KING AIDEN STARED at the shewolf in front of him curiously. Until now, he was usually good at reading people. The shewolf in front of him gave nothing away. Other creatures would cower in his presence but not her. She glared at him.
She protected her companion like her pup. It made him even more curious about her story.
Why was she so cold?
Why was she so close to a Leprechaun?
Was she hiding?
Her green eyes held many secrets which he would certainly uncover soon.
"I have a proposition."
The King's interest perked up. He wanted to know what the she-wolf had up her sleeves so he gestured for her to continue.
"Three years ago, humans first released a breed of scientifically enhanced Zombies with higher intelligence. Since then, I have been monitoring their progress and movements.
"I infiltrated some of the government labs and discovered some rather...interesting things," she said offhandedly with a serious look on her face.
At that, the king already suspected what she had planned but wanted to see it all play out.
"What kinds of things?"
"The humans are building something bigger than the zombies that can wipe out our world from existence. While infiltrating a high-security facility in an off the grid area, I found a lab different from the zombies' lab.
"It was tagged 'XPX' and we both know that zombies possess the 'XP' genes. Something is coming, your Highness, something that might be bigger than us," she explained as the King tried to find a lie in her words.
Her breathing was steady and her expression unchanging.
"Where is this facility you speak of?" The King calmly asked even if he was dying of curiosity.
"In exchange for this piece of information and other important details I have gathered about the human activities over the years, I implore for the King to send some people over there and allow me to lead the operation to destroy that lab," she requested and the King chuckled humourlessly.
He had to hide his shock at the turn of events. He didn't expect that she would ask to lead an operation. He thought she would ask for protection or something else but not this.
"Why would I send my people on a possible suicide mission with an enemy of our species?" His voice had taken a dark turn.
"You are a wise man, King Aiden and you know I am telling the truth. Why will I go through all this trouble to take down a handful of men?
"If I wanted to kill vampires, you will be my target and not a few soldiers," she deadpanned without as much as a shred of fear in her voice while staring blankly at him.
King Aiden had seen grown men piss their pants at the sight of him. His voice had sent people running for the hills. Yet this small she-wolf next to him dared to demand things from him.
He didn't know if he should be impressed or outraged. He had to commend her, she knew how to play her cards.
"What will I get in return?"
"You get to play the hero," she replied without hesitation.
"The hero?" He couldn't help but be amused at her bluntness. This she-wolf was even more entertaining than his entertainers. He hadn't had this much fun in a while.
"Yes. I will lead the team and return and you will get all the credit, therefore bringing you closer to being voted the Supreme leader of all supernatural species," she responded with a soft sigh, her eyes briefly shifting to the door before resting on him.
The Supreme leader was the leader of all the supernatural species. Each species had its King but the Supreme leader was above all. He was responsible for allocating lands and conjoined profits of shared resources owned by all species.
The Supreme leader was second to the gods and the only thing above him was the Crown of omnipotence. And he had a feeling she knew something about the crown.
After all, it had been in the possession of the wolves for centuries. After the death of the Werewolf royal family, no one knew what became of the crown or where they hid it.
"You sound certain of your victory, why is that?"
At that, King Aiden could have sworn he saw a smirk before she replied, "I just do, so do we have a deal, your Highness?"
King Aiden had to think this one through. There was something off about the female beside him. She knew too much and he wanted to know what she knew. He had to admit that she was smart.
She sounded like one who had been brought up to be a queen. Her surname was not attached to a royal bloodline so she wasn't royalty.
Who then was this she-wolf?
"Of course," he affirmed.
She stood up. "Well then, I will be at your courtroom first thing in the morning. Please, let your commanders know and thank you for your hospitality."
The King nodded and dismissed her. After she went, the King's special adviser stepped out from behind the curtain.
"Do you think it is a good idea, your Highness?" Richard asked.
"She knows about project 'XPX' and we know that information was reserved to leaders only. The council of Kings decided to keep the news under wraps so as not to raise a national alarm until we are sure of what we are dealing with," King Aiden said with a small frown.
"What about her request for a team?"
"Richard, all the six Kings of the supernatural world have no idea where 'XPX' is located. Do you know what will happen if I locate it, find out what it is and destroy it?" King Aiden asked slowly as if he was talking to a child.
"You top the charts for the election and become Supreme King." Richard realised.
"Exactly."
But Richard was still confused. "What do you think is the reason why the she-wolf is doing this?"
"That, my friend, is what I intend to find out."
