There was an uproar of noise from the four Oclan princes. Angry words and threats were thrown out every other second it seemed. Russel felt his own anger start to rise. The show of force he delivered to Roland should have shut them up but now that he was on the verge of actually accepting the deal from the envoy, they couldn't hold their tongues anymore. He looked at Hank, his face a stony mask.

“Everyone, leave the room,” Russel shouted. There was hesitation at first and glances between the people present. “Now!”

The roar bellowed throughout the room, silencing everyone. Then a flurry of movement started. People bustled about as they moved toward the door. Behind him, his brothers just glared at him and didn’t move.

Which was fine. It wasn’t them he wanted to leave anyway and he would’ve stopped them if they tried. Lola, however, did make a move toward the door. It was a hesitant one, not sure if he had been talking to her as well.

“You should stay too,” Russel said. Then he turned to the envoy. “If you would depart as well. I need to discuss things with my brothers before we give you a final answer. In private.”

Hank didn’t bow or show any outward signs of respect toward Russel at all but he did give him a slight nod of agreement. The man clearly had some prejudices towards werewolves, or maybe all supernatural creatures. It was in the way he looked at Russel and any other werewolf. It irritated the hell out of him but in that moment, he had to just swallow his pride and deal with it.

“I think that will be a great idea,” Hank said. He turned toward his people. “Give the dogs the room.”

“Bartholomew,” Russel said.

The Oclan servant seemed to pop up out of nowhere the minute his name was called. Lola wasn’t even sure where he’d come from but the way he responded so quickly was impressive, she had to admit.

“Yes, Your Majesty? What help do you require?” he asked.

“See our guests to a sitting room where they can wait. And bring them refreshments. I’m sure they’ve had a difficult trek and could use it. And take the body of Piotre with you. Have it prepared for funeral rites.”

Bartholomew bowed and then turned to Hank and his entourage of knights. As they left, Russel caught sight of Sir Thomas. The man’s eyes focused intently on him for several long, awkward minutes before he disappeared from the room.

“Don’t take too long deliberating,” Hank called out from the far end of the room near the door. “I’ve got the patience of a gnat and do not like to be kept waiting.”

Russel didn’t respond but did focus on the humans as they left. They confidently had their backs turned to him, not worried in the slightest that he could have them attacked, imprisoned, or killed. It was frustrating to become king only to have his power threatened almost immediately and not by his brothers (although there was some of that going around too) but a group of humans. The problem with that was the way it made his already tenuous position even more fragile. Humans were regarded as the weakest of all species save for animals. More often than not, they were seen as nothing more than glorified, talking monkeys. Easy to hunt, kill, and completely wipe out, it was honestly a miracle they had held onto Alcroft for as long as they did. Well, now that Russel caught a glimpse of some of their machines, it became even easier to understand.

Werewolves were strong and had an abundance of natural gifts that made them even deadlier. This is great for survival but not so much for progression. Relying on those natural gifts so heavily in the course of their evolution had stunted their capacity for innovation. For mental growth. The same could be said of the vampire nation, the sasquatches of the various forest countries, wendigos, and almost every other monster in the world. The humans, however, could only do so much. They can strengthen their bodies. Become stronger. Build up muscle. But at the end of the day, they were still human. Even at their base strength, a werewolf was much stronger than a normal person. Or at least, that had been the case until Russel witnessed their innovation and creativity up close. The gun they had invented was devastating. The poisoned bullets even more so. He wasn’t as confident that Oclan would prevail against such a threat.

Before the door to the throne room shut all the way, Zeo and Enok came rushing in and gently carried out the body of Piotre. Russel kept his face neutral but inside, he still felt huge amounts of guilt and shame over the wolf’s death. It was under his command, after all, that sent him into enemy lands.

It took another minute or more before the two servants managed to vacate the room with the body. Once they did, the door finally shut and it was just King Russel, Lola, and his four brothers. As soon as the door thudded to a close, his brothers all reacted and in typical fashion, it was through a lot of yelling, shouting, and threats of violence.

