Silence filled the room as father and son stared at each other, both refusing to back down. It was starting to get difficult to breathe, and eventually, Thorton was the first to crack. He bowed his head, and in a symphony of cracks and tears, fur regained the color and texture of skin, and claws were reduced into nails. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

He kneeled on the floor, naked and bare as the day he was born. Damon immediately stepped forward and shielded me from view, but curiosity got the better of me as I stood on the tips of my toes and peeped from over his shoulder.

Thorton Elrod wore a sneer as he gazed upon his son, resentment burning in his irises. He spat a gob of blood on the ground while maintaining eye contact with Darach, neither willing to shy away from the other’s gaze.

"Quite the little alpha you’ve become," he mocked, his nose wrinkling as he eyed his son up and down.

Nicole and I shared a gaze. Was this Thorton Elrod finally admitting with his words that Darach has grown to become a capable alpha?

Whatever it was, no matter how unwilling Thorton Elrod was to admit such a thing, it seemed to be an undeniable fact. One sweep around the space outside the room we were in showed that the researchers of Thunderstrike had already stopped whatever it was that they were previously doing. All attention was focused on Darach’s activities, with most of them bowing their heads. Only a few brave ones were taking a peek at what was going on.

"With no thanks to you," Darach said, folding his arms across his chest.

Every pore in his body seemed to exude power, a vast contrast to the way he was before. It seemed as though the confidence he was lacking had returned with just one shot― if I hadn’t known for a fact that he was Darach Elrod, I would’ve thought he actually had a twin brother.

"Thorton Elrod," Darach said, his voice booming loud, each word enunciated clearly for everyone and anyone within the vicinity to hear. "You are hereby expelled from Thunderstrike for your crimes of attacking pack members and attempted regicide."

The man in question simply gritted his teeth, staring at Darach with hatred brimming in his eyes. However, strangely enough, he didn’t say a word. Perhaps his body was affected by the high amounts of silver present in the room, or perhaps he knew that even if he did attack, there was nothing he could do.

"You are now no longer a member of Thunderstrike," Darach coldly announced, slightly raising a hand to gesture for the guards to take him away. Two men came over, one holding a set of clothes. He passed it over to Thorton Elrod just as Darach continued. "Get dressed and leave Thunderstrike at once," he said. "I’ll even be generous enough for you to pick a car of your choice since they are part of your collection."

"Is he not going to strip him of his wolf?" Kyle asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise as we watched from the sidelines.

"That’s the part you don’t understand about Alpha Darach," Milo said with a small smile, albeit a little pained. "His kindness is both his strength and his weakness."

"He’s making a stupid choice, if you ask me," Damon said with a snort. "He’s merely giving himself possible problems in the future. Thorton Elrod could very easily come back with revenge."

"But the serum worked, right?" Kyle pointed out. "If he has a wolf now, then all’s fair in love and war."

Thorton Elrod was quickly escorted out. We didn’t stay to watch, and instead, Milo left with the guards to serve as a watchful eye just in case. With them gone, the room was plunged into silence. Darach still stood at the same spot, eyeing the room with distaste while he stared down at his own body every once in a while.

"Alpha Darach?" Nicole called out gently. "If you could come with me, please. We will need to run some tests to see how well the serum worked―"

"Not well enough," he said, cutting her off.

We all exchanged a glance, our eyes wide. Darach turned to face us, the look in his eyes strangely empty as he curled and uncurled his fingers.

"The serum worked for my father, but not for me," he clarified.

"But you could command him as the alpha of the pack," Kyle said, his face crumbling into disbelief. "He listened to you― Hell, we all felt the change in you. That’s the aura of an alpha."

"It worked partly," Darach said. "I can feel my wolf― my strength and senses are back. But I cannot shift."

"But―"

"Kyle," Nicole said, cutting him off. She placed a hand on his shoulder, holding him back. It was only then did we noticed that he had gotten a little too close to Darach in his haste.

Kyle stepped back, pacing back and forth a few times as he took in deep breaths to regulate his breathing.

"Sorry, I just―" He loudly and heavily exhaled. "Never mind. I’m fine."

"Perhaps there are some tests we can run to see the effects the serum had on you," Nicole calmly said, turning to Darach. "After all, your condition is caused by long-term exposure to foreign toxic elements. It would no doubt be different than a one-time administration like in your father’s case."

Darach nodded, looking down at his hands again. An emotion that I could not name flashed across his face. His eyebrows were furrowed and his gaze was distant, with his mind seemingly miles away. He pursed his lips tightly before finally sighing, raising his gaze to meet Nicole’s eyes.

"If you need anything else in the lab, feel free to let the technicians know," Darach said. "Thank you for everything you’ve done, Doc. This isn’t a full recovery, of course, but this..."

A small smile began to stretch his lips as light slowly began to return to his eyes.

"This isn’t all too bad. It’s enough for now."

Nicole merely nodded, and Darach shot me a small smile as well before he left the room, presumably to either take some time off for himself now that this Chapter was closed for him or to check how things went with his father’s expulsion from the pack.

"Now the question is," Damon said, "will the serum work for us?"