IT TOOK THE COUNCIL OVER A WEEK to decide, and just as Collin announced that he was done waiting, the phone rang. It seemed the council took to heart what they told them and they surprised everyone with their decision to intervene. However, they didn’t want Collin and the pack to interfere or even help.“Trust the damn council to make a decision we didn’t damn well think of!” He growled as he paced back and forth in his office. He felt as if the walls were beginning to close in on him and there were just too many people in his office! Anna’s soft hand slipped onto his shoulder and he closed his eyes for a moment and breathed in deeply.“The council did say they wanted to speak to Nicolas about the vampires in the villa, sweetheart.” The council didn’t give them any indication of what they were going to do. They simply asked that Nicolas come and see them. Only Nicolas. They didn’t say it outright, but they didn’t want anyone else there. The way they insisted that it be only Nicolas ma
AS NICOLAS SUSPECTED, everyone was waiting for him in the boardroom to find out what the council wanted. He told them what he told the council and they tried to figure out what the council might want to do with this information.Sadly, after their recent experience with the council, they had to eventually agree that there was no way of knowing what the council was planning. They could only return to their research and wait. They were in the process of systematically working through the grimoire when Collin got the notice from the guards just outside of the small town.The council had arrived. Since the warriors were outside the town borders, they could see time come to a complete standstill. Cars that were driving just a moment before just came to a halt. People who were making their way somewhere on the sidewalks were halted mid-step and many people were silenced in the middle of a conversation.It was as if someone had pressed the pause button on life. The council appeared in the sq
AT THE VILLA, the vampires had received word that the council was coming. Nicolas’s opponent hadn’t bargained on Nicolas going to the council. He had always just talked the people down from the ledge, but then again, the people had never gone as far as having him imprisoned.At first, Nicolas’s opponent was furious that he had escaped, but as soon as he realized the hybrids helped, he was happy about the escape. It showed the people how untrustworthy dear Nicolas was and that he was always in cahoots with the hybrids. They would always come for Nicolas, which meant they liked interfering in the affairs of vampires.The nest stood waiting near the entrance of the villa and he could feel the tension grow with each passing second as the council drove closer. Their security climbed out of the cars to open the doors for them and he found it laughable that the strongest people in their entire world needed security to protect them, but he bit back the laughter forming in the back of his thro
Nicolas was carefully taking in each movement his opponent was making. He knew the man had no honour and would fight dirty, so he had to be careful, but he couldn’t just defend himself. He had to fight to win this war! His opponent took a step forward and Nicolas lunged, slamming his nails into the ribs as the man shouted out in pain.He actually looked surprised as he gripped his side and tried to stand up straight while it healed. Hissing at Nicolas, he lunged. Things in the vampire world didn’t work like they did in the werewolf world. Your strength wasn’t determined by your rank. Your strength was just your strength. If you drank human blood, you were a little stronger than when you drank animal blood, and Nicolas preferred human blood.Nicolas watched where his opponent’s hands were going and how he tried to sidestep, but this was where Nicolas’s age and experience made him the leader of the vampires as he gripped his opponent around his throat. A scream rang through the air and
THE WEDDING WASN’T the kind of affair it could have been if the entire nest had survived the war. The only guests they had at the small ceremony were the alpha family and they held a reception at the pack house with all the wolves who came to their rescue around them.The wolves used any kind of excuse for a proper party, even if it was the wedding of two vampires. Besides, Beverly was half-wolf, wasn’t she? At least, that was the general consensus. After the wedding, Nicolas planned to start searching earnestly for new people to turn. He had to be careful in this regard because the council wouldn’t allow him to turn huge groups and he couldn’t very well turn people who would be easily missed.If he turned people who were from the city, like people who had family there, they would soon have to move. There was a lot to consider, and although he was in a bit of a hurry, he didn’t want to rush.COLLIN LEANED AGAINST THE DOOR FRAME and watched Anna as she played with their son. He had bee
THE OFFICIAL PACK VEHICLES pulled up in front of the castle and everybody climbed out. They were ready for anything that the council might say about the fact that the pack joined Nicolas and Beverly. Since it seemed as if the council didn’t have any spies in Collin’s pack, they had some space to manoeuvre.The tension within the group was pretty high since all of them felt the weight of what happened at the villa. Even though Nicolas had given the order for the rest of his people to be killed, the wolves were involved. They were prepared for anything the council might decide to ask and they were trying to show the council that they were a united front no matter who gave which orders.Nicolas felt incredibly uneasy as they walked into the building and he fought the urge to physically shiver when they were taken into the library. He couldn’t understand why they always had to wait for the council. They mostly arrived right on time, but the council always made you wait for at least ten mi
THE COUNCIL’S INQUISITION had everybody on edge. Collin didn’t want them to figure out that Anna was connected to the rest of them in some way. He found it strange that the council hadn’t asked anything about the hybrid’s powers, but maybe that was a small blessing in disguise that they hadn’t.It gave them time to figure out some kind of unlinking spell. Unfortunately, they suspected that Vlad would have spies watching the pack territory now, which meant if they brought in a witch to try and figure out the spell, Vlad would know something was going on. They were in a really tight spot thanks to Vlad’s greed, or what they suspected to be his greed.They had no real evidence that he was behind everything, so they couldn’t very well lay a charge to the council. It was going to become a wait-and-see game and the one who could patiently wait the longest was going to win. In the meantime, Collin felt as if he should cling to his mate every second of every day and he couldn’t help himself.
“You have no right to speak here!” The witch was furious and Nicolas wanted to get her back on track fast before she did something to Beverly.“I take it you can’t unlink the spell.” Nicolas sighed, trying his best not to show his fear for Beverly’s safety. He knew full well the witch would exploit it when she demanded her price. He was about to take the grimoire from her when she whipped it out of his grasp.“I know what you are trying to do, Nicolas.” The witch smiled. “I can do the unlinking spell, but it will come at a price.” He felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up as she smiled at him. “The price will be a debt.” She sighed as she put the book down on her little round table and started to collect herbs one by one.“A debt?” Beverly whispered, frowning, but before Nicolas could answer, the witch answered.“Yes, you probably know it as a future favour.” The witch sounded impatient as Beverly’s lips formed an “O” but no sound came out of her mouth. The witch turned her at