Page 153
Story: May the Wolf Die
Elyndra helped him from the table and took him back to his home as Cavelli returned to his spot. “We found him wandering the forests on his own around one hundred years ago, and took him in before the king could discover him. He never was quite right, and I fear his last days may finally be upon him.”
Maybe that was surprising or sad for the vampyrs here, but it still seemed like he’d had a good, long life, especially if he’d spent most of it in a community like this. Of course, having to live in hiding wasn’t ideal, but the vampyrs and their families seemed happy here.
“Alright, what else can you tell us about the king and his army?” Camden asked, shuffling the kid onto his other knee.
We talked long into the night. The vampyrs and their servaglios told us as much as they could about the kingdom’s current workings, but since they’d lived in hiding for so long, a lot of it could be out of date. Then they drew us some maps, went over the local flora and fauna, and when there wasn’t much else to teach us, we began to discuss the difference in culture between the shifters and vampyrs who had migrated to Earth versus the ones who’d remained.
When Kian described how he’d grown up, and how most vampyrs didn’t care to socialize much with others outside of their sex clubs, Cavelli grabbed Elyndra’s hand, bringing it to his lips. “That doesn’t sound too dissimilar from the parties you’ll find at the king’s court. Back when our kind were welcomed members, we lived like that as well, pursuing pleasure at the cost of stronger ties with our loved ones. Once the king began hunting us down and we were forced to live together like this, we found we actually preferred it to the debauchery.”
I cradled the sleeping toddler—I still didn’t know who his parents were—against me while I looked around the small village, at all the vampyrs and fae females still awake, laughing and talking. Shifters had lived like this, back in the day, but we too had changed. Had it been due to the loss of our wolves? Our omegas? Or just the demands of modern life on Earth?
Moon, I missed Marlowe. Having her in our home had felt like this, like we were more than just shifters who were barely a pack.
She had made us feel like we were a family.
As though my thoughts could summon her, she spoke clear and quickly in our minds.
I have a chance to escape. I’m taking it. Where are you?
64
MARLOWE
As dinner wore on, Sarai found her pointed barbs towards me weren’t landing like she’d hoped, mostly because I didn’t give a crap what happened in this world or what the fae thought of me, and out of bitchy resignation joined the conversation I was having with her daughters and Canna. We laughed at the males’ expense, swapping funny stories of them all while Alaroth grew less and less enthused.
“…and the idiot thought to surprise me with a garden!” Sarai laughed, the wine sloshing out of her glass as she moved her hands wildly. “Conveniently forgetting how terribly allergic I am to pollen!”
I kept my mouth shut, remembering how my mom used to drag us to the Boerner Botanical Gardens outside Milwaukee at least once a month when we were kids. Ezra clocked the connection as well, clearing his throat nervously. “I mean, most females like flowers, don’t they?”
It was a valiant effort to defend poor Nivardi, but Sarai just scoffed. “Please, I am not a peasant.”
“I like flowers,” Canna replied, batting her eyelashes at Ezra. He shifted in his chair, and the perfume Canna released into the air was… potent, and I took a quick sniff.
Cinnamon and clove, nice. Ezra’d always loved Christmas. Not that I cared about him anymore.
“Canna, would you like to hear about the time my brother and his friends decided to start a rock band and performed for our school’s talent show? Spoiler alert—it didnotgo well.”
She giggled and nodded enthusiastically, while Ezra grumbledunder his breath. “Oh, for fuck’s sake.”
Alaroth let out a big, annoyed sigh, sitting back in his chair with a scowl on his face. I was sure this dinner wasn’t going the way he’d wanted or expected it to, but I couldn’t have cared less.
Hey babe, what do you think of the fae king?
Cam’s voice spoke in my mind, as clearly as if he were sitting right next to me. I took in a deep breath, half expecting to smell cedar and cardamom in the air around me. Alaroth clocked the way my eyes glazed over at our internal communication, and I pretended to look at a painting facing away from him while I replied.
He’s a giant douche and I fantasize about shifting and ripping out his throat constantly. Why?
I felt the packs’ amusement from the bond.
No reason. Stay safe.
Love you.
“So, Nivardi, will the troops be ready tomorrow morning?”
I snapped back to the present conversation. “Ready for what?” I asked. They couldn’t seriously already be thinking about attacking Earth, could they?
Nivardi nodded. “Yes, of course.”
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153 (Reading here)
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182
- Page 183
- Page 184
- Page 185
- Page 186
- Page 187
- Page 188
- Page 189
- Page 190
- Page 191