Chapter 32

☆ ☆ Ulfric Draven ☆ ☆

I awoke to my Luna sleeping next to me in the nude. We had several passionate nights recently as I was trying to give her another pup. With this prophecy hanging in the balance, I wanted to leave her with another heir in case the battle didn't sway in our favor. I gazed upon her beautiful body; the stretch marks covering her stomach and thighs showed that she had bared my children before, and I loved them even more than when I left my mark on her neck, claiming her as mine. 

I got up and dressed myself before heading downstairs to my office. On my way, I stopped by our kitchen and grabbed my breakfast of six boiled eggs, a plate of bacon, and a large mug of black Excelsa coffee. I went down one floor from our suite and went to my office. 

My Beta was already sitting across from my desk with papers in hand. He began to speak, "Alpha, I have done the research..." I cut him off by waving my coffee mug in the air. I set my breakfast down on the corner of the table and took my chair. I closed my eyes and took a long swig from my coffee mug. I opened my eyes back up and looked at my Beta. 

After a brief pause, allowing my coffee to energize my veins, I said, "Now you may speak." Beta Darius began, "I researched the local hotels as you requested. None are large enough to house our army, putting two people per room." I tapped my mug before taking another large gulp of coffee. I popped one of my boiled eggs in my mouth and swallowed it down after a few bites.

"What are our options then?", I asked before taking in more coffee. "Well, sir, if you want to remain in Black Mountain, we will have to divide the warriors amongst four hotels, and Alpha Black will have to house fourteen members instead of seven as initially discussed." I was stuffing my face with my breakfast as he spoke. My Beta paused, "Alternatively, there was one hotel in Asheville that could house 556 of our members, leaving the other twenty-two at one of the venues in Black Mountain." I swallowed, "I see."

"I need to call before noon today, whichever route you decide." Beta Darius continued. I cleared my throat, "Contact Alpha Black and see if he can house 14 members first. We'll base our decision on his response." My Beta swiftly stood and left my office, saying, "Yes, Sir."

I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes, contemplating our situation's possible outcomes. Despite the casualties, a successful outcome would be demolishing all of the pasty bloodsuckers, Kara and Jayce surviving the battle, and them giving us a Lycan king to rule in the future. 

Of course, I already suggested focusing our remaining resources on killing Kara. If I felt we were losing, that would be a wash, not a victory or total defeat. It wasn't a terrible idea, and we know now that she'll only be reincarnated, and the vampires will try again. But after talking to Alpha Kayn, it was my idea to flush them out and use Kara as a pawn to do so, hopefully ending this from happening again.

Losing his Luna was difficult, but then, on top of that, he practically shunned his daughter, not getting emotionally attached, keeping her locked away until we wanted her found. His sacrifice was great; in many ways, if I were faced with the same situation, I don't think I would have had the mental fortitude to do what I asked of him. I know if it comes down to it, he will kill Kara if it's for the greater good. 

I was glad my Beta interrupted my thoughts, as I did not want to think of our complete and utter defeat. "Alpha Draven, Alpha Black said hosting seven additional guests wouldn't be a problem.", he said. "That's fantastic news; I didn't want to be in Asheville since we don't know their headquarters yet.", I replied. Beta Darius interjected, "About that, Sir, while I was looking for places for us to stay, I think I may have stumbled onto some properties that the vampires own." 

I sat up in my chair immediately upon hearing his claim, "Show me." He walked around my desk and pulled up my laptop. He typed "The Biltmore Estate" into the search bar. Upon seeing the structure, I immediately knew why he had suggested this. He continued, "They have housing on the premises for guests to stay, but after seeing the venue, I didn't inquire with them further. I didn't want to divulge our numbers or potentially aid them if it was their venue."

"Excellent, Beta, excellent.", I beamed proudly, "If this was their property, could you estimate their numbers?" "I've already done that, sir. Since they use this as a source of income during the day, I estimate that there may be 50 living in the estate itself, and Kara is most likely being held there. Of the venues on the property but not at the main house, I would anticipate that they allow a third to be used by other vampires. If you maintained the two-per-room requirements listed on their website, that's 285.

I smiled; if his numbers were accurate, this wouldn't be a competition; we could easily defeat them. Even with some vampires being older or more powerful, I didn't estimate our losses to be that bad, either. I pondered, "What would their worst-case numbers be?" Beta Darius replied, "944 if there were two per room, including the estate." 

I pondered in silence as my Beta sat back down across from me. That would be a more difficult battle, but it would not be impossible for us to win. The casualties on both sides would be significant. Werewolves are naturally stronger in their wolf form, and our saliva is toxic to them while in that form. One bite would have them writhing in pain before we ended their miserable life. Vampires are faster; some older ones have special abilities passed down through their bloodlines, though I have no clue what they might be. 

We are only taking our best and healthiest, and there are bound to be many young vampires there; they will be cannon fodder against us. We both have a weakness to silver. According to our research, silver burns into a vampire's skin, slowing its healing ability. Meanwhile, with us, silver would have to pierce our skin to do any damage; simply touching it would be just an annoyance. 

Aside from that, once the sun was about to rise, they would have to flee or perish. The only other thing they could use against us would be Aconitum. A vibrant purple flower, if harvested for its roots or tubers, could make a tincture that would burn our skin and slow our healing ability. If a small amount were ingested or got into our bloodstream, it would make us weak; more significant amounts would cause us to stop breathing and die of heart failure. 

I had almost forgotten my Beta was there because he sat so quietly while I thought to myself, "Go ahead and book the hotels in Black Mountain. Let the others know we want to call, as we may have some useful information for our cause." "Of course, anything else, Alpha?", my Beta said as he left the office. I waved my hand, dismissing him for the moment. 

I looked back at my laptop and researched the Biltmore Estate further. If the vampires did live here, they were bold; they allowed visitors to tour their home from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. An exclusive tour was $350.00 per ticket, allowing more access than the general tour. I could pay for two members to go and sniff around the place to see if my Beta's hunch was correct. 

The exclusive tour groups took eight guests each, and while I would feel safer sending a larger group, they would be more easily hidden if they were grouped with other tourists. They also allowed photography, and the price included a second-day grounds pass, meaning we could scout the grounds on the second day and get a decent layout of the land if they could smell the vampires there. 

I booked two tickets two days before the first quarter moon. I had an idea of who I would send, but I needed to verify that Alpha Gray was okay with his Beta flying out and leaving him for a few days. Of course, I would send my own Beta as well. Once they checked things out, we still had nine days to work with before the full moon.

My Beta Darius returned just in time, "The four hotels in Black Mountain have been booked; the Hampton Inn will house 190 warriors, The Quality Inn will house 114, The Monte Vista Hotel will house 90, and the Super 8 Motel will house 170, that's 564 total, and the remaining seven will stay with Alpha Black and the others. Alpha Gray and the others residing with him will be ready for a conference call in fifteen minutes; they will also have Alpha Black on the line when they call." 

I smiled, "Perfect, great work as always, Beta." He smiled back and rested his hands on his head after sitting down, " I'm the Doc Holliday to your Wyatt Earp." I chuckled at his response, "Well, in that case, I have a job for you." He interjected, "I'm your huckleberry."