The Night between the journeys

  Evanora POV

  The scent of burnt herbs no longer clung to the air.

  Time had passed since Silandra’s visit. The wounds had closed, though the memory of them lingered like phantom pain beneath the skin.

  The pack was preparing to leave, returning to their territory alongside Silandra Vineshade and her escorts. Their guards moved with quiet efficiency, loading supplies and securing the convoy.

  Above us, the half-moon hung low, pale and watchful. Its light spilled across the clearing like a mournful song.

  Yet I did not settle easily among the Dracula coven.

  Across the camp, Arabella watched me.

  Her gaze followed every movement I made.

  Anger sharpened the edges of her expression, but the guards surrounding us were too many, too strong for her to act openly.

  So she simply watched.

  Waiting.

  “You two need assistance getting inside the vehicle?”

  Kaden’s voice cut through the night, calm but edged with concern.

  He shouldn’t have been concerned.

  But he was.

  Zagan answered for us.

  “I’m manageable,” he said dismissively. “And I can take Faith.”

  Kaden’s eyes moved toward me, studying my face as if searching for something beneath the stillness

  .

  “This time I’ll take care of her, Zagan,” he said. “I’ll ask someone else to help you. How about Gamma Rudy?”

  Zagan made a face.

  “Him? No. Not appreciated.”

  Despite myself, the corner of my mouth lifted.

  Kaden noticed.

  “Yelfa, then?” he tried again.

  “I’m really fine,” Zagan snapped, irritation slipping into his voice as he pushed himself upright.

  He took one step.

  Then another.

  And promptly wobbled.

  Kaden sighed.

  “That was convincing.”

  Zagan shot him a glare sharp enough to draw blood.

  The wind shifted, carrying the distant sounds of the pack assembling. Wolves moved through the camp like shadows preparing for a long road home.

  I looked toward the waiting vehicles.

  The wolf territory was not my home.

  But for now—

  it was the road I had to walk.

  Beyond the dunes, the vehicles glimmered beneath the moonlight. Their wheels were larger than the ones we had arrived in, built to cut through shifting sand. Sleek metal reflected the pale light, polished and strangely elegant for machines meant to crawl through a desert.

  “I’ll drive the blue one,” Kaden announced, glancing toward Gamma Rudy as he approached from behind.

  “Fine,” Rudy replied. “You take Faith, Yelfa, and Zagan in your vehicle.”

  Kaden hesitated.

  “I thought Yelfa preferred traveling with you,” he said lightly. “I don’t mind if you take Merchant Zagan as well.”

  Rudy gave him a sharp look.

  “Beta Kaden,” he said firmly, “please be responsible and get those three in your vehicle. This is not the time for your performance.”

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  “Performance?” I asked, speaking for the first time.

  Kaden glanced toward me.

  “He means driving,” he said casually. “Apparently my reputation precedes me.”

  He turned back toward Rudy with a shrug.

  “Fine. I’ll take them.”

  Zagan climbed into the back seat and waited for me to follow. Kaden had already taken the driver’s seat, while Ylfa attempted to squeeze into the front beside him. Her broad frame and wounded spine protested the moment she tried.

  “You take the front?” Ylfa asked.

  With my legs still not fully healed, I slipped into the passenger seat while she moved to the back with Zagan.

  Outside the vehicle, I caught sight of Silandra Vineshade climbing into her own transport, her guards surrounding it like shadows.

  The convoy was beginning to move.

  “Shall we?” Kaden asked once everyone had settled.

  From the back seat came the sound of two people already snoring.

  I glanced forward.

  “Yes,” I answered.

  The vehicle rumbled forward, its wheels grinding against the endless desert.

  Sand stretched in every direction, pale beneath the half-moon, shifting like a restless sea.

  Inside the cabin, the air was quiet.

  Too quiet.

  Kaden drove with one hand resting loosely on the wheel, his eyes focused on the dark horizon.

  “You fought well,” he said. “Back there… with Mercurius.”

  Irritation snapped through me at the sound of that name again. I answered only with a small nod.

