15 Silver Moon Tavern

The owner of Silver Moon Tavern dragged an empty chair to join Melva and Vance in their table. The man was the complete opposite of Vance as she got to see him up close. He had jet black hair and brown eyes while Vance had white hair and blue glowing eyes. His tall and buff body made him seem much stronger and dependable than Vance's lean one.

There was this wild air around him from the way he dressed in only a loose shirt and trousers. While Vance was wearing expensive clothes that made it clear that he was a man of high status. The differences between them were endless as she kept finding them after paying attention more closely. Despite the two of them being very different, she wondered if he was also a werewolf like Vance.

"She is Melva Winchell from Ichorhold." Vance then turned to face Melva. "He is a member of my pack, Davis Brownlow."

"It is nice to meet you, Lord Brownlow," greeted Melva politely. The man was also a werewolf, as she had expected. Just like real wolves that she had often seen in the forest, werewolves actually moved in packs. It was interesting to know that werewolves behaved like wolves even when they were human. She was intrigued to find out how these packs worked.

Davis waved his hand dismissively, a wide grin on his face. "Just Davis is fine. So you are his saviour, right? Thank you for reviving our alpha, Lady Melva."

"If you have not noticed, I am still alive and well," said Vance sarcastically. "Your business seems to do well as it has always been. Have you found anything weird while I was gone?"

"Nothing out of ordinary, but your step brother appears to have taken a liking to this place." Davis leaned in closer to whisper, "Ivor said he saw him and his pack members frequenting this tavern not long after you stopped visiting. I wouldn't say it is suspicious, but this is your step brother we are talking about. Everything he does is suspicious."

"That weasel," grumbled Vance in irritation. "I know he is up to something. He has been inviting guests to my manor. And he dared to make his guest stay in the chamber next to mine. Can you imagine the audacity of that cunning fox?"

Melva was instantly reminded of the guest who had occupied her chamber before her. Yesterday, Vance had asked Elisha to move the guest to somewhere else. If she didn't remember it wrong, the guest was invited by someone whom Elisha called 'Lord Corbett'. She had never seen the other occupants of the Nightwind's Manor, but it was surprising that he had a step brother living with him. One would think he would never let anyone else live with him by how selfish he behaved.

"He is technically a wolf, Your Grace," reminded Davis unnecessarily.

Melva had to stifle her laugh at Davis' witty remark. Vance noticed that and glared at her before continuing, "Well, I guess I will have to avoid visiting here for the time being. They will lower the guard without me around. Find out who he is meeting with and if possible, what they are planning."

"I doubt they will meet here again if you are already awake, however, I will do my best to find out," said Davis in determination. "How about now we talk about Lady Melva here? Is she going to join our pack?"

That thought had never crossed her mind before. She was sure Vance would never do anything to her because he depended on her for his own survivability. Now that Davis gave her the idea, she was curious.

Was that possible? Could they change her into one of their kind? If so, how? Did she need to worry about that? Did Vance have that plan in mind?

"No," answered Vance, as though answering the questions Melva had in her mind. And instinctively, she let out a sigh of relief. She couldn't imagine becoming a demon herself while living most of her life being haunted by them.

The more she interacted with the demons here, the more she thought they were not that different from the humans. In fact, they were pretty much the same. They ate the same food, they did the same job, and they also had fun the same way.

It was concerning that she was slowly forgetting the reason why she came here. She had to come back to her senses and remember about the pitiful young women that were sent to them, one every two years. She was here to stop the bargain and release Ichorhold from the contract. And to do that, she had to find out Vance's weakness that she could completely overwhelm him with.

"So you are taking a human mate now?" Davis was frowning even if he had been grinning widely since they had arrived here. This must be serious if a cheerful guy like him stopped smiling.

"It is not my choice. The King forced it on me," said Vance with the same serious tone. Melva gulped nervously. She didn't understand what they were talking about, but she could tell they were facing a problem that concerned her. Although, it was rude that they were talking about her as if she was not there.

"This is quite a problem, Your Grace. They will see her as your weakness." Davis was deep in thought as he seemed to try to recall something. "Ichorhold. Why is that name familiar? Where did I hear it?"

"It is the town who signed the contract with us," answered Vance flatly. "Your concern is what I have been worrying about. I have no choice but to bring her along everywhere I go." He was looking at Melva while saying the last sentence, as if he was saying it to her. He must be referring to her wandering alone into the forest this morning and stating the reason why she should never do that again.

"If it is with you, I believe Lady Melva will be safe. If you ever need another manpower, I will be glad to come along."

'Safe from what?' asked Melva in her thoughts. She was not going to include herself in their conversation as it seemed like they preferred it that way. She noted her questions mentally to ask Vance later after they were alone.

The worker from earlier approached their table to relay a message. "Master Davis, someone is asking for you downstairs. I think it is from the winery."

Davis stood up and returned the chair he had taken from the empty table. "Alright. I shall leave you two to yourselves. I will be downstairs."

"Come to the manor if you find anything," said Vance lastly before the worker escorted Davis downstairs to meet his guest.

After the two of them were no longer in sight, Melva finally spoke to ask him the questions in her head. "Am I in danger?"

"In a way, yes," answered Vance vaguely.

Melva furrowed her brows in disapproval. It was concerning her safety and yet the man decided to give a vague answer. Did he take her life as a joke?

"Will you explain what exactly is going on, Your Grace?" demanded Melva persistently. "I don't understand a word from listening to your conversation with Davis."

Vance sighed, reluctant to answer her question but he knew that refusing to answer would be futile. He was aware of her massive curiosity and persistence. "There are a lot of people who want my position, Melva. And they will do anything to achieve that."

"How am I your weakness? We don't love each other or anything." And obviously, because no one else knew about his dependency on her, there was only one other thing remaining: love. She could be considered as his weakness if she was someone he loved. He certainly despised her and the feeling was mutual.

Vance took his time in answering, studying her expression. "You are unfamiliar with werewolves. Am I right?"

Melva wanted to roll her eyes in disbelief at his ignorance. Did he really want to show off how he had more knowledge than her? "Yes, obviously. I lived in the human world. Do you care to enlighten me, Your Grace?"

"To begin with, do you know that werewolves run in packs?" asked Vance, as though testing her knowledge on werewolves. It was beyond infuriating. His condescending face while questioning her made her want to punch him.

"You just mentioned that Davis is one of your pack members," stated Melva flatly. "I do know that wild wolves hunt in packs. I saw them a lot during my hunting sessions." She countered his bragging by her own boasting that she had met wolves and come out alive.

"Davis is not just my pack member. He is my beta, my second-in-command," corrected Vance proudly.

Melva faked her surprise by dramatically covering her mouth with a hand. "Oh! So you are his leader, Your Grace?"

Vance frowned at her exaggerated gesture, but responded to her somewhat mocking question nonetheless. "Yes. More precisely, I am their alpha. They answer to me."

"Perhaps you have forgotten, you are the Duke of Nightwind. Everyone in Nightwind has to answer to you, Your Grace." Melva returned his frown with a frown as well. "And I fail to see the correlation of your ruling over a pack of wolves to my being in danger."

His icy blue glowing eyes stared right into her grey ones. "Werewolves take mates very seriously, Melva."

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