The Merciless Alpha(erotica)

“I think I put a bowl in the closet at some point,” she pondered lazily, her eyes traipsing Vlad’s taut form, while his lingering on the vampire’s tantalizing breasts. There were bikers, werewolves, a number of police officers, and the human that Sadie had saved at the warehouse present, but Sadie and Vlad only had eyes for each other.

Mel rolled her eyes. She stood near Sadie and snapped her fingers in front of the vampire’s face. “Hello? Anyone in there? Potentially apocalyptic fight with Solomon coming up? Any of this ring a bell?”

Sadie’s face fell a bit. “Spoilsport.” With one last glance at Vlad, she brought her attention back to where it needed to be. “But you’re right. He won’t play this fair. Hell, he won’t even play by the rules he wrote. He’s only a quarter demon, and he’s had the Blood Brood defending him for most of recorded history.”

“Don’t discount him,” Vlad said, his mind back in the game. “He’s backed into a corner. And there are those who have a lot to lose if the vampires wind up following you instead of the Blood Saint.”

“Frost you mean?” Sadie asked.

Devlin raised a fist and started to count on his fingers. “Frost, the Blood Brood and the rest of Solomon’s entourage, the elves and the witches who have been sucking up to them –”

“I get it, I get it. He’s got a lot of friends,” Sadie said, rubbing her temples.Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

“Don’t underestimate your own support,” Vlad said, standing up and rubbing her temples and shoulders for her. He just didn’t want to go long without touching her. “The vampires have stepped on a lot of toes, so most of the mortal races don’t trust them. You KNOW the wolves are behind you, and probably the goblins and humans as well.”

“True dat,” Frankenstein said, popping open one of Sadie’s last bottles of Guinness.

“So he comes for me, but when? He’s not going to attack me here,” Sadie pondered. “It would be suicide to attack a vampire on her own ground, particularly when she’s got support.”

“We could go on the offensive,” Todd said. Sadie was convince that Vlad’s nephew had a future in wolf politics, because he was interested and involved at a relatively young age.

“Nope,” Sadie said. “I’ve got to play by the rules. Remember, my own children call me the Betrayer. If I want to convince them otherwise, I have to take the high road.” She growled. “I can’t turn this into another war,” she said. “The last one almost ended my species. While sometimes I think that might not have been a bad thing, I’ve found there’s some hope for us yet.” This last was directed at Melissa, who blushed just a little bit. “Heard from Mary yet?”

“Yeah, she appeared for a bit this evening. The wraiths still have Frost’s mansion surrounded, but the Blood Rampart has it pretty secure. They’re probably planning just like we are.” She glared at Vlad, who’s hands were drifting a little low to be giving a “shoulder rub.” “Get a room,” she chuckled.

Sadie looked towards the trailer. “We kind of trashed it,” she said happily. Then she reluctantly pushed his hands away, just as a patrol car pulled up the drive with Captain Grom inside.

“Hey Cap’n” Vladimir said, leaning against the wall of the trailer.

Grom met the officer’s eyes. “So this is why you called in sick? Again?”

Vlad shrugged. “Something came up.”

Sadie was grinning from ear to ear. “Several times as a matter of fact.”

“Good grief.” Mel rolled her eyes again. “What’s the word Captain?”

“You know you’ve got a ring of camera crews around your property? They’re all wanting to talk to you and figure out if you’re going to accept his challenge.”

“Challenge?”

“Yes. He is challenging you to meet him at Downlands Park, where, and I quote, ‘She will beg for my mercy or her own life.’ The fact that YOU challenged him first hasn’t quite registered yet. He’s claiming that you are demon-tainted alright, and that it was you and not your ‘mutual’ mother that lay down with them. He’s saying that the reason you seem so powerful is a deal you made with the Lords of Hell, and NOT that you are superior to him in any way.”

Sadie’s face changed to stone. “He wouldn’t challenge me to a fair fight,” she uttered. “Even if he were so sure of his own power, mine would be a mystery to him. Solomon is a coward above all else.”

“He’s a coward with nowhere left to run,” Vlad reminded her. “He’s more dangerous than ever.”

“I have to face him though,” the mother of all vampires reminded him. “I try to play it safe or wait him out, then his words gain strength. When did he want to meet?”

