Page 47 of You Will Obey

“Elliot…” I said and he turned to me slowly, a snarl on his lips, but his eyes had returned to their normal gray. “Calm down, okay?”

“I’ll not tolerate anyone insulting Deacon or my old pack,” he said in a low, measured voice, the threat lacing his words.

I nodded and looked at Kian. “We discussed this. Let this be the last time.” The hard look I gave Kian I hoped got my message across. He would show my mate the same level of respect he showed me.

Kian nodded. “I apologize, Alphas.”

Elliot was still snarling, but his shoulders relaxed, and the heat I’d been feeling from him dissipated, which was good. We avoided violence. I watched Belinda’s shoulders slouch a little as she was also tense during their exchange. The only two who didn’t seem affected even though I knew they had felt it were Hexon and Valier. It was really no surprise. They were ancient and keeping calm during intense situations was something they excelled at.

Elliot took another deep breath, then continued. “Getting back to what I was saying. If vampires fear the death of all if one leader dies, this Alexander may just beat Ara’s army to within an inch of its life, take over Ara’s territory, and leave us alone. Meaning, Théoden and Dante will survive to lick their wounds. Like I said, if he tries to fuck with us, he’ll soon learn he made a mistake.”

“Payback’s a bitch,” Kian quipped.

“Says the wolfpack who also took over territories,” Valier retorted.

“And killed our enemies so we don’t have to worry about anyone coming back for revenge. You don’t kick a motherfucker out of their house, then sit on their sofa and put your feet up on the table and not think they ain’t going to come back for your ass. You’ve got to kill them or cripple them so they can never rise up again,” Kian said.

“Valier, that insult was directed at me as well, since I’m the Alpha of that wolfpack,” I said.

He bowed his head. “I’m sorry, my Liege, that was out of line.”

I nodded as I accepted his apology.

“Getting back to your point, Kian. If I’m not mistaken, didn’t you allow Darla to live and leave with Laurent’s pack?” Hexon pointed out.

Kian huffed and rolled his eyes.

“Because I honored the agreement we’d settled on. That is why she was allowed to live,” I stated.

“An enemy still that can return for revenge, my Liege,” Valier said.

I scoffed. “The bitch couldn’t beat me then, I’m not worried about her retribution now.”

“I’m sure Ara felt the same, Your Highness,” Hexon said, with one of his knowing looks.

“Point taken. Still, I’m thinking Kian and Elliot have made a lot of sense. We can take it all, fuck them. I don’t want to lose Théoden, so, if Ara lives, perhaps we can come to a bargain where I won’t lock him away if he releases his control of my Knight.”

“Aren’t you concerned that Théoden wouldn’t remain loyal to you if you did, Alpha?” Belinda asked.

“My blood made him and every vampire of his line more powerful. He can either be loyal to me or die,” I said.

“Enough,” Hexon snapped, which startled me. He didn’t yell, he was too dignified for that, but he did command our attention.

“Speak your mind, Hexon,” I said.

He exhaled and looked at me. “My Liege, you may have not liked the fact that Théoden pulled you into an alliance with Ara, but the dragons who serve under you have honored that alliance through the two Kings before you and will honor it still. There has been respect between our former Kings and Ara and if not for Ara honoring his alliance with our former King, Telias, many of us may not be alive today. There is nearly two thousand years of history between this army and Ara’s. If you were in need of his help, he would come and there wouldn’t be a debate about it.”

“To be fair, who would he be debating with?” Elliot asked. “I mean, does he even have a council?”

“Vampire Royals’ orders are absolute. However, he’s never wavered and with every land we’ve conquered, it has always been mutual,” Hexon said.

I looked at Hexon and sighed.

“That’s the thing, though. All that is in the past and your new King doesn’t need his help,” Kian said.

“But he does need the respect of his army, who has honored that history for nearly two millennia. Maybe integrity doesn’t matter to you, but it does to dragons,” Valier said, and he kept his gaze focused on Kian. “It is why we bow to whoever the victor is once our old King is defeated. Honor is what our foundation is built on. If you make a promise, why would you not keep it?”

“You bowing down to the new King is your tradition,” Belinda said.