Chapter 69

Arthur growled, turning and nearly lunging at Tom. The man stumbled back and fell from his seat with a cry of terror.

"Arthur, no!" Daphne cried out. He halted, glaring at Tom’s cowering figure. "Just calm down--"

Arthur glared at the man as he stared up at him in fear. He should just tear the man’s throat out, but he didn’t want to expose Daphne to any more blood and gore than he had already. He was lucky, yet again Daphne had spared his life.

It made him even angrier to know that Tom wouldn’t appreciate it and didn’t deserve her leniency after having her followed around and inciting the people of Sharp Armor to attack her.

Traitor.

"Eavesdropping!" Someone yelled, pointing at her. "On royal business!"

Daphne ignored him and went to Arthur, taking his hand carefully. She tugged him until he turned to look at her. His eyes were still hard with anger, but he was calming down as their gazes met.

She wanted to be upset, but there was no time for that.

"You said they wanted me. You didn't say they were threatening war."

Arthur turned from her, "I didn't want you to worry…"

He shook his head. He still didn’t want her to worry. It had been so much simpler when he could rely on his strength to protect her. He’d believed that the throne and having the entire werewolf kingdom at his disposal would make it easier to protect her, not harder.

Blood will run through your streets and flood your rivers…

He clenched his jaw, remembering Nicole’s words.

"We don't have the strength to fight them, Arthur,” Daphne said gently. “There’s… no other choice.”

“But—”

"How would you know that?" Someone hissed. "Unless she's been spying on us from the beginning! How else could they happen to attack Sharp Armor?"

Daphne ignored them and squeezed Arthur's hand to keep him focused on her. Didn’t they know it was best not to provoke him? Were they trying to make him angry enough to attack her? It was a ridiculous thought. Even when Arthur had been completely lost to his bloodlust while fighting Owen, he hadn’t scratched her.

Arthur would never hurt her. She knew that now. She just had to keep him from hurting anyone else.

"Most of the bodies at Sharp Armor were werewolves, Arthur…" She shook her head, “I-I don’t know why they were all burned instead of buried, but they were mostly werewolves.”

People had died inside the infirmary and their bodies had been quickly transported outside to be added to the bonfire. Those who survived had thrashed and moaned for hours about their injuries. She doubted most of them were even healed enough to get out of bed.

Arthur frowned, "How… do you know that?"

"I helped out in the infirmary, remember?" Daphne shook her head, “There were so few people alive when we arrived, Arthur. Did you not notice?”

Arthur frowned and looked at the rest of the room. They were all silent, but he thought back. He’d been still high on adrenaline from their encounter with the vampire. His thoughts had been on those who survived, not counting how many people hadn’t.

He’d just assumed after hearing that the bodies had to be burned to ensure the vampires were dead that there had been a lot of them killed during the attack.

"Is that true? Most of the casualties were werewolves?"

Tom scowled at Daphne, "Yes… it's true."

"How many vampires were killed?" Arthur pressed, "The bonfire was… huge…"

"Maybe ten…"

Ten? Arthur grit his teeth. That was much worse than he imagined. He squeezed Daphne’s hand as he thought back to how many people had been in Sharp Armor and the numbers that were crammed into the remains of the infirmary.

Was this the source of their panic? Knowing that there was no chance for them to stand against other attacks like that? Had he been wrong about it just being their hatred for vampires and paranoia?

"This is something you should have said before. Ten out of his many?"

"There were at least a hundred vampires that came…" Rex sighed, his hand twitching. "It was a bloodbath… If my father could see us now…"

Rex took another long drink from his cup as Arthur looked across the room.

“And you’ve been dragging your feet about training people because of what?” Arthur asked.

One of the alphas looked away, “… there aren’t that many people to train.”

Arthur couldn’t breathe. Each alpha reported the census of their packs and broke it out by age groups. By those reports, there should have been plenty of werewolves to train for battle.

