29. Blissful Strokes

**Narrator’s POV.**

“Any updates?”, the alpha king’s scruffy voice asked, he had still not gotten over the human’s choice of weapons- they had become smarter, much smarter than two hundred years ago. They were absolutely defenseless then but now, they had had two whole centuries of mastering werewolves without the species having a clue about it.

Fredrick could sense the waves of unease rolling off his king’s back, he knew he had to calculate his next words very well, “The humans will be here in half an hour”,

Dwayne clicked his tongue and turned away from his second in command, “Great”, -nothing about the situation was great. His confidence that was once higher than the sky was now reaching the core of the earth. A whole lot of shit could happen today but the one thing that haunted and tortured him the most way the pain that his mate would go through because of his stupid ego.

“Your majesty, are you sure you do not want us to retreat and surrender? It is not too late”, the alpha king was tempted to hold unto the offer, it seemed like the best and most rational thing to do at that point but he was not backing down for any species. He was a fucking king and he will cower down to no one!

The picture and idea of him bowing down in submission to the man who tried to kill his mate with his lethal weapon made his blood boil and his eyes brighten, “I will never in a thousand years surrender to anybody”, he growled at the man in front of him and stood to his full height, “I am the king of the lycanthropes, the strongest alpha to ever walk the face of this earth. I will fight this war and win it even if it is by myself”, he meant what he said but deep within him, he knew he was slightly bluffing- he would be absolutely mad to take on such lethal weapons alone.

“I- I am sorry sire. I would prepare the troops for battle”, even a fool could tell that Fredrick was using this opportunity to avoid the situation he had been placed in, he did not want to get involved in the alpha king’s war of power with himself- that was a very dangerous war for another person to be involved in. Besides, the troops were already prepped up for battle, they knew exactly what to expect and were mentally and physically ready for it.

The alpha king could smell the chocking smell of Wolfsbane before he pointed out the scent of those who held it, “They are here”, he growled out angrily, his voice was thick with blood thirst and his wolf craved to see heads roll on the ground but he knew he had to protect his men first- they could not die, his mate could not die.

All the lycans became alert and some of them morphed into their large wolves, ready for anything. Soon, they were all behind their three leaders, growling like the animals they were, nervousness travelled through the crowd but it was extremely understandable- none of them had battled with wolfsbane and ash wood before, they did not know how painful it was, it was not part of their training.

The alpha king had placed his daughter’s mate in front of him, holding him down with a grip that could easily crush his weak human bones. Harrison could flinch all he wanted, the man was not letting him go and did not care whether he was going through a whole lot of pain at the moment. In fact, he knew the man relished in his pain and even lived for it!

James walked into the clearing, followed by hundreds of humans. Immediately he gazed upon the man’s attire, Dwayne snarled and growled loudly, making the earth shake- how dare he!?

The laugh that left the other leader’s mouth made the already pissed off man irritated, “I see you like my choice of clothing”, the man taunted, “It is quite…”, he paused for a dramatic effect and stared the alpha king deep in the eyes, “Ceremonial for the occasion, do you not think?”,

The alpha king was tempted to curse at the man in seven different languages and rip his body to tiny shreds, he had crossed the line! “You dare wear the skin of one of my kind right in front of my eyes! I believe you have lost the will to live”, the alpha king growled,

“I believe I have more power to end all of you right now if I want to”, it was the alpha king’s turn to laugh hysterically,

“I find it delicious how you think we are scared of your weapons. If I die today, I die with honor and-”, he was cut off by a voice he had not heard in months.

“Nobody is dying”, the feminine voice said loud enough so everyone could hear her. She walked up to the middle of the enemies, her second in command and daughter following suit, “No war would happen today- not on my watch”, the alpha king stared at his mate incredulously, what on earth was happening? How had she shown up at the right time? Had the goddess decided to honor his silent plea of help?

He could feel someone glaring daggers at him, it made his blood run cold and he looked at the person to see it was his heavily pregnant daughter warning him to let go of her mate at once. Irritation was written over his face as he released the boy and pushed him towards his daughter. Harrison wrapped his arms around the woman he loved and every miserable bone in her body disappeared- Desiree was whole again.

“What are you going on about bitch?”, James was confused at the scene happening before his eyes, but he was mostly shocked that his son’s mate had conceived and he was just finding out about it in the worst way possible. He was going to be a grandfather.

“For the sake of both of our species, this war cannot happen. The ending results has a lot of terrible consequences”, Daphne tried to reason with the two egotistic men,

“Yes, terrible consequences for you werewolves”, the man smirked, causing a roar of laughter to float among the humans,

“No, for all of us. If this war happens, there is no stop to it. Yes, we all get what we want by ending each other but that is not where it ends, the aftermath is worse than the war itself”, she explained.

“You are lying, you are trying to save your people”, the leader of the human’s pointed out, he was genuinely scared of what she was saying because something within him yelled that she was telling the truth,

“I would be lying if I said I was not trying to save my people from ultimate doom but I will proudly say that it goes out for your people as well. Harrison is part of my family now, whether my mate likes it or not”,

“This is not something you can decide, Daphne”, the alpha king said in a scolding tone, he was happy that she had come at the right time but was annoyed that she was doing all the public speaking and making all the decisions without him, especially when it came to his daughter’s choice of mate.

“Well, you sure as hell do not mind making decisions without me”, she spat at him, she was still pissed at him for acting like an asshole and keeping her illness to himself- their children deserved to know the truth! The look on her face made it known to him that it was time for him to shut the hell up and let her talk, “See”, she sighed and turned back to the humans, “It has been twenty years since you tried to kill me and I forgive you- I am ready to move on with my life and I know my mate is too”, he grumbled under his breath but did not dare to voice out his frustration,

“I do not need your forgiveness”,

“I know you don’t, but you need our help”, she pointed out,

“For what?”,

“Are you not tired of living underground?”, the alpha king was not liking where his mate was heading, she was walking on thin ice threatening to break at any moment, “I am willing to offer you ten percent of our land if you walk away in peace”, she had hit the nail right on its head.

“No!”, the alpha king growled out, he will never share the same place with humans- ever! Daphne hissed at him,

“Yes! We will also allow you free access into our borders and you will do the same. We will be allowed to travel freely into either territory and you will enjoy the same luxuries as werewolves. Do we have a deal?”.

James turned to his people and they spoke in hushed whispers, debating their options carefully for almost five minutes before he faced her once again, “Deal”.