One Wolf, Two Kings

Chapter 4

Marcus’s POV

I sigh as I sit on the roof of my castle, looking up at the moon with a glass of blood in my hand.

“Another year has come and gone.” I muttered to myself. I took a sip of the blood as I heard a gentle thud behind me.

“Wow, there really is no hiding from you… is there, Layla?” I asked, without turning around. I heard a soft chuckle as a beautiful girl with flaming red hair and emerald green eyes sat down beside me.

“Of course not. Not much of a bodyguard if I can’t find you, my king.” She said, with an overdramatic bow and a smirk on her face. I smirk at her and raise an eyebrow. It takes about three seconds before she bursts out laughing.

“Sorry, I figured I practiced being proper and formal. The elders still have not forgiven my misbehavior from when that last woman came to court you.” She said with an eye roll.

I chuckle at the memory. Since it has been 300 years since my 18th birthday, the elders are trying to help me either find my mate or build enough of a bond with a high class female so I can take a chosen mate. Vampires can usually only mate with and produce offspring with their true mates. Unless the ones we take as chosen mates both have a strong and deep bond with us.

So far, none of the females that they bring to me make me feel anything. I sometimes wonder if Layla is my true mate since she is the only female to make me feel at ease, but the closer we get to her 18th birthday, the more it just feels like we are brother and sister and not of the desire that it would be if she was my mate.

As a vampire, the desire to feed on her blood and mate with her would increase as we got closer to her coming of age.

Layla is actually a werewolf that I found a few years ago. She was only 15 and not only was her wolf awake, but she was able to actually shift into her wolf form. Her wolf is beautiful. Her fur almost makes her look like a giant red fox. She has black fur around the snout, down each of her legs and paws, and a bit mixed into her bushy tail. She has white fur under her chin, belly, and the tips of her ears and tail. Then the rest of her body is covered in brilliant red fur, as red as her hair. It is also cool that her eyes stay their emerald green color in wolf form too.

Most wolves' eyes change to a bright golden yellow or a dark black color, very few keep the same colored eyes as their human form. Though I think it just makes them even more special, and the fact that Layla has shifted three years before the normal age of shifting… makes her even more special.

“So let me guess… Lady Victoria is not sparking anything for you either?” Layla asks as she plops herself right beside me. I snort out a small laugh before nodding and taking another sip of blood.

“I don’t know. None of these primed and proper females do anything for me.” I say. Plus, I can see that they only care about being queen. I want someone that sees me for me and not my title.

I look up to the moon again. I have ruled my kingdom alone for the last 200 years while my parents enjoy their retirement. The closest thing I have had to siblings is Layla and my best friend, Leo Wright. He serves as my duke and adviser, while Layla is known to the kingdom as my bodyguard. Though some vampires like to think of her as my little werewolf pet. I am angry at the thought, even if Layla could care less for what others think.

Most people still think that werewolves and vampires still have some kind of feud among us, but it is nothing like that. Yes we are classified as natural enemies, but only because the venom from our bites cancel each other out and can kill each other.

My father made a peace treaty with the king of the werewolves centuries ago. It gets renewed every time the next king of the werewolves takes over the kingdom. I had just renewed the treaty when Prince Hunter took over the throne from his father. The treaty just means that any kind of personal vendetta will not affect the kingdom as a whole, but if the crime is a serious one and needs to be judged by royalty, then both of us kings will be present.

I can honestly say that I enjoy working with King Hunter. He is more open minded than some of his ancestors. We have meetings every couple of months and talk about this and that. Sometimes we just catch up like we are old friends.

The treaty has also helped a few rogue werewolves find someplace they can live independently, but not having to be tied down to a pack. Wolves like that and Layla don’t have the same rotting death smell that wild rogues do, but they are careful not to wander into pack territories because they don’t have a pack scent.

“Marcus?” I am pulled out of my thoughts when Layla calls my name. I turned and faced her.

“I am just curious, but what if your true mate is not a vampire?” She asked, glancing at me from the corner of her eye before looking back up to the moon.

“You mean if my true mate was gifted to me by the moon goddess like yours will be?” I asked her. She nodded. It is not unheard of that werewolves will sometimes be mated to another creature, but from what I heard it is usually the rare case of a human being matched with them. A werewolf being mated to a vampire is even more rare. However, I have seen a couple of the matches in the slums of my kingdom.

“I don’t know. If it were true that I was mated to a werewolf, then I would not fight the bond… but do you think that some she wolf would accept someone like me?” I asked.

Layla laughed. “You would just have to let her know you as Marcus Corvin… the man that wants to be loved. I am sure that she will soon understand that Marcus Corvin the Bloody Impaler is just one side of you… and only when it is necessary.” She said, using the nickname that the supernatural world has given me.

I roll my eyes at the name. I only got it because when I kill a traitorous or rouge vampire that is completely out of control. I impale their bodies on a silver pole and let them burn in the sun. Making it the most crulist and highest punishment in my kingdom. Only royal vampires or those that have a strong aristocrat bloodline can tolerate the sun without needing outside assistance. While most weak vampires would turn to ash, and I use the term weak loosely.

