Chapter 258: Her Blood

SCARLETT’S POV

​The clearing went dead silent after his words.

​A collective, savage growl tore from the throats of Liam, Leonard, Leo, and the ten warriors behind them. The volume of their Alpha power vibrated right through the soles of my boots, a warning loud enough to shake the trees. But the Vampire King didn’t even flinch. He didn’t look at them. His blood-red eyes remained locked entirely on me, his cruel smile never wavering.

​I forced my hands to stay steady at my sides, refusing to let him see me shake. I took a half-step forward, putting myself right at the front of the line.

​"What do you want?" I asked, my voice cutting through the heavy growls of my pack.

​The King lifted a pale hand, brushing a strand of gleaming silver hair off his shoulder. "Straight to business. How very refreshing," he murmured. "I am not here for war, little wolf. In fact, I absolutely hate wars. They are noisy, messy, and a terrible waste of resources."

​I didn’t believe him for a single second. The cold air around him practically screamed danger.

​"Then cut the games and go straight to the point," I snapped, tightening my jaw. "Why do you want me?"

​The King leaned in just a little closer, the metal of his twisted crown catching the stark moonlight. "We need your blood, Scarlett. Specifically, we require at least twenty liters of your unique, ancient blood to help my people. If you give it to us willingly, we can walk away. We can pretend all of this never happened, and your precious little pack can continue playing in the dirt in peace."

​Twenty liters.

​The number hit me like a physical blow. A human body only held about five liters. Even with my enhanced werewolf healing and supernatural stamina, draining twenty liters of blood would mean keeping me captive, locking me in a cage, and bleeding me dry over and over again. It was a life sentence of torture.

​Beside me, Liam lost control. A terrifying, guttural roar ripped from his chest as his eyes flashed completely feral. He stepped forward, his body already shifting, muscles tearing and expanding as he prepared to lunge across the border line to tear the King’s throat out.

​"Liam! No!" I yelled, throwing my arm out across his massive chest to hold him back. "Stop! Calm down right now!"

​Liam’s chest was heaving, hot breath tearing from his mouth in ragged gasps, but my voice struck a chord through his anger. He froze, his claws digging deep into the damp dirt, but his eyes never left the King.

​I turned my attention back across the border line. "I won’t do it," I said, my voice flat, cold, and absolute. "You will never touch a single drop of my blood."

​The King’s smile didn’t fade. Instead, it grew wider, showing the glint of his sharp fangs. A soft, mocking chuckle escaped his pale lips.

​"You say that with such fierce conviction," the Vampire King purred, tilting his head as if amused by a small child. "But you speak from a place of ignorance, little Red Wolf. You know we have a right over your blood, don’t you?"

​The words sent a sudden, freezing spike of dread straight into my stomach. I looked at his flawless, white face, trying to find the lie, but there was only a terrifying certainty in his bloody gaze.

​"What are you talking about?" I demanded, my hands gripping into fists as a cold sweat broke out on the back of my neck. "How could you possibly have a right over my blood?"

​The Vampire King chuckled softly, a low, smooth sound that made my skin crawl. He took a single step closer to the invisible line separating our worlds, his eyes burning with an ancient, dark secret.

​"Because, my dear Scarlett," he whispered, his voice echoing in the quiet night air, "your ancestors made a pact with mine centuries ago. Your blood doesn’t just belong to you. It belongs to us. And I have come to collect what is mine."

​My glare hardened. "And what pact did my ancestors make?" I demanded, my patience running out. I tried to keep my face completely blank, refusing to let him see how much his words were shaking me.

​The King smiled, a slow, dark expression that made him look even more terrifying under the bright moon. "Go check your history, little wolf. We helped the very first Red Wolf. Centuries ago, when she first shifted and the color of her coat was revealed, the other werewolves didn’t celebrate her. They called her a witch. They feared her power, cursed her, and hunted her down until they finally chased her away from the packs."

​He paused, his blood-red eyes gleaming with a twisted kind of pride.

​"We took her in," he continued, his voice dropping to a smooth, dark purr. "We gave her a home and protected her when her own kind wanted her dead. Out of gratitude, she made a binding vow. She swore that whenever the vampire kingdom needed the help of the Red Wolf—whoever that magic eventually fell upon—they must return the favor and help us. So you see, Scarlett, you have absolutely no reason to deny us your blood. You are simply paying a debt that is already owed."

​"Nonsense!" Leo roared from behind me, his golden eyes flashing with pure hatred. He tried to step past me, his jaw clenched tight. "You expect us to believe some ancient lie just so you can drain our mate? You’re out of your mind if you think we’re letting you touch her!"

​The Vampire King sighed, his expression instantly turning cold and bored. He raised a pale hand, waving his fingers as if Leo’s anger was nothing more than an annoying fly.

​"I am really not in the mood for this petty barking," the King said, sounding exhausted. He looked past Leo and fixed his eyes onto me. "I will give you exactly one week. In seven days, we expect your blood to be delivered to us. Every single drop of the twenty liters we asked for. If it is not given to us by then... we will rain war down on this entire territory."

​"Bring it on, you leech!" Liam snarled, his claws digging so hard into the dirt that the ground beneath his boots started to crack. "We will slaughter every single one of you before you ever get near her!"

​The vampire scouts behind the King let out a unified, mocking scoff. The King himself just chuckled, a sound completely empty of humor.

​"I have heard of you three," the King murmured, his red eyes scanning Liam, Leonard, and Leo. "The powerful Alpha triplets. The unstoppable trio. But trust me on this... we vampires are not like the werewolves you are used to fighting. You may be strong enough to beat your own kind, but you are nothing compared to us. We don’t get tired, and we don’t show mercy."

​He turned his back on us, his long black cloak sweeping across the grass.

​"If you don’t want trouble, send the blood to our side of the border," the King called out over his shoulder as he started to walk back into the deep shadows of his forest. "Even if it’s just half of the liters we asked for to start with. Just send it. Otherwise, prepare to watch your pack burn."

​With that, the King and his five scouts melted back into the dark woods, disappearing so fast it was like they were never even there.

​The clearing became completely quiet again, but the heavy smell of cold iron and danger still hung thick in the freezing air. My legs felt weak, but I forced myself to stand tall. I couldn’t break down here. Not in front of the warriors.

​I turned around to face the triplets. "Let’s go back," I said, keeping my voice as flat and emotionless as possible.

​Nobody argued. We walked back through the dead forest in total silence, the heavy thud of our boots the only sound echoing in the night. The anger radiating off the three brothers was so hot I could practically feel it burning against my skin, but I kept my eyes straight ahead.

​The moment we pushed through the front doors of the mansion, I didn’t stop in the living room. I walked straight down the hallway and into the large, wood-paneled study. The triplets followed me inside immediately, closing the heavy doors shut behind them to keep the rest of the pack out.

​Liam was the first to pace across the room, running a frustrated hand through his hair. He looked completely stressed, his chest still heaving from the encounter. He turned to look at the rest of us, his face dark with worry.

​"So, what do we do?" Liam asked, his voice rough.

​Leonard walked over to the desk, his dark eyes narrowed as he looked out the window into the dark yard. "Nothing but prepare for war," he said, his tone chillingly calm but completely firm. "There is absolutely no way Scarlett is giving them a single drop of that blood. Twenty liters? That’s suicide. We fight."