I sat in the restaurant that I planned on meeting the Vampire King. It was a beautiful restaurant and I had to take the trip to France for it. Originally I wanted to take the train but it would have been 18 hour drive and so I just took the 2 hour flight. It was in the middle of Paris and I hated that there were so many people around. While it meant we couldn’t do anything, I had no doubt that Oran could snuff out every life in the restaurant.I took a deep breath, running my hands through my hair. This morning before the flight left, I burst into the castle and asked my mom to cut it. She did and now all of it was above my ears for the first time in years. Zeke didn’t even know that I did because I didn’t have time to swing back to the house. It was just a last minute decision. Mom had done a phenomenal job as well.Now, I was just waiting. I’d gotten to the restaurant fifteen minutes before our meeting time and the staff were nice enough to seat me. My French was terrible on a good
I brought my arms up and crossed over my face as Mom’s foot hit me. My feet slid back but my heel caught on a seam in the floor and I tipped back. The problem was that I blinked and she was next to me. Her elbow came down and slammed into my stomach. It was like I was in slow motion while she was in full speed. I tried to bring my arms down to protect me but I couldn’t, not fast enough. Suddenly, I wasn’t hitting the floor. I was bouncing back up off the floor, my breath leaving me. My eyes shut and I curled up into a ball as her foot slammed into my side and I flew into the wall on the other side of the room. The entire room shook as my back slammed into the wall. “Vale Maximillion Everfell! Don’t just give up after one hit!” Mom shouted at me. There was no way I could reply. I was crumbled into a ball after sliding down the wall onto the floor. She was brutal. Every day was like a new form of masterful torture. There had to be something against the Geneva code with how she was trai
Zeke laid next to me, propped up on his elbow, running his hands through my hair. I was laying down, happy to be able to sleep in for once. Not that I had actually slept in. Reagan and Rowan both managed to come in around three in the morning refusing to sleep anywhere but in our bed. Only to fuck off in the morning when Hector came by with the kids to go swimming at around six. Now, I was just laying in bed with Zeke who was enjoying having me in bed this late as much as I liked being in it. “I still can’t believe you just chopped it all off.” I hummed, not opening my eyes and just feeling his fingers against my scalp. “It was time. Especially with my mom’s hair so short. It feels nice. Plus, you pull off long hair much better than I ever have.” He chuckled. “Why thank you. You did look handsome but you look handsome like this as well. I just will miss being able to wrap threads in your hair.” I smiled. “Yeah, I will miss that too. Reagan cried because she couldn’t put bows in my
The pieces were falling into place. Morgan’s words and convictions over why the Vampire King should be dethroned and what he wanted to do to move the vampires out of their old fashion ways struck a cord with most vampires. He had overwhelming support. Even some of the problem vampires swapping sides after hearing some of his interviews. After a few days, I finally stepped into the light, speaking about the conversations I had had with Morgan and that he was also wanting what we wanted; peace. While it would mean both sides didn’t get to do whatever they wanted, it was enough that we could live harmoniously together.My packs followed. Most of them know Morgan from him helping put out the fires of unrest for many years with Hector. They were mostly on board with my endorsement, which was exactly what I needed. It was never just my endorsement that was needed by also the people I serve as King. Uriel hadn’t said anything yet but I also hadn’t heard from my mom yet. We were already into
Zeke was standing between my legs, his hands combing through my hair. I was sitting on the edge of the bed, my head resting against him. We had been sitting like this since I woke up. Someone must have carried me back. Mom got a little too into her fight and knocked me the hell out, forcing Lucy to come over. She had to rearrange my face back to normal and Zeke was apparently hovering the whole time. Now, he was just holding me.“You know, you could have just had her fix my crooked nose and stuff.”He hummed. “I think it’s part of you. Plus, you got it when you ran away from me when we first met. It’s a symbol of what you shouldn’t do. Otherwise, you get your face rearranged.”I laughed and shook my head. “I just got my face rearranged, Z. I didn’t even run away this time.”“I heard back from Morgan this morning.”My head lifted from his chest and I leaned back. Zeke wasn’t look at me but out of the balcony. There was a frown on his face as his chest rose and fell.“What did he say?”
Jolting up, I took gasping breaths before a hand touched my chest. It pushed me back down but I thrashed against it.“Woah. Hold on, Vale. You’re okay. Calm down.”I took a couple deep breaths and my vision cleared. Hector was leaning over a hospital bed, his hand on my chest and he was watching me. A hospital bed that I was currently laying in. Slowly, I laid back against the bed and tried to rub my head but my arm had an IV in it.“Hector…what…?”My head felt like a fog. I couldn’t even feel Naresh. He was there but out of reach.“Do you remember what happened?”I shook my head, squeezing my eyes shut. I could feel the blooming pain in my head but it wasn’t terrible. I’d come back from a sparring session with Mom in more pain than this. My eyes opened wide as I looked at him.“I…Mom and I sparred. She kicked my ass too hard. I passed out…”“Keep going.” Hector urged me, he sat back down in the chair.What happened? I was knocked out and I woke up and Zeke was telling me something ab
I stood looking out over my old stomping grounds. We decided to bring back Jax’s body to Harvest Moon pack, to our home pack. He was laid to rest next to his parents, since he never was able to find another mate. I stared out at the forest from my mom’s old house. The earth had recovered from when they torched her garden and now it was pretty much being reclaimed by the forest itself. It had been a week, but there wasn’t any news. We had no information. Nothing on Reagan or Rowan. Not a peep difference from Oran. None of our contracts had seen them. It’s like they vanished completely.Mom had come with us but I honestly couldn’t say that she was there. I only saw her during the ceremony and that was from the back. If I even thought I saw her, I would blink and she was gone. Hector was easier to find but there was a pain and anger that scared me. His words from the hospital kept me from speaking to him. Lucy wasn’t able to come with us. She barely managed to survive the surgery but she
I stared down into the mug of black coffee. Today was the day. We would be leaving for the High Council Castle. Today everyone from our pack as well as the others who flew in would be making our way to the castle. It took us two weeks to gather everyone and everything we need. Originally, I wanted it to be just us but the numbers that were pouring in from our spies near the castle were too much. So far, no monsters that my mom described had been sighted, but that didn’t mean that they weren’t there.I’d reached out to a few of the more well known packs, and Zeke actually reconnected with his pack. They sent warriors and his cousin even joined us as well. There were others, from all over. Hector’s father’s pack in Egypt sent five of their best warriors. I reached out to Alpha Evan but he said Luna Naomi was in her last trimester and couldn’t leave himself. But he did send a few of the warriors who I knew from our time over there.Morgan wasn’t going to be there. When he told me, I felt