Prince Justus and the Rogue

Justus POV

After finding us a place to buy some street food and ensuring everyone has a full belly we take some leisure time in the shade of a large tree. I grab Gracia by the hand and we walk down the road.

"Okay, now shut your eyes and don't open them until I say you can." I tell Gracia as I hold her hand and lead her down somewhat of a twisty path.

Dusk is starting to settle and fireflies are starting to come out. I lead us towards a small river with a dock that has a tiny canoe tied off and I've noticed that the owner is nowhere to be found. After I have Gracia seated and I've made sure she isn't peeking I start paddling us downshore until I come across a weeping willow. The willow grew from the shore and was hanging over the river creating a private alcove that I pulled our canoe into and sank my anchor down. With the moonlight showing her favour, the fireflies bouncing everywhere, and the peacefulness of the river it looked perfect.

"Okay, you can open your eyes." I tell Gracia. I'm smiling from ear to ear, hoping to hear that she likes this place.

She gasps. "It's so beautiful. How did you know this place was here?"

"When we would visit the witch queen as children with my parents I was allowed to explore outside and even neighboring towns. My parents really didn't care as long as I wasn't bothering them. So I started fishing off of this river and then I found this cool little hideaway as a place to come to clear my thoughts along with a few other places." I smile at her. Gracia POV

I'm so thrilled that Justus brought me here. This is one of the rare times that he's opened up to me and been really vulnerable especially when it comes to talking about his childhood. He's usually very guarded and doesn't offer stories unless asked unless it's with Cecily. He's always different when he's with her. He's more than just a big brother it's like he's taken on almost an uncle role maybe or maybe even a father.

I lean back into his chest and his arms quickly encircle me while we are sitting in the canoe watching the fireflies fly all around us in this perfect piece of heaven. Justus tilted my chin up as he brought himself down for a soft and tender kiss. It wasn't needy and passionate but it was just right for the moment. The gentleness, the length of time, and the emotion was all perfect. For a while we just stayed like that with me leaning back into his chest and laying in his arms in our perfect piece of heaven.

"Hey little mate, it's time to head back towards the others. I don't want Cecily to wake up scared and not know where you are." Justus says gently to me as I had just begun to doze off.

"Okay." I smile up at him thankful that he's here to take care of us all.

The next morning we have a pack meeting to discuss where we are going next.

"So, we need to head to the Isle of Demons which is at least a day's travel from here and that's if we do it in wolf form." Emil speaks up.

"Well, I was thinking maybe we could stay here and rest for another day or two." Mack says with a goofy grin.

"Say what? I know that grin? Did someone find a she wolf that has caught your fancy?" I ask with a slight smirk.

"Actually, I think she might be my mate. My wolf, Maikoh, has been going nuts since we first met even though he hasn't said mate yet but I also haven't been able to look straight into her eyes. I also haven't been able to touch her so I haven't felt the sparks yet either." Mack explained his goofy grin getting even bigger the more that he talks about her.

"What else can you tell us about her?" I think this is exciting. The first one of my friends to find a mate besides me.

"Well, she definitely smells like a wolf but something is off about her. I've also seen her coming and going from the blue palace so I'm wondering if she's part witch." Mack explained thoughtfully.

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"She may be your mate but I'm not sure how far I trust witches." Jackin interrupted the discussion but before anyone could respond or he could finish his thought we heard the pounding of hooves coming down the road. We all stood up in protective stances in front of Gracia and Cecily.

The horses stopped in front of us and a soldier got down. "Prince Justus, Princess Gracia and companions are requested to appear before the White Queen Witch Fiona immediately to attend to an urgent matter."

* Werewolf King's Castle: Loches Castle; Golden Moon Pack *

Beta Augusto, Delta Ermo, and Gamma Gosse sat in the beta's office discussing what the next plan of action is.

"Shouldn't we go to the king with this?" Delta Ermo asks.

"No, he's dug his heels in and convinced himself that Achard will make a good king. That he only needs a bit of guidance, training, and being looked after. We need to wait for the right opportunity before we move onto the king. Hopefully Justus will continue to send us updates on what is going on and any alerts that he has come across." Beta Augusto answers.

"I just hope we aren't too late when we go to the king. There's only so much we can do on our own." Delta Ermo replies thinking of his son being out there and a possible target.

"I know we're all thinking of our sons that are out there but we need to keep our heads about this and not let our emotions run this. We need to act as a Beta, Delta, and Gamma. What would we do if these boys weren't our sons?" Beta Augusto replies.

"I think a good idea might be to start tracking Achard's whereabouts. Also, does anyone know where his coven meets?" Gamma Gosse asks.

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"I think that's a damn good idea. But I thought he denounced his coven?" Beta Augusto said.

"Hmm. Yeah, I call bullshit on that. Let's put some of our elite trackers on him. I can think of two right now that have tracked vampires before so they know how to deal with their crazy speed jumps. Maybe he'll lead us straight to his coven or to some of his other dirty deeds." Gamma Gosse says. They all agree and leave the office. Gosse goes to look for the trackers while Augusto and Ermo take a moment to breathe.

The trackers are implemented rather quickly but miss catch Achard killing Mr Payne; however, they do follow Achard to the coven meeting. *Blood Moon Coven *

Achard POV

After killing the old man I walk back to the coven using full vampire speed so no one sees me. But, even though I'm walking at my full speed I feel like someone is watching me the whole time. I'm meeting with the coven today and I'm going to ask for men to be sent after Justus and his little group of vagabonds. I need to be careful though as I don't want to tip off father towards my doings. Evidently someone has gotten to my father's subordinates or they wouldn't have gone through the trouble of trying to get Mr Payne to leave town. He had some truly interesting things in his store's collection. I requested one of my coven's men to sift through everything and remove anything that referenced vampires and bring it back to the coven. I'm going to enjoy going through it later.

I sit down at a round table facing five other vampires, three men and two women. The six of us are the oldest vampires in the coven with one of the men being alive for over a thousand years. He calls the meeting to order and asks for new business.

"Yes, I would like to ask for vampires to be sent after my brother and his little group of vagabonds to steal the key to the Gates of Guinee. That key is very important to our coven and to the future of vampires as a whole. Secondly, I would like to ask that they eliminate my brother so I do not have to worry about him coming back to take the crown. I think I don't have to say how important it is that I remain on the throne for this coven and all vampires." I sat back in my chair after making my speech.

"I agree with his request," said Lord Dempster. The other lords also voiced their agreement as I knew they would. Soon I would have the key, my brother would be dead, and I would become the most powerful vampire in the world. Please drop me a comment and let me know if you like the story or the chapter. I love all feedback both critical and complimentary. Also check out my other book Dragon Brothers. You can also go to my facebook page for chapter updates and updates on new projects. https://www.facebook.org/Sammi-From-Anystories-1020524119915