“Midnight,” Grom said. “High noon for darkworlders.”

Sadie walked to the edge of her deck, staring up at the risen moon and letting it softly caress her face, realizing it could be her last night on earth. She didn’t want anyone else to know how much the notion of death scared her now. Never mind that she had a vampiric child that she cared about, or a lover than made her dead blood sing. She had walked the earth for seven thousand years, and she was used to the world. What lay beyond was . . . well, beyond her.

“Once more into the breach, dear friends,” she whispered. “Let’s mount up.” She looked at her friends, the daughter of her blood, then the holder of her heart. Then with a powerful stroke of her wings, she took to the sky.

Mel felt Sadie’s fear. Her connection to the vampire mother was powerful. “Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown,” the goth vampire replied softly, then headed for her car.

———— —————–

Midnight . . .

———— —————–

The area around the park was around Downlands Park was a sea of movement, consisting of both mortal and immortal races, cars, camera-crews, and cops. It was so thick that movement was almost impossible, except for two roads leading up to the par that were kept clear by the national guard. One road for Solomon, and the other road was for Sadie’s forces . . . Eve’s forces. Not that she much cared, as she flew the whole way in. There was a large stone circle in the middle of the park, and it was encased in a set magical sphere. Solomon’s Blood Rampart were part of its power supply, but so was the Northwestern Coven. It seems like lines had been drawn in the sand while the primary players had slept.

There was a pavilion set up on one side of the circle, and Sadie could feel Solomon’s presence emanating from inside. She landing on the other side of the circle, where she was joined by her entourage. She looked around and saw Vlad, Mel, Devlin, Tommy, Frankenstein and his riders, a smattering of werewolves that this time included Todd, Ivan, and Anya. And Bart?

She walked up to the captive demon, anger and pain on her mind.

“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t –” Her thoughts of vengeance stopped when Bart got down on his knees, bowing before her.

“I beg your forgiveness your majesty,” the yellow-skinned demon said. There was no sarcasm or disdain in his voice this time. “Had I known, I would have shown you the respect you so richly deserve.”

Some people nearby took pictures of the demon groveling at Sadie’s feet. She didn’t know if this would help or hurt her cause, but if she didn’t defeat Solomon then it really wouldn’t matter. “Your majesty?”

“You are the daughter of the King of Blood,” he whispered, pressing his forehead to the ground. “You are the heir to one of the Thrones of Hell.”

Sadie shook her head in disbelief. “Bullshit. I hate my Father, and I have no intention of claiming anything of his.”

Bart met her gaze now, and it looked hungry. He knew who she was, and serving her would put him in good graces with the King of Blood. “Hate is a good thing in Hell,” he replied. “And you are his heir whether you intend to inherit or not. Even should you choose not to rule on Earth, you will serve at his right hand when you find your way to the next world.”

She turned and walked away. This was not a conversation that she wanted to have with Bart. Hell, there wasn’t any conversation that she wanted to have with him.

Melissa was glaring at Bart as Sadie walked away. She knew what he had done as surely as she knew the sun would rise that morning. Terrence was dead because the demon had been playing games. Melissa had been left crumpled and bloody in the ruins of her car because of Bart, and Sadie had been forced to make the decision that had led to this war. Melissa had never been a hateful person in her life, but she wanted Bart gone from this plane of existence, and for the first time she could see herself being responsible for it.

“What did he want?” she growled.

“To worship me, apparently.” She was quickly surrounded by her crew, all of whom looked all business. Cameras were flashing and a ton of reporters were trying to get close, only to be held at bay by the majority of the Northwestern wolf pack, along with bikers and a number of . . . goblins?

“Where’d the goblins come from?” Sadie asked. The squat creatures weren’t known for being organized fighters, thought they could be really nasty when backed into a corner.

“We called some folk,” came a voice near the circle. It was Marge, the goblin waitress/co-owner of “Roll the Bones.”

“What the heck are you doing here?” Sadie asked, grinning in spite of the situation. She liked the sass-mouthed waitress.

“Lady, you’ve been paying attention to the little people since you got here, makin’ sure they’s taken care of. Time for us little people to watch your back.”

“You didn’t have to do this,” Sadie said, looking at the goblins interspersed amongst her impromptu guard.