by Leia King
“Your seat,” he said, gesturing to a chair at the head of the table.
Ryan was more than a little surprised.
“You are the Wolf King, Ryan. That seat is reserved only for guests of royal blood.”
Okay, then. He took the seat and settled himself. Vazra sat at the other head of the table, directly opposite him.
Cora took a seat on one side of Ryan and Shaye took the other. Ryan clenched his fists when he watched David move to sit beside Cora.
“David! Your seat is here, beside me!” Vazra ordered.
David nodded dejectedly and followed his king’s orders, taking the seat on his left.
They all looked up moments later as two women walked into the throne room.
“Asha, Guardian of the Dragons,” Vazra told the newcomers.
Ryan grinned as Asha growled at him in greeting. It was a pitch only the two of them could hear, on account of their animal-like supernatural heritage. He returned her growl and she winked. She was a sight to behold. Her hair was a ferocious scarlet, so long that it fell just below the backs of her knees. She wore a golden bustier that pushed her tits into a bountiful cleavage and exposed her tight abs. A golden skirt barely covered her ass and looked like it was made of something similar to chainmail. The same material stretched from her wrists all the way up her forearms. And her boots matched the color of her hair and extended halfway up her thighs. Her pupils were burning flames of orange and red, flickering constantly, signaling to everyone that she was a dragon with the ability to shift into a human-like form when necessary. She took a seat beside David.
“Marella, Head of the Coven of White Witches,” Vazra announced next, gesturing to a woman wearing a floor-length, silver gown. Matching silver gloves extended all the way up her forearms. A headband of diamonds adorned her curly, white hair. Her eyes were a deep royal blue. She took a seat to Vazra’s right, indicating that she was literally his right-hand woman.
“It is an honor to meet you, Ryan Winters. I knew your mother, Oriana.”
“Thank you,” Ryan said politely.
Vazra gestured to David. “You have already met, but let me introduce him formally. This is Davidas, Guardian of the Fae.”
David rose to his feet. “Before we begin, your majesty, I would like to acknowledge the very welcome return of Princess Cora.” His eyes fixed fiercely on Ryan as he added, “I, for one, have taken great pleasure in her return to her rightful place here in the White Realm.”
Ryan’s eyes narrowed in fury at the obvious sexual subtext in David’s comment. He forced himself to remain calm when he watched David smirk at him as he returned to his seat. The meeting was business and he wasn’t about to let that asshole control it and make it personal. It was a meeting concerning war. He couldn’t think of anything more serious than that. He had a job to do. He had a duty to remain level-headed. He had people counting on him. Josh, his pack, the rest of the wolves in the human realm, and his pregnant wife.
So, he blew past David’s comment completely and addressed Vazra and the rest of the court. “I have claimed my birthright as King of the Wolves and declared war upon the Vampire Prince, as a result of his persecution of my subjects within the human realm. It’s a war that will reach beyond vampires and werewolves. All supernatural beings will need to decide where they stand. I’m here today to determine where the White Realm will stand.”
“By crossing the Vampire Prince, you may inadvertently cross Nathanial too, Ryan,” Vazra told him.
“Luca is working with Michael,” Ryan revealed. “His father’s enemy.”
The Royal Court exchanged looks of disbelief.
“I am already aware of this,” Vazra told his court. “Calm yourselves.”
“He wants your daughter’s blood,” Ryan told him. “He wishes to drain her and use the power himself—the strength of the White Realm coursing through her veins—against King Nathanial. They want to usurp him and take the throne as their own.”
David’s eyes narrowed at the mention of draining Cora. Marella gasped in shock. And Asha shook her head with disbelief.
“The princess is not safe, should she leave the White Realm, your majesty,” David told Vazra.
“I will protect her,” Ryan snapped.
“You may be the Wolf King, but you are no match for Michael’s magic, Ryan,” David argued.
“I’m not leaving my wife here for an extensive period of time without me.”
“Why can’t you stay here with her?” David asked.
He already knew why. Ryan could tell by the challenge in his eyes. Fucker.
“He cannot. He has responsibilities to his pack and every wolf in the human realm. They are all currently under his protection, due to the threat from Michael and the Vampire Prince,” Shaye explained.
“Her rightful place is here in the White Realm. Not in the human realm. Certainly not in the despicable Dark Realm,” David pressed. He gazed at Cora, love all over his fucking face. “She belongs in the light.”
“That’s not for you to decide,” Ryan reminded him. Although, he had no intention of taking her to the Dark Realm. But there was a strong possibility that they’d make their home in the human realm.
“You cannot protect her beyond these walls! You risk, not only her life, but that of everyone here in the White Realm! If Michael got a hold of her power, it could destroy the Dark Realm and the White Realm alike!” David thundered, shooting to his feet.
“She is my wife!” Ryan roared, shooting to his feet also, as he finally lost his cool.
“Stop!” Cora cried. “Sit down!”
Shocked by her outburst, David sat back down. Ryan grunted and then did the same.
“You all underestimate my power. Using only a fraction of my full power, I breached the Dark Realm magic surrounding the Vampire Prince’s estate and wounded him severely enough to force him to make a hasty retreat. I also healed my husband, the formidable Wolf King, pulling him back from the brink of death.”
