Chapter One

Ireland May 6, 2008

 

 

Lord Acton must have been speaking of Jared when he said, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Ivan weighed the scene inside the three-story entrance hall at GlenFeaten, Jared’s newly erected summer castle. That was exactly what was happening now that Jared had virtually no one left to question his actions. By no coincidence, early last year two of the four remaining Council Elders — the two opposing Jared’s truce with the Rebel Wolves — abruptly lost their lives in what appeared to be a vampire attack. But Ivan knew for a fact that vampires were not the villains in this case.

“I didn’t summon you here to quibble with you, Ivan. I’ve brought you here to tell you that you are not doing your job.”

Quibble? Who the hell uses words like “quibble” anymore?  Ivan suppressed his humor. Always best to forgo laughter when in the presence of the reigning Wolf King — at least this reigning Wolf King — especially when said king stood in a room full of one’s enemies. “And what job is that, Jared?”

“You agreed to serve as emissary between me and my subjects and you are failing miserably. They are no more fond of me now than when I took this throne.”

Not my fault, Ivan thought. You’ve saddled me with an impossible task.

Ivan had been second in command under Viktor’s rule. Now he was placated, kept busy doing useless tasks that no one, including he, took seriously. Fortunately, Ivan and his associates had their own agenda. “Actually, Jared. Most of the wolves I’ve spoken to say they support you fully.” He looked from Jared’s broad, scarred face to those flanking him. Some were familiar, some not. All had once been what the old pack had called “Rebels,” followers of Darius, Viktor’s archenemy. One face caught his immediate attention, that of Marcel Rochard, once Darius’ second in command. Unseen hackles rose at the base of Ivan’s neck.

           “That’s not good enough. I don’t want most. I want all!” Jared paused to glare at Ivan, as if his displeasure should cause Ivan distress. Ivan had fought along side Jared as a human soldier, and later as a werewolf. He knew the only courage Jared possessed stemmed from the fact that he was surrounded by bodyguards.

Ivan tried to appear nonchalant as he took a more serious inventory of those in the room. Marcel Rochard was not a wolf to be trifled with — if this was a game Jared was playing, he was in way over his head. The threat was more serious than Ivan had originally thought. But there was no mystery as to why Jared had bribed the allegiance of the Rebels. Over the years, Jared’s jealousy of Viktor had festered into hatred, and who better to ally with than those who hated Viktor even more so than he?

“Then tell me why, with each Gathering, the attendance dwindles. This past year less than half of my supposed loyal subjects bothered to show up.”

Ivan shrugged. “Many were busy….”

Jared closed his eyes, struggling to contain his temper. “Walk with me.” He gestured toward a corridor leading to the dining hall. As Ivan started down it, he glanced at the artwork adorning the walls, and noted that many of the pieces had once been Viktor’s, works he had bequeathed upon his death to museums. How had Jared acquired them? And why did Jared’s estate, with each passing renovation, come more and more to resemble Viktor’s Béreska Vara?  Ivan’s mate, Colette, had a name for the affliction plaguing their new king — a case of palace envy.

Jared put an arm around Ivan’s neck and dragged him closer, a cocky gesture he never would have attempted if it weren’t for the presence of the two bodyguards following them. “I’m feeling patronized, tolerated, but not fully accepted as king by the other wolves — especially your friends. Tell me why that is.” His eyes shifted to Ivan as if he really expected him to answer such a ridiculous question.

Ivan jerked free and straightened his collar. “Perhaps it’s because they have not yet recovered from Viktor’s death —”

“Viktor!” Jared threw up his hands and rolled his eyes. “Now there’s a surprise! Why is it I can’t go a day without hearing that bloody name? What do I have to do to crawl out from under the ghost of the sainted Viktor?”

Ivan clenched his jaw, but didn’t answer for fear of saying something he would quickly regret.

“The whole damned werewolf community is under the impression that Viktor walked on water. The truth is, he was just a werewolf like the rest of us. He killed like the rest of us.”

