BloodMoon: Captivated by the Forbidden Lycan Alpha
Chapter 105: SECRET ARMY OF SLAVES

Chapter 105: SECRET ARMY OF SLAVES

{"We fight with all our might only to win because in war no one comes second."}

The cave walls were damp, the air thick with salt and the lingering scent of decay. I shifted against the jagged rock, my patience wearing thin. We had been there for hours, waiting in the darkness like predators stalking prey, but the night had offered us nothing.

Beside me, Rou exhaled sharply, his frustration mirroring my own. "If we wait any longer, we’ll start growing roots," he muttered.

I did not respond, keeping my focus on the open stretch of beach before us. The moon bled pale silver over the sand, illuminating the crashing waves and the distant cliffs. And then, movement.

A dark mass emerged along the shoreline, moving in rigid formation. Rou stiffened beside me as the figures marched forward, their faces expressionless, their eyes void of thought. A tide of controlled bodies. Vampires, an entire army of them.

I counted under my breath. Fifty. A hundred. Two hundred.

The numbers kept rising, the procession endless. By the time the last soldier vanished beyond the dunes, an hour had passed, and I had reached over five hundred.

Rou turned to me, his eyes sharp with suspicion. "That is not a normal patrol. Who commands that many soldiers?"

I kept my gaze on the distant shadows where the army had disappeared. "Bloodstone vampire bugs," I murmured. "They’ve been infected."

Rou’s jaw tightened. He knew what that meant. The parasites latched onto a vampire’s mind, twisting their will, making them puppets to whoever held control.

"Frery has no idea this exists," I added, the weight of realization settling in my gut. "Which means someone in Paradise Coven is making moves behind his back."

Rou did not reply, but the darkness in his expression told me everything I needed to know. This was bigger than we had anticipated.

We waited. The beach fell silent again; the only sound was the rhythmic crash of waves. Finally, two figures emerged from the northern path, a pair of royal guards on patrol.

Rou’s patience had long since snapped. Before I could even breathe a warning, he moved. Like a shadow, he struck the first guard, his fist colliding with the man’s temple. The impact sent the guard crumpling to the sand without a sound. The second turned, his hand darting toward his weapon, but he froze when he met Rou’s glare.

Rou slowly stepped forward, his voice a low, menacing growl. "If you want to live, you’ll do exactly what we say."

The guard swallowed, his pulse hammering loud enough for me to hear. He was not stupid. He knew resistance meant death, and then he nodded as Rou dragged him over to me and the guards shook in fear.

The guard groaned, his body tense beneath Rou’s grip. His pulse was erratic, fear rolling off him like waves crashing against the shore. He knew he was at our mercy.

Rou crouched beside him, baring his fangs. "You’re going to take us to Kayne Land."

The guard’s breath hitched. "N-no," he mumbled, shaking his head. "You don’t want to go there."

I leaned in, amused by his terror. "Oh, but we do."

His lips trembled as he whispered, "It is dangerous. Frery Kayne is not someone you want to cross. He is the kind of monster even vampires fear."

I chuckled, the sound low and dark. "I know Frery’s badass. But that is exactly why we need to get to him. And you, my friend, are going to help us. If you want to live, that is."

His throat bobbed as he swallowed hard. Then, with a reluctant nod, he murmured, "We should wait. At least half an hour. If we leave now, we will be spotted."

Rou and I exchanged glances before stepping back. I gestured to him to sit. "Fine. Half an hour it is, and if you dare fool us, you will end up like your partner"

The minutes crawled by, the tension thick between us. The waves whispered secrets to the shore, the wind carrying the scent of damp earth and salt. When the time came, the guard rose on shaky legs and gestured toward the path ahead.

"This way."

We followed him across the beach, the sand cool beneath our boots. He led us to a narrow, winding path, the air growing heavier as we entered the Paradise Coven Forest lands. The trees stretched high above, their gnarled branches weaving a canopy that swallowed the moonlight.

Then, without warning, the guard bolted. He moved with vampiric speed, a blur of shadow and desperation. Fool. He never anticipated how powerful I was. Before he could vanish, I lunged, my hand closing around the back of his neck. With one brutal motion, I yanked him back and slammed him into the ground. He choked on impact, the wind knocked from his lungs.

