His witch

Chapter 5

Arno's POV

Father’s body was cremated. We do not hold any obsequies. We are wild, wind, earth, and forest creatures, and our bodies should return to the wild. So we simply scattered his ashes in the forest. Some used to leave the bodies in the wild to decompose, but it would be too risky for the king’s body, as the king's blood is connected to the magic protecting the realm.

The day after, my mother and I went to Silver City. I could sense that the Council was furious when dryly I announced that there would be no meetings in the following days. They probably thought I was irresponsible and sissy, but that suited me then.

We drove for a couple of hours. Mother remained silent and I tried to use this time to connect with the wolf inside me. The wolf inside of us, werewolves, isn’t some independent being with his own voice and we do not lead some inner disputes about the essentials. Actually, there is no “we”. I’m the wolf and the wolf is me. And yet, our souls are divided in two. One part is human and the other is a wolf. And my wolf part wasn't happy without a mate.

“The climate in Silver City is just as good as in Eastern Harbour, and yet you decided to drive to Silver City.” Mother spoke at last. I was sure Welma didn’t tell her about the message, but my mother wasn’t mated to my father because of her good looks. With her raven black hair that I inherited, pale skin, and dark eyes, she was for sure a beauty, but her beauty faded compared with her wits.

“I thought that change would do us good.”

“Us?” Mother smiled faintly.

“Yes, you will get some fresh air and I will get some fresh acquaintances.”

“I see the point when you put it like this. Any of them alone is no match for you.” I knew who she meant by “them”. “But now they are the pack and you are the lone wolf. It is wise to search for allies somewhere else where they don’t have influence.”

“I don’t think they would consider humans as allies. They are too biased.”

“And they tend to think that everyone would act exactly like them. You absorbed and amended your father's ways. He reached out to deltas and omegas and you to humans.” She smiled again.

“They reached out to me.”

“That’s even more interesting. Let’s see what’s in it for us.”

We traveled in a limo, with guards in SUVs. At the hotel, I, my mother, and Corbin quickly changed to a non-distinctive van and went to the appointed location. Welma stayed behind. Her role was to create an impression that we were all in the apartment, so she began to order room service. Maybe it would be wise if my mother stayed with her for the sake of impressions, but I needed the advice and authority she had.

We entered a venue that looked like a nightclub, with a large counter and VIP lounges. We followed the bouncer, who looked like he could go up against some of my weaker gammas to the back office. They have already waited for us. Four men in steel grey suits. They stood up and bowed.

“Your Majesties,” said the oldest. “It is a true honor to meet you both. I’m Michael Sanders and my colleagues are Malcolm Meyers, Dwane Raps and Richard Cole.”

I got some intel before coming to this meeting. They were the leaders of the biggest political fractions of Silver City. And they united to contact me.

“We are honored,” I replied. “This is my beta, Corbin. He will coordinate every prospective action we may take together.” They shook hands with Corbin.

We sat at a large round table. It was not common furniture at the nightclub, it must have been prepared for our meeting. We were offered drinks and chatted for a while.

“We were surprised by your message.” Mother decided it was time to get to the point. Mr. Sanders smiled, it appeared he was an alpha here.

“A few weeks ago we tried to contact the late king, but he was unreachable to us.”

“By that time, father was already in poor condition,” I explained.

“We thought so. As you probably know, we have a problem. Ten years ago, the rogues annected a part of Black Forest. We had to tolerate it as our resources were insufficient to fight them. But they recently started to ride the villages nearby, several people were kidnapped and their fate is unknown.”

“You expect us to react.”

“Yes.”

“I've been fighting against rogues since I shifted for the first time. If it was that easy, I would have already erased them from the face of the earth.” I knew I sounded bitter, but that is true. My troops are enough to repel any attack, but not to perform a proper offensive action against the rogues. My efforts to get more resources have been stopped by the Council. I knew that they did not want me to gain popularity and recognition as the one who stopped the rogues. Maybe it was a mistake to share it with humans, but they were not the true danger and the information I gave them wasn't particularly useful to them.

“We’ve been watching you for some time. We understand your situation and we think we can help each other.”

“How?”

“We both have some resources that we can bring together. You have your troops. They are exquisitely trained for combat. But you are not allowed to spend more money to extend their numbers and some of them had to be discharged. We got money. Almost unlimited and we intend to spend it on regaining control of the Black Forest. But we will need a permit. It happened before.” Sanders looked at me meaningfully.

“You would like to recruit veterans as mercenaries. They, my troops, and your regular troops should be more than enough.” He was right. A century ago, when humans fought against vampires, my great grandfather allowed them to recruit werewolves. It is the king’s prerogative. “That can be arranged. What will I get in exchange?”

“We can help with your struggle with the Council.”

“How?”

“With the invisible hand of the market.” He smiled.

I understood that. The point was that most of the natural resources are placed on human territory and without them, the factories that made the Elders so strong wouldn’t be able to work.

“We have a deal.' I made the decision quickly. "Talk to Corbin about details.”

“If I may suggest to Your Majesty, we will escort Her Majesty to the hotel so no one notices her absence and you should go and have some fun in the club. Maybe even show off.”

That was a good idea to strengthen my image as irresponsible and stupid. And maybe to disturb the Council even more. Corbin and I sat in the lounge. I didn’t enjoy it, it was too loud for my werewolf years and the liquor was too weak to get drunk. If I ever wanted to get drunk, I would choose to go to a place where they serve the booze made by witches.

Some time passed, and I got noticed and recognized by enough people. I even tried to flirt with a few women. I was ready to go back to the hotel when I felt something. Among the unappealing human scents, there was a faint hint of something different. I couldn’t tell what that was but I felt a pull. I tried to locate the source, so I stood up and started roaming through the room. Corbin was disoriented, but I ordered him to stay. After a few minutes, I spotted her. I almost got to her, but she suddenly stood up. I tried to chase her but I dashed into a group of dancing girls and could only watch as she went through the back door. I finally untangled myself from the girls and went after her. I rushed through the door and saw and smelled a rogue dragging her on the ground.

I saw red. Fury took control over me. I got to him and threw a punch in his face. And another. And one more. He stopped moving.

I kneeled next to the girl.

“Are you OK?” She nodded and turned her face to me. She was stunning, even with fear in her eyes. I couldn’t help but touch her shoulder. Electricity ran through my fingers. Something in my soul yelled “Mate!”, but before I could say it out loud, she hit me with something heavy, and everything faded to black.