Page 110 of Bite The Power That Feeds

“Because my hand will be on her ass.” He grabbed the pommel of the saddle and pulled himself onto the horse.

Clara came into the stable at that moment, wearing the armor Cobra had provided for her, looking like his queen.

He watched her secure her blade to the horse and climb onto her white mare.

Larisa came next, stunning in her red-and-black armor, my lifelong companion wrapped around her shoulders. Her dark hair moved in the breeze, her cape flowing behind her, the woman who’d captured my gaze and held it.

Her stare met mine when she felt my thoughts, felt my admiration. “Are you alright?”

“You know I’m alright.”

“I mean with your father.”

“My brothers can continue their relationship with him. But I’ve chosen not to.”

Instead of being relieved, she looked displeased. “Nothing has changed between us—”

“That’s not the point.”

“I know what he did was wrong, but he’s your father—”

“He didn’t apologize to me.”

Now she was quiet.

“He’s not sorry. Not sorry for hurting me. Not sorry for anything. He chose to ignore the issue or make excuses.”

She still had nothing to say.

“I don’t want to talk about this again.”

“Will you let him sit on the throne if we win?”

Death would be the only thing that would stop him at this point, and I wasn’t willing to cross that line. “I don’t care what he does.”

* * *

Larisa

There were far too many of us to take the same route to the kingdoms. Some of us went under the mountain through the hidden passage and the Dead Woods, but others took the more dangerous road over the mountain. Now that winter had ended, snow wouldn’t be in their path, so it was much easier to pass that way.

We made it to the valleys and Raventower, the first kingdom closest to Grayson, and continued forward. There were smaller kingdoms and villages outside the main city, but Magnion was the center of the kingdom, where the High King Orion ruled over the smaller kingdoms. A long time ago, the other kingdoms had moved behind the protection of the new wall in exchange for giving up their sovereignty. There were other kings, but their titles were only to preserve their line and status. In truth, they really didn’t mean anything, not when one true king ruled over everyone else.

I was certain King Orion was dead at this point. The Werewolf King would have killed him the second he’d invaded their kingdoms. Probably decapitated him and ate his head just to scare the shit out of everyone.

The wall was visible in the distance, taller than most castles, impenetrable from the outside. My night vision allowed me to see things in the pitch-darkness over great distances. I was certain we could see them, but they couldn’t see us at all.

We had to blow up the walls to enter, but I bet the werewolves would simply use their claws to climb over the edge—like fucking cockroaches.

Viper maneuvered his horse to come to Kingsnake’s side. “I’ll plant the devices and have the men detonate them simultaneously. In that time, we’ll need to break into the three groups so we’ll all be ready to charge once the way is clear.”

“Understood,” Kingsnake said.

“We’ll travel on foot to avoid detection.” Viper dismounted his horse, gathered his men and his supplies, and departed.

Now this truly became real.

Kingsnake met with Cobra and his father. “Let’s separate our armies. Once those walls come down, we charge. Those with horses go first to clear out the people in our way.”