Chapter 20

The days passed in peace for a while. It was almost shocking to Arthur considering how out of control his life had been. He thought back to his time in the Brown Valley pack, getting worse with every passing day and shunned from even the most basic of the pack’s activities.

It seemed like a lifetime ago that he’d been running for his life through the forest. Had it only been a few weeks since he’d met Daphne? His bond with Daphne had done wonders for his control, let alone just meeting her.

He would have never imagined that he would be even a stand-in leader of a pack’s patrol before.

Lucas seemed calmer in the middle of battle, and even when he started to lose himself in the bloodshed, he could reach out to Daphne with ease and she always answered.

Her voice in her mind was magical, like her scent, and calmed him down quickly. The people on the patrol were delighted and relieved. They had feared the way Arthur lost control in the middle of battle, but as they realized that he could control himself, they started to see him as a strong and reliable leader.

It was surprising, watching their gazes on him change. He could see how their fear of him faded. They followed his orders because he’d been chosen by Blade and because he was the most powerful among them now, rather than out of terror.

When Blade returned to training, fully healed, he saw it too and smiled a bit. There was only one reason that Arthur could have gained so much control so suddenly.

He saw Arthur still in his wolf form and shook his head. He wasn’t surprised that Arthur still preferred to spend most of his time in his wolf form when out among the pack members. It would take a while, but he was sure it would happen in time.

“Arthur,” Blade called as he arrived on the pitch. “Congratulations on your bond.”

Arthur hesitated and, to Blade’s surprise, he shifted into his human form.

He looked a bit uncomfortable, but Blade couldn’t figure out why.

You should thank Blade for looking after you, Daphne had told him.

He still believed that it had been unnecessary, but Daphne was right. Blade had looked after him.

“Thank you, Blade,” Arthur said, meeting his eyes. “For looking after me.”

Blade smiled, “You’re a part of the pack and under my command, Arthur. I’ll always look after you.”

Arthur nodded stiffly, “And… yeah. Thanks for the congratulations too.”

Blade chuckled, “Having a mate is a good thing, indeed! I'm glad you're becoming more ...sociable, I think.”

Arthur huffed and Blade only laughed some more.

“Am I going to be able to expect a pup from you two soon?”

Arthur’s face turned bright red, “W-We’re just bonded. We haven’t. I mean…”

Blade frowned, “Oh? But why--?”

“I'm afraid of hurting her. I still frighten her sometimes…” he sighed. “No matter how hard I try.”

Blade froze, stunned for a moment. For the first time, he was getting a glimpse of the Arthur behind all of his begrudging cooperation and ferocity. When talking about Daphne, he seemed like any other young man in love and trying his best to make it work. He didn’t know how to reconcile this Arthur with the ferocious wolf that tore through rogues and relished the bloodshed.

His troubles made Blade think of his youth and he nodded in sympathy. His journey to a happy relationship with Daphne wouldn’t be as rocky as Blade’s journey with Mamie, but it wouldn’t be easy.

“If I leave her, I may die… now that we have a bond! I can talk to her whenever I need... Our bond is indestructible...”

Blade winced, “Well…”

Arthur frowned, “What?”

“I've heard that vampires have the ability to block communication between werewolves, even communication through bonded mates.”

“What?”

“There’s a special black stone they use to do it. They’ve used it to build castles and dungeons so that even if werewolves infiltrate their territory, they cannot contact with companions.”

Arthur looked at him, his face scrunched with confusion. He looked so young and unsure that Blade was shocked again.

“What?”

“You said vampire,” Arthur said. “I've never seen a vampire before...”

Blade laughed, “Neither have I! They were defeated by the werewolf kingdom more than a decade ago and now cower in their territory. They’re not what we have to worry about now. It's these damn rogues we have to deal with now.”

Arthur nodded, “That’s true. Your alpha was pretty clear that’s what I’m here for.”

“Yeah, well. You’ll never be out of a job.” Blade nodded ahead, “Come on, we're not done patrolling for the day.”

