Ashton and a handful of others were on their way to the enclosure. The same one where Ashton had grown up in. Why? Because technically it was his enclosure now and he needed more people to rebuild Livan.
That being said, Jonathan hadn't officially given it to him, but it wasn't like Ashton needed his permission, in the first place.
After all, he was now much stronger than Jonathan was. Although Jonathan still had an edge over Ashton in terms of his army, he didn't want to sour his relationship with him anymore as it was already on the rocks.
Also, the fact that Jonathan needed Ashton in order to take over the swamps forced him to make sure Ashton was not offended in any way, no matter how much he wanted to.
He could only bid his time and hope for an opportunity to come up where they could talk and solve their problems without hostility from either side.
However, Jonathan did recall the royal guards he had placed under Ashton's command. Citing a reason that no other nobles had them, thus Ashton shouldn't have them either. But Ashton could literally see right through Jonathan's lies.
He was worried that Ashton was growing too strong and influential. So much so that he began doubting the loyalty of his soldiers, thinking Ashton would take his throne away from him. All this despite Ashton saying he had no intention of ruling over a country.
He even said, as long as Jonathan did not interfere in his business, he wouldn't care what he does or doesn't do. But Jonathan was right to fear his soldiers slipping away from his command.
Something he saw first-hand by Sheera's reluctance to leave her new lord. But since she was completely loyal to the throne, she had no other choice but to do as she was told.
That being said, after a month of hmms and haws, Ashton had managed to tame the remaining members of the Morgans. It wasn't as easy as it seemed, with everyone objected and did not accept him as their lord, as most of them believed Marcee and Bishop were still alive.
It was only when Ashton showed their severed heads to Marcee's would-be wife, did they accept Ashton as their lord.
If Ashton wanted, he could have decided not to go through all the troubles and simply forced them to join him under the might of his iron fist. But since he needed trustable people from within the crowd who would help him run their city, he had to be patient and behave as such.
Running an estate as huge as the Morgans wasn't an easy task, thus he needed some help. Having some people around him would only do him good and refrain other nobles from acting out against him.
As for Mera, she was nowhere to be found. Almost as if she disappeared from the face of the planet entirely. Even though Ashton did want to see her suffer, he decided to let the matter rest for a bit. It wasn't like he had any other choice as he doubted Mera was going to show her face to him in a long time.
"Feeling nervous?" Verina asked with her usual smile.
"Nah, not nervous but a bit annoyed, I guess?" Ashton replied indifferently.
"Why though?"
"When the mistress 'marked' me as her property, a lot of them said one day I will return there as a noble or some other high ranking member of the society. Back then I hated the nobles with a passion... well I hated everything that wasn't human, to be honest."
Ashton continued, "Long story short, I yelled at them that I would rather die than become one of them. A few years later... here I am, and I can't wait to see their 'I told you so' faces."
"Well, technically you fulfilled your promise. After all, you became an undead first before a noble." Verina said with a smile.
"Hm, maybe they were fortune-tellers or some shit. Humans used to have those right? I wonder if they were able to predict their loss in the battle and thus ran off the planet!" Virgil chimed in through the radio, "Maybe they'll predict my future with Fae as well. Hmm... a warning regarding married life would be appreciated. Oh wait- I didn't mean it!"
Virgil was so caught up in the moment, that he forgot Fae was with him in the same car. As Fae attacked Virgil, Ashton couldn't help but laugh. A few seconds later, he realised the sisters were staring at him as if he was a monkey who did a trick.
"Is there something on my face?" He asked them. Both of them nodded in synch, "What?"
"A smile." Irina replied before turning her gaze away, "You should smile more."
"Look who's talking." Ashton shook his head but smiled again.
By this time, they reached the enclosure. Ashton looked outside from the window and the memories of the place came flooding back to his mind. Almost a year had passed since he had seen this place and nothing had changed.
The entire 'prison', looked the same as it had done before. The guards were patrolling as usual even in Mera's absence while the people inside were doing what they did best, nothing.
'I guess some things never change?'
As soon as the humans saw the cars approach them, they immediately bowed down, regardless of their age, gender or physical condition. It was whipped into them that no matter what, if they see a member of werewolf society, they had to greet them like this or well get punished.
Ashton was all too familiar with the rule because he was punished every couple of weeks because he refused to follow the rules of the enclosure. He stepped out of the car and a moment later he was greeted by Gustavo Volga, the captain of the voluntary guards.
"I greet my lord." He said.
Ashton was a bit weirded out by seeing the man who often whipped him for disobedience, bowing before him.
"You're still here huh? Well, you won't be around for long."
"M-My lord?"
"I'm demolishing this enclosure and taking the humans with me." Ashton replied, "Now a destroyed enclosure wouldn't need security would it?"