She swallowed, her head bobbing a little. “They share a border, right?”
“Yes. And they’ve been working together. But Walter is a cocky son of a bitch. So Silvano asked me to remind him of his place.” More likecommandedme. But I’d been able to negotiate my two-year reprieve as payment.
However, at the end, I would officially become his sovereign.
“By beating up his wolves,” she whispered.
“I have a knack for violence,” I replied, bending to pick up another bottle—this one conditioner. “I’m also very good at sneaking into places undetected.” Such as clan territory. Walter’s enforcers didn’t stand a chance.
“That sounds dangerous.”
I shrugged and started lathering her hair again. “It’s the nature of my existence.”
Although, I usually entered situations like that without fearing death. This time had been a bit different because Lily had given me something to look forward to. Something to live for.
“I’ve always been drawn to violence and righting wrongs. I even made a living off of it for a very long time. But when the world changed, I shifted into an enforcer-like role for Silvano.”
Enforcerwasn’t the official term, but it was one she would understand from her lycan politics class.
“He calls me when he needs me,” I clarified lamely. “However, he’s just given me two more years before I have to join him in the political arena.”
“As his sovereign,” she whispered as I guided her beneath the spray again.
“As his sovereign,” I echoed. “It’s not a future I desire, but it’s the one I’m required to accept.”
Silence fell between us as I finished cleaning her hair.
Then I moved on to her body, using the soap and sponge I’d picked up from the corner.
“What future do you desire?” she asked after several minutes of quiet.
I knelt to start with her legs as I considered her question.Peaceseemed too vague a response. “I’m honestly not sure anymore,” I finally settled on. “This new world is too different from the old one for me to give you a good answer.”
“What do you mean by ‘new world’?” she asked, her expression no longer exuding that earlier wariness or suspicion. Just a healthy dose of curiosity.
I ran the sponge up her thighs while holding her gaze. “The world wasn’t always like this. There was a time when humans ruled and my kind lived among them in secret. But then lycans were discovered, and the human governments responded by trying to weaponize them. It didn’t end well for the mortals.”
An understatement.
Nearly ninety percent of humankind was killed for the atrocity. The remaining ten percent were enslaved.
And the Blood Alliance was formed between the vampire royals and lycan alphas.
“It’s not a history the universities teach humans. All they want you to know is that we are in charge. To suggest otherwise is dangerous and could lead to a revolution.” A laughable suggestion, really.
The only way a revolution could be successful was with vampires and lycans at the helm.
I gently turned Lily to begin soaping the back of her legs while I let her process everything I’d just revealed. She shivered as I neared her ass, her skin prickling with goose bumps as the air around us seemed to shift.
I inhaled, smiling as I scented her sweet arousal. It’d been there the whole time, just subtle and slightly subdued because of our conversation.
It would be so easy to seduce her. Just slip the sponge between her spread thighs and brush her pretty pink flesh.
I swallowed and forced the desire away, reminding myself that this was about her.
She was in charge.
I would follow her lead.