AUTHOR'S POV
"Drinks?", Scott asked, reaching for some apples and bananas from the wicker fruit basket. He opt to prepare the usual refreshment Stanley drinks in the morning.
"How about some brandy", Stanley coughed a little, sitting down on one of the black leather bar stools, leaving his cane resting against the bar counter.
"Hmm..", Scott paused mid-reach to the blender.
The lythari elf, perched over Scott's shoulder, squints his eyes over the old man he's seeing first time. "He smells… wrong", Ofir whispers, confused about the misleading scent of a wolf that exudes from Stanley.
Scott then took a balloon glass, filled it with ice and poured some aged cognac from a crystal crusted decanter. "What brings you here?".
"Diana Woodsworth", Stanley said too quickly, without a fuss.
Scott didn't even finished pouring brandy in Stanley's glass. He placed the decanter down, and left the bar. "This conversation is over".
"Son, listen to me first", Stanley shifted to Scott, coughing up something thick in his throat.
"Look old man", Scott turned to Stanley. "I thought we're done with this. I don't mind repeating myself to you. If you want her dead, you're gonna have to go through me".
"I don't want her dead anymore, son", Stanley said, as he took the glass of liquor. "I see you haven't found her. Let me.. let me help you find your Luna", coughing a few more, deliberately.
"That's new. Last time we talked about it, you were all ready to kill Diana. Let me guess, you need more medicine?", he figured softly. His eyes focused on Stanley's limbs, tremor-free, as he hold the glass.
Stanley took a sip of the brandy, clearing his throat with the hard liquor. The coughs suddenly disappeared for a while, as the old man lick his lips, not wanting to waste the rich taste of the brandy. "We both gain. You stabilize the lycan in you, I recover".
"...you knew?", Scott
"You're my son, how could I not know?", Stanley sips the brandy again. This time, he
"Let's both find Diana, and I'll let everything fall into place",
"I'll put you back right where you belong. The Alpha of the clan. The CEO of SD Steel Enterprises. The King of your our world",
"Desperation doesn't suit you",
"I'll be honest. The company is collapsing.", Stanley said. "With only a few weeks of Sebastian being in the position, our butts are already getting hurt from the losses.",
"The old trusted employees have resigned, leaving a great number of novices with less knowledge and experience. The pack stayed out of the way too. I understand their loyalty will always be yours.
"Your brother could hardly pull it through and without a doubt, he is struggling, son.",
"I'm sure you all can handle it"
"Anything else? I have much more important things to do",
"The clan have already found a candidate to replace you as an Alpha.", he said, he stood up, walked forth without the cane
"He haven't accepted or rejected the idea, however he's being considered and we've been waiting for his answer", he said. "Find Diana, and give her to me",
"He sees me", Ofir
"He's the Nagual"
"Look, I am an Alpha.
"Are you done playing games, Tamara?"
a soft chuckle
"Took you long enough"
"You got a prized thing right there. I thought they are all dead",
"How bold of you to come here,
Tamara
"Kill me now, and you won't find a way to end your curse",
"I don't care about the curse. I want you dead",
"That's not how we play the game. Your precious Diana will die",
"What do you want?",
"You and Diana. I just might consider breaking the curse for you",
changed to a bird and flew right out the window, breaking the glass
====
"Take me to the Villa Estates",
In a few seconds, we were right in front of a large wooden door. "Are you sure she's here?", Ofir asked as he opened the door gently with a flick of his hand.
"Not really.", I answered sneaking in. Gladly, there were no people around. I could also not sense anyone nearby. We entered the Woodsworth Residence and quietly went straight down the basement. My eyes adjusted in the dark, seeing everything clear as a day, while Ofir glowed like the sun.
Heading onto the door with a moon and moonstone on it that Diana was saying, I tried to open it but it won't budge. "It's locked with a spell, you see?", Ofir said as he point on the markings on the door.
"Then do something to open it", I ordered as I push him to the door.
Grunting in annoyance, he placed his palm towards the door and circled it a few times as he said, "Destruam Ostium". The door broke down into million pieces at Ofir's command.
We entered the room and found the original vampire Diana was telling about. She was sitting on a pedestal with markings beneath her chair. "Claudia?", I called as she glared at me from where she was seated. "I'm here to free you", I said.
"I don't think that's good idea", Ofir said as he hid behind me.