Infernal

8.

The painting was of no one other than the Demon Alpha himself.

The detail of the portrait was so intricate, capturing every single detail of Alaric. The contours of his face were captured immaculately, his chiselled jaw and sharp nose were prominent as they were now in the present day. It was as if the artist had taken an actual photograph, seizing every single feature and aspect of Alaric perfectly. It looked like Alaric was standing right before me, just at a much greater scale. The portrait portrayed him from a different era, one where he had much longer hair down to his shoulders, falling freely and effortlessly. The look suited him, however, his current style suited him even more and it was slightly funny to see Alaric with such long hair. He was dressed to fit the time period as well, and the way that he was dressed told me that he was of great importance; the white shirt that he wore was crisp along with the black pants that hug his legs tightly. He even wore dark leather boots that appeared quite shiny in the portrait.

My eyes caught onto the date that was engraved in the bottom corner of the portrait... 1397.

I had no words, I didn't know what to think.

"He really hasn't aged at all," I found myself saying.

"He cannot age, dear."

I jumped at the sound of Artemis' voice and spun around to see him leaning against a bookcase.

"W-what do you mean?"

"I'm sure you're aware that he is not like any ordinary Alpha, he possesses certain qualities that no lycanthrope can ever have," Artemis sighed looking up at Alaric's portrait.

"Such as?" I questioned unconsciously.

"Immortality, teleportation, invincible strength, the ability to self heal faster than any other species... everything is enhanced for him," Artemis said, he pushed himself off the bookcases and shuffled to stand next to me.

"He is a fierce and powerful leader, he always has been even before he..." he suddenly stopped himself from saying more.

"Artemis?" I frowned, wishing that he would carry on speaking.

"In all good time you will learn the truth about Alaric Creed, now is not the time or place," Artemis said, his crabby personality coming back into the open.

I nodded my head and sighed heavily, why could nothing ever be simple or straightforward?

"Come on dear, your tea must be freezing by now. I'll make you a new pot." I allowed Artemis to lead me away from Alaric's portrait.  I left a lingering glance at the portrait as I walked away, Alaric's piercing eyes sent a chill to my bones as I retreated.

Hours passed, I had read countless chapters some on the history of Regnum, some about the Great War and how the land was ruined and destroyed until Alaric built it back up again. I even read some chapters on vampires and werewolves. Despite all the books containing important and interesting information,  I couldn't help but want to know more about Alaric. There must have been books and journals written about him, even more so there must have been a whole library section dedicated to the Demon Alpha. After being found by Artemis at the back of the library, I had gone against the idea of looking around, again. There was something that Artemis didn't want me to know, something that he wanted to keep hidden until the right time.

Eventually, I had fallen asleep, curled up on the loveseat.   I was soon woken up by my body being shaken.

"Valerie," I had felt my arm being nudged gently.

"Val come on time to wake up!"

I groaned softly, my body struggling to wake up. Popping one eye open, I had slowly sat up to take in my surroundings. Dean was hovering over me, and the library was a little darker than before.