The Blood Moon Twins
Chapter 79

BLADE

Present Day.

"You're late," Draven said. "Typical. You have never been able to do anything right. At least you're here alone."

I kept my distance from Draven, and I kept my ears open. I fully expected him to have others with him and ambush me, and I was prepared to flee at any indication of danger. I had full intentions of returning to Remy.

"What do you want?" I asked, keeping the emotions out of my voice. I couldn't let Draven know how much he had gotten to me. He would only use it against me, like he had a million times before.

"Can't a vampire just call up his younger brother to chat?" Draven said, a smirk pulling at his lips.

"Cut the bullshit. You killed a werewolf to get my attention, and I'm assuming the human whose blood you used is dead as well," I said flatly. "This isn't a social call, so just get to the point."

"I was just having a little fun. Although, I will admit that the werewolf was a friendly reminder for you," Draven said. He looked down at the shining city below us. "You may think you have left the coven, but vampires simply do not leave without my permission. I've been letting you run free, get whatever it is out of your system, but you are still mine. You may have thought you were free, but you've never been free, brother, and you never will be."

"Stop calling me that." Anger slipped into my voice, and I quickly calmed my breath, but not before Draven noticed.

"I'm disappointed in you, brother," he continued. "You of all people know that I thought father was a weak, insane man. I thought he was chasing a fairytale, and he was going to run our coven into the ground." "What's your point?" I asked. I just wanted to get this conversation over with as soon as possible.

"My point is, I can't believe you didn't tell me our father was right. You found the Daughter of Moon and Magic, and you were just going to keep her to yourself. Did you want the power for yourself?" Draven licked his lips. "I didn't think you were the type to go after power. I thought you'd never had what it takes, but maybe I was wrong about you."

I didn't respond. I knew if I said anything, it would come out filled with anger. Instead, I found myself looking at the city below, remembering the time our father told us about his plan. The city once looked like a beautiful place of wonder, but as I looked at it now, it felt like it was burning me alive.

"Too bad father isn't here to see this. He thought you were too weak, too, but he would be so proud. He would also be overjoyed that everything he had done wasn't for nothing." Draven let out a dramatic sigh. "Too bad I killed him before he could see his dream come true."

I snapped my head towards Draven, my eyes widening. "I thought he was killed by a rival coven."

Draven chuckled. "So does everyone else. That old fool was running us into the ground. His obsession was making the coven lose power and status-not gain it. I knew I had to do something to protect the coven, so I took his life with my own hands and then took the power for myself. Who would have thought that I would have been the one to fulfill our father's plan? I would be the one to replace the Daughter of Moon and Magic."

"You can't have her," I said. I would never let Draven get his hands on Remy. I would never let her experience any part of the childhood I had.

Draven moved too fast for me to react, and he grabbed my face. "That is where you are wrong. You are going to be the one to deliver her to me, and you are going to help me fulfill that prophecy. Don't worry. She'll live like a queen if she agrees to help me. Oh, and if you don't help, then I'll kill every last one of those werewolves and take your girlfriend anyway. I will use her in any way I see fit and make sure every moment of her life is a living hell while you watch in chains."

I ripped away from Draven, having nothing I could say back to him. I couldn't let either of the situations he described happen. Remy deserved to be free and happy, and I would make sure that happened, even if it meant giving up my own life. I wasn't about to say that to his face, though. It would only provoke him and put me in danger now.

"I'll give you some time to think about what to do," Draven said. "I'm sure you'll choose the right path, Brother. You know first hand what crossing me will mean for you."

-

As I approached the border of Pack Aphelion's Territory, I felt the presence of Alpha Mark looming over me. He knew I had left, and now he was waiting for my return. I crossed the border of the territory, and I immediately came face to face with his wolf form. He was alone, which was surprising, but that didn't make him any less intimidating. He let out a growl that shook me to my core.

He motioned for me to follow, and I did as I was told. He led me back to the pack house, before we went to the interrogation room in the separate building. I waited for him to shift back into his human form, and then we walked through the door. He still didn't say anything as he led me deeper into the facility. There was a set of stairs I didn't know existed. I had never been to this part of the building before, and I didn't know where we were going.

