Filed to story: Owned by the Alphas Novel
Derik nodded. “We need to assess damages and attend to the wounded. We’ll see you tonight at the border clearing to hear what you have to say,” Derik offered.
Lucien bowed. “Thank you, Alphas. Luna. We’ll see you tonight,” he said, then turned away and left.
Derik was with me in a second, pulling me off Kai, who huffed. Derik assessed me, growling when he found the blood on my head. It was long healed, though.
Everything was healed, so I kissed him. “I’m okay,” I whispered, then smiled and snuggled into him.
Brax ran his fingers down my back, then helped Kai hold himself up.
“Let’s go check on the city. We need to make sure this isn’t another trap,” I sighed, not meaning to side with Kai. But I had learned that trust was earned, and the vamps definitely didn’t have it.
But I trusted Derik, and I trusted that things couldn’t always be bad. Not when there was a balance to maintain.
We spent the next few hours cleaning and healing. The city was destroyed where the main fights had been, but it was salvageable. Most of the pack that were hurt were healing.
We sent a team out to the clearing to watch over it and make sure we weren’t being set up.
By the time we had to meet the vampires, most of the pack was okay enough to be there. And most of them were just as intrigued as we were to know what the vamps wanted.
The humans had gone home to fix their own villages and grieve. They had lost more than we had, but they had held their own. The beast and Adrenna had helped, but being human had clearly pissed them off.
They had gone back to the villages with the others, Ryleigh and Vaughn leading them. Mom and Galen had stayed behind with us.
We had the twins with us, in a carriage with my mom as the rest of us walked alongside it toward the clearing.
Lucien was already there when we got there. He wore all white and smiled easily.
And he was alone.
I frowned, sending my shadows out to see if there were any others lurking.
“I’m alone. To prove this is not a setup of any kind,” he said, knowing what we were all thinking.
“We’re here. Say what you need to say,” Derik said.
Lucien nodded and held his hands behind his back.
“Silas has been a tyrant for the last few centuries. We’ve been under the thumb of him, and it has been weary on our souls. We are vampires; we crave blood but we don’t crave violence. We live pretty solitary lives as long as our blood supply is maintained.”
He looked at all of us, carrying on his plight. “Silas is dead. We don’t have to do what his will construes anymore. The hive follows me and cannot exact a will that is not my own. And what I want for the vampires? Freedom,” he said.
Kind of sounded like a vampire Derik. I liked him. My shadows didn’t recoil. My magic didn’t burn at my fingertips. My skin didn’t goosebump.
It was as close to trust as I could offer.
“What does your freedom mean? And what is the cost?” Derik asked.
“Fractum broke our territories, but we can still cohabitate. I propose that we have a council. For all the races. Seats for vampires, seats for humans, seats for wolves.
Realm decisions, we make together,” he offered.
We all waited in tense silence. The wolves were wary, but I knew Derik was taking it in. It was exactly what he wanted.
“Keep talking, vamp,” Brax urged.
“We’ll keep our territory to the usual boundary line. You keep your city. Humans have the grassland. The forest is shared, the lake is shared. We come and go where we please without killing or harming each other.”
It was a dream. But was it plausible in a realm where a millennia of lore has taught the races to hate each other?
“No violence unless provoked. We create rules for the races that all must follow. We make this a realm worth living in. For all in it,” he said.
“The rogues have the water villages,” I said.
Lucien nodded. “We’re aware. One of the things to discuss as a council. Not because we don’t agree with your decision to help them. But because we were under the impression the deal was only there if they supported you in the war? I don’t see them.”
I pursed my lips. He was right. I frowned and looked to my Alphas. Brax looked the most crestfallen.
“Did you have anything to do with that?” he asked.
Lucien shook his head. “We’ve been watching them too. Silas ordered it as a potential change in plans. But they made no movement to help,” he explained.
I would deal with them later, but for now? We had a council to create. It was a prospect I was actually looking forward to.
“A council. The leaders of each race on it. Rules to abide by. It would be a big change, but we are in agreement, it would be for the better. Our only concern is the bloodlust,” Derik portrayed the pack’s feelings expertly.
Lucien nodded as if he had been expecting that. “Understandably. Which is why we are proposing a volunteer system. We will feed off each other like we have for years with the border. But we would be grateful for any volunteers,” he asked.
Galen growled low, but Lucien bowed his head to him, offering no challenge. “Only for our young. During their teen years, the lust is hard to control. We have to keep them separated, locked up until it passes. We would like to stop doing that with the help of humans who offer.”
He kept talking before anyone could interrupt. “But we understand if this is not possible. In exchange for blood, we would be willing to offer our toxin. It can be turned into weapons like the ones that were used against us today. As a security precaution for the humans,” he said.
That told me everything I needed to know about what they were doing. Lucien really wanted to fix things.
“I vote yes,” I said in the link.
The pack was wary but agreeable, and my alphas? They were on board too.
Anything that helped keep us safe was a good thing.
“The wolves are agreeable,” Derik said, nodding in return.
I turned to Mom, who was leaning down to Galen out of the carriage. She eyed Lucien with fierce eyes.
“We would like peace too. And we have volunteers,” she said.
Lucien smiled warmly at her. “We thank you,” he said.
“We’ll discuss the terms, then bind an agreement in blood,” Derik said.
Lucien nodded, and for the next hour, we came up with an agreement that had my heart full.
The rules, the territories, the contingencies, everything. It was everything our realm needed for a fresh start.
My alphas and I, Lucien, and my mom all stepped forward to cut our hands.
Blood met blood as we dripped them onto the parchment Derik had put the agreement on. The second we did, the words glowed on our skin, binding us to the contract.
The words seeped in, and the contract melted away, the blood taking it over until there was nothing. But it was in my head. Every statement and clause was seared into my memory just like the one I had taken at the ceremony that had started everything.
We all took a moment to enjoy the peace that oath gave us.
The second we did, the sky broke. The darkness opened, and the sun poked through.
It beamed down on us, the rays spreading as winter was silenced by the spring.
Flowers slowly bloomed around us, the last of the snow melted away, light filling every crevice.
A fresh morning for a fresh start.
Winter was over. And so was the war.
41. The Peace
LORELAI
I lay on the soft blanket, looking up at the clear sky. The wind brushed across my body, my light white dress flowing with it.
The grass around me moved with the wind, as if the blades were waving. They seemed as happy as I was to finally feel the sun. It beamed down on me, and I smiled with my eyes closed. I soaked it up, the warmth seeping into my skin.
My stomach fluttered, and I grinned, holding it. It was still flat, but Cain said I would grow fast as the luna. I was excited to feel the baby inside me and build on the love that was already there for it.
I turned my head to the twins who were sitting up, using their shadows to keep them up. They learned insanely fast, developing quicker than I remembered the human children in the village doing. Brax was behind Zale, ready to catch him if he fell. Kai was doing the same for Enzi. I peered over at them and smiled; the sun highlighted them in a way that made me full with all the good things I had been missing the last few months.
Zale grabbed his rattle and sucked on the end, as Enzi tried to grab it from him, almost falling into him. Zale shook it, then let it go so it landed in front of Enzi. She giggled and kicked her legs excitedly, reaching for it.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?