The Half-Blood Mate

Chapter Forty-Four

He had to send the one person I didn't want to see again as an escort. 

"Salutations, Alphas and Half-blood Hybrid. So good you all arrived safely." The perky tone and amusing gleam in his eyes had me wanting to knock him out. He was one of the causes of us being here in the first place. 

"Well, Edward, there's your watchman and my stalker." 

I saw Edward looking at me from the corner of my eye as we approached the waving nuisance. He clicked his tongue, which was a habit that usually annoyed me, and with a hint of  laughter, said, "Him? That's him?" 

We landed near the forest. Thetford Forest was always a tourist spot. We used the cover of night to hide us, and had landed the plane on a landing clearing owned by the emperor. It had been built to lower the plane beneath an underground area, so that helped keep prying people oblivious. Our pilot was given orders to burst through if things went south. 

The entrance had been created to look like a small hill that opened and closed manually. Thanks to advanced technology and money harvested over decades, werewolves as a whole were more preilvage than most. If I live long enough, my family's generations will benefit from whatever income I manage to bring in after adding it to the Knights family inheritance. As we stopped within reach of the king's pet, he closed one eye while keeping a smile on his face. 

"Welcome to Thetford Forest. Or as those among my kind like to call it 'Wyrd Jungle'. Please allow me to formally introduce myself." The Wolfhound fixed his gaze on me. "I am Julius Aeolus Wissler, the 8388th night beast under Emperor Conrí. I shall be your escort to the presence of His Majesty."

Great. So it looks like I'll be dealing with him after all. 

"He won't be seeing us tonight I'm guessing." Romulus was to my right, but he took a step forward. 

As the oldest, he was closer in rank to the king. He's dealt with him more so than Edward, despite Edward holding the Knight Alpha title. 

"Unfortunately, no." Julius shifted his gaze to Romulus and locked his hands behind his back. "But rooming and meals will be provided."

"Sounds about right. He never liked to talk business during night hours." Romulus sounded a little annoyed by this. 

"Last meal before we die, huh," Amelia said, causing us all to look at her. "Oh sorry just thinking out loud. Ignore me."

I had told her to remain a few steps behind us. I didn't want risking her being snatch away easily. Besides I wanted to keep as much focus from her as I could. Sure I thought about her being attacked from behind, but I had confidence that her natural instincts would pick up on sneak attacks. Besides, had I known he would send this guy to greet us, I wouldn't have been so guarded.

I was the first to look back, only to find that annoying smirk on the Wolfhound's face bigger than before. A low growl rose from my chest, which he promptly ignored.

Julius clapped his hands once and spinned on his feet. "Let's get going now." 

We followed Julius into the forest. I did move back to walk beside Amelia. He haven't made an attempt to take her, so it was pretty much safe to say that the emperor didn't want us dead on the spot. Holding a trial was the fair way to go. The emperor was supposed to be viewed as someone of fairness. The trial allows him to say we were judged equally while maintaining his image. It was politics at it's lowest level. 

"Sooo we're walking into some hidden city or village right?" Amelia asked me after we have been walking for a while now.

I glanced at her and grabbed her hand to hold. "You can say that. The emperor lives in this forest and it is hidden, but not in the way you think."