The Red Wolf's Daughter (Book 3 Part 2: The Making of the Siran)

Chapter 17

Dalen's heart skipped a beat and looked at the fire, entranced. Hope flickered onto his face while he stared at the ball of fire. "What are you?" he asked, his voice breathless and filled with the hope that he tried to keep hidden and dampened.

I sighed and closed my hand around the fire to put it out. "All you need to know is that I am the Red Wolf's Daughter," I said and looked at him before I cleared my throat. "Like I stated before making a ball of fire, I am not from this timeline. The Red Wolf before the new one is still the Red Wolf, and everything there is different than it is here."

"So there are still packs?" Dalen asked, and I nodded in confirmation. He looked at Cooper when he scoffed before he looked at me, ignoring him. "What is your pack's name?"

"GreenRock Pack," I said and shrugged. "It's the same pack that Cooper and Giselle were a part of when they were my age, but I have been told that the packs are nonexistent in this timeline."

"They aren't," Dalen confirmed and cleared his throat while he shifted to get comfortable, even though he couldn't get anywhere because he was tied to a post. "However, there are still Alphas and Betas, but most of them have turned against everyone, and they don't hold respect nor power over anyone."

I nodded and stayed silent while I waited for him to continue.

"The king is nonexistent too. He hasn't been doing anything to help us." Bitterness and disgust filled his voice, and I had a feeling that he did not approve of Maverick or his children that were supposed to help protect the packs and keep them in order.

"He can't do anything against whoever is in power now," I said, defending Maverick a little. "He isn't strong enough, especially if there is a Dark Warlock or a Demon involved. He doesn't have that many magical abilities either, which is something that is needed to help out."

"None of the other kings nor queens help out either," Dalen said. "Last I heard, the Faes are doing their own things and not caring about anyone. They are stuck in their own little bubble without a care in the world. The supposed Vampire king is his "brother's pet," and his Beloved only cares about herself and lets the "king" use her. The Demons are fighting with one another because there is no king to lead them, and even if there is, then they aren't doing anything to control them. The witch and warlock king and queen are also mia, and I have no idea what they are doing."

Cooper was about to growl and take a step forward but stopped when I held up my hand. He gritted his teeth and growled again, and I had a feeling that he didn't like it that this man was disrespecting the people that he knew.

"Almost everything shall be rightened before I leave," I said, making a mental note to ask either Giselle or Caroline what he meant about Vulcan and then the Faes. "I do not have that much information to give you because I haven't looked into it myself, but I can assure you that almost everything will be fixed or will be close to being fixed."

Dalen sighed and shook his head, and his eyes darkened with pain and sadness. "I wish I could believe you, but I don't," he said, his voice holding the tiredness and defeat that he felt. "I want to keep that hope alive, but it is growing smaller each day."

"We all are," Giselle said softly and ignored Cooper when he cleared his throat. She looked at him before she looked at Dalen again. "We are all trying to keep that hope alive." She cleared her throat and shifted on her feet while she moved a hand through her hair. "But we do have to keep hope that the future will be better than it is now."

"And what if it isn't?" Dalen asked. Tears filled his eyes, and he looked angry, tired, afraid, and defeated; my heart broke for him. "That is what keeps going on in my head, even though there is this small voice in the back of my mind telling me to keep it and keep going on. However, that voice is getting smaller and smaller every day, and I want to listen to what I have been told, but I can't because of that stupid voice wanting to keep that hope alive."

He cleared his throat and set his jaw before he looked at me, and his jaw trembled while he tried to keep his composure. "If you have questions, please ask me later. I need to be alone right now."

I nodded. "I will," I promised, and I will make sure that you do keep that hope alive. You have my word, and I will prove it when I get the chance."

Dalen didn't respond and nodded. He looked doubtful, and I had a feeling that he didn't believe me, but he wanted to.

I looked at Cooper when he opened his mouth to rebuttal what I said and to keep interrogating him. "Let's go," I said, interrupting him. "There is actually someone that I am more interested in talking to than him anyway. I can talk to him later while he has composed himself and is able to relax."

Cooper narrowed his eyes and scowled but did what I said and left the tent, and I bit back a sigh of relief, glad that he listened to me. His whole back was stiff, and I was sure that I was going to get yelled at, but I didn't care.

All that mattered to me was to get Dalen to trust me and to have him keep that hope alive.

If he didn't, then I was sure that he wasn't going to see the way the world was going to be after I helped get some things under control and the new Red Wolf ready to lead the packs out of this darkness that surrounded them.

I was their only hope.