"You have quite the temper, don't you?" Indra said as he cracked his neck.
"BELOVED!"
Keran wasted no time as she threw herself at Indra and began squeezing him tightly.
She thought for sure that he was going to die!
Vampires have stellar regenerative capabilities, but even they cannot survive being cut into shreds like Indra just did.
"How... you... what?"
Ayame had so many questions that her brain temporarily stopped working.
The rude man that she'd cut down without a second thought was actually her daughter's former betrothed and the third prince of vampires.
Not only was he not dead, but he was… mutated?
That strange black blood flowing through his veins gave even the werewolf queen chills.
"Would you stop crying? I am obviously fine, little wolf." Indra was trying to remove Keran's body from his, but it proved to be to no avail.
"I-I thought I was going to lose you again! I don't know what i would have done if you'd-"
"How.. can you do that? How are you even alive?"
Indra briefly glanced at a shocked looking Ayame before turning his attention back to the crying werewolf girl in his arms.
"Dietary changes I suppose." He responded while stroking Keran's ears.
"What...?"
Indra did not elaborate, and that served to both enrage and intrigue Ayame even more.
"Answer me you pitiful whelp! Where have you been all this time?!"
Indra did not bother answering, and instead concentrated on wiping away the tears and snot bubbles that had formed on Keran's beautiful face. "Honestly... you're too big for this."
"I-I'm sorry..."
"Don't be sorry. Just stop crying, okay?"
By now, Ayame's anger was growing more and more, and she seemed like she was on the verge of cutting Indra into ribbons again.
Luckily, Enyo decided on that very moment to materialize and provide some much needed clarity.
Bowing respectfully, her tone immediately calmed the seething werewolf. "This servant of the Ascalons pays her respects to the matriarch of the Garou."
Finally getting the respect she felt was deserved, Ayame relaxed a bit in her massive throne. "I remember you, little ghost. I hope you can provide me with a fitting explanation as to what is going on."
"I will do my best, Queen Ayame."
Enyo told Ayame virtually everything, but there wasn't much to tell.
She explained how she was woken up by a group of humans who were trying to loot the castle and that was when she discovered that they had been asleep for hundreds of years in the castle bunker.
Ayame was slightly disappointed to learn that Indra was the last vampire left in existence, but all of that disappointment faded away when Enyo told her that Indra had suddenly gained the ability to cultivate.
Of course she kept it a secret that he had gained this ability after drinking the blood of an eldritch horror.
After that revelation, Ayame cared little for anything else.
She didn't ask how Indra had healed from her attack earlier.
She didn't even care how he had saved her daughter.
The only important thing was that she now had a potential pawn!
When she considered the potential Indra had based on who his father and mother were, she became positively ecstatic!
She knew just how much training they had put into their child until he was twenty, training like that did not go away easily, even after 800 years.
As her son in law, she was free to use him as her own personal beta!
And he was a blank slate with no memories? She couldn't have asked for anything better!
All she needed was to build his strength for the next couple of years and he would be slaughtering heroes left and right!
And she, his alpha and superior, would be the one to receive all of the praise for wiping out the last of the races of light and achieving prosperity for the fallen!
Ayame's body shook furiously as she tried to contain the furious laughter that eventually spilled out of her lips.
"Pfft... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! THIS IS A GREAT DAY INDEED!!"
Enyo, Keran, and Indra all were taken aback by the werewolf queen's sudden laughter.
Keran: "Mother?"
Enyo: 'What is the matter with her?'
Indra: 'This bitch is crazy.'
Eventually, Ayame regained her composure and ceased her reverberating laughter.
"Brat, how would you like to serve as the right hand in my army?" she inquired.
Indra's gaze suddenly became much harder and Ayame merely chuckled.
"I know what your father and your mother instilled in you. Talent like that should not be wasted, and should instead be cultivated for even greater purposes.
My army is completely different from my sniveling daughter's." Ayame said in a scathing tone that made Keran flinch. "They are elite, well trained warriors that will not shame you, or your efforts. And you, my young friend, can be my second in command."
Keran and Enyo's eyes widened.
Ayame was offering Indra almost complete authority over all of her warriors that were surely all above the overlord realm.
This was simply too good to be true!
Only Ayame knew that this was another test.
There was no way that the soldiers under her command would take orders from someone who was only in the mortal realm.
Indra would have to fight for his life to be heard, and in doing so, she would find out if he had the will and determination to go far in this war.
"I'm not interested." Indra said without a moment's consideration.
Ayame flinched and stared at Indra like he'd grown a second head. 'Did he realize I was setting up a trap?'
However, Indra made the reason for his refusal very clear.
"I have no interest in leading anyone, not now nor in the future. I especially dislike the idea of being a dog to the likes of you."
For the second time in hundreds of years, Ayame, Queen of the werewolves and one of the most ferocious women alive, had been stunned into silence.