“How the hell could you do that?” Roland started off the conversation. “Bowing down, turning coward, right in front of the humans is suicide. You might as well cut your own throat.”

Russel walked over to his siblings, Lola following after him. She was immediately uncomfortable with the situation. It was always awkward being around a group of people when an argument would break out. She would have asked to go back to her room and wait things out but honestly, she was incredibly curious how the conversation was going to unfold.

Russel got right up in Roland’s face yet again. There was a moment of fear in Roland’s eyes. His face had already healed but there were still faint streaks of blood here and there. He sort of flinched when his brother came at him. It was a tiny, minuscule thing but Lola still caught it. She had to force an absurd urge to giggle away. The situation was already volatile enough as it stood. Laughing at Roland would only make things worse. She didn’t need to add more fuel to that fire.

“Keep questioning my leadership and you will force my hand, Ro,” Russel said. His eyes were flashing a warning at his older brother but Roland didn’t take the hint.

“I don’t give a fuck anymore. I’m not working for some pathetic humans. They could have millions of their fancy toys and my answer will still be the same. Fuck that,” he said.

“Me either,” Rutger said. “It’s bad enough they killed one of us in this very room and they’re still breathing. Now you want to stick your neck out, find Drake, and kill him for them? That’s not going to go over well with anyone in this kingdom. Or any wolf kingdom.”

“What do you fools not understand about our situation?” Russel looked at each of them in turn. “They will come in force. That part of their threat is not a fake one meant just to intimidate. They will bring their guns and who the hell knows what else, and they will kill thousands of us. Thousands more when we fight back. And we will still lose. You four know that. I know that. This is the only option.”

“You’ll hunt down your own kind and murder ‘im for these hairless monkeys?” Ray asked. His eyes flashed amber for a second, a growl rumbling in his broad chest.

“Drake and his fucking mongrels made their choice when they decimated Lola’s village. When they killed her people. I’m not willing to let my people die for that moron’s blood hunger,” Russel said. “Drake and whoever else was with him deserves to pay. You can either accept my decision or you can keep fighting me on it. Either way, I’m still going through with this.”

“Then you can do it without our support,” Reid snarled.

“You don’t have a choice either. Two of you will be coming along on this mission. There’s no way in hell I'm going to leave Oclan in the hands of all four of you. Ro and Ray, that means you two. Reid and Rutger, you will both serve as my regents while I’m on this mission. Try to fuck me over when we’re gone and I’ll come back and eviscerate the both of you, let you heal, and then repeat the process until you understand not to screw with me again.”

Russel looked at Lola and his entire demeanor suddenly shifted. He softened dramatically, but there was still a hard crease between his eyebrows. The stresses of the day were clearly getting to him.

“I want you to stay here too, where my brothers and my soldiers can protect you. Harvenk will be too dangerous for you,” he explained.

Lola was already shaking her head no before he even finished his sentence.

“I have to go with you. You know that. I have to see this through to the end. Besides, Drake should be mine to bring down. After everything he did to me, I’ve more than earned that chance.” Lola didn’t back down even though she could tell by the look on Russel’s face that he was about to argue the point with her.

“Let the little pet go with us,” Roland said. “She’ll be good bait. He already tried to get her once. We can use that to lure him out.”

“From a tactical standpoint, Ro is right,” Reid said. “I don’t like to ever admit when he’s right but he is. You’ll need something. Some kind of leverage to get to Drake and your human is your best chance.”

“She’s not going, and that’s my final command. We’ll get to him a different way. I’m sure between all of us, we can find a solution,” Russel told them.

“You can order your brothers around because you're their king but you’re not mine, Russel. I’m going and there’s nothing you can do to stop me,” Lola said.

Russel glared at her and then his brothers. “Fetch Zeo and Enok. Have them take Lola to her room and tie her to the bed if need be.”