“Only the wicked.”

“He raped women like the rest of us….”

“Only before he could help himself.”

Jared eyes flashed with something that bordered on madness. He pointed a finger in Ivan’s face, and said, “See. That’s a perfect example of what I mean.” He straightened up, struggling to keep his composure. “Enlighten me. What was it about Viktor that made everyone drop to their knees with such unwavering devotion? Tell me, please, because for all the years I knew him — and it was just as many as you, my friend. For all the years I knew him, I just… couldn’t… see it!”

Ivan was acutely aware of the thugs behind him, but couldn’t help speaking his mind. “Maybe it’s because Viktor earned our allegiance, and never attempted to buy or force it.” He took a step toward Jared and felt the bodyguards close in. “Maybe it was because Viktor never ruled for sake of his ego, but for us! He didn’t expect us to serve him. His entire life was given in service to us!” A large hand grabbed Ivan’s shoulder from behind. He growled and the hand pulled away.

Jared’s face was set in a cold smile. He waved the thugs back. “Now that’s the kind of rallying I’m looking for. That’s what you should be doing for me.”

Ivan gritted his teeth to keep from laughing in Jared’s face.

“You will change their minds, Ivan. You will sway them in my direction. You will do this or else!”

“That sounded like a threat, Jared. You forget that the only reason you hold this throne is because I conceded it to you.”

Jared’s eyes caught his in a test of wills. “Why do you never call me Majesty or Sire, as you called Viktor?”

“Because you are not my sire,” Ivan said through clenched teeth.

Jared continued to stare him down, and Ivan knew he should be prudent. He should lower his eyes and mock submission, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. Abruptly Jared hissed, “I know that you conceded the throne to me, and so does every other werewolf in my realm. Which is why it has to be you to champion me. They follow your example. Now set a proper one!”

Jared turned on his heels and strode toward the dining hall, leaving Ivan to follow. “And I will tell you who you will start with, my old friend…”

Ivan groaned to himself, dreading the inevitable change in subject.

“I’ve waited long enough.” A wry smile played on Jared’s twisted mouth. “But I must admit the waiting for her has sharpened my appetite for the White Wolf.”

Ivan made a face.

“When I make her my queen, perhaps we should make a festival of it. It’s been so long in coming, it should be celebrated. Don’t you think?”

Ivan didn’t reply.

He turned around, the smile fading from his face. “I am counting on you to bring her to me. It’s time.”

Ivan rolled his eyes.

Jared paused. He narrowed his eyes and let out a long hissing breath. “Don’t you dare oppose me on this, Ivan.  Viktor’s queen belongs to me now. It’s my right.”

“How do you figure that?” Ivan blurted before he could curb himself. “Since when are mates property to be passed on to a wolf’s successor?”

“You forget we have an arrangement. I gave her until her children are grown.” Jared descended the steps into the dining hall. “It’s been twenty-five years.  I believe they’ve done all the growing they’re going to do.”

Ivan opened is mouth to speak.

“And the boy…” Jared cut him off. He barely acknowledged the beautiful woman standing in front of the long dining table as he settled into the throne—like chair she pulled out for him.

Ivan recognized the redhead immediately.  Elsa had been a fixture at Béreska Vara, Viktor’s mistress before he met Isabelle. Ivan never did understand what Viktor saw in her. She must have been a good lay. Otherwise, she was the worst kind of bitch, ambitious, conniving, self-serving. And she got worse after Viktor spurned her and took Isabelle for his mate. She’d wasted no time in securing her position with the new king, and no guessing why Jared wanted her — because she had once been Viktor’s.

“I know you’re not stupid, Ivan.  You must realize by now that all this placating is just a show,” Jared continued.  “I’ve patronized her well, but the truth is…” he turned to Ivan and said quietly, “it’s not wise of me to let that abomination of a son live.”

“Tell me this is your bad idea of a joke,” Ivan drew out.

