Eleven

Vali

“The videos make it competitive?” I asked, I knew that my eyes were glowing, I could feel it alongside my claws digging into my palms, my fingers balled into fists to try and keep myself present. To stop myself from shifting due to anger. My eyes couldn’t leave Mircea’s, not as I heard my blood thundering through my ears. For just a second I wasn’t sure if my heartbeat was going to be too loud for me to even hear what Mircea was going to say next.

“About twenty years ago, the Lord of Italy’s son came up with the idea of making the Hunts more of a competition than something we just did. My father…” The way he paused, and didn’t even look at Traian was telling me more than it should. Something was happening that I either didn’t know or didn’t understand. “My father approved it, he’s been paying a prize to the person with the most kills. After the first two years it was decided that those who wished to participate in the competition would wear a camera, footage would be watched later to confirm the numbers they gave us. A lot of money went into the prize pool, my father confirmation he was giving the prize to the right person.”

His words… they were careful. Careful to not implicate himself. Careful to make sure the blame went onto Traian and Traian alone.

“And you had nothing to do with it?” I asked, Mircea’s body went rigid for a moment but then his shoulders relaxed as he shook his head.

“No. I’m going to be honest for the first time in my life…” The Vampire Prince trailed off, I could see how deeply he was breathing. How every movement seemed purposeful. He was trying to keep himself calm. Either he was trying to lie or he was preparing for what he was going to do next.

“Spit it out, Little Red.” I swear I heard his heartbeat slow as I spoke, swear his body truly relaxed as his eyes stayed on mine. I let the gold in my eyes disappear, took a deep breath of my own to retract my claws. If he could be calm, I could too.

“King Traian has shown that he won’t give up the Hunts, has essentially told me as much. He thinks there isn’t anything to make up for. I do.” He said, and I turned my eyes back to the seated Traian, who’s eyes were glowing red. Traian’s heart was racing. “I have no doubt that no matter what the ruling is today, that he will go ahead with the next Hunt. If he has already approved the inclusion of other races, it wouldn’t without his approval, then I have let this get out of hand.” I shuffled in my seat as I watched Traian.

“What are you trying to say, young Dracula?” Ianthe asked, but I didn’t take my eyes away from Traian. I couldn’t. While it seemed that Mircea was confident his father wouldn’t do anything in this room, I wasn’t as sure. I kept moving in my seat, readying myself for what I could feel was about to happen.

Vali, what is it? I heard Marcy’s voice in my head, she was always the best at reading my body language.

Are you watching Traian? I asked her, not letting myself even do so much as giveaway that we were speaking. This was a secret of my kind, a secret of the White Wolf. No one could know.

He’s on edge… but surely he wouldn’t… Jackson stopped himself from finishing the sentence as he realised what I did. That Traian’s actions were going to depend solely on what Mircea’s next words were going to be.

“What I’m trying to remind you of, is that at the Summit, the leaders who work together also have the power to either suspend or remove a leader from their position if there is evidence that they are unwilling to work towards peace. King Traian does not want to work towards peace, initially it might have just been with the wolves but this escalation in the Hunts…”

Traian’s heart was beating faster. His breath was so heavy that it was blocking out Mircea’s words. It was blocking out everyone’s words. I couldn’t hear a damned part of the conversation.

Vali. Jackson’s voice echoed in my brain. I know you’re hyper-fixed, but they’re enacting suspension. I let my eyes glow gold again, let the claws come out as Traian kept staring right at me.

I then watched as he shot up out of his seat and raced across the table towards me, I didn’t waste a god-damned second to meet him on the table-top, fully shifted into my wolf form, my paws on his chest, with him on his back. My wolf-face hovered over his, a snarl leaving my lips as he tried to snap at me with his fangs.

My wolf was as tall as a human, so I’m sure the weight of me standing on his chest wasn’t comfortable.

“Do you think you can make peace with these animals?!” Traian shouted.

“Traian…” Derek’s voice echoed through the room. “You attacked her, she acted in self-defence.” I kept my weight on top of him, my golden eyes looking into his still-red ones. He thought that he could sway this his way… maybe he was more delusional than Jackson’s sources had told us.

“Old friend, you need to accept the loss.” Lilith spoke, for the first time since the last meeting. The way she said it…

Traian’s eyes stopped glowing red, his canines retracted. I backed off, jumping off of the table to stand on all fours between Jackson and Marcy. I had the choice of either shifting back and not having any clothes or staying in wolf form. I looked into Jackson’s eyes for some kind of guidance on what to do, he sighed and placed a hand in between my shoulder blades.

I can be your voice. He told me, I nodded as I sat down, looking at each of the leaders in turn while guards took Traian away. Hopefully to a cell.

My eyes then landed on Mircea’s as he took his father’s seat. Perhaps that clarification had happened while I had been hyper-focused, that he would be the interim King during Traian’s suspension.

“I think that display of attempted violence is enough to escalate the suspension.” Adonis said as I took a few deep breaths.

“To remove someone as leader, the decision must be unanimous.” Derek said.

“Then we take the first vote of this meeting.” Ianthe said, and I felt her magic pouring into the room to calm everyone down. “Those who vote for the removal of Traian Dracula as King of the Vampires, raise your hand.”

And I felt the breath leave my body.