Chapter 65

Arthur had been avoiding Daphne since they returned to Sharp Armor from the meeting several days ago. She’d been asking about the meeting, but the thought of talking about it only angered him. He told her that he didn’t want to talk about it until it just seemed better to avoid her as much as possible. He didn’t want to upset her. He didn’t even think he could say anything about it without being upset. There was so much to say, and he wasn’t sure he could manage to talk about it.

It was better to work out his frustration on the training pitch and think about the situation. Nicole was serious. She planned to murder and pillage the kingdom until Daphne was returned. He didn't know how he was going to manage to avoid that and keep Daphne at his side.

The best option was to be ready for war and try to negotiate, but would Nicole and her forces be receptive to that? Would Daphne want to be with her people? Did she have family left? Would she want to learn more about them?

His insides were a mess of anxiety. He didn’t want to hide it from Daphne, but the answer terrified him far more than the alternative. Nicole’s threat had been haunting him for the past few days, but it wasn’t what was keeping him up at night.

The depths of lonely madness he’d existed in before meeting Daphne, the terror he’d felt when she’d been kidnapped had kept him awake. He couldn’t justify giving her to them. He just couldn’t.

He shook his head and tried to focus as he stepped onto the training pitch.

“Let’s spar.”

The man nodded. He was a younger member of another pack. The man swung first. Arthur dodged and turned into the punch. He flattened his palm and struck the man in the chest. He turned and threw out a punch, but it was short and too slow to land. Arthur slammed his knee into chest. The man cried out and fell back.

“Harder,” Arthur said after watching the werewolf stumble back. He’d hit him hard, but he knew vampires would hit them harder. “Don’t pull back just because you’re facing me. Swing harder.”

The man nodded shakily and got to his feet, staggering. He lifted his fists and shook his head.

“It’s… weird to be fighting like this in my human form.”

Arthur nodded, “I understand, but the vampires only have one form. We need to use every advantage we have.”

The idea made sense to him. When he fought Owen, being in his human form had given him an edge. After meeting Nicole, he understood how useful the

He nodded shakily, “I got it. I can go again.”

Arthur nodded and waited for the man to swing. He darted forward and Arthur avoided his punch. The man kicked, aiming for his head. He swept low and Arthur moved aside and tumbled him over his arm.

“Better.”

He gave him a tentative smile before getting up, “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“Your Majesty?” Arthur turned towards the person coming towards them. “Do you have a bit of time?”

He wanted to groan but he followed the alpha away from the training grounds. They entered the building beside the training pitch. Tom, Rex, and the other alphas were inside the building. Diana stood across the room, eyeing him.

“What is this about?” Arthur asked looking across the room.

“Organizing the delivery of Daphne—”

Arthur growled at the wolf, “This is a waste of time.”

“Your Majesty,” Tom said his tone grave. “Think about—”

“No,” he growled. “I don’t need to think about anything but how to avoid giving my mate to the vampires!”

“What is our other option?” Rex asked, “She belongs with her kind. Vampires—”

Arthur twitched, “I…”

He took a deep breath and tried to keep a hold of his anger before looking at them.

“Refuse to listen to what any of you have to say—“

“We have a--”

“I’ll kill you all.”

The room went quiet, staring at him before he pulled the door open and left. Tom looked around the room then focused on Rex. They had to talk some sense to him. From the reports, Daphne had barely left Mamie’s house since they came back, but Tom knew it was only a matter of time.

“If she was his mate,” Diana said. “If she was really an ally, she would go to spare lives.”

Tom frowned and considered it. Was it possible that she didn’t know yet? Had Arthur not told her?

Daphne walked out of the house and down the main road of Sharp Armor hoping to find something to fill up her time and distract her from the fact that Arthur wasn’t speaking to her. He said that he believed her, but his actions betrayed his words.

“… is that her?”

“It is.”

She froze in the middle of the road and turned towards the

“She doesn’t look like a vampire?”

“What would we know about it? The vampires have been in hiding for years preparing to attack us when we thought they were all but dead.”

“Hey!”

Daphne flinched as they approached her.

“What was the goal of attacking us?”

“My mate was murdered!”

“How dare you walk around here as if you’ve done nothing!”

“You should be dead, not him!”

Daphne backed away from the group as they started yelling. They shouted over one another, growing louder and louder until her ears were ringing with their voices. She shuddered thinking back to a day in her childhood when she and her grandmother had gone to the human village.

She had been so excited to go and explore the village. Her grandmother said that they would have to be quick about getting their purchases and going home before nightfall.

“Witch!” One of the villagers sneered.

Daphne and her grandmother stopped and turned to look at where the group had congregated around a prone body on the ground.

“We know you did this! Undo your curse!”

Something in the air smelled terrible, a putrid rotting scent. She backed away from them and her grandmother held out her hand.

“We haven’t done anything.”

“Liar!”

“Kill the witches!”

“Kill the vampire!”

“Grab her!”

The person nearest to her lunged towards her. Daphne dove aside, ignoring the growl and the swipe of her claws. Another jumped at her and she dodged, just barely getting out of the way.

“I haven’t done anything!” Daphne cried dodging another person.

“No human moves that quickly!”

“You’re a vampire!” The woman yelled. “You’ve been lying to us all the time—“

“I didn’t—“

“Get her!”

Daphne shrieked and dove aside before running down the road.

“Back off!” Mamie growled, stepping in between the mob and Daphne.

She had heard the commotion, but she hadn’t thought it would be Daphne in danger.

“How dare you attack our luna?”

“Luna?”

“I would never serve a filthy vampire!”

“Get out of the way, Mamie. She’s tricked us all.”

“Daphne is innocent,” Mamie glared at the woman, “Back. Off.”

The woman nearest to them growled, “You’re going to defend this vampire?”

Mamie growled at her, baring her teeth. The woman flinched. Mamie took Daphne by the shoulders and steered her back towards her house.

“Mamie!”

“Fuck off!” Mamie shouted back. Daphne gasped at her language. She’d never imagined Mamie saying something like that, but with a glance back, it was clear that the rest of the group was just as shocked.

They made it back to Mamie’s house and she ushered her to sit on the couch.

“I don’t believe you’re a traitor,” Mamie said.

Daphne looked at her with hope.

“They’ll come around,” Mamie said with a soft smile. “You and Arthur will figure it out.”

She nodded, “Yes…”

They would figure it out.

Arthur left the building, furious and marching through the town. He heard people talking. They turned towards him.

“Your Majesty—“

The woman went quiet as he growled at the woman and brushed past her until he reached Mamie’s house. He calmed himself and knocked.

Mamie opened the door and gave him a small smile. She picked up a basket, pat his shoulder, and left. Arthur closed the door and went to find Daphne. She was seated on the couch, curled up with a cup of tea.

He went and sat beside her. She looked haunted and dazed. Arthur clenched his jaw. He clasped his hands together.

“I shouldn’t have taken the throne,” he said softly. “If I hadn’t… we wouldn’t be in this position.”

“What position?” Daphne asked; her voice was soft and distant.

“… the vampires want us to give you to them.”

“Why?”

“They say your grandmother… was the last queen.” He took her hand, “I can’t lose you, Daphne.”

Daphne squeezed his hand, “I… don’t want to talk about it.”

Arthur squeezed her hand and pressed a kiss to her cheeks before dropping a kiss to her head.

“I’m going to talk with the town.”