DESCENT

IX - Of Half-bloods and half-answers

ALASTOR NYX:

It was kind of a surreal moment for Alastor, being in a hotel room with two of his closest and oldest friends having a video call, of all things, with a demigod turned monster-hunter (who should have been dead ten years ago) at least an hour after the mysterious mercenary's short call.

The demigod who called himself 'Nick' looked like a regular mortal man at first glance. If one would have spotted the demigod somewhere in a crowd, they would have initially thought of him as one of those young college professors... or a lawyer with his well-put demeanor or maybe it was just the glasses that made him look like a classy nerd in Alastor's opinion.

Nick just had that smart, calculating look in his unnervingly bright, silver-gray eyes that made Alastor think of a snake pretending to be asleep but had actually been eyeing a potential prey... before gobbling them up whole in one go.

Okay, maybe not.

But the way the demigod was looking at each and every one of them, like they were some sort of mathematical equation puzzle or a rare type of species he just absolutely needed to figure out... was kind of unsettling and irritating, to put it bluntly.

It makes Alastor feel like some sort of freak.

"You guys are quite early..." Nick murmured, one eyebrow rose as he scanned their faces, before his gaze landed on Alastor, "One of my subordinates called and said you have a problem with a god, alpha?"

"Uh, not really a problem..." Sean muttered, coughing a bit.

"Well, what's the issue then?"

Alastor crossed his arms; he didn't really know why but he was beginning to like this guy less and less, "What do you know about Proserpina?"

As soon as Alastor uttered the name, those bright eyes narrowed in clear interest, long fingers interlacing in front of Nick's face as he leaned forward to the screen, looking scarily interested, "Oh? You picked a fight with the underworld's heir? Very stupid,"

Harry snickered behind them, and Alastor gritted his teeth, not wanting to give too much away, "No. I just needed information about her..."

"Why?" Nick drawled.

Alastor frowned, "Because I said so...?"

"Why?"

"It's important." Alastor insisted as he glared at the demigod, half-wishing to punch him in real life and half-wishing to punch the screen out of spite and while he didn't really think of himself as an alpha, everyone in his pack sure did and Alastor wasn't used being declined or questioned especially by a half breed, but then again, Sean might end up punching him.

Those eyes of silver glittered.

"Why?"

"It's for the good of my pack."

There, a half-truth.

In the eyes of their elders, Alastor settling down is a sign of maturity, which means he'll finally take his so-called duties seriously and judging by the way Sean and Harry nodded at him agreeably made Alastor confident with his answer... but the demigod seemed unimpressed, and somehow, at the same time, still looking amused.

"Why?"

Alastor growled.

The demigod sounded like a broken record.

Why, why, why–? "Why? Well let me tell you why–because I'm her mate, YOU TIMMY NEUTRON REJECT!" Alastor finally roared, itching to strangle...!