“Reid.” Hiro suddenly appeared in front of me with a glass in his hand. He offered it to me, looking down at the ground. “Whiskey. Your favorite right?”

I stared at him for a second, confused. “Should I expect poison in it?” I asked in the end.

“Oh fuck you, you ungrateful ass,” he growled, his grip tightening on the glass.

“Sheesh, watch the language, someone might get the wrong idea,” I said and took the glass, letting my fingers brush against his. He bit his lower lip as goosebumps sprouted over his skin. Damn it, why did it feel so good to be cruel? He glared at me then turned around and left.

I just shrugged and quickly finished the sandwich, but as I went to throw away the napkin from the sandwich I noticed two people occupying the corner where the trash can normally was. Yuri and Nikolai, I realized. They stood close, Nikolai was talking quietly but urgently, scowling at his son. Yuri was looking at his feet, his face a neutral mask. What could they be talking about?

I was deciding if I should go and save him when he suddenly looked up and caught my gaze. He looked at me for a moment then gave me a tortured smile. Oh, he used to do that every time his father started lecturing him about something stupid. That assured me he would be fine.

I finally walked out on the porch, the cold wind was a surprise after the heat of all those werewolves in one room. I found Father sitting on the chair, overlooking the forest and nursing a glass of scotch. Without a word I sat down next to him, setting my own glass of whiskey on the table between us.

“I called Baltazar,” he said, gazing at the forest. “Supposedly he’s a very busy man and cannot meet us this century.”

“Well that’s not suspicious at all,” I remarked, sipping the whiskey.

“Yes, well I’ll run him down eventually. I’m a patient hunter,” he said. “A trait you sadly lack.”

Ouch. I winced. “You knew what they were really after this whole time didn’t you?”

“Of course I did. Some time ago there were rumors about a powerful mercenary who intended to end the supernatural. There were some attacks aimed at me months ago. But Bran and I, we hid it from the pack.” A wistful expression appeared on his face. “We thought it would be enough to just show them I was too powerful and they would go away… And for a while, we thought it worked.”

“And then he died,” I whispered. I had to set my jaw against the tears. There was no vengefulness to hide behind anymore.

Father nodded. “After that I ran through the forest alone, thinking they would appear and I would kill them, but that didn’t happen. They waited until you were here to make another attack. I quickly realized they were after you.”

So they killed Bran, just to get me here. Fuck that hurt. The guilt burned deep in my chest.

“And they almost succeeded… I wouldn’t have thought a witch would be able to control the Cŵn Annwn inside of us.” He rubbed his chest with an almost disgusted expression. Was that look meant for the witch or the Cŵn Annwn inside him?

The Cŵn Annwn… The curse of the Ghealach family, who were the descendants of the horrible hounds of the welsh Otherworld that hunted souls and dragged them to the Otherworld. A witch capable of taming such a wild hungry darkness was truly scary.

“If that witch actually managed to kill all of you… If she was free to control the Cŵn Annwn however she wanted… It would be a disaster,” I said what we were both thinking.

“Let’s be grateful it all ended well,” he said calmly.

I frowned at him. “You know. There is something that’s been bothering me. When I was under her control and attacked you, there was a moment where… I was open and you hesitated to kill me even though I came at you with the intent to rip you to pieces.”

“That’s been bothering you?” Father laughed and drank his scotch. It wasn’t a happy laugh, it actually sounded quite miserable. “Have I been such a horrible father to you, that you believe I am capable of killing my own son?”

“For the good of the pack… yeah, I do,” I said honestly. I couldn’t even be mad about that. It was what made him the Alpha.