~ ROWAN

The council did not have an address, at least not one that I knew of, but they had a letter box, one that every pack was ideally supposed to have access to.

The minute I heard about the threat from the vampires, I sent a message, not because I thought I would need their help, but just in case.

I hadn’t heard back from them since.

It surprised me because they seemed awfully concerned with my business when it concerned Henry’s pack, but now they were... silent, and for the life of me, I could not understand why.

Nyssa fought the order to go home until I finally receded and obliged for her to stay in the palace. It gave me a semblance of peace to know that she was close by and I could check on her whenever in wanted which was exactly what I did after I sent another letter to the council.

She lay in bed, her legs curled up to her chest and her hair fanning around her pillow like a halo. Her snores were soft and she clutched the blanket like it was some kind of lifeline. There was almost nothing I’d give to not be able to join her.

"You should rest, your majesty," Jeremiah said from behind me.

He leaned against a pillar, his hands crossed over his chest as he watched me with barely concealed concern.

"I am fine," I said firmly. "I have more work to attend to."

"If the vampires are coming today—and I think they are—then you must be at your best. It would not do for you to be exhausted."

I scoffed, running my hands through my hair. "How can I sleep when my pack is on the brink of a war?"

"You sleep knowing that you have trained your guards well enough to hold the fort long enough for you to arrive if need be," he said simply. "I have my best men doing the night shift and they will swap out once it is morning light. Notices have gone round, encouraging everyone to stay indoors today."

"That is not enough."

"It will have to be," he said softly. "We have done all that we can. We must only hope that the vampire king can see reason."

I doubted that, but he was right.

"You should rest as well," I told him. "I will need you tomorrow."

He bowed low. "Of course, your Majesty."

He walked away, footsteps echoing down the halls. It wasn’t until he had disappeared through a corner that I finally allowed myself to enter the room.

I locked the door behind me and climbed into bed fully clothed. The last time I did this was in the first few years of being king. I inherited my father’s paranoia that someone would harm me in my sleep and as such, I always slept clothed and with weapons by my side.

As soon as the bed dipped, Nyssa turned over, inching closer ton me.

"You’re here," she murmured under her breath, her fists closing around my shirt. "Did you..." she yawned loudly. "Get to the council?"

I kissed her forehead, not wanting her to worry. "Go to sleep."

She must have been so tired because she did not fight me. Her eyes fluttered closed easily and within seconds, she was snoring again. I ay next to her, one hand gently stroking her hair and back while the other lay flat against my stomach.

It took a while before the sleep finally claimed me.

**************************************************

I only managed a few hours before my eyes were wide open again.

The sun was not out yet, and the first thing I did was grab my phone to make sure I did not miss any important texts.

Thankfully, my phone was devoid of messages, but that did not make things any easier for me.

I climbed out of bed, leaving Nyssa sleeping peacefully as I made my way towards the courtyard and began jogging.

I had no destination in mind, or a duration, all I knew was that I needed to fucking move.

"We’re not ready for a war," my lycan said simply. "You know we aren’t."

I sighed deeply. "What else would you have me do? Hand Nyssa over to them?"

"Of course not!" he spat. "We need to end the war before it even begins."

"And how the fuck do you expect that we do that? I cannot control the vampires."

"No, but their king does," he began slowly.

"I’m not following."

"The King wants Nyssa, and if the king is dead, I don’t think they will be so concerned with her anymore."

I held back a snort. "What if the new king wants to take revenge?"

"Do you have any better ideas?" he snapped. "This is a risk we must be willing to take. If we can kill the king, then we can put an end to this, once and for all. We must hope that the new king is too scared of dying to even try anything."

As much as I wanted to argue, I knew that this was the best idea. Nothing else could give us the illusion of peace and Nyssa was off the table. This was our only chance, and I’d have just one shot at it.

I was just about to respond to my wolf when Jeremiah’s voice filled my head. "Your Majesty, the Luna is awake. She’s looking for you."

I nearly sighed.

No doubt she was looking for me, she’d probably want updates about the things going on, but I couldn’t give that to her, not now.

She needed to stay as far away from this bullshit as possible. She was the prize, and the best thing to do was to keep her out of reach.

"Take her home, Jeremiah."

He was silent for a minute. "She won’t like that."

"Tell her I’ll be there to see her soon."

"Will you?"

"No. I need Eric in that house keeping an eye on her, and an entire team of your best guards. No one goes into that house or out of it until the vampires have gone, understood?"

"Yes, sir."