⚠ ⚠The chapter gets extremely violent. Read at your own discretion ⚠⚠

The meeting with Vlad left Erinna with fierce longing. She yearned to be rejoined with him. Practically, it wouldn't take much because whilst her teleporting still left room for improvement, it was not entirely terrible. The only thing holding her in place was moral obligation and duty.

How could she leave her people to the mercy of the werewolves? Her father had struck a deal with them, a rescue in exchange for her hand in marriage. Leaving before the matter was settled would give Zachary Zahid the impression that her father was renegading on the deal and make him launch a war on Ellingsdale.

The only bloodless way was taking Zane's deal. He had agreed to release her from the obligation if she gave him four weeks of her time. Erinna realized he hoped to change her mind in that time and get her to marry him but it would be easier to get an elf into a cemetery than it would be to get her to change her mind. She was pledged to Vlad, body and soul.

Keeping the werewolves under control would be easy, Vlad on the other hand... She had tried all methods in the book, from coercion to threats, pleading and even downright lying but none of them had worked. He had pretended to entertain her pleas but she knew Vlad and could always read the bloodlust in his eyes.

A war on its own was bad but a war where he was guaranteed to get hurt was not one she could stand. He had brushed off her vision but the bet was too high for her. Visions were no guarantee of the future but just the possibility of him getting hurt twisted her in knots of fear and dread.

If Vlad came to Silvercrest, he would be coming to meet his death but there was no stopping him. Perhaps the only thing which remained was trying to figure out the werewolves plan to hurt him and put an end to it. But before that, she needed to ensure the safety of her people.

A knock came on her door. She knew already it was Zane.

"Come in."

The door opened and he darkened the doorway. The smile on his face quickly disappeared as he stepped into the room and his eyes glanced at all corners searchingly.

"Is everything alright?" She asked.

Still feeling high from her encounter with Vlad in her dreams, she could afford to be civil to even her captor.

The man was nice but she had absolutely no interest in him. Her initial plan had been to be amiable to him until the four weeks he had requested were over and they could all go their separate ways peacefully with no bloodshed but the vision had changed everything.

"Sorry, I just thought I smelt a vampire on you."

He began sniffing the air and Erinna's heart skipped a beat. Discreetly, she let her hair cover the side of her neck where evidence of Vlad's teeth was still visible from the previous night. The covers hid her ravaged dress and the blood stains since Vlad had gotten a little to carried away the previous night. He had healed the flesh he had clawed and shredded but the dull ache was still residing beneath her skin.

"And I thought Vlad was the most paranoid person I know." She smiled, her expression composed and unalarmed.

"No, I can really smell a vampire and blood in this room."

Erinna willed away the panic before it arrived and thought of an excuse. Zane had animal senses and could not be fooled.

"Zane if you csn smell blood, it's because... well we shouldn't discuss it," she blushed.

She was blushing because she was recalling the events of her rendezvous with Vlad but Zane misunderstood it just as she had known he would. He looked like he had swallowed an entire fish skeleton. His suspicion was replaced by embarrassment and remorse. It amused Erinna, Vlad had never been shy about her cycle.

"I am so dense, heavens Erinna, you should kick me in the head. I never, I mean if I had realized it was your moon time, sorry- strawberry week, I mean time of blooming, I would have never said anything. Forgive me, sweetheart."

Erinna knew she would not be going to heaven but he looked so adorable as he bounced from euphemism to euphemism, trying to find something appropriate. She bit her lip to withhold the laughter bubbling inside her.

"Zane, it's fine."

"Are you sure, I would understand if you never wanted to talk to me."

It was an arrangement she could not altogether mind but she did not want to raise suspicions whilst she looked for a way out of this mess so she assured him he had not scandalized her.

They went to the kitchen where Zane's mother had prepared breakfast. Erinna had thought she'd imagined it on their first meeting; but the second one confirmed that Eleanor Zahid indeed had no warm feelings towards her. The animosity was actually hard to ignore.

