A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Chapter 171: Chapter 171 - The reason

As Björn's name echoed through the tense air, a collective shock rippled among the group, their eyes darting in disbelief toward the man they had known for years.

Yet, amidst the turmoil, Björn himself didn't show any shock or make any attempts to deny those claims. Instead, the previously confused suspicion he had so perfectly shared with the rest of the group, had now made way for a stoic resignation, and arms crossed in front of his chest.

His posture was unwavering, and his gaze fixed not on those he had betrayed, but on Victor. "I don't care that you ratted me out," he said, calmly before his gaze suddenly hardened and seemed to pierce through Victor's skull.

"But our deal stands, you hear me?" he growled threateningly, yet calmly, while pointing at Victor. "I held up my end of it, now you need to hold up yours."

With those words, Björn had essentially admitted the truth, causing the people around him to widen their eyes and clench their fists in anger. "You asshole!" Anne yelled pointing at Björn accusingly.

While this situation may have led to Erik and his human followers being in trouble, which delighted her greatly, the act of betraying the Enclave could not be forgiven by anything. Not according to her.

Victor's next words, spoken with a condescending grin, tossed a bucket of ice water over Björn's head, "Oh, but I do believe our deal was that you'd inform for me until the day the Enclave finally joined the Council. I don't believe that day has arrived, do you?"

Björn's eyes widened and his fists clenched, quickly wiping out Björn's calm when he realized Victor had no intention of doing as he promised. He roared, "You dare?! It's you who revealed my identity! Release her, damn you!"

But Victor simply scoffed. "Or what?" he asked, with a smug expression and eyes twinkling with sadistic glee.

With a beastly roar, Björn's body began to change and in less than a second had taken the form of a wereverine.

Surprisingly, unlike the werewolves, werebears, and most other shapeshifters, wereverines actually shrunk a little during transformation.

Rather than the tall and lean build of a werewolf, or the massive yet slow werebears, wereverines were more compact. Their muscular frames were broader, and designed for brute force, like the werebear, yet their size allowed for far more speed and agility.

Their fur was also thicker and coarser, as this was their main form of defense. In contrast, werebears relied more on their skin, while werewolves simply weren't built for defense.

His claws, too, were different, as rather than the more elegant, uniform claws of a werewolf, a wereverine's claws had a larger curve, built for pure destruction, rather than precision.

Björn's blue eyes lit up with unsuppressed fury and ferocity as he charged at Victor.

Yet, all his ferocity and fighting intent came to nothing. A large hand wrapped itself around his throat and yanked him off his feat. "That's enough, Björn," Frostfang growled as he pulled Björn's face in front of his own. "I don't care what your deal was with Victor. You betrayed us, and you'll pay for it."

Björn struggled and growled for a moment longer, his eyes lost in despair and anger while the people around him looked on with complicated gazes. Emily and Astrid, as the fake Elora, looked surprised. Björn had always seemed reasonable, a little pragmatic maybe, but not unkind, and certainly loyal.

Björn's old companions thought the same thing. Their faces showed the sorrow of broken trust and the yearning to know his reasons.

"I guess you were right…" Erik said to Elora through their link. Then he sighed, "It's a shame, though. I really liked Björn."

He received a thoughtful, mental nod in return, "I know… I'm sorry about that. But now I finally have an answer as to why. He seemed to me like the most likely candidate, simply because Anne and Olaf are too unstable to be useful assets, but I could never figure out why he would do it."

"But now I see," she continued, "In the council's shoes, I, too, would try to find a way to turn someone like Björn, and it seems like they did by holding someone close to him hostage. At least, based on him demanding 'her' release, whoever she is."

Erik nodded sadly. He felt for Björn, who was clearly a man willing to do anything to protect the people he loved, and now, even after betraying everyone else he cared about, it didn't seem like it was going to matter.

In Björn's shoes, Erik didn't know how much despair he would feel, but he knew it would leave him a shell of a man.

Meanwhile, Björn had given up his struggle and looked at Frostfang with defeated, broken, and hopeless eyes. "Please, Jonas," he pleaded wheezing a little due to Frostfang's hand around his throat. "He's got my daughter…"

With that revelation, silence once again descended on the group, as the air seemed to grow heavier. If possible, this news caused an even greater shock among his fellow teammates. For as long as they knew him, he had never mentioned a daughter. In fact, they all knew of his late human wife and simply assumed he never had any children.

"You… have a daughter?" Frostfang questioned, an eyebrow raised in surprise.

Björn struggled to nod while stuck in Frostfang's iron grip, but the message came across.

"Why didn't we know about this?" he frowned. "And why didn't you come to me for help, instead of becoming this man's spy?"

"Teacher knew…" Björn struggled to say. "But… little Alice is half human… and I know how some of you… feel about humans… I mean… can you honestly say… you would have attacked a council base… just to get my half-human daughter back?"

Frostfang nodded slowly with a thoughtful expression, indicating that he understood, and likely even agreed with Björn's assessment. If he felt any guilt over that fact, it wasn't shown on his face.

The people around them couldn't deny Björn's words either, but only Nora and Viljar felt any guilt over the fact that their hatred had apparently alienated them from part of their comrade's life.

Seeing that Björn had calmed down a little, Frostfang dropped him on the ground, causing the wereverine to sag to his knees and gasp for air.

While he coughed and gasped, he explained. "I knew I couldn't raise her as my own daughter, since everyone knew I was only ever with one woman," he continued. "So I left her with friends of mine who never had children of their own. They would be able to raise her as if she was a full-blooded wereverine."

Having regained his breath, he slowly stood up and looked at Victor with a hatred that ran bone-deep. "Those friends and Alice disappeared a few months ago, not long after the Enclave and Dominion became embroiled in open war."

"I thought they died…" he said, despair in his voice.

"But then," he seethed, "Victor suddenly showed up with my daughter in chains and the rest you can guess."

He turned his gaze back to Frostfang. "Please, Jonas!" he pleaded. "I don't care what you do with me as punishment for my betrayal, but please make my daughter a part of your deal with them! Don't I deserve that much at least, after all our years together?!"