Behind Closed Gates [Edited]

Chapter Sixteen

Princess Thalia swallowed at the sight of the captured wolf's blood, nestled in the grip of the hunter. He fixed her a stare that told her what she feared was true – the hunters knew exactly how valuable the wolf was to her family.

"A truce?" she questioned instead, crossing her arms over her chest.

Elijah Griffin smiled at her, like he saw right through the walls she had up in place. "I know you want this," he waved the vial in his hand, "and I know you want to talk. So let's have a truce and not murder each other."

Thalia narrowed her eyes and held out her hand. "Hand over the vial, then."

"No." He pocketed it instead. "You called me first, so you start."

She slowly put her hand back, keeping her arms crossed, and stared him down. Thalia didn't say anything as she tried to read what his intention was, risking his life standing before her, why he had the vial of Willow's blood, and why he even was letting her know he had it. What was his motive?

"You know of the rogue in the zoo," Thalia started, motioning to his pocket. "We know that the vet is one of yours." She saw his nod in acknowledgement, the slightest movement. "We want you to...let us handle it."

Elijah raised a dark eyebrow. "You want me to stop my unit from taking out a rogue that's clearly on the verge of insanity?"

"Yes." Thalia lifted her chin. "The situation is ours to resolve. We'd appreciate your hunters not acting first, letting us handle it in a quiet manner."

The hunter stilled and his green eyes roamed over her, taking in her posture, and he slowly withdrew the vial again, examining the blood within, shimmering brightly in the light of the greenhouse. "Do you know what makes silver so valuable to us? And so dangerous to you?"

Thalia waited for him to answer himself. She was used to these monologues from her father when he wanted to lecture her on something he'd ruled absolute.

Elijah's smile faded. "Silver, pure silver, can kill bacteria and viruses. It's quite powerful in the right hands. When our mutual acquaintance, the vet, discovered that it kills off your fur-ball gene upon contact, we used it. It turned the tables, you know. Allowed us to have the upper hand on you."

She hated the look in his eyes. "Fur-ball genes? Do you want this truce intact or not?"

"The werewolf gene clings to the cells. Your DNA looks like a clump of fur-balls." He shrugged. "It's not your fault, but it does look like a fur-ball."

"Did you come here to give me a science lesson or did you come here to hand over what doesn't belong to you?"

Elijah looked at the vial again, reading the scribbled name of Willow on the label. "Zachary checked her blood work. Took a sample of her fur. He looked at it, checked it like the zoo wanted him to, and found something very interesting."

He threw the vial quickly at her head and she caught it without looking away from the irritation in his eyes. She immediately looked at the vial in her hand, at how unnaturally warm it was. It was as though it had just come out of the microwave. Her hand began to itch.

"Her blood's abnormal for a werewolf," Elijah said, watching as Thalia quickly put it in her pocket. "We're interested, just like you are. We're not going to turn a blind eye forever but I'm guessing we have the same issue."

"The human's security," Thalia answered.

He nodded. "Good luck getting her out, it'll save us the trouble. But whatever wolf that is, it's not normal." The Wolfsbane took a step close to the princess, who lifted her chin at his dare, ever the fearless wolf that wouldn't budge at the face of someone so dangerous.