"I don't think your mother likes me very much," she said to Zane after breakfast as they walked around the castle.

"She just takes time to adjust to new people. She is not quick to trust."

A wise woman then, Erinna thought. And possibly a hindrance to her plans. She wanted to teleport out of Silvercrest to avoid the war and avert the prophecy but there was no guarantee of that. Vlad could still attack the werewolves and get hurt.

Besides, she was not a coward. Running away would leave her people who were in Silvercrest vulnerable and Zachary would punish them for her crimes. The best thing to do was assess the territory and defence systems and see how she could get the elves in Silvercrest out without alerting Zachary.

Once they were out, Erinna would ask Vlad his sorcerers so they could help fortify Ellingsdale and make it werewolf-impenetrable.

"No werewolf questions for me today?" Zane asked after she had been quiet for a long time.

"Tell me about dark wolves."

"I can tell you how to kill one," he said making her laugh.

"I'm not going to kill your brother for you, Zane."

"That's a shame. I'm always close to doing it. Cole knows just what to do to piss people off."

It reminded her of Alexander and Vlad. They got on each other's nerves but it did not hide the love they felt for each other. It was clear in their eyes although Vlad would donate a fang and perhaps his immortality before admitting he even liked Alexander.

"I heard he can't turn?" She asked, not sure if Zane knew that his brother had finally shifted. It was not her secret to give away.

"Well, most of them can't. Dark wolves were the original wolves. They possessed the purest werewolf genes, raw and undiluted."

"But you and Cole are brothers, wouldn't that mean...?"

"That I'm a dark wolf too? No, it doesn't work that way. They are reincarnated and emerge, every five hundred or so years in chosen individuals. It has happened nine times ever since four thousand years ago when your boyfriend ran us to the ground. Cole is the tenth."

It made Erinna angry how Zane callously referred to Vlad's actions, as if they were those of a senseless child throwing a tantrum after breaking his favorite toy.

It seemed no one in Silvercrest was keen on remembering that the reason Vlad had come after them in the first place four thousand years back was because of the cold blooded way they had treated him. Their sacrifice of Vlad's sister to the moon had been barbaric and inhumane.

"Among the ten dark wolves who have lived, only four were activated. The others died with their powers locked away and unable to turn. It's why my father is so afraid of Cole. He is afraid that if Cole meets his Accorded Mate and turns, he would automatically become the Master Alpha."

In the short time she'd been there, Erinna had found out that Zachary Zahid did not hold his bastard son in very high regard. He was very attentive to Zane but ignored Cole to the point of rudeness in the times he was not insulting him and unmanning him in front of others. How very ironic that the very bastard son he detested would be the one he would now have to bow down to.

"So your father would be forced to step down?" She asked.

"Yes; but that is not the part which bothers father, he knows his time has run out. What he wants is for me to be the Master Alpha. That will not happen if Cole turns."

"Do you want to be the Master Alpha?"

"Cole has some qualities that I lack and I have some he lacks too. If he were to indeed turn, I'd assist him in leading the pack; just as I'd want him to help me if the responsibility were to fall on me."

There were no lies in his eyes, whatever he said, it came from the heart. He truly was noble. Unlike his father, Zane was not after power or control; he genuinely cared for the welfare of his people.

What further endeared him to Erinna was how much he loved his step-brother despite their father's efforts to alienate them. Whatever sibling rivalries they had, when the time came, Cole and Zane would come through for each other.

"That is really noble," she said truthfully.

He laughed, "Or stupid as father tells me. He thought if I married you, no one would demand Cole be the alpha."

It shocked Erinna Zane would tell her this.

"Is that why you are so insistent on this engagement?"

He stopped, turning to face her.

"When I agreed to the deal, it was to indulge father. Plus I figured it was a union that could benefit both races. You are royalty; you aren't a stranger to arranged marriages, Erinna. It was really not a big deal to me, but you have to understand my feelings have changed ever since I actually met you. It is no longer just your hand I'm after, but your heart as well."

