[ Just outside the Bloodfang territories ]
Roanoke drove like his life depended on it. (technically, it did though).
The tires screeched against gravel as he swerved dangerously close to a tree, narrowly missing it as he pressed harder on the gas.
The Blackmoon territory shrank behind him at an alarming speed. His chest heaved, knuckles pale on the wheel, and sweat lined his temples despite the biting wind cutting through the open window.
He kept glancing at the rearview mirror..again, and again, and again...as if something or someone...might rise from the shadows and come after him.
Branches blurred past like skeletal arms, a few poles snapped into view and vanished just as fast.
But finally...he arrived at the destination.
Up ahead,parked like a sleek panther waiting in ambush,was the black car.Velor’s car.
Roanoke’s foot slammed the brakes, the vehicle skidding sideways in a cloud of dust and leaves before halting just a few feet away from the other car.
The black car’s door swung open with a slam. And out stepped Alpha Velor...rage rolling off him in literal waves.
"What the fuck, Roanoke?" Velor barked, slamming his own door shut with enough force to shake the frame. "I was on my way to the All Alpha meet. And you decided this was the perfect time to call me here?"
His eyes narrowed dangerously, his entire frame taut with fury.
"This better be important," he growled, stepping closer, "or I swear I will rip your fucking head off your shoulders and shove it up your..."
"Hold on. Hold the fuck on, Velor," Roanoke cut in, palms raised, breath still uneven. "This is important. Vital. That’s why I asked you to meet before you reached the council."
Velor’s nostrils flared. "This had better not be about some petty complaint about Kieran or your daughter...or..."
Roanoke didn’t flinch. "It is. But it’s more than that."
Velor’s lip curled in disgust. "Oh, fantastic."
"I have a job for you," Roanoke said plainly.
Velor’s expression shifted from disbelief to something dangerously close to murder.
"A job?" he echoed, stepping even closer until their chests nearly touched. "You think I am your fucking errand boy now?"
Roanoke didn’t budge. "Only you can do it. And the All Alpha meet is the perfect stage."
Velor’s claws clicked out from beneath his fingernails with a metallic sound. "Say that again. Say that again and I will carve your tongue out right here."
Roanoke’s mouth twitched with something that wasn’t quite fear.
Instead, he said smoothly, "You will have to shame, threaten, or coax Kieran into sleeping with my daughter. Immediately."
"What now?Come again! "
"She needs to conceive. Tonight...if we can help it."
Velor’s mouth fell open for a beat. Then...
Then burst into a snort...violently laughing, scrubbing a hand down his face. "You have officially lost your fucking mind."
"You are sick," Velor snapped, his voice venomous now. "You want me to...what? Meddle in their bedroom? Shame a fucking Alpha into rutting your spoiled little brat? That’s beyond corruption, Roanoke. That’s goddamn rot.I know you have no morals but that’s your daughter you are talking about. Have some dignity.It’s a marriage you tied them in...let them work it out...you want me to what?? You want me to be a bloody fluffer in your daughter’s bed,huh? Sick!!!"
Roanoke’s brows raised. "You are speaking to me like you have a choice."
Velor’s jaw twitched. "And you are speaking like you are not one heartbeat away from being ripped in half."
Roanoke said nothing.
Instead, he reached for his chest.
Not his coat. Not his pocket.
His actual chest...right over the sternum.
Velor’s eyes narrowed, watching warily.
Roanoke’s hand plunged in with an unnatural, sickening slip...like reaching into water.
The skin shimmered, the space around his fingers distorting as if he were touching something not quite of this world.
And when he pulled it back...
A few specks of shimmering, silver ash danced in his palm...glowing faintly like pixie dust.
Velor’s face changed instantly.
From fury...to horror... to fear.
Roanoke smiled like a devil. "I thought that might get your attention."
"Put that away," Velor said, voice tight.
Roanoke tilted his head. "You see, if my daughter doesn’t bear a child soon...well, I may not be able to maintain the rituals needed to harvest this anymore...and I am pretty sure this is the only thing keeping you from killing me...I am not stupid Velor. I know we are not friends...we just use each other...let’s do it well."
Velor’s fists clenched so tight, blood began to drip from his palms. His breathing had changed...more erratic, chest rising with barely concealed desperation.
Roanoke stepped closer, voice like silk dipped in acid. "I don’t know who it is you are trying to keep alive, Velor... Which corpse you are feeding with this...but without the Sacred Ash, they will wither. Die. You know it. I know it."
Velor didn’t respond.
His jaw was locked so tightly it looked painful.
Roanoke dropped the ash back into the void of his chest with a flick of his fingers, sealing the illusion.
"Come on, Velor," Roanoke said with a smirk. "We both know the only reason you have tolerated me this long is that someone precious to you needs that Ash like oxygen."
Velor turned away sharply, his back to him now.
For a moment, he didn’t move.
Roanoke thought...just briefly...that he might actually walk away. That he might choose principle over desperation.
He stomped back into his car, slammed the door, and drove off so hard the gravel exploded under the tires...the back wheel kicking up debris that nearly knocked Roanoke to the ground.
Roanoke raised a hand to shield his face. The smirk had returned.
It was back to full strength now.
He called out to the fading trail of dust with mock cheer.
"I will send you sweets along with the good news!"
He paused, cocking his head.
"Do a good job, Velor. Byeeee!"