The White Wolf ||A Paranormal Romance Novel||
Nineteen

Vali

"This is quite nice…" I said as we reached the home of the Slovakian pack. It was an old manor, which I had expected to be run down but it was quite the opposite. I took the helmet off of my head as I hopped off my bike, looking up at the building of grey stone intermingled with ivy.

"Thank you." A wolf said as he walked down the stairs towards us. "Chosen." He addressed me, nodding his head respectfully before looking into my eyes. His were a piercing green that were somehow brighter due to his black hair.

"It's nice to meet you, Marek." I said, holding out my hand to him which he shook.

"I wish I could say the same, but when the White Wolf comes this close to Bran Castle it's never a good thing." He replied as we let go of each other's hands.

"I'll assume you don't know very much about why we're here." I said, he nodded.

"Where's the rest of your pack?" Marcy asked, Marek smirked.

"You must be Marcy. Lukas spoke very highly of you… all of you actually." Marek said. So Lukas was the wolf that came from here. I should really know the wolves closest to me better. Although Lukas was one of the ones we left behind. "What's the plan? Why do you need us? While Lukas holds you all on a pedestal, he didn't know anything about why you would need to stay here." And use us. The last words were left unsaid, but the sentiment was felt through the air.

"It's a long story, may we come inside? It would be best to tell you and anyone else of importance the story at the same time to avoid wasting time." Jackson said, Marek nodded.

"The rest of the pack is inside. There's only twenty-six of us left, the rest have been taken. Because there are so few of us left all of us are important. I'll gather them in the grand hall, there'll be enough room for us all in there." He said, and so we followed him in.

After receiving some water and some food to snack on while we spoke, we readied ourselves to address the pack. From there we explained the situation, what had happened at the Summit and what we thought would happen next. That we had an ally in the vampire court and we needed to be close for his safety.

"Are we really trusting a vampire?" One of the pack members asked, her voice commanding yet gentle.

"Yes. I have had many conversations with him, not once has he shown any sign of deceit." I said.

"And do not forget about the prophecy. The first female White Wolf and a Vampire Prince, they will create peace. This is our part to play, we must do what we can to help and end the suffering of our people." Marek said, and I appreciated the support.

"What about Antanasia?" Another voice echoed through the room.

"Antanasia?" I asked, turning towards Marek.

"Antanasia is a vampire." A woman said as she walked to the front of the room. It was the same one who had asked if we were trusting a vampire.

"Lulia-"

"Were you going to tell them?" Lulia asked Marek, who turned away from us to look at his pack. "That's what I thought."

"Who is Antanasia the vampire?" I asked, my eyes focused on Lulia. She had brown eyes with ash-blonde hair, and a scar running down the left side of her face.

"Antanasia is a vampire we caught a few weeks ago. She aimed to capture one of us without backup, but thanks to your protocol to walk after dark in trios we were able to subdue her instead of the other way around." Lulia said.

"Why didn't you kill her?" Marcy asked, Lulia smiled.

"I was one of the trio that caught her. When we did there was something that told me to bring her here instead of ripping her throat out with my teeth. Now you are here, I would like to believe it was Selene telling me that you needed to interrogate her yourself." Lulia said, and my eyes landed on Marek warily. Why wouldn't he have told me this?

"When can we see her?" Jackson asked as I continued staring at Marek.

"She is the wine cellar, guarded and without her moonstone. You can see her whenever you wish to." She replied, I nodded.

"We'll get settled in and then figure out what we need to ask. Is there anything you already know that would be useful?"

"She worked in Bran Castle. Has been for years, and was one of the late Queen Marioara's maids."

"So she would know details of her death?"

"Very likely, yes. She stopped speaking to us soon after she realised we wouldn't let her go no matter what she said." Lulia explained.

"Alright. That could be useful information… we'll interrogate her immediately after settling and making a plan. Are you the Second here?" I asked Lulia, who nodded. "Good, I'll get you to work with Marcy on defence and offence. Choose anyone else to join the conversation that will be useful. And Marek?" He turned towards me as I mentioned his name.

"We're going to need to talk privately."

I then walked out of the room and followed instructions to reach the room I would be staying in for the foreseeable future. A room I would be sharing with Marcy to save beds. From there I settled in and then started talking to Jackson about what information I would need to get out of this vampire they had in custody.

Essentially what we came up with was every piece of information we could get our hands on. That meant I would be going in and manipulating her. She was already a prisoner so it wouldn't matter how we got the information as much as that we got it in the first place.

Marcy and Lulia began plans, and I told Marek I would be talking to him as soon as I had interrogated the vampire. He nodded before leading Jackson and I down to her.

As soon as I entered the cellar I felt the cold in the room. It wasn't just because we were below ground, I could sense the power coming from her.

"Ice power… very rare." I said, she looked up at me with pale blue eyes and tucked her white-blonde hair behind her ear.

"What the fuck do you want?" She asked, I smiled.

"Anything you'll give me."

"I'm not giving you shit-"

"Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. It's up to you, because I will get every drop of information I can from you whether you like it or not."

"You can't make me do a damn thing."

I opened my mind and reached hers, beginning to pull at the strings that I needed to in order to get her to do what I wanted. To start to manipulate her to bend to my will.

"Love, you have no idea what I'm capable of."