CHAPTER 269: _THE DEAD WHISPER HIS NAME

"This... This can’t be real..." I shook my head as I watched the throne room melting around me like wax. "This is just a dream... And I don’t know who you are trying to use my father’s face to deceive me, but—"

"Naive little Alpha King!" Balthazar’s voice boomed all of a sudden, causing the throne room to shake like a giant had stepped foot on the place.

I rooted my feet on the ground, gritting my teeth and keeping my claws extended as I glared at the bastard before me.

Eventually, the throne room completely melted out of existence and like an artist painting something new, it all morphed into another landscape.

I scanned my gaze around only to realise that I was standing in the middle of the Blood Oak pack’s elite district, the tarred roads reduced to rubble and ash, with flames rising into the sky.

The sky was blood red, the clouds twirling and twisting into unnatural shapes.

"What... This..." I stuttered, taking a single step back as Balthazar sniggered.

"This is the future the continent and the world will face if you and that hybrid mate of yours continue on the path you’re headed." His voice echoed all around me even though he was standing several meters in front of me.

Up ahead, I could see the Alpha King mansion reduced to nothing but a skeletal husk of its former glory, the roof blown apart and the walls cracked beyond recognition.

I closed my eyes, looking away from my father and the mansion. "No... No, this is only a dream. An illusion. Just like you."

Once again, his mocking laughter filled the air, causing the ground to shake and sending an uneasy feeling through my system.

’You can feel it too, right?’ Damon echoed in my mind.

I gave him a mental nod, gritting my teeth. ’Yes. Something’s wrong.’

"Believe what you want but Odessa will only become more unstable from here on." Balthazar continued speaking despite my looking away from him. "She’s unlike anything the supernatural world has ever seen. Her bloodline, those sigils, the Vein—"

"For a ’ghost’, you seem to know a lot about what’s happening in the living world." I turned to face him, squinting my eyes and moving forward slowly. "You seem to know so much about my mate. Almost as if you’ve been studying her all this while... Which should be impossible."

I saw a flicker of something in his eyes.

For a second, it wasn’t as if I was staring at the face of my father, but rather at the projection of him made of something else.

Or rather... Someone else.

I didn’t know much about ghosts but my instincts roared at me, telling me that there was something wrong with this image feigning to be a ghost.

And my instincts tend to be mostly accurate.

My jaw clenched as I snarled coldly. "Let me guess... The true Lord of the North himself."

Balthazar’s eyes widened in surprise at first as he tilted his head.

But then, that surprise slowly turned into a crooked grin as a sadistic laughter echoed all around the dreamscape.

"Well, well, well... It seems your mate’s intuition is rubbing off on you, Kaelos." He said casually, his shoulders relaxing. "What did you think of the broadcast? Anti climactic, wasn’t it?"

Rage surged through me as I took a single step forward charged with my Alpha King aura.

That caused the ground underneath to crack beyond its current state, the cracks spreading like webs until they got to Balthazar, aka the Lord of the North.

"You insufferable bastard!" I roared, my Alpha King aura bursting out in the form of a silver aura that spread out for hundreds of meters, engulfing my father’s image in it too. "Why don’t you show yourself? Stop hiding behind your artificial hybrids and rogues and face me head-on!"

He raised an eyebrow, eyeing me with amusement in his eyes as he folded his arms in front of his chest.

He rubbed his chin for a while, giving the illusion of being deep in thought.

I would’ve smashed that bastard’s head into the ground by now if this were the real world, but here in the dream space, the projection was like air in my hands.

I couldn’t touch it, let alone harm him.

"Only a fool would rely on brute strength to face an adversary, Kaelos. But of course, you should know about that since that’s all you do." The Lord of the North’s voice echoed out of my father’s lips, mocking and condescending. "But I’ll give you a name... One that you should remember for when the time arrives..."

I paused, holding my breath as I waited for what he had to say.

But then...

The dream scape began melting like wax again, the environment this time floating into oblivion, leaving only a void of pure darkness.

Balthazar still had a cruel grin on his face as he parted his lips slowly before whispering with a voice that echoed all around the dark void.

"Lord Ryker."

As soon as that name left his lips, I felt a force pulling at my legs. I grunted as I fell, struggling to keep my gaze on my father’s form which was still floating above.

For a second, it flickered with shadows floating around it, causing my eyebrows to furrow.

"Ryker!" I roared, my voice booming all around the void as the darkness started encroaching.

.

.

"Kaelos!"

My eyes bolted open a second later, forcing me to sit up, cold sweat dripping down my body.

I scanned my gaze around only to realise that I was back on my bed with Odessa sitting beside me, her hands placed on my shoulders with worry in her eyes.

"Gods, you made me worried." She muttered, pulling me into a hug, causing my body to relax. "I... I had a nightmare. I woke up and then I felt your distress through the mate bond and rushed here. Your claws, Kaelos..."

My eyes widened as I raised my hands. Indeed, my claws were extended, glistening with a dark light.

I willed them back into my fingers and sighed, wrapping my arms around Odessa as well. I let out a breath, my fingers trailing her back underneath the white night gown she wore as well as her hair.

All I felt was gratitude and relief that she seemed to feel safe around me once again.

"I had a dream too..." I blurted, clenching my jaw. "The Lord of the North used my father’s form to taunt me. Then he... Revealed his name."

Odessa pulled away, blinking at me with curiosity.

I didn’t waste any more time and spoke. "He called himself Lord Ryker. And I feel in my soul that that name should mean something. But nothing’s coming into my head."

Odessa nodded, rubbing my shoulder with a distant look in her eyes. I could feel her emotions still reeling.

Like her mind was still stuck on something.

"What about you?" I asked softly, bringing my hand to her jaw and making her look at me. "What did you see in your dream?"

She bit her bottom lip, her eyelids fluttering with hesitation.

But eventually, after I nodded reassuringly at her, she closed her eyes briefly before speaking with a shaky voice.

"I... I saw my mother..."