The Wolves of London Book 2: The House of Striker
Chapter 1

(Chapter song ‘Anger and Retribution' by OST)

CORA - EUROPE 1834

“READY THE ARCHERS!”

“MOVE!”

“THEY'RE COMING!”

“HOLD THE LINES! DO NOT MOVE!!”

The men make stands across the earth. Battle after battle. War after war.

Wolf battalions stand at the ready for the Vampire resisters.

The vampires leap and soar through the air with fangs ready to strike as they land and clash with the armies of the greatest king the supernatural world ever had.

Crossbows with wooden stakes fire through bodies and darken the skies. They sink into the hearts of the undead. The vampires lay paralyzed until their heads are swiftly removed and their dead hearts are burned in ash and salt.

The throats of Wolves are ripped in the hands of vamps bent on annihilation. Blood turns the ground to mud.

The Wolves push forward. Marching, killing and clearing the world from the creatures who wish to destroy it.

As vampires perished, it looked as though the great war was won until dark howls rose from the east.

“HOLD POSITIONS!!”

“STEADY MEN!!”

The King readies his men as the horizon turns black with the wolf-like men marching on two legs in black armor and carry all manner of weaponry. Lycans in fill the battlefield and fight to save their cold Alliance with the Vampires.

“REMOVE THEIR HEADS!” The king bellows across his men and the hoards move in with swift vengeance. With snarling, snapping teeth, shifter Wolves attack in droves.

Swords slice necks and heads roll. Jaws tear out flesh and spines. The screech and hisses of vampires surround them. The wolves relentlessly bite at the enemy and the air turns red with blood as it rains.

For 200 years, Zayden Maximus ruled with an iron fist so tight, it was thought even in death it would still stand.

The others, however, had different plans.

Laying in wait, the Lycans plotted an assassination attempt on Zayden. His Queen was injured and Zayden declared war. The High council was disbanded and it looked like all was lost.

Hearing of the news, the vampires breached the borders of the northern countries and ate their way to London.

Damon Klouse. First son and heir to the Klouse empire, declared the Earth belonged to the night. Zayden attempted to kill Damon only to have his attempt thwarted by Victor Conti. The Lycan Breed Prince made king after he killed his father for the crown.

Still harboring resentment towards Victor, Zayden had the lycan king arrested and sent to the High council prison. There, Victor was tortured for years as punishment for assisting the vampires and his attempt on his Queen.

Victor vowed revenge, but was quickly beaten down and sent to Italy. When he arrived, a civil war broke out after his people felt his weakness.

This left Zayden with the Vampires.

The night walkers wasted no time making more to join the cause. Wave after wave of hungry first years attacked Zayden’s wolves. He thought all was lost until one man stepped forward and ended it all with a simple spell.

A wizards spell of time.

This single man took 50 years of constant battle and erased it from history. He moved to a point where the assassin entered the chamber of Zayden Maximus and the intruder quickly met his demise.

The man not only erased history as we knew it, but let Zayden remember. This one act prevented millions of deaths.

Zayden professed his loyalty to the man, but he could not save him from what awaited him.

In the man’s world, time manipulation was forbidden. It was too easy to make history your own. The man knew this and chose to run, but not before giving Zayden a gift.

The gift…of foresight.

He showed Zayden his future. He saw many things, except what was in front of him the whole time.

A rise of a species that sat in the shadows.

They quietly observed and stewed in hatred. They watched the unnatural eat the planet and spit out even more evil until they broke their silence.

They were the one species Zayden never counted on to rise against him.

Humans.

These beings with very little power and no supernatural skill, managed to thwart the king and capture him.

He was taken to London where he was chained and his wolf held prisoner in his body. He was beaten and threatened.

It was then that he learned the true capabilities of Man.

What they lacked in power, they made up for in knowledge. What Zayden thought was silence, was actually study. The humans studied the enemy to a point where they knew them better than they knew themselves. The humans learned just how to strike and how to kill.

And while Zayden was building his house and the supernatural council, the humans built their own.

The House of Striker.

Run by Lord William Striker, Zayden now had a new enemy to deal with.

On the day of execution, Zayden was dropped to his knees in front of William, in the middle of the Striker property. A sword was laid across his neck.

He pleaded with William.

“If you kill me, there will be no stopping them. I protect you!”

“In your little speech, you know what I heard?” William stood over the beaten king.

“What?”

“LIES!!” William bellows as his men stare Zayden down with vile hatred.

William was giddy at the thought of killing the king. “We don’t need your protection, Zayden. We ruled this planet before you and we will rule once it’s cleansed of all monsters.”

“You can’t, William. Be reasonable!’ Zayden shouts.

“There is nothing reasonable about you people. You battle. Wage war and humans are caught in the middle. You treat our species like cattle and we no longer stand with it. Once you’re gone, my cleansing will begin. I will rid the Earth of you and all other things that don’t make sense.” He takes the sword from his guard. “We earned this planet. You are an insult to ten thousands years of Men.”

William raises his sword. “The House of Maximus and the age of wolves is over.”

“WOLVES!!”

William turns and Zayden’s army of thousands roars onto the property.

Zayden smirks. “You can’t suppress a mind who already knew this was coming.”

William and his house were swallowed by wolves. The humans defended it as best they could, but they could not prevail. The Striker house was sure to end before it started, but that wasn’t the case.

Zayden did escape, but made his words clear. “Do not harm them.”

The wolves attacked just enough to free the king and left minimal causalities behind. This left the humans questioning Zayden’s motives.

Zayden may have saw his death, but he wasn’t show who perpetrated it. When he found out who the executioners were, his heart held conflict to a point he couldn’t treat the humans the same.

To this day, no one knows what else Zayden saw, but he still wanted what everyone did. Peace.

Not blaming the humans for their grievances, Zayden offered a chair to the House of Striker in 1894.

With the Americas in the running to become a powerful country, and more of the planet becoming exposed, William believed it was the best course of action.

Keep your enemies closer.

The humans joined to High Council and the agreements were made. The hunters could rise, but only to take down the ugliest of beasts. The kingdoms and their people were to remain untouched.

William agreed, but to say he never secretly protected himself would be a lie.

He created an alliance with an unknown group of humans that were even more worrisome than the beasts he hunted. But being loyal to his species, he trusted them and created a group that remains a complete mystery today.

With this secret Alliance, the Cleaners were born. Hunters bent on righting the wrongs of the world. And although his agreement with Zayden still stood, William pushed his morality aside and faced the honest truth. Good or bad, they were still food for all the monsters.

William started to prepare. As he held his seat on the council, he built his army under their noses.

Should the need ever arise, the heir to the Striker throne will be one who can control this army.

The problem was no one but William and his secret society knew where it is.

And it’s still lost to this day.

Somewhere out there, a human arsenal waits in slumber until the day when a hunter questions his purpose. When they ask the questions of why or how the beasts are better than humans, the door will open and the army will march.

And when the human’s army marches…

Everything will die.

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