Prophesy 3: His Righteousness by A.E. Via
Adres was still miles away from the Alpha Zenith’s pack lands, but with his enhanced hearing he knew they were aware of his approach. Adres had traveled to the other side of the world from his beautiful home in Romania to pay a debt to the vampire king and his second-in-command, the Lord High, Belleron Liatos. King Chadwick Bentley had left his royal palace in Newcastle, England, for the sprawling, wintery White Mountain Forest of the Volkov alphas, a centuries-old generation line that had been blessed by the Mother to protect her coveted children, all wolf shifters.
King Bentley and his court now resided on these sacred grounds with his true beloved, the alpha of all alphas, Justice Volkov. Rumors of the pair’s miraculous mating had traveled far and wide, since there hadn’t been a fate-match between a vampire and a shifter in over a thousand years. Adres didn’t know why the Mother had seen fit to recreate this union now, but he could only assume it had to do with the prophesy that vampires and shifters would one day need to unite again in order to defeat a common enemy. But after years of shamans, elders, seers, and witches predicting this so-called prophesy, no one had seen any evidence of the premonitions becoming reality.
Until a few months ago.
After one of his brothers had gone through a near-death experience, as the eldest Cavalerie, Adres had stood sentinel at his bedside as he recovered. While his brother Andrei healed, his cherished told Adres of the Volkov alpha who had stopped and risked his own life to save one of their kind. With her heavy Hispanic accent, she had told him of the Lord High’s beloved, that he’d shifted into an all-black wolf with flames for eyes. A divinity no one had seen for centuries. She’d described how he’d leapt into the burning building and saved her amado, then emerged from the flames without a hair singed.
If the fire-god had returned, then Adres needed to see for himself. So, instead of getting on a jet and returning to his home after Andrei had recovered, he found himself in uncharted territory.
It was dangerous to breach the Mother’s land without invitation. Any vampire would surely meet his demise within minutes if it attacked. But Adres didn’t come to harm; he came bearing a gift his king would not refuse. When he was close enough for them to scent him, he put up all of his shields to protect his mind and soul from their powers. Adres was well-educated and knew that the Volkov alphas were descendants of the first Siberian dawn wolf, and each of them possessed an energy force that could attack from afar. And, as he moved through the dense forest, he could see a clearing that opened ahead, and just beyond stood his king next to his true beloved, with their army and pack behind them. Adres assumed they could feel how strong he was, though he was blocking them from his true identity.
Adres was still hundreds of yards away, but he was able to see when the vampire king removed his fitted black suit and crouched on his hands and knees. The air shimmered around him, and a sonic boom shook the earth as the king shifted into a massive white tiger.
Adres’s steps faltered. It is true.
Justice Volkov shifted into his intimidating white-and-gray wolf and stood beside his mate. Adres was almost too stunned to continue moving. He thought they were going to charge forward at him as he tightened his impenetrable shields, but neither of them had to move to knock Adres off his feet.
King Chadwick Bentley lifted his large head and released an ear-deafening roar at the same time that Justice pushed his energy in his direction. Together the king and alpha produced a powerful surge that took Adres down to one knee, but not for long. Futu-i! He struggled to his feet, registering their surprise when the Alpha Zenith and the king shifted back to their human forms.
“That should’ve worked,” Justice Volkov said in his deep voice.
“It’s the vampire,” the king answered his mate. “I think it’s only one.”
“Let him move in,” Justice said, glaring into the trees. “No one attacks unless I give the command.”
Adres was glad to hear the AZ announce that. It was said that Justice Volkov’s wolf was the just and fair one, and for Adres’s sake, he hoped that was true. He used his flash speed and emerged through the tree line into the open compound. Beyond him were houses and cabins centered around a sprawling two-story home. The towering trees and deep valleys surrounding their land had made breaching their fortress a difficult journey, but a welcome one. If these had been different circumstances, Adres might have stood and marveled at the beautiful property, at the wonders of nature, but he wasn’t there for a pleasure visit. He had a duty to fulfill.
“He doesn’t smell right,” snarled a hostile shifter standing to the right of the AZ, which meant he must be one of his three brothers.
A vampire standing in front of the army informed them, “He’s blocking most of his scent.”
“Easy. Let’s see what he wants,” Justice said.
Adres slowed his pace and moved across the property with his hands loose at his sides, his swords strapped securely to his back. He scanned the even rows of trained vampires ready to attack at a flick of the king’s wrist, and the Alpha’s enforcers who had shifted and were prepared to tear his throat out. As Adres stared at the impressive display of power he questioned if these privileged individuals even deserved the honor of his presence. He was careful to keep his emotions hidden so they didn’t affect his shields, which were undetectable to most—but he had also never encountered a Volkov.
“Justice, that’s close enough. He needs to state his business,” a dark-haired man told the AZ.
Another brother, Adres presumed.
“Agreed,” Justice said. “Stop him there.”
Adres wasn’t sure what “stop him there” meant, but they were more than welcome to continue to try. Chadwick Bentley was the most powerful vampire in the world because he was the king, but he was far from the strongest. However, he was the only vampire Adres had ever encountered that could shift into an animal. But he still was not the strongest. As far as Adres was concerned, he’d earned that title. Adres locked eyes with the brother walking forward and held his glare with his own. He knew that each Volkov brother had a supreme wolf inside them with a unique trait that strengthened their senses tenfold.
He’d been prepared to combat whatever energy this brother possessed, but he’d been mistaken. Heat fiercer than the Nubian Desert rushed towards him as he threw his hood over his face in an effort to combat the scorching temperature. The air shimmered angrily around him, and with each step he took, the grass singed and charred beneath his boots. Adres gasped for breath, choking on the fury and rage being burned into him. Unless he showed them now that he wasn’t a threat, he would perish, for he knew now who stood before him.
