Outside the territory line belonging to the Young Coven, Orlando, Alejandro, Zach, and their clans gathered about thirteen feet away from the woods. Olivia, Alejandro's wife, casually held the toddler, who clung to her shoulders. Wet tears rolled down her cheeks in stark fear as the toddler desperately needed solace. But Olivia offered her none. Her expression remained serious and detached, as though treating the little one in her arms as nothing more than a parcel that needed to be delivered.
Snowflakes lightly drifted throughout the sky, graciously floating down onto the blanket of snow already crystallizing over the grassy field. Whistles shrilled from the incoming breeze as Tyler, Uri, his brother, Kate, Uri's wife, and their clans materialized out of the howling wind.
"Mommy!" the vampiress fussed, locking her eyes with Kate, her mother.
Over herself, Kate heeded to no danger as she displayed her fangs and unleashed her claws to fight. Before she blindly stepped forward and vigorously charged to attack them for kidnapping her baby, Tyler and Uri swiftly blocked her path with their arms, growling a warning growl.
Torn apart, Kate's heart was ripped into pieces by witnessing the sight of her baby whimpering harder. All she wanted was to hold her baby again, but her husband and brother-in-law stood unflexible like solid steel, refusing to let her risk her immortality.
"Give us our daughter!" Uri demanded, growling like a ferocious and unyielding Beast. His roar echoed beyond the surrounding forest, sending a few ravens fleeing from the bare branches behind them from above.
"Relax, you'll get her back shortly," Alejandro chuckled darkly, veering his gaze to the small, whimpering toddler cradled in his wife's arms beside him.
As Uri clenched his fists, a hot sweat flushed his face reddish as he growled. "You dare provoke war by kidnapping her! Release our daughter now, or you'll regret it!" he spat, lacing his voice with a menacing promise of perilous consequences.
"If that were the case, why would we bother coming with the toddler?" Orlando countered slyly, curling an uncanny grin on his lips. "Don't twist your panties into knots. We said we're returning her."
"Kidnapping is an act of war!" Tyler snarled as fury raged from his voice.
Decrees authorized by the Vampire Covenant and sanctioned by every Superior Headmaster explicitly stated that kidnapping a vampire or vampiress from another Coven was an act of war. Everyone knew this law, but those who stemmed from Superior Headmasters, like them, knew it better than anybody else. Why the Mills dared to defy it now, on the eve of the Blue Moon by summer's peak, left them all questioning their motives.
"In most cases, yes, but this time, we simply wanted your undivided attention," Alejandro divulged their calculated intent to the testy group before them.
"Release my daughter, then maybe we'll talk!" Uri's voice spat, brimming with aggression as his chest visibly heaved with barely containable outrage while he stood tall and mighty to strike.
With a nod, Orlando signaled to his sister-in-law to release the toddler. Olivia gestured back, flashing a flirtatious smile toward Tyler, her ex-lover, as she purposely taunted him with the reminder that she was no longer his. No doubt, Olivia had played the strings of his heart far too well.
Eons ago, the pair had dated until Olivia discovered that Alejandro was her destined mate. Naturally, she broke Tyler's heart the day she left him for Alejandro, his sworn enemy, which deepened his heartache.
Unlike Tyler's Coven, Olivia's Coven had never been enemies with the Mills. The Mills and Olivia's royal family had been good friends during the second war, especially since they both despised the Collins. Being mates with Morbius's grandson, Alejandro Mill, benefited her Coven far more than pairing with Tyler's would have.
All feelings aside, Tyler gritted his fangs, watching her eyes sparkle as she batted her beautiful eyelashes, profoundly alluring him with her bewitching charm. But he wasn't swayed. Regardless of what she realized, Tyler had a brilliant plan laid out to capture Olivia after they defeated the Mills, especially Alejandro. Only then would he capture the conniving vampiress he truly loved, to have her forever as his.
Once the small vampiress's pink boots touched the snow, she cried out, toddling through the crunchy layers, "Mommy!"
Tyler and Uri stepped aside to let Kate pass them. She hurried through the snow, immediately scooping up her baby and hugging her tightly, then carried her back to safety. Uri checked their daughter over, finding no unhealed injuries or any indication that the Mills had drained her blood. Surprisingly, she was completely unscathed. Maybe startled, but otherwise, unharmed. After inspecting her, he kissed her head gently before having Kate stand behind them.
