Pulling the long sleeve on with a great deal of grumbling, I shove my phone into my pocket and march towards the door only to have the black and white dog block my path. "What?" I demand, irritated. Laying his ears down, the dog only offers a silent stare. 

"Best to leave him be, Badger," Verando calls the dog to his side and I roll my eyes as I make my way down the hall.

Spotting the offending woman, looking quietly disinterested in my entrance, I attempt to remain a dignified being but find I'm failing miserably, "In what world do we bang on people's doors when they're-" The reveal brings me to pause as Bet looks at me over her glasses, hair pulled back into a messy bun. 

Helen pauses, bagel mid-bite as she tilts her head to see past me. Trying not to let it push me further towards an outburst, she looks way too enthusiastic to see if her bedhead-sporting grandfather is following me. To her disappointment, my warlord takes longer to get ready than most queens. 

Catching my irritation, she swallows roughly and straightens in her chair. 

"When they're what, Your Majesty?" Bet's sarcasm is not lost on me.

Adjusting my shirt, I choose to reward their raging curiosities. "I was involved in a very important matter that would determine the future of what we are to do before you so rudely interrupted. Twice."

 As the words leave my lips, I begin to deflate, anger doesn't become me.

Folding her hands, Helen's eyes search the bite mark in the pastry. "Guessing someone is cut off...." She murmurs as I attempt to pick if I want to be mortified. But, as my training has taught me, anger is wasted on the young. Being angry drains my energy so much faster than I care to relinquish, and in a sense, she's right.

 I'm upset because I was so close to getting what I wanted this morning only to be denied. 

Grabbing a bagel from the basket on the table, I take the most masculine bite I could muster and slump down into a barstool. "I'm not discussing my sex life with you."

"Sounds like you don't have a sex life." Bet muses as she rests the tablet in front of me. 

I wonder if it would render her unconscious should I decide to weaponize it. It looked quite fragile.

It would appear that any fear she had of me had been erased during her time with Helen, something I would need to discuss with the girl. It was best these people did not view us as friends, they had plenty of them. A leader was not meant to be a companion. 

"I could have you beheaded, you know? I'm a king of some sort, that comes with quite a hefty amount of power." 

She can only wink at me, tapping her nail on the screen to draw my attention. 

The screen shows a second dot, blinking rather quickly across the map. "Well, Your Majesty, before you have me sent to the gallows this might interest you. There is he. He's using, it would seem, as the dot is going crazy but we have an idea of where he is." 

I don't need her to explain any further, I know the map well enough to know exactly where he's decided to go. 

Dezna. My home. 

He must have known all along, or perhaps something drew him to the spot where my father started all this, where our family effectively put in motion the end of the world. Suddenly I'm not hungry, as I watch the dot, all I can think is that Gabriel so easily could have been me. Maybe the humans, the lycans, the movements towards ending our kind, they were all correct. 

The amount of power I possessed, that Gabriel now possessed, how could any of us be trusted to do the right thing?

Helen rests her hand on my arm, carefully stroking with her thumb. "Hey. I know that face. Talk to me."

I suppose she did know me, she surely followed me around enough. 

"Nothing, I'm just feeling dreary. There are times when I wonder if this is all worth it, but it's foolish to think that an entire species can be eradicated. That's what got us into this mess, right? We need balance, it's just... overwhelming. Nobody should have this much power." 

What I wouldn't give to be anyone else some days. 

Bet scoffs, breaking through my analysis and pulling me out of my self-evaluation. "Just think of all the people you're able to help because of it. I don't remember much about the teachings but aren't Solomonari the good guys?"

"Yes, we are." Most of us. "Gabriel had an abundance of schooling that seems to have taken away his human side, I believe it's why he's so powerful, he almost seems to lack a conscience. Dark magic doesn't affect him because there's nothing to corrupt." 

It was just a theory but it would explain why he saw merit in keeping Verando alive as my husband could be very much the same. While he cared for his people, he always acted on logic before emotion. It must have been enough to pique the deranged man's curiosity. 

Helen shudders at the thought. "He's a creep. Just having him here sent chills down my spine."

Verando appears and we all jump at his soundless entry. I note that he's clean-shaven and almost frowns as I've grown accustomed to the stubble. 

Helen freezes, seeming taken aback as her eyes lock on the silver hair. "What the hell happened to you?"

Bet chuckles in response, "Did you dye it? You know, most men go darker, not lighter when they want a change."

All I can think of is my disdain for missing the shower he took. He smells of body wash and heaven as he moves to stand behind me. "I don't know what happened to it, it's winter, and I can assume that my coat color would change.  Maybe I'm just getting old?" 

Verando's warm hands rest on my shoulders, kneading into the muscle with his thumbs and practically making my eyes roll back into my head. I'm still reeling from this morning. 

