Blood Ties

21

Vaela perked up and retreated into herself quickly after that, reclaiming the insight she gathered over the past weeks to grapple for an answer. "I would be able to tell if he turns human when he receives the visits because I'd see him slowly turn human, but he was always in his lycan form when he saw them because the memories fade away like it was blocking everything out."

"Any location, names mentioned, does he say anything to anyone beforehand?" Accalia pried further and Lycus wanted to kiss her for it, all the questions she had didn't play into his thought process to ask.

Vaela looked off distantly, silver moon eyes dulling at the many questions and she settled on the full moon outside of the window. "From what I saw, no one knows. It was almost like a secret. Locations? Cole is quite social from what I've seen. Parties at his pack, frequents human bars and spends a lot of time in the woods with his people."

"He goes to human bars?" Lycus said with raised brows. "Do you think he would see the person who could block out the memories in his human form?"

Vaela gently shrugged and said, "I would have to be around his human form or at least someone to be around him and access their memories to know."

A dead end Lycus came and he slumped in his seat.

"What about Melina and Zenith Thrax, does he communicate with them, is their pack still joined?" Accalia asked.

"From what I saw, they're allies, not joined packs. The claws gave me a few months of memories and Zenith isn't in the picture much, especially with the latest memories I have seen. Melina, however, communicates with Cole frequently. She must be Zenith's Beta. They speak a lot of revenge and wanting to kill the lot of you." Vaela explained simply.

Lycus laughed bitterly and shrugged carelessly. "That's a given. Is Zenith sending his wolves to our pack?"

Vaela shook her head in response. "That's mainly Cole. It's more a game right now, they want to rattle you."

Lycus licked his lips, suppressing a growl building in his chest and said, "We can't go after Zenith's pack without going after Cole — his pack is dangerous with the number of lycans they have."

"Zenith didn't appear ready for war," Vaela announced and the both of them swivelled their gazes back on her. "He was stalling because he knew he couldn't go up against Lycus with the number of werewolves he had compared to lycans."

"I call dibs on killing Zenith and Melina," Lycus cracked a grin.

Accalia ignored him and signalled with an encouraging hand for the oracle to continue.

"Cole seems to have a piece of humanity left," before questions could topple on Vaela like a tone of bricks, she carried on, "the point of the curse is to be disconnected to your humanity and human side. But the extent he had gone, killing his mate, cannibalism of his kind, the very little humanity he had mixed with his lycanthropy curse."

Lycus felt his head shake from side to side in disbelief, wondering if this task Vaela was given had tipped her over the edge. The oracle tended to bury herself in her gifts, searching and prying until she unearthed the dirt and met the roots.

Lycus sent a look to Accalia and only found her as puzzled as he felt right now.

"But Cole doesn't have any humanity that's why he's a lycan all the time." Accalia pointed out.

Vaela picked up the claws and fiddled with them, eyes narrowing. "Not exactly. Not when he turns human and when he has an interest in a type of female."

Accalia moved her thigh away from Lycus's hand and he sensed the intensity coiling around her body like a snake. Hesitantly, he reached under the table again and searched for her hand, encompassing his fingers through hers and she allowed it, stilling against his touch.