#Chapter 129: Back in the game

Alexander I unfolded a big, heavily detailed map of the southern territories and laid it flat on my desk. Kayden handed me a red marker while I pulled up an email from my father on my phone. The Alpha King, my reluctant advisee in this matter, had sent me all the information he could gather about the recent vampire sightings. The sightings had occurred in two different rural, sparsely populated villages down near the southern border. I ran my fingers over the map while studying the names of the villages and the many natural features that surrounded them – mountains, valleys, forests, rivers, creeks, rapids, falls – until I found both locations described in the email, and marked each one with a neat, distinct X. My Beta and I caught ourselves both reeling back, squinting at the map, and crossing our arms over our chests. We glanced at each other in unison, noted our mirrored postures, and laughed. “Fuck,” he mumbled. “It’s like riding a bike, huh, Alex? One word of vampires an