Inside the Coven mansion, the atmosphere had already turned lethal.
Voices rose in accusation. The escort's testimony, Selene's report, the timing—everything pointed in one direction.
Kraven.
"You dare?" he snapped, but the outrage in his voice rang hollow. No one lowered their weapons. No one looked uncertain anymore.
The first shot cracked through the hall.
Marble shattered beside his head.
Kraven's composure broke instantly. He spun and ran.
Gunfire erupted behind him—sharp, disciplined bursts. Bullets tore through pillars and ripped into the walls as he sprinted down the corridor, boots slamming against polished stone.
One round grazed his shoulder, spinning him slightly, but he didn't stop.
He burst through the main doors into the courtyard.
More shots followed.
Glass exploded as he dove into his car. A bullet punched through the rear windshield just as he jammed the key and the engine roared alive. Tires screamed as he slammed the accelerator, the vehicle fishtailing before straightening.
The iron gates were barely open.
He didn't slow down.
The car smashed through, metal grinding against stone as he forced his way out and tore into the night streets of Budapest.
Behind him, the gunfire stopped.
No pursuit followed.
The vampires lowered their weapons not because they forgave him—but because something far more critical demanded their attention. Marcus was being awakened. The coven stood on the edge of collapse.
Kraven was no longer the priority.
But he was marked. And soon the hunt will begin for him.
"Fuck—fuck! Those mutts were supposed to kill Amelia!"
Kraven slammed his fist against the steering wheel as the car tore through the empty streets. The impact stung, but it did nothing to ease the fury boiling inside him. Everything had been arranged. The timing. The security. The signal.
And yet she was still alive.
In a single night, his careful game had collapsed. Instead of rising quietly to power, he had become the coven's most wanted traitor. Every vampire in Budapest would be hunting him now.
"And Selene…"
Her name came out through clenched teeth. The woman he had intended to claim as his own had instead turned into the blade at his throat. She had exposed him. Chosen duty over him. Again.
He pressed harder on the accelerator.
Fine.
If the coven wanted war, he would give them one.
He had nothing left to lose now. No allies. No protection. No standing. The only option left was the one he had avoided committing to fully—Lucian.
If he aligned himself with the Lycans and planned an assault on the Coven before the elders consolidated their power—before Marcus fully awakened and restored balance to the coven—they could cripple the leadership in one decisive blow.
Without the elders, the coven would fracture. Loyalties would splinter. Authority would collapse into chaos.
Remove the pillars, and the entire structure would come crashing down.
And in the chaos…
Authority could be reclaimed.
Kraven's breathing steadied as the anger sharpened into calculation.
He wasn't finished.
Not yet.
***
"So today we attack the Coven? Just you and me?" Lucian asked, confusion clear in his voice. They were walking straight toward a stronghold full of vampires, and this guy was speaking as if they were going to a meeting, not a battlefield.
"Yes," Ethan replied calmly. "And we're not going there to massacre every vampire. You already know this war is pointless. Your kind and theirs have been fighting for centuries. No one wins. You just pile up bodies."
Lucian's jaw tightened. "War is all that remains."
"In the present?" Ethan shook his head slightly. "Continuing it now is not smart."
"Why?"
"Humans."
Lucian let out a low scoff. "Humans? They are weak. What can they possibly do to us?"
Ethan's expression didn't change. "You keep focusing on strength. Yes, individually they are weak. But their technology isn't."
"Their surveillance evolves. It won't be long before your existence is exposed properly. And when that happens, they won't fight you like rival species. They'll hunt you."
Lucian didn't interrupt this time.
"A single silver bullet already threatens you," Ethan continued evenly. "Now imagine that multiplied by armies. Drones. Thermal tracking. Military-grade weapons. Humans have numbers and coordination. If they decide you are a threat, they won't stop until you're erased."
The silence between them grew heavier.
"So yes," Ethan added, "it would be wiser to make a truce with the vampires instead of continuing this endless cycle. Balance. Coexistence. Or at least a cold peace."
Lucian's eyes narrowed, still guarded but thoughtful.
"It's just a suggestion," Ethan finished, his tone steady. "If you want Lycans to avoid extinction."
Ethan had only suggested it because he knew what was coming. In the future, it wouldn't be just Lycans versus Vampires anymore. It would be both of them versus humanity. And humanity would not lose.
The moment stretched between him and Lucian—
Then footsteps echoed sharply through the corridor.
"Lucian!"
Both Ethan and Lucian turned at the same time.
Kraven stormed in, face flushed with fury, eyes wild, voice raised far louder than it should have been in a Lycan stronghold.
"You let Amelia walk away alive!" he shouted, almost shrieking the words, anger cracking through his composure. He looked less like a vampire but more like an enraged chihuahua barking at wolves.
Lucian's expression darkened instantly.
Kraven didn't stop. "Do you have any idea what you've done? That was our chance! Our one chance to cripple the Coven and you—"
*****
A/N: The Patreon version is already updated to Chapter 127, so if you'd like to read ahead of the public release schedule, you can join my Patreon
👉 patreon.com/JamesA211