"Have any of you stopped to consider that it would be far simpler to befriend Gabriel than it would be to destroy him, meanwhile, it would make our lives much easier?" 

Groaning, I rub my temples with my fingers, trying to exercise patience. Outbursts would do me no good here. "Thanks for the confidence, babe."

Snagging my bagel, he takes a bite and wrinkles his nose at my lack of cream cheese and proper breakfast etiquette. 

"Bloody savage..." he grumbles, using a knife to put more cream cheese on the unsuspecting pastry than I dare think him capable of. I swallow as he licks some excess off the side of his thumb, his tongue dragging across the digit in a casual way that I didn't often see from a man so concerned with cleanliness. 

Glancing at me, he smirks before gathering some on his index finger to offer me. "Enjoying the view? Taste."

"You're unbelievable. I've been trying to get you to eat for years! Centuries!" 

"Oh come off it. Taste." 

I take his finger in my mouth. The taste is alright but the action is much more to my satisfaction. Here, I can not demonstrate my appreciation but instead, I opt to bite him. Pleased by the retraction, I take half and eat that as I am, actually, hungry. 

"I'm not saying I don't have confidence in you, obviously you're ruthless. But, you are unable to use dark magic and Gabriel has proven that he can dematerialize as well as use the dragon realm. In a decade, I have no doubt you could best him but in two weeks? I feel as though we are playing a dangerous game. Could you kill your son?"

"Could you?" I shoot back. The amount of harshness makes me regret the retort. 

I take another bite, food crammed in my mouth would prevent my poor behavior. What is it about this man that makes me act like such a child? I can only think it's my overwhelming desire to provoke him, the encourage the return of my 'Alpha'.

"Yes." I already knew the answer. "But you are not me, which is what I love about you."

Bet takes a sip of her coffee, sticking out her tongue in digust. "Get a room."

I stand to get him a mug, serving him was something I had always enjoyed and it reminded me of our first weeks together. Much as those were the hardest days of my life, being at his mercy was a welcome memory given my current mood. Refusing to acknowledge the snippy woman, I can only roll my eyes and mutter to myself in my mother tongue. 

"So you think we should try and make peace with Gabriel." I summarize, taking a sniff of the pot before pouring some into the mug. "As well as not returning to the capitol?"

Helen perks, frowning in concern. "Not returning? Why? What about Tyler? The resistance?"

"They will all manage fine without us. They would have to anyway, we could not take them with us. Helen, you are welcome to return, obviously Bet must remain with us to help keep open lines of communication but I know you would rather be with Tyler. Truthfully, I encourage you to return." 

His suggestion makes her jaw drop, much as it shocks me as well, I don't comment on it. Instead, I place the cup of black coffee before my warlord, knowing better than to sully it with cream or sugar.

Helen had been an immense help to me but her attitude had been getting in the way of progress. She was too close to us, effectively poisoning any hope of creating the 'image' we needed to maintain should we wish to keep control of these outlands. She was too kind, too sweet, and quite young.

 It was one thing to run a small pack in New York but so much time without her mentor and a dose of confidence had reverted her into a teen rather than blossomed her into an Alpha to be. 

"Papa!" She pushes away from the table to stand.

The word cuts him but he composes himself. "I'm not your grandfather here, Helen. This is war, this is very different from our time in the States. You are horrendously under-practiced and as your mentor, I can not allow you to come with us should we decide to approach Gabriel head-on. You're a liability."

As much as she looks like she wishes to cry, her chest heaving, her hands clutched at her sides, she stands taller. "As your student, I must tell you that you're wrong. I have proven myself more times than you know. Ask Nic-" 

Verando stops her with a firm glare, "Exactly. Where is your respect for a King in front of his subjects?"

"But you-"

"I am not a future Alpha. I am your mentor, I am his husband, and I would very much like to be retired. You have not earned the seniority to speak informally and frankly, it's still bad manners. You have revealed an immense amount to someone you don't even know in the short time you've been here. Bet is not even her real name. 

Helen, we can not afford slip-ups like this. We have spoken about this, you shouldn't even introduce yourself as Helen. Why are you not going by Malka?"

I was painfully unaware that they had even had conversations about this. I, mostly, stayed away from their training sessions as they could be quite brutal though they did serve as a reminder to not allow myself to spar with my husband. 

Helen impresses me with her grit, she accepts this critique with no tears though I can see by her chest and heavy breathing how upset she is. 

"I'm letting my emotions get in the way of doing my job but I am learning." Her words are almost a plea.

Verando might be merciless but his soft spot for Helen was a fatal weak point that I knew bothered him. He saw so much of himself in her it was difficult to be the mentor to her that Sota was for him. Yet, in the depth of all that love for her, I knew that Tonic's ghosts haunted him. He had loved and cared for Tonic, too. Keeping Helen from becoming too invested in him was for her own good. 

