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The old woman shook her head in denial. “No… No… She’s just confused. She’s so alone and confused…”
“Please understand…”
“Here we go again…” said Jocelyn. She stood up and headed to the door. She had no intention of hearing the same conversation for the millionth time.
Karl threw a glance at the clock above Avelyn’s and Max’s heads and noticed Viggo was also staring at it impatiently. For the first time, and maybe the last, they seemed to be on the same page. “This is a waste of time,” he said.
“I agree,” said the weredragon. “We’re tired, we have two badly injured werewolves, two dead human guards, and only one sane solution. Let’s end this here.”
“No!” Avelyn took a couple of steps towards Viggo. “No one agrees to your solution!”
“Avelyn…” Max squeezed her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. “You’re so tired, you haven’t eaten anything… Let’s take a break.”
“No!” She struggled out of his embrace and turned to face him, her eyes throwing daggers at him. “This isn’t right and you know it.”
Jocelyn opened the door and motioned for Ryan, her Beta, to follow her. “I, for one, need to eat, sleep, and think about it. We’re out.”
“Jocelyn,” Avelyn’s voice was low and threatening. “No one is going anywhere until we settle this. Close the door.”
The she-wolf smashed the door closed, but not because Avelyn’s words had had that particular effect on her. “Since when do you think you can order me around?”
“Oh God…” sighed Karl and let himself fall back into his chair. “This will never end.”
***
They argued almost all day, locked up in Miss Delacroix’s office. It didn’t mean they reached a conclusion, and they wouldn’t have probably reached one even if they continued to argue for another day. Or two. Or another year. The headmistress tried to keep the school running, and made sure the students and Alma Venus professors were busy with classes and activities, which drew their attention away from what was happening right under their nose. All they knew was that some rogue wolves had attacked the boarding school for some reason, and the authorities and the Council would take care of it. Only Claudia and Delyse knew the truth, and they also knew that it had to be kept secret.
No one was satisfied with the current situation. Avelyn wasn’t satisfied because she hadn’t managed to convince anyone that no rogue wolf or fox had to be hurt. She couldn’t even believe that killing them was an option the others could so easily consider. Max wasn’t satisfied because he still didn’t have all his wolves with him, having been forced to leave many behind to guard the Schloss and deal with the rest of Sabine’s pack. He had to admit: the she-wolf had proved to be very smart. She had split her pack in two, leaving some of her wolves in the Black Forest Mountains to keep the Blackmanes busy and give them the impression that her intention was to reach the castle, while taking the others with her, to Myrtle Valley. He hated that he couldn’t protect Avelyn, and he had no other place to take her. It was too late, anyway. And Viggo wasn’t pleased because the Blackmanes seems to have a thing for making things very complicated. As far as he was concerned, his plan was sound and effective. He could understand why Avelyn had shown such repulsion towards it, but for the life of him he couldn’t comprehend the others’ attitude. To top it all, the headmistress had forbidden him to use his dragon fire, and even to turn into his dragon form. In all fairness, he had nothing against her decision, and he had to agree that using his powers would have drawn too much attention to Alma Venus and what was happening on its grounds. He didn’t like how helpless this interdiction made him feel, though.
Suffice it to say, no one was pleased, nor prepared for what was to come. For an hour or so they had toyed with the idea of trying to draw the enemy deep into the woods behind the boarding school, but that meant using Avelyn as bait, which did not sit well with anyone involved. Not even with Viggo. Eventually, they were forced to leave
the office in order to eat something and get some rest, and accept the fact that they would never reach common ground. All they could do was make sure they weren’t dead tired from lack of food and sleep when the she-wolf decided to make her next move. The only one who had achieved some sort of victory was Christine, when Max finally told her she was free to try and talk to Sabine if she wanted to. Deep down, maybe he hoped the Elder would be able to show Sabine how misplaced her revenge was. It was highly improbable, but it had to be tried.
This time, when Sabine emerged from the darkness of the forest, followed by her rogue wolves and foxes, her way wasn’t blocked by a useless iron gate, but by a rather large group of Crescents, Moon Children, and Dark Wolves. She started laughing when she saw them all lined up in front of the fence, determined to keep her out of the school grounds. She and her allies still outnumbered them, and the only thing which could have tipped the balance in their favor would have been the presence of the dragon-shifter, but he was nowhere in sight.
“Well, I must admit I’m a tad disappointed,” she said, a large smile on her face. Once again, she was naked, her long, curly hair barely covering her nipples. She was certainly beautiful, in a dark, menacing way. Her brows furrowed when she saw Christine approach her with small, careful steps. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you too old for this?”
The old woman raised her hands in front of her, showing Sabine she meant no harm. “Please, child, stop this madness. We’re not here to hurt you. We don’t want to hurt you.”
“As if you could hurt me…” Sabine huffed and looked over Christine’s head, carefully studying everyone standing behind her. “Where is she? Where is the little bitch?”
“Avelyn is somewhere safe,” answered Christine. “You know there’s no way you will ever get to her, so let’s just talk about this and make a wise decision.”
“A wise decision?” Sabine gave a short, high-pitched laugh that sent a shudder through Christine’s old bones. Then, in a fraction of a second, her dark brown eyes hardened with hate. “For an Elder, you are proving to be quite unwise. Do you really think I am going to stand here for half an hour, listen to your pathetic nonsense, then hang my head in shame, apologize and promise I’ll never do it again?”
Christine held the girl’s gaze, but kept silent.
“You do! Oh my God, I can’t believe how delusional you are!”
“Child…”
“Don’t call me that! Don’t you dare call me that!” Sabine took a defensive position, hands squeezed into fists at her sides, as if she was trying to hold back from lunging at Christine and clawing her eyes out. Max and Jocelyn took a step forward, letting her know they would never give her the slightest chance to attack the woman, but Sabine wasn’t afraid of them. She wasn’t afraid of anyone.
Christine didn’t even flinch. She stood her ground, calm and determined.
“I’ve always seen you as a daughter. Don’t you remember the first time you came at the Schloss, scared and disoriented, unsure of what was going to happen the next full moon? I told you everything you needed to know, I answered your questions, I prepared you for the transformation. Even though you were so afraid of your new life, you were such a curious young woman. You were the daughter I never had, Sabine! So enthusiastic, full of life, ready to accept a huge challenge and make the best of it… Please remember the person you were then, because the person you are now is not you, my child… It’s not you…”
Sabine took a deep breath, trying to keep her anger at bay. There was time to rip the old woman’s throat off. There was time. She was so sick of talking, so sick of listening to all this embarrassing blabber. Avelyn claimed she was her friend, Christine saw her as her daughter. What was next? She clenched and unclenched her fists.
