[GRANT]
"You can walk them out, Grant," Cassius added, as a courtesy even though the woman had tried to kill him in his own lands. She was gutsy, probably why they understood each other so well.
"Yes your highness," Grant responded as he walked out with Ulrike and Zelina who were worried sick about Alanor. They were all with questions, but then the person who could get them answers was nowhere to be seen.
He was a literal headache to them, but they wouldn't have it any other way.
Cassius was being cautious with the rogue wolves. He was worried that they would make life hard for the wolves that resided in Acrod. He knew what the rogues wanted and that was their inclusion back home. But that was too expensive a price for Cassius to have his people pay.
The rogues who were banished from Acrod were the terrorists who took pleasure in making people's lives hard. Maybe Cassius could have beheaded them, and he would have.
However, when the beast of the midlands showed up, the rogues didn't go out of line, because they knew the beast would be roaming wounded.
They knew the beast was a ruthless creature that took pride in eliminating troublemakers and so they had gone quiet. Not to mention, the crime rates in the midlands have significantly reduced.
It was a moment of grace for the Acrod wolves and the midlands and that was also why people grew to love the beast. He not only kept the midlands safe, but he also kept the rulers in check. No one would do anything cruel just for the sake of it.
Of course, those who tried to cause trouble were brought to book according to their factions, but for their sakes, their leaders hoped they would be ready to correct their mistakes before they were handed over to the beast of the midlands.
However, now that the beast had been MIA for two weeks the rogues figured he was gone forever because the beast never took even a day off.
When they reached the gates of Acrod, Grant had to go back, but he had questions whose answers he hoped to get because the radio silence for one of their own was insane and unexpected, especially where children were involved.
Maybe he was hiding from something, but they knew him a little too well. He loved places where there was violence because it was places like that that helped him release some steam.
He liked it when his enemies bled and the feeling of their blood on his hands, because he would use that as motivation to get to Edison. But now that he had disappeared, there was no telling if the young Wynter was okay or not.
"Where is he?" Grant asked Zelina and Ulrike who were currently bidding him their goodbyes. They need to go stop the rogues before they got to lose more vampire children.
It was the only way out and with the warriors that Cassius would send, they hoped to make the war come to a quick end, because this was insane, absolutely.
The trio looked like they were having a rough week, but it was their duty to their people to make sure everything we did was smooth sailing in the midlands. They didn't want to involve the witches and the humans, because that would be too chaotic.
"Udrad," Ulrike responded defeatedly, running a hand in his hair as he looked around them. He had been pinging to see Alanor for days but there was no news of him since he went into Udrad, other than the fact that Celia had told them that he was wounded and refused to heal himself.
Alanor was crazy, that much they already knew, but what Alanor didn't seem to understand was the fact that him being hurt in Udrad made them worry even more.
This was because if he stopped his healing process, then he was an uneasy target for the king who was probably suspecting him already. It was a death wish, but it wasn't like the son of Kacy and Gideon would ever listen, now would he?
Oh hearing what Ulrike said, Grant almost shouted in shock. Of all the places he had thought Alanor would be, Udrad had to be the last of them. If anything, it hadn't even crossed his mind that the young Wynter would even go to that place.
He had hoped that Alanor wouldn't go on causing trouble, but then his goal had always been to go to Udrad. Then again, Grant could feel that Alanor wasn't ready for the final quest just yet.
Granted, he wanted to have nothing to lose when he faced off with Edison, but still. He was not in the right psychological state and could easily be triggered by the mention or even the sight of the lycan king. It was dangerous, they all knew it.
"Udrad??? What the hell is he even doing there?" Grant asked like this would help them all understand how Alanor's brains worked, but as usual, they would get little to no answers, because even the warlocks were not sure of what they needed to do with him.
"That little brat went there in the guise of helping Edison of all the people. And it's been two weeks and no one has heard from him.
"What's even worse is the massacre of the children which he should have sensed by now, but is not even doing anything to respond," Ulrike said angrily. He wasn't sure what pissed him off more.
The fact that Alanor was missing or the fact that the children hadn't deserved to die.
Whatever it was, it had the full attention of Ulrike and he would pay to see Alanor come back home, even if he was coming back to be his usual goofy and untamed self. How a person could be both was still unbelievable to him though.
"Do you think Edison hurt him?" Grant asked worriedly like he was already thinking of the worst.
It wasn't unusual for them to think of the worst when it came to Edison, because that man was the devil reincarnate who didn't care about anything other than his son. He didn't even have time for his queen, or so the rumors had said.
Ulrike just let out a sad smile as he looked at the antsy Navali and shocked Grant. This time, he didn't have anything that could make them feel better, because even he was worried sick about the lycan kid.
"More like he hurt Edison and is now conflicted, because it's too soon if you ask me," Zelina said as she sat on the ground.
Dealing with Alanor was harder than dealing with the werewolves who were attacking her home. If only there was a way to know if Alanor was okay so they would stop worrying for so long over things that were probably not happening.
"That doesn't make sense," Grant said like he was new to the whole spectacle around ALanor. He was aware of the truths that lay, but he, just like everyone else, was hoping that going back home hadn't made the young Wynter snap. Because that would be too much eve for them to deal with.
"Trust me, I know. But as we all have gotten to learn in a hard way, nothing Alanor does makes any sense. Anyway, we have to go fight off your stupid rogues.
"Make sure you send your people or we'll forget the alliance with Acrod, and you'll probably lead a lonely wolf's life," Zelina said to Grant who was just looking at her like she was becoming the second version of Alanor.
How the hell had the moon goddess managed to bring together a family of different factions who were crazy as fuck, unhinged, and had no regard for human life, and yet for some reason, despite their insanity, they were determined to see to it that Alanir needed to sane?
"What I mean is we'll murder everyone in Acrod including your mate, but we definitely will spare your life since you're important to the young Wynter. He may be a whacko, but he cares for every one he takes an interest in," Zelina added like she hadn't made it clear the first time.
Grant thought about Nour, his mate who probably didn't know the links that Grant and Alanor's friend had. It would be crazy if he knew it because he would probably shit his pants while listening to them talk about life like it's water under a bridge.
"Yeah I understood the first time, jeez" Grant sighed, raising up his hands in surrender. He knew there were loud truths in what Zelina had said and while it was exciting to be on the Alanor protect list, he wasn't sure the young Wynter would want to massacre families and leave children, orphans.
That was the one thing that had ruined him and well, he didn't want kids being damaged like him. So technically, Alanor Gideon Wynter was a paradox on his own.
"See you round wolf-boy," Ulrike said to Grant who was still watching the couple amusedly. The goddess must have really been nuts pairing two psychos together.
"Be careful out there. I'll send word to Criselda. Hopefully, she knows what to do without any bloodshed. You two will be preoccupied with protecting Asteta anyway," Grant said before bidding them goodbye.
They all had a tough quest ahead of them and if they weren't careful, they would lose themselves in the process. It would be hard and maybe they wouldn't even be able to bounce back, but then for Alanor, they were willing to put their own lives on the line.
Was he that important to them, or was he simply a way out of the madness that Edison had created all this while?