Fin's fangs grew as he leaned down towards her neck.
He broke her skin and the venom started.
Right when his teeth were fully into her, venom in full force, a black wolf shot through the crowd.
The wolf slammed into him.
Fin reacted at alpha speed, in time to release her neck.
"Are you out of your goddamn mind?" he snarled, throwing the wolf off of him. "That could have broken her neck!"
The wolf growled and moved to her in a blur, sinking his fangs into her neck. Marking her right on top of Fin's mark.
"What the hell is happening right now?" Aeron breathed. He'd just witnessed Fin sink his fangs into her. There was no uncertainty. Fin had marked her.
Everyone else was thinking the same thing, staring in horror.
Still biting on her neck, the wolf began to shift back into Dex. But he stopped before he was fully there, about ninety percent, which was very difficult to do.
Aegon, his wolf, was in control. His eyes stayed molten gold.
He continued to hold his fangs on her.
A true what-the-fuck moment that lasted a full minute.
Finally, he released her neck and shot a glare at Fin, who returned it with equal dislike.
No one spoke or breathed.
Dexmon looked at Agnes.
"She did something to Dexmon," Aegon spoke through Dex's human form. His voice sounded different.
To normal wolves and mages, this would seem odd. Only the most powerful wolf spirits could command in human form.
But no one even blinked or looked around. Fin and Aeron both didn't know what was more strange: that, or the fact his wolf had just marked her over Fin's mark.
"Dex, please don't say such things! Fight for control. You know I would never do such a thing!" Agnes started to sob.
It was convincing. If someone walked into the room at that moment without any context, their heart would have cracked at the sight of her.
But no one flinched or spared her a second glance.
"Arrest her and keep her away," Aegon commanded through Dexmon. "Every time he starts to question, she has him drink something. He pushed the last one away and she stuck him with a syringe."
"We are about to be attacked. I need Dexmon to command his army," King Tiberon replied, looking at Aegon, then glancing at Alaric. "Or we need Serena conscious and ready. One of them is necessary."
Alaric responded immediately, already knowing where this was headed.
"How much time do we have?"
"One hour," King Tiberon answered.
"That should be enough time with venom in her system. We will wake her and she'll be ready," Alaric replied, jaw flexed.
Dexmon's confusion, to the degree he didn't know Serena's name, would be nothing short of a liability. His erratic behavior all day had not gone unnoticed either.
Even half dead, Serena was in a better position than Dexmon.
Finric moved to her side. He wanted to say absolutely not. She needed to rest.
But this was a bizarre situation.
He gathered she was someone important even without Dexmon, based on the number of powerful people so protective over her. And the fact she would command an army in his stead.
Wait.
His train of thought took a sharp turn.
The whole situation sounded absurd, actually.
Queen Bellatrix said one day?
She was sent to a war summit one day into being crowned.
She was chained in silver for a year? It would've had to have been recent for it to still affect her.
Why was she chained in silver? Certainly not here. Did they find her?
Why was she commanding an army?
No, that math wasn't working. There was no way she was commanding an army. Surely not, right?
Aeron's voice broke him out of his thoughts.
Aeron:Garrett said they got separated six years ago. She's eighteen now. Did they start training her when she was twelve to command an army? Subtract the year of silver. Five years?
Fin:Based on the fact she was crowned yesterday and at a war summit today nothing is surprising me anymore.
Aeron:She is Hyran's golden trophy protege. There's no way he would allow this.
Fin glanced up at Hyran, whose expression said everything. Furious but unable to do anything about it. He glanced at Alaric, who wore the same look. Both men clearly losing an internal battle between duty and ethics.
Aeron: Never mind. What is wrong with this pack?
Fin's mind raced, heart pounding. He might not have the jurisdiction to say no, but he was not leaving her side. Someone needed to protect her because clearly no one else was able to.
Fin:Nothing is going to happen to her on my watch. I'm not leaving her tonight.
Aegon spoke again through Dexmon.
"Dexmon is the Dragon King Incarnate and fit to command. His soul will take over as it did earlier today."
King Tiberon stared at him, weighing the best course of action.
He was a father and he loved his son. But he was also a king and lives were at stake. This wasn't about his son's pride.
And the reality was that Dexmon wasn't himself today. Not at all.
Agnes was not a member of their pack. She was a security risk, and Dexmon was aware of that.
Yet King Tiberon had to mindlink him to remove her before every meeting.
Even without her, Dexmon was dazed. Not himself.
Not answering right away when spoken to.
Velkaris was also restless, misbehaving, and clearly upset at Dex.
It was clear Agnes had used dark magic or something mind altering. That was a risk he could not take.
As far as the two of them went, Serena was the wiser move.
Tiberon spoke after a few seconds.
"He is compromised, while she is not. I'm sorry, Dex," he said. Genuinely, he was sorry.
Dexmon swallowed. "He will understand."
"She's stabilizing," Alaric called, ignoring the soap opera unfolding in front of them. "Who marked her?"
"I did," both Dexmon and Fin answered.