I could have slept for an entire week, especially if I could keep dreaming about Thea. About her soft skin, about her long, blond hair, her red lips, her delicious body. I could also dream about her sweet scent and even sweeter blood.

I sat up with a jerk, my throat parched.

Hell, I needed a drink.

I got dressed in my usual black pants and shirt and went to the dining room. My chest hurt as I halted in front of the table, remembering a crucial detail.

Thomas was gone, and he wouldn’t be serving me bottles of blood anymore.

Hell, who cared about the blood? I had lost a dear friend, and the pain it brought would never go away. I knew it wouldn’t. It lessened, like the pain of losing my parents and my siblings, but it never went away.

Bristling, I marched into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of blood. I drank half of it in a single breath. A scent caught my nose and I gulped the rest of the bottle. The strength of the scent increased, and I reached for another bottle, just to be sure, before going back to the living room, where Luana was.

“Want some breakfast?” I asked, raising the bottle.

She wrinkled her nose. “I already ate, thank you very much.”

I took my usual seat at the head of dining table and looked out the glass windows. The heavy curtains were drawn and the sun had just set, tinting the sky a dark blue. I wished I could have stayed in the cottage to watch another sunset with Thea, but it was impossible. While we both still had so much to do in our covens, we wouldn’t have time to appreciate the sunset or the sunrise together.

“When do you have to report my doings to Alex?” I asked, still looking out.

“Later tonight,” she said. “Just before sunrise, actually.”

I nodded. “Already know what you’re gonna tell him?”

“That you’re wallowing in pain and drinking your nights away.”

I glanced at her. “Good girl.”

She crossed her arms. “Your mood is sourer tonight. I thought after seeing your woman, it would have improved.”

“Seeing her for a brief time only reminds me we can’t be together yet, and that hurts more than a sword in the gut,” I said in a low voice. With her werewolf ears, I was sure Luana had heard me.

“No time for self-pity or crying over open wounds,” she snapped. “My alpha wants to meet you tonight, remember?”

I sighed. “Yes, I remember.” She was right, of course. Why wallow in my own pain, when I could be acting, making progress in this goddamn quest I chose for myself? The more allies I made, the faster it all would go. I drank another gulp of the blood, then stood. “When are we leaving?”

“Now,” she said. “Right now.”

Luana didn’t waste time. After scolding me for wearing slacks and black shoes to the meeting—how would I run in that?—and realizing I wasn’t going to change, she gave up. Together, we exited the castle, pretending we were going for a walk in the garden, even though it wasn’t common for vampires to be friendly to their blood slaves. Nobody stopped us, or even looked at us twice. I guess with Luana playing spy, Alex didn’t fear anything from me.

Luana and I strolled past the maze, and once out of hearing range, she hid behind a tree, where she took off her clothes, tossed them to me—saying she would need them again when we met her alpha—then transformed into her wolf.

We took off.

When not injured, Luana was almost as fast in her wolf form as I was, which impressed me.

We stopped a few yards from the same hill where I had caught up with her and found out her secret a couple of nights ago. She bit down, taking her clothes from me, and disappeared behind some bushes. A minute later, Luana emerged wearing black leggings and long white blouse—and barefoot. Because of the added volume, we had opted for leaving her shoes behind.

“Where are they?” I asked, glancing up the hill. I didn’t see anyone, and when I used my senses to try to find them, I could only hear and smell the woods.

A sly grin spread over her lips. “They will show up when we get to the top.” She walked past me. “Come on.”

Wary, I followed her up the hill. I thought I could trust her—I wanted to trust her—but I was dealing with werewolves. My relationship with these creatures had always been strenuous.

“What now?” I asked once we reached the top. I glanced around, but didn’t see anything.

“Wait,” she whispered.

A minute passed.

Then another.

And one more.

I opened my mouth to ask her if she was playing me, when I sensed them. Their presence, their scent, their heat, their power … I couldn’t be sure, but there were a lot of werewolves approaching us.

“How many dog guards does your alpha need?” I asked, trying to lighten the mood. I didn’t like being cornered by so many supernaturals.

“Enough to deal with a powerful vampire, if needed,” she said.

Finally, they emerged from the woods and marched up the hill like a wave of pure prowess. They were all in their human form, and most of them were naked. Their alpha, though, was easily recognizable by the leather pants and loose shirt. His hair was long and whipping in the gentle breeze.

He halted a good six feet from me, flanked by two men, who I assumed were his two betas.

Luana lowered her head, in respect to her alpha, then gestured to him. “Prince Drake, this is Ulric, the alpha of the Dark Vale pack.”

“Well, well,” Uric said, smiling wide. His canines were elongated and sharp, almost like fangs. “Prince Drake of DuMoir Castle requested a meeting. I wonder why?”

I frowned at Luana before returning my gaze to the alpha. “I thought Luana had explained.”

“Oh, she did,” he said. It hadn’t escaped me that he hadn’t glanced at her once since arriving, not even when she introduced me to him. “But I would love to hear everything from your own mouth.”