  The memory of the fight lingered, sharp and unwelcome.

  “When Mercurius caught you,” Kaden continued, “we ran into the Thorn Hunters again. It slowed us down. We couldn’t track you and Zagan in time.”

  “Oh,” I said, encouraging him to continue.

  “Vineshade arrived with her troops,” he explained. “They managed to capture two Thorn Hunters alive. The rest didn’t make it.”

  Ah.

  That explained Yelfa’s new wound.

  I gave him a small nod, and the night fell silent again..

  The wind brushed against the vehicle, carrying sand across the glass like whispering voices.

  I lifted the healer’s veil to my nose, breathing in its scent to calm the ache in my head.

  “You’ve been quiet,” he said after a while.

  “I thought you’d appreciate that. No?”

  He laughed lightly.

  The seat had grown surprisingly comfortable, the slow rhythm of the vehicle almost lulling me to sleep.

  I caught Kaden glancing at me for a moment, as though he expected my silence to reveal more than my words.

  “If you’re interested, you can join our upcoming Seven Nights of Blessings festival,” he said. “It might lift your mood.”

  “Festival?”

  “The full moon showers its blessings for seven nights straight,” he explained. “If we’re lucky enough, we may even find our mate.”

  “That must be very special in the werewolf realm,” I said gently.

  Festivals had never truly interested me—not even in my own realm, not even when I was the Crown Princess.

  “Indeed,” he replied with a bright smile.

  It seemed festivals were not the same for everyone.

  The vehicle slowed slightly as the path narrowed between two large dunes. Sand slid beneath the tires with a low grinding sound.

  The desert stretched endlessly ahead, silver beneath the half-moon.

  Kaden adjusted the wheel slightly.

  “Do you have festivals like that?” he asked after a moment. “In the vampire realm?”

  I kept my eyes on the dunes outside the window.

  “We do,” I said. “Though not the fated-mate rituals.”

  “And?”

  “They are more like bonding ceremonies… built on mutual understanding.”

  He waited.

  I could feel another question forming even before he spoke.

  “You don’t sound very fond of them.”

  “I’m not.”

  Kaden gave a small laugh.

  “That’s surprising.”

  “Why?”

  “Most people enjoy celebrations. Music, food, dancing…” He paused briefly. “Company.”

  I turned slightly toward him.

  “Those things are rarely meant for people like me.”

  His brows drew together.

  “People like you?”

  I met his gaze only briefly before looking forward again.

  “Slaves,” I said calmly. “Travelers like me.”

  The answer seemed to satisfy him only partially.

  Kaden returned his attention to the road, though I could still feel his curiosity lingering.

  “Well,” he said finally, shaking his head with quiet amusement, “the Seven Nights festival isn’t just about mating.”

  “No? What a relief.”

  He eyed me for a moment before continuing.

  “It’s also about celebration—dancing, markets. People buy all kinds of interesting things.” He smiled faintly. “Especially women. They tend to enjoy it the most.”

  The wind howled softly outside the vehicle. I watched the dunes shift beneath the moonlight.

  I let out a quiet chuckle. “Still sounds inconvenient".

  “You might be the first person who’s ever called a festival inconvenient.”

  “Perhaps,” I said.

  Kaden glanced at me again, curiosity still lingering in his eyes.

  “You know,” he said after a moment, “you might enjoy it more than you think.”

  “Maybe, Beta.”

  “People like you might enjoy the food stalls, the lantern markets… walking under the moonlight.” He paused briefly. “You don’t have to dance if you’re not good at it.”

  I smiled inwardly.

  Dance and balls. Royals and etiquette.

  Now I was apparently someone who wasn’t good at it.

  His eyes flicked toward me again.

  “Maybe,” he said quietly, “you could forget your past for a while. Be someone new… like the moon itself.”

  Be someone new, like the moon itself.

  I repeated the words silently.

  A faint smile touched my lips just as I noticed the convoy slowing ahead. It seemed we had reached a stopping point for the night.