Once they reached the warehouse that Zaid's Royal family owned, Tyler noticed they were the only ones who had arrived.
"Where is everyone?" He looked sharply at his friend. "You wanna tell me what's going on?" Tyler asked more sternly, feeling irritated that Zaid was wasting his time when he had a gorgeous vampiress in his bed back at home. He'd much rather be relaxing with her than pointlessly standing around with Zaid.
"Relax, they've arrived," Zaid hushed him, glancing toward the entryway.
Soon, their friend, Alpha Skylar, a Wing species vampire from the Clark Coven, swung the door open and entered. Behind Skylar entered Zaid's brother-in-law, Bryce Winter, who once possessed the gift of having poisonous claws until Kai removed his heart during the recent war against the Allegiance.
Along with them were many of their closest Alpha allies from the Slithers and Wings species, who were all involved with the Rebellion side, came strutting in next. To everyone's bewilderment, Alpha Andrew and Etta, his crazy sister from the Lopez Coven, and Alpha Dustin, also joined the group of mostly Slither and Wing Alphas.
Spread out from one another, everybody formed an uneven circle, and gathered around, all facing Zaid, Skylar, Bryce, and Tyler.
For a brief moment, they waited before Sheila, the vampiress with the long, flowy twilight-black hair, also recognized as the Shapeshifter vampiress who could shift into a black wolf, entered with her friend Eleanor, a Predatory vampiress. They were the last ones to join the meeting.
"Most of you know why I gathered you all here," Zaid began the meeting, addressing the invited group he had assembled.
Among their allies, a Wing Alpha answered, "Indeed, we need to discuss the next targeted planets for attack."
"Does anyone care to explain why you invited them before we discuss battle plans?" questioned a Slither Alpha, who gestured his hand towards Andrew, Etta, and Dustin.
Strident in his hostile tone, another Wing complained, "My thoughts exactly! Dustin was on the Allegiance side! He shouldn't be here! He'll ruin everything we've achieved with the Rebellion! He'll compromise our main goals!"
Most of them had last checked the fact that neither of these two Alphas was part of the Rebellion side. Nor were they anyone's allies.
"Easy, my friends!" Skylar shouted over the clamorous, unhappy bunch.
Meanwhile, Andrew, Etta, and Dustin waited patiently for the malcontent crowd to hush the absurd ruckus. They each had good reasons for joining them today.
Silence gradually settled among them before Zaid continued next. "What you say might be true. However, the enemies of our enemies can become our new allies! None of us has been allies or enemies with their Covens. In fact, we all share an equal hatred for the Collins and the Mills! Above all, everyone here wants Victoria dead!" he attempted to placate them with his persuasive speech.
Another Alpha protested, pointing accusatorily at them across from him, "How can we trust them, especially Dustin?"
"I'm a Dark species!" Dustin interjected with a sly grin curling his lips. "I bounce wherever it benefits me and my Coven the most. For a simple price, I'll gladly switch sides." Whispers faintly circulated among the allies, as Etta rolled her eyes at their indirect comments. Just when she assumed females were the masters of gossiping, she discovered that the males were far more defiant, and perhaps more complicated.
"Stop this nonsense! You're all behaving like a bunch of human girls!" Princess Etta hissed between Dustin and Andrew.
Growls reverberated from the offended Alphas, many of whom had mates. Some Alphas weren't entirely surprised by her boldness. Nightshifter vampiresses were known for their bossy attitudes and feisty personalities.
Deep in the privacy of their minds, many mateless Alphas admiringly mused over the audacity of this breathtaking Royal Nightshifter vampiress. Lust coruscated like a shimmering light through the red pupils of several mateless Slither and Wing Alphas, as they found Princess Etta quite attractive. Quite frankly, they admired the valor and strength that Shadows, Darks, Shapeshifters, Nightshifters, Predatory, Chameleons, Hunters, and Beast-horned vampiresses possessed to keep up with them if they could. These were qualities that all their female species and the Light vampiresses lacked in battles.
Annoyed by all the ogling eyeballs undressing Princess Etta, Sheila rolled her eyes. "Get on with the terms of what you pathetic vampires want!" she hissed at the Alphas, now earning herself a look of admiration from them, which she ignored.
Tyler nodded in agreement and shifted his gaze back to Dustin. "What's your price?" he curtly asked, closely scrutinizing him.
"Give me one of Kai's offspring, and I'll help with whatever schemes you have in using this Rebellion. During the wars, I'll only target my enemies on either side. But if Victoria ends up a vampiress, consider my Coven and me out," Dustin continued, negotiating his final terms.
Bryce nodded in approval, "We can agree to those terms."
"Wait!" Andrew roared, feeling discontent. "If we're settling terms, I want Kai's offspring and Victoria's head on a silver platter!"
"You both may claim any infant vampires Kai might have. Any vampiresses from Kai's entire Coven belong to me, including his daughters," Tyler declared earnestly, seeing no reason to stop anyone from having what they might desire.
Sheila suddenly snorted, doing her best not to giggle as she covered her mouth and nose with her palm for a second. "What's wrong, Tyler? Are you already bored with your collection of courtesans?" she asked after regaining her composure.
"Certainly not! Kai has some of the best vampiresses in his Coven, and I want them all," Tyler mockingly grinned at Sheila, watching her face turn red with fury.
He very well knew that little Miss Hardcore still harbored some feelings for him after all these years. What they had shared was merely a power play in his eyes, though.
"If we get rid of Victoria, they'll all be yours. We'll join your war with the Collin Coven after she is dead," Skylar promised, sneering at the thought of extinguishing Victoria.
"Am I to understand that it's a free game for anyone to kill Victoria?" Andrew asked, harboring his own plans within his mind.
Already ahead of them, Andrew's Coven had declared war on the Collins before the Blue Moon. Apart from the fact that it's considered a risky move for their granted humans, it's a risk his grandfather, Headmaster Matt is willing to take.
"Yes, since Victoria is the one we all want dead. Whoever can successfully achieve it, shall receive the top picks of females from the Rebellion attacks we're spreading throughout the dimensional worlds," Bryce announced, speaking out this time.
"I couldn't care less about that," Andrew declared with his heart forever tied to his deceased human mate.
Right after Kai killed her, Andrew sought only to seek revenge on him. After all, Kai had destroyed any chance he had to start a family with his mate. Alas, he was beyond determined to rob Kai of everything he treasured and watch him grapple with despair.
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(Thank you for the powerstone, Shilpa_Bhoskar! You've been with me since the first novel. I'm so honored to still have you as my reader all this time!)