Blood Dynasty

The First Move

CHAPTER FIVE

The first move Darius made was the distribution of food and medicine to the humans

Darius had announced publicly that it was being sent out to three hundred human families living on the eastern border who had been struggling since the war ended.

He made the announcement in court with the full warmth of a man who cared deeply about the wellbeing of his human subjects.

The human elders were present too. They thanked him and applauded him for his incredible leadership skills and for keeping his words.

What nobody in that room knew except Darius and one other person was that the supplies were never going to arrive.

In my first life I found out the truth about two months after the announcement, when I visited Halvern myself and found families still struggling, still waiting, and too afraid to say anything publicly because Darius had already told them that he sent it out but it seems the trucks carrying them were hijacked on the road to Halvern.

But it was all part of his plan.

By the time I understood what he had done, the damage was complete.

Most of the people kept quiet because of fear, while the ones that tried to challenge him and question him, he took them out.

This time I knew the plan, I drew out on my map, and came up with an elaborate plan.

What Darius had done was simple. He paid off the supply coordinator, a wolf named Bretto, to redirect everything. The medicine, the grain, the blankets, all of it quietly moved sideways into pack storage while an empty convoy made the journey to Halvern and came back with a report that said delivered and signed.

On paper everything looked clean. In reality three hundred families got nothing while Darius stood in court collecting gratitude for a kindness he never performed.

I couldn't confront Darius directly so I made a plan to destroy his own plan.

I found a way to remove Bretto from the picture.

I reported him to the head of security, he was always involved in different criminal activities so the head of security detained him.

Darius could not keep a thief in a visible position. Not while he was trying to look like a man of his word to the human settlements.

Bretto was removed from the coordinator role and Garrett stepped in by afternoon.

And unlike Bretto, Garrett actually delivered every crate, every sack of grain. Every bundle of medicine, loaded properly and taken directly to Halvern the way it was always supposed to be. He did not steal anything. He did not reroute anything.

The Halvern families received everything that had been promised to them.

This was not part of what Darius planned, when the elders came to thank him I watched how he forced himself to smile at them when deep down he must have been furious.

I overheard a conversation he had with one of his most trusted men.

“How could you let this happen?”his voice rang from his study, the door was slightly open so I stood at a corner and watched them.

“I don't know how it happened Sir, the head of security came, he said Bretto was reported to have been engaging in criminal activities”

“Who reported him?”Darius asked.

“I don't know Sir”

“Find out who did it”

I walked away with a smirk on my face.

I went to the city market the next day.

The place was busy as usual. I was looking at a roll of dark fabric when Kaelen appeared beside me, he flashed me a smile.

“Were you following me?”I asked.

“No, maybe”he said, picking up a fabric, checking it out too. “Or maybe I just came here to buy things I need”

“I don't believe you,”I said.

“I can help you with Darius,”he said.

I instantly turned to face him.

How did he know I needed help with Darius.

I stared at him for a while with furrowed brows.

“I heard you the other day when you were talking to someone about him, I saw the expression on your face it seems you also don't like it”he said.

“So because of a few facial expressions you just assume I don't like him.”I asked.

“No because I know who you are”he said

“Yeah the Luna, Darius’ Luna”

“No the commander of the rebellion, I know what you stand for and I also know that Darius isn't going to do what you and your people want, he's going to do what he wants”

I stared at the man in front of me, my eyes wide with disbelief. He spoke like he knew Darius so well. While everyone else called him Alpha Dairius.

This man just kept calling him by his name.

I set the fabric down and picked up another roll. Around us the market moved and haggled and paid no attention to either of us.

"You told me you know what Darius is planning," I said.

"I do."

"The medicine supply," I said. "Did you know about that one?"

A pause. Short but real. "Yes."

"You didn't stop it yourself."

"I was waiting to see if you knew about it," he said. "And how you would handle it."

I looked at him then. He met my eyes with that controlled expression that gave away almost nothing and I held his gaze for a moment longer trying to decide if I can trust him.

What if he was one of Darius' spies?

"What do you want in return for what you know?" I asked.

"The same thing you want," he said. "For his plan to fail completely. And permanently."

I turned back to the fabric and ran my hand across the surface of it slowly, thinking.

In my first life this man did not exist anywhere in the timeline which made it a lot more complicated because I didn't know if I could trust him or not.

"If we work together," I said quietly, "and you turn out to be one of his spies I promise I'll kill you myself.”

"Understood," he said.

"Good," I said. Then I asked him the question I had been holding since the alley.

“Are you a human or a werewolf?"

“I am a human”he said quickly, too quickly like he was trying his best to convince me he was human.

“Then why do you have that on your neck?”I asked, his eyes followed the direction I was pointing.

It was the necklace on his neck.

I had seen that symbol only one other place, at the palace. Darius had that same type of necklace.