I wasn’t liking this. Ulric looked like an arrogant ass who thought too highly of himself—he reminded me of Alex. However, I knew from experience not all arrogant asses were evil like Alex was.

And I wasn’t here to make friends. I needed allies. All we had to do was draw a good plan and follow through with it.

I summoned my best political voice and started, “I know werewolves and vampires have always been enemies, but we can change that.” Ulric didn’t seem amused by my words. I went on. “Alex is in charge of DuMoir Castle right now, and he’s changing all the rules Lord Reynard imposed.”

“You say that as if Lord Reynard had been generous to us,” the man on Ulric’s right said. One of his betas.

“Rollin,” Ulric snapped. “Let the vampire plead his case.”

They were having fun with this, and I didn’t like it. I suppressed a growl. “All Lord Reynard did was to ensure peace between all supernaturals. He tried to avoid war at all costs.”

“By oppressing our race,” Rollin said, his fists clenched. “We heard about your little mission a month or so ago. You killed the alpha, betas, and the entire inner circle of a strong pack in northern Canada.”

It had been my last mission before Lord Reynard had been killed. I had spent thirteen days fighting nonstop. It had exhausted me, but I had been satisfied with the results.

“I did what I had to do to maintain peace,” I snarled. “That pack wanted to reveal our secret to the world. They wanted to take over the humans and change everything.”

“What’s so bad about that?” the wolf asked.

I shook my head. “First, the humans would freak out. Second, it would mean another world war. Their numbers are way larger than ours. They might not have our abilities, but they do have powerful weapons that can kill us.”

“I agree with the vampire on this,” Ulric said, surprising me. “As much as I would like more liberty, we are better off if our existence is unknown.”

I sighed in relief. Now I knew how to play his game. “Alex is plotting against the closest werewolf packs and witch covens. He wants to take over the lands around the castle, and he plans on killing every one of you.” That was a lie. I had no idea what Alex was plotting now since I had no access to his meetings, but I was sure it couldn’t be good. “He wants to be the supreme lord of all supernaturals.” The betas growled, while a cool mask fell over the alpha’s rough face. I could win this. “If you help me overthrow Alex, I can promise you more freedom. We can draw a peace treaty that will ensure you keep your lands. In fact, I can give you more lands.” That wasn’t a lie. Werewolves need more land to run the way they liked. Vampires only needed a little land to hunt. I could donate a few acres of the vast DuMoir estate to them.

“What makes you so sure we can win?” Ulric asked.

“Alex doesn’t have the support of all the vampires. Some hate him as much as I do. I’m sure we can get a handful of strong vampires on our side.” I paused for effect, knowing my next words could make or break the deal. “I’m also working with the Silverblood coven.”

“What?” Rollin asked. “Why?”

“That doesn’t matter.” I wouldn’t explain my relationship with Thea to them. “What matters is that when we attack, the Silverblood witches will help us.” I hoped Thea was able to convince Princess Morda. “And we can then easily overthrow Alex and take over the castle.”

Ulric’s brows slammed down and he turned around, to his betas. The three of them talked in hushed whispers, and I only caught a few words they uttered.

Jealous. War. Witches. Damned. Hell. Fuck it. A big problem. Useful ally. More lands. Trust.

The tension inside me piled up during the ten minutes the three talked.

“How long does this usually take?” I asked Luana in a low tone.

“It depends on how important the matter is,” she replied. “And this one is pretty important.”

Hell …

Another ten minutes passed, until finally Ulric turned to me with a wide smile.

He extended his hand toward me, and I couldn’t help but noticed his fingers had transformed into claws. “We have a deal.”

Relief rushed through me. I took his hand and shook it tight. “Great.”

We discussed a couple more details, like when to meet next, how to send messages back and forth, and when they should be ready to attack—hopefully we would meet again when it was time for the battle. If we needed to send messages, he would send a wolf to track down Luana, and I would send Luana. As for being ready to attack, I told them to give me a few days then be ready regardless. The moment I heard from Thea, we would go for it.

At the end of the meeting, Ulric and I shook hands again.

“Hope to hear from you soon,” Ulric said.

“You will.”

Finally, after an hour here, the alpha landed his eyes on Luana. “May I have a word with my wolf?” he asked, though he could have ordered it.

“Sure.” I stepped back, giving her space.

Head lowered, Luana marched past me and followed Ulric down the hill, with the betas close behind them. The other fifty or so wolves stayed positioned around the hilltop, all watching me.

What a distrustful bunch.

This time, I couldn’t hear any exchanged words, but the fact that Luana didn’t look in her alpha’s eyes once told me volumes.

After lowering her head even more to him, she spun on her dirty heels and scurried to me.

“Let’s go,” she uttered, pushing past me.

I frowned, wanting to ask what was wrong. But I held my tongue, because she didn’t seem open to talk to me, and because if her alpha asked for secrecy, she was expected to keep it. I could get her in trouble.

I caught up with her and we returned to the castle. My chest was lighter, though, as it seemed I was a step closer to defeating Alex and taking back the castle.