by Kamryn Hart
The king’s expression didn’t change. He had a cool demeanor, and he was as composed as ever. I wasn’t sure what he was thinking. I never was. I didn’t know if he approved or disapproved.
“And you believed them?” he asked.
“The vampires came to us when we were about to infiltrate the caves. They surrounded us without a single weapon drawn. They invited us inside, returned the Lost Princess, and gave us all these humans. Of course I was suspicious, but they did have more firepower if they wanted to fight. I decided it was best to follow along, to gauge their words and actions before retaliating.”
The king said nothing.
I hesitated before continuing, “They had trailers all set up and ready to attach to our roaders. They had these humans lined up and waiting. I had Todd check over the trailers and humans for any hidden tech or tricks, but there was absolutely nothing. I think they might mean it. Princess Sorissa thinks so.”
“Then why did they take the princess in the first place while using Paws Peak as cover? That attack was hardly peaceful,” he said calmly. “Did they trick Paws Peak, Prince Charles specifically, into leading such and ill-prepared assault too? Why didn’t they come to me with this truce rather than shedding unnecessary blood? Werewolves died last night. Have you forgotten?”
“I haven’t forgotten. I can’t read the vampires’ minds, but they seem to think their fate rests with the Lost Princess.”
Sorissa pushed her way to my side. “Evie, the Queen of Vampires, told me you wouldn’t have listened if they had come to you with the intention of talking. Is that true?”
“She is, in fact, wrong. I would have listened,” the king replied.
“When you’re so close to eliminating vampires for good?”
I saw the slightest twitch in the king’s lips, hidden beneath his thick beard. “With all due respect, Princess, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“What are you going to do now then? The vampires didn’t kill anyone last night. We don’t know if they said anything to Paws Peak or if Charles led an attack because he was a spoiled brat and threw a tantrum. And don’t misunderstand. I’m furious about what they did to Caspian. They told me it was calculated and that they wouldn’t have done it if they hadn’t been positive he would survive. It sounds like bullshit. I’m as reluctant to trust them as you are, but they did give us their slaves, humans who need your protection, humans who are now part of your kingdom. But what are humans to you, Philip? Are they pets? Why do they live in this primitive zone, separate from your own? Why are their two? Why is there such a vast difference in tech?”
“The humans living in Wolf Bridge want for nothing,” the king said curtly.
“They aren’t equal, and they want for plenty when rotten princes decide to break their bones just for the fun of it.” Sorissa’s eyes flashed to Alexander who actually ducked his head in submission.
Gods, Sorissa was dangerous. I had never heard anyone speak to the king like this before. Before the night Sorissa kissed each member of Phantom Fangs, I had never seen the king lose his composure. But again, at this moment, that was exactly what he did.
“You would be wise to watch your tongue,” he said, raising his voice.
Sorissa planted her feet in front of me, wedging her way in between me and the king as she held her chin high, undaunted by the difference in height.
I gripped her waist, intending on moving her back, but she growled. My hands were met with a shock. I stepped back in surprise, shaking out the buzzing sensation in my fingers. She didn’t have any moonlight. She couldn’t have used it to somehow zap me. It was all dominance. She was more like the ancient werewolves, the nomadic tribes before kingdoms were erected. I didn’t know much about the first werewolves, but Sorissa certainly wasn’t like a modern one—especially when it came to wereas.
“Deny it then,” Sorissa goaded. “Prove I’m wrong.”
I didn’t know what to do. From the look of it, no one else did either. Everyone was silent as death with eyes as wide as a full moon. Phantom Fangs didn’t have an answer for me either. They shook their heads or shrugged in resignation. Sorissa would do what she did, and there was no stopping the stubborn, impulsive, amazing werea.
