Hearing all Lycan had said, a lot of it sounded unbelievable to Fenris. An alpha werewolf that could turn humans into werewolves by a bite? It wasn''t just unbelievable; it was laughable, but Fenris wouldn''t dare laugh at the man who had just offered him safe haven.


    "Okay, I didn''t think you could do it, but you''ve gotten me interested. What do I need to do?" Fenris asked. This surprised Lycan; he thought it would take more convincing.


    "So you believe me?" Lycan asked with a smile, feeling he had accomplished a task.


    "Not everything you said sounds insane, but I figure you''re going to throw me out if I don''t do what you say. I might as well earn my place," Fenris said.


    "Oh well, good enough, but I''m sure in time you''ll have more faith in what I''m trying to do," Lycan said.


    ''Sure I will,'' Fenris thought sarcastically.


    "Let''s head back to the castle, I''ll tell you everything," Lycan said.


    While walking back to the castle through the green grasses, Fenris decided to ask a question.


    "So this ritual, how did you learn of it?" Fenris asked.


    "I said we''ll discuss it in the castle. There''s a lot to unfold, and certain people are needed to do it for you," Lycan said.


    "I know, but try throwing me a bone. I''m hardly this curious about anything," Fenris said.


    "Alright, ever heard of travelers?" Lycan said.


    Fenris looked at him with a glare; Lycan was once again answering a question with another question.


    "Right... sorry, like I said, let''s discuss this in the castle," Lycan said.


    Entering the castle, Lycan led Fenris to a large room with a long rectangular table. At the end, Gwendolyn sat, and to the side was Buck.


    "Great news! It seems Fenris has agreed to join us," Lycan said to them.


    "Terrific," Gwendolyn said sarcastically with her eyes rolling.


    "I knew he would welcome the family," Buck said with a huge grin on his face.


    ''When did this suddenly become a family?'' Fenris thought.


    Sitting down on one of the chairs, a lot of thoughts went through his head: what was this place, who were the humans downstairs, and could Buck do magic? Actually, he was pretty sure he had dreamt that, and he was sure if he asked, they''d all look at him as if he was crazy.


    There was silence in the room. Gwendolyn kept staring at Fenris as if she was expecting something from him. He noticed it and was sure what it was.


    "Sorry, I''m not interested," Fenris said.


    "What the hell are you talking about?" Gwendolyn asked.


    "You seem like a pretty girl, but you''re just not my type," Fenris said.


    Hearing this, Gwendolyn''s face blushed a bright red, and Lycan and Buck could hardly contain their laughter.


    "You think I... I like you?!" Gwendolyn asked in embarrassment.


    "Why else would you be staring at me like that?" Fenris asked.


    "To get an apology from you, not because I want to court you, you fool!" Gwendolyn said.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    At this point, Buck and Lycan weren''t trying to contain their laughter and just started laughing uncontrollably. Buck even had his hands on his stomach.


    "Apologize, what exactly would I be apologizing for?" Fenris asked.


    "For choking me!" Gwendolyn said, her face still blushing a bright red.


    "Oh well, you should understand why I had to do it. I thought I was being held hostage," Fenris said.


    "You... you," Gwendolyn said, trying to say more, but she couldn''t, either due to embarrassment or anger. Maybe it was both.


    "Okay, that''s enough," Lycan said, wiping a tear from his eye. "I told Fenris I''d explain more once we got to the castle. Buck, mind doing the honors? I don''t think Gwen''s going to be able to right now," Lycan said.


    "Not at all what you want to know about, Fenris'' old buddy, just ask away," Buck said.


    It always bothered Fenris how Buck could be the way he was—so happy and upbeat. He had been through a lot, what Fenris had been through; it didn’t make sense. So much that it frustrated Fenris to even talk to him.


    He took a deep sigh and asked his first question.


    "Well, firstly, who are those humans down there, and do they know what we are?" Fenris asked.


    "Oh, those are just Jerry and his buddies, former soldiers. They want to be werewolves just like us. I could get into their whole backstory, but I don''t think you''d be interested," Buck said.


    Buck was wrong. Human soldiers who wanted to become werewolves were something he wanted more information on, but that would have to wait until he had more important questions.


    "What is this place? I know it seems abandoned, and I know about the barrier that hides us, but what if humans were to wander here? What would you do then?" Fenris asked.


    "That''s not likely to happen. See, this abandoned castle and the very, very huge land surrounding it belongs to a high noble in Pyros. If a common man were to even think of trespassing, they''d be executed," Buck said.


    "You have a high noble helping you?" Fenris asked in amusement.


    "Yeah, long story short, he plans on overthrowing the Kingdom, and what better way to do that than with an army of werewolves?" Buck answered.


    Fenris was shocked beyond belief—humans wanting to be werewolves and overthrowing an entire kingdom. This was a little too much for him to believe, but he asked his next question.


    He was silent for a while because he wasn''t exactly sure how to ask.


    "Fenris, you still with us?" Buck asked.


    "When we were at the tavern, I could''ve sworn I saw you using magic, so can you?" Fenris asked.


    He was expecting to be ridiculed. After all, werewolves couldn''t use magic—it was common knowledge they had no Blessed Ones or Faiths among them. Although the latter was far unlikely to happen, because even if they could, being a Faith would require worshiping a God and having its knowledge of magic being given to them by priests who were human. Seeing as the world feared werewolves, Fenris doubted they''d let a werewolf join them.


    Fenris waited, but there was no ridicule or laughter; he just saw Buck having a huge grin on his face. Then Buck started to take his shirt off, showing them all his well-built body. He was slender, muscular, and had a six-pack.


    ''Is he trying to brag? I''m ripped too, you know?'' Fenris thought.


    Then suddenly, symbols started appearing from his wrists to his shoulders, to his chest, and to his back. Fenris immediately recognized what those symbols were.


    "Are those... Are those Runes?" Fenris asked.


    "Yep, courtesy of Gwendolyn right here. She really is something. I can only use two types of magic, and the spells are limited, but it''s still magic—pretty amazing, right?" Buck said.


    It was amazing—inscribing runes into a person was practically unheard of, and it made Fenris wonder why it wasn''t done more often.


    "Jealous? Ah, don''t worry, Gwendolyn will do the same for you," Buck said.


    "Don''t count on it," Gwendolyn said. Her face wasn''t blushing anymore, but she still had an embarrassed look.


    So far, everything Fenris was learning sounded unbelievable—former soldiers wanting to be werewolves, a noble wanting to create an army of werewolves to overthrow a kingdom, and a werewolf being able to perform magic by having runes inscribed on his body. Maybe this supposed ritual that Lycan had told him about wasn''t pure fantasy after all.


    "Right, the Ritual..." Lycan said. "Something about some Ritual, one that could make a werewolf into an Alpha. How are you sure it even exists?" Fenris asked.


    Buck was about to say something, but was interrupted by Lycan.


    "I''ll handle this, Buck. You''ve done enough," Lycan said. Buck nodded and put his shirt back on.


    "How do I explain this?" Lycan asked.


    He tossed a book to Fenris, and it looked worn out.


    "What is this?" Fenris asked, picking it up.


    "A journal from a mage, one who traveled to other worlds. I''ve been reading that for a while, and in one of those worlds, he mentioned it having numerous werewolves and a ritual to make one an Alpha. If we can get to this world, we can learn it and use it to create an army—one that can overthrow Pyros and one that can take on the entire world," Lycan answered.