Family
We watch as the funeral pyre continues to burn. The forest is quiet as if giving us the space that we need. As the night gets colder, we slowly retreat back into the warmth of the house. We leave Bernard and his memory behind us where
he deserves to be
Kane
I wartin a tent for news of warriors expected to arrive soon. The only updates I’ve had so far are from the other side of the field where King Peter’s troops are growing by the number. He’s called on his allies, and King Myenas seems to have an endless supply of men. I don’t see the bannermen of my former allies, at least, so I know the other royals haven’t completely turned on me yet.
Rainer is outside talking to our soldiers, trying to keep morale up. There has been no word from King Cyrus or Queen Olga about sending more men and supplies. Emory and the wolf shifters haven’t arrived yet. I’m stuck sitting here staring at a battle map and feeling like a fool.
A fool about to lose everything.
I know I cannot fall into despair. The battle hasn’t even started. I am not completely without allies. Ivy and the High Priestess have upheld their end of the alliance and have sent witches to fight. There are at least fifty of them outside which could be considered a small amount, but their magic cannot be
underestimated in combat.
The witches are physically fragile, so I will need my men to protect them as they cast their spells and curses. If we have a good defense, the witches cant throw magic from a safe distance away and still take out numbers on the other
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* Koen Crewe with my mother and Lol she answers 1 missed you too.”
– ole her beautiful face in my hands and ss her, the time we spent apart Beeling likor years instead of days. She k*sses me back, and there’s
operation from both of us. The looming battle and the possibility of never weeing; mach other agam gives a bittersweetness to the k*ss, like this will be the laust time we get to do this. She opens her mouth, and I deepen the k*ss, savoring the taste of her as if I could stay in this moment and keep us here
Emory pants slightly when she pulls away “The other Alphas are outside along with the then ”
Teow many?”
“Around two thousand”
close my eyes in sebiet. I can work with those odds. We might win this war after all
love
Ti kowe you” i tell her “And not because you brought me an army.*
She smiles. Tkow, and i love you too
We have to leave the tent so I can greet all the Alphas. I’ve met the older ones Through our mutual alliance with Emory’s grandfather Alpha Colton back in the Bay is the parents of the newer Alphas, and it’s easy to see the redesblance among most of them Emory is the youngest, and it’s never
clearer as she stands beside them.
She’s got her whole life before her, but he’s about to fight in a war outlier avy to talk to her, further enough that the vampires with their super leng can’t eavesdrop on us.
“Are you sure about this?” I ask “You can go back to Moon Grove and stay with Michael”
“I told you I’m not going to leave your side,” she argues. “We’re in this together”
“If something were to happen, Michael should have at least one parent to take care of him…“I swallow hard. “I’ve been around a lot longer than you have You’ve got so much of your life left to live”
She pokes me hard on the shoulder. “Stop doing that.”
It doesn’t really hurt, but I rub at the spot anyway. “Doing what?”
“Your martyr King Kane act again,” she replies with an eyeroll. “I’m going to fight by your side, and you can’t stop me will claw and bite my way out of whatever cell you put me in ”
I sigh and look across the field. “There are eight thousand warriors on that side by our latest calculations. We have around four thousand. The odds aren’t terrible with the witches, but they’re not that good either.”
“Your grandfather went to war at Ruby Rivers with a thousand men against an army of four thousand and still won.” At my surprised expression, she explains, “I read up on the wars your kingdom has fought in during my pregnancy bed rest. I got bored.”
“I’m not my grandfather. He was an exceptional general.”
“Then be an exceptional general,” she counters. “You’ve done what no king before you has ever done, Kane. You’ve united vampires, shifters, and witches to fight for you. No matter what happens, they’re going to write books about you.”
I look around us at the different faces. Three different species have come together for a common cause. This is an unprecedented event. I’m living. history
“Okay. “I feel the weight of a future I am writi on my shoulders, an homage to the crown I’ve been wearing for decades, “Let do this.”
“Together.”
“Together.”
I’ve seen wolf shifters transform before, but I haven’t seen Emory shift yet. It’s quick. She kicks off the brown boots and plain grey dress she has on. She’s naked for a brief second before she leaps into the air for her body to mold and stretch itself into another form. Fur grows out of skin and limbs elongate into claws in split seconds.
A white wolf appears in Emory’s place. I look into her golden eyes and can still see Emory in there, I cautiously lift my hand to touch her, and she bumps her wet nose against my palm. She wags her tail excitedly.
“You are beautiful,” I say in awe.
Emory gives me a playful bark before she turns away quickly, running toward the other wolves. They stand at attention, waiting for orders. She’s the Alpha, and she’ll be leading them into war. Hope shines brightly within me like a beacon.
