The Russian Billionaire’s Secret(190)

With that, Estelle made for her bedroom. Rudolph paced impatiently outside. A few minutes later, Tyler quietly entered the den.

“You should get some rest,” Tyler said to Rudolph.

“I am stronger than that,” he replied.

“I know that you are. Asking you to rest isn’t about strength, brother.”

Estelle listened quietly from behind the door.

“It’s just Estelle,” he said. “I demand to be made an Alpha now, as is my right.”

“It’s not your right,” said Tyler. “That’s not how we do things. We follow our rituals, the way we have done things since hundreds of years.”

“We?” barked Rudolph. “Dolphus took you in when you were a pup. I was born here. What do you know about us?”

“Enough to know when to keep my mouth shut,” said Tyler and then resigned to his room.

Estelle smiled to herself behind the door. She had never been fond of Tyler, but his wisdom was making her root for him.

Rudolph shifted into human form when the sun rose and joined Tyler in the bedroom. He could not sleep, though, his mind on the rock on the cliff. He could not wait for the full moon, to finally become an Alpha and the leader of the pack. This was something he had wanted and dreamt of since as long as he could remember, and he knew it would soon be realized. After all, there had been many Alphas in the family tree he descended from.

Chapter 3

Samúe og Styrkur

When Tyler woke up in the morning, he heard Estelle whispering to someone. Rudolph was sound asleep. When Tyler stepped out of his room, he saw Estelle and the surgeon sitting closely, discussing something important. When they saw Tyler, they straightened up quickly.

“I’ll take my leave,” said the surgeon, nodding to both Estelle and Tyler.

“What was that all about,” asked Tyler.

“Have you not already heard it all,” she said.

“Not if you didn’t want me to,” said Tyler.

“Come,” she motioned to Tyler, and walked out into the sunlight.

Together, Estelle and Tyler shifted into their wolf forms. Tyler, a huge black wolf, and Estelle, a large grey maned-wolf. She ran far into the woods to be out of earshot, and Tyler followed, knowing she was either going to kill him or tell him something important. They ended up at the lake. Bradley, the Omega, could be seen throwing the Mountain Ash at the boundary, a kilometer from the lake; Tyler could see Bradley’s hands were burning, in spite of the protective gloves he wore.

Tyler barked at Bradley to hurry up. They waited for about half an hour until Bradley was out of earshot, then Estelle turned to Tyler.

“So, what did you hear?”

“Is this the part where you kill me too,” asked Tyler.

“So you heard,” she said.

Tyler nodded.

“And have you told anyone?”

“If I were going to tell anyone, I would have by now.”

“What then?”

“I am not going to ask you why,” said Tyler, “I trust you, just like I trusted Dolphus.”

“Ah, yes, I see,” said Estelle, “but you would like to know why I poisoned him?”

“Only if you see it fit to tell me.”

“The Samúe og Styrkur is an ancient pack,” began Estelle. “Do you know what it means?”

“Styrkur means strength, that’s all I know,” said Tyler.

“Yes, because that is all Dolphus taught you; a trait I see all too clearly in Rudolph. Dolphus was a great Alpha, but his ways became wicked. I won’t get into the details, but suffice it to say, he was no longer the Alpha he was when he took you in. Samúe og Styrkurs, our pack, descends from Iceland. The name of our pack literally translates to ‘Compassion and Strength,’ yet strength is all this pack is about now. That is not the way to survive, and since he was no longer the Alpha he needed to be, I took him out. You can either tell others and have me killed, or let the nature take its course until we have a real Alpha. I have faith in you.”

Estelle ran back to her den. Tyler stayed behind, lying beside the lake, basking in the winter sun. He could feel Bradley’s presence around him, looking at him.

Bradley was the newest Omega in the pack. Tyler had made a case for him to Dolphus to let him, and while Dolphus was reluctant, and Rudolph opposed, Tyler had succeeded in having him into the pack.

Bradley had stumbled into the forest while running for his life, as his pack had broken into chaos when the Alpha died. Not all packs are strong and that is why Samúe og Styrkur had a strong hierarchy of leaders, to keep things from falling into chaos. Tyler was not entirely sure if letting Bradley in was a good decision, but if he had not spoken for him, he would have been killed by the pack.

Ever since then, Tyler had always felt Bradley’s eyes on him. When out with Rudolph and other members of the pack, he could always sense Bradley’s presence around him, his eyes on him, just like they were now.

“Come out,” barked Tyler. “I know you are there.”

A golden wolf appeared from behind a tree close by, walking shyly toward the huge black wolf. Bradley jumped and shifted slowly into a beautiful man. His wolf was small and lithe, just like the man he had turned into. His golden hair and his fair skin were complimented by his green eyes. He was in good shape, in a better shape, in fact, than most wolves in the pack. He walked toward Tyler, squinting in the sun; his short hair made his features stand out.