Prophesy 3: His Righteousness by A.E. Via
As soon as Adres walked into the war room with Macauley, hand in hand, the rambunctious conversation that’d been going on came to an immediate halt as silence descended. The Lord Protector was the first to stand and bow in Adres’s direction, as did the king’s legion and guards posted along the wall.
“Welcome, my Lord,” Ramon said reverently. “It is a blessing to see you and your cherished looking well.”
“We are well. Thank you, Ramon.” Macauley didn’t release his hand until they were seated at the long table.
Surprisingly there was an extra chair beside Macauley’s, and Adres was also shocked to see Henry sitting in Taleb’s chair.
“Do not ask me what I am doing here, my Lord.” Henry shrugged as he glanced around, appearing intimidated by his surroundings. “Taleb asked me to be here in his place, so I am.”
“It is nice to see a friendly face,” Adres responded. And it was. Henry wasn’t a politician, and neither was Adres.
“Likewise, my Lord.” Henry beamed, his pretty smile brightening the dark room.
Wick stood to speak. He wore his usual black-on-black suit with a midnight-black silk necktie. And though he looked striking and regal as always, Adres could see the hurt and sorrow beneath the fatigue. “It is good to have you both here for this very important meeting.”
Justice eased his hand inside Wick’s as he continued, his voice sounding thick with emotion. “We meet together tonight for a bigger purpose than what this room was originally intended. We have convened to strategize on search and rescue my brothers… not war. Justice and I recently returned from visiting Azriel and Asa in New Orleans and determined that it was imperative to hold an emergency meeting.”
Adres and Macauley locked eyes.
“The covens on the east coast and as far south as Louisiana and Mississippi are in dire straits. There was no exaggeration. Vampires are dying, blood banks are depleted. Crime has run rampant and unchecked for months, and I take full responsibility.” Wick cast his eyes down. “I was so concerned with connecting the species together that I… I…”
“It’s going to be okay, Wick. We’ll get them help. I promise.” Justice consoled his mate in front of everyone.
Adres couldn’t take his eyes off them. He wanted all they had and more.
“The new laws hit our kind harder than the shifters. Vampires are being falsely persecuted for a majority of the crimes plaguing the larger cities,” Ramon chimed in. “I think we need to send in reinforcements to regulate. I propose a united task force of shifters and vampires.”
Wick seemed to weigh that suggestion before he shook his head. “I don’t want to meet my people’s aggression and disappointment in me with force. If I send my officers, it could be misconceived as a threat or a challenge.”
Farica smiled sweetly at the Lord Protector. “It’s a good start, Ramon, but we should leave the law enforcement to the local authorities for now. I believe that if the vampires are not starving, the assumptions will stop flying that the rise in crime is because of them and their desperation.”
“My mate has come up with a great solution,” Macauley blurted with confidence, completely catching Adres off guard. He gaped at his cherished, hoping he could read his thoughts, but he smiled and popped Adres on the hip for him to stand and present. “Go ahead and tell ’em about it, baby.”
What in the— You inconsiderate wolf! Do not call me a baby! Adres didn’t know if his face looked as hot as it felt, but he’d never been so humiliated. Was Macauley ever going to let him save face in front of his pack? He got to his feet as a few of the shifters covered their laughs behind their fists. Hell, even the vampire soldiers appeared to be struggling to keep their faces impassive.
“We are all ears, Lord Adres.” One of Wick’s intelligence officers sat forward with his pen poised over his legal pad.
Adres gave a shallow bow towards Wick before he began to speak. “It is no secret what happened between Macauley and I last week. I drank from him before we were properly mated, and it… His voice caught in his throat at the mere mention of almost killing his own beloved. He wasn’t sure the shame would ever fully subside, but he had to own it. “I drank a little over three liters while I was in my slumber, leaving him near death.”
There were a few gasps and widened glares, but he digressed as Macauley placed his palm in the center of his spine.
“I thank the gods that he survived. But as he recovered, I noticed that I was beyond engorged. To the point I was practically sick.”
Orwin St. Charles reared forward as if he already knew where Adres was going.
“I have not drunk from him since. Nor do I have a craving or hunger.” Not for blood anyway. Adres left that part out. He faced Justice and then his many enforcers lining the wall. “I believe, Justice, that if your shifters—unmated ones in particular—are willing to donate blood to resupply the blood banks, it could be a temporary solution to end the hunger pandemic. When the humans see your wolves coming out in droves to help another species… well, I believe people all over the world will recognize it.”
“And potentially want to get involved again,” Orwin continued, then glanced at Justice. “It sounds like it could be a viable option. Justice, your thoughts.”
Adres sat, glad he didn’t have to go into great detail to present his plan. It was really quite simple. Macauley slid his hand up his thigh beneath the table, and Adres felt his cock twitch in response. He threw up one of his shields to keep anyone from smelling his arousal. What was wrong with his cherished? They were amongst distinguished company, and he was trying to flirt with him. He pushed Macauley’s hand away, but he put it right back, only this time a couple of inches higher.
“Stop that,”he mouthed, but Macauley winked and gave Adres’s inner thigh a firm squeeze.
