Were they contemplating the end of the world? Most likely.
Death could come in so many ways those days and death could mean the death of everyone.
Michael felt desperate as never before. If Kiril was indeed alive and doing what was rumored, he was going to come for him soon.
He couldn't understand how Angel could walk in there so carelessly. That monster likely wanted his alpha power too and he was serving it to him on a silver platter. He shouldn't have let him go or he should have gone with him. But then Charlotte would have been alone here and he had to choose again, so once again he chose duty, his family, and his pack. But if Angel were to die? Could he just carry on?
He had to. After all, he had a pack, a luna, and a child, and seemingly also the world to protect.
It looked like only he could see everything objectively. The gods were not the problem, not his or their problem at least. If they wanted to kill Mila or enslave her or whatever, so be it. Her life was a small price to pay for the well-being and peace of his kind.
The problem was Kiril, who would not let anything as it was, who would come to take and destroy everything as he always did because of a whim.
Erik should have killed him a long time ago. He had told him that multiple times, that that guy would become a problem eventually but Erik was all virtuous, saying Kiril didn't do anything directly to him or his pack, and it would only disturb the power balance. There he had it, now Kiril was shitting all over the power balance and he had to clean that up.
He had to gather an army, and that with light speed.
Damn it, it was stupid letting Angel go there.
He needed a plan. Lately, whenever he needed to think he would be talking to Charlotte, Charlotte, that was really angry with him now.
He needed to gather the other powers that were left to establish the balance again, that if everything was true. But if Angel didn't make it back alive? He needed also a backup plan, he needed something to tip off the balance in his favor.
Desperate as could be, he turned to the only person that he could still unconditionally count on.
"The brotherhood of the right faith is likely still looming in the dark waiting for their time for revenge. That is what was rumored back in the day when Rasputin had an open conflict with them. It did take a while but they managed to kill him after all. Humans are... Persistent," said Wilhelm.
His face was stern as always but his father was wise, experienced, and had managed to survive through a lot of situations. Besides he was the only one he could turn to now.
"I don't think it's a good idea to get in contact with them though. They are such disgraceful creatures. Humans can be a very spiteful kind and they hate us."
"Well, that's good if they hate Kiril."
"They hate everything that is different and would want to kill us all if given a chance."
"But they won't get that. They can aid me to kill Kiril and they can boast and rejoice in it and then everyone would be on their way. Besides if I kill Kiril I would be... Lycan King." Michael paused a second to think about what he said. Lycan King. "I mean humans would not stand a chance."
Lycan King. Likely one of the most powerful creatures alive. Him. He, not Erik. He could eliminate all the evil from the world and all the injustice. He would be courageous and just and a good leader.
"Michael, you do know that power is also a burden and it is likely to corrupt the soul," whispered his father in his annoyingly calm voice. That was how he always had been, annoyingly cautious, but no, the world is of the daring, it suddenly dawned on him. If nobody saw the right thing besides him he would have to make them see it and they would thank him eventually.
"But it can also change the world. It has to work. Winn or die."
With burning resolution in his heart, Michael boarded the first flight to America. He had to see Nodin and make him submit.
Hours later he was knocking at the door of Nodin's home in North Dakota. It was remote like all the homes of most wolves were, but somehow beside the usual slightly unsettling feeling that an alpha felt when walking into another's territory, Michael also felt something else in the air, something darker and ancient and even more unsettling.
His phone started vibrating. It was only an unregistered number so he didn't bother answering.
When Mei, living, and breathing opened the door, the source of the feeling became clear. That girl, risen from the dead, still had the smell of death all over her, the same smell that had lingered on Katharina too, was hitting him now with a new nuance. She smiled faintly but there was no light in her eyes.
"Michael... Why are you here?"
"Where is Nodin? And, Mei. How?"
"How comes I smell like death?"
"No. I."
He was speechless. He didn't want to hurt her. Whatever she was, she seemed to have kept the gentle nature of the actual Mei.
"I shouldn't exist? I know. Yet here I am, even if not even I want to be."
"Michael! To what do I owe the pleasure?" said Nodin walking over from the garden.
He looked tired and as if he had aged ten human years since Michael last saw him.
Shaking his hand he also noticed his weak pulse.
"Nodin are you alright? You don't look well. May I come in?"
"Yes, sure, sure, Michael, please. Would you like coffee or tea? Can you make some, my love?"
Mei just nodded and disappeared into the kitchen.
"Nodin, what in the almighty goddesses name have you done?" hissed Michael.
"The goddess can go fuck herself. I am happy that she is dead. She didn't care about our kind, only about herself. Kiril was right, it was just as he said. She let us die like cattle without shedding a look or a tear. And I, I did what I had to do to make it right, to bring Mei back because there is nothing without her."
