Chapter 82
Blade wasn't sure what it was. It started like a pulling feeling before cracking and almost shattering the night before. The feeling had only continued to get worse. Their bond felt as though it was eroding with every passing breath. Was it the distance or something else? Something had happened to Mamie, but he had no way of contacting her. Their bond changed, but it wasn’t gone. He didn't know what that meant, and it only added to his anxiety.
He kissed his son and left him with a servant before going to find Arthur. It was nearing the end of the two weeks and there had been no word about Daphne and her escort making plans to return.
He went to the main hall and entered as Arthur let out of a ferocious growl. An Alpha and the young woman at his side stumbled back and away from him. Blade winced at the sight. It seemed they were still trying to entice Arthur to break his bond with Daphne and parading eligible women through the castle to meet him.
When were they going to learn to give up?
“Your Majesty,” Blade called. “Do you have a moment?”
Arthur glared at the alpha with little more than a warning. The man went pale, staring at him as if he was afraid that even the smallest move would result in his death. The young woman, an unmated woman in his pack, looked even more frightened.
He remembered when Daphne had looked at him like that and his heart ached at the thought of her absence. Lucas had been clawing at the walls of his mind for several days He wasn't sure how he was still managing not to kill anyone, but he was grateful for Blade’s sudden appearance.
“Of course.”
Arthur followed him out of the hall and down the corridor to a private parlor where they could speak quietly. Arthur closed the door behind them and leaned back against the door with a deep sigh. He didn't know how much more of this he could put up with without Daphne. As soon as she came back, he planned on disappearing with her into the woods, leaving the werewolf kingdom to sort itself out.
It was a good plan. He wasn’t sure how he was going to convince Blade of the plan, but he didn’t think it was impossible. He was practically packed, already. The only problem was the strange shift in his bond with Daphe. It had woken him late last night, closer to dawn. He didn’t know how to describe it. It wasn't broken but it certainly wasn't the same.
“Has your bond with Daphne and changed at all?”
He nodded, “Has yours?”
Blade nodded, “I don’t know what to make of it.”
“Me either–”
A knock sounded on the door. Arthur turned and opened the door to reveal a servant. She looked up at them with a nervous expression.
“What is it?”
“One of the women who were sent as an escort has returned.”
Arthur’s heart lurched. Just one of them? He and Blade hurried out of the room and down to the main hall to figure out who she was. Arthur didn’t recognize her on sight, but she bowed her head. She didn’t look harmed, if a bit tired. How long had she been traveling alone? Had she been attacked?
“Your Majesty.”
“What are you doing here? Where is Daphne?”
Blade stepped forward, “Where are Mamie and the others?”
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. She sent me away before we had even reached the castle. I don’t know where any of the others are.” She sniffed. “She put me out of the carriage in the middle of the canyon and rode off.”
Arthur growled, turning away from her sharply as alphas came down the hallway to figure out what was going on.
“What do you mean she sent you away?” Blade asked.
“She commanded me… I couldn’t resist.” She shuddered. “It took me a while to find my way out of the canyon and through the forest.”
Arthur frowned at the words, thinking back to the Kenneths. They’d said that his mother had ordered them and they’d felt unable to resist, much like werewolves were bound to obey him if he tapped into the Royal family’s powers.
He turned to look at Tom who looked shocked and horrified and he smirked, sensing that the man knew something about it. It was odd how forthcoming he was with information that aided his causes, but when it was something that would make him look bad or benefit Arthur’s causes, he was reluctant to speak.
He wondered if he had always been like that or if it was a product of the years since the fall of his father’s regime.
“She commanded you,” Arthur said. “She used the Royal family’s power?”
Tom flushed and turned away.
“Tom, maybe you can shed some light on the situation?” Arthur asked. “My mother compelled the Kenneths to take us in. It seems that this happens frequently and it would be dangerous to not know who else can use that power.”
Tom clenched his jaw, unable to fathom or understand how it was possible. He’d been so sure that the moon goddess would never pair a vampire descendant with a werewolf, let alone of the royal line. In his mind, Daphne had to be a liar, weaving a web of deceit around Arthur for some nefarious purpose. To hear that Daphne had used the power of the Royal family destroyed that notion and left him reeling.
What was he supposed to believe now? How could the moon goddess expect the werewolf kingdom to flourish under the rule of a vampire for a luna?
“... It is said that the true mates of the Royal family can use their abilities… resistance to poisons, quick recovery… control over werewolves…”
Arthur glared at him, “I trust that this will lay to rest any future attempts to have me break my bond with Daphne.”
Tom said nothing as Arthur moved his gaze over the rest of the group behind him.
“The next person to bring it up will end up dead.”
They turned pale as Arthur looked back at the woman, “Get some rest. We’ll speak more later.”
She nodded and scurried off quickly. It made him feel a bit better that Tom and the rest of them would have to shut up about his bond with Daphne now. Vampire descendant or not, Daphne could use the Royal family’s powers meaning she was his true mate and there was nothing anyone could say to the contrary.
He’d known it from the moment he smelled her scent that they were mates, so it wasn’t a great comfort.
He wanted to know why Daphne had felt the need to send one of her escort members back and wondered if it was a sign that it was too dangerous for them all or if they had gotten into an argument. It was likely that the woman had spoken out of turn, but it wasn’t like Daphne to just dismiss someone. He looked at Blade and approached him to place a hand on his shoulder.
“We’ll get to the bottom of this, Blade,” he said, calmly. “I’m sure Mamie and Daphne are just fine.”
Blade nodded and hoped he was right, but the ache in his chance made him worry. He rubbed the spot over his head and tried to reach across their bond again, but he felt nothing.
Mamie’s head turned, shifting sharply and looking out the window of the cage Osborn had placed her in. She was quiet, unlike the others who spent their time hissing and glaring at the turned werewolves in the cells beside them. Osborn observed her for a moment. Her head twisted just a bit before shifting to tilting the other way and staring dead-eyed into the night.
She lifted her hand to her chest over her heart and rubbed in an odd movement.
They thought that a turned werewolf lost their entire consciousness once they reanimated, but had they been wrong?
There was something in her movements that spoke to a still-functioning mind. One of his subordinates hissed with a command. The others went quiet but Mamie turned sharply. She charged the cage’s gate, denting the metal bars with a furious growl.
The vampire hissed at her, but she didn’t back down, glaring at him and gnashing her teeth with fury.
Osborn smirked, “Well, at least she’ll have a bit of fight for the battle. Leave her be.”
The vampire sneered and turned away from the cage before following him up the stairs, leaving the turned werewolves in the cellar until they were needed. If he was right, the small group he’d sent should have dumped Daphne in the canyon by now, securing a temporary alibi. Nicole would still suspect him and start watching John more closely. It would only be a matter of time before she made her move, but by then Osborn planned to have his plans so far along that she would be powerless to stop it.