Everyone stared at his wife in awe.
“You really breached Dark Realm magic?” Marella asked.
“Yes.”
“Impressive.”
Vazra rose to his feet. “Yes, she is. I was hoping to save this revelation for the time when my daughter and I had completed her training. But, in light of the heated discussion here, it appears that it cannot wait. My daughter’s power is stronger than mine.”
Everyone around the table gasped in shock, including Cora herself.
“She is the key to winning this war in the human realm. However, I do not wish to go to war with King Nathanial. The time has come to make a lasting peace. We can coexist with the Dark Realm, so long as Nathanial has the same vision. Before we launch into a heated debate here, you need to know that the bridge has arrived. Cora and Ryan have conceived the first child ever to be created by beings of pure royal blood from either side of the divide. The child is destined to unite both realms in peaceful coexistence.”
David shot to his feet again and bellowed, “This is blasphemy! I do not and I will not support this!”
Before anyone could say anything, he stalked out of the room in fury.
Ryan rolled his eyes. Good riddance, asshole.
“Does anyone else share Davidas’s beliefs?” Vazra asked, looking between Asha and Marella.
Asha sat forward and told them all, “I understand your reasons for wanting to unite the realms. But Nathanial cannot be trusted. Perhaps, if Ryan and he ruled together?” She looked at Ryan. “I trust the wolf. I can smell his sincerity.”
“Ryan?” Vazra queried.
Ryan shook his head vehemently. “Nathanial murdered my father, banished me from my home, and kept me from my mate for three hundred years.”
“Alliances aren’t built on personal sentiment. They are built on need,” Vazra told him. “It might change your mind if I told you what is actually happening in the Dark Realm right now. The wolves currently under his rule need your help. The time is right. They
have formed a formidable resistance that Nathanial is constantly fighting to hold back. It has been that way for the last two centuries, since your father was murdered and you were banished. They don’t respect him or recognize him as their ruler. They want the Wolf King. You.”
Ryan took his words in.
He didn’t say anything for several moments. All eyes were on him. He rubbed the stubble on his chin roughly as he considered his response carefully.
And then he glared hard at Vazra. “Seeing as though this is the first time I’m hearing of this from you, I need time to decide on my best course of action,” he said, rising to his feet, agitated by Vazra’s obvious attempt to try to back him into a corner. Fucking manipulative White Realm fuckers.
Cora’s gaze snapped to his and he knew immediately that she’d just read his thoughts. He looked away quickly when he saw the hurt in her eyes. The last thing he wanted was to upset her, but he knew he was right. He wasn’t a fool. He’d lived for a long fucking time. He’d seen a lot. They were all trying to manipulate him. Especially Vazra and David.
“How much time?” Vazra demanded.
“Me and Shaye will be heading back to the human realm tomorrow. It’s close to the full moon and I need to protect my wolves. I’ll return to the White Realm a few days later, when I’m satisfied they’re fine.”
Vazra nodded. “All right, but Cora needs to remain with me.”
“What?”
“She has just learned to unleash her power. I need to keep her here until her magic is stable.” He asked Cora, “Do you feel confident enough that you are in control of your magic right now, that you won’t be a danger to anyone around you?”
“Don’t put her on the spot like this!” Ryan hissed.
“No, Ryan. It’s okay. My father is right. It’s too dangerous right now for me to leave.”
Ryan let out a frustrated breath and told Vazra, “Fine. She stays.”
Without another word to anyone, he turned and strode out of the throne room.
6
Ryan stood leaning over the stone wall, looking out on the royal gardens below.
He released a heavy breath, fighting to calm himself, following the meeting with Vazra’s court that he’d abruptly ended just moments prior.
They wanted him to form an alliance with King Nathanial of the Dark Realm? How could they ask him to do that? Sure, from a purely logical standpoint, it made sense. Alliances aren’t built on personal sentiment. They are built on need. Vazra’s words were true. But the notion of allying himself with the man who’d singlehandedly destroyed his life was beyond comprehension.
He needed more time. And, he needed to get away from the White Realm to be able to think clearly. He needed his wolves around him. Those who he could actually trust.
“War involves almost as much spilling of blood, as it does politics,” a soft voice came from behind him.
He turned around to see Marella, Head of the Coven of White Witches, smiling at him kindly.
“That’s clearly the case here,” he muttered.
She joined him beside the wall. “You feel they are trying to manipulate you?”
“Aren’t they?”
“They all have their own agendas.”
“And what’s yours?” he challenged.
“Whatever yours is.”
Ryan did a double take. “What?”
She lowered her voice to barely above a whisper. “Oriana always believed you’d come to the White Realm one day. The Princess was your destined mate and your mother always had faith that you would find one another. She made me vow to her that when you did come, I would help you.”
Ryan was taken aback at hearing Marella talk about his mother. He didn’t say anything for several minutes. He just stared absently out at the gardens ahead. To her credit, Marella remained silent, waiting for him to absorb what she’d just told him.
“Why give my mother your loyalty, rather than your king?” he finally responded.