"This is not a punishment." His voice levels. "It's permission to keep living. You are needed with Xaiver, there is nobody else that I would trust with that task."

Her eyes glimpse towards me and I nod, sympathetic as I know the intensity of those eyes and the thunderous tone of voice could be quite unnerving. While he never yelled, the presence alone was enough to feel as if you'd been struck down. 

 In one swoop, he'd decided our path and sent Helen on hers. Finally, she squares her shoulders and locks her eyes on him. "What if I fight you for it? If I'm the Alpha then you have to do what I say, even if you are my mentor."

"It doesn't work that way," I tell her firmly, irritated that she'd dare backchat her grandfather the way she did so easily to me. Much as I want to be upset, I remember this phase of my life quite well. "Verando has been more than generous to you."

In a quick motion, Bet skirts across the room to get out of the crosshairs as she hooks the tablet up to the television. 

"Nic, can you give me a hand?" She calls, reluctantly, I know what she's trying to do and follow her. 

Helen would have to learn on her own what it meant to challenge the Alpha. While he might be willingly handing over his throne, outright defeat was something he would not so easily tolerate.

 "Can you tell me about Landon and the protocol he's using? Pull up your phone and get his number. I'd like to communicate with him and arrange transport for Helen." She knew as well as I did what the silver-haired man was capable of. 

Picking up the phone, I try and tone out the back and forth of Helen signing her death certificate. Her idle threats, even going as far as to taunt the veteran warlord made my skin grow cold. However, this was an odd sensation, as I'd been cold since the day Verando left. "Do I feel warm to you?"

Staring at me as if I were mad, she touches my arm with one finger. "You... feel like a normal human?"

Surprised, I touched my face, almost not catching that Landon was on the other side of the line.

 "Hi- Good Morning. I have a woman here who needs to speak with you about setting up a video conference." 

Handing the phone over, I marvel at my warmth as Bet quickly taps into her tablet and the TV screen begins to flicker. Glimpsing over my shoulder, I see Verando standing still while Helen assumes a fighting stance. 

Dare I observe?

"Have you been practicing?" He sounds frustrated, picking apart her form with very little concern. "You're not going to be effective with that stance."

"Then you have nothing to worry about." Helen snaps. 

I flinch as her hasty attack leaves her flipped and smacked onto her back on the hardwood floor. She gasps in shock, kicking herself up to grasp his wrist only to have him quickly spin his hand while reversing the hold. He delivered a sharp jab with the side of his free hand to her ribs. 

As she takes a step back, he frowns, "Are you done making a fool out of yourself?"

I turn away as she comes again, the fight is silent save for the impact and the grunt of poor Helen receiving the defensive measures of a much more experienced fighter. While she may have the raw talent, she hadn't been in the wilds for two weeks nor had she been much for sparring save for the offhand moment I attempted to train with her. 

As Landon's face appears on the screen, I offer a smile as he gasps at the scene behind us. 

"I... is this a bad time?"

"Helen is training." I excuse the scene and gain his attention. "We're thinking we're going to continue to Romania on our own from here. This is my husband, Verando. We met up with Gabriel during some scouting and, long story short, he used the dragon realm to transport us here."

Landon blinks, jaw slack as Bet shrugs, she doesn't pretend to follow it either. "Your husband? A man? I- You're- Oh lord, I'm sorry, I shouldn't be so quick to assume- I think you told me this? I-"

"Landon." I corrected him, my love life needed to take a break if I was to get through this day. "Can you get everyone together for a meeting? I want to speak with the team before we make a final decision." 

We collectively flinch as Helen is sent sailing down the hall. Verando abandons the fight and moves to observe Landon through the screen. Landon stares back at him, wide-eyed. "Landon, Verando. Verando, Landon." I offer.

Verando makes a sound of amusement. "I was expecting someone bigger... he looks like a child."

Shifting his eyes awkwardly, Landon shrugs one shoulder. "I was expecting someone smaller." The retort is prideful, making me practically snort.

My warlord smirks, dimpling his cheek only to pale as another man comes into view on the screen. I quickly avert my attention back only to see Fadri. "Oh. Verando, this is-"

"What the hell is he doing there?" Verando demands, the heat emanating off of him catches me off guard and I quickly blink in surprise, trying to de-escalate. "Do you have any idea who that is?"

"Fadri? Fadri is a part of a superhero's guild? They've got a chapter in Paris, he's on our side." He couldn't possibly know Fadri was a shapeshifter, none of us had been able to come up with the identity of the man he was using as a mask.

"That's quite the story considering that man looks identical to Kestrel, Caspian's only son."