The Gift

Chapter Two

"Anything further to report?" Constantin enquired.

"No Master."

"You may take your leave," he voiced flatly and watched as Teo bowed down to them and stepped backwards towards the door.

"Brother, what's troubling you?" Constantin asked.

"Nothing."

"Nothing? Are you sure about that?" Constantin insisted.

"The creature, the description, it feels so familiar. I can't seem to place it though. The smell of death on a walking, seemingly living creature is not something to be taken lightly."

"Mmm," was all Constantin said.

Certainly there were instances that when a creature was about to die it would reek of the stench, or in a battle. A battle that had dragged on for days and you were surrounded by the lifeless bodies that piled up until they were taken back to their families for a proper burial ceremony. But that was to be expected, unless..

"The prophecies!" They said in unison.

"Yes, dear brother, the prophecies," Constantin stated.

"We both heard the stories when we were young, at least that's what I thought they were at the time; just stories." Vladimir said thoughtfully.

"Imaginary tales to scare us, young royal vampires, to submission," Constantin finished his trail of thought for him.

Prophecies, the elders called them, but he had dismissed them as he grew older. Tales of the dead rising to claim their rule on earth.

"Maybe we do have something in common with the humans after all, dear brother," Constantin said with a smirk on his face.

"Oh shut it, Constantin." Vladimir said annoyed as he poured himself a hefty serving of whiskey on the rocks, "The prophecies are down in the old scroll room in the dungeons."

"Have you lost you manners Vladimir?"

"Oh you wanted a glass too?" He enquired ironically as he pushed his drink down his throat.

"The scroll room," Constantin informed him, a bit annoyed by the inconvenience of having to move from his throne and escort his brother to the dungeons since both of them were needed to unlock the entrance to the room.

Constantin got up from his throne. "Are you coming brother or did I just waste my energy standing up?" He said. A hint of annoyance flashed across Vladimir's face as he reached his brother's side.

◇◇◇◇

Maila sat at her desk going over the treaty to be signed between her people and the vampires. She needed to be certain that the vampire's operations were not harming the human race or threatening to expose them to the world. She did not only have to make sure that her people were safe and sound, but being the defender of the Crown meant that the burden of keeping the balances between their world and humanity's perception of the world lay in her hands.

She smelled and heard him before he gently caressed her neck with his rough, calloused hands. A smile spread across her lips as she leaned her head on his forearm. His hand crept further down her back and a warm sensation claimed her body.

"That is not fair mister, I am trying to rule a nation here," she told him as she stood up from her chair and burrowed herself in his arms.

"Ah, who said love is fair my Queen?" He countered.

"Maybe I should pass a law on that," she said pretending to be seriously considering the option.

"You can try," he replied as he bend down to deposit a gentle kiss on her neck.

"Jackson! Go away you are interrupting me," she fake ordered him as she could use the distraction to calm her nerves.

"Your wish is my command." He said and started to massage her tense shoulders.

"Did the hunting parties locate the creature?" She asked.

"No, they did pick up on the scent but lost it in Cali territory and turned back." Jackson informed her.

"Darn it Jackson," she pushed out of his embrace and slammed her fist through the wooden table, "I needed them to capture it. We need to know what we are dealing with."

"Breathe Maila," he shouted at her to get her attention, "don't let the wolf take over, breathe." Being the Alpha and not just any Alpha, but the Queen Alpha, meant that the wolf part was more prominent in her, meant that she was more powerful than all the wolves of their species. Maila was keeping it in check most of the time but there still some rare instances where she was having trouble controlling it.

The Crown had an adverse effect on Maila. The wolf within her was getting stronger with each passing day.

The Crown's power needed to be wielded with care and caution. One slip up and humanity would be going through the Middle Ages for the second time; plagues, wars and endless suffering for those who walked the earth. From an early age she had been taught by her father the Crown ways. Since his death it was getting harder to coexist with the Crown and she had placed it in a lead box and buried deep into the ground. It had not stopped calling for her wolf but at least now the whispers were not as loud as they used to be.

At that exact moment every nerve in her body was alive, her heart was beating rapidly, she was hyperventilating. She grabbed hold of Jackson, her nails clawed his hands. Her phone pinged alerting her that she had received an email, she gave it a dirty look and focused on her breathing.

"I'm good," Maila told him then turned on her heels to get to her phone and get back to business. She unlocked her phone and looked at the email. The sender were the Vasilescu twins, hopefully they weren't backing up on signing the treaty.

"It's from the Vasilescu twins," she informed Jackson.

"Ah, the Vampire Twin Kings," he said pretending her little attack didn't happen. Pushing Maila to talk about these episodes was never a good idea, she would reach out to him when she was good and ready.

"Yep," she answered not paying attention as she was trying to understand the meaning behind the single sentence email. "This is weird even for them," she mumbled.

Word count: 1034