Chapter 57: Dead men tell no tales

AXEL

~Now he recognized himself as a dead man. It became important to stay alive as long as possible.~

I’d officially lost it. Surely I was hallucinating? ~Dragons did not exist, ~and yet there was one with three heads staring at me like I was his dinner.

I flattened myself against the wall, moving ever so slowly along it out of reach from the dragon that was following my movement with its eyes…~all six of them.~

How in the hell was I gonna get out of this one? Funny enough, we’d never covered escaping from a three-headed dragon in my lessons growing up.

It rumbled and snarled, causing me to jump and slip on a rock, landing on my ass with a heavy thud.

My head snapped up quickly as it rose to a towering height, its belly glowing a deep orange. ~Shit!~ I dove out of the way just seconds before fire flew out of its mouth.

~Oh yeah.~

~I’m definitely gonna die today!~

Of all the places and all the things I could’ve been doing right then, I had to be locked in a dungeon with a dragon. ~A fucking dragon!~

I crawled behind a big rock, hoping it would be enough cover to allow me a chance to think. I didn’t even know how to get out of this.

I could hear it sniffing around behind me, the sound of chains dragging on the ground.

~Chains.~

~That’s it!~

Maybe if I could convince it that I was there to help it, it would spare me, right?

~Yeah, Axel, ’cause dragons can talk.~

I rolled my eyes internally, cursing myself for being so stupid. I put my head in my hands, trying to drown out the noise of impending death and doom behind me.

~Think, Axel, think.~

Storm said she could see archways into different planes, so maybe if I went into death, she might be able to find me. If anyone knew how to take down a dragon, surely she would.

I nodded at my own genius, searching around for something to put runes on. I couldn’t conjure forcefields, but Grams taught me how to put wards up to protect my body when I was in death.

I crawled ever so quietly into a dark corner, further away from the three-headed beast that wanted to barbecue and eat me.

Grabbing four small-sized stones, a mixture of flat and bumpy, I placed them around me in a circle muttering incantations until runes shone brightly on them.

I settled into a cross-legged seated position, taking a calming breath and reaching out for the border between life and death. If the dragon got me while I was in there, I knew I wouldn’t survive.

I looked around the forest clearing, the mixture of greens and the bright colors of the flowers at the bases of the tall trees, a stream running alongside the flat grass.

In the middle of the clearing stood a bench with a blond-haired man sitting on it, looking out across the stream, sitting peacefully, enjoying the sun.

“Dad?” I stood at the end of the bench.

He turned to face me. “Hello, Son.”

I sank onto the bench, not believing my eyes. “What? How? Keir, he—”

“He did a number on me, that’s for sure,” Dad chuckled, looking out across the water again. “Is your mom okay?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. Keir took me just after he killed you. I’ve been trapped in his weird castle ever since. I actually came here to find Storm…” My voice trailed off.

“If anyone can beat him, you can, Son. You’re an alpha now. The pack and our family need you.”

I felt Dad’s eyes on me. I hung my head. “Dad, I don’t think I’ll make a good alpha. I can’t even get past this dragon.”

“A dragon? Huh, I didn’t even know they existed.”

“Trust me, neither did I until I came face-to-face with a three-headed one. That’s why I came here looking for Storm. I thought maybe she could help me.”

I stared out across the water again, noticing movement in the trees on the other side.

~No one else is supposed to be here.~

“He’s been following me a while, that creature. He probably thinks I can help him escape,” Dad offered up without me asking.

My heart did a hopeful somersault.

If Dad was sitting there, it meant Mom could bring him back, and we could be a family again.

“I can’t go back, Axel. If I did, I wouldn’t return to my body the way I’m truly meant to be. Keir, he destroyed my body by splitting it in half, separating my wolf from myself.

“It is time that I go. The pack will be in good hands with you, Son.”

“I don’t think I can, Dad. I don’t think I’ll be a good alpha. Maybe one of the others can? I’m sorry, Dad. I know you want me to, but I just don’t think I can.”

“Everyone has a calling in their life, Son, something they were created to do with the deepest fibers of their being. Something that makes days so easy it’s as effortless as breathing.

“Would I love for you to take over the pack? Absolutely. You are the firstborn. The heir, so to speak. But the pack is not the only thing you are heir to, my son.

“You have another side to you. I would and always will support you no matter what you choose.”

I breathed a sigh of relief, internally thankful that my parents had always been respectful of our individual decisions in what we chose to do with our lives.

Although this moment with Dad was wonderfully peaceful, death loomed over me in the real world, and I needed to be sure I had a body to go back to.

I glanced over my shoulder, looking at the archway back into life.

“Any ideas on how to beat a dragon?” I laughed to hide my nerves.

Dad looked thoughtfully out into the distance.

“You may be a wolf, Axel, but you are also a witch’s grandson. Don’t ever forget who you are. You, Reign, and your cousins are part of a special breed of wolves. That in itself makes you exceptional.

“Your mother and grandmother are very gifted witches, as are your uncles. They are also wolves, and yet they never lost sight of who they are.

“Your mother was destined for greatness, but it was her witch side that saved thirty lives twenty years ago, not her wolf.”

I nodded. So the only way out of this was to be a witch. I had spent so long trying to balance both, trying to use both abilities at the same time, and yet I always failed.

“How do I find the balance between both worlds?”

“You embrace them both. Being a witch might be easier, sure, but there are times where being a wolf is better. Your strength, your speed, your senses… That all comes from being a wolf.

“But your power and your abilities, the reason we can meet now…” He waved his hand around the clearing. “~That ~is being a witch.

“Trust that you know what you need to do in any given situation and learn from the mistakes you make.”

He clapped his hand on my shoulder.

“I’ll miss these talks, Dad.” I smiled at him.

He smiled back. “I know, Son, but this is where we must say goodbye. Pass my love to your sister and my beautiful mate.”

I wiped away the tears building in my eyes.

“It’s okay to cry, Son. Allow your feelings to fuel who you are as a person. Don’t hide them away because you think they make you weak.

“They don’t. They show your strength in times where others might stumble. If we weren’t meant to feel, the Goddess never would have granted us feelings.”

He stood up, and I followed suit. We embraced in a final hug before he clasped my shoulders.

“Do me proud, Son. Whatever path you choose. Protect your sister and your family. Have lots of pups with your mate, and don’t ever let anyone tell you who you are.”

With that, he turned and walked into the distance, slowly fading away. I squared my shoulders, turning to face the archway back into life. A newfound confidence.

~I know exactly what I need to do.~