MITCH CHESTERHE WALKED BACK but did not go to where he parked his car, instead, he took the shorter route and came out near the trading center of the kingdom. It was busy, as usual, where women hustled with the truck from the human town for goods and plants they could not get elsewhere.The noise quietened significantly when they noticed that he was in their midst. "Alpha," they bowed. "Your Highness,"As if on cue, he was surrounded by 4 enthusiastic guards, who formed a shield wall around him. Relief was written all over their faces. "Go to the northern border," Mitch said to one of them. "My car is parked there in the snow. Take it to the garage.""Yes, sir!" The guard saluted and marched away.The remaining guards walked with Mitch as they made their way to the palace. As he walked into the palace foyer, he looked around in search of Draco, but the Beta was nowhere to be found. He turned to another guard and said, "I want you to go personally to the house of each senate member,
MITCH CHESTERMITCH INHALED AGAIN to regain his composure before he said, "The vampires are getting stronger, and a war is coming."There was another ripple in the room."We are prepared for a war," Sil said. "We can stay on the bylines and watch them as they have always done. We don't have to get involved..."Some heads nodded in agreement to Silver. They looked at Mitch for him to give his approval, but his lips were pursed."Right, alpha?" Silver cocked her head.Mitch sighed and shook his head. "We can't "not get involved"..." "What? How? Why?" They asked.Mitch sighed. He looked up at Draco for help but the Beta remained aloof and slightly unconcerned. So Mitch knew he had to handle this by himself."Because the war is coming directly to our doorstep," Mitch answered. He nodded in satisfaction at the look of shock written on all their faces. "What the vampire wants is in the kingdom with us.""What is that?" One of the men asked."What it is does not matter," Mitch said. "But we
ANNA KYLIN CHESTER I FELT IT the moment he stepped into the kingdom again. I'm sure Draco felt it top because there was a slump of relief in his shoulders."You feel him too?" Lorna asked and I nodded. He owes us an explanation. A very long one. And while we headed back to the palace, I was expecting him to mind link me with an apology and an explanation of why he left abruptly and where he went to... but the mind link never came.When we got to the palace, where we thought he would be, he was not there, only for Patty to tell us that he said he had a meeting to attend to. I turned to Draco, "Did you know of any meeting?"Draco shook his head. "It would be a meeting in the pack hall..." he said."But aren't you the one that normally calls for them?" I asked.He nodded, a frown appeared on his forehead and he said, "I should have gotten wind of this if he called for the meeting through the mind link..." He stroked his beard."Well, what are we waiting for?" Lorna asked. "Let's crash
ANNA KYLIN CHESTER I TOOK A deep breath and looked across the room again. All the men – and woman – looked at me and waited for what I had to say and to be honest, when I had stood up from my chair with all that authority, I didn’t have anything prepared in my head. “The war is coming,” I simply said, knowing that I was still repeating what Mitch just said. But with the way the eyes of the men shone as they looked at me, one would think that I was reading into their destinies. “And as Silver said, normally, we would sit on the by-lines and watch them eat each other up, except this time… we do not have the luxury to. The war is coming right to our doorstep, and we need every advantage that we have -” “-except asking the werewolf council for help…” Chad Bowman cut into me. He was nudged in the ribs by Lane, who shushed him to be quiet. I smiled grimly and nodded. “except ask the world werewolf council for help…” I echoed. “But we will accept the help that the vampire is offering.” T
VLADMIR HAD LIVED all this time, he was easily the longest-living creature in the world and he took pride in it. There was nothing he had not seen, and his mind had been fine-tuned over the years to notice any small change in anything. So he noticed immediately when there was a change in Vorenus. He could not place his finger on exactly when the change had begun, but he estimated that it was during the time of Alice. Vladimir knew that during that period, he had been too busy with the blonde bitch to pay attention to much of anything else. That must be when Vorenus changed.On second thought, Vladimir stroked his jaw, he knew when it had happened, but he thought that it was normal and would eventually blow over. After all, it was normal for there to be a little jealousy and change when Alice came and Vladimir had most of his eyes on her.Vladimir stood on his roof, overlooking the night skies. He was deep in thought, wondering what he was going to do about Vorenus. He wondered if the
ANNA KYLIN CHESTER"I WAS LOOKING for you," Mitch's voice said. I refused my instinct to turn and look at him. "How long have you been here?" He asked. His voice was closer now.Since I left the meeting, I had been in the woods, enjoying the serene silence of the snow, and wishing my emotions were as straightforward and plain as the color of my surroundings - mostly white for the snow that was on the floor, and in the branches and trees. I watched the snowflakes drift to the floor as I maneuvered through my own emotions. I was feeling confident, but at the same time scared. I was angry at Mitch, but at the same relieved.I remained hidden in the slightly warmer enclosure of wily branches for close to an hour until I heard the heavy footsteps as his feet crunched ice flakes on the floor."Are you okay?" His deep voice swam into my head. He came to sit beside me, gratefully, he didn't touch me. He just sat on the log of wood, looking straight ahead. When I didn't respond, he added, "Yo
