The Last Spirit Wolf (Elena Norwood)

-Noah-

One

night.

One night I have been away from Vera, and I've already thought about chasing after her and bringing her back to bed with me more than I care to admit.

These past few months I have been so preoccupied with the Council and running this kingdom that I barely saw her; I thought it would make being apart from her easier. But even then, I still came to bed to her, felt her presence, and smelled her all around me as I fell asleep and woke up. "Your Majesty? Are you okay?"

I look up, William is standing over me, concerned.

"Yeah," I simply reply, turning my gaze back down.

"Have you even been listening to what this Council has exposed?" Council Member Ambrose asks

me.

"Not really, but I don't have to," I tell them, bored.

There is a silence.

"Please tell me where I may have lost you and I'll happily recount the exposition," Council Member Charles tells me.

"That won't be necessary," I say, looking at him, "it's always the same thing."

"Pardon me?" Charles says.

"You tell me how important the Houses are to the crown, to me; how the rogue invasions are decimating their territory, how therefore, the crown* is losing farmland and assets, and of course, soldiers, and how the ones that are the most affected are the common folk of this kingdom. To avoid an incomplete reading experience, visit Jobn'i'b.com. All of this to ask me to send warriors to deal with the rogue invasion. Correct?"

"I - uhm - " Charles clears his throat, "we haven't gotten there yet, but, something like that."

"And what do I get in return for this protection? Money was it? Because they have made it clear that I will not get their loyalty unless I marry one of their daughters." "Co Correct," Charles says after hesitating for a second.

"So, these Families are offering me money in exchange for protection; but, here's the thing. I don't need money."

There's another silence. They're all seem surprised and I don't even know why.

Ambrose opens his mouth to speak, but closes it again, not finding the words.

"What? The rats took your tongues, Council?" I stand up, putting my arms out, "look around you. I don't have any *lavish* inclinations like all the Kings and Queens before me. I don't need luxury. In fact, I don't want it. I have cut down the crown's budget, and the Castle's, to fit our current circumstances and capital intake, and you know what? We even have money left over. So please, enlighten me, what would I use "their" money for?"

No one says a word and I take my time to look at every one of them to make my point.Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

"Now, you can all come in here and pretend that protecting the *Families" assets is protecting the Crown, but we all know that's bullshit. Protecting the Families puts *my* warriors at risk; not to mention the continuous protection of this Castle. So let me be clear, I will *not* put my warriors on the line for money. For loyalty? Maybe. Money? Absolutely ridiculous."

I head towards the door, leaving them speechless.

As I pass Charles, I put a heavy hand on his shoulder, startling him.

"So, am I close?" I ask him.

He doesn't reply, but he nervously nods.

As I'm about to exit the meeting room, I hear someone stand up.

Ambrose is about to say something, but I speak before he does.

"Make them take a knee, Ambrose, otherwise, don't come to me with this bullshit again," I tell him, exiting through the door.

The meetings with the Council have proceeded as usual. Even if my claim to the throne has been challenged, they still acknowledge that the people of this kingdom and, more importantly, within this Castle, are loyal to me - or rather, loyal to my family. Meaning if they don't have a substantial claim to remove me from the throne, we have to continue operating as usual.

Now, my show back at the meeting was not just because I was bored, though I was.

Typically, when I challenge the Council like that, they go back for a day or two, regroup, and then call for another Council meeting. Right now, this works in my favor because I need to step away from the Castle for a day or two and I definitely don't want them to know why.

"Ready. Your Highness?" Eli asks, mocking me, as always.

I meet Eli, Ethan, Mason, and Caleb at the back of the Castle. I had to go into one of Elden's tunnels to go undetected so the Council and their little spies wouldn't know what I'm up to. "Ready," I tell him, greeting all the guys as usual.

"So, when we get to the village, we have already arranged for meetings with the town's folk. Just remember, they're apprehensive of lycans in general, more so in power, you have to be patient," Caleb says.

I nod, and we all shift, starting our journey.

One of the most important parts of the plan to get rid of the Council is to have the support of the people; and I don't mean the Houses.

At the end of the day, the common folk, farmers, maids, herders, and hunters are the ones that drive the economy of the Kingdom, whether it's the Castle or the Houses. Meaning, if I have their support and offer them a home and land in return, the Houses will be left with no workers, and it won't matter at all if I have their loyalty or not. So now, we are going to the most influential villages near the area to reassure them that if they don't want to work for the Houses anymore, they will be received in the Castle with open arms. When we have been running about two hours, Caleb stops, opening his palm to us, meaning it's time for us to shift.

Humans are far weaker than us and, for generations, lycans have been abusing this disadvantage. Still, many of the people in this village have rarely, if ever, seen a lycan in lycan form, so we don't want our first appearance to be as the beasts they're so apprehensive of.

"Okay," Caleb says, "we are close, we should be able to make it there in the next fifteen minutes. It's best if we walk now so we don't scare them."

Again, we all nod and shift back to our human forms.

In under fifteen minutes, we are at the village and meeting all the people.

"My boy!" Someone yells behind us.

We all turn and a woman, probably in her forties, comes rushing towards us and embraces Ethan.

We all stare at the scene, baffled.

Ethan hugs her back and behind her, a man comes towards him and quickly pats his back.

"Noah, this is Ivy and Tom, Charlotte's parents."

At the mention of my name, Ivy looks flustered.

"Oh my, I didn't think His Highness was coming!"

She quickly smooths her skirt with her hands and clumsily courtesies. Tom beside her bows his head.

As much as I appreciate the gesture, it's quite awkward, so I step forward grabbing her hands with him.

"Please, there's no need for that. Six months ago, I was just like your "boy" here," I say, glancing at Ethan who narrows his eyes at me, understanding my mockery, "so just call me Noah."

Ivy blushes slightly and Tom clears his throat.

"Noah, I believe you are expected at the meeting hall," Tom says.

I let go of Ivy's hand and nod at Tom.

"Well, then I suppose we better not keep them waiting." I tell them, following Tom towards a building at the center of the village.

Hopefully, if this goes smoothly, we can be done with this and move on to the next village today.