The vampires talked amongst themselves on the way to the meeting. Thanks to the wind carrying their words, I heard every single word they said, despite the distance.

The vampires wanted to act like they had caught me in the act of beating Etienne up, and Etienne was supposed to tell the others that he was scared of me. That the other wolves had been intimidating him since day one with me as the ringleader, and he only refused to call for help because he didn't want to miss his chance to meet the people of Pinewood.

The vampires spoke so freely, I was pretty sure this wasn't yet another trick. My hearing was more sensitive than the vampires gave me credit for, it seemed. They were so used to not being spotted that they forgot their voices weren't as silent as their movements and heartbeat.

Etienne had to know I could hear them from his experiences with werewolf hearing the past few days, but he didn't rat me out.

I had to remember Etienne wasn't on my side either, however. He just seemed frozen right now. Not choosing anything, only anxiously walking along with the people from his castle.

The vampires entered the meeting place, our community centre as always, first. As promised, I kept my distance and entered the building a few moments later with my stomach in knots.

There would be no time to warn Ivana about what was going on. I was last to arrive—everyone else was already seated or on the big screen at the front of the room. Most supernaturals didn't physically attend these kinds of meetings. If we had to travel the globe for every incident, we'd never get anything done, after all.

Aside from Ivana, Nathan, and the vampires, only our neighbours the Fey had sent someone in person. Not their leader as I'd expected, but a stoic winter fey with snow white hair, a perpetual frown etched in his handsome features, and dark eyes that stood in sharp contrast with his hair. I took it he was here on his leader's behalf.

Since I was last to arrive, I took the only free spot that was left next to Ivana. She and Nathan seemed relieved I was here, while the vampires, sans Etienne and the Fey man just stared at me.

While I sat down, Ivana quickly walked to the front of the room.

"Welcome everyone," she spoke. "It's good to see you all, even if the circumstances could have been better. We have a... delicate matter on our hands."

"Indeed, we do. Our ambassador was viciously attacked not once, but twice!" Clarence interrupted. "And he tells me it was done by werewolves!"

Ivana's eyebrow twitched. She kept her face neutral, but since I knew my sister well enough and I could see her annoyance. "Twice?" she asked tersely.

"Just now, we caught your steward, your so-called protector of Pinewood, viciously drag our ambassador to the old factory to attack him again! We stopped him and I'm frankly shocked he's bold enough to show his face here in this meeting."

Most supernaturals on the big screen looked surprised. Several of them instantly went on mute. Their mouths kept moving as they talked amongst each other. The winter fey only raised a brow. I tried to catch Etienne's eye, but he averted his gaze quickly when he saw me looking at him.

Ivana looked at me. "Did you attack him, Boris?" she asked.

"No," I replied.

"Lies!" Clarence cried, pointing at me. "He did attack you. Didn't he, Etienne?"

Etienne's eyes darted around the room, not unlike a wild, cornered animal. But then he nodded.

"See? You put him at the mercy of a wolf twice his size," Clarence went on, facing the big screen with the other supernaturals. "And from the beginning, it was clear the werewolves didn't want him in Pinewood. They wanted to keep the humans only to themselves and did everything they could to sabotage our ambassador. Including faking an accident to tempt him with blood. And it ended with an attempt on his life."

A brief silence followed.

"Well, did any of you 'fake' accidents?" A merman asked.

I grimaced. I could've known Etienne would've told Clarence. They were on the phone all the time, and we weren't close yet in the beginning. Or, at least, I felt like we were closer now.

"I did," I admitted. "To test him. Accidents like this will happen among the humans as well and I needed to know if he can control himself."

Clarence scoffed. "Judging by the barbaric way you have been behaving towards our ambassador, I wonder if we are the ones who should be tested on our ability to control ourselves," he sharply stated. "In fact, I don't believe you are ready to interact with humans yourselves if your so-called 'protector' is anything to go by. We have to wonder who the truly dangerous ones are."

"This is ridiculous! Nobody of us attacked your vampire. If anything, he attacked one of us. He bit Boris!" Nathan exclaimed, standing up.

"Nathan, sit," Ivana hissed. "If you can't control your outbursts, I will have you removed from this room."

Again, I saw the supernaturals on the screen talking to each other. Etienne's cheeks flushed with embarrassment. I was caught off-guard as well because I had no idea Nathan knew about the bite.

Clarence spread his arms. "Witness the self-control of the werewolves, everyone. They can barely control themselves in this room. Let alone with humans. They lie about us vampires to save their own hides."

"So, if Boris strips, we will not find any healing bite marks anywhere on his person?" The stoic winter fey asked.

All eyes were suddenly on me, including Etienne's fearful ones. I had promised not to tell anyone about the bite, but also knew this group would be very capable of having me strip down to my underwear right here right now and then they would find the wound, anyway.

I sighed and then showed the occupants of the room the fang marks on my wrist. They were mostly healed, but still visible.

Nobody said a word, but I could see how much the other supernaturals, aside from Ivana and Nathan, were taken aback.

