Chapter 219: Lanely Ranch
Beatrice didn't go alone. She went with two young witches of the Coven. This was the original Witch Coven and their only goal was to maintain their bloodline, not the Coven of the Forest Crone.
Two peasants stopped her before she could go into the ranch.
"State your business, stranger." A peasant said.
"I am here to request a meeting with your Alphas."
As soon as she said that, the peasants widened their eyes. These were not ordinary peasants. These were Wolfmen disguised as peasants.
Their number dwindled after the encounter with that crazy skeleton. Now, they only wished to lay low and recover.
"We don't know what you're talking about, lady. You better leave."
"I am Beatrice Cavendish. A messenger of the Witch Coven. Do you still wish me to leave now?"
The peasants looked at each other in shock.
"Wait here."
One of them went away to notice the only Alpha left of the Wolfman.
A witch approached Beatrice and whispered to her ears, "They seem arrogant."
"Not arrogant." Beatrice whispered back. "From what we learned, they suffered a great loss against a Prince of Darkness. They couldn't afford to relax like before."
"Another Prince of Darkness? We never heard about them and now they're suddenly everywhere. What is going on?"
"I don't know, Leah. But let's hope those Princes don't take an interest toward us."
The peasant returned.
"Come, the Great Alpha is waitingfor you."
'The Great Alpha? Since when does the Alphas have a Great?' Beatrice asked herself silently.
They were escorted through the ranch. This ranch was quite spacious. Beatrice could see the cattle herd afar with peasants tending to them. They had a good number of cattle, probably around a hundred of them.
'A hundred cows and bulls. For a simple ranch, it is more than enough to feed them. But for Wolfmen, a hundred cattle is less than enough food.'
Wolfman appetize was large. It was because they burned a lot of energy to retain their transformation power. A Wolfman may eat as much as five grown men to maintain their power. A hundred beasts couldn't feed hundreds of Wolfmen.
'But I don't think they even have that much Wolfmen left. They probably have less than a hundred right now. They are weak. That is why they will need us.'
Inside the cabin, Richard Manley was sitting with two beautiful female on either of his side. The girls were daughters of the previous Alphas.
Richard didn't wear a shirt, showing his toned muscles to the naked eyes. He leaned forward and observed Beatrice from head to toe.
"You must be the travelling witch I heard about." Richard smirked.
"Name of the trade and less of a title. I am Beatrice Cavendish."
"Prepare some wine for our guests, girls." Richard flicked his hand.
The girls stood up obediently.
"It's alright. We don't drink. We need to be sober to discuss the important matter anyway."
"What kind of important matter?" Richard raised an eyebrow.
Beatrice shot a gaze toward the two young witches. They nodded and left the room.
Richard also nodded toward the girls, telling them to give him and Beatrice some privacy.
Leah and Dorothy stood outside. They couldn't help but smell a stench of wet dog around in the air.
"What is even that smell?" Dorothy said.
"The smell of the Wolfman probably." Leah said.
"Trix is going to take a while to reach a deal with the Alpha. Want to head over to the woods and pick some herbs? I need a few ingredients to make my potions." Dorothy said.
"Lead the way."
The two young witches left the ranch on their own. They didn't know that some of the Wolfmen were looking at them. The air in this place was heavy.
The two young witches, Leah and Dorothy. Leah with her long chestnut hair and bright skin. Dorothy was bit paler and she had dark hair. The two were the latest birth of the Witch Coven and probably would be running the stage soon.
After all, they would be the last of their kinds if the witches didn't figure out how to make more offsprings.
Leah sighed. She and Dorothy weren't blood sister. But they were even more tight-knitted than that. They bathed together, studied magic together, and even went through the pain of their coming of age ritual together.
But they couldn't help but feel awful for the future of the witches.
'Is it their Fate for their kind to be doomed?' Leah asked that many times.
They scattered around the outskirts of the woods to gather herbs. Dorothy with her red hood and Leah with her green hood. Their ears moved as they heard the hooves of the horse and the wheels of a carriage.
They looked over. A skinny young man with round glasses.
Their gazes met each other. And Carter could feel the string of the world operated behind the scene.
'This damn world... Why do you keep inserting sexual tension everywhere? I'm slowly getting sick of this!'
Leah and Dorothy met many men. Mostly tall intimidating warriors. They were mostly the clients of the witches. They also met the Wolfmen before and the witches hated their 'wild' way of living. They just didn't have any culture to them.
It was the first time they met a harmless, clean-looking young man such as this round-glassed traveler.
Carter wore a top hat to be more aligned with this world fashion. He took it off and bowed gently.
"Hello, strangers. I'm looking for the Lanely Ranch. Do you know where it is?" Carter said.
Dorothy nodded, "We just left from there. If you want, we can lead you there."
"Perfect!" Carter smiled a harmless expression.
"We're planning on getting back too. Can we ride your carriage?" Dorothy said.
"Of course!" The scrawny man nodded.
Leah pulled Dorothy back and whispered. "What are you doing? What if he's a vampire? Or worse, some psychopath that would kill us and eat us?"
"I don't think a vampire is that ugly. Beside, do you really think he could take us?"
Carter heard all of that but he pretended like he didn't.
'Ugly? Well with Dracula's blood, all vampires are asically runway models with chiseled chins. Normal people may look very ordinary compared to them. But hey, don't disrespect my character. John is a good looking man.'
The witches climbed on the carriage eventually.
"Hello, I'm Dorothy. This is Leah. What's your name?"
"John Collins."