The White Wolf ||A Paranormal Romance Novel||

Mircea

She came to me in my dreams most nights. Just the silhouette of a woman, her hair to her waist, her body curved and her power felt. I didn’t need to see her face to know who it was, or who it belonged to.

Six years ago it had happened, I had been at the last ball my mother held before her death, surrounded by vampires both familiar and not, much like I was now. But then, as I blinked, I had been in a bathroom, sitting on the floor, my head in my hands. When I blinked again I was back at the party.

I’d had to sit down to the side as it continued happening, and then just as suddenly as the flashes had started they stopped. When I told my mother she had just smiled at me, the pain in the expression clear as she stared in my eyes and told me what it meant.

“Darling Mircea, that only means one thing. Your mate has come into their power.”

I had asked why she looked so sad, I couldn’t understand how that could be a bad thing. To know I was one of the lucky ones to have a mate…

“You are a Prince, and your father…”

Back then I didn’t know why she had stopped talking, what made her freeze and not finish her sentence. I knew now, but I had nothing I could do about it.

Not yet, anyway.

But that woman, my mate, came to me again last night. And although it was just her silhouette again I felt something different. Her emotions, her anger. And she had been closer. Normally she was so far away I couldn’t make out any features, but last night she had been close enough for me to see a flash of her eyes.

Well, not her mortal eyes but the golden ones that belonged to her supernatural half.

To her wolf.

Right at this moment in time I was staring into space, at the portrait of my mother that hung on the wall opposite my bed. Even though it was just oil on canvas I could feel her eyes boring into me with an intensity that only came from motherly disappointment. It was because of my anger, because the first thing I had done when I woke from seeing my mate again was wonder what I had done to deserve such a monstrous fate. I could almost hear her scolding me.

“You are lucky to have a mate, you should not be questioning what she is. Fate has chosen this for you. It means something, it will have impact, now decide what you are going to do with it. Are you going to accept them or reject them? Are you going to change the world or feed into the old regime?”

I stood up off of the bed, finally walking over to the portrait and shaking my head.

“If she is a wolf, what does that mean?” I asked, knowing that I wouldn’t get a response. “It seems cruel.” I said, deciding that I should probably start packing instead of continuing to talk to my dead mother.

The Summit was in France this year, but that wasn’t the part that was going to be most interesting. There had been rumours circulating, there had been for some time, that the new White Wolf was female. That would mean it was the first female White Wolf in history… and the rest of the recent rumours was that she may be coming to the Summit.

Or, more aptly, storming the Summit.

There wasn’t a way that she would have received an invite, if they even were a she as the rumours so claimed. Werewolves had been deemed as too animalistic, too uncontrolled to be a part of the order of a Summit.

And if she did storm the Summit, I knew exactly what her topic of anger would be. The Hunts. The one thing that was keeping their numbers under control. It wouldn’t work, her anger and whatever she might say. The Hunts were necessary, even if just thinking about them twisted my stomach into painful knots. The vampires knew that and so did everyone else.

“Mircea.” I heard my name called through my door.

“Enter.” I recognised the voice of my father with ease, and knew it was best to not keep him waiting. The door opened and he walked in, leaving it open behind him.

“I see you are starting to pack.” He said, I nodded my reply as I turned my attention solely on him. I knew better than to not look at him, to even think about anything else when we were in conversation.

“Thought it best, we leave tomorrow.” I said, a basic reply void of emotion.

“Yes, I suppose we do.” He replied. While my focus was solely on him, his eyes were locked on my mother’s portrait. It was the last one of her that was still on the walls in the castle, and if he dared ask me to take it down I wouldn’t hesitate to drag my teeth through his throat.

“One day, I hope you understand what I had to do.” He said calmly, also void of emotion like I had been. I couldn’t respond, not because I didn’t want to but because I knew that whatever would come out of my mouth would lock me into the same fate as her. As Queen Marioara Dracula. I had walked in on my father killing her, had seen my uncle’s body already on the floor. It had been her screams that had drawn me to the room, but by the time I had reached her I was too late.

“I suppose you have heard the rumours.” He said, finally turning his eyes to me. They were an unremarkable brown, similar to my own but not the same.

“The White Wolf may be coming.” I said, he nodded.

“If he does-”

“Supposedly, it’s a she.” I had cut him off. Fuck. I didn’t let my face show any panic, kept a calm facade and kept my heart rate low as I kept staring him in the eyes.

“I highly doubt that. Unless proven otherwise I will assume it’s a male like it always has been.” He said, seemingly unaffected by me cutting him off. I wasn’t sure if that made me more comfortable or more worried. “If he does show up, we need a plan. I need you to come up with one, understood?” He asked, I nodded. “Good, now remember we are there for a few days before the Summit in order to meet with other leaders and establish or reestablish relationships. First step of the plan should be defensive, making sure we have control of the room before the event even takes place.”

“Of course.” I replied, nodding once more.

“King Traian.” A messenger poked his head through the open doorway. “A message from Mun Kang-Dae just arrived.” The young vampire said.

“Meet me in my study.” My father said to the messenger who ran off once more. “This plan will need to work. Our grip on the supernatural world might seem strong, but it’s not. It grows weaker everyday.” He didn’t give me a chance to reply or press for more information before he left.

And if I was more sure of myself, I would even say there was a mild look of panic in his eyes as he walked out. But there shouldn’t be any worry about the Mun family… which meant he was worried about the White Wolf.

What did he have to be afraid of?