Chapter 3: Archives

An apology?

I snickered and turned around. The Alpha was really pushing it. A king like me offers an apology? I had never apologized to anyone in my life.

“Did he say what kind of apology he wanted?” I laced the sentence with sarcasm.

Tristan was silent. I paced back and forth, wondering why the hell I should worry about such nonsense. The reason was simple. It was all Alpha Lycus. I swallowed the rumbling growl starting low in my throat and pulled my coat around me. Of course, the Alpha was right. The vampires had crossed the line and broken the rules.

My ego and pride would not allow me to apologize to him. He knew it. And that is why he kept pushing, to keep me in check. My admiration for him rose. He was both powerful and an administrator. I turned around to catch the smirk on Tristan's face.

“What the hell are you smiling about? Let's go back.”

Walking back to the villa slowly, lost in thoughts, I could hear the huffing sounds that Tristan made. Tristan was brilliantly smart, and he must have realized what was going on. He knew the complete fiasco was a trap. Hence, he wanted to see how I would handle this or possibly draw out the mastermind by having me involved.

“Tristan”

“Yes, your Highness?”

“How much of a fool do these morons take me for?”

“What do you mean, Your Highness?”

“You know very well what I mean. They did this to draw me out and start a war with the shifters. They calculated my temper and the Alpha’s and knew that if we pushed each other’s buttons, we would tear each other apart.”

Tristan was silent. I turned around, and he drew his mouth into a line of displeasure.

“How far is your investigation, Tristan? We need to do this urgently.”

“The mastermind is someone in the coven council. He is smart not to leave a trace but powerful enough to have a small army to command. Killing the rogues was also part of his plan. Can I recommend something, Your Highness?” he responded.

I raised my eyebrows. I knew that whatever recommendations Tristan had would not be agreeable.

“You need to work secretly with the new Alpha. This way, you can counteract their plans,” Tristan recommended.

Work with Lycus Ahren. It sounded like a good idea. The underlying issue between us would have a solution if we worked together and, in the process, found out if we were true mates.

Sighing heavily, I nodded in agreement. “Give me some time to think about it.”

Tristan left me as we approached the coven library. The guard at the door looked surprised to see me visiting. “I will be here for a while. Let no one come in until I’m done”

I entered the vast coven Archive Library, and the smell of books hit my nostrils. It was six stories tall, and the only windows were lights near the very ceiling. It was a vampire library, hence the distinct lack of stairs and floors for accessing the thousands of books.

I was content just to walk around weaving in and out of the bookshelves. I spent hours picking out books in the shifter history and reading a few pages trying to find my answers.

I don't know how many hours I spent until I found an old art book about the Shifters' forest plants. They were just simple and five-petalled, the petals all different sizes as if they had been drawn. Apart from the flowers and leaves, there were mini circles across the top of the page and down the side, slowly decreasing in size as they got near the centers of their respective sides. What was this?

A healing herb perhaps.

As I perused deeper, I discovered that they were sketchy, only penciled in. That was what made them the most beautiful. I knew vampires well; they did not do this.

I stood up and walked deeper into the archives and ended up by a bookshelf at the end. This could not be it. There had to be much more. I leaned into the bookshelf. The shelf creaked and there was a hollow sound that came from it. I stood back and with my supervision eyes, I discovered there was a door behind the bookshelf.

An hour passed trying to move the secret entrance, my patience wearing thin, and I rattled the damn shelf. A book fell from the top and the whole bookshelf opened. Surrounded by the encased bookshelves, shut off from the rest of the world. Against the empty side of the wall, a few couch chairs were all pushed against each other in a row, and a small window to the right side.

And above the window, a chain of rainbow fairy lights looped in a circle, covering the circumference of the area of the bookshelves. It was magical. Memories came to me, and I remembered my grandfather describing the archives.

The scent of earth and magic was getting stronger the closer I got to the tables and chairs in the back corner. At the center of the table, there was an enormous book. It drew me to it as I walked and sat down, pulling it to my lap, and started reading.

At some point, it must have started raining. Small droplets of rain were clinging to the window. I don't know how long I spent in the archives reading, but by the time I finished, I had so much information. A vampire king's mate wasn’t just anyone though.

First, and obviously, the mate had to be a royal vampire. And second, it couldn’t be just any vampire at random; their mates were preordained, determined by their souls before they were born into this world as humans.

Vampires impress when they find their mates; that are, they imprint, and when that happens, when the two vampires who are destined together finally find each other, they drink from one another.