Clarence's face contorted in his rage. It seemed Etienne hadn't told the vampires from Logoria castle about the bite.

Ivana briefly pressed a hand to her forehead. Etienne looked so panicked at this point that I couldn't stay quiet. It would've been very easy to say he had bitten me and it was from a lack of self control. But that wasn't true.

"I let him," I said. "Because I found him injured, left for dead, and he needed blood immediately to heal."

"Still, you were bitten," a horned demon said on screen. "The rules clearly state that he can't bite another supernatural."

"I believe an exception should be possible if the vampire in question is going to die otherwise," I said. "And it's not fair to judge Etienne on it."

"I find this all a little too convenient." Clarence crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Don't you all? It's common knowledge that vampires crave blood more if they're injured. How coincidental that Boris was there right after Etienne was beaten up, knowing that would break the rules they set. Again, I ask: who are the truly dangerous ones? Is it my innocent ambassador who was brutally assaulted?"

Clarence gestured at Etienne, who still looked battered.

"Or is it the werewolves who clearly overestimate themselves and cannot control their temper around the supernaturals they dislike? From the moment he stepped foot in Pinewood, Etienne received nothing but distrust and hostility without having done anything wrong."

I could almost feel the room shifting in Clarence's favour. Etienne looking as battered as he did and admitting that I had tested him clearly wasn't the way to go.

This was going very wrong. I didn't know what to do until I felt the winter Fey's eyes burning on me. I looked at him and he nodded curtly at me, as if asking me to play along with whatever he was going to do next. I nodded back because I had nothing to lose, and I was pretty sure he knew about the woods and their decision. That was one of the few things that could speak in my favour here.

The winter Fey cleared his throat. "Did you act hostile toward Etienne, Boris?" he asked.

I breathed in and out deeply. "I made him uncomfortable, yes," I replied honestly. "I let him know he wasn't welcome because I didn't trust him around humans."

"And why?"

"The same reason as anyone. The vampires are different. They feed on people. They don't have the same need of humans as we do. I was suspicious of Etienne's intentions with Pinewood's population."

"See?" Clarence interjected. "They admit it again! They discriminated against our ambassador from the start. They broke the accords and were never planning on bringing Etienne to the humans."

"We weren't planning on bringing him to the humans, no," Ivana said. "Not until Boris had made sure he wasn't dangerous. Surely everyone must understand that. I am responsible for Pinewood's protection and I don't take that task lightly, and neither does Boris."

Clarence glared at Ivana. "You mean you tried to trick and intimidate him? Scare him off by beating him up."

"No," I said again. "I wasn't the one who did this, I swear."

"He keeps denying it, but isn't it obvious who did this to him?" Clarence grabbed Etienne, rolled up his sleeve, and showed everyone his arm, which was covered in red claw marks. "Claws!"

The winter Fey turned to me. "And why not you, Boris?"

Because I could never hurt him. That was the honest answer, but not exactly the rational one needed to convince this room. "Because I don't think Etienne deserves to be hurt," I said. "I only tested him because I wanted to protect my woods. Not to harm him."

"Of course you did," Clarence said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He looked at Etienne. "Tell them the truth. Tell them which werewolves assaulted you."

Etienne swallowed thickly. "It was Nathan and then Boris," he mumbled, eyes on the table. "They attacked me."

Ivana sighed deeply. "Then it's word against word, it seems."

"Indeed," an old mermaid on the screen said. "We will need to decide if the werewolves broke the accords. We shall vote, and we need to investigate this factory where the attacks took place."

"That would be impossible," Clarence quickly said. "We accidentally contaminated the scene when we rushed in to save poor Etienne from the savage wolf."

The winter Fey stood. "The Fey vote is no, the werewolves did not break the accords," he said. Then he abruptly marched to the entrance and left.

Ivana got the rest of the supernatural calm enough to agree to coming back tomorrow for an official vote.

Etienne left with Clarence and the other vampires without sparing me a single glance.

After dismissing Nathan, Ivana walked beside me and placed an encouraging hand on my shoulder. "They know the vampires are full of shit, just like the Fey do," she said.

"Will they know?" I asked. "Not everyone wants us supernaturals to announce our presence to the world. Maybe they will vote in favour of the vampires simply to stop the progress in Pinewood."

Ivana nodded. "True, but we influence that. I'd rather focus on the things we can change. What about Etienne? Any chance you can convince him to tell the truth?"

I hesitated. "I don't know if he will. I don't know what their ties are, but I know he's terrified of Clarence. And he's incredibly fragile beneath the bluster."

Ivana hummed. "This isn't like you, Boris."

"What isn't?"

"Giving up so easily. Weren't you the one who insisted on sending Aquila to Pinewood? Weren't you the only one who believed he would find a way to adjust, even when all of us doubted? Even me, his own mother?"

I sighed, casting my eyes up to the sky for a moment before turning back to Ivana. "What do you suggest I do?"

Ivana smiled. "What you always do. Convince him there's a better way to be."