at once, Lucian, what are you waiting for?” he voiced with an open mind, and for obvious reasons, Eren must have heard him. End this game, and face me.

-You’re very bold, Ethan. I never imagined you would go this far, I should have killed you when I had the chance.

Lucian’s voice echoed everywhere, it was as if he was everything around him. Ethan looked around, searching for some indication of where he might be.