Chapter 62

Arthur left the castle early the next morning, headed towards the ruins of Sharp Armor. They had rebuilt some of the main structures, but the homes that had been burned down or destroyed had remained piles of broken wood. He wondered how long it would take to rebuild Sharp Armor and if they ever would.

Maybe they could relocate everyone and turn Sharp Armor into a military outpost. It was the closest village to the border and there was plenty of land to establish a new settlement.

Arthur put it on his long mental list of things to try to complete. The list seemed to be growing by the day and alongside it came frustration. He’d barely been educated while in Brown Valley as a child. All the alphas that sat at the table with him and bickered for hours were older than him by at least half a decade.

Why had no one ever thought about organizing everyone? Were they all just that weak or that selfish? He found himself coming back to those questions more and more often and wondered if it made him a worse leader.

They stopped at the infirmary to check in on the recovering werewolves before preparing to head to the neutral zone.

“Blade, take the lead,” Arthur said. “Since you know where we’re going. I’ll be on your left.”

Blade nodded and shifted into his wolf form. The rest of the group followed suit and began the run through the forest. The path was familiar to him as it was almost the same path he took to find Daphne after Owen had kidnapped her. He knew the tower was still there, but were there rogues still lingering in the area? If they needed the backup, would he be able to call them? He still wasn't sure how far-reaching his powers were, but he hoped it was a trump card they could rely on if things got messy.

The path they took curved away from the path they’d taken to Owen’s tower and the forest grew more foreign to him. It seemed that Blade had the patrol routes changed to cover more area after the attack.

The forest grew thin within an hour of travel. The air grew colder as they approached the border. He never noticed before how desolate the vampire lands seemed. The mists obscured nearly everything, but the ground lost its lushness and seemed barren and dry. How did they survive? Didn't they need to eat? Had it always been this desolate and cold?

They slowed as they approached the tree line that marked the edge of the werewolf kingdom.

"Over there," Blade said as Arthur drew to a stop just inside the werewolf's lands. He shifted back into his human form, shuddering at how strange it felt to retain his clothing after shifting.

Glowing red eyes looked at him through the shifting mists and drew closer darting from side to side until they appeared out of the slowly withdrawing mist. Was that their doing or just the timing of wind?

He took a deep breath, but he smelled no wind. There was something faint that left a faintly sparkling feeling in his nostrils. What was that?

He felt every werewolf in his retinue grow tense. Arthur took in the scenery behind the glowing eyes. It seemed they were at the mouth of a canyon. The group was fairly large, but he could see others watching from higher above them. How many were there? Twenty? Thirty?

They were severely outnumbered, but he forced himself to remain calm.

A woman walked forward toward the singletree stump and two other vampires followed her. She was pretty with faintly glowing blue eyes. Tall and slender, dressed in dark leather armor and black clothing. A sword hung from her waist and there was a knife strapped to her leg. The two that were with her carried knives and wore similar armor.

The vampires he’d faced on the way back from Brown Valley hadn’t been armed. To his knowledge, the vampires who had attacked Sharp Armor hadn’t been armed either. Were there different groups of vampires?

Why weren’t they saying anything? They seemed to simply be observing them, searching for weaknesses or falsehoods. He wasn't sure, but she didn't speak as she sat.

Silence stretched on between them. The werewolves behind him grew more tense and antsy as he felt the air stirring around them.

“Are you the werewolf kingdom’s new king?” The woman in front asked, her eyes focused on Arthur.

“I am,” Arthur said. “Who are you? Why did you attack Silver Armor? You’ve been—”

“You offended us first,” the woman said, her eyes narrowing. “Of course, you wolves have conveniently forgotten that it was you who started the first war, and now, you’re content to start another.”

Rex stepped forward, and Arthur held up a hand to signal him to stop. The woman’s tone was cold and convincing. He knew nothing about the last war, and he didn’t have time to puzzle out what had happened. He thought of the map in Arthur I’s office briefly but shoved that thought away. It hadn’t been the war that killed his father and destroyed his family.

It wasn’t the first war that was endangering his happiness now, so it didn’t matter.

“My name is Arthur. I don’t know anything about the first war, and it’s not what we’re here about.”

She lifted an eyebrow at him, “Arthur, you said… You look a great deal like a general from years ago… Dean.”

Arthur swallowed, “He was my father and the former king... He died nearly twenty years ago.”

Her lips curved into a cruel smile, “How pleasant.”

Tom growled, and Arthur held back his fury as she remained eerily still. Her eyes were clear. There was no malice in her eyes, but her words were irritating as if she was trying to goad him. What did she want from him? Maybe she wanted to kill him here, but that didn’t feel right. There was something in her words that he couldn’t make out.

“Past wrongs withstanding,” she said, focusing on him. “There is the matter of the present.”

“Who are you?” Arthur said through gritted teeth. “What do you want?”

She smirked, “I am General Nicole Steward, leader of the vampire queen’s forces.”

Tom took in a sharp gasp as she eyed him and chuckled. Arthur filed the name away for the future. Tom seemed to know her.

“I recognize you,” she said, smirking at Tom. “Time has not been kind to you. Found a new royal to follow around, did you?”

Tom growled at her and Arthur glanced at Tom before looking back at her.

“Have you at least learned how to hold a sword now?”

“Shut your mouth!” Tom growled.

She laughed, “So defensive, Tom.”

Tom flinched back and Arthur eyed her. There was history there, but at the least, she seemed to be someone who understood power and had a good idea of how powerful they were. She looked at the rest of the group with such disdain, but she met Arthur’s gaze evenly.

She recognized his strength for some reason. This wasn’t what he expected when he’d been preparing to come. He expected biting words and fury, yelling, and maybe a small fight, but her calm composure was unnerving. Not one of the vampires with her spoke or moved.

He felt out of his depth and young standing with the group he’d chosen. Their panicked whispers and outbursts felt like cracks in the image of control he was supposed to be projecting. Had his father felt like this while facing her?

“It seems you are at least telling the truth… You are Dean’s precious little cub, aren’t you? How cute… I much preferred your father to his replacement,” she waved her hand flippantly. “But that is unimportant. Listen closely, pup.”

Arthur flinched at the biting tone of her voice as her eyes turned cold and furious. The wind stirred around them as their gazes met.

“What do you know about—”

“I will lead every living vampire to slaughter every pack and village in your domain.” Arthur’s insides quaked, a cold bead of sweat rolled down his back. “Blood will run through your streets and flood your rivers just as it had before until there is nothing but corpses in my wake if our demands are not met.”

“She can’t possibly back that up,” Rex gasped.

"She's bluffing!"

“Shut up!” Arthur growled, starting at her. “You think your threat scares me?”

Her grin turned cruel, “I think you know it’s not a threat.”

Her eyes didn’t waver, and Arthur could almost feel the fury in her heart. He saw a vision of fire and smelled blood, thick and gory in the air. Whether it was some sort of magic or the strength of her conviction, he didn't know. Nicole may not have been able to back it up, but something told him that she had a plan to get as close as possible to her goal. He wasn’t even sure that she couldn’t back up such a claim.

Maybe she could, but he said nothing. Her lips curved into a small smile, the fury and bloodthirst vanished and gentled into something oddly gentle. He shuddered at how quickly her demeanor changed.

“Do I have your attention, cub?”

He clenched his teeth and glared at her.

She chuckled, “Return our queen and we will leave you to rebuild in peace.”