MITCH CHESTERTHE HALL WENT death silent after Anna's outburst and exit. Even Robert looked flustered. The silence was getting awkward, so Mitch cleared his throat and added, “Uh, yeah. The Luna is pregnant.” That did not have the desired effect on them. He had said it to lessen the tension, but it did the opposite. The air seemed to thicken until Silver smiled and said, “Congratulations, your highness.” The other men, except Robert, followed suit and joined in the clapping. “How long gone is she?” Mitch was lost until Lorna came to his rescue and said, “almost 2 months.” Silver smiled. “We will be having a celebration soon to welcome the new child.” Mitch nodded. The tension was finally gone from the air. “And the Luna said,” he continued, “I will do anything if it will make the world a slightly safer place for my children and all the children in this kingdom.” He looked around the room. “It is my duty to protect you all. And if that means working with a vampire will do that… the
MITCH CHESTERMITCH AND ANNA went back to the palace together, hand in hand. “They are still in the meeting,” Mitch muttered to himself as they passed the pack hall and still saw the men, huddled together in an intense conversation. “I don’t think they are very much in support of the vampire,” Anna said. “They were in support. Let us hope Bob does not get into their head. They will come around,” Mitch said dismissively. “The beta does not seem thrilled to be there with the Senate.“Anna chuckled. “I am sure he would most likely be somewhere else.” she walked on, taking Mitch along. “You should not be walking around the kingdom naked.” She pulled him into the palace and closed the door.“I am not naked,” Mitch replied.“Yeah, right,” Anna rolled her eyes dramatically.“The bath is ready, Luna,” a serving girl said in a small voice. Anna nodded and touched the girl's arm gently, “Thank you, Betty. That will be all.” As the girl departed, Anna tugged on Mitch’s arm and said, “Come. I m
ANNA KYLIN CHESTERHOLDING ON TO Vorenus softly as he led me out, We walked up a flight of stairs and down a hallway till we stopped in front of a thick, mahogany wood. I took a deep breath as Vorenus pushed the door open and stood aside to let me through. Taking careful steps, I walked into the room. It was like a large hall, lit up beautifully with gold chandeliers. There was a small round table in the middle of the room, and Vorenus was seated at the head of the table.He looked at me as I walked in; his eyes widened slightly, but that was the only reaction he gave. His human mistress sat beside me; the look she gave was a nasty, dirty stare, but she kept her mouth shut. Vladimir's eyes followed me all the way to the table. I nodded at him curtly and took a seat. The table was filled with many delicacies, and even a full roast pig sat in the center.“Thank you for coming,“ Vladimir said.It was not like I had any option; I scoffed under my breath. I turned and looked behind me, exp
ANNA KYLIN CHESTERI DO NOT know how long I remained in the cage — listening to the dripping of water in the far dark distance. But I knew when the sun went down, because the mansion became more active, and the sound of night bugs joined in the sound of water droplets.I felt like I was going to run mad, but the door opened and the butler came in. He was human, I was sure of it, but still, there was something off about him. But I could not place my hand on it. He stood a few feet away from my cell and looked at me in a spiteful manner. “My name is Bartholomew the Fourteenth,“ he said.The fourteenth? I asked myself. Does that mean that fourteen generations of this man's family had lived with and worked for Vladimir?“What you are thinking is exactly correct,“ the butler said. “And no, I cannot read minds, but I could clearly see the confusion written on your face.”“What do you want?“ I asked. If he was going to be anything like the other human in the mansion - Janet, I wanted to prep
320LORNA DID NOT know her next move, or why she washed the mind of this vampire, but she knew she had to do something, and this seemed like the first step.“Rise,“ she commanded.The vampire stood up robotically and looked at her with his soulless eyes.“What are you doing here?“ she asked him.“Keeping watch on the borders of this kingdom,“ he replied.“Why?““I was just following orders,“ he said.“Whose orders?“ Lorna asked, even though she already knew the answer, but she wanted to be sure.“The king,“ the vampire replied.Lorna scoffed under her breath. Vladimir. She turned and looked at the way she had come from, considering her options. Should she take this vampire back to the kingdom where he could be interviewed by Mitch for information, or should she take the more riskier option and tell the vampire to take her to where Anna was being kept prisoner?She looked back and forth a couple of times, then she made her decision. She was not going back to the kingdom. She and they w
