Nicholas was dazed when he heard Lily's words. The man halted his steps. Lily stopped too. She looked at him with concern.
"Is there something wrong?" she asked him.
Nicholas clenched his fists to the sides. He had heard of the pack and he had an awful memory of them.
Blood River Pack was just as bad as the Obsidian Sand Pack in terms of cruelty. At least that's what he remembered and experienced. Their Alpha was the one who bit him and inflicted him with lycanthropy. He hated the man with all his heart.
If there was a moment for them to meet again, Nicholas didn't think he could keep his cool and not attack the evil Alpha. Now, he was no longer a weak young boy. He was an Alpha himself and he was also the king of this kingdom.
He had not made a calculation with them because right after he ascended the throne, the stupid pack decided to go on a suicide mission to attack the capital and they were so pitifully defeated. He heard reports that almost everyone who came for the attack was killed and the few remaining ones left Riga completely.
Since they no longer mattered, he stopped thinking about them. Now, Lily suddenly brought up the name again and Nicholas's mind was immediately filled with bad memories.
"Are they still significant?" Nicholas asked Lily. The woman nodded.
"Yeah. They lost a lot of people in a stupid attack mission many years ago. We actually heard it was a mutiny. Some elders convinced most pack members to continue with the attack even though their Alpha decided against it," Lily explained. "As predicted, they failed miserably. The remaining ones left Riga for Frisia, and they have been gathering power in the past five years. Many small packs decided to join them from Frisia."
"So, why are we even considering them?" Nicholas asked again. He seemed very reluctant to go with Lily and meet the Alpha of the Blood River Pack. "If they are from Frisia, we have no business with them."
"Well, they are here now. So, we might as well work with them to defend Riga and fight the Obsidian Sand Pack," Lily said patiently. She crossed her arms on her chest and looked at Nicholas with a serious gaze. "Is there something you're not telling me? You seem very hesitant to offer them a peace agreement. Is it because they attacked Livstad five years ago?"
Well... that was one of the reasons, but not the main one.
Nicholas let out a long sigh. He realized he should tell Lily Moonchester the truth so that she would understand why he was acting a certain way toward The Blood River Pack.
Finally, he told her the truth. "Lily, I told you that I was turned, didn't I?"
"Hmm... you did."
"Well... when I was thirteen, I was kidnapped by a werewolf pack as a way to teach my father a lesson for waging wars against the lycans. The Alpha decided to bite me and turn me into a werewolf too because he thought it would be funny and cruel to torture a lycan-hating family by turning one of their own."
Lily held her breath. She was very surprised to hear this fact from Nicholas. She immediately felt sorry for the man. She imagined he must be really young back then.
Nicholas scoffed, "I still remember vividly his evil smirk and his voice when he said he was curious to see whether my father would immediately kill me, his own son, once he found out I am now a lycan, a monster."
Lily felt really sorry. She could guess that the pack and the Alpha in Nicholas' story must have something to do with the Blood River Pack whom they were discussing now.
Was it really them? She was wondering.
She had never met anyone from the Blood River Pack personally but they had quite a reputation. So, she was eager to come and visit.
"But your father didn't kill you," she said with a choked voice.
"Because my father didn't know," Nicholas said flatly. "It's all thanks to my mother, the queen's hard work. She protected me and schemed her own husband to make sure that I was safe."
Lily was deep in thoughts. She was sympathetic to Nicholas' condition, but she believed in order for them to fight the Obsidian Sand Pack, they needed to gather and mobilize whatever resources they had because the enemy got help from a powerful coven of witches.
"Nicholas, I am sorry about what happened to you. I really am." Lily looked at Nicholas sincerely. "However, we need them. They are big, strong, and powerful. They have many formidable warriors. We small packs can stand behind you and help, but even ten of us wouldn't compare to one Blood River Pack."
"If they are that big, why didn't my spies pick up on their presence?" Nicholas asked back. Secretly, he knew that Lily was right. If the Blood River Pack was really that big and powerful, it would help them greatly to be allied with them.
Lily explained patiently, "They are big but they are good with going undercover. At this moment, they have almost recovered their original numbers. They have planted many warriors around Livstad and in many big cities inside Riga. The Alpha just needs to give the orders and they will all show up."
Nicholas scoffed again. So, that means... not only did he have to meet his former captor and tormentor, he also had to set aside all his personal grudge and propose to have peace with Alpha of Blood River Pack.
Seeing his discomfort, Lily quickly added, "Uhm, they have a new Alpha many years ago. I think the one who did bad things to you is dead now. His name was... Alpha Leon Salazar."
Nicholas was surprised to hear this. So, both his father and Alpha Leon were dead now. He remembered both men were the champions from their respective sides. They were the ones who were waging war so fiercely.
Now that his father was dead and Nicholas became the king, he started to think that it would be better to have peace, than ongoing wars. Perhaps, the Alpha's son would also think the same way?
This possibility made Nicholas' hatred dissipate a little bit. If both sides were thinking of the same thing and wanted peace... maybe he would forgive and forget past grudges.
"You seem to know a lot," Nicholas commented. "You even know the Alpha of Blood River Pack is dead. Do you know who is their new Alpha?"
"His name is Leland Salazar. He is a very reclusive man and doesn't really socialize, but so many Alphas respect him and he is also the strongest candidate to be our next lycan king... well unless Alpha Elias from the Obsidian Sand Pack could convince the others that he should become king, which I doubt because most of our kind hate him."
"Hm...," Nicholas was interested in finding out all this new information. He realized Lily knew so much more than his spies and the Royal Lycan Hunters. He was lucky that she decided to help him. Without her assistance, Nicholas might have to wastes so much more time and he wouldn't know all this information.
He cleared his throat and said, "Very well, Lily Moonchester. I trust your judgment. So, you really suggest that we should go and see them to talk about peace?"
Lily nodded. "Yes. If you could convince him that Riga would treat all lycans equal to humans and let us live here in freedom and you would never interfere in our society, meaning he can be the lycan king and you would respect him as a fellow king, I think he would want to work with you to defeat the Obsidian Sand Pack."
"Hmm.. okay," Nicholas nodded.
"What makes the Obsidian Sand Pack more dangerous is the fact that they are working together with a powerful coven of witches and their current Luna is actually a witch."
"Is she powerful?" Nicholas asked.
"We don't know for sure, because none of us have seen her and see what she is capable of, but from hearsay, she was said to be very powerful and ruthless."
"A witch, huh?" Nicholas was intrigued. He finally took a deep breath and nodded to Lily. "Okay. I will do as you said. We will visit the Blood River Pack next. Do you know where they are?"
Lily said, "They are spread everywhere, but the Alpha is now in a small town several days away from here."
"Which town?"
"A town called Hastings. They initially stayed in Livstad for their mission but decided to move out two months ago. Rumor has it that the Alpha and his family are waiting for the birth of their children."
Suddenly, Nicholas' heart skipped a beat.
Wait...
Why did this sound so familiar?
Dammit! He raised his fist and punched the air when realization dawned on him.
Why was he so stupid?
"So, it's him...." Nicholas muttered under his breath. So, Leland Salazar must be the son of Alpha Leon Salazar, the man who had tortured and bit him fourteen years ago.
Now, he remembered hearing Sophie call her husband by the name 'Leland' several times. She was married to Alpha Leland Salazar, who disguised himself as Duke Ariam Romanov to attack Riga.
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