Chapter 133: Chapter 133

Ayleen senses the tension in the room and dears her throat.

“Ahem."

“Welcome to our pack, Victor!" Azraiel breaks the silence and extends a hand, “And thank you so much for coming here at such short notice!"

“Thank you!" Victor shakes Azraiel's hand and smiles, "Anything for Ayleen.”

“Please, have a seat."

Victor and Ayleen sit down on the chairs and Azraiel does the same.

“Ayleen told me everything." he briefly looks at Ayleen, “If you want to manage a

bunch of newly turned Vampires, there are a couple of things you need." He says.

“We have decided to send the ones likely to turn into vampires, weredragons and sirens to the Queen's palace." Azraiel explains.

Victor nods, “I See. That can work but you’ll need more people to control the newly turned ones.”

"I am aware," Azraiel says. "Will you be able to get some more vampires to help?"

“Yeah, my family and the people we sired will definitely help!" he pauses." But, there's something we'd like in return.”

Ayleen turns to Victor, shock painted on her face. She definitely wasn't expecting that. Azraiel however, saw it coming from a mile away. Hell, if he were in Victor's place, he'd want something in return too.

"I am listening," Azraiel says with a straight face.

“After the shift, you'll have all kinds of supernaturals around you. Once they shift my people and I will help for a few days to make sure that they don't go off the rails. But once they are capable of making sound decisions, we will ask them if they would like to join my clan.”

The silence in the office is thick.

Ayleen gulps uncomfortably.

Azraiel doesn't say anything.

"And if they say yes, I want you to let them come with me." Victor finishes his sentence.

Azraiel’s jaw hardens and he grits his teeth.

"They are my mate's pack members. I can't make that decision on her behalf." Azraiel says

with a voice devoid of emotions.

“Fair enough, then ask her.” Victor says with a gleam in his eyes.

Ayleen has never wanted to escape from a situation this bad.

“As soon as she hears the footsteps, she silently rushes to the door. When both the men look at her, she explains, “Charlotte is here.”

She opens the door and there she is.

Charlotte smiles at Ayleen and enters the office.

“You must be Victor." She smiles brightly at him. “Thank you so much for helping us."

For a moment, Victor just stares at her with his mouth slightly open. He quickly catches himself and gulps.

“Uh..um... no problem. Happy to help." He awkwardly says but continues to stare at her until a low growl comes out of Azraiel’s throat.

He quickly averts his eyes.

Charlotte places herself on the corner chair.

“After the shift, Victor here wants to ask the vampires if they’d like to join his clan.” Azraiel says to Charlotte while looking at Victor.

Charlotte frowns but looks at Victor, “You can. I’d never force them to join me, but if they refuse, you can’t start a war against us.”

Victor silently contemplates and then finally answers. “I understand.”

“But do you, really?” Charlotte asks, arching her eyebrows a little.

Victor looks at her confused.

“Look, I don’t mind you asking my pack members to join your clan. But you need to understand that you are helping me without any guarantee of any kind of benefit. You didn’t sire them, so they have no loyalty to you. They will go with you only if they wish. If they refuse to join your clan, you get nothing out of helping me. You can’t start a war against us, especially since after the shift we’ll have more than enough supernaturals on our side. So if you are in any way hesitant about this, I’d rather you not help us.”

No one speaks a word for a while.

Victor sighs.

“I understand. To be honest, I am just here to help Ayleen.” He looks at her.

“But vampires are decreasing day by day. Our clan once had more than 500 vampires, but now, we barely have 100 that stay together. Most of the vampires live in remote towns and villages surrounded by forests where there are fewer vampires. It makes us vulnerable to other species. So, if even one of your members agrees to come with us, I’m fine with it.” He shrugs.

Ayleen finally feels like she can breathe. He has been a good friend all along and she would hate to lose him because of this.

“Great then. Tell me what do you need to help the newly turned vampires?”

“Blood...human blood, a lot of it. They will have cravings and if that thirst isn’t quenched they’ll try to leave the forest in order to hunt for blood. Next, I’ll need vervain, strong chains and lapis lazuli crystal.”

“The crystal…for the sun thing?”

Victor nods. “Vampires are sensitive to the sun. They’ll need to wear the crystal on them in order to bear the sunlight. Young vampires are really emotional and irrational, so it’d be better to secure the premises with magic to prevent them from leaving and destroying others.”

Charlotte nods. “WE can arrange that, right?” She asks Azraiel hopefully.

“We have already arranged for blood and chains. We do have a huge stock of crystals so, lapis lazuli won’t be a problem, vervain though…” Azraiel frowns.

“I can ask my family to bring vervain…” Victor offers the solution.

“That’d be great. Thanks again.” Charlotte smiles.

Victor smiles back at her and it takes all of Azraiel’s restraint to not rip this vampire to shreds.

“We should leave for the Queen’s palace if you want to examine the place beforehand.” Ayleen breaks the silence and Azraiel feels grateful for his little sister in that moment.

“Yeah…let’s go.”

“Take Alana with you. She’ll cover the palace with magic to prevent them from escaping.” Azraiel says to his sister.

She nods.

Ayleen and Victor leave the office and Azraiel sighs loudly.

Charlotte looks at her amusedly. “You hate it, don’t you?”

“Of course, I hate it.” He snorts.

“Relax, okay?” She says as she walks over to him and gently places her palm on his cheek.

“It’ll be okay.” She says with conviction.

“I know, it’ll be okay!” He smiles back.