Rou was already on him, stepping on his chest to keep him down. "That was stupid," he growled.

The guard gasped, clawing at Rou’s boot, but he was pinned. Helpless.

I crouched beside him, my voice cold. "Try that again, and I snap your neck so fast, end your life and find other guards to get me to Freyr Kayne."

His wide, panicked eyes darted between us as realization washed over him that he was trapped with no way out. Rou effortlessly hauled the guard to his feet, gripping him by the back of his collar. The man stumbled but didn’t resist; he knew better by now.

"Move," Rou ordered.

The guard hesitated for a fraction of a second, then obeyed, leading us deeper into the forest. The towering trees whispered around us, their thick branches blocking out the moonlight. The damp earth muffled our footsteps as we walked, the scent of pine and decay heavy in the air.

For an hour, we moved through the dense wilderness, the silence stretching between us. Then, finally, we reached the edge of the land the guard had spoken of—Kayne’s land.

Beyond the trees, nestled against the hills, stood a home. It was not grand or overbearing, but something about it felt... wrong. The air around it carried an eerie stillness, like the land itself was holding its breath.

The guard stopped abruptly and pointed at the house. "That’s as far as I go," he muttered, his voice barely above a whisper.

Rou chuckled, the sound low and amused. He patted the guard’s shoulder with mock sympathy. "That is cute. You think you have a choice." Then, stepping around him, he gestured toward the house. "Go on. Let the Kayne family know they have guests."

The guard’s jaw slackened in horror. "Are you insane?" he whispered harshly. "Frery Kayne is terrifying, but the person the Coven fears most isn’t him, it’s Sierra Kayne."

I arched a brow. "Sierra Kayne?"

The guard swallowed hard. "Freyr Kayne’s mother and the former Madam of the Coven. She is a real threat. Two weeks back, someone sent vampires to attack the Kayne home. Every vampire who ever dared to attack that house ended up dead. And not just dead, she carried their bodies and delivered them to the Coven Council like a damn message."

Rou’s eyes gleamed with intrigue, and a slow smirk spread across his face. "Now that’s a woman I’d love to meet."

I shook my head at him. "Of course, you would" Then, turning my attention back to the guard, I pointed toward the house. "Get going."

He did not move. His feet remained planted on the ground, his eyes darting between us like a cornered animal. Rou sighed dramatically. Then, in one fluid motion, he stepped forward and let out a low, guttural growl. The guard flinched, his face draining of color before he finally turned and bolted, disappearing into the trees.

Rou chuckled again, crossing his arms. "This is going to be fun."

The wind shifted. It was subtle at first, a faint stirring through the trees, rustling the leaves like whispered warnings. Then, suddenly, it surged, an unnatural gale rising from nowhere, swirling through the forest with a force that sent chills down my spine. I felt it before I saw him.

The bond. The pull. The unmistakable presence that I could never mistake for anyone else.

Frery.

A slow chuckle rumbled in my chest, unbidden yet impossible to suppress. My entire body vibrated with awareness, every nerve alight with recognition. Rou turned to me, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. "What the hell are you laughing about?"

I did not answer. I could not. The air around us had changed, thick with something ancient, something inevitable.

Then, just as the last echoes of my amusement faded into the night, he stepped into view.

Frey Kayne.

He moved with the effortless grace of a predator, his presence swallowing the space around him. His dark eyes locked onto mine, burning fiercely and unyieldingly within them. Beside him, an older man walked with measured steps, his expression unreadable. However, I barely spared the elder a glance. In the next instant, Frery was moving quickly, and before I could react, he was in front of me, his hands gripping my arms as he pulled me into a tight embrace.

For a moment, time stilled and the world around us faded, the howling wind nothing but a distant whisper. I closed my eyes, inhaling the familiar scent of him, power and danger wrapped in something that had always felt like home.

Frery tightened his hold, his breath warm against my neck. "Tor."

Just my name. A single word, yet it carried the weight of everything unsaid, everything we had yet to face.

I smirked against his shoulder. "Took you long enough."