True mates between vampires and shifters existed. But it had never happened since the coven existed. During my father's reign, a vampire general seduced a shifter and when she drank his blood, she died of poison.

That was how they discovered shifter blood was poisonous. But if the vampires and shifters were true mates, his body would manufacture blood and sustain the vampire. The vampire would, in turn, mate with the shifter. There were uncertainties about their magical powers. If the shifter had omega qualities, they would bear a new breed that was immortal.

“What the hell?” I muttered in astonishment.

How was it possible? Was this why I could feel the blood in his veins?

Sighing, I hung my head in defeat. This was truly my doom. The burden that I had to endure until I would be certain of the facts. I left the Coven Library more confused than when I walked into it. I made a mental note to ensure I could investigate the leaves and herbs later.

Walking into the villa corridor, Tristan was waiting for me. I realized I had spent a whole day and half the night in the Coven Library.

“Tristan, I need someone to spread a rumor to the shifter pack that the secret to killing vampires can be found in the coven archive library.

Tristan smiled. He knew I was setting up a trap. “Yes, your Highness.”

“Also, I would like to have a meeting with the coven council tomorrow.”

“Yes, your Highness,” Tristan responded. There was a minute of silence before he proceeded. “Leonardo met with a section of the council this afternoon.”

“Why the hell is that brat meeting them?”

“It was a closed-door meeting,” Tristan muttered.

I was sure the brat just wanted to make more money for himself. He was harmless and only valued fun and money. For the brother of the king, it was not expected.

I turned around and raised my hand as I dismissed Tristan. My brother's escapades were the last things on my mind. I walked into my room, and straight to the balcony which had a magnificent view. I stood there with the sky slightly overcast.

Black clouds stood out slightly against the dark sky of the night. The full moon shone through a break in the clouds. It’s full and large. The moon looked so close I could reach out and touch it.

I jumped to the roof and my legs were dangling over the edge. The gentle breeze ruffled my hair as I listened to the sound of traffic and life from far away in the city. The surrounding space of my villa was peaceful, though. I tipped my head back, allowing the moonlight to illuminate my face.

I dragged my feet to the bed. Letting out a low sigh, I closed my eyes. I needed to sleep and forget about the day.

Soon, I began dreaming about a strange room full of leaves. The leaves that I had seen in the library. A ruby red liquid was beading on the leaves, and by the smell, I easily could tell it was blood. The leaves parted away, and a body rose until Alpha Lycus was lying on the leaves. His eyes were golden yellow, and he looked magnificent. His blood called to me, and I could not breathe. I was in a trance.

I could feel his veins pumping and could smell the sweet scent emitting from his skin. It was overwhelming, making me aroused beyond comprehension. I was thirsty and horny. I felt my c*ck harden to the point of pain. I felt lightheaded and I lifted my body from the bed.

This was a dream.

I jerked awake at the sensation.

What was that?

I hadn’t dreamt for years. I got out of bed and paced. My body demanded I feed. And not just any blood. It craved Alpha Lycus blood. My throat burned. It ached like never before, and this scared me. I had just fed before going to bed.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to do next, but this needed to be stopped before I went on a craze. I slipped out of the bed and rushed to the balcony, trying not to claw my own throat out as I stood there, leaning against the cold bricks and begging silently for some sort of relief.

The only way to quench this thirst was to get to him. It was impossible. I hissed at the dry aching in my throat, the crawling of my skin; my body begged for it. I turned back and headed to the showers. Every movement that I made, every twitch of my limbs, and turn of my head sent me into a snarling fit. I wanted to run. Run to my mate and chase him down and feed.

But I couldn’t.

I got into the bathtub and sat under the cold shower. I drew my knees close and dropped my head into them, focusing hard on the darkness. My eyes burned and itched. Had I turned into a monster? A vampire king's duty was to protect his coven. And here I was shaking like some weakling, all because of a shifter.

Pathetic. Weak. Ruined.

The cold water finally had a calming effect on my body. I stayed like that for a long time. Eventually, the burn went away, and the thirst subsided but did not leave.

Getting out of the tub, the early morning rays had hit the room. The blinds were already closing in. I had been on a roller coaster for the last forty-eight hours.

What started out as a peaceful morning was now a nightmare two days later. This was no time to sleep. I dressed hurriedly, leaving the entire wardrobe a mess.

As I rushed to the coven Archive Library, I needed to find out how to control my thirst. I hoped not to bump into Tristan or anyone, for that matter. I did not have answers for what I was feeling or going through.

“Brother,” came a voice, loud and abrasive, stopping me along the villa hallways. “Did something happen? Why are you in a rush?”