"That is forbidden magic, and you know that. You are going to pay a price for it, you already are. You are deadly tired. Your pulse is insanely irregular. She is sucking the life out of you."
"No! It's. It's not that. I cannot sleep. I have to stay awake and protect her. The pack is rebelling against me. They saw her and they are frightened. They say she smells like death and I brought a curse over the pack, just like you. You are all idiots. If I brought up a curse it was on myself and I don't regret it. Why the fuck are you here, Michael?"
"I am not here to question your decisions after all. They are indeed your own and so is your misfortune. I am here because I need your help."
"Okay?" Nodin raised an eyebrow expectantly.
"Kiril is back. He is alive and killing alphas. Sanjay, Yarran and... Samira. We need to fight him."
"How is he back? Is he actually alive?"
"I haven't seen him but Angel went down to check."
"Alone?" asked Nodin and Michael felt irritated by his tone. Was there a tone or was that only in his mind because of the guilt? Michael was not sure.
"Yes. Does it matter? Now that you know why I am here let's not waste time. Summon your pack and let's go. If we surprise him we have better chances."
"No!" said Mei from behind them and both stared at her startled.
"Come on!" urged Michael ignoring her.
"I told you, my pack is against me. Half of them turned rogue and the other half, they would not want to fight."
"Then command them. You are their alpha, they don't have much of a choice."
"No. Nodin, please," said Mei and kneeled at his feet taking his hands into hers.
"What's this all about?"
"Mei... Doesn't want me to fight Kiril."
"Mei doesn't know what she is talking about and hardly has a saying. If he impales Nodin on an icicle you will die too. Again... So what is this circus about?"
"No. He would not. He always wanted to protect our kind, even when you all were busy hating him. So no, Nodin is not going to fight him if I can forbid it."
"I... I am sorry Michael, I can't. we will stay out of it. I am sure he will understand if you talk to him."
"Are you stupid or insane? He killed three alphas already, he is not going to talk shit!"
This conversation wasn't going at all to Michael's liking. He couldn't just return to Europe; that would mean surrender and likely death. He had to do something. Even the unthinkable.
"Nodin, I need you to surrender. I don't want to kill you but I will if I must."
"Michael, are you out of your fucking mind? Get out of my house!"
Nodin was tired and seemed weak, and Michael was one of the best warriors of his kind. He could best him. He had to. There was no way back.
"Nodin," said Michael summoning his claws. "Kneel and acknowledge me as your alpha."
"I cannot! I need my power, for Mei. Go away, Michael, and leaves us alone. We didn't do anything to you."
"It is for the greater good," said Micahel and took howling savagely his wolf form.
Nodin was taken by surprise and Michael took advantage and bit into his stomach and arms.
"Michael! Please, I beg you, don't kill him!" schemed Mei. Michael felt a pang of pity when he saw her, feeble as she was still ready to fight for her mate.
Give up and fight by my side.
But he knew already that they wouldn't. For fear or whatever other reason, they didn't. He had to protect a lot of people so that was a necessary sacrifice.
Finally aware that a fight was inevitable Nodin took his wolf form and wild gushes of wind made the windows of the house shred into pieces.
He was noticeably weak and tired, barely resisting Michael's savage attacks.
Why doesn't he surrender?
Michael was irritated by the unnecessary blood he had to shed.
"Kiril is reasonable; he will understand and aid you. Why do you think he didn't go on a killing spree the first time around?!" screamed Mei desperately.
Likely because he knew he couldn't. But now if he killed a weak Samira, that already gave him the advantage to take everyone else. You are naive Mei and it is astonishing that the loyalty to her former Alpha goes that deep.
He had to finish it quickly. Summoning his power he set everything around them ablaze.
Mei started coughing and Nodin hurried by her side. However, to his astonishment, Mei also took his wolf form and bared her fangs to fight him.
That was unsettling. It didn't feel right to kill a weak girl that wasn't a fighter whatsoever but he had to, for Charlotte and his daughter and for his whole kind.
In a blast of fangs, claws, and fire he cornered Nodin. Mei that he had totally ignored bit in his back and for a minute he had to shake her off. An internal sigh left his mind when he saw her hurt, sprawled on the ground back in her human form. He had to end this fight quickly before he got second thoughts.
Channeling all his power again he launched a fire ball towards Nodin that hit him in full. While he was still howling in pain and burning, Michael planted his fangs into his jugular.
Spread on the ground bleeding heavily, Nodin, back in his human form, was crawling toward Mei. His heartbeat was getting weaker by the second.
