**3rd Person POV**
It was just another day in the palace for Michelle. She was a servant girl working in the palace kitchen of King Armand. Her task was to prepare ingredients for the meals to be cooked.
Today was like any other day until she opened the door to the kitchen and saw a giant wolf eating large chunks of raw meat. The wolf had not noticed her so she left the room as quietly as possible and went to inform the head butler of her discovery.
****
Nydia's wolf had taken over completely. Nydia struggled in vain to regain control of her body but she could not. She had starved her wolf for days and now that it was in the kitchen, it was on a good rampage. Her wolf continued to devour meat until it was convinced that it was full.
When she transitioned to her human-like form, she saw armed guards in the kitchen. They were standing over her.
She had been caught.
****
Charlotte watched with joy as Nydia was led out of the kitchen.
The woman looked shrivelled up, she had lost so much weight just in the few days since she had been last seen.
There was no repentance in her eyes, only anger—pure unadulterated anger. Charlotte could feel the raw emotion charge the room.
****
When the Elders reached the Shadowclaw pack, Alpha Dagen was there to receive them. Elder Thaddeus took him aside at once to discuss the vampiress that was with them. They were joined by Elder Davis who told them that Lowell must not be allowed to leave.
Lowell was surprised when he was arrested by Dagen's guards. If Nydia had not been caught then it must mean that Francesca had switched on him. The bitch! But could she really? She had a lot to lose if she told on him.
It did not matter anyway because he had been arrested.
“Do you know why we're doing this?” asked Elder Davis. He observed that the man was not surprised at all. In a way, the man looked relieved.
Lowell thought about the question for a minute and then said, “No.” It was possible they did not know enough to jail him for the rest of his life or accuse him of treason.
“I think you know, Lowell,” replied Thaddeus.
“You don't look surprised though,” commented Elder Davis.
“I am no saint but you cannot hold me without a good reason,” came Lowell's response.
****
Meanwhile, Rosaline was escorted into the palace quietly by Elder Walker. It was important that nobody saw her when she entered the palace.
****
Dagen's palace had received so many interesting guests at once. His prisons had never been so full of people before and there was also the vampiress servant, Rosaline who was not quite a prisoner but who could not stay on in the palace as a guest.
“What do we do with all the prisoners we have?” asked Lord Tyler. This was the first time in a while since they had all gathered to talk. Dagen had been away for Irene's funeral and he'd been resting since he'd come back. Besides, knowing that the Elders were returning, he wanted to include them in their conversation.
“The vampires we have as hostages are enough reason to go to war with Ashton. We should give him a taste of his own medicine,” spat Dagen in anger. Lord Silver's home had harboured enough vampires to cause severe unrest in the Shadowclaw pack. In addition, according to the reports he received from other packs, the vampires they had discovered all over were enough to start a war. It did not help that they had found sophisticated weapons in their hideouts which meant that they were planning to surprise them with a war. Their intentions were very clear—they wanted to rid the world off werewolves.
“Ashton's clan is in the hinter parts of the werewolf clan. It would be suicide to try and go to war with them,” explained Lord Tyler.
“So, what do we do? Remain quiet?” quipped Dagen. That was the one thing that he could not do given the fact that it would make them look weak. Besides, if they did not send a clear message to Ashton now, he would only regroup and come back to hurt them in a more ingenious way like he had done through Lord Silver.
“Remember the servant vampiress Rosaline? She may just have the right information to help us win this war while avoiding a big confrontation with Prince Ashton.”
****
Ashton was very annoyed. Somehow, Rosaline had managed to escape the palace and he suspected that it had something to do with the werewolves that had just left. He was very pissed as he could not understand why the Royals of Dome were working closely with the werewolves. This newfound friendship was weird to him and he wanted nothing else but to end the relationship. However, his relationship with all the other vampire kingdoms who were his allies was at stake with Rosaline who had run wild. So when he received word that Rosaline had fled to the Shadowclaw pack, he was prepared to chase after her. He was already saddled to go when it occurred to him that going there would be suicide. The werewolves had found out all about his scheme and they would kill him if he stepped on their land.
The only option he had not explored with them was negotiating and he knew just the right people to do it with.
He returned to King Armand’s palace. They were all having a meal in the large dining hall.
“You are not welcome here, Ashton,” said Queen Agatha in a clear and mean voice. He was pissed off at being called without his title but he needed something and so he was ready to let it slide.
“I have only been gone a few minutes and might I add, I left without my bride, I would like to return home with…”