Chapter 449: Vows Beneath Borrowed Skin

Two days ago

Eldric swallowed.

The sound was soft, almost lost beneath the crackle of the fire, but Orion heard it all the same.

He lifted a hand to his face and adjusted his glasses, the familiar gesture looking almost practiced, like someone wearing another man’s habits the way one wore borrowed clothes.

"If I had appeared in front of you sooner," Eldric said quietly, "you would have suspected there was something off with the real Eldric."

"You didn’t need to appear in front of me for me to know," Orion replied calmly. "I found out either way."

Eldric’s fingers paused at the rim of the glasses.

Then he nodded.

A heavy silence lingered between them.

Before the space could grow uncomfortable, Orion spoke again.

"Before we continue this discussion," he said quietly, "I want to know something first."

Caspian and Daniel both remained where they stood behind Orion, close enough to intervene if needed, far enough not to crowd him.

Eldric lifted his eyes. "You may ask."

"Is my pack member—" Orion’s voice did not waver. "Is the real Eldric alive? Is he well?"

The answer came immediately.

Eldric nodded. "Yes."

Orion’s shoulders eased by a fraction while Eldric folded his hands loosely in his lap.

"I am but a vessel," he said. "Nothing more than that."

"The real Eldric is unharmed. His mind is intact. His soul is intact." Eldric paused before adding, "Honestly, he is fighting me to take back control of his body."

Orion inclined his head slowly.

"So he is still alive and well."

"Yes."

"And he is trying to push you out."

Eldric nodded again. "Specifically, his wolf. He has not stopped."

Orion studied him, his gaze sharp and patient.

"Are you using black magic? Is this some attempt at possession?"

For the first time since Orion had entered the house, something flickered across Eldric’s expression. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Surprise.

Then restraint.

He reached up and adjusted his glasses once more.

"No."

"Then how are you able to take over a body that does not belong to you?" Orion asked him. "It sounds like black magic to me."

Eldric exhaled slowly. "Black magic is against the rules of the land. One doesn’t have to sell their life or their soul just to use stronger magic," Eldric told him.

Orion noticed that Eldric said black magic with disdain.

"What is happening here," he said carefully, "is not sustained by black magic. It is sustained by something much older."

Daniel’s brow furrowed faintly.

Eldric continued.

"Ancient magic," he said. "Magic that most believe to be lost. The rest of the wolves perhaps do not have it, but it still thrives faintly in these lands."

Everyone knew there was magic in the lands of Nirvana. Orion didn’t think that it would be ancient magic. He was more inclined to think that it was black magic, especially given the fact that creatures like the Skylur and Trihydra exist.

"Who are you, really?" Orion asked him. "What is your name?"

Eldric lifted his hand and adjusted his glasses again.

The movement was slower this time.

"I cannot tell you that. And I cannot tell you who I am," Eldric continued softly.

Caspian scoffed at that. "That is shit and you know it."

Eldric did not look at him.

"If I tell you my name," Eldric said, still addressing Orion, "then I would no longer be able to answer the questions you would have for me."

"Aren’t you the same one who claimed you would only answer to Orion and Sophia?" Daniel asked harshly.

Eldric turned his head.

His gaze settled on Daniel this time.

"In some way, yes."

His tone did not soften.

"But that does not change the answer I just gave Orion."

Caspian’s lips pressed into a thin line.

"So you expect us to trust you while hiding behind technicalities."

Eldric did not deny it.

"I will answer questions," he said. "But not that one. Not yet."

Caspian’s breath left him sharply through his nose.

Orion raised a hand slightly, signalling both men to be quiet.

"Why are you here, Eldric?" Orion asked.

Eldric did not answer.

Instead, he lifted his eyes and looked directly past Orion. His gaze shifted, drifting toward the doorway.

"Where is Sophia?" Eldric asked Orion.

Orion’s expression did not change.

"I don’t see how that is any of your concern," Orion told him.

Eldric’s gaze returned to him slowly.

"It is very much my concern, though."

Orion’s eyes hardened.

"I am not obligated to update you on her condition."

Eldric nodded. "I understand that, but still, I can only answer your questions if Sophia is here with you."

Daniel stepped forward then, his face contorted in anger at Eldric’s words.

"You said you would speak to Sophia or Orion," Daniel told him. "That was what you told the council of elders."

That was a lie. Orion winced subtly as he reacted to it.

Eldric turned to him.

The firmness in his eyes sharpened.

"I said, and I quote, ’I will only speak to Sophia and Orion.’ And it still stands," Eldric replied firmly.

Orion didn’t detect a lie. The familiar sensation he felt when a lie was being told did not occur.

"If Sophia is not present," Eldric continued calmly, "then I will not speak. I will wait until she comes. Even if it takes months, I’ll hold on."

"Is there a reason why you must speak with Sophia?" Orion asked Eldric.

"She is important," Eldric nodded. "I must speak with her."

Orion studied him in silence. He was not certain of the reason why Eldric wanted to speak with Sophia. Orion agreed that Sophia was important. She was important to him, but there was something about the way Eldric spoke.

"Is this some ploy to hurt her?" he asked Eldric firmly.

Eldric lifted his head fully.

His eyes met Orion’s without hesitation.

Without the faint evasiveness that had coloured his other answers.

He held Orion’s gaze.

"I will never hurt Sophia," Eldric said quietly.

"I am here because I vowed to protect her."