The king said, “Humans live the best life they can possibly live here. As for the vampires, they have never proved themselves to be trustworthy. Even now, I know they are deceiving you because they are the monsters of the night. They’ll have to do a lot more than give us their slaves to change that. No. There is no way I can agree to a truce with vampires. Vampires will rise up again if we allow them to, and that is exactly the game they are playing. It’s time for them to end. Werewolves are the superior species after all. It has always been our fate to end the Prime War and come out on top. Lureine made it so. Who am I to challenge the Gods? I’ve provided the humans a home, searched for peace. The vampires will not have it.”
“You’re just like the King of Paws Peak,” Sorissa accused. “You’re all the same!”
Werewolves are superior.
I had heard those same words my entire life. Maybe I had believed them to some degree. I had, but that changed the day my mother died. Everything changed the day my mother died. The only warmth I knew in the world was gone. And I started causing trouble.
I went to the Tech Off Zone. I watched the happy families that resembled my own once happy family. It was out of longing or maybe jealousy that I started watching Aerre. He looked happy. I wanted it to rub off on me. Then, when I approached him for the first time, he went as cold as the rest of the world and turned me away. But I was persistent because his laughter would always find me when I snuck back into the Tech Off Zone. Back then, Aerre was the sun. Even I, a werewolf, couldn’t live without the sun.
Aerre was more of a brother to me than my own flesh-and-blood brothers ever were. He was a human. I was a werewolf. It didn’t matter.
It still didn’t. Aerre became tethered to me, but it was never something I wanted. I did it for him and him alone. Because the world was messy. Because “werewolves are the superior species.” Because shields came into existence during our lifetime and we remembered what life was like before that. Though Wolf Bridge never used humans for meat, our relationship was forbidden back then and only tolerable today. Aerre was chained to me so he could protect his family in ways he couldn’t have as a normal human.
I never minded humans, but I had never known vampires as anything but bloodthirsty killers, the ones responsible for my mother’s death. I hated them. Gods, I hated them. I still did, but they were no longer one-dimensional monsters, not since the day I saw the hatred in the last vampyre’s eyes. He hated his own kind. His words were damning.
I shook my head at the multitude of bad memories. Sorissa and the king were at each other’s throat, arguing while the world around them stood still.
“You truly believe genocide is the right answer when the vampires have all but surrendered?” Sorissa demanded.
“You know nothing of this world, werea. It has been only days since you left the Witch Woods. Do not pretend you know better than I when you have been removed from the world for almost the entirety of your life and for all you can remember.”
My head was spinning. The thought of genocide didn’t sit well with me. It made me sick to my stomach. Killing the last male vampire was the one and only time I had killed a defenseless creature. He didn’t have the luxury of running like a deer or an elk—not that he had wanted to try. No, it was worse. He wanted us to kill him.
I shuddered.
If the vampires were really done fighting, why should we continue? At the very least, why should we continue sacrificing our own werewolves? Could we finally move toward peace?
Peace. I wanted peace, something this world had never known. I wanted an end to the Prime War that didn’t include all of Prime dead in the dirt.
The King and I didn’t see eye to eye. We never had since my mother’s death. I feared him, respected him, looked up
to him, and I never did anything I wasn’t ready to commit to.
But Sorissa gave me wings.
She offered me a way to that far-off, blurry future I had wanted for so long. The path I was on now would never work. I couldn’t attain that future working as a shadow for a king lost in the past.
There was only so much that could be done in the shadows. Maybe it was time for Phantom Fangs to enter the light.
Maybe it wouldn’t end up being the right thing.
Maybe I wouldn’t know what to do.
But I had to try.
It was like Aerre always told me. I never really changed anything. I was going to prove him wrong. I was going to stir things up, even if it made things worse, because it was time for change.
I stepped forward, placed my hand on Sorissa’s shoulder, and moved her aside so I was standing in front of the king, the werewolf I wasn’t allowed to call my father.
“Caspian,” Sorissa protested.
“I have to do this,” I said resolutely. I thought she might fight me, but she stepped back.
“What now?” The king asked.
“King Philip ve Casst of Wolf Bridge, I challenge you for the throne on the next full moon as is formally allowed by the Alpha Challenge.”
