"Very well," Victor said. "Is everyone else in agreement?" He looked around the table at the other vampires. They all nodded their agreement. One of the older female vampires leaned forward. "Kyra, if for some reason you get cold feet about this plan and cannot go through with it, we will proceed with or without you. The consequences if you defect will be severe. Keep that in mind."
"Do not threaten her," Victor said. "We are all much too civilized for that."
The female vampire sat back, pursing her lips, but she did not challenge Victor’s decree.
Civilized wasn't the word that Kyra would use to describe them. But it was true that she had never seen them be particularly violent unless they were draining a human. Even then they made it quick and painless. Certainly, none of them had ever raised a hand to her. But this plan had been years in the making, so if she screwed it up, maybe they would be relentless in their punishment.
Kyra spent the night at the coven for the first time in months. She did not sleep. All night the thoughts plagued her.
She thought she’d left her second-guessing behind, but it dogged her dreams. What if they were doing the wrong thing? Even taking Derek out of the equation, she wasn't sure this was right for the vampires or the shifters.
She finally gave up on sleep and sat up, trying to think of some kind of solution.
What if they asked for volunteers? There might be some who were interested. Some who would want to become a vampire. But then would they be welcome in their own pack? She doubted it. and how many shifters would willingly give up their pack? Hardly any.
Her parents certainly hadn't wanted to. In the end their loyalty would be with the pack even if they were cast out. Would they switch their loyalty to the vampires? How was that going to work?
That was the question she should have been asking all along. But her need for blind revenge had taken over the rational part of her brain. She couldn't believe they'd gotten years into a plan that had so many holes in it.
“How would you ever make a wolf shifter loyal to a vampire?” she’d asked at dinner, unable to hold the question in any longer.
“It worked with you well enough,” Ian had spat back at her.
But the coven had not been the cause of her heartbreak. They had just been bystanders.
Had they been the one to cause it, the revenge would be directed toward them. If Eliza was removed from her parents and turned into a hybrid, she would remain faithful to her mother and father until the end of her life. No amount of money or power would change that.
Were the vampires planning to brainwash the hybrids? Wolf shifters were difficult to brainwash. And vampires even more so. A combination of the two seemed like it would be nearly impossible. Who among them would be able to pull off such a feat?
And if that was what was happening, Kyra no longer wanted to be involved. She hopped up from bed and paced her room. She tried to be quiet because she knew the vampires would hear her. They slept in a light doze, but their hearing remained activated twenty-four hours a day. Just as she expected, at 5:00 a.m. Victor knocked on her door. "Is something wrong? Is there a problem with the pack?" he asked.
"There are some problems with this plan. I've never bothered to ask questions and that's my fault. But I need some answers." She spoke as boldly as she dared.
Victor's eyes narrowed. "You are second-guessing our plans at this late hour? Or are you loyal to the pack?"
"You know very well that I am loyal to you. I would never be loyal to that fucking shifter pack."
He spread his hands apart. “Do not curse at me, girl. Remember, I have walked this earth for hundreds of years. You are but a tiny speck. We can offer the shifters immortal life."
“But what if they don't want it? What then? Do you have a plan?"
"Yes. We have contracted with a coven of witches who will supply us with a potion to ensure their compliance in the early days. Eventually, they will come to see that our way of life is superior. Our bonds come not from blood, which means nothing. But from devotion to each other. Our devotion comes from commitment, intentional commitment, which is far more powerful than a strip of genetic code."
Not for a wolf shifter it's not.
Victor had been a human male before he was turned. Several of the other ancient vampires had been witches and wizards. None of them had been shifters. Bloodlines might be a false loyalty. But he had no idea of the kind of instincts that drove a wolf to feel that primal instinct.
She growled deep in her throat.
Victor merely raised one eyebrow. “Do not curse at me, and do not growl at me. Our plan stands; there will be no changes. If you don't like it, you can spend some time in the dungeon."
"I just want some clarification. I've been so blind with revenge that I didn't understand the specifics."
"Ask whatever you like. But you may not get the answers that you desire. If that's the case, then you will simply have to adjust."
“Fine,” she said. “Here are my questions.”