Chapter 33 Fangs at the Gate
Rhett POV
The air outside the castle stank of vampire.
Cold iron, perfume, and the sweet rot of blood magic...it curled through the night like poison smoke.
The gates of the Wolf Dominion hadn’t opened to one of their kind in over a century, and I had no intention of letting this visit last longer than it needed to.
Lord Malrec of the Obsidian Court waited just beyond the threshold, astride a black warhorse draped in silver armor. His mask was off, revealing sharp cheekbones and eyes too calm for a creature that had killed entire empires. Behind him, half a dozen of his Night Guard dismounted in unison, their mirrored helms gleaming in the moonlight.
I stepped forward, flanked by Garran and four of my Lunar Guard. “Lord Malrec,” I greeted, my voice low. “You’re far from your graveyard.”
He smiled faintly. “And you’re far too hospitable for a wolf who doesn’t like guests.”
“I tolerate what’s necessary.”
He slid from his horse, his boots clicking on the stone. “Then you’ll tolerate me. King Nox sends his regards.”
“Tell your king I prefer silence to poison.”
Malrec’s chuckle was soft, and almost musical. “Ah, but poison has its uses. Especially when it loosens tongues.”
Garran shifted beside me, ready to draw, but I raised a hand. The vampire wasn’t here for a fight. Not yet.
Malrec’s gaze drifted up toward the towers, sharp as a knife testing for weakness. “I can feel her heartbeat from here, you know. Subtle. Wild. Like a firebird trapped in a cage.”
My jaw clenched. “You’re mistaken.”
“Am I?” His eyes gleamed. “The King felt her. The moment she rose from flame, every vampire in the Court felt it ripple through the bloodlines. She’s not just alive, Alpha. She’s becoming.”
I took a step closer, until our words steamed between us. “You forget whose territory you’re standing in.”
“I forget nothing,” Malrec said softly. “Your kingdom reeks of her. You’ve taken her in. You’ve hidden her. That’s treason by the Dominion Pact.”
“The Pact protects balance,” I said. “Not your king’s delusions.”
He tilted his head. “Delusions? Interesting word for something breathing under your roof.”
My hand twitched at my side, Kaen snarling beneath my skin. "He knows. He’s taunting you."
I forced my voice to be steady. “You have five minutes to say why you’re here before I feed your bones to the Howlers.”
Malrec smiled, too slow, and way too confident. “You can try. But even you know what happens when the Vampire King is provoked. His vengeance comes wrapped in silk and carried by shadows.”
“Then let the shadows come.”
“Careful, wolf,” he murmured. “You might find that even your sun can’t burn the dark.”
The guards behind me bristled, the air thickening with wolf scent and magic. Garran’s eyes flashed gold. “Say what you came to say, leech.”
Malrec’s expression never changed. “I came with an offer. King Nox doesn’t want war. He wants the girl returned. He says she belongs to the night.”
“She belongs to no one.”
Malrec’s smirk sharpened. “Bold words, considering she bleeds your scent.”
I didn’t move. Didn’t breathe. I let silence stretch until it became a blade. “You should go.”
“Not until you’ve heard me out.”
“I’ve heard enough.”
He leaned closer, his voice dropping to a whisper meant for me alone. “You can’t keep her. The gods won’t allow it. When she burned, she bound herself to us all....wolf, dragon, and vampire. The question isn’t if we’ll find her. It’s which of us she’ll destroy first.”
Something in me snapped then, quiet but lethal. “If your king sends one more of his carrion spies into my lands, I’ll send back their heads in silver.”
Malrec’s eyes gleamed with amusement. “So territorial. You sound almost… in love.”
My growl rumbled low, animal and warning. “Leave.”
He didn’t flinch. Just smiled that serpentine smile again and stepped back. “The wolves bark loud when they’re cornered. I’ll take your silence as confirmation.”
Garran took a step forward, but I caught his arm. “Let him go.”
Malrec turned, his cloak whispering like black smoke. “Do tell your little firebird her death bought her infamy. The world is watching now. Every court wants a piece of the miracle.”
He mounted his horse and gestured for his guards. The Night Guard moved like shadows, remounting in eerie silence.
As they turned toward the dark forest, Malrec looked over his shoulder one last time. “If she’s wise, she’ll fly to us willingly. If not…” He smiled, his fangs catching moonlight. “…we’ll come collect her.”
The gates slammed shut behind him, the iron echo rattling through my bones.
For a long moment, no one spoke. Only the distant growl of the forest wind.
Then Garran muttered, “He knows too much.”
“He always does,” I said quietly. “Vampires trade in secrets like blood.”
“What now?”
“Now?” I looked up toward the highest window of the keep, where I could just see the faint flicker of her light against the curtains. “Now we protect her. At any cost.”
Kaen stirred inside me restlessly. "They’ll keep coming. Dragons. Vampires. Even our own."
“I know.”
"You can’t fight them all."
“I can try.”
Garran hesitated. “Alpha… if she truly is what they say....”
“She’s not theirs,” I said, final and hard. “She’s mine to protect.”
The words hung between us, heavy with more truth than I meant to give.
I turned and started back toward the castle, my boots crunching on the gravel, the scent of smoke and lavender already threading through the air ahead of me.
Malrec’s words echoed like a curse in my skull: Which of us she’ll destroy first.
I didn’t care about prophecies or gods or balance. But as the night wind howled through the Wildlands and the moon cut sharp against the clouds, I knew one thing with terrifying certainty...
Whatever she was becoming, whatever fire the gods had given her, it was already reshaping the world around her.
And every monster on this cursed earth had just felt the spark.