Chapter 101

Vampires rushed towards them at Daphne’s cry, yet it wasn’t all of them. Arthur realized that Nicole’s unit was clustered around Daphne and Nicole at the rear. He didn’t recognize any of the vampires charging towards them.

Nicole never struck him as a person to remain in the rear, so what was going on?

“I told you that woman couldn’t be trusted!” Tom cried, growling, “Your Majesty, don’t you see?”

It was just like twenty years ago. The thought of bloodshed and the near-endless days of battle made Tom shudder. The scent of death had taken years to fade and the toll it had taken on the werewolf population was untold. They wouldn’t survive another war.

Even if their leader wasn’t preoccupied with a royal vampire.

“Rex!” Tom called, “We have to hold them off. Sharp Armor doesn’t have the forces.”

Rex growled, glared at Arthur, and turned towards the oncoming vampires, “We head them off here! Charge!”

The werewolves rushed forward past him as Arthur focused on Daphne. Tom was wrong, and he did see. Her dark hair was tied out of her face. She was dressed like Nicole and the rest of her unit. Her golden eyes glared across the battlefield at him. There was no kindness or love in her eyes. There was something wrong.

They’d done something to her. He’d known it in the clearing that there had been something wrong, but seeing her so pale and furious only made it more obvious.

Daphne? He tried to reach out to her, but she didn’t respond.

It was different than when she had completely vanished several days ago. He could still feel her on the other side of their bond, but it was different. It felt like yelling through a canyon, knowing she was on the other side but having no idea of how to get through.

He knew that there was a type of stone that could block their bond, but there were no towers or castles here. She couldn’t be wearing a piece or anything like that, so what was going on? She was just across the clearing from him, but he couldn’t reach her. It was worse than being in the clearing hoping for peace and not being able to feel here.

“Your Majesty!” Tom yelled. “Move!”

Arthur dove out of the way of a blast of light aimed at him. He tumbled through the air as the bolt of light struck the ground and exploded, tumbling him through the air. He shuddered as a ripple of concern went through him.

A vampire reared up, leaping through the air at him. He growled and caught the woman in his jaws and slammed her to the ground. She struggled, hissing and scratching before he put a paw on her chest and turned his head, ripping her apart with a violent, wet crack.

Blood splattered the ground and he dropped her body and spat out her blood. It tasted like black tar and ash.

He heard Daphne’s voice from far away giving an order or calling out to someone. He focused on it and searched for the fastest path to where she was. He just had to get to her. If he could get to Daphne, then everything would be alright. They could leave all this behind them the way they should have done at the beginning.

He’d figure out what happened to her and find a way to fix it when they were far away from all this. He’d apologize until his last breath for getting them into this nonsense.

He found the path and rushed towards it, barreling into a vampire. Another jumped in front of him and he batted the man out of the way, slamming the man into an outcropping of rock. Another jumped in front of him and another jumped on his back. He shifted into his human form and slip out of the vampire’s grip before shifting back into his wolf form and biting the man.

He threw the other vampire aside when a familiar grey wolf jumped in front of him. It was missing a paw and there was a horrible, familiar scar across his chest. His red eyes glared at Arthur. He wasn’t surprised to see him. A death without a body was just hopeful thinking. It had been the reason they were even here because Tom and his colleagues were blind, hopeful weaklings.

“I knew you were alive,” Arthur growled and stomped his paw. “Get out of my way, Owen.”

Owen darted forward, ignoring Arthur’s warning and swiping at him. Arthur snarled and bat him out of the way. Daphne remained unaware of the fight as she was engaged in her own battle at Nicole’s side. Arthur tried to get around Owen to her, but Owen kept blocking his path.

Arthur faked him out and watched him fall and roll back onto his three feet.

“Last chance, Owen!” He growled. “Get out of my way!”

He didn’t want to kill Owen before. They were family. He had let the guilt settle in his heart and fade with the realization that there was no way to tell for sure if Owen was dead. He didn’t want to kill him now, but he had far fewer reservations about it now.

He was standing in the way of getting to Daphne. After everything that had happened over the past few weeks, he had no patience. The rage was boiling. His wolf was growling urging him to command him out of the way or to just

Owen leaped at him but was unstable without his fourth paw. Arthur used it to his advantage to tire him out before shifting into his human form to get around him easier. Owen snapped his jaw just about Arthur’s head as he slid under Owen. He shifted back into his werewolf form and dragged his claws through Owen’s chest.

Arthur turned again and struck him, unleashing just a bit of his fury on his cousin. Did he know what had happened to Daphne? Had he been responsible for it in some way? The last time Owen had simply taken her and kept them apart, but he hadn’t had the support of the vampires last time.

Owen howled in agony as Daphne struck a werewolf with a bolt of lightning. The wolf flew back with a pained yelp as she turned at the sound of Owen’s pain. Owen staggered and barely avoided another attack from Arthur, but he couldn’t keep up with Arthur’s movements in his wolf form. Arthur glided between his wolf and human form as he attacked, striking Owen ruthlessly.

There was something wrong with this, but she couldn’t remember what it was. Owen staggered onto his feet, meeting Arthur’s attacks again and trying to fight him off, but he was at too much of a disadvantage.

“What is it?” Nicole asked, feeling the shift in Daphne’s attention as her magic rippled around her.

“I… there’s something I’m supposed to be remembering,” Daphne said distantly, watching Arthur and Owen fight. “There’s… something wrong about this.”

Nicole remained quiet, watching Daphne’s reaction to the fight and keeping an eye on their surroundings.

Owen managed to catch Arthur in the neck with one of his paws, but he fell to the ground. Arthur bit him in the shoulder. With a sharp strike to his snout, Owen freed himself but Arthur didn’t let him escape far before Arthur pounced on him.

They struggled, rolling around for a while before Owen managed to get on top and scratch Arthur across the face. Their limbs locked as they tried to overpower the other. Arthur tumbled Owen to the ground and pinned him with a snarl and snapped his jaws at him, taking a bite of Owen’s ear. Owen howled in agony. Daphne’s heart lurched. Something was screaming at her from within her heart. She couldn’t let this happen.

She couldn’t let Arthur kill Owen. She turned and ran as fast as her feet could take her.

“Daphne, no!” Nicole cried, but it was too late.

Daphne angled her sword between Owen and Arthur sending the swipe of Arthur’s claws off course, narrowly missing Owen’s throat before angling it up at Arthur’s face.

“Back off!”

Arthur froze, looking into Daphne’s gold eyes as she defended Owen at a loss for what to say. This close, her scent was different. There was something cool and a little spicy in her scent that hadn’t been there before, but Daphne would never point a sword at him.

“Daphne?”

She darted forward, lunging at him. He darted back from her attack and the one after, bewildered at her behavior. What had they done to her that she didn’t recognize him? Why was she attacking him? She seemed to dance and glide towards him, moving easily in her armor like an echo of Nicole. It was a bit dazzling as he tried to keep track of her and troubling.

He hurried back from her and glanced to where Owen was staggering to his feet as blood pooled beneath him.

“Daphne? It’s me! What are you doing?”

“Stop dodging and fight me, werewolf!”