SWNOVELS Forged in Blood: Chapter 10
“What brings you to my office so early in the morning, old friend?” Osiris Brackenwolf’s voice is little more than an angry growl, and he continues standing in front of the arched window, his attention on the view of Gaea’s Green. He twists his neck and grunts, his powerful shoulder muscles rippling beneath his thin cotton shirt.
“Heavy night hunting?” I drop into the seat opposite his desk, curious about his obvious ire but not bothered enough to ask.
He sighs, his anger abating almost instantaneously. He has never been able to stay mad at me for longer than a moment or two. “I forgot how exhausting the start of term can be. All the eagerness and excitement of those leaving their packs for the first time. It’s like trying to herd a pack of dogs that have been let off their leashes for the first time.”
Not for the first time, I find myself thankful that my boys deal with the bulk of responsibilities surrounding the new vampire pledges and the Trials. For wolves, it is an entirely different process. “The exuberance of youth.”
That gets me a deep chuckle, and he finally spins around and faces me. “Something you would know very little about, Alexandros.”
I suppress a smile. Whilst I am ancient compared to him, there are tiny flecks of gray in his black beard now, an affliction I am unlikely to face for at least a thousand more years. Although he looks much younger than his eighty-four years, he is still approaching middle age for a werewolf. “Well, not everyone can be blessed with immortality, Osiris.”
He smirks, his dark eyes flashing with flecks of yellow the way they do when his wolf wants to play. The memory of his bite on my flesh has heat coiling at the base of my spine. He feels it too and licks his lips, another low growl rolling in his throat.
“I am looking for some information on a student.”
He waves a hand dismissively. “You have access to all the students’ applications. Do your own research.”
I lean forward in my seat. “I have, but things are not adding up. And if I go digging into the origins of this student, I will draw attention to her, which is the last thing I want. But nobody would be suspicious if the dean of admissions were to do a little research.”
He tips his head back and groans. “Oh, it feels so fucking good to be on the other side of this exchange for once.”
A deep sigh rolls out of me. “Being an ass about it is entirely unnecessary. Are you going to help me or not?”
He drops his head, his eyes fixed on me once more, and I catch the way his nostrils flare as his gaze rakes over my neck and chest.
“Osiris! I am not here to scratch an itch.” No matter how appealing that might be right now. “This is important. You know there are very few people I trust …”
He narrows his eyes and sinks back against his chair. “Okay. What is it?”
Aware that the walls have ears, even in a dean’s office, he lets down the wall he has had up since I walked in here and allows me freely into his head. He knows I could force my way inside if I chose to, but he also knows I would never violate his trust in that way.
The student’s name is Ophelia Hart. Her tuition was paid by a trust fund, but I cannot figure out who is responsible for it. It is recorded as her parents, but something is off. And why is she here? I would like to know who recruited her. Can you find out?
Wolves have strong minds, and while they can communicate with their packs, they cannot do so with other beings. They are much harder to read than vampires, and although he’s dropped his guard, he’s still preventing me from hearing his thoughts. “I should be able to. Give me a couple of weeks. These new recruits are hard work.” He rolls his neck again until it cracks and lets out a loud groan of relief. Then he winks at me. “But so much fucking fun.”
“Always so driven by your base desires, Osiris.”
His deep laugh echoes off the walls of his office. “I seem to recall many nights when you were the same, old friend. I have the scar to prove it, and you know how hard it is to scar a wolf.” His eyes sparkle, and I recall the night he is referring to. Although it was decades ago, when he was a young wolf, it still seems as fresh to me as yesterday. A curse of living so long is that time starts to lose any real meaning. “But you’re so restrained these days. If you only allowed yourself a little more pleasure, you might actually enjoy life. You know, crack a smile.”
“Whilst your concern about my welfare is touching, Osiris, it is entirely unnecessary.”
He arches an eyebrow at me. “I disagree, but I know you too well to argue any further.” He steeples his large hands beneath his chin. “So, who do you think this girl is?”
“I am as of yet unsure of who she is. Which is why I want you to look into her.”
“It’s so unlike you to show any kind of interest in anyone, Alexandros. Why this one?”
Osiris is one of the few men I trust in the world. The only wolf worthy of that status. But I will tell not even him that her scent stirred something in me that I thought was buried centuries ago or that her presence in my house felt so familiar that it made me yearn to take her to my bed and claim her. Nor do I tell him of the innate power I sensed in her. “She is an anomaly” is all I offer.
“I guess I’ll find out more about this girl who has captivated the great Alexandros Drakos, then.”
I growl. “I did not say she had captivated me.”
Grinning, he lifts his eyebrows. “Not with your words, old friend.”
I stand and straighten my jacket. “I suddenly remember why I have avoided speaking to you for six months.”
He puts his feet up on his desk and crosses his ankles, locking his hands behind his head. “And you know how I hate being ghosted.” That explains his anger when I first entered his office. “But I also recognize why you try to pretend I don’t exist for months at a time. It’s because I know you too well, Alexandros. And you fucking hate that, don’t you?”
“Let me know if you find out anything useful.” I hold his gaze for one short moment before turning and walking out of his office.
“You can let me know if you want to have some fun in the woods sometime,” he shouts after me.
As I stride away from his office, instinct tells me that he and I will never be that to each other again, but I shake it off and bury all thoughts of why that might be true.