Chapter Seven- Gathering Storm
1559 Words
The council chambers turned into a war room in a matter of seconds. The lights stayed on long after midnight, maps covered all available surfaces. They looked over scout reports, red strings connected territories, supply routes, known enemy positions, and potential attack points. For the third time that night, Lucas tossed another crumpled piece of paper across the room.
“It doesn’t work.”
Killian rubbed his tired eyes.
“None of them work”
Killian didn’t go to bed, neither did Lucas nor Ethan. Ethan stood near the map wall, studying every possible route into the Northern territory. The Rouge King was on the move, and nobody knew where he would strike first. Which made planning nearly impossible.
“We know he’s assembling an army,” Lucas said
“We know he has rogue wolves, and dark magic,” Ethan added
“And we know he wants Becs,” Killian finished
The last sentence made Shadow growl.
Mine.
Ethan nodded, his eyes narrowed.
“If we assume she’s the primary target…”
He pointed at several locations on the map.
“He’ll either attack Blackwood directly.”
His finger moved.
“Or he’ll isolate us first.”
Lucas sighed and rubbed his hands down his face.
“Which means smaller packs”
Ethan nodded.
“Villages, supply routes, and our scouts will be in harmsway.”
The room fell silent, Killian already hated the answer. Because Ethan was right, The Rogue King wouldn’t attack like a warrior. He would attack like a predator, slowly and strategically and in the most cruel way possible. The Alpha leaned back in his chair.
“We need more allies.”
Lucas agreed.
“I’ll leave at dawn for the southern territory.”
The southern territory was the second largest werewolf kingdom. If they joined the war effort, their chances improved dramatically. Killian looked at his Beta and friend.
“Be careful”
Lucas smirked,
“Awe, are you worried about me? You’r starting to sound like Becs.”
Killian glared at him, while Ethan started to laugh.
–The Next Day–
Becs immediately regretted waking up this morning. Ethan amped up her training, she was currently laying on her back after a failed defense.
“You’re trying to kill me,” Becs groaned
Ethan raised his eyebrow
“I’m training you.”
“You threw me”
“I deflected your attack”
Three hours into training, she was exhausted, sweaty and bruised. She was also considering murdering Ethan in his sleep tonight. Luna was enjoying her misery entirely too much.
“Again,” Ethan said
Hit him
I’ve been trying
Try harder
Ethan knocked her onto her back, again. The Gamma crossed his arms.
“You’re distracted, and you are relying too much on strength.”
“I was talking to Luna,” Becs groaned.
“And I have strength.”
“You have power”
Unfortunately, he was right. The realization annoyed her. Almost as much as the fact that Ethan knew he was right. Across the training grounds, Killian watched. He was going back and forth between wanting to step in and protect her and trying not to laugh. Trying very hard and failing. Becs pointed at Killian.
“I saw that!”
He immediately put his innocent face on, which was impossible. Nobody the size of Killian could look innocent, ever.
After Ethan was done “training” Becs, she had just enough time to shower, change and then get to her lessons with Ava.
Ava’s lessons were significantly less painful, physically. Mentally, that was a different story. Books covered Ava’s office, dozens of them. All open, all terrifying. Ava pointed toward one book.
“Blood magic.”
Becs frowned.
“I don’t like the sound of that”
“Most people don’t,” Ava replied.
Fair, The healer turned another page. And read it aloud to Becs.
“Blood magic is unique to powerful vampire bloodlines.”
On the next page were images of symbols, spells, ancient rituals, and power. Becs felt uncomfortable.
“What else?”
Ava smiled
“Moonfire.”
Now that sounded significantly cooler. Ava read from another book.
“Moonfire belongs to your mother’s bloodline”
The page showed silver flames, beautiful and deadly. Ava continued to read the passage about moonfire.
“A hybrid royal can create fire infused with lunar energy.”
Becs blinked
“Excuse me?”
Ava looked excited.