“I’m not here to fight.” Adres gritted out, no longer able to move.
“We don’t know why you’re here. Drop your shields,” the king commanded. “If you mean no harm.”
If Adres dropped his guard now, he’d be incinerated. “The shield is there for protection. I only wanted a chance to explain my appearance here.” Adres extended his hand towards the visible air sizzling a few inches from his face. The moment the tip of his middle finger made contact, he yanked his hand away. He inhaled sharply, his eyes wide with disbelief as he stared at a man with flames burning in his eyes. The fire-god. “It’s true. You have returned. These are the waves of Wrath. It’s really you.”
“If you attack, you’ll die slowly.” The words were coming from the mouth of the second-to-oldest Volkov brother, but it was not him speaking. It was the god that possessed him.
Adres was not often surprised by life anymore, but today was a special day. “Those are not my intentions.” He had no desire to have his skin scorched from his bones. Once Wrath retreated, his black smoke dissipating at his will, Adres was able to inhale easier. He continued until he stood in front of an audience of his peers and his natural enemy. “I would like to introduce myself.”
“Drop the shield,” another vampire ordered. Adres presumed him to be the king’s Lord Protector, Ramon Vega—a well-known soldier of their species—because he stood in front of His Majesty’s court, demanding his full compliance.
Adres wouldn’t be able to get another word in if he didn’t do as he’d been ordered. With precision, Adres lowered his outside shield just enough for them to smell his family’s lineage. He hoped it was enough to satisfy the curious—and exceptionally vicious-looking—shifter who stood several yards off, scenting him. Adres lowered his head in a slight bow as a sign of respect—though he felt none—before he addressed the hierarchy.
“Please, my Lords. A moment. My family’s name… is Cavalerie. I am the oldest, Adres Neculai. I am here to honor our code, pledge my loyalty to your crown King Bentley, and to hopefully swear an oath.”
Once Adres said his family’s name, many of the king’s guards broke from their formation as hushed whispers rose and ignited into barely restrained fascination. They all stared, assessing his dark clothes, the artistic beading of his native land decorating his cloak and hood, his half-covered face, and his tattooed hands. Hands that had killed many and would kill many more. Adres felt as if his reinforced shields were holding well enough to avoid suspicion, until the third eldest of the Volkov brothers made his power known.
“I smell you.” The strikingly handsome man glowered, and Adres felt a ripple of pleasure move under his skin. He shifted fast into an impressive, stark-white wolf, shredding the few clothes he’d worn as he stalked towards him. Adres had never been this close to an alpha wolf, and regardless of how aggressive this one was behaving, he was not afraid.
“This is unbelievable,” the Lord Protector whispered. “You are a Cavalerie? The oldest?”
“Yes,” Adres said, keeping still while the beast lurked around him.
“Never thought I’d see one in person,” the king said.
“You’ve seen me, my Lord. You just didn’t know it,” Adres answered truthfully. He was two seconds away from shoving off the muzzle that was hovering near his chest… at his core.
“Do you mind filling the rest of us in, because my brother’s wolf says your soul is wicked and corrupt,” the AZ scowled, his voice laced with caution. “I’m not going to ask you if that’s true, because I believe him. His animal not only senses the righteous but the unjust as well. Now, tell me why you’ve come onto my pack lands.”
La naiba! Not only did these alphas communicate to each other telepathically, but it appeared the one growling near his throat had a wolf that could sense evil. Adres was fucked, but he stayed composed, knowing his people would vouch for him. The shifters may not know who he was, but the vampires did. The Cavalerie name carried the same level of respect in the vampire community as the Volkovs did within the shifters. However, Adres’s entire family abhorred politics and preferred to keep their distance and their services from the royals. But there he was, in one of the most beautiful places in the world, providing them with his protection.
The Lord Protector shook his head at Justice. “No, AZ. He is not wicked nor corrupt. His family are the harbingers of judgment. Have been for millennia. It’s why his shield makes him undetectable. It’s his family’s creed. And Adres has a reputation of living up to the meaning of his name—the inescapable.”
More vampires added their recollection of Adres’s history, and most of them had it right. “The name Cavalerie translates to Horseman in Romanian. And, no, his history has no association to the mythical folklore told to frighten misbehaving children. It’s merely coincidental, if not a bit ironic, that Adres and his many brothers are known for raiding immoral covens and bringing victims the heads of their tormentors as justice.”
Hence the reason he was there.
A tall vampire, a female with wide, slate-black eyes, added, “Some of the old ancestors say the Horsemen were sent as gifts from Nemesis, the Roman goddess of retribution. So, the council never hunted them.”
Adres removed his hood just as the large wolf who’d been infringing on his space shifted and stood over him. He was something to behold, but he was also making Adres angry. Perhaps that was why his body felt so hot. If a shifter had visited his land, he’d greet him with respect and hear his words before he decided if he must kill it.
Adres glared up at the alpha who hadn’t bothered to introduce himself properly before disrespecting him in one of the worst ways. And in front of his kind. The younger Volkov didn’t appear to take Adres’s glower as a challenge; instead, he stood against him with his hands on his bare hips, his hairy chest rising and falling with each heavy breath he took. Not only was Adres confused by this behavior, but it appeared a few of the shifters standing around and observing were as well.
He can’t possibly smell the—
“You may be a master at hiding your scent.” The alpha dipped his head and pressed his nose to Adres’s temple, breaking through two of his shields and causing his head to spin. “But I smell the real you… killer.”