“Look at it from my point of view.”  Jared sat back and let Elsa tuck a napkin into the collar of his shirt. “Being the new king, I’ve had quite a struggle on my hands.  It’s been difficult, these last two decades, for me to earn the allegiance of those who, for the past two millennia, have been loyal to Viktor. Viktor’s son poses an obstacle. He is the heir apparent. He looks like Viktor, he sounds like Viktor, and he acts like Viktor. Who do you think they would rather follow, if given the choice?”

“You’ve forgotten one very important fact, Jared.  Unlike his father, he’s human.”

Ivan watched Elsa rip the leg off a raw goose and hand it to her master.  She glanced up and caught Ivan glaring at her.  He mouthed the word, “Whore.”

Elsa smirked and displayed her middle finger.

“I want the truth, Ivan.  Has he ever shown any signs whatsoever?”

“None.”

“Impossible.”  Jared bit into the greasy meat and tore off a portion.  He grunted and pointed to a chair. “I understand he has never been sick.”

Ivan sat down.  “Yes, but Hector Diaz says that’s hardly surprising considering he and his sister were gestated in a supernatural womb. Of course he would inherit some of his mother’s immunities, but I assure you, he’s human. Cuts, broken bones, they heal no quicker than any other human’s injuries.”

Jared went on eating as if he hadn’t heard Ivan’s words.

“I realize it defies the laws of supernature, but it’s true.  So why kill him, a human who poses no threat to you?”

Jared looked at him, unimpressed. “That is your argument — to convince me he deserves to live because he is human? What do I care for humans? They are merely the cattle on which we feed.”

Ivan stared at him a moment. “That sounds like Rebel philosophy.”

Jared paused, considering Ivan’s words, but he made no apologies.

“If you kill Elijah, you risk alienating Isabelle completely. You know nothing means more to her than her children.”

Jared shook the drumstick at Ivan. “Exactly. Nothing means more to Isabelle than her children, which is why she’d be wise to do as I command.”

Ivan caught Jared’s eye. “Don’t play that card with her, Jared, not with Isabelle. You remember–” Ivan stopped.

Jared’s eyebrows went up. “Remember what?”

Ivan didn’t answer.

“Speak!  Please! I’m riveted!”

Ivan gaze shifted to the two bodyguards as he said to Jared, “I’m not willing to say in present company.”

           “Why?” Jared looked behind him. “Who is here? None but your brothers.”

           “They are not my brothers. They may be of the same blood, but they are only enemies to me, and I don’t trust them.”

           “You don’t trust them? Do you trust the vampires? I’m interested to know, because you were all for allying with them.”

           Ivan straightened in his chair. He would sooner trust the vampires, but he knew better than to say so. “I was about to remind you what happened to Darius all those years ago, when he tried to bond with Isabelle against her will…. She’s now using his skull as a doorstop.”

           Jared sat back in his chair. “That was different. Darius was not her king, and she was pregnant. Darius tried to abort her young.”

“Yes. My point is, even in the throes of labor she was able to kill him — a werewolf every bit as strong as you and I.”

Jared paused, his gaze shifting from Ivan’s.  “Fine. Isabelle’s brat may live, for now. But you will have Hector Diaz do another series of tests.  I want blood and tissues samples from him; I want them taken to the world’s top research facilities; I want them run through the most advanced computers.”

Ivan kept his steadfast glare. “As you wish, majesty.”

“I want his blood analyzed, his genes mapped and sequenced.  I refuse to believe that Viktor and Isabelle could produce a human child.”

“Children,” Ivan corrected him.

Jared looked at him, displeased by the correction.

“You’re forgetting his twin sister.”

Jared waved it away.  “Women are of little consequence to me — save one.”  He set down his food and turned his full attention to Ivan.  “Which brings us back to our business.  I’m out of patience.  I’ve lived up to my end of the bargain.  Her children are grown.  Now it’s time for her to live up to hers.”

Ivan glanced at the door. Marcel Rochard had entered the room. Without taking his glare from Rochard, he announced, “I discussed that very subject with her, just before I came here.”

