CHAPTER 4 - DOMINIC
1468 Words
I can feel Ezra’s fury through the walls. He’s containing it, but just barely. The other Wyres inside can also sense it, their nervousness heavy in the air. I’m leaning against the wall across from the door when it bangs open. My crossed arms fall to my side as I take my place beside my Alpha.
“So, how’d it go?” I ask. But I already know. Ezra looks haggard. Tired. I can sense his exhaustion through our pack bond, weighing on me. “Maybe you should take a break. Get some rest.”
He’d been in that room all day, from sun up to sun down. I know the other generals were just as tired, though they’d never complain. At least, not to his face. Their Alpha had demanded a meeting and they couldn’t deny him.
“Can’t,” Ezra growls, stalking down the hall. “We have too much to do before meeting with the Shifter King.”
I glance at him in surprise. “So it’s really happening?”
“Did you doubt me?” Ezra’s golden eyes slide to mine warily.
“Never.”
And that’s the truth. I’ve been by his side since we were teenagers. I owed him everything—including my belief—because he’s earned it. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t even be here today.
Ezra’s hand runs through his hair. It’s lighter than mine; a dirty blond with hints of red. Like the color of his wolf. Stubble lines his jaw, a darker shade than the locks that curl around his ears.
“We have a peace treaty?” I ask, knowing he would tell me everything.
Ezra stops short, a dark look flashing across his face. “Yes and no.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I wasn’t the first person to support Ezra’s plan at making peace with the Shifters, but I know how badly he wants this.
“It means we talked. But we still need to come up with an agreement.” He resumes walking, heading out the front door.
“Ah, so that’s why you’re angry.”
“That, and the fact that my so-called generals are completely useless,” Ezra growls.
We’d flown to the front line earlier that week, checking in with Alistair and the rest of Ezra’s right-hand men. That’s all I thought we’d come here to do. Ezra hadn’t told me he was meeting with the Shifter King until just the day before. The sharp prick of betrayal is still there, but I know why he did it. None of the Shifters would be happy about this and he’d wanted to keep it quiet until things were more…real.
“I still don’t think we need this,” I muttered. “For once, we were winning.”
Ezra freezes, snapping around to face me. His eyes burn through me but I stand my ground. I’m probably the only one who can resist his power. “No one was winning this war. It had to end. Besides, you know this isn’t about who wins or who loses.”
“A peace treaty doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll end,” I point out. “They don’t always last.”
“It will this time.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because it has to hold.”
We fall silent as Ezra slides into the back of the town car. I get behind the wheel, the engine purring to life. I catch Alistair in his front doorway, watching us. They might not understand his decision, but I do. Like Ezra had said, this isn’t about the war itself. There’s more to it than that.
“Where to now?” I ask, reversing out onto the street.
“Airport. We need to head home first.”
“And then?”
“And then I’m heading out.”
I make a right turn, heading away from the farmland of Kansas and toward the city. The humans had no idea a war was even being fought among them. Clueless, as usual. Not that it wasn’t a good thing. If the humans knew about us, about the Shifters, we’d have even more trouble on our hands.
“Should I even ask where you’re going?” My hands grip the wheel tightly. I hate when he goes out without me. It’s not like he actually needs my protection. Ezra’s more powerful than any of us, but the bond between us doesn’t take that into consideration.
“Probably better if you don’t.” He looks out the window, watching the flat land fly by. I focus on driving, my senses always keeping an eye on our surroundings.
Ezra is the only family I have left. This war has taken a lot from both sides—with a few of us losing more than others. When the Shifters had attacked my home, they’d left nothing behind. I wouldn’t even be here today if it hadn’t been for Ezra coming in at the last second. But he hadn’t come in time to save the rest of them.
My throat dries as I try to force thoughts of them out of my mind. It didn’t do either of us any good if I’m distracted. Besides, it’s been years. I should be used to the loss by now. I had no right to keep mourning when I could actually help Ezra end it once and for all.
But I always feel that emptiness inside my chest. It never goes away. Not fully.
We drive the rest of the way in utter silence. I can feel his worry almost like a physical thing, weighing us down. He wouldn’t allow anyone else to feel that, but he can’t hide it from me. He’s worried his plan won’t work. Worried that everything he’s been trying to accomplish the past few years would all be for nothing.
The curse, the war—it’s been taking its toll on all of us, but Ezra more than anything.
His father had never cared about any of it. His father had reveled in the gory battles and victories. Even the losses, as long as he got to kill enough Shifters. But Ezra is different despite the name they’ve given him.
The Bloody Prince doesn’t want the blood.
We pull onto the private airfield, Ezra’s plane already waiting for him. He must have had one of the others call ahead. I stop the car beside the jet, putting it in park. Ezra doesn’t make a move to get out just yet, so I wait as well.
“We need this to work, Dominic.” His voice is laced with tension. “If it doesn’t—”
Then everything he’s been doing since his father died would all be for nothing. I know that.
“It will work. I was being an i***t,” I reassure him. “These agreements have been working for the humans since forever. It’ll work for us.”
“You sound so sure.” There’s a hint of sarcasm, the corners of his lips twitching.
“I’m sure because it’s your plan,” I tell him. “You wouldn’t do it if it wouldn’t work.”
“Maybe.” He looks out the window, studying the jet. I can tell his mind isn’t here, though. Without a word, he slips out the back door, straightening his long coat. A Wyre appears at the top of the steps, waiting for us. I toss the keys to a human waiting at the bottom, murmuring directions on where to park it until we come back.
The jet isn’t super ostentatious. That isn’t Ezra’s style. The leather seats are comfortable, which comes in handy considering how much we’re traveling the expanse of our territory so often. Only a pilot and one stewardess fly with us, both Wyres. The cockpit is pretty simple but comfortable. Subtle and useful. Just the way Ezra likes it.
We settle into the seats, getting ready for take-off. Ezra never likes to waste time. I lean back, studying him closely. Ezra’s changed a lot since I first met him. Before, he’d been a scraggly teenager trying to prove himself to his psychotic father. Now, he’s grown into a man I’ve come to respect. He’s around the same height as I am, though power I can never have makes him feel…bigger somehow.
I lean forward, elbows on my knees. “What did you ask for, exactly?”
Ezra glances up from his phone, brows knitting together. “What are you talking about?”
“The treaty. What did you ask for?”
His jaw clenches, muscles ticking beneath the stubble. “I asked for the one thing that ends most wars.”
“And that is?”
“A princess.”
- Writer