The king’s dark eyebrows rose ever so slightly.
“You cannot refuse,” I continued. “Only the strongest are fit to rule.”
Alexander and Henry laughed like this was all some kind of joke. Maybe to them, it was. The Alpha Challenge was hardly ever invoked. Apparently, it went by the wayside when werewolves left small, nomadic packs behind in place of these large kingdoms. Most just assumed it was best to pass the throne on to the best-suited heir, but that didn’t mean a king couldn’t be challenged. And, when he was, he had to accept that challenge.
“You can’t be serious, Caspian,” Alexander hollered. “Dad is one of the strongest werewolves who ever lived. He shared his mother’s womb with only two other cubs. Only two! Our uncles, great and powerful warriors who died honorably in the Prime War. Dad is way more powerful than you, than any of us.”
It didn’t look like everyone agreed because plenty of eyes turned to Sorissa. The king closed his eyes. Sorissa took my hand. I could feel Phantom Fangs’ eyes on me. I could sort of feel them like I could last night, though it was very faint, a whispering connection of unease.
The king let out a low hum and opened his eyes. “So be it, Caspian. The cost of your failure will be their lives.”
Sorissa gripped my hand tighter.
“I will eliminate the rest of Phantom Fangs along with you,” he promised.
“You can’t. They have nothing to do with this,” I protested. I just wanted to prove myself. I only ever wanted to prove myself. Couldn’t my father see that?
“I can, and I will as is my right as King of Wolf Bridge. Then Princess Sorissa will be untied. Caspian, you brought this upon them yourself.”
I tried to bite back the growl in my throat. I tried to tell myself this was just another incentive I needed to make a change, to win. Aerre was right. To make real change, everything had to be risked.
I hated that I was taking the decision away from him. Aerre was as wary of change as I was because it would directly affect his family, but I couldn’t take it back now. I made the choice for all of Phantom Fangs and Sorissa without their permission. Whatever happened, it would be on me.
“That won’t happen, selfish king,” Sorissa said with conviction. “Caspian is going to win.”
I got the feeling she would make sure of it too. I wondered if I felt that way because I had seen her recklessness every day since I first met her or if it was because of that faint connection I swore I could still feel.
Apparently, I was as reckless as she was. I had put us on a crash course. I had to give them everything I had. For Sorissa. For Phantom Fangs. I was certain at least one of them would be furious at me for this, but I didn’t feel that. There was only resolve, a faint brush against my skin, cool like ice. Maybe it was more like resignation.
“You would be wise to prepare,” the king said. “You have almost an entire month. Twenty-six days to be exact. Either that or get distracted with the princess while you can because you won’t have long with her. Experience the closeness of a true mating. When you die, it’ll make it all the worse for her. She’ll be broken, and it will be your fault.”
CHAPTER 9
SORISSA
THE LONG DAY WAS finally over. The sun was dying in the sky when Phantom Fangs and I finally made it back to the lair. It felt like coming home, and it was nice to be in more substantial clothes. But there was an almost uncomfortable silence accompanied by that feeling. Everyone was quiet after what had happened in the Tech Off Zone. We sat on couches and chairs or leaned against walls or pillars, not saying a word even though I was certain each of us had plenty of words to say.
I didn’t want Caspian to fight Philip. I wanted to do it for him. If this was a full moon fight like he said, I would win without a problem. I had no doubt. I’d get to recharge again before the fight. I couldn’t believe I had almost an entire month to wait to fill my moonlight reserves again. I didn’t like feeling helpless or useless to Phantom Fangs, but moonlight was my greatest asset, and I was doing a horrible job at conserving it. I never had to before.
Then again, maybe Caspian needed to challenge Philip for his own reasons. Philip was his father after all. Even though our connection was almost nonexistent, there was a heaviness pressing down on me.
