With Delia dead, she thought that maybe things would get easier, but there was still a feeling of danger looming around what felt like every corner. She’d hoped it would vanish as the days went on and her stomach grew larger, but it didn’t. If anything, it felt worse. She could only hope that Adolph's trip would help ease some of it. When the Wiccan delegation including Eden returned to the Wiccan lands, she had thought that maybe Adolph would relax, but she supposed that until they knew for sure that Gavin wasn’t a threat and that all the threats they had ever suspected had been neutralized, there was no chance that they would ever have peace.Adolph was almost certain it wouldn’t even be that simple, no matter how much he may have wanted it to be. There was still something wrong. His wolf still felt restless. Maybe Eden was still a threat. Maybe not.He'd find out soon enough. Eden was a cunning man. He'd either get Adolph alone with a plausible excuse or he'd manage to kill him in

Adolph and his escort reached the border before twilight. The generals greeted him grandly and he got a chance to peek in on Basil’s training for a moment before getting some sleep. It seemed that his son had taken to martial training as well as he had in his youth. A bit of pride went through him as Basil went from attacking with a sword to shifting into his wolf form and back to his human form smoothly enough to catch his opponent off guard. The smoothness and speed of the shift were usually untapped advantages in combat. He didn’t expect Basil to have to use it much in the future, but it was a good thing to have. “Would you like to join them for a bit?” A general asked. “You know you’re still more myth than man.”Adolph chuckled and shrugged, “Of course. At least before dinner.”The general grinned and stepped on the pitch before Adolph removed his cloak and followed. Basil’s eyes widened as he walked onto the pitch and took out a practice sword. He picked Basil’s partner and Bas

Adolph followed Eden’s lead through the city, trying not to flinch at every fearful whisper. He wondered if the werewolves of the kingdom feared him this much or if their fear was lessened by the fact that they were under his rule.Maybe they did fear him in their way. His blood aura had that effect on all werewolves except for Laurel. He supposed it was because she was the white wolf to his black. The thought of her made the gloom seem a little lighter in his heart and he sighed. He was only going to be here long enough to get things mostly settled before he would return to her. How long could that take? A few weeks? A month? He didn’t want to be away from her for a month. The thought of it made him nervous and his wolf angry in a way he hadn’t expected. He figured it was just because a month from now could be after his unborn child came into the world. He’d been on the battlefield when Basil had been born. He’d felt Olivia’s passing like an afterthought, but he’d felt it and eve

Gavin would make her pay with her life for the insult and making a fool of him, but he only had a certain amount of time to do it. Based on his sources, Adolph wouldn’t be back for a while yet, but how long wasn’t clear. He had to be quick.With any luck, the man he’d made an appointment with would be on time. “Sir, your appointment is here.”Gavin looked up as he entered. He’d arranged for them to meet in this squalid little townhouse on the worst side of town for the sheer ease of it. No one would suspect that he would meet anyone here and as it didn’t belong to him, it would never be traced back to him. The man entered, hooded, and didn’t sit. He was taller than Gavin and rather broad beneath his cloak. He wanted to see the man’s face, but as he didn’t plan to reveal his face, he couldn’t ask an assassin to reveal his identity. No smart man would have agreed anyway.“I hear you’re someone who can get rid of a problem for me.”“Depends on how much of a problem and what you’re wi

Adolph turned to look at Eden down the hall, seated in an open window high above Adolph’s head, silent and still. He hadn’t even noticed Eden there. How had he gotten up there? Could he fly?How had he been so silent? It was as if he was dead with no heartbeat to mark his presence or the whoosh of his breathing. Unnerving and dangerous. He eyed Eden. “Oh?”“When she was a girl, there was a garden down there,” he pointed out to where Adolph had assumed a garden had been. “The flowers were the first to die… then the trees… Then the rock turned black and the canals of blood began to dry up.”Adolph shuddered, “Canals of blood?”Eden nodded, “They feed the base of the protections on the castle. I think in Crystal Castle the protections were fed by the people who lived there.”Adolph frowned, “The living werewolves?”Eden nodded and his lips twitched, “Morrigan’s plan to rot the werewolf kingdom from the inside started long before Delia arrived.”“... is this a part of those memories you