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The power of a Castor, he should not know, yet Cord felt his power as he approached him. The Darkness swirled around him, wisps reaching out, searching, tasting the air, seeking…something.
Not something.
Someone.
Him.
“You are strong, it makes you strong,” Alpha Augustine said to him casually. Almost friendly.
“I was already strong,” Cord told him confidently. “How are you alive?”
“Patience, perseverance, pity.” The old Lycan shrugged.
“Pity?”
“I was alive, buried not burned, and the never-ending blackness became my home.”
“It corrupted you.”
“No, young one, the Mark does that.” Augustine smiled, his blackened teeth showing. “The Mark takes a hold of who and what you are, and itchangesyou. Makes you better, lets the Darkness in.”
“Only the weak would believe that,” Cord replied. “I am strong enough.”
“You know you lie,” Augustine said. “When you burned the Akrhyn at the ball, you cared not that they fell. When you took on the den of Drakhyn and cut them down in cold blood, you could feel it wanting more. When you cut that human throat, you felt the thrill of taking a life. Letting the blood drip through your hands, you were not repulsed. It eats at you, waiting to be set free again, and when it is, it is not easy to turn away from it.”
Cord said nothing, his concentration needed to be focused, he could not fail. The old alpha was telling him things he knew but twisting it. He could not lose sight of his fight now.
“You are strung tight. The power around you is mouth-watering. I wish I could savour the moments, but I am not here for me.”
“There is another alpha now, he will not let you take her,” Cord said.
Augustine laughed. “I was promised her, and she will be mine.” Augustine flicked his eyes to the area where Tegan had screamed. “My puppet did not get all of his reward, but he got a good taste before the end.”
Rage coursed through Cord’s veins, and he fought for control. The bond was almost silent, but he could feel it, faintly.
“She will die,” Augustine told him bluntly. “Your Prophecy is over.”
Cord closed his eyes briefly as the Flare burned brighter for a moment. “It was never just my prophecy,” he said as he opened his eyes, and he smiled. “It wasours.”
Marcus leapt out of the shadows and struck the malevolent alpha. In an instant, Augustine changed his form to Lycan, and Cord glanced quickly at the burnished brown coat of Marcus with concern. Marcus was big and obviously strong, but Augustine was half a head taller. Slowly both Lycan circled each other, Cord almost forgotten by them, but he wasn’t forgotten entirely.
Augustine leapt at Marcus, and the two Lycan bit and snarled at each other. Cord saw Marcus take the blow to his flank, but the smaller Lycan was already ducking under the dark Lycan’s belly, his teeth tearing into the softness. Augustine howled at the pain, and Cord saw the ground stain with blood. Marcus stood on his hind legs, bringing his forepaws viciously down on the old Alpha. As Marcus’s claws ripped into its flesh, Augustine snarled with hatred as his own claws tore into Marcus’s exposed chest. With a roar that would be more akin to a bear than a wolf, Marcus wrenched himself away from him. Panting and bloodied, the two watched each other warily.
Cord felt the rush of power and instinctively blocked it as Augustine growled in frustration and once more lunged to fight Marcus. As Augustine’s claws extended to dig deep into the side of Marcus, his mewl of alarm could be heard by Cord, who watched as Marcus’s jaw clamped tightly around Augustine’s neck, his teeth ripping through his throat. With no sound, not even a whimper, the old alpha died as Marcus stood over him, silent in victory.
Augustine’s robes flattened as his body turned to ash, his ash to dust.
Lucas appeared beside him and froze the dust as it began to blow away, casting the spell to contain it all, not a smudge of ash would be left of this male. Together, the Alpha and the Mentor worked quickly beside him. The hold the Lycan had over the free was broken, and Marcus’s Lycans were gaining the upper hand.
Was it over? Cord dropped to his knees. His Flare raged.
The Alpha Augustine, the first bearer of the Mark of Velvore was defeated, but the Darkness still remained.
Cord could feel it.
Opening his eyes, he realised he couldseeit.
He licked his lips, and it tainted his tongue with its taste.
