Prince Darrius

Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Oak Meadow is a wide oval surrounded by a forest, with a lone oak tree in the centre. I’m wearing a dark blue dress that comes down to my knees and to me it looks the same shade as the night sky. Out here in the meadow the stars were easily visible. Out in the distance, I see the werewolves in human form. There are only four of them.

“Are you scared?” Darrius whispers to me, his arm still around my waist. I shake my head, no. I was tense for a completely different reason. I wasn’t scared of the werewolves, not really. I was more worried about how Darrius would react when I did what I had started to plan in my head. 

Maximus runs forward with vampire speed to greet the werewolves while Darrius and myself, with Claudia and Johnathan in tow, walk at a normal pace. When we finally reach the werewolves I notice they are dressed like any normal human. Three males and one female face us, three of them grinning at something Maximus has just said. The leader, the one with a light stubble and long wavy brown hair steps forward with his hand outstretched past Maximus towards Darrius.

“Prince Darrius,” The werewolf growls out, and Darrius refuses the man’s hand and just smirks back wickedly. Darrius being Darrius, aka a prick, was not going to help this situation. It was time to put into motion what I had planned. 

“Christian,” Maximus says towards the leader of the vampires, trying to lighten the mood, “This is Jennifer,” Maximus motions to me, held closely by Darrius. I tense a little more and then inhale a big breath. I quickly walk forward out of Darrius’ hold and reach out my hand towards the werewolf.

“Hello,” I say, it comes out a bit quiet because I am nervous so I force on a smile, “I’m Jennifer, are you a leader of the werewolves?” I ask. Christian reaches out to shake my hand. I hear Darrius hiss behind me and Maximus gives me a wink as Christian grabs my hand and shakes it firmly. 

“Yes I am one of the leaders, Jennifer. It’s nice to know I can shake your hand without being killed,” Christian smiles, “So you are the girl that defies supernatural creatures?” I nod, liking Christian already. He seemed non-threatening and easy to be around. 

“She sure is,” Claudia says happily and I quickly look over my shoulder and my eyes widen a tad as I see that her and John were both very close to Darrius. Claudia has a hand behind Darrius’ back, on his belt while John has an inconspicuous brotherly hand on Darrius’ shoulder. You wouldn’t know it just looking at them, but I knew they were holding him back from coming to get me. He would probably start some massive fight with the werewolves. Especially in his bad mood. Darrius has a deadly scowl on his face as he glares at me. I can’t help it, I take the opportunity to smile cheekily back. When his scowl deepens I look back towards the werewolves.

“You wanted to meet me,” I say, more confidently now, “Is that all you wanted to do?” Christian shakes his head, looking down at me. Christian was tall and bulky, a big werewolf, towering over everyone here, including Maximus. Maximus tenses beside me, his hand close to his belt where his knife is as Christian crosses his arms over his massive chest.

“You claim to be the human from the prophecy, but you have to prove it to us,” Christian explains, eyeing me sceptically. I raise an eyebrow.

“Oh?” I ask. Christian motions to the werewolves behind him. A woman and a man grab hold of the third man and pull him forward, making him kneel before me. He’s got scratches along his cheeks and neck. His clothes are dirty. 

“What do you want her to do?” Maximus asks for me, suddenly sounding not so welcoming. Instead, there is an edge to his voice. An edge of danger.

“This werewolf,” Christian growls out, “Is a betrayer to our kind, he was giving information to the witches about us, and the punishment for betrayal is death.”