LORNA LOOKED OUT the window and watched as Mitch addressed the guest from the Red Moon pack; she saw the way they looked at him with awe and adoration. They were here out of respect for him and love for Anna.She turned away from the window and went to the bed where Aiden was sleeping, brushing her hand across his forehead. He mumbled something inaudible and shuffled slightly, but he did not wake up. She sighed sadly, wondering what the medical personnel were going to make of this. Aiden was not entirely in a coma. He responded to touch, and she had seen his flicker in his eyelids when Mitch had whispered something in his ear a few hours ago. It was just like he was in a deep slumber without being able to wake up. She imagined it to be like he was trapped in his own body.“If only your mother were here,“ she muttered in a small voice. “She would know what to do to bring you back.“ Lorna spoke gently to herself. She sighed and leaned in to kiss Aiden's forehead. She felt very connected
MITCH CHESTERMITCH COULD FEEL the animosity in the tense air as soon as they walked in. Draco was behind him, and Delta Adam walked beside him as they walked to the front of the hall. All heads followed their movement. Mitch stopped and overlooked the senate; he cleared his throat to stop all side talks and make sure all the attention was on him before he said, “We have some guests in our midst,“ he said in a strong voice. “And I expect us to be hospitable and treat them well.““They are from the inland pack,“ a small, stubby man muttered.“From the lunas former pack,“ Mitch nodded. “And they are here to help us in rescuing her. I hope we will be able to put aside your differences and work together.“The hall was silent for the next few seconds, so Mitch continued, “And they brought some weapons to give us an added advantage,“ he said.“We will be fighting with weapons now?“ Sil asked, astonished, “Like the humans?“Mitch cocked his head and nodded. “I'm afraid so,“ he said. “We need
MITCH CHESTERMITCH SAT DOWN heavily and examined the faces of the members of the Senate before him. They knew something was off in the balance of the kingdom. He cleared his throat and said, “What called for this meeting?““I think the meeting is long over due, Your Highness,“ Lane said in a small voice. Mitch looked around at the nods of agreement around the table.Mitch snorted.“We got the news that we had guests.“ a fat man muttered. “Guest. Warriors from another pack. As if the military in this kingdom is not enough.““So it means there is a heavy war coming,“ Sil said. She paused and continued, “A war that would mean we are accepting help from other inland packs.“A ripple of murmuring went round the pack again.“It is not just any inland pack,“ Mitch said. “They are from the red moon pack. Luna Anna's former pack.““Talking of Luna Anna,“ Sil cut in. “Where is she?“Mitch sighed. Truly, there are so many things that they need to address. Where would he even start? He asked him
MITCH CHESTERMITCH HAD BEEN waiting for the past 20 hours. All the pent up and nervous energy was making him agitated. He hated waiting, but that was what he had been forced to do for the past 20 hours. When he could not take it anymore, he went upstairs to Aiden's room, Lorna was still there. But up in Aiden's room was another waiting session as they waited for him to wake up.Lorna sat up when Mitch walked in. He looked around and noted that Elijah and Oliver were absent. “What of the boys?“ he asked.“They left an hour ago," she replied. “They had to eat and wash up, but I think they will be back here anytime soon.“Mitch nodded and sat down heavily with a sigh. He rubbed his eyes with the heel of his palms.“How did the meeting go?“ Lorna asked after a few seconds of silence.“As fine as it can get,“ he said.“You and Enrique did not clash heads?“ she asked. Everyone knew about the both of them.He shrugged, “We did. But we came to an agreement.“She smiled softly. “That is good
315ANNA KYLIN CHESTERI HAD NO idea how long I had been locked in the cell when the door opened. I sat up expecting it to be Vorenus; instead, it was the skinny, sick looking mistress of Vladimir. Her name was Janet or something like that.She stalked to the front of my cell and pouted at me. “So you are a woman… and pretty too.“ If that was meant to be a compliment, it did not sound so, as it was laced with venom.Gathering some energy, I stood up. I was taller than her and was pleased when she tilted her head to look up at me. She took an involuntary step backward. I smirked at her.“You are never going to take Vladimir from me,“ she blurted.“What?“ I gagged. Who was this dumb lady? “If you are thinking I am here of my own free will to snatch your undead boyfriend, you have the brain of a 15 year old high schooler.“She placed her hand on her hip and frowned. “And what? You have the brain of a mature woman…“ She frowned and leaned closer to me. “Wait a minute, don't I know you?”I
MITCH PACED OUT of the mountain with Draco and Alphonso closely behind him. He paused outside the mountain. Darco came to stand beside him. He could feel his beta brewing with questions, but he ignored it.“That is a high profile prisoner,“ Mitch said to the guards outside. They all nodded with slight frowns on their faces. They could already sense that something was wrong.“Good,“ Mitch muttered and went to a buggy parked by the side.Draco gestured with his head to Alphonso, who immediately jumped into the driver's seat and started the car.“Take us to the palace,“ Mitch said.Alphonso pursed his lips and eased the car out of the snow. Mitch could feel Draco throw him some subtle glances as they made their way to the palace, but he chose not to say anything as he prepared his mind on how he was going to tell them everything.Half an hour later, they pulled into the front gates, and Mitch got out. Draco followed and Alphonso started to drive away but Mitch said, “Come with us, Alphon