He was strong, noble, courageous, honest, caring, and good-looking. He radiated happiness and content. There were no skeletons in his closet, no baggage following him. If someone would take Vlad without all the dark parts of him, they'd probably come up with Zane.

He was the more perfect version of her mate; yet as she looked into his eyes pouring his heart out for her, Erinna felt nothing. As imperfect as he was, it'd always be Vlad. She would take him any day with his weaknesses and shortcomings.

A guard's approach saved Erinna from having to make a reply which would no doubt extinguish the hopeful sparkle in Zane's azure blue eyes.

"Alpha, your father wishes to speak to you."

"Now that's a shame. Will you meet me later for tea?" Zane asked Erinna.

What was it with werewolves and tea? She was too polite to refuse but her stomach was still too full from all the tea Zane's mother had kept giving her.

☕ ☕☕☕☕☕☕☕☕

"We lost seven men, my lord," Jeffrey announced as soon as soon as Vlad arrived in the castle at the break of dawn.

His mind was overloaded already and he didn't need the kind of stress his commander had brought for him. He needed to get to Erinna fast before she did something stupid like give herself over to a dog in some misplaced heroic act of trying to save him.

"Even if you come here Vlad, it won't be to come back with me. I'm accepting Zane's proposal."

Even if her lying was not worse than Alexander's, the bond betrayed her. Her feelings for him channeled through it, making him more assured of what they had than any words could ever manage. Even the very hounds of hell wouldn't keep him away.

It was just like Erinna to try to protect everyone but it was time his bride knew he was a grown up vampire, quite capable of handling himself. He wasn't fool enough to discredit her visions of course since they had always been frustratingly spot on. But as she herself always told him, the future was not set in stone. Him being killed by the dogs was one possible outcome, albeit a very far-fetched one and one that wouldn't be happening.

He felt better after having her blood. His veins were no longer raging and he was almost thinking rationally again but something was nagging his mind.

When he had taken her blood, he had thought it tasted different because of fear and adrenaline but was that all? There was something else and it teased him from the periphery of his mind but for the life of him, he could not put his hand on it and that frustration made sure that he was well on his way to lashing out at anyone when Jeffrey approached him.

Waiting was annoying him. Something else, something much bigger was happening in Silvercrest and he wanted to get Erinna from the line of fire as soon as possible. As soon as Nicolai brought him news, he would mobilize his army. It was already getting hard to keep his claws and fangs under control, even they were sensing they were about to be involved in the biggest blood fest of the century.

"How?" He asked.

"Wolves."

He gritted back annoyance. "I leave you alone for less than three hours and you let my men get slaughtered by a bunch of dogs? Did I overestimate your capabilities when I gave you this job, Commander?" he growled, madness gleaming in his eyes because of the blood rush he still had from feeding.

To his credit, Jeffrey stood his ground.

"I have served you for more than three thousand years. We are not friends but you know me. You know I would give my life before I let anyone touch what is yours."

"Forgive me if I find that hard to believe since dogs seem to be always attacking on your watch."

He knew it was his anger talking. He was angry at the situation, at fate and at the whole damn universe for the tragic turn that his relationship with Erinna always took. Imagining himself hanging Jeffrey by his entrails distracted him from the truth of his own feelings. It made him not think of how it was hurting him, both physically and emotionally to be separated from the one who was his very soul.

"I really won't answer that," Jeffrey said wisely.

Something in the Count wanted to lash out at the man for his insolence; but it intrigued him that finally there was someone who could actually stand up to him without quaking. His honor demanded he grant the man his life because of his courage and for that reason Jeffrey remained alive. As alive as a vampire could be anyway.

"How did it happen?"

It didn't make sense that the wolves would attack soon after taking Erinna. They had what they wanted already.

"They did not attack but they poisoned the wells in the human village when they came for the Countess. Eighteen men who went to the village to feed caught the virus that the werewolves have been spreading. We managed to isolate and restrain eleven before they killed themselves or do something stupid."

