Chapter 2

I looked down at Leon, who was kneeling at my feet, and casually tossed the charred paper onto his face. "Remember how high and mighty you all acted today," I said.

I ignored these pathetic wolves who didn't dare raise their heads. Without another word, I turned around and walked unhurriedly into the Bloodmoon Woods, the forbidden darkness at the edge of the territory.

Deep inside the Bloodmoon Woods, the vampires who had been sleeping for centuries were already kneeling together in the mud, waiting for their Ancient One to return to her throne.

The edge of the Bloodmoon Woods was always covered in a toxic mist that never lifted.

Even the strongest warriors in the pack would feel their chests tighten and struggle to breathe when they reached this point, not daring to go any further.

But when I stepped into that mist, it felt like I was coming home.

The gray fog, which could burn through a werewolf's fur, recoiled as if it were alive the moment it touched my skin. It all pulled away in fear, opening a straight path for me that led deep into the woods.

The dry branches and dead leaves snapped under my feet with every step. As I moved deeper, the icy power inside me grew stronger and more solid.

I could even hear my own blood rushing through my veins, like a wild river roaring in the darkness.

A faint rustling sound came from the thick black branches above my head.

I stopped walking but didn't look up. Instead, I stared coldly ahead.

"I thought you were some abandoned werewolf," a refined but dangerously seductive male voice said from the treetops. "But who would have guessed you'd smell so... delicious?"

Then seven or eight figures dressed in long black robes dropped silently around me like bats, their faces deathly pale.

They were vampires, the mortal enemies of the werewolves, hated for generations.

The man leading them had dazzling silver hair and crimson eyes that gleamed with hunger. He was the ruler of the outer woods, a vampire duke named Victor Murphy.

"What a delicious scent of blood," Victor said as he took a deep breath, his eyes locked on my left hand where dark golden blood was still dripping.

A cruel smile curled his lips. "Little wolf, did your pack throw you out? Don't worry. I'll make you my dinner, and you won't feel a thing."

He bared his gleaming white fangs, his body flickering into a blur as his sharp claws shot straight for my throat.

He was way too slow.

From where I stood, his much hyped speed was laughable, like a toddler who had just learned to walk.

Not bothering to dodge, I stood there and slowly lifted my eyes, pure red like Rubies, locking onto Victor as he lunged through the air.

Without any physical contact, Victor was sent flying backward as if he had crashed headfirst into an invisible mountain.

He let out a piercing scream, his body shooting back ten times faster than he had come.

In no time, he smashed into an ancient tree so thick that three grown men couldn't wrap their arms around it. The trunk groaned and split open with cracks spreading across it in an instant.

"Your Grace!" The vampires around Victor were stunned, their fangs flashing as they got ready to lunge at me.

"Kneel," I spoke coldly.

There was no magic behind it, only an order that came from the very depths of my soul, one that overrode every vampire law and left them with no choice but to obey.

The vampires who had been about to attack me froze in midair, and then dropped to the ground one after another with dull, helpless thuds.

All the strength drained from their bodies as their knees slammed into the frozen earth.

They didn't just kneel. They sprawled almost flat against the ground, trembling violently while their throats let out ragged, desperate gasps like dying animals.

Victor struggled to get up from beneath the tree roots, his once arrogant face now twisted with pure terror and disbelief.

He stared at my blood red eyes, and then glanced at the few drops of dark golden blood in my palm. Without warning, he lunged at me like a rabid dog.

But he wasn't trying to attack me.

He slid to his knees at my feet, not daring to look up at my face. Instead, he gathered the hem of my dress and pressed his cold lips reverently to the tip of my shoe.

"This aura... this unstoppable bloodline power," Victor muttered, his voice shaking with excitement as bloody tears streamed from his eyes. "A thousand years, and you're finally free from those filthy wolves.

"Victor Murphy, Duke of the Tenebris Coven, bows before you. Welcome back to your throne, Ancient Queen," he shouted as he pressed his forehead into the dirt, throwing every ounce of strength into his voice.

The vampires kneeling around us went rigid at the words "Ancient Queen," their terror stealing their breath as they pressed their faces even deeper into the ground.

I looked down at Victor with cold indifference. The wound on my palm from breaking the pact had already healed, leaving behind not a faint scar.

"Get up," I said, my tone lazy but carrying a command that couldn't be refused.

Victor got to his feet trembling, his back still bent as he barely dared to breathe.

"Lead the way," I said, my eyes fixed on the shadowy outline of the ancient castle ruins deep in the woods. "Take me to my castle, the one that has been abandoned for a thousand years.

"And while we're at it, tell me how the wolves have been taking over our territory for the past decade."

"As you command, my Queen," he replied.

Victor led the way, ever respectful.

The night breeze tugged at my hair as I cast one last look back toward the pack territory.

Leon and his pack had a debt to pay. So did the whole woods. And I would collect every last bit of it, with interest.