“I know”
Then came shadow resistance. This gave the person immunity to dark magic and enhanced healing. These were only given to hybrids from royal bloodlines. Becs and Ava sat for over an hour talking about other abilities Becs could have later, some Ava was able to understand others she wasn’t sure what they meant. By the end of the lesson, Becs’s head hurt a lot.
It took Lucas three days to get to the Southern territory. Massive mountains surrounded the kingdom. Thousands of wolves called it home, he entered the front door where the sutheran king greeted him personally.
Alpha King Darius Stone. He was tall, broad and intimidating. The type of man who made warriors nervous, but Lucas wasn’t. He was the Beta to the most feared Alpha King in history. The meeting lasted nearly six hours. It was filled with discussions, arguments, strategies and warnings. While the Rogue Kings name came up repeatedly, Darius eventually asked about Becs.
“The girl?”
Lucas smiled, but felt annoyed that he didn’t use her name.
“Becs”
Darius nodded
“Is she worth going to war over?”
The question should have offended him, instead it made Lucas smile.
“Absolutely”
The Alpha studied Lucas for a moment then let out a loud hardy laugh.
“Good answer”
As Lucas met with Darius, Killian asked for a meeting with Seraphina. He asked her two days ago to connect with the remaining covens to see if they would help us. It seems all the traveling between covens had not been easy. The elder vampire looked exhausted.
“Will they come?”
It was a big ask and the question was important.
Seraphina smiled softly.
“They remember”
Killian frowned, confused.
“Remember what?”
“King Adrian and Queen Lyra. Your mate’s parents were beloved.”
Seraphina folded her hands in her lap.
“The covens never forgot.”
Hope flickered in his chest, small.
“They’ll help.”
Killian left out the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. For the first time all week, Killian smiled.
Becs waited for Killian to finish his meeting with Seraphina, she wanted to say hi to the elder. She was having a conversation with a fortress worker while she waited. While they were talking, she felt like something was off. The worker smiled, spoke politely, and acted calm. Yet Becs knew with absolute certainty the worker was lying to her. This realization startled her, but she ignored it. Until it happened again, and again and again.
Finally she understood what this was, she discovered a new ability. While it was useful in many ways, she felt invasive somehow. Each lie felt different, like a sour note in music Impossible to miss once she noticed it. After dinner Becca looked for Ava, She told the healer about the new ability.
Ava immediately got excited.
“The truth gift,” she called it.
“A what?”
Ava was looking through a stack of books.
“Hybrid royals, some could detect deception.”
Becs frowned
“You’re saying I’m like a human lie detector?”
Ava nodded
“Looks like it”
Well this was terrifying.
A week went by. Becs trained with Ethan in the mornings, and studied with Ava in the afternoons. She was in the middle of one of these study sessions when they got word that Lucas was back with news.
It may have only been a week, but it looked like Lucas aged a year in the short amount of time. He was dirty, and looked exhausted. But he had a victorious smile. Killian had everyone gather in the council chamber turned war room. He only asked those closest to the ongoing situation to come.
Lucas smiled as he looked around the room.
“They agree, the Southern territories stand with us.”
Relief flooded through the room, then cheer erupted through the room and Becs laughed. Their first major victory, then Seraphina stood. A smile touching the elders lips,
“The covens have also answered. The vampires stand with their princess.”
More cheers, more relief and more hope. For the first time since learning of the Rogue King’s plans victory seemed within their reach.
Later, after the small celebration Ethan wandered down to the archives. He held a report in his hands, his face pale. Impossible, yet here in his hand was clear evidence. A traitor, someone inside Blackwood feeding information to the Rogue King.
Ethan turned, he needed to tell Killian. Now. He barely made it down the hallway before a shadow appeared, silent, fast, predatory. Pain exploded across the back of his head, Ethan stumbled. The report fell to his fingers, his vision blurred. The last thing he saw was a cloaked figure stepping from the darkness, he knew who it was. The traitor.
Then everything went black.
- Writer