So now his army was almost halved in size and those who were left could not feed because their food source was contaminated. Wonderful.

"Are the humans who drank the water well?"

"They appear to be immune to it," Jeffrey replied.

How had the werewolves come upon such a deadly virus? He was not the most affectionate man out there and he wanted to kill his prodigies more than half the time but they were his. Whatever happened to them felt like it happened to him because they were his children, the blood of his blood.

Watching them go rabid with blood lust and suffering under a mind control that made them want to kill him when they had been sworn to serve him, was torture.

Their blood oath to him made it near impossible for them to betray him so rather than hurting him, they ended up just killing themselves. Those who did not kill themselves suffered under the virus until all their flesh had fallen off whilst sinking into slow raging insanity the whole time.

"Do we have any means of creating an antidote?" Vlad asked.

"Armando and the others are working on it but I don't see anything coming out of it. Should I put them to rest?" Jeffery said, referring to the infected vampires.

"No. We're leaving for Silvercrest at dusk. We should be able to find the antidote there."

The commander nodded.

There was commotion at the door. The repugnant odor of rotting flesh and burnt clothes hit him first before the person appeared.

"I said leave me alone!" Ingrid shouted at the guards who tried to hold her back.

Vlad nodded at them, telling them to let her come in. She walked in on shaky legs, her whole face covered by some black veil. He waited until she had reached him and fallen to her knees at his feet, her face bowed. It was not before him that she needed to crawl.

The slap when it came rang throughout the whole castle; startling and petrifying all those who heard it. Ingrid did not have the opportunity to react to it because it sent her flying through the air and broke her neck. Vlad flexed his hand as he looked in disgust at the woman who had ruined his life.

He had the pleasure of seeing that the fugitive life had not been kind to her. Or perhaps karma. With her veil knocked off, her face was there for all to see and every vampire in the room turned aside, fighting bile. All with the exception of Vlad. It left much to be desired about his sanity of mind but he was enjoying the moment.

Every blister oozing blood and pus, filled him with satisfaction. It was not enough punishment for Ingrid ruining what he had with Erinna, but it made him feel a hell of a lot better that wherever she had been hiding, she had been suffering just as Erinna had suffered from their betrayal.

Her face distorted and burnt beyond endurance, was hardly recognizable. Normal burns would have healed in a matter of minutes but it seemed whatever damage Erinna wrought, was permanent unless she chose to take it back.

She had already offered to heal Ingrid but Vlad would never let her. As far as he was concerned, Ingrid would walk her whole life dripping blood and carrying rotten wounds as a reminder of her betrayal to Erinna. She did not owe her anything but as long as he was alive, the same loyalty that his vampires accorded to him, would always be accorded to Erinna.

"What's that smell?" Alexander asked, coming into the room. His words sounded muffled because of how he was covering his nose with his arm.

"The vampire barbecue there," Vlad said with more amusement than should have been appropriate in the circumstances.

"Wow-guess who's finally home? Where did you find it?"

"She turned herself over."

"Please let me kill her. I don't care about any stupid curse, let me off this cretin."

As if Vlad himself didn't want to do that. Even though killing Ingrid would mean being bonded to her, it would have been almost worth it if her Liderc heritage did not give her the ability to change forms at death and turn into another demon of desire that her murderer would be cursed to spent his entire life serving.

Vlad had seen it happen with the vampire who had turned Ingrid and was not willing to go down that road. The man's salvation had only been when Vlad had finally taken pity upon him and run him through with a stake, putting an end to his misery.

"Don't be a fool Alexander. Take her to the dungeons. I'll be there in a minute."

He needed to see if there was any news from Nicolai.

"You really are no fun," Alexander pouted, "But the scout is here."

"All the better then. Tell him to follow me there, Jeffrey."

Alexander wasn't even pretending to hide his disgruntlement in the vampiress; he dragged Ingrid by her hair all the way to the dungeons. A trail of blood was left smeared on the high quality carpets and floors due to her burns scraping against the ground. The cleaning ladies were going to have a fit.