All The Queen's Monsters (The Queen's Slave, Book 3)

Twenty Six: Remnants of War

"It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience."

-Julius Caesar

TW: traumatic birth, talk of torture in past tense.

"I'm fucking telling you, we can't approach it that way. You'll blow the whole thing. We need to enter quietly, at night. No, goddamnit, you're not listening to me!"

I roll out of bed with a sigh, taking a moment of peace, -despite the angry yelling in the next room- to smile down at my babies. Iris sleeps just like Kore, her wings draped over Camille's little paws. Rueben's nose is scrunched into her fur, his hands gripping the short strands like they're a lifeline. I lean down and press a kiss to each of them, sucking in a deep breath of their scent. Snatching a blanket, I wrap it around me and leaving the room. Hushed whispers speak in the dead of night, four heads bent over the table. Instead of going over to them, I move towards the massive floor to ceiling windows, taking in the vast Montana wilderness, my wolf itching for a run beneath my skin. These past few weeks have been a scattered mess of moving from state to state, and the anticipation of growing closer to our goal is weighing on my shoulders like the static electricity of a storm skittering across my skin.

I survey the trees, catching a flash of color every now and then. One of my wolves out for a run.

I'm aware I haven't been much of a Queen to my pack lately, that most of my attention has been focused on being the mother I never got to be. And while I'm grateful for that, my summer is over, and it's past time for the fucking shit to get done. Turning towards the kitchen, I stalk over and lean against the wall, watching my father lean over a map with one of my best wolves, one shithead vampire, and a human. They've been working like hell to figure out how we are going to reunite with the others in Washington. We have well over five thousand with us now, and five hundred more are still out there, running for their lives. Just last week, however, over a hundred and fifty previous soldiers of Ravenna, men and women, showed up.

That was not fun to deal with.

So far though, no one has died, and I suppose that's a plus.

"Ravenna's men are goddamn everywhere. Where the fuck are they coming from?" He runs a hand through his white hair, sighing in frustration.

"There's outposts here," Elijah points to a few sections outside of Idaho. "And here. She's got the whole state on lockdown. Being the high queen, she must be pulling them from the rest of the districts. A bunch of master vampires in one place, plus the queen. We are fucked if that's the case. No alpha can face that many alone, and five thousand wolves and handful of deserter vamps isn't going to make a difference. We need more."

"So then we get more." I finally say, and they turn towards me in surprise. My father stands to his full height, and though weathered from stress and travel, his presence still commands all the attention. I smile to myself, knowing I may hold the title now but he will always be the king. Padding over to the map, I peer down at it, taking note of the many markings and lines drawn every which way. Crossing my arms, I meet their eyes. "Well, first things first, we need to figure out a way to down those outposts. Slow enough to not cause suspicion, but efficiently enough that we don't leave bodies behind. As for more fighters, we actually have an army out there already."