Ahhh gods. Macauley’s fingertips were grazing his sac, and it took all of his will not to close his eyes and moan.
“I would never force any shifters to donate, but I would certainly encourage it. I don’t know how fast it would take off, but all we’d need is a few volunteers.” Justice was looking in his and Macauley’s direction.
Did he ask a question? Adres could only think about the hot palm branding his leg through his thin pants. Adres could not believe what his young wolf had reduced him to.
“You have three right here, AZ,” Bundy said in his deep voice as Anna and Rich stepped closer to Adres’s chair. “We will be the first in line. And I’m sure we can convince more.”
Justice’s smile was proud, but not more than Macauley’s. A few murmurs and hushed conversations began before one of Justice’s lead enforcers stepped forward. “We would like to volunteer as well.”
The vampires were glancing back and forth between one another as if they could not believe that they were all going to potentially have access to the blood of the Mother’s sacred shifters. No one in their right mind would have ever suggested such a thing. But Adres had to think of his people first. It was in every fiber of his being to protect them. “A human’s blood does not have a fraction of the nutrients and protein that a shifter does. So, a vampire won’t need as much consumption at once or as often. Only zero-point-four liters of a shifter’s blood could feed a cherished family of three for a month.”
The king was smiling broadly for the first time since the assassins had invaded their territory. Justice clasped his pale hand where it rested on top of the table. “I think… I think that this plan may work.”
“I agree.” Farica smiled. “I have a feeling there will be more than a few of us willing to give directly from the source.”
Macauley groaned at his sister. Of course she would go there.
“Word has spread quickly about how good a vampire’s bite can feel to us.” She quirked her arched brow and glanced around the table as if daring any of the men to call her out for indulging on it herself. “If that can be an option, we should consider how we can spread the word on doing it safely. Only a certain amount of blood taken that a quick shift can’t replace.”
“Wow.” Macauley glared at her. “Seriously?”
“What?” she said, blinking as if innocent.
“Okay, one thing at a time.” Justice put his hand up to stop their bickering before it could get started. “Let’s get things mobilized first, because we’re going to need wide distribution.”
“Agreed,” Wick said. “Adres. How do you feel about spearheading this mission? You are the Lord of Arms, but since Bell and I have mates that protect us, your duties can shift to being the lord of our people. It was your idea, and you discovered it in a very costly way. I think you should be in charge of it since this kind of collaboration has never been done before.”
“Which is why it is going to work.” Aleksei spoke for the first time. “The vampires have been hesitant to accept aid from us in the past, but with a horseman here… they will follow his lead without question.”
“I would be honored, your grace,”
“How soon before we can get this moving?” another one of Wick’s officers asked.
“Not long at all,” Orwin supplied. “I will get the administrative team going right away.”
“Farica, I want you and Macauley to handle the compound and get as many on board with donating blood as you can. When Taleb returns later tonight, we’ll get him working on communications.”
“Why? Where are you going?” Macauley asked Justice.
“Alek and I are going to go visit with some of the larger packs to explain what we’re doing. It will show a sign of respect if I go in person. This is something huge we’re suggesting. I won’t ask for something like this in an email.” Justice stood. “Wick and I need to start packing. Alek, you and Bell meet us at the bus lot in the morning.”
“No problem,” Macauley said, then reached for Adres’s hand.
He almost bit it, but instead of embarrassing him, he slid his hand inside Macauley’s and allowed him to lead him out of the room. They walked in the opposite direction through a denser part of the woods. Once Adres was sure they were out of earshot of the others, he rounded on Macauley.
“Must you do that in front of everyone?”
Macauley appeared genuinely confused. “Do what?”
“Treat me as if I’m a baby.” Adres gritted his teeth. “I do not appreciate being forced to use my shields because I’m being fondled beneath a table in front of my comrades, nor do I need to be slapped on my buttocks and told to perform. It is disrespectful, Macauley, not to mention childish. Have we not drawn enough negative attention to ourselves?”
Macauley blinked a few times before he parted his lips and rumbled, “I wasn’t treating you like a baby—that was just a term of endearment. I was treating you like you are mine.”
“I am not yours to have fun with however you choose,” Adres said as the wind began to stir around them. “You will show me respect.”
Macauley returned his glower as he crowded into him until their chests were shoved together. His cherished stood over him, his dark hair whipping around his head, appearing unfazed by the sudden drop in temperature. “You are my true mate. I should be able to touch you no matter who is around. I’m not ashamed, Adres… but maybe you are.”
“You are going too far now.”
A look of disappointment and anger transformed his beloved’s gorgeous features. “If you don’t want my touch, fine… rest assured… I won’t disrespect you anymore.” Macauley turned and walked away, leaving Adres standing there alone in the center of the cyclone.
Adres cursed up a storm under his breath and took off into a sprint. Has he gone mad? The mere thought of Macauley refusing, or even insinuating that he would not touch him again had Adres moving so fast that his energy caught on the wind, his feet flying from under him as he sailed into the air. He flailed a couple of seconds before he soared over the twenty-foot privacy bushes surrounding the perimeter of Macauley’s cabin and hit the earth with a ground-trembling thud near his front door.