"You have five minutes to explain yourselves!" Uri snapped, keeping his voice sharp with aggression and his eyes flashing with hostility to attack.
For the moment, the Mills and Harris clans chuckled briefly before revealing their crafty motives.
Orlando's voice deepened with a menacing tone. "You should have anticipated this. How many times have you attempted to kill Victoria?"
"I've lost count!" Tyler retorted, clearly irritated with their taunting games.
"Consider yourself done counting. Your recent attack was your final one," Zach Harris snarled meanly beside Olivia.
In a fierce tone, Tyler demanded as he took the threat seriously, "Or what?"
Orlando offered, altering his tone to a more negotiable stance, "You'll face the consequences, like the Collins, or we can come to an agreement."
Curiosity piqued in Uri's mind, combined with a low growl, "What kind of agreement?"
Ready to further spike their interest, Orlando laid down his offer, "I know you're after the females from the Collin Coven. If you cease your attempts on Victoria's life, I'll grant you whoever you desire. And as an added incentive, I'll include Kai's unborn daughter."
Dead silence stifled the air, making the wind feel even more lifeless as Tyler and Uri cogitated on Orlando's offer, both envisioning the devastating toll it would cause on their allies if Victoria were to be transformed into a vampiress under the Mills' control. But they knew they couldn't trust the Mills.
"You liar!" Tyler snarled, and his voice edged with disbelief. "How could you possibly know Kai is having a daughter?"
"I have my ways," Orlando chuckled, unveiling nothing more than a cryptic response.
He would never admit that Troy Collin was sending him every detail on the Collins and any whereabouts or information he desired involving Victoria.
"Keep your secrets!" Tyler's voice deepened with undeniable irritation, sharpening his ire.
"You can't seriously expect us to betray our allies," Uri added, growing just as tense.
"If you refuse our generous offer, your Coven will suffer," Alejandro threatened as his words smelter with malice.
Orlando's grin widened sinisterly. "I'm sure our uncle would love to own your mother. And I'm not picky—I'll take your brothers' wives for myself and their daughters for my sons."
Tension thickened the atmosphere as a low collective growl rumbled from Tyler, Uri, and their clans as they glared intensely at their enemies.
Tyler caved, growling in a dangerously firm resolve, "Give me Kai's daughter and every vampiress from his Coven and it's a deal!"
The shocking audacity of Tyler's settlement left everyone momentarily speechless. Before Uri could decline it, Orlando tore out a fiendish chuckle. "Deal," he agreed with an unsettling remark. "You can claim her the moment she's born."
"You'd take a newborn from her mother right after birth?" Tyler smirked, astonished by Orlando's callousness, in which they shared similar cruelty toward their female minions.
"Why not?" Orlando replied with insensitive amusement. "Victoria will learn obedience the hard way. Might I suggest sterilizing Kai's daughter, though? You wouldn't want his bloodline to continue. That's my only suggestion."
"I had no plans for her to have offspring," Tyler confirmed, delivering an icy finality through his undertone.
A simple herb would permanently sterilize a vampiress from ever being able to bear offspring. None of them wanted Kai's bloodline to continue after his detainment, and even Tyler couldn't argue against that. With the terms officially settled, the identical twins, Zach, Olivia, and their clans vanished into the sky.
"Are we really betraying our allies?" Uri asked once they were alone.
"No. Zaid needs to eliminate their allies," Tyler replied, fixing his narrow gaze beyond the forest.
Betraying their allies was too risky. Zaid had significant plans with the Rebellion, and no one could risk keeping the Seventh Prophecy alive. Bringing down the Mills' allies was a more strategic option.
Near tears, Kate responded, "You need to be careful with them. You're playing with fire. We're lucky they didn't hurt our daughter."
She kissed her baby's head as Uri gently stroked their daughter's hair.
"We won't make that mistake again," he vowed, sealing his promise with a kiss on his wife's lips to reassure her.
Altogether, everyone disappeared into the breeze, leaving only their footprints behind in the snow.