We went down a flight of stairs, and there was a large underground facility that must have been below the pack house. This was likely where they kept prisoners, but it seemed to be so much more than a prison. We walked down a long hallway, before we entered a

room.

As we entered the room, Alpha Mark finally spoke. "Did it work?"

"I think so," I said.

"Were you followed on your way back here?" he asked.

"I'm positive someone was following me. They were stealthy, but not stealthy enough," I said. I knew the moment I had parted ways with Draven that he had ordered one of his vampires to follow me closely, and I was grateful Alpha Mark and I had planned for that exact situation. "Blade," Remy said as she ran up to me and wrapped her arms around me.

Remy and the other important figures from the pack were waiting for us in this conference room. I was expecting to debrief everyone after meeting with Draven, but I wasn't expecting it to be here.

"This is our secret facility," Luna Adira explained, as if reading my mind. "Not even all pack members know about this place. We want any future discussions of the vampires to take place here, since we know it is secure, and Draven is watching us." "Did he want what we expected?" Beta Scythe asked. He still hadn't warmed up to me yet, but he was at least cordial with me. Most of the werewolves were cordial, but I could tell my presence made most of them feel uneasy.

Draven moved too fast for me to react, and he grabbed my face. "That is where you are wrong. You are going to be the one to deliver her to me, and you are going to help me fulfill that prophecy. Don't worry. She'll live like a queen if she agrees to help me. Oh, and if you don't help, then I'll kill every last one of those werewolves and take your girlfriend anyway. I will use her in any way I see fit and make sure every moment of her life is a living hell while you watch in chains."

I nodded my head. "He knows who Remy really is, and he told me that if I didn't hand her over, he would kill this entire pack."

"My vision," Remy said in a whisper, gripping my arm tighter.

"It would seem that we are preparing for war," Alpha Mark said. "If he thinks a simple threat will make us hand over my daughter, he'll learn just how powerful werewolves can be."

I looked around at every person in this room, and I felt a smile tugging at my lips. I was used to everyone cowering to Draven's demands. When he took over as the coven leader, he showed just how cruel he could be, which was worse than my father ever was. He wanted power, and he wasn't afraid to brutally kill anyone in his way. It was how he had finally taken over the city in less than a year, even though my father spent decades trying to accomplish the same thing.

These werewolves didn't care, though. I could tell by the way they were ready to fight that this wasn't the first challenge they had faced.

"So what's the first step?" I asked.

"The first step is tightening our borders," Mason said. He had officially taken over as the head warrior in the pack with Darian gone, and even though the circumstances were rough, he had stepped up, increasing the training and patrols to make sure the pack stayed safe. "The territory is too big right now, so it would be easy for the vampires to invade again. If we keep everyone close to the packhouse, we can guarantee no one else gets hurt."

"We'll make the announcement tomorrow," Alpha Mark said. "We'll move those who are weakest close to the pack house to make sure they are protected."

"I'll make sure the spare rooms are prepared for that tonight," Luna Adira said.

"I'll help you with that," Beta Rie added.

"Me too," Remy said.

"What can I do?" I asked. Everyone already seemed to know their roles, and I wanted to help out in any way I could. Draven wouldn't take it easy on these werewolves, and I needed to make sure they were prepared for his brutality.

"I need you to work with Mason to make sure we know everything you know about Draven. We need to know how he thinks, what his strengths and weaknesses are. Anything that will give us an advantage to the situation," Alpha Mark said. "And be prepared to run a lot of training sessions. We have a few months, but that's not a lot of time to prepare for war."

Everyone nodded along, and there was a fierceness in the air that wasn't there before. Darian's death was still affecting the werewolves in this room, but it had lit a fire in their hearts. They were ready to fight in a way they weren't before. If only Draven knew what he had started here.

"One more thing," I said. I needed to make sure they all understood exactly what kind of war this was going to be. "Draven has never been one to fight fairly. He will brutally kill anyone who looks at him wrong, and even if the battle actually happens under the Blood Moon like Remy predicted, I can almost guarantee that Draven will strike before that. We have to be prepared for anything, including more loss."