Arthur sat up in the dead of the night and snuck across the room to Daphne’s bed. He shifted into his wolf form and climbed into the bed beside Daphne careful not to disturb her. She shifted a bit with a little sigh but didn’t wake up. He let out a little sigh of relief as he nuzzled her and got comfortable. She’d taken to sleeping in the bigger bed lately so they weren’t so cramped together, and he was glad for it.

Lucas growled low and content in his chest as Arthur focused on keeping his wolf form through the night. The day before he shifted back into his human form in his sleep and wrapped himself around Daphne while she slept.

His face burned with embarrassment at the memory.

He’d been so warm, curled tightly around the most wonderful scent. It was Daphne, his mind knew. He growled, pulling it closer when Daphne went still in his arms.

“Daphne?” He asked sleepily. “Are you alright?”

She squirmed a bit and a jolt of pleasure when through him. He hissed and shifted his hips closer, tightening his grip on her with a low rumble.

"Arthur… you…" Her voice was soft and she squirmed a bit more. "Please move…"

He grunted, “What?”

"You're…" She let out a helpless sound and shifted away from him, pushing her arm back so her elbow dug into his chest. "You're human."

Arthur frowned not understanding as he reached up to rub the sleep from his eyes. Where he expected for, there was skin. Daphne's ears were bright red.

"Oh!" Arthur pulled back sharply and let out a sharp yelp as he slid over the edge of the bed. She held tight to the sheet she was under and pulled it over her head as Arthur crashed onto the floor fully awake and mortified.

“Daphne, I...”

He’d shifted sometime in the night and had been curled up to her in his human form. The little jolt of pleasure had been her squirming up against his erection. Naked and erect on the floor beside the bed, he didn’t know how he was going to face her later.

He almost wished the floor would swallow him.

“I should… I should… get ready to go!” Arthur jumped up and hurried to wash up, get dressed, and head out while stuffing whatever he could grab to eat. “Bye, Daphne!”

Arthur grimaced at the memory. Daphne had still been blushing when he returned at the end of the day, embarrassed and a little upset with him.

“I’m sorry, Daphne. I didn’t mean to…”

“T-The next time that happens, you’ll be completely banned from sharing a bed with me.”

“But—“

She turned from him, hiding her face, “Not even in your wolf form!”

Arthur didn't want to be kicked out of Daphne's bed. He urged Lucas to help him keep his wolf form before slipping into sleep. Lucas rumbled and seemed completely unbothered by the situation and unwilling to aid him.

I’ve done my part. You have to do yours.

Arthur huffed, his face burning with embarrassment. It may have seemed that simple to Lucas, but it wasn’t. Their bond was growing stronger because they spent so much time together. They were supposed to consummate their bond to complete it, but Daphne was human. She didn’t have the same instincts as he did. She didn’t feel that draw or need. Otherwise, they might have already done so.

Your problem, Lucas said sleepily.

Arthur wanted to argue with him, but he was tired and Daphne’s scent was as soothing as ever. Sleep came easily. He felt something in him shifting around as he turned his head into Daphne’s hair and curled up against her.

He sniffed as a stench, foreign and familiar, drifted into his senses. He sat up stiffly, taking a deeper breath and glaring around the room. He rolled out of bed, sniffing and barely registering that he had shifted into his human form again.

Daphne murmured and moaned sleepily, “…Arthur? What’s wrong?”

Daphne couldn’t see anything in the dark, but Arthur’s glowing red eyes turned to her in the dark, just barely illuminating his ferocious expression.

“A rogue.” He growled. “A rogue came in.”

“What?”

A whirl of light lit the house as he shifted and rushed out of the house. She jumped out of bed and hurried to get dressed. Arthur could probably handle it himself, but Blade and Mamie deserved to know.

If a rogue had gotten into the village, there was no telling how many others there would be. Arthur was strong, but he wasn’t invincible.

She rushed down the hill and into town until she reached Blade and Mamie's house.

Daphne beat on the door. Her eyes burned and her heart thudded against her chest. She panted, nearly out of breath.

“Blade! Mamie! A rogue broke in! Arthur needs help!”