Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 158: No other choice

"Finders keepers," the grin on Cynric never dimmed, "Or have you never heard of such a thing?"

By then Silas had straightened his stance, knowing full well the wolf people wouldn’t have a go at him unless instructed otherwise.

"The time isn’t for jokes," the vampire uttered as calmly as possible.

"Well, you clearly don’t know what my sense of humour is like. Did you like the gift I left for you?"

"A bit too gauche for my taste,"

Silas believed Cynric was, null doubt, referencing the gruesome state he left the kidnappers in.

"Right, you always were under the impression you had a finer taste," Cynric looked the vampire up and down.

"It was never a mere impression,"

"How dare you?" although feminine, the new voice that had addressed Silas was guttural.

It was her intervention that finally caused the smirk on Cynric to die down, "Keep your mouth shut, Ayyura," he glanced her way from the side only, never fully turning to face her.

Ayyura hadn’t been among the wolf folk guarding the territory, she’d just arrived, carrying the familiar scent of Arabella’s blood with her.

One whiff of it was enough to shatter the serenity painting Silas’s features, "Where is she?" he took a step towards the she-wolf.

Consequently, the already tense atmosphere thickened further, prompting everyone around him to lean forward, pressing their feet harder against the ground, ready to leap at his throat on command.

"We have nothing of yours here, silver warrior and if you’ve come seeking a battle then you seem to have forgotten your sword," Cynric on the other hand, hasn’t moved a muscle, "If you ask me, it gave you no more advantage than you already had against humans, but you’re not up against humans today. You’ll need it," he scoffed, "As for the girl... Come now, you know better than to demand I give back what I never stole. She ventured onto my territory one her own two feet,"

"Did she, now?" Silas eyebrow twitched, reflecting his skepticism.

"Well, not exactly, but the fact remains, she is here now, and she stays,"

"She doesn’t belong," Silas persisted.

"Neither did she belong with you. Besides, once she’s marked, she’ll fit in just fine,"

At those words, Silas saw red as his patience wore thin, "Have it your way then. If a fight is what you seek then you shall have it," he clenched his fists until his knuckles turned completely white.

"Yes, I have always wanted to fight you in a one on one and the other thing I wanted was to find my next mate. I never imagined that acquiring one would yield the other," Cynric crossed his arms over his chest, looking amused.

Silas began to unclasp the tiny lock that held his vest wrapped around him, while never allowing Cynric out of his sight, but the latter spoke again.

"Not here and most certainly not under the sun,"

"Well, I most certainly," Silas pressed on those words, "Won’t leave her at your mercy until nightfall," fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

"I wasn’t asking for you input, vampire," Cynric practically growled, "Should you attack now, then I won’t be fighting you alone and we both know there’ll be a fat chance of you overpowering all of us at once," the Alpha finally let his arms down, the muscles in his upper body contracting further, "I want a one on one under the moonlight when we’re both at our peak. I won’t have it any other way," he made sure to enunciate every syllable that came out of his mouth.

Looking at his odds, Silas conceded to the fact that there was, indeed, a "fat" chance of him winning a fight against all of them in Cynric’s presence.

When that thought sank in, his heart wanted to follow along in that direction, just at the idea that Arabella was stuck there for the next hours to come, but the time wasn’t for lamenting yet.

"Should you win, you take her back fair and square, but if you lose... Well, you better not show your face around here again. Do you agree to these terms?"

And what choice did Silas have there? Refusing meant dying, not to mention Arabella would be condemned to serve the rest of her life as that brutish oaf’s mate.

"Agreed," he grunted.

"Run along then and prepare. You will need it, and I hope you’ve quit that silly habit of yours," Cynric chuckled, "You know," he half asked, "I speak of your imbecilic obstination to feed from one blood bag alone. You still do that, don’t you? But that’s why you want her back so bad, isn’t it? She is your sole blood provider," He grinned, "I never understood that," the wolfman shook his head very slowly.

"Don’t try to understand it. It’ll break your simple mind,"

The grunting and growling came from the wolf folk surrounding him, most definitely offended Silas took a jab at their Alpha.

Not that his behavior surprised even him as petty slight was never Silas’ style, but all was fair game in that moment.

In his eyes, Cynric had crossed the line, taking advantage of a dire situation he knew was beyond their means had broken something in the vampire.

Arabella hadn’t ventured onto his territory. The truth couldn’t be further from those claims and yet he persisted with that insanity regardless.

"What has got your tongue now?" Cynric taunted, "Don’t be stupid and feed before the duel. If her blood is that special to you then you’ll want all the odds you can put on your side. I’d hate for it to end as soon as it begins,"

"That might still happen. Just not in the way you imagine,"

Ayyura was the one to lose her temper upon hearing those words. She launched forward towards Silas without asking her rest.

However, and right as the enraged wolf woman had been about to run past Cynric, he snapped around, gripped her by the throat before raising her body only to slam her back against the ground and locking her still.

"Did I or did I not order you to stay put?" he hissed those words through gritted teeth, inches away from her face, "If I have to remind you what your place is, you best believe I will! I waited centuries for this day to come and I won’t let anyone ruin it, no matter the cost, even if it means ripping the throat of one of my own, got it?"

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