Duskborne

Chapter 8

Duskborne

(Seraphine’s POV)

“The Duskborne family,” Diana had laid herself down on my bed and folded her arms behind her head. “They’re old blood. Like, old, old blood.”

“Okay?” Amber and I eyed each other, intrigued but confused.

“I heard stories of them back when I was a kid on the Surface. Ask the older Hellhounds here and they’ll tell you the same thing I will. The Duskbornes are selfish monsters.” There was a flicker of a smile on Diana’s lips. She enjoyed slandering my mate; jealous, most likely. I didn’t dwell on her bitterness and at first, I didn’t take her words seriously.

Amber furrowed her brow, giving Diana a look that silently told her to behave herself. “What are you talking about?”

“Amber, have you ever heard of the Veilrend pack?” Diana stayed lying down, her head facing my friend.

“Veil-rend? Uh,” She rubbed her chin as she turned the name over her tongue. “Oh! Yes! I… I have...” Her excitement over remembering immediately gave way to uncertainty as her gaze shifted to me. “They were actually neighbors with the Celesta pack.”

I blinked. “What? The Celesta pack… My pack?”

“That’s right,” Diana’s smile grew. “And the Duskbornes are the reason your kin were wiped out.”

“You’re lying,” I didn’t believe her, but Amber stayed quiet.

“You already know how different packs have different blessings and knowledge, right?” Diana propped herself up onto her elbows. “Like my pack has - had - enhanced strength and endurance. Amber’s pack had knowledge of potions and elixirs, right?”

Amber nodded. I remembered how others had said that my blessing was probably a slight resistance to silver. If that was true, it was a little underwhelming in comparison to the other ‘powers’ of wolves but still useful.

“Well,” Diana continued, her tone mockingly sweet and bitter all churned together. “The Veilrend pack was blessed with not just unrivalled stealth, but also warding knowledge. Their little village is protected against things like witches, vampires, humans and of course, demons. When our wonderful Master Valefar went on his recruitment drive, the Veilrend pack were safely tucked away in their village. Valefar couldn’t touch them.”

I swallowed. I had an idea of where this was going, but I didn’t dare speak or acknowledge it. Yet Diana’s eyes were fixed on me, patiently waiting. She wasn’t going to continue until I spoke up.

Taking a shaky breath, I gave in and asked, “What does this have to do with my pack or the Duskbornes?”

Diana grinned and honey-coated sarcasm continued to drip from her words. “At first, the sweet Alpha of the Celesta pack asked Veilrend for help in warding off demons. Surely it would not hurt to share such life-saving knowledge? Especially when there were reports of demons hunting, killing and taking werewolves. But the Celesta Alpha’s request was refused.

“When the sweet Alpha of the Celesta pack was left with no choice but to send refugees to Veilrend, to escape Valefar’s attack, the Alpha of Veilrend refused to let them in. He watched from his manor as imps and Hellhounds - and I mean the real, original Hellhounds - ripped the innocents of Celesta to shreds. Their corpses burned on his doorstep and he did nothing. Alpha Duskborne ensured that the only survivor of Celesta was you, because he refused to let your people seek shelter." Her glare pierced through me. "But it’s not… it’s not just the Celesta pack that suffered.” Her posture slumped and she could no longer stomach looking at me. “That fucking Alpha hoarded knowledge that could have protected so many werewolves all over the world.”

Diana’s voice broke at the end. My spirit crumbled as I saw the anger boiling behind her eyes. She wasn’t jealous that my fated mate existed. This was more than a woman’s envy; she felt that the Duskbornes had betrayed all of wolf-kind.

Amber pinched the bridge of her nose. She grimaced and groaned. “That’s never been proven.”

My blood ran cold. “W-well, even if that’s the truth,” I repeated a mantra in my head. 'Positive thoughts. Positive thoughts.' “It wouldn’t have been Renrik’s decision. I don’t know how old he is, but judging by his wolf, he can’t be much older than me. He would have only been a child back then.”

“I never said it had anything to do with your mate,” Diana spat out the word ‘mate’ like it was poison. “You asked if I’d heard the name before, and I told you what I know. Do whatever you want with the information. It’s not like you’re ever going to see your sweetheart ever again, anyway.”

I didn’t need to kick Diana out of my room, she was already on her way out.

“Diana,” I got up and rushed after her, taking her hand into my own. She glared at me with those stormy, grey eyes. Her shoulders tensed. “Thank you for telling me. People are always so reluctant to speak about the Celesta pack with me, but now I feel I understand what happened to my people a bit better.”

She yanked her arm away and tutted. “Yeah, well… like Amber said, it was never proven. What I do know is that the Duskbornes really did have the knowledge to prevent the demonic attacks. They didn’t share it. Now we’re here.”

Diana left my room and an uncomfortable silence settled between myself and Amber.

Amber was the first to break, inhaling deeply and pulling me into a hug again. “Like you said; none of that had anything to do with Renrik! I don’t know if the last Alpha was his dad, uncle, cousin or whatever, but the fact is, it wasn’t Renrik.”

“You sound like you believe the story,”

“I don’t know what I believe. I was, what, six back then? I didn’t hear what the grownups were talking about. But whether it was true or not, it’s in the past. Nothing we do or say can change what happened. This could be a blessing, though. Renrik might know how to break you out of here!”

“Huh?” I stared at Amber, dumbfounded.

“If his pack knows how to fight off demons, or at least protect against them, then this might be your best chance of escaping Hell. Escaping Valefar! Escaping this whole… weird breeding thing Valefar has in mind.”

A ghost of a smile touched my lips. “... Renrik did say he was going to crash the gates of Hell for me…” Could I really allow myself to believe that? To dream… Was Renrik capable of such feats? Or would he be like the Duskborne Alphas before him? The ones who let us all get captured and killed by Valefar’s forces.

I had to have hope. Hope was how we all survived Hell together. It was how I remained unbroken after all these years.

“Yes. Yes, Renrik will come. I know he will. He promised me.”

“Awwww,” Amber and I froze as a male voice creeped into my room. “How adorable. That bright glint in your eyes, Sera, will certainly fuel the desires of my hungry Hellhounds, primed for putting a pup in you.”

“M-Master,” I started to shake.

Amber placed herself between me and Valefar, shielding me. “Master Valefar! How are you? I heard you got hurt quite badly?”

“Then you misheard,” Valefar spoke sharply, his voice echoing around my room. Then his persona switched to that sickly, false, friendly one. “A tiny scratch, but look, I’m all better now.” He ran his fingers through his golden hair and just as he said, not a mark from the earlier fight remained. “See? Thank you for worrying about me though, Amber.”

She wasn’t worried. She was disappointed. I quietly thanked her for buying me enough time to steady my nerves.

Once she had been dismissed, it was just myself and Valefar. The heels of his shoes clicked against the concrete floor. His blazing hot hand tilted my chin up so he could examine my face. Then he looked at my neck. Looked at the healing cut from his blade.

“You’re healing fast,” he noted.

“Yes, sir…”

“I never wanted to hurt you. You understand that, don’t you?”

I remained silent.

“DON’T YOU?!” Hellfire itself ignited his words.

“Yes,” I whimpered.

“Good,” friendly again. “Now, get some sleep. We’ll be meeting some of your potential 'suitors' first thing in the morning. I’ve even prepared a special outfit for you to wear.”

“Thank you, Master,” was all I could say.