Chapter 257: The Preparation

Scarlett’s POV

​Over the next two days, the packhouse felt like a cage.

​Every time I tried to leave my room, I felt eyes on me. Leo was always nearby. If he wasn’t standing in the hallway, I could smell his scent right outside the door. He was tracking my every move, making sure I didn’t try to run away before the meeting.

​Late on the second afternoon, the suffocating silence in the room became too much to bear. Needing a breath of fresh air that didn’t smell like my own fear, I unlocked the glass doors and quietly sneaked out onto the bedroom balcony. I gripped the cold stone railing, looking down at the private training grounds below.

​What I saw made my breath catch in my throat. Down on the field, Liam, Leonard, and Leo were training together. It had been such a long time since I had seen them like this. For years, jealousy, secrets, and pain had kept them drifting apart. I had imagined them like this so many times in my head—wishing, praying that they would find their way back to each other, but the bitter reality of the fated mate bond had always stood between them. It was so sad that it took a deadly danger, a literal threat to our entire existence, to finally bring them back together.

​But right now, despite the tragedy of it, they were moving in perfect synchronization.

​Leo ducked under Liam’s massive swing, laughing a little as he swept his leg out. Liam pulled back just in time, clapping Leo on the shoulder, while Leonard walked over, pointing at a defensive stance and flashing a rare, genuine smile. They were working together, pushing each other, and communicating without the harsh tension that had been choking them for weeks. The old wall of jealousy had been shattered by the heavy shadow of war. They weren’t fighting over me anymore; they were preparing to fight for me, together.

​They were united. Truly united.

​A tear slipped down my cheek, hot and fast, but a soft smile touched my lips. I was so incredibly happy, even as my chest throbbed with a painful ache. Seeing them like this, sharing a bit of rare laughter and standing as one brotherhood again, warmed something completely frozen deep inside my chest. It was a beautiful, devastating sight. I had wanted this exact moment for so long, and knowing that a cruel vampire king was the reason they were finally whole again broke my heart into a million pieces.

​But it also hardened my resolve. My grip tightened on the stone railing until my knuckles turned white. I would do whatever it took to keep that unity alive. I wouldn’t let a war tear them apart again. I would protect their brotherhood at all costs—even if it meant sacrificing myself to ensure they survived to keep laughing together.

​I stepped back into the shadows of the room before they could look up and catch me watching, pulling the heavy curtains shut.

​That night, I stood by the glass window again, looking up at the sky. The moon was still bright, but it was starting to grow smaller.

​"Are you ready?" I whispered into the empty room.

​I wasn’t talking to myself. I was talking to the ancient wolf hidden inside my soul.

​For a long time, there was nothing but silence. Then, a cold, heavy feeling settled deep in my brain. It didn’t feel like a normal wolf’s thought. It felt like an old echo from a deep cave.

​The King is very powerful, the Red Wolf’s voice finally answered inside my mind. But do not fear the leech, Scarlett.

​"How can I defeat him?" I asked in my mind, my hands gripping the edge of the windowsill. "Tell me!"

​But the Red Wolf didn’t answer. The dark energy pulled back into the shadows, leaving me completely alone in the dark room once again.

​Whether ready for the kingdom or war, the third day finally arrived.

​The sun went down fast, painting the sky in deep shades of orange and dark purple before night took over completely. The air was freezing as I stood in front of the long mirror in my room. I had pulled on a simple black sweater, dark pants, and heavy boots. My long hair was tied back out of my face.

​I looked pale. My sea-blue eyes looked huge against my white skin, but there was a hard, steady look in them now. The fear was still there, a giant block of ice in my stomach, but I pushed it down deep.

​A heavy knock sounded at the door.

​"Scarlett," Leo’s voice came through the wood. "It’s time."

​I took one last deep breath, closed my eyes for a second, and then opened the door. Leo was standing there. He wore a tight black shirt and pants, his muscles looking huge and tense. His golden eyes scanned my face, looking for any sign of weakness. I didn’t give him one. I just nodded and walked past him down the stairs.

​In the main hall, Liam and Leonard were waiting. They looked like statues carved from stone. Both of them were totally silent, their large bodies radiating a scary, heavy Alpha power. Behind them stood ten of our strongest, most dangerous pack warriors, all of them looking ready to kill.

​Liam looked at me, his red-rimmed eyes full of a pain that made my knees want to shake. "The scouts are already in position," he said, his voice rough and low. "They are hiding in the tree line around the clearing. We are going with you right up to the border line. We don’t leave your side."

​"Fine," I said, keeping my voice flat and cold. "But remember what I said. Do not do anything to start a fight. Let me speak first."

​Liam clenched his jaw so hard I heard the bone click, but he didn’t argue.

​We walked out of the packhouse together, moving like a funeral march into the dark forest. The trees seemed to close in around us, the leaves whispering in the cold night wind. Nobody spoke. The only sound was the heavy thud of our boots hitting the damp dirt.

​As we got closer to the western border, the forest grew completely dead. There were no birds, no bugs, no sounds of small animals moving in the brush. The air began to smell like old dust and cold iron. It was the same terrible smell from my nightmare.

​We broke through the final line of trees and entered the wide, grassy clearing.

​The full moonlight poured down over the grass, making the clearing look like a stage. On our side of the border line, the grass was green and covered in wet dew. But across the line, the woods looked darker, deeper, and completely empty.

​"They are already here," Leonard whispered, his eyes narrowing as he stared into the dark trees on the vampire side.

​A second later, the shadows shifted.

​Five pale figures stepped out from the dark wood, moving with that terrifying, smooth speed that didn’t look human. It was the same five scouts from before, their red eyes glowing in the dark. They stopped just a couple of feet away from the border line, their faces frozen in cruel, pale smiles.

​But they didn’t step forward. Instead, they all turned around and bowed their heads low, parting down the middle to form a straight path.

​My breath caught in my throat. My heart started to beat so hard against my ribs it felt painful.

​From the deep darkness behind them, a single figure walked out.

​He moved slowly, his long black cloak trailing over the grass behind him. He was tall, with broad shoulders and a powerful frame. Long silver hair fell over his shoulders, shining like pure liquid light under the moon. When he stepped into the white moonlight, I felt my whole soul take a hard shake.

​He was terrifyingly beautiful. His face looked like it had been cut from perfect, smooth marble—sharp, cold, and flawless. A heavy crown of dark, twisted metal sat on his silver hair. But it was his eyes that made me want to scream. They were the exact color of fresh, wet blood.

​The Vampire King.

​He stopped right at the edge of the border line, just inches away from our territory. His red eyes scanned the line of large wolves and Alphas standing in front of him, completely ignoring them as if they were nothing but small bugs.

​Then, his blood-red gaze shifted. He looked past Liam. He looked past Leo.

​His eyes locked straight onto mine.

​The moment our eyes met, a wave of cold, heavy power slammed into my brain, making my head spin. A slow, terrifying smile spread across his pale lips, showing the sharp tips of his fangs. It was the exact same cruel, hungry smile from my dream.

​"So," the Vampire King said. His voice was smooth, but it had a deadly, sharp edge that made the hair on my arms stand up. It echoed through the quiet clearing, filling the night air with an ancient, heavy power.

​He leaned forward just a little, his eyes burning into my soul.

​"The little Red Wolf finally decided to come out and play."