The weight of the crown wasn't one I ever asked for, but it was mine all the same.
From the moment my father passed the throne into my hands, I'd carried it with every breath, every choice, every scar.
Tonight, the moonlight poured through the high windows of the council chamber, casting silver against the polished stone floor. I sat at the long table alone, the voices of my advisors long since faded, and yet I couldn't silence the restless beating in my chest.
Something gnawed at me, a sensation I couldn't name. It wasn't danger exactly… more like a pull. A whisper. As though somewhere, beyond the palace walls, someone had called to me without words.
My wolf stirred uneasily, pacing inside me.
I pressed my hands against the wooden table, willing the strange tension to leave me. But it clung to me like shadow.
The heavy doors slammed open, breaking me from my thoughts. Guards rushed inside, their scent sharp with urgency. Behind them, a group of villagers stumbled in, men and women with dirt-streaked faces, clothes torn from travel, desperation burning in their eyes.
"My King!" one of them cried, falling to his knees. "Please, you must hear us."
I rose immediately, my chair scraping back against the stone. "What has happened?"
They pressed forward, their voices tumbling over one another in a frantic storm.
"The vampires!" a woman gasped, clutching her child to her chest. "They've returned!"
Another man's voice cracked with anger. "They slaughtered our livestock, drained them and left their carcasses to rot in the fields."
"They poisoned the river that runs through our farms," another added. "The fish float belly-up, the crops wither where we've watered them."
One of the elders, trembling, spoke last. "They came at night, burning our storehouses, taking our young ones… We thought the peace had held. But it was only silence before the storm."
My jaw clenched, fury igniting inside me. For years, there had been no movement, no bloodshed. We had believed, perhaps foolishly that the war was done, that the vampires had crawled back into their shadows, content to leave us be.
But this… this was not coincidence.
"They're testing us," I growled, my voice echoing against the high walls. "After all these years of quiet, they move again. This is not random destruction. They want to send a message."
The villagers looked at me with pleading eyes, searching for the reassurance only their Alpha could give. I straightened, letting the weight of my power settle into my words.
"You will not suffer alone. I will not allow it. Return to your homes. Protect what you can. My warriors and I will come, and we will end this before it grows. You have my word."
Relief flickered across their faces, but I could still feel their fear, heavy and thick in the air.
When the villagers were escorted out, I turned to find my younger brother Elias leaning casually against the doorway. His golden hair was tousled, his expression sharp with that mix of mischief and loyalty he'd carried since childhood.
"You're planning war," he said, not as a question.
I narrowed my eyes. "I plan to protect our people."
"And you're going to do it without me?" He pushed off the doorway, walking toward me. "You can't stop me from going, Damien. Not this time. I won't sit idly by while you shoulder it alone."
"This isn't a hunt, Elias. It's war."
"Then all the more reason you'll need me."
His voice was steel now, his usual playful edge gone. "I've trained beside your men. I've fought in the border patrols. Don't treat me like a boy when I've already bled for this kingdom."
I held his gaze, and for a long moment, I saw not my younger brother but the man he'd become. Stubborn. Brave. Loyal.
Finally, I exhaled, a reluctant smile tugging at the corner of my mouth. "You've always been impossible to stop."
"Exactly," Elias smirked. "So don't waste your breath trying."
We left the palace at dawn, our horses cutting across the misty fields. The scent of ash and blood grew heavier as we neared the village. By the time we crested the final hill, the devastation stretched out before us like a nightmare.
Fields of corn lay blackened, their stalks bent and lifeless. Barns stood as charred skeletons, their roofs collapsed. The stench of decay rolled from the river, where dead fish floated in clumps, their silvery scales dull under the morning sun.
And worse, the silence. Too heavy, too hollow, as though the land itself had been drained.
I swung down from my horse, my boots sinking into the damp earth. Rage coiled tighter in my chest with every step.
"This is no random raid," I muttered to Elias as we walked through the wreckage. "They want us to starve, to weaken, to fear them before they strike again."
Elias knelt beside the remains of a sheep, its body pale, its throat ripped open. He touched the wound, frowning. "Clean. Precise. They fed here. Not just for destruction, but for hunger."
I nodded grimly. "Which means they're desperate. Or preparing for something bigger."
He stood, his eyes darkening. "So we prepare too."
I looked out over the ruined village, the despair etched in the faces of those who survived. I thought of the children hiding behind their mothers, the farmers staring hopelessly at their withered fields. And in my chest, that strange pull returned stronger now, like a thread tugging me toward something, someone.
But there was no time to dwell on it.
I lifted my head, my voice carrying across the broken land. "We ride back at once. Gather the warriors, every one of them. The vampires have broken the silence, now they will face the storm they've awakened."
Elias grinned fiercely beside me, already reaching for his sword. "Finally. Some real action."
But even as I spoke of war, a shadow lingered in the back of my mind. That tug, that whisper, stronger now than ever.
And deep down, I couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't just about the vampires.
Something else was stirring. Something or someone that would change everything.