Chapter 108

Laurel could barely breathe. Eden stared down at her, but she didn't recognize him like this. In place of the kind young man who had helped her find a place to live, a calculating man stood with a calculating look on his face. His expression was placid as if he felt nothing and his eyes watched her with a sense of knowing that made her deeply uncomfortable.

What did he see?

His presence seemed to shimmer with darkness and malicious intent. Her heart raced. Would he kill her?

"You are quite resourceful." He approached her slowly and crouched on the other side of the rock. "Unfortunately, you need a bit more than a rock and brute force to break the shackles."

"Why are you doing this, Eden?"

He sighed, "It would have been easier if you had just agreed to come with me"

"I told you I couldn't do that. I thought you just wanted to make things better for humans"
She swallowed past the dryness in her throat, "Was that a lie too?"

"I do. But how am I meant to do that with the vampire queen and the werewolf king always at war?"

Humans would never know a single moment's peace with vampires and werewolves on either side of their lands and always at each other's throats. He knew that from his childhood. He knew that neither side could be trusted to care about humans.

Vampires fed on them and saw them either as breeding potential or livestock. Humans were pawns to them. Toys when they could not be used as tools. Werewolves just saw them as weak and in need of protection. They wanted control of human resources in exchange for their protection but rarely went out of their way to care more than that.

Neither of them saw humans as a threat to their position of power, but they were wrong. Though humanity couldn't fight them physically, they had the one thing neither of them had: true magic.

He'd planned since he was just a child to show them exactly how wrong they were.

He had never expected to meet someone like Laurel. He reached out to her. She flinched.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Laurel." Their gazes met. "That will never be in the plan. It's unfortunate that you married him, but it won't matter soon."

"Why won't it matter?"

"Adolf is going to die." Laurel gasped as he gave her a gentle smile. "Thus, you'll no longer be married to him."

"He's my mate, it's not that simple."

"It will be."

He reached for her, taking her by the arm with a firm grip. He was stronger than she imagined him being and lifted her onto her feet with surprising ease.

"You've been playing at being human all this time" She said in horror. "What else was a lie?"

Eden chuckled, "It's quite easy when you've lived with them most of your life"

Eden began to walk, pulling her back the way she'd come, "Even easier among werewolves--"

Laurel clasped hands together and twisted away from him sharply as she brought her knee up towards the back of his legs. He lost his balance and fell backward. His grip slipped and she took the chance to turn on her heel and run into the forest.

She heard him sigh from behind her as she continued to run. Her human form was as fast as her wolf form but it'll be fast enough. He wasn't a full vampire she knew. She hoped his human side was enough to keep him from being able to catch up with her too quickly.

She heard nothing behind her but the sound of the wind and Forest creatures. The wind rushed past her, howling in the night. She wasn't sure how far she'd run before she heard voices ahead of her. Hope went through her as she ran towards them. Maybe Adolph and his men had caught up with them?

"We should go back and kill them all!"

"We don't have time for this," one of them said. "We have to go."

She skidded to a stop, tripping and tumbling through the underbrush until she landed in the small clearing. She gasped, looking up at the group of vampires as they turned to look at her. She didn't recognize any of them, but they were all wearing regular traveling clothes and smelled a bit like ash and blood.

Had these been the vampires who had escaped the fight at the camp? Were they allied with Eden or the general?

"I say what we have time for," one of them said, stepping toward her. "What do we have here?"

His eyes dropped to the shackles on her wrist. He smirked.

"Isn't she the werewolf king's wife?" One of them approached her. "Pretty for a mangy wolf."

Laurel struggled to her feet, scrambling to escape them before one grabbed her by her arm and hauled her forward. She kicked out, landing a solid kick to his stomach. He stumbled back as another grabbed her and locked his arm around her. The coolness of his body made her stomach churn as she struggled to get free.

"I've got her, general."

Her heart lurched as she looked at the man. The general wasn't Eden? Was he just another general or someone further down the line?

"Your husband killed my brother," he said, grabbing her by her chin and jerking her head up. "I wonder how he'll feel if I kill you."

Laura looked up into his eyes seeing fury and malicious intent. Her heart trembled with fear. She was surrounded by vampires and she had no way to defend herself against all of them.

" I hear wolves have bombs that let you feel each other's pain across distances," he said Softly. "Why don't you tell your husband to come to save you?"

"We could take her back to the Queen," Another said, his voice lusty. She glanced at him as he licked his lips. "She'll make sure that wolf feels his mate's death."

The man chuckled, "Sure, but we'll have to bring the half-breeds to heel first. How far is Thoren's battalion?"

"Just on the other side of the border."

"We'll circle back and deal with the half-breed trouble makers."

"Release her," Eden's voice came from the darkness.

The air shimmered around them, and she felt a gust of cold come from behind them. She shuddered a bit at the prickling feeling on her skin.

How had he caught up with her so quickly? What was this feeling in the air? Her stomach churned with anxiety and Alice trembled with fear.

"You forget your place, underling." The general said. " What do you have to say about your men going against orders? You think the queen will show you leniency?"

"I say, you'll follow my orders or end up dead," Eden said, his voice cold. "Just like Thoren."

The general froze, "What did you say?"

Laurel couldn't breathe, panicking as she listened to the conversation. Couldn't they feel it stirring in the air? Who was Thoren?

"Thoren, Kaelyn, Seth, Rena, Helen, and Gilliam are all dead," Eden said. "And you'll join them if you don't join me."

"You're bluffing!" one of them said. "How would you and that little troop have taken out Thoren or Gilliam? Let alone Rena!"

The general remained silent, "You're lying."

Eden reached into his cloak and tossed out a handful of silver tokens. The vampires cast in shock. The general seems Frozen in place. Laurel looked down at the tokens. They looked like brooches of some sort, each of them bearing a different symbol. There were six in total.

"You" the general trembled.

"A new age is coming, gentlemen," Eden said, his voice calm. "The old ways will die. Aren't you tired of only getting a fourth of your pay?"

A murmur went through the group.

"General, what-"

"Quiet."

"But-"

"Quiet, or I'll kill you first!" The general glared at Eden, drawing his blade. "You won't trick me. There's no way you could have killed Thoren!"

"Thoren was the easiest," Eden said, calmly. "His battalion hated him. Something about taking advantage of their sisters, the queen turning a blind eye to their plight"

"You"

"What will it be, gentlemen?" Eden drew his eyes across the group, "Will you stand behind this general who underpays you, or will you join me?"

"Filthy half-breed!" The general screamed. "I'll kill you where you stand!"

The air turned cold as the general raised his sword. Laurel turned her head slowly to look back at Eden. His expression had lost all placidness. He bared his teeth, sharp glinting in the moonlight. He looked monstrous in his fury. His eyes were glowing and a deep sense of terror filled her.

"The one who kills him gets an extra twenty silver!"

Several of them drew their blades and rushed at Eden. The man holding her stumbled back as Laurel tried to stumble back and away from the fight.

Who was that monster wearing Eden's face?