"My love," he whispered, grabbing Mei's trembling hand.
"I am here," she smiled faintly. "This time we part together."
And it was quite so, when Nodin drew this last breath Mei's body dissolved into dust and bones.
The whole scene unfolded before his eyes making guilt and shame surface and burry the feeling of triumph Michael might have felt in other circumstances. But in the end ... "It is for the greater good." he whispered and let his power flow so that Nodin's house could catch fire, like a giant pier for the former wind Alpha and his Luna.
It was an awful day but a productive one. He was now alpha of the north America pack but didn't have time to act on it, he had to return to Europe and put all the pawns in place till Kiril would arrive. By now Angel must have found him already and Kiril might have killed him too.
His heart was heavy. When the wind touched his body, soaked in sweat it felt cold but it also felt different. He was now the master of that wind and almost unwillingly he started using that power. It didn't come easy. He stumbled and his breath was hitching. He was not a particularly talented user of magic. Even bending Erik's gift, which was given more or less willingly came hard to him; this one that he stole and conquered even harder, but the feeling was exhilarating in the end, making the wind listen to him, making it lift him from the ground almost as if he could fly.
Michael felt powerful and he felt he was enjoying the feeling rather much...
He bought some clothes and boarded the first plane to Germany. Annoyed he noticed his phone got lost in the fight. He would have to get a new one soon but other more important things had to happen first.
In the slums of Dresden, he stopped finally in front of a garage door with the sign of a swastika sprayed over it. Michael sighed, knowing what kind of human filth he would have to bargain with.
"Wir haben dich erwartet, Wolf./ We were expecting you, wolf," said a bald man in his late forties. He was tall and quite muscular, but not matching Michael in the slightest, and dressed in a leather jacket and scruffy jeans.
"Ich möchte mit eurem Anführen spreche./ I want to talk to your leader."
"Er erwartet dich schon. Folge mir./ He is already expecting you. Follow me."
So Wilhelm had indeed done his part and gotten in contact with the neo-nazis on his behalf. Now he only had to play his cards right so that they would lead him to the brotherhood.
The bald man led him into the garage and afterward down some steep narrow steps to a dark room. There were several armed men hidden in the dark and Michael wondered how it came that none of them knew his kind could see in the dark and that if he wanted to, he could set the whole place on fire without major effort. They seemed to know so little about them, and were so presumptuous, that they appeared useless after all and this excursion a waste of time.
Lights went on and a man in a dark suit entered the room. He was around fifty, blond and tall, looking polished.
"Gerhard Göhring," he says streching out his hand. "Wir haben dich erwartet Michael Wittfeld. Obwohl ich nicht gedacht habe je wieder Abkommen mit irgend einen Wittfeld zu treffen. Wo ist er, der andere Wittfeld? Der der uns verraten hat./ We have been expecting you, Michael Wittfeld. Despite the fact that I didn't expect to strike a bargain again with any Wittfeld. Where is he? The other one, the one that betrayed us?"
"Tot./ Dead."
"Und du?/ And you?"
"Ich möchte den Vorstand der Bruderschaft des wahren Glaubens treffen. Ich weiß dass du das ermöglichen kannst. / I want you to get me a meeting with the brotherhood of the right faith. I know you can make that happen."
"Ich weiß schon dass du das möchtest./ I already know you want that," he said and smiled coldly. That unsettles Michael just a bit.
The door opened again and another man, dressed in monk attire entered the room. He moved the hood that was covering his face to reveal long dark hair, and a long dark beard over a scars-covered face.
"This is brother Vladimir. We operate together now."
Michael was not sure what to think of it, more than that all extremist ideologies do converge at a certain degree, just like a horseshoe. That was buying him some time too but it was uncertain what to expect.
"So tell us, what is the bargain you want to strike, Alpha?"
"I want your alliance to fight Kiril son of Rasputin."
Something flickered in brother Vladimir's dark gaze, that might have escaped human eyes but not Michael's. Bullseye.
"And now the classical question. Why would we help you, wolf?" asked Gerhard.
"I think this question doesn't make sense anymore because I did peak brother Vladimir's interest. Isn't that so? But to answer with a classic too, the enemy of my enemy..."
"We agree," interrupted the monk abruptly. "But we need to plan."
"We do."
The monk walked towards Michael and stretched out his boney arm.
"So let's seal the bargain, Alpha."
"Yes," he said enveloping the slim palm.
Michael couldn't help feeling a shiver. He blamed it on his imagination and convinced himself once more it was for the greater good and someone had to...
_________________________________
This came out longer than expected.
What are your thoughts on Michael? Does it to some extent make sense how he is acting?