“We gotta toughen you up,” Rodrick said gruffly, braving the silence. “You can’t rely solely on moonlight to defeat the king. His power is stronger than yours when combined with moonlight. You’re going to have to time everything just right and use some real fighting skills in that Alpha Challenge. Use the king’s own strength against him.”
Rodrick pushed off the pillar he was leaning against and stood tall. His arms were folded, muscles bulging, veins large and defined. I stared at his coiling tattoos and brown skin, enjoying the sight. I fantasized about him touching me, holding me with those powerful arms. When I looked up, I noticed he was staring at me, green eyes piercing. I wondered if he read my thoughts.
“Train me, too,” I requested. “With how often I find myself without moonlight lately, I definitely need to learn your skills.”
Rodrick gave me his lopsided smirk. “As you wish.”
Aerre cleared his throat. He looked uncomfortable, sitting alone on a chair at the kitchen table.
“The king won’t hurt your family, Aerre,” Caspian said. He was sitting on the opposite side of the couch from me. “He wouldn’t want to risk destroying everything he’s built. That includes the limited freedoms he’s given humans. Hell, he’s allowing the princess to stay with us. He’s confident, too confident to play dirty. Besides, it’s like Rodrick pointed out. He’s stronger than I am. He’s sure I can’t beat him.”
“That’s exactly how the king is playing dirty, Caspian. He wants to break Sorissa beyond repair because then she’ll be compliant. You heard what he said. The reason he’s letting her stay with us is because he wants us to spend our time bonding to make it all the worse. The king is a snake,” Aerre hissed, “smart, cunning, and powerful. He’s been the King of Wolf Bridge for many years because of his power, and he intends to reaffirm his place by winning the Alpha Challenge on the next full moon.”
“He won’t win,” Caspian said flatly.
“Just in case,” Todd murmured, “we’ll keep an eye on the king. I don’t have cameras directly in the king’s chambers or anything like that, but I do have cameras everywhere else. I may not be a guard, but I’m more or less in charge of surveillance because I’m in charge of the Heart and consequently all the tech in Wolf Bridge.”
“I just wish we had some kind of guarantee,” Aerre growled.
“Let’s just hire a spy,” Rodrick suggested. “There have to be some werewolves out there who would side with us.”
“We don
’t have to hire anyone,” I said. “Koren will contact us if he hears about any dirty fighting. He’d want to stop it. He loves Trace. He wants to be with her, and we’re his only chance at that.”
“Koren? One of the guards who came with us to Crimson Caves?” Rodrick raised an eyebrow.
Aerre’s lips pressed into a straight line. Then he started worrying at his bottom lip with his teeth.
Todd commented, “Maybe we should be more worried about Paws Peak getting back inside of our walls. They blew a hole in the east wall. They went to the trouble of going all the way around so they’d be closer to the castle instead of blowing a hole in the west wall. It was ridiculously easy for them. None of us had any idea. Nothing was caught on camera. I’m sure the vampires had something to do with that, though they wouldn’t admit it.”
He shook his head. “I’m trying to think of a way to reinforce our walls. The king immediately started having the east wall repaired before we left for Crimson Caves, and I gave the building crew some tips then, but I’m not confident in them. I need to take a look at the east wall later and analyze the damage properly.”
I yawned. I wasn’t bored or anything, but I was tired. My energy was completely sapped.
“It’s been a long night and day,” Rodrick announced. “All this shit can wait until morning. We should go to bed.”
“I have a question first,” I said. “Who is Denez?”
Phantom Fangs stared at me. Caspian leaned forward, clasped his hands, and asked, “Did the Queen of Vampires tell you about him?”
“A little. Not much. She told me you killed him. I want to hear the story.”
“It’s not much of a story,” Aerre muttered.
“We were sent to Crimson Caves on a recon mission. It was mostly a test, but the idea was to find a way inside of the vampires’ seemingly impenetrable fortress,” Todd said.
“We found the last male vampire instead and killed him,” Rodrick said, “exceeding the king’s expectation.”
“And we became infamous for it,” Caspian finished.
