Fenris' eyes showed him a dome—a transparent, luminescent barrier flickering in waves, encapsulating the massive field and the large but insignificant castle.
"A force field?" Fenris asked. "No, this doesn't seem to be telekinetic magic. Illusion magic. And those waves…"
He paused, squinting. The barrier had a familiarity to it—something Fenris just couldn't get his mind off.
He felt like he had seen this a million times.
Then it clicked.
"Is that moonlight?"
"Impressive," Lycan said. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were a mage in training."
"I had a good teacher," Fenris said, uncaring..
Lycan took a deeper look at what Fenris' expression would be next. It was blank and almost unreadable, as if he were expecting more.
"How long can this spell keep running?"
"As long as we need it to," Lycan answered, ambiguous. "This is a temporary solution, after all."
"You say that like there's a permanent one", Fenris said, slightly curious.
"Because there is", Lycan said. "We fight back".
Fenris turned to Lycan. An eyebrow raised looking at him like he was a madman
"You don't think we can", Lycan said.
"There is no we Lycan", Fenris said, flatly. "I'm still considering joining your pack".
"Are you now?" Lycan asked, jestingly. "I don't see you running through that barrier."
"You said you'd give me power," Fenris said. "That's the only thing keeping me here. You already fulfilled one of your promises—was the other just sweet words?"
"No, they weren't," Lycan said. "And I plan on delivering. Only if you join my pack and believe in my plan."
"I don't even know what your plan is," Fenris said.
"Fair enough," Lycan said. "There's more for you to see." Lycan brought out a hidden necklace.
"Gwendolyn, prepare a portal."
A loud boom resonated behind them. A portal appeared, clear, oval, and luminescent.
"Let's go," Lycan commanded.
While Lycan passed through the portal easily, Fenris hesitated. He didn't believe it was a trap, but the way Lycan ordered him—expecting compliance—felt wrong.
Fenris huffed in defeat. "I don't have the luxury for pride. I'm desperate."
He walked through the portal. A bright light washed over him, blinding him for a moment. When he opened his eyes, they dropped.
He was still in the castle.
'What was the point of the portal if we could have just walked? Except—'
Fenris observed the room. The section of the castle they were in seemed more fortified than the rest he had seen so far. No patches or cracks marred the walls.
Inside was a large throne room with an exceedingly long table—and a single shimmering door.
'It's enchanted. That might be why we were teleported.'
"Hey, Fenris," a voice called out.
Fenris' eyes dropped even more as he turned to the voice. He found Buck waving and patting a seat he reserved for him. With a heavy sigh Febris sat next to Buck.
If he didn't, Buck would just sit right next to him anyway. In front of him, he found the female mage: Gwen, or Gwendolyn—he wasn't sure nor did he care. Her eyes narrowed directly at him. He looked away.
Fenris' gaze landed on a werewolf he hadn't met before. He was large, almost giant-like, his muscles taut and defined. Dark, spiky hair framed his face, and cold blue eyes fixed on Fenris with a deadly smirk that carried unmistakable excitement.
Fenris felt a slight chill.
'Am I… afraid?'
"My, my… you seem to have a talent for being the center of attention," Lycan said,
"Why am I here?" Fenris asked, dismissing Lycan's compliments.
Lycan threw a book at Fenris.
"I hope you can read."
Fenris picked up the book and examined it. It looked old. The leather covers were rumpled and creased, and pages stuck out of it. He opened the first page.
"Take your time. We'll wait," Lycan said.
The book's contents told a story: a lone wanderer traveling not just through lands, towns, or nations, but across entire worlds. The wanderer met all types of mythical creatures—dragons, giants, demons, even gods.
He stopped at a section that was intriguing, about civilizations and cultures. One particular creature caught the wanderer's attention more than any other.
"Werewolves," Fenris muttered, disbelieving. He turned to Lycan.
Lycan smirked, a confirmation that Fenris had reached exactly where Lycan wanted him.
"Go ahead, keep reading."
Fenris did, his curiosity piqued. Not everything made sense. Pages seemed to be missing. Sentences were too faded to read, even when Fenris used his wolf eyes.
'Did Lycan do this on purpose? Is he trying to hide something?' Fenris wondered.
Despite his suspicions, he pushed on. The werewolves in this other world were far more numerous than in this one. They weren't hunted—or on the brink of extinction—and that was because of one thing.
"An alpha?" Fenris muttered, softly. It might have been the first time he had heard that word, but for some reason it felt powerful.
And powerful an alpha was. The apex of the werewolf species. Their eyes burned a furious red instead of golden yellow. They commanded the entire werewolf species.
Their mere presence alone empowered all werewolves, and the species would always persist because the alpha had a special ability.
"A bite that can turn humans into werewolves," Fenris said, chuckling.
The intrigue had died. "This is your plan to fight back? Following fantasy and superstitions?" He tossed the book back at Lycan.
The thud was echoing and deafening. Tension quickly filled the throne room as Fenris felt deathful glares all detected towards him
Fenris, without realizing or caring, had somewhat insulted Lycan, and he did not look pleased.
"It's real, Fenris," Buck said, trying to kill the tension. "I've been to some of those worlds."
"Oh really" Fenris said, looking at Buck, skeptical. Buck wasn't above lying. In fact, he was a fantastic liar when he wanted to be.
Would Buck make up such an absurd lie to keep him here? Yes—Fenris had no doubt Buck would.
But would the others? He didn't know them for long, but they didn't seem as crazy as Buck. Well, at least not all of them did.
Fenris glanced at the bulky werewolf.
"It's as Buck says," Lycan said. "Those worlds exist. And our plan is to find the one with the other wolves. They have the answer to making an alpha of our own."
"So we need your answer…" Lycan stepped closer, eyes narrowed at Fenris.
"…Are you in?"