“What do you mean? What about the census reports?”

He sighed and cast a glance at Rex, “When people heard that Sharp Armor had fallen… they left.”

Arthur eyed him, “How many people left? And where did they go?”

“Human towns, further inland.” The man scowled, “Cowards.”

Arthur shook his head with disbelief, “And you wait until now to say something?”

He glared, “It was you who stated we should maintain control of our packs. It wasn’t an issue I needed your help to resolve.”

What bullshit. Arthur couldn’t believe the man had even said that out loud. Maybe Arthur couldn’t resolve it, but he could have organized a change in patrol to make sure they were protected still. Even knowing that they were a weak spot in the kingdom’s defenses was better than not knowing.

It had nothing to do with Arthur and everything to do with the man’s pride at being abandoned by his pack. How wretched it had to feel to have his pack leave his territory. Arthur almost felt the man deserved it for the way he and others had been managing their territories since the fall of the royal family.

Arthur scoffed in disbelief, “Your pride was more important than everyone’s lives is what you mean.”

The man sputtered but Arthur looked back at Daphne.

"We don't have another choice, Arthur," Daphne said and swallowed, "Besides… if I go, maybe I could find out who their mole is."

Arthur shook his head, “I don’t even want to entertain that.”

Daphne sighed, “Won’t you at least listen to me?”

Arthur looked at her, “I… always listen to you.”

Even when he didn’t like how right she was and how good she was at getting him to agree. Daphne chuckled at his petulant tone. She cupped his face.

“They want me because I’m descended from their queen, right? They probably won’t hurt me. Right?”

Arthur thought back to Nicole’s warning. He’d thought her threat about Daphne’s well-being was about wanting her alive and well.

“Maybe.”

“They might even expect me to stay, which means I’ll get to find out what is going on and what they want.”

“It’s dangerous.”

“I know,” she said, stiffly, “But we can’t do nothing. More people are likely going to leave if they find out about the oncoming war, and then what?”

Arthur squeezed her hands, “What about you?”

Daphne frowned as his eyes turned glossy, “What about us?”

Daphne gasped, understanding Arthur’s worry. What if she didn’t come back? She pulled him down to kiss him.

“Don’t worry, I’m your mate. Of course, I’ll come back.”

Arthur swallowed. Something in the pit of his stomach told him that this wouldn’t turn out the way they hoped. Something dreadful was going to happen. He could feel it.

“You're not losing me," Daphne said. "We're gaining information about what they want and if we can trust their word."

Arthur shook his head. He didn’t want to agree. Agreeing felt like admitting that he’d failed to protect her. Lucas growled in his chest at the thought.

“I’ll add a caveat,” she said. “I’ll stay for a month before I am allowed to leave as I please.”

“A week,” Arthur said.

She chuckled, “Two weeks to be reasonable. I have to spy on them, don’t I?”

Arthur groaned, “What if I can’t reach you?”

“That’s what the bond is for, isn’t it?”

“When you were in that tower, I couldn’t hear you,” Arthur said. “It’s too risky to rely on that alone.”

“I know that,” Daphne said, “But I have to go, Arthur. There’s no other choice.”

They grumbled between themselves, unsure and angry, but Arthur ignored them.

"Daphne, we can't…"

Daphne lifted her chin and met her gaze, "Tell me another way then."

He turned and glared at Tom, “During the war, had her battalion ever gotten near the castle?”

Tom grimaced and he nodded, “There used to be a town… between the castle and Sharp Armor…”

“And?” Arthur asked.

Tom didn’t meet his gaze, “It’s no longer there.”

Arthur swallowed, lowering his gaze. If Nicole had managed to get that close to the castle when the werewolf kingdom had a fully functioning military, there was no way to train the few werewolves they had well enough to stop her in such short time. They had no idea of how many vampires they were facing other than the group that attacked Sharp Armor.

They had no choice and he hated it.

"Fine… but you won't go alone."