DIANA HAD JUST about reached the limit of her tolerance. Although she hadn't spoken a word since she was led into the strategic planning room, she had better things to do than introduce herself. Diana worked on marking spots on the map while the soldiers stared at her in disgust. Some made snarky comments even while knowing she heard every word. Normally, she would have just ignored it but when a General snapped at Rudolph for correcting his map reading, Diana lost her calm. "Gentleman, do we have a problem here?" She asked calmly, but she was anything but calm. "Of course, we do, mutt!" A commander sneered. "You waltz in here like you own the place and don't even bother introducing yourself. What do we look like to you? Kids?" She put down the marker and walked to the front of the room. "First off, the name's Diana and not
SLEEP EVADED DIANA that night. She would be facing zombies again the next day and was the least excited about it, especially since she had lost a lot because of those gory creatures.Diana recalled the first time she saw the zombies… that was just the beginning of the end for her.FlashbackWhen most people wake up in the middle of the night screaming, it's because they've had a nightmare.An escapable work of fiction caused by the brain, trying in vain to interpret the random firing of neurons.Diana’s screams that night were not only caused by a dream but the crushing feeling of dread. A sign of the horrible events that were to come.As reality finally settled in, the shrill sounds of her screams faded in her throat, but her heart was still beating too quickly, and her lungs wouldn't fill as she tried to brea
THE NEXT DAY, the soldiers were out and ready and waiting for Diana at the arena. The King assigned three commanders to go with her.One was a commander of foot soldiers, the second was a commander of firearms and the third, of archery. Each commander had ten soldiers behind him making it a total of thirty soldiers.She was provided with six SUVs with the capacity of containing six soldiers each. Diana walked to the first SUV with Rudolph walking beside her. She had tried convincing him to stay back but it all fell on deaf ears.Shooting him a glare which he returned with a cheeky grin, she entered into the vehicle and felt Rudolph climbing up after her.To think she would be used to it by now but she wasn't. She never wanted him to be anywhere close to danger but he went wherever she did, even if it was dangerous.Going to this facility was extremely important for Diana an
THE HALLWAY WAS cleared in minutes as the vampire soldiers outside stormed into the building. The doctors in all the labs had need knocked out and floors swept.Diana already knew where the secret lab was so she went straight to it with Rudolph in tow. There was no need to input the security code as the security system was down so the duo walked straight through the door.Diana was almost blinded by the amount of white in the room. Everything was white except for the cages which contained snarling zombies.The lab was almost like other labs but Diana knew something was up, she just needed to find out what it was. She searched the lab for anyone that could tell her what 'Project XPX' was but found nothing out of the ordinary."Over here!" Rudolph called out and she rushed over to him.At the edge of the lab was a bigger cage that was separated with a middle panel
Diana THE KINGDOM WAS fuller than normal when they got back. Diana heard whispers about an attack but nothing too informing. Immediately, she gave the boy to Rudolph, who took him to their room to get cleaned and rested, then she went to the King, all bloodied and all. The information she had was one of urgency. She was told by one of the courtroom guards that the King was in a closed-door meeting with his officials. "It is important that the King hears what I have found out," she said calmly while pulling up her brown hair in a ponytail with the rubber band on her hand. She had earlier taken it out to be washed at the river and left it out to air dry. One thing she hated most was having dirty hair. "Miss, we can not let you in," the same guard told her, and she had the mind to knock him out and force her way when the door opened, and Richard walked out. "Let her in," Richard said simply before returning inside, and Diana followed him, and this time, she was not stopped.
OTHER CLANS HAD come to take refuge in the Kingdom, therefore, limiting space and resources. It had been a busy week in the kingdom as more people were settling in. Diana saw less of the King as he was busy with the new clans.Diana had expected the influx of vampires into the kingdom. If the attacks persisted, there would be no more clans, just the main kingdom. The same was heard of the other kingdoms.She was preparing her plan for the alliance when she heard the warning bells ring. Her heart skipped a terrified beat when she recalled that Robin and Rudolph went into town to get supplies.Dropping the papers in her hands, she dashed out of the strategic room and ran through the corridors. She left the castle unseen and blended into the crowd of running vampires.She almost choked on the stench of so many vampires at once but focused on getting to her friends. Her wolf reeled back in re
DIANA FELT ON edge the closer it got to their death anniversary. She had a feeling something big was going to happen soon but she had no idea what.The day after the incident at the town centre she had a meeting with the strategic team to find a solution for the zombie attacks. She brought up the idea of capturing a living zombie for testing so they could find out what was used to create them.That way, they could create zombie specific weapons. Hence why at that moment, the soldiers were on the outskirts of the town on a zombie hunt. She stayed back with the planning team and doctors, preparing the lab for the zombie.The Vampires lacked scientists and the equipment the Fay people had but they would have to make do with what they had. It wasn't like they had another choice.Currently, she was watching her two friends argue with the doctors about whether bats were vampires or not. She could tell the
RudolphRUDOLPH'S HEART CLENCHED, and suddenly, all he could feel was this gut-wrenching agony that he knew was not his."What's wrong?" Robin asked upon seeing his pained expression."I don't kn...arrrgh!" Rudolph began, but from the stinging sensation from the black swirl in his back, he was cut short when he cried out.'The black swirl,' The thought popped up in his head, and as if on cue, realisation dawned on him."Ana!" Rudolph whispered to himself, and before he could process what he was doing, he was already fleeing the lab like his butt was on fire.It was not long before he reached the King's study and barged in without knocking.Scanning the room, Rudolph spotted the source of his discomfort sitting on the wall, shaking and whimpering with the King kneeling next to her. The sight of Diana's state was eno