DANTE
The day had finally arrived.
I was going into the lion’s den with guns blazing.
Despite several warnings and concerns, I was going into werewolf territory to meet Orville, the newly appointed Alpha. The stage had already been set thanks to Ellemea and he had agreed to talk.
I put the finishing touches on my suit in the throne room and heard a knock.
“Come in.”
Zander walked in and bowed. “My Lord, everyone is waiting for your lead. The witch Ellemea is also present, along with a special guest.”
“Oh?”
“He requests to see you.”
“Let him in.”
“As you please.”
The doors to the throne room closed and then reopened again. The clanking of the shots on the marble floor drew my attention until the silhouette could be visible.
“I like what you’ve done with the place, brother
“Alright, what’s the plan?”Ellemea and I turned to Simeon who was looking at us expectantly. “Well, we need to get to the barrier?” Ellemea offered.“True,” I concurred. “But the real plan is to see how this war can be avoided.” My gaze fell to the basket on Ellemea’s lap. “What’s the basket for?”I could smell the contents and it was definitely meat.“A peace offering. There’s an old saying among the witches that if you’re going to meet your enemy, you extend the olive branch. Wolves love meat so what better way to show them that we want peace than by giving them that which they love?”“It’s animal meat?” Simeon asked.“Deer,” she confirmed. “I bred it myself.” That explained it because there are not a lot of wild animals in North America.
DANTE“The barrier took quite sometime to create, and it has proven its solidity over the years, but I have no idea how it was infiltrated,” Dahlia lamented as we looked up ahead, “I checked and there seemed to be no cracks or breaks. It’s almost like whoever murdered the vampire guards was a ghost.”“Well someone must have done it,” Ellemea said. “We banished all the ghosts to the Han River centuries ago.”“Right,” Dahlia answered, but her demeanour looked unsettled. “Anywho, off to wolf territory you go. I would open a small section of the barrier and on my mark, you all would jump in. It’s going to take a considerable amount of my mana which is why I need you all to follow my lead. I won’t be joining you all on this journey, I’m afraid.”Thank heavens.“Why?”“Someone has to be here to protect the barrier and watch over it in
DANTE Ross and the rest of the hunters led us to a house, similar to the ones we had seen before, in the middle of nowhere. It was the only one amongst long trees and grasses. We were told to wait and we’d be attended to soon. They offered us coffee, biscuits, human food. My brother and I, along with my guards declined respectively, but Ellemea had worked up quite the appetite and ate for all of us. We were being watched. I could sense that there was a presence more than just us in the house. Ross and the other hunters had left us claiming that their work had ended. I glanced at the wooden staircase, decorated with a Persian rug, but I saw nothing, or at least no one. Maybe I was being paranoid. “Have you thought about what you want to say to Orville? Simeon asked, his hands leaning on the granite kitchen table counter-top. Ellemea paused what she was eating and looked at me with expectation. I shrugged. “Not really.” I wasn’t going to wing the meeting by any
“What the fuck?” Ellemea gasped. Well, that’s terrible. I would never kill one of my own with a dagger. That’s just stupid. Species of the same feather were supposed to flock together not use their weaknesses against each other. Those kids didn’t deserve to die like that, regardless of what they had done.“I don’t know how he was able to cover those murders up because he is supposed to be banished for those crimes by virtue of werewolf law.”“Did you tell all this to Seb?”Aila nodded and clenched her fists. “I did and I handed him the documents to prove that Orville was a murderer.”“What did he do?” I asked. Certainly he should have been banished, just like Aila said.“It definitely hurt him, the information about his best friend, but the last thing he told me regarding the matter was that he was going to report the matter to the tribe elders. That was the l
DANTE“Well,” I started. I hated being in the middle of arguments. “Your sister does have a point, Aila. There’s a bounty on your head and fleeing would be the best choice. Plus, how are you going to take down Orville alone? You may be a witch and you are no doubt as powerful as your sister, however toppling an Alpha, with his Hunters, is no small task.”Simeon picked up where I left off. “You don’t have an army. You’re a one woman show. That’s a double homicide.”“Thank you.” Ellemea said.“However, I admire your sense of duty and loyalty to your people. You truly are a Luna,” I praised.“Thank you, Dante.”“It still doesn’t mean she should let herself get killed. I would definitely not stand for it.” Ellemea, adamant as ever. I would react the same way if I knew one of my own was attempting a suicide mission. What Aila is tryin
DANTE“Your accent always betrays you, Simeon. You are not from here. You’d go back to Europe soon so I guess, I could tell you to provide backup for your brother and Ellemea. If there were ever to be a war, heavens forbid on the same scale as the Meritan War, then they’d need all the help they can get.”“Yes ma’am.”“Voices,” Ellemea suddenly said. “Footsteps and voices are approaching!”“I hear it too. Heavy footsteps,” Aila corroborated. I couldn’t hear it and I doubt my brother could too because of the concealment spell Aila placed on here to block all outsiders. There was a sense of urgency in her tone as she rose up from her stool. “The steps are getting closer. Ellemea, keep that phone safe. I’m going to break the spell and leave.”Ellemea held her sister’s hand. “Wait, where would you go? How would you survive? What would happen
DANTEWe were taken to an empty house, emptier than the one we had been in. This one had no furnishing, it was just white-coloured space with a large expanse of room. I had no idea why we were brought here, Ross and the two others who escorted us in the Jeep gave no other explanation for this. The house was however heavily guarded, hell it almost looked like they were hiding forbidden treasure in here. I could hear the whispers among the guards: some were checking to see if Orville would be arriving sooner, others taking care of logistics while some were discussing Aila’s situation. I was still wrapping my head around all that she had revealed to us and what I could do to help her.She said she wanted to work solo and we let her. For her sake, I hope she really knew what she was doing.“So are we just going to stand here again?” Simeon complained. “I don’t think these people realize that we’re Princes.”
DANTE “Now that we’re introduced, I was told that this meeting was of utmost importance How could I not attend?.” He beckoned Ross and gave him a few instructions which I could not hear. “It is.” I confirmed. “Why don’t we head upstairs? It’s more comfortable and conducive for a chat.” “That would be lovely,” Ellemea answered for us. Orville led the way, with the Hunters in tow and we moved down the hallway to the room on the right. He opened the door and it led us straight to a large bedroom which was already furnished. “I would’ve formally invited you to the Alpha Base but it is being renovated as we speak. There are a couple of leaks in the roof,” he explained. I nodded and he pulled out two chairs for Simeon and I to sit on. “Ellemea, you can have the bed. I’ll just stand.” On the bedside table, there was a champagne flute and a chilled bottle in a stainless steel filled with ice. Orville popped the cork open and poured the wine in