Page 48 of The Dark War

Roland would be joining Kit at the Alabaster Shifter Academy once the war was over. The younger pups would travel to Earth while the eldest, the Juniors and Seniors, would stay and finish their training by actually fighting in the war.

“You are packed and ready to go!” Clara said cheerfully, holding Evelyn on one hip and a hand around Roland. Clara was the only one he would talk to and shied away from me completely, just like the other pups. Evelyn reached for me, giving me some satisfaction a child, albeit my own, would look for me.

“Three days.” Eden stood beside Clara. Her womb had significantly grown the past week, all with the help of Clara. Her power had helped grow her mother’s pup quickly, which was another talent that my mate looked to have. Once Eden said she gave birth, she would like to come back through the portal to help, but that was deemed impossible.

Cyrene had agreed quickly to the plan once she arrived. Shutting it down was for the best, and she would help reopen when the war was over. Cyrene would also put a stipulation in the spell that if she died, it could still be unlocked, but there would be many clues to finding the right combination of spells that we would have to face.

So, basically, we couldn’t let her die.

“Three days, and we get to go on our own little adventure.” To Clara's surprise, Roland took Eden’s hand as she led him to the playground. Clara let out a shaky breath while the omega decorated with white flowers covered the pack house.

The Cerulean Moon Kingdom palace was compromised, not necessarily captured, but vampires had been seen trying to get in through the magical wards. The warriors that protected the palace had now retreated to help other packs bring children from far and wide to make the trip to Earth.

The people were more important, not things.

A small ceremony was to be held privately in my office to pass off the royal title. We were to keep our identities as king and queen hidden until it was truly necessary. As the title was passed to us by ingesting the blood of the current king and queen, we were given the official royal command of controlling all of the Cerulean Moon Kingdom.

I hope I never had to use that.

Clara’s sundress swayed, her fingers reaching for a sandwich on the outside buffet table for the incoming packs of shifters and wolves. The territory now housed hundreds if not thousands of shifters, traveling fae, fairies, and elves that were too worried to travel the country roads.

“Alpha?” the voice echoed clear in my head.

“Jasper?” I questioned. I haven’t heard from Jasper since the incident with the death of Sorceress Prinna. With all the drama settled around our own kingdom, I didn’t think to ask him about theirs.

What a great king I’ll be. I rolled my eyes.

“Yes, am I disturbing you?” The hesitation in his voice made me laugh. Even if he was a prick all those months ago, I’d still be cordial for the sake of my mate.

“No, is there a problem?” I could hear Jasper’s wolf grumbling in the background, something about not being mated yet, which I found fucking hilarious.

He deserved it.

“I’ve come to ask a favor of you and Clara. It’s in regard to one of our dukes. He’s very loyal to Vermillion, supporting as much as he can financially. Taliyah feels like she should at least entertain the idea of helping him.”

I grumbled, tightening my hold on Evelyn. She cooed at me, planting a sloppy wet kiss on my cheek. Licking her cheek back, she squealed in excitement as I laughed at her. Wolves stopped to stare at my interaction with Evelyn, but it wasn’t me they were staring at wide-eyed, but my daughter. She let out a growl, her eyes narrowing until they walked away.

That’s my fuckin’ baby girl.

“What do you need?” I rattled my voice through the link. I didn’t feel like helping the twat, but in dark times as these, those with like-minds needed to stay together.

“If there is a chance you are going to the dragon shifter territories, can you look out for a human girl? Odessa is her name. She ran when she found out she was the mate of a vampire. He didn’t have time to explain and didn’t want to scare her more.” I groaned, not wanting to take up his offer just because I would help some bloodsucker. But I had to be reasonable, not all vampires were bad, or so Clara said.

“We are headed that way this afternoon. I’ll let you know if I see anything.” Jasper sighed through the link. “Have you gotten laid yet?” Torin chuckled, almost howling at him. Seeing Jasper’s wolf Xander rolling his eyes was such sweet revenge.

“You know the answer to that,” he quietly spoke. “Thanks for rubbing it in.”

“Anytime.”

Chapter Twenty-seven

Jasper

Groaning,Ilefttheservant hallway. I hated asking for favors from Kane. I owed him enough for not killing me so many months ago. Now the debt was becoming more profound, but what else could I do? Vermillion was a mess, and if Taliyah didn’t have Duke Mortus’ deep pockets to help run the country, we would be royally screwed. I couldn’t help thinkingwould it be that bad?Maybe the Cerulean Moon and Golden Light Kingdom could absorb some of the lands. But I knew then that more people would suffer, stretching both of those kingdoms into failure.

There was no win in this.

Walking back into the small study, the tea growing cold, Duke Mortus sat, his ankle crossed over his knee, eyeing Taliyah. Taliyah looked poised; drinking her tea like the duke didn’t scare her, but I knew better. Taliyah was intimidated by the whole idea of being in charge. She wasn’t raised to take over a kingdom, just do her bidding for her half brother.

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