“Splendid. I’m glad you’re finally taking this seriously. And what did she say?”

“She said she has no intention of honoring an arrangement made by the two of us, in which she was never consulted.”

Jared launched from his chair and slammed his palms down on the table.  “She can’t refuse me!”  He ripped the napkin from his collar.  “She forgets she is no longer queen — not until I return her to that station.”

The talisman slipped from the opening in Jared’s shirt and dangled, swinging like a pendulum before Ivan.  He watched it.  It was so close.  It would be so easy to simply reach out and rip it from Jared’s neck.  But as tempting as it was, such an impulse would have catastrophic consequences.  Jared’s bodyguards would be on him in an instant, and though Ivan could overpower Jared, he couldn’t combat five more of undetermined strength.  Suppose he died trying? There would be no one to protect Colette, Isabelle, and Viktor’s children.  And no one to accomplish what he intended to accomplish with that talisman.

           Challenging the crown was no longer an option for Ivan.  Abolishing that right had been Jared’s first order of business after taking the throne.  Actually, it had been a wise maneuver on Jared’s part.  Though Viktor had had no equal in strength, for Jared, there were some out there stronger than he.

Ivan sighed.  He would have to wait.  The opportunity would come.

Jared stroked his chin and reined in his temper.  “Have you told her that she has no choice?”

“I’ve told her.”

“And she still has the audacity to refuse.”

“She said she would rather die.”

Jared glared at him a moment.  “That was my original plan.”

Ivan looked away.

“You realize if she doesn’t become my bloodmate, she will have to die.  I’m getting that blood one way or the other.”

Ivan knew he should just let it go, but his mouth seemed to have a mind of its own.  “She said she will never come to you. If you want her as mate, you’ll have to take her by force.”

“She said that, did she?”

“Well, I cleaned up the language a bit.”

Jared grinned wickedly. “Take her by force. That might be fun.”

Ivan smirked. “She was issuing a challenge, Jared, not an invitation.”

Jared’s humor faded. “You will go get her and bring her to me.”

“How? She’s stronger than I am.”

“I don’t care how you do it! Just get her here!”

“Jared, face it. You will never force Isabelle to become your mate.”

Jared pounded his fist on the table.  “The hell I won’t!  I am her king!  She will do what I tell her to do!”

           “Kings don’t do that,” Ivan said calmly. “Kings, true kings, don’t force their subjects to go against their will. Viktor would never —”

Jared put his face up to Ivan’s and growled, “Don’t you ever compare me to Viktor again!  I am not Viktor!”

“I’m thinking only of your popularity, Jared. You were worried about —”

“The hell you are.  You were Viktor’s second, his best friend, but you’re not mine!  Don’t you think I see how you patronize me?”

Ivan knew he should let this drop, but something inside him couldn’t resist provoking Jared.  “Forgive me, but you’re reading more into this than there is,” he said calmly.  “I’m merely suggesting that if you employ Viktor’s policies —”

“Viktor is dead!” Jared shouted, the veins in his neck bulging.

“I know that.”

“Then try to remember it!”  Jared backed off and dropped back into his chair.  “All that remains of him now is the blood his bitch carries around in her veins — blood that is rightfully mine!”

Ivan paused, but inside he was saying, “How do you figure that?  How, in hell, do you suppose that?”

“She owes me that blood.  It’s not right that a lowly she-wolf should have such power!” Jared shook a finger at Ivan.  “You will change her mind, Ivan. You will convince her to come to me willingly, and that’s an order.”

Ivan didn’t reply.

  “Have you forgotten how to take orders, Ivan?”

“No, majesty.”

Jared leaned on one elbow, his black eyes drilling into Ivan.  “Persuade her, Ivan—or I will.”

“She will not come. No matter what you threaten her with. She’s mate only to Viktor until her days are through, and there’s nothing you can do to change that.”

“You think so?” Jared rose to his feet and met Ivan eye to eye. “I think I know of a perfect way to make that insolent bitch submit.”