“I- How would that even work though? I don’t even have a pack,” Edmund muttered.

“You don’t need a pack to be an alpha,” Luke explained. He was still shaking a little, but significantly calmer without people surrounding the truck. “There are two ways one can become an alpha. You’re born with the skills or you succeed in a fight against the prior alpha.”

“So, when he – um, turned? He was already an alpha?” Seb asked.

Luke titled his head to the side questioningly. “Turned?”

“Well, I wasn’t born a wolf. According to Dr Violet, I had the potential, but nothing happened until I came in contact with werewolf blood.” Ed explained.

“Dr Violet? Miss Hayden?”

“Right, your mother is friends with Hayden and Persephone,” Sebastian recalled.

Luke dimmed. “Yeah, she was...”

Edmund and Seb exchanged a look at his tone. Why had he used past tense and simply mentioning his mother made him so sad? Unless...

“Luke is your mom...?”

“She's dead. He killed her. And he’s going to kill us too.” Luke whimpered.

The figurative pieces fell into place in Sebastian’s mind then. Of course, Luke was terrified of his father if for some reason the man had killed his mother. Then, most likely, she had been the wolf Eddie found that night. The one whose blood had altered his own to become an alpha apparently. Now the Wiker pack was expecting them at the dryad’s circle – wherever the hell that was – at sundown for a fight. If they ran away or just ignored this, then they’d be hunted down and have to fight for their lives anyway.

Seb felt like he was going to be sick. Especially when he noticed it wasn’t too far off from sunset now. No one from the Emporium was accepting his calls, his parents still weren’t back as far as he knew, and they defiantly couldn’t pull Garret into this damned mess. So, getting back up was out of the question.

They could try to make a run for it. Drive top speed to the airport and buy last-minute tickets to somewhere out of the way like New Zealand. They could become sheep farmers or something. But they would need passports for boarding–

“Where is the dryad’s circle?” Edmund asked, causing Sebastian to pull out of his thoughts so fast he nearly got whiplash.

“Don’t tell me you’re thinking of fighting.”

“We're out of time, Bas.”

The weight of those words hit Sebastian worse than anything else. There was no escaping to New Zealand or anywhere else. This was it, Edmund had made his choice, and he was going to fight people far more experienced than him.

“You should just give me up and run,” Luke suggested.

“Hell no,” Seb replied instantly. “Despite how bad this is, that is not an option.”

Ed nodded and Luke looked at them both with wide eyes. “But I- I- you barely know me.”

“You’re our friend, Luke. We’re not abandoning you.” Edmund stated firmly.

At those words, Sebastian felt a different sort of realisation. Originally, Edmund had just wanted to defend their home for the two of them. But now, when it came down to it, he was going to be fighting for the three of them. Luke had no one else on his side right now but if Eddie won this fight, then... then... then what?

“What should we expect to happen?” he asked Luke.

“Well, if they want to meet at dryad’s circle, then it’s going to be a territorial fight. The forest spirit there will act as the mediator and lay things out. You can negotiate how much territory you want and depending on the other pre-set terms, that land then belongs to your pack –or um, just Edmund, I suppose?”

“And the Wiker Pack won’t be allowed on it?” Edmund questioned.

Luke nodded. “Not without explicit permission or an existing peace treaty. If they cross into your territory, you have full rights to kill them. In fact, you would be stronger in your own territory.”

Seb nodded. “Okay, but doesn’t that put him at a disadvantage in this fight?”

“Not if you’re at the dryad’s circle. That area is holy land taken care of specifically by the dryad. She will see that the fight is fair by the laws of the earth and sky.”

“Alright, but what happens if Edmund loses?” Sebastian finally asked, dread pooling in his gut as Luke looked away from him.

“If that happens, then my father is defiantly within his rights to kill all three of us.”

Sebastian locked eyes with Edmund, silently wishing he’d encouraged him to prepare for this kind of outcome. Maybe things wouldn’t be much better, but at least they’d have a better chance, right? If Edmund lost the fight, then...

“Then I can’t lose,” Edmund decided as he broke eye contact with Seb.

Sebastian could see the tenseness in his jaw and shoulders. Their lives were literally in his hands right now, and there was nothing Seb could do to help. But still, he reached over and held Edmund’s hand, pulled Luke into a closer hug, and looked at both his friends seriously.

“Guess we're in this together then. No matter what.”

Luke blinked up at him, seemingly unsure how to respond. Edmund however smiled and nodded, intertwining his fingers with Sebastian’s.

“No matter what.”