Chapter XXI

Darío stands between Elián and Nereida.

• I'm not asking you as a prince, I'm asking you as a brother, spare his life.
• No!
• Brother—he kneels before him—My life for my wife's.
• That?
• She is the mother of my children, the woman I love, I will not be able to live without her, my life in exchange for hers and her expulsion from the pack, but my cubs are still Lycaon and members, they retain their title before everyone.

Elián angrily raises his hand, and when he reaches it, it's a sharp claw. He unleashes the blow. Just as he reaches the neck, he kneels down next to his brother and looks up at the blonde.

• Thank the gods for the love I have for my brother and my nephews. I would never take your life away. I saw your eyes open for the first time, and I won't be the one to close them forever.
• Thank you —Darío hugs his brother tightly.
• I can't be in the same place as her, you know that—he kisses her forehead, leaving his brother kneeling as he leaves the house.

Nereida rushes to help Darío stand up, and he slaps her.

— Last time I stand up for you, now leave me alone, I have to talk to Ciro.

A month has passed since Secundina's death, that night was a full moon night, which was already high, despite the fact that the pantheon was closed, Elián is standing there watching Secundina's tombstone, deep in thought, still not knowing what to feel about the situation, his wolf was devastated, it could be compared to a puppy left to its fate on a stormy day, without his mate he was defeated, without his partner to keep him company, on the other hand his man was even more defeated, one thing was the sadness and pain of losing his wife to a "natural" death, the bond was not broken, with the passage of time it faded but another thing was losing his Alpha the way he lost her, because of those bad comments, her low self-esteem and her bad behavior, day after day he wonders if everything would be different if he had taken her by force or if he had just not given in to the reasoning of that proposal, maybe and only maybe if he had taken her that night and made love to her as she asked, she would be alive and maybe and only maybe by his side already being his formal partner, instead he decided to control his impulses and be a gentleman, he really wanted her, but not like this, on that occasion he felt that getting her drunk was equivalent to rape and he wanted her to give herself to him without any shame, not only in body but also in feelings.

His good behavior led him to be left without her. He sat down next to the grave, his hands on his head, he knew that since the day he learned of her death his character began to change, unfortunately for others, not for the better, he had been characterized by being fair, not aggressive, he prides himself on respecting the laws, those that he and his brothers wrote, however now, he did not even recognize himself with his days-old beard without washing and with his hands already covered in blood, although she was not innocent, that woman was a young man, she was being manipulated by magic and even so he did not care about opening her up, he was angry, he was furious, he was not looking for who did it to her but who was going to pay for it, he was not ignorant of her character and her low self-esteem but he was already achieving changes no matter how small they were, so that those two would open their mouths and break her into pieces again.

Elian's passion

He looks up at the silver moon, a sad smile forms on his lips, he stands up, leans down to kiss the cold tombstone. In his mind's eye, he sees her smiling at him, and with that image, he leaves the cemetery.

Walking through the lonely streets where only police vehicles are seen passing by, he heads towards the Gándara Hotel, the lights of the small town occasionally make him raise his head, he reaches Kino Boulevard and continues his walk, the wind blew lightly carrying the scent of his brother Ciro to his nostrils, which makes him stop his pace, he searches with his eyes without finding him, another light draft and the scent is not familiar at all, the hair on the back of his neck stands on end as do the hairs on his arm, a warning sign however he ignores the sign and continues his slow walk, he was about to cross “La Ruina” park, when some shadows catch his attention, he can’t ignore that, he twists his lips and curses under his breath he lets a patrol car pass, losing sight of it he enters the park and stops his walk when he reaches the source of the noises which was none other than his brother fighting against a total stranger, instead of intervening he finds a place to get a better look at the fight, two wolves from one side to the other howling in pain, in anger , barking and finally a screech, a rolling head and a somewhat tired Cyrus.

—You're coming and you can't stay still.

"It's not my fault," he said, searching for his clothes. "Besides, I wasn't friends with those beasts."

—If you can see, let's get the body out of here or we'll be in trouble. What are you doing here?

• I'm also glad to see you," he said, slinging his body over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Hmm! It's really heavy."

—You don't answer.

• Englar is worried about you, I can see why, I got off the plane and your scent reached me there.
• Do you want me to applaud you?

—No, but you need to control yourself. Come on, let's go back to Darío.

• You know I can't, I won't go back to Darío, it's his house and his wife is there and the truth is, if I see her I won't be able to control myself.