The White Wolf ||A Paranormal Romance||

Twenty-Four

Mircea

"Gods, this place is beautiful." I said as we walked up to the manor, ivy covering the walls of stone. It was hard to believe that this was a pack house, since I had been led to believe that the wolves lived in squalor. This was the complete opposite of that.

"You should see where Vali and the Core Pack live." Dallas replied, giving me a side eye. It had been a few days of on foot travel to get here, but it was well worth the wait. Unfortunately there wasn't any way to track where all of the wolves went, to make sure they all got to safety, but at least I could say that the thirty or so that came with us were safe. Thirty that belonged to this pack, that were currently returning to their home.

"I'm not sure if it could actually top-" I was cut off by the door of the manor opening. Or maybe I was more cut off by my own brain shutting off when I saw who opened it.

Vali.

She wasn't looking at me though, her eyes were locked on Dallas as she sprinted across the courtyard and tackled him to the ground. No words were spoken between them, but I could smell the joy and happiness they both felt.

On the way here Dallas had told me their history, that they had worked together to get the wolves where they are. That they had been close. I never really got the context for that closeness, but now I saw them just holding each other on the ground, with Vali crying and Dallas soothing her, I think I understood. And so did the jealousy that was clawing at my chest.

The jealousy that everyone around me could likely smell.

"Another vampire?" A black haired wolf's voice echoed to my ears, and I was about to question who he was when Vali sat up on the ground and looked at him. Finally she had let Dallas go and I could calm the burning in my veins.

"Not just any vampire..." She trailed off as she stood up and moved to be in front of me. "This is Mircea Dracula, the Vampire Prince and my mate. Not that we need to answer to you, Marek." She said, and I couldn't help but get caught on the fact she had announced I was her mate. It wasn't an acceptance, or a claim, but it was an acknowledgement and I would take that. There was no need to rush these things.

"Are you fucking serious, Marek?" A female wolf came out of the manor next, followed by what looked to be the rest of the pack. She had ash-blonde hair, and a scar running down her face. She spoke to Marek quietly, too quietly for me to hear, before she walked over to me and held out her hand. "I'm Lulia, alpha of this pack." I shook her hand.

"Mircea."

"While it is nice to meet you and we have a sense of trust already because of the Chosen, we still need to ask you to hand over your moonstone once you're inside. Just a precaution." She told me, I nodded.

"Lulia, that doesn't seem necessary." Vali argued with Dallas standing by her side.

"Antanasia still doesn't have hers back. They'll both get them back once we know they won't run." Lulia said. Antanasia? If she was here then I couldn't risk not seeing her.

"It's not a problem, I'll do anything to help gain your trust." I said, and Vali finally looked at me. Her soft-brown eyes were filled with confusion, but she didn't speak again on the matter. Instead I followed her and Lulia into the manor, leaving behind the rest of the pack to have their reunion with their lost pack members.

"I'm sure you're hungry, we can catch up over food." Vali said once we were inside, and I put a hand on her shoulder to make her face me.

"I don't get hungry like that, so I'm fine, I just need to talk with you..." I said, she furrowed her brow.