Chapter 134: Black Season

Alaric:

It was 4:43 in the morning, and I was beginning to question every decision that had brought me here.

I lay sprawled across the longest couch in the private basement lounge, one arm thrown over my eyes as I watched Reign make yet another phone call. The call lasted barely ten seconds before he ended it and immediately dialed another number, his voice sharp and merciless as he barked orders at whoever happened to be unfortunate enough to answer at this hour.

I had been watching the same scene for what felt like an eternity, and by now I had lost count of how many people Reign had terrified through his phone.

Something massive had clearly gone wrong with the Valemonts, most likely involving one of the businesses Reign was responsible for managing. From what I had pieced together, his stepmother’s uncle had managed to create some kind of disaster during Reign’s absence from the company, leaving the heir to clean up the mess before it grew beyond control.

Under ordinary circumstances, Reign would have handled it without much trouble. Unfortunately, these were anything but ordinary circumstances.

Reign was in the middle of what we had privately come to call his Black Season. The name wasn’t official, and Reign certainly hadn’t chosen it, but after years of watching him disappear into those strange two or three weeks every year, none of us had ever found a better way to describe it.

I had known him for nearly sixteen years. I had seen him angry, arrogant, injured, exhausted, drunk, victorious, and even humiliated thanks to a certain someone, but there was still one part of Reign’s life that he had never allowed any of us to fully understand.

His Black Season had existed since the day he was born, and only a handful of people even knew it existed. Kairo, Esme, Lorien, and I were among the very few he trusted enough to see him during those weeks, and none of us had ever betrayed that trust by pressing him for answers he wasn’t willing to give. All I knew was that it was somehow connected to his wolf.

During the worst days, he could develop an absurdly high fever, suffer debilitating weakness, and become so physically exhausted that even his extraordinary strength seemed to abandon him. There were other symptoms too, ones he had never explained, and apparently there was no cure.

Perhaps being the first werewolf born with a wolf after centuries of our kind existing without one had consequences no one had anticipated. Whatever the reason, Reign had made it clear years ago that he didn’t want to discuss it, and we respected that.

Which meant that the Valemont heir had somehow managed to collect three disasters at once. His Black Season had begun, his family’s business empire had apparently caught fire figuratively speaking, and the exams were only two weeks away. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

Being a Regent heir meant academic excellence wasn’t optional for any of us. The five of us had been raised with the understanding that our names came with obligations, and none of our families would accept mediocrity simply because we happened to be busy ruling portions of Starfall.

Reign had earned 175 credit points in barely four months this term, which was an insane achievement by anyone’s standards. And yet, somehow, even that looked unimpressive beside the three hundred credits he had earned last term. That was the ridiculous standard he’d created for himself and every other student. It was also the only reason the academy had tolerated his recent absences.

In the past two weeks, he had attended barely three classes and spent most days leaving the academy to deal with matters at the company. And now that his Black Season was worsening, I doubted we would see him in a classroom again before the examinations.

Not that I could blame him. His body was already fighting something none of us understood, and now he had to clean up someone else’s incompetence while maintaining the academic record expected of a Valemont heir.

So, naturally, the obvious question was why the hell was I awake at 4:43 in the morning when I had Combat Arts as my first class?

The answer was simple. My dear friend didn’t want to suffer alone. About an hour earlier, my phone had rung, and Reign’s name had appeared on the screen. He hadn’t bothered explaining anything and had simply told me to come down to the private basement area before hanging up. Because apparently sixteen years of friendship meant I was expected to abandon my sleep without question whenever he decided he needed company.

I had dragged myself here half-asleep, only to discover that he apparently hadn’t called me down to talk at all. Since I arrived, we had exchanged approximately two words. He had muttered something that sounded like "You are late," despite the fact that I had arrived within minutes, and I’d responded with something that definitely shouldn’t be repeated in polite company.

Since then, he had been making phone calls while I had been lying across the couch wondering why I hadn’t simply ignored him.

I let out a long sigh and shifted beneath the thin blanket I’d stolen from one of the chairs, seriously debating whether I should stop fighting the inevitable and sleep right there.

The couch was surprisingly comfortable, the room was warm, and I had already accepted that the Combat Arts class was going to be a personal attack against my exhausted body.

I was halfway to deciding that Reign could deal with his own problems for the next few hours when the door leading upstairs opened. I lifted my head slightly, expecting no one honestly at this hour, and watched Kairo descend the stairs.

He looked entirely too pleased with himself for someone awake at this hour, wearing that irritating little smile that always made me want to throw something at him. What caught my attention, however, was that he seemed completely lost in his own thoughts as he descended, barely looking at either of us. He didn’t even seem to notice that Reign was sitting only a few meters away, phone still in hand.

I opened my mouth to make some sarcastic comment about his terrible timing, but before I could say anything, Reign suddenly stopped moving. His phone lowered slowly, his entire body going unnaturally still, and then a deep, vicious growl rolled through the room.

I shot upright in pure alarm.