Blood filled the air, familiar and acrid, yet he shoved it away following the scent of the wind drifting over the border. The colder air of the vampire lands carried the scent of rock and dead trees. It was a scent that would likely haunt his dreams well into his old age.The first time he’d gone over the border. He’d lost ten men in total to the vicious vampires crawling and hissing over the craggy rock. It had been an ambush that had awakened a darkness in him and stained his aura with the scent of blood. The werewolf who had leaked the plan to the vampire forces had been a part of the conspiracy that had ended his mother’s life. The werewolf had ended up dead after a near week of torture, and Adolph had walked back to camp with the surviving men smelling of blood and burning flesh. Anger and grief had consumed him then. Now, it just bubbled at the back of his mind urging him to go over the edge again. The border was up ahead and a part of him drew back from going in fear. They w

The strife of the Gray Ash pack had been a long-standing issue when she had been Laura. The fall of their village had haunted Laura and spurred her into more aggressive action. Basil had agreed to the increase in taxes set forth by the ministry and refused to set aside money to send out an envoy with supplies when the crops were hit with a disease. Laura had forgone what remained of her budget to get a convoy together with supplies only to find there weren't enough crops to send due to the last-minute party Basil threw at the time. When the updated census had reported that the entire village had died, she wept for days and started making plans for pack village requirements, including having food stores for the winter. She had fought with the minister of agriculture and general affairs about it and the national food stores, but the endeavor had never gone through as Laura had died before she could get them to sign it.“What… happened to you?”His eye blinked and he looked down for a m

Adolph looked up at the three vampires, “We have a deal.”“Good,” the man said. The two vampires rounded the canyon toward another path, but the man who spoke didn’t move for a moment before turning away. When they were out of hearing range, Adolph turned to Sam, Lynn, and two others. “You four, will follow that one back to their camp and get as much information as you can about what’s actually happening. You are not to engage if you can help it.”Sam nodded, “And if we find Luna Laurel?”“Bring her back to our camp.” Adolph turned, “The rest of you will follow me to storm the castle. If there's any chance we might finally be free of the vampire queen, we’ll take it.”They agreed. Sam, Lynn, and the two others handed off their cloaks and began tracking the vampire away from their meeting place. Adolph sent up a prayer to the moon goddess for Laurel’s safety and followed the pair of vampires down another long road. Chasel drew close. “Sire,” Chasel began. “What’s the plan?”“Retriev

It had been nearly two days since the attack on the city and Adolph had gone to recover Laurel. Raven had been pacing the office she’d been given with nervous and fretful strides. Her brother was strong, valiant, and brave, but everyone had their limits. She knew that Laurel’s near-death had nearly sent him over the edge. She couldn’t imagine what their abrupt separation was doing to him. She clasped her hands and sent up another prayer for Laurel’s safety and their timely reunion and return. She was certain that the entire temple was sending up the same prayer. The door opened and Henry entered with a grave expression. “What is it?”“Come with me and I’ll explain,” Henry sighed. “This is a *fucking mess*.”Raven didn’t know what was worse, the fact that he described it as a mess or that he cursed while doing it. Henry never cursed. They arrived in the meeting hall and her gaze lingered on the throne for a moment. She sat quietly beside Henry, trying to calm her racing fear that s

Adolph forced and fought his way through the seemingly never-ending waves of hostile vampires and was pleased to find that Eden’s forces were nearby, handling the burning of corpses with sharp sparks of flame in conjunction with the large basins dotted throughout the castle. It felt as though he’d waded through several thousand vampires before he felt a pulse of something shudder through the stone. The walls shook again like a heartbeat as he approached a pair of tall carved doors. He pushed it open and gasped seeing a man’s form gripping a woman by her hair. His face was buried in her neck as she gasped. Her eyes were dazed. Her gray eyes trembled as she dug her sharp talons into the man’s back. “Your… father…” she gasped as her skin turned dark and she began to disappear in a whirl of light and ash. The man drew back with a deep, heaving gasp. The walls pulsed around them. The flaming torches flickered and the flame turned a brilliant blue. The wind rushed through the halls as the