Arthur woke at first light, prepared to leave Brown Valley. Daphne watched from afar as he designated one of the members of the pack as the alpha and said his final goodbyes. The new alpha and his wife seemed honored to take on the responsibility and happy together.“Perhaps next time you come to visit, you’ll introduce us to your wife?” The luna said with a kind smile at Daphne.Daphne’s face burned with embarrassment and she ducked her head.“If I ever come back,” Arthur said, stiffly. “It will be after she is my wife.”Daphne gasped at his words as the alpha smirked and nodded. They had talked about many things, but marriage wasn’t one of them. While she wanted him to start thinking about what he wanted for the future and making decisions for himself, wasn’t there a better way to broach the topic of marriage?Arthur turned and transformed into his wolf form. The crowd nearby gasped as D

Arthur woke up with a little smile. They’d spent most of the night tangled together and in the throes of pleasure, whispering sweet things to each other. Daphne had passed out sometime in the middle. As far as he could tell, she would remain asleep well into the afternoon if he left her undisturbed.Arthur had stayed up for several hours after Daphne had passed out, thinking it over. The thought that maybe if someone had stepped up to unite the werewolf kingdom, or if they could have agreed to remain united, he and Alma would not have grown up the way they had burned him.If even the most remote packs could receive aid specific to their issues instead of whatever they could trade for, it would be worth a bit of discomfort. He dressed for the day, finding his hands steady as he looked over at Daphne.If the werewolf kingdom was unified, those creatures and whatever other threats that could come into the territory could be stopped.He could protect Da

Daphne had been right. The first person she saw after leaving their room the day after their wedding had been Mamie. The woman had given her a knowing and teasing look and Daphne had nearly burst into flames with embarrassment. She had survived lunch and escaped the room, hoping to find something to occupy her time. She spent some time talking with the head maid and Tom about the duties expected of her and Arthur.Her duties seemed to revolve around supporting Arthur in his duties. She hadn’t known how important that would be until she sat in on the first meeting. Two remote packs were in conflict with one another about water and land rights.Daphne thought it made sense to share the resources, exchanging one for the other or working out some other arrangement, but the two alphas just wanted to maintain control and exclusive rights over each other or merge their packs under one leadership.“I’m older and my family has been leading my pack since

Daphne urged the horses to run faster around another bend in the road and her heart lurched as a large, fallen tree trunk came into view. She might have been able to clear it if she were riding the horse alone, but the cart wouldn’t be able to make the jump.She looked for some reason to drop the cart and found nothing when she heard Arthur call out.“Daphne! Turn back!”Daphne heard his voice, relieved, and urged the horse to slow down. She stopped and looked back down the path as Arthur trotted to her. The creatures were gone, likely dead or escaped. He was covered with injuries, blood, and dirt, but he wasn’t bleeding profusely.It was a small comfort.Again, those creatures had tried to kidnap her, seemingly determined to take her to wherever they had planned, but they didn’t seem to want to harm her. It was nothing like when Owen kidnapped her, but it only made her more anxious.What could they possibly wan

Tom had watched Arthur grow into his role as king with a deep sense of pride, but he had never seen this deeply pensive and suspicious look on Arthur’s face until today.“Your Majesty?” Tom asked. “You seem pensive.”“We never found Owen’s body,” Arthur said.“What are you getting at?”“Who else would know enough about the werewolf kingdom, and where Sharp Armor is? Who else would have a reason to give such information to the vampires?” Arthur thought back to their battle and how determined Owen had been to prove that he was stronger than Arthur no matter what. He’d wanted Arthur to be just like him. “If there was anyone I suspect to be behind why the vampires attacked where they did, it would be him.”Based on what Owen knew about Arthur and the feud that had left them both orphans, Arthur was willing to bet he knew a bit about the vampires.Tom frowne