The only way to kill a vampire is either by cutting their heads off with a silver blade or ripping them completely apart and burning the pieces. Though me impaling them with silver brings them down to such a state that sunlight does become deadly to them.

Unless I was the one killing them myself that is. As the king of the vampires I can simply kill them by ripping out their hearts or removing their heads from their bodies with my own hands. If I was the one doing the damage, then it was almost like their blood cells would refuse to heal them… almost like a wolf refusing to heal their human because they went against their alpha.

“You don’t think that she would be repulsed or hate me for not being like you?” I asked Layla.

I have heard stories that not all mates accept each other. Some reject their mate for power, others reject them for the love of someone else. I wonder if she would despise me just for the fact that I drink blood.

“I can not say yes or no to that, Marcus. I know some wolves take the mate bond for granted and it usually bites them in the ass, but there are those that believe in the mate bond with all their heart and are willing to at least give their mate a chance.” Layla explains.

“What about you?” I ask her.

Layla grew up in a human foster care system, and her childhood was not a happy one. I sometimes think that is why she was able to shift so young, because she needed to get out of that hell hole and find a better life for herself. She learned more about her kind from the few werewolves that live in my kingdom.

“Honestly, I would give my mate a chance. Whether he is a vampire, human, werewolf, or even a fairy… but if he is someone that can not accept me for the way I am and tries to control me, then to hell with him.” She said, though I can see the sadness in her eyes. I nodded in silence before I felt her eyes on me again.

“The question you should be asking right now is, Marcus… can you, yourself, accept a mate that is different?” She asked. Her green eyes burn into my soul with her forwardness and honesty.

I smile at her and nod. “All I want is the kind of love I have seen my parents share for over a millennium. If she is willing to love me for me, then I sure would love her no matter what she was.” I said. Layla gives me a small smile and nods.

“Then we should contact King Hunter next month and ask him for permission to travel to different packs within his land without the alphas knowing you are the king.” I look at her as if she has grown a second head.

“Why?” I ask.

“So you can see if your mate actually is a werewolf. Plus, more people would be more open to letting you in if they didn’t know you were the Bloody Impaler. They would let their guard down and you can see the real them.” Layla explained.

I put my finger to my chin and nodded in agreement. She was right. People wouldn’t dare be honest with me if they thought I was as bloodthirsty as they believed me to be in the rumors.

“But why wait until next month?” I asked her. Layla rolled her eyes and pretended to knock on my head like she was knocking on a door.

“Hello, you don’t want anyone to use your mate against you if we do happen to find her. We can use me as a smoke screen.” She said with a smile. I was not following her and tilted my head to the side. Layla growled and rolled her eyes.

“I swear you can sometimes be so dumb to the obvious it is infuriating.” She growled. “I am a werewolf that will be turning 18 next month… So…” She drops the sentence like I am supposed to know. Then it hits me and I feel so dumb.

“You can then be able to find your own mate so it would not look like we are searching the packs for my mate, but for yours. Layla, you are brilliant.” I said and gave her a big kiss on her forehead. Layla laughs and shakes her head.

“Only because you are too old that you forget how to use that thing in your skull… FYI it is called a brain.” She says in a smart ass tone. I laugh and shake my head.

“Just remember that you love this old man.” I tease back. I finished the last of the blood in my glass before I stood up. “Well, we got a month to get everything ready. I don’t know how long we will be gone, but I know Leo will have to be in charge while we are gone.” I said. Layla got to her own feet.

“That is a scary thought, my king. Who knows if the castle will be still standing when we return.” She comments before jumping off the roof. I watched as she nimbly grabs onto the spear of one of the many stone statues that decorate the exterior castle walls. She then swings her body gracefully and lands right on the ledge to the outdoor balcony of her bedroom. I chuckle as she can never take the easy way. I gave her a smirk as I just walked down the wall to her balcony. Layla rolls her eyes.

“Using your vampire powers is cheating, Marcus.” She said while sticking her tongue out at me. I shrugged my shoulders.

“Not necessarily. If you got them, use them.” I said with a laugh. Layla just growls at me and then opens her bedroom door.

“Then use your super speed to kindly get out of my room, so I may sleep. I am not like you blood suckers that can go days without sleep.” She said in a teasing tone. I speed over to the door and pat Layla on the head like she was a puppy.

“Yeah, I can see that unlike us… you furballs actually do need your beauty sleep, and pretty badly.” I chuckled. I was not quick enough and felt a swift kick in my ass as Layla booted me out of her bedroom and slammed the door within the second it took for me to turn around.

I stare at the door and laugh. If I do have a werewolf mate, then I know my life will be full of happiness if she is even a little bit like Layla. My mind wanders to the different possibilities of my mate as I go and search for my best friend. A month will fly by before we know it and there is so much to prepare for.