“He could have stopped what happened.”
“He had no choice. The White Realm was too weak to stand against Nathanial.”
“Nathanial never called for war, Ryan.”
Ryan’s gaze snapped to hers. “That’s the history as I know it. As many people know it.”
“His fondness for your mother clouded his judgment. He crossed Nathanial because of it. Nathanial wanted justice for the betrayal he suffered from his wife and his best friend, but it was denied him, as a result of Vazra’s interference. He wanted to banish you to the White Realm, but Vazra refused. He never wanted a Dark Realm creature as his daughter’s mate. Hence, the betrothal. What you know is an extremely convoluted version of the real story.”
“It sounds like you support Nathanial.”
“I support the truth.”
“That asshole murdered my father, Marella!”
She nodded sadly. “I know. It was an awful act. I do not dispute that. I am merely trying to give you the correct information so that you can make the right choices. Not the choices that Vazra wants you to make in order to benefit him.”
Ryan regarded her shrewdly. “How do you know so much? You have an inside track that no one else has. Not even me.”
“Oriana is my sister,” she revealed. “I am your aunt, Ryan.” She pressed her finger to her lips. “No one outside of the family knows this. Vazra cannot know. It is dangerous for me.”
Ryan stared at her, once again finding himself speechless. He couldn’t wrap his head around it. Standing before him was a member of his family, something that he’d lost so long ago and something that he’d grieved over for years after his banishment. Now, here she was telling him that she’d been residing in the White Realm.
“Why didn’t you come to me sooner?”
“Vazra is aware of every being that walks in and out of the White Realm gates. My doing so without his permission would have raised a red flag. In all likelihood, he would have followed me. I couldn’t risk it, Ryan. Do you understand?”
“Yeah. I get it.”
She moved closer to him and discreetly held her palm out between them. She waved her hand over it and something materialized on her palm. A black ring of thorns adorned with what appeared to be diamonds.
“I’ve been waiting a long time to finally give this to you.”
“What is it?”
“It belonged to your father. He came to your mother the night before his execution and gave it to her for safekeeping. He wanted you to have it.”
“Are these diamonds?” Ryan asked, as he picked up the ring. He was surprised that the black thorns weren’t at all sharp.
“Fragments of the moon,” she corrected him.
“What?” he gasped.
Marella smiled. “Taken from a night of the full moon millennia ago by the first white witch. She forged it for her mate. A wolf. It enables the wearer the ability to exercise complete control over his shifts.”
“I can already do that. I’m a pureblood wolf. I can shift on a whim without the pain that other wolves experience.”
“Not during the full moon,” Marella reminded him.
Ryan started in shock. “This can give me control, even then?”
“Yes. As long as you wear this ring, you will no longer be a slave to the full moon. It’s a necessity as Wolf King, where it is not always convenient to shift along with your wolf subjects, especially when you need to act as their protector. You cannot do that when you are as much a slave to the power of the full moon as they are. That is why your father wore it.”
Ryan slid the ring onto the middle finger of his right hand. It fit perfectly.
He hissed as it started to burn.
“It is melding to your essence,” Marella told him.
The pain subsided after a few seconds and Ryan asked, “How does it work?”
“The first time you use it may be difficult, because you need to call the darkest part of the wolf within you to the surface. I know you have suppressed it for a long w
hile.”
Ryan shook his head. “I can’t. That part of me is dangerous. A monster. I was reminded of that with that damned waterfall.”
Marella’s eyes widened. “You went to the Fae waterfall?”
Ryan nodded. “With Cora.”
“The darkest part of the wolf rose and you hurt her.” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement.
“Hurt is an understatement.”
She laid her hand over his and told him gently, “This ring will prevent the darkest part of the wolf from being destructive. But you must call it forth first, so it can be channeled by the magic of the ring. The full moon rises in the human realm tomorrow night. Try it then. Shaye will be there to protect your wolves from the Vampire Prince so it is the perfect time because you will not need to worry about their safety. You can focus on you.”
Ryan took her words in. And then he sniffed the air suddenly and told her, “Someone is coming.”
She nodded and made a move to leave.
Ryan’s grabbed her arm, stopping her. “Thank you.”
She smiled kindly. “One more thing. A wolf’s instincts are never wrong, Ryan. Remember that during the coming days. Many will try to manipulate you because of the power that you hold as Wolf King. Only you will know the right path to take. Listen to those instincts of yours. It is your greatest advantage over them all.”
Ryan nodded his understanding and then she disappeared in a flash of white light.
Mere seconds later, David walked out of the palace, headed to the gardens below. He stopped short when he noticed Ryan, and backpedaled.
“Thinking about earlier?”
Ryan growled inwardly at his reference to how he’d hurt Cora. “If you have something to say, be a man and be direct about it.”
“A man?” David scoffed. “I am Fae, more than man.”
“As am I.”
“There is no woman like the princess. She is one of a kind. Special. She deserves the best. A creature of the light.”
Ryan took a threatening step towards him. “Are you telling me you’re planning to make a play for my wife?”
“She doesn’t belong with a creature of the dark. You will snuff out her light.”
