The Offering

by Rosary Deville

  “Well, in that one aspect, that asshole and I agree. Don’t ever, ever run, Fern.”

  “You know, I don’t like seeing you get hurt, either.”

  Shamar smiled forlornly. “Sorry about that.”

  “You-You both better be!” Alphonse stood in the bathroom doorway. His hands on his hips. “You-You guys left Lucian and I to carry the weight.”

  “Well, seeing how Loretta started it and drove Don away, it serves him right.”

  “What the-the fuck, Fern?” I didn’t expect Alphonse to get angry. “Is this a-a-a vampire versus wereduin thing no-now?”

  “What? No.”

  “Since-Since when can you control Don? Why blame Lucian and think-think he can do the same?”

  “Sorry, sorry.” It probably did sound like I was taking sides. “I, well…I kinda would’ve liked Don to be there. Then that asshole wouldn’t have been able to take a go at Shamar.”

  “Is-Is it bad?” Alphonse’s anger faded.

  “Nah,” Shamar brushed it off.

  “Well, in all fairness, Lucian t-told them to leave. Loretta just-just likes to cause trouble.” Alphonse looked from Shamar to me. “B-But you didn’t do much to-to-to drive them away. Honestly, y-you just provoked them more.”

  “What did you want me to do, beg them to leave?” I growled. “Yeah, fucking right.”

  “Be-Because they’re vampires?”

  “No, because I don’t beg to anyone. Fuck, no.”

  “Okay, all right, guys. Let’s not fight. I’m good.” It was weird that Shamar had stopped a conflict when normally I had to stop conflicts between him and Alphonse.

  We left the restroom, and Don was waiting outside.

  “You? You’re back!” I smiled without thinking, but it faded as I took in his appearance. “You’ve been fighting?”

  “Had a couple of rounds.”

  “With the vampires?”

  “Those bloodsuckers? Nah, they ran. Typical. Fucking cowards. It was just some alpha that got thrown out. He was eying you, so he came to the right spot.”

  “Good.” Anger seethed through my words. “Hope you ripped him up.”

  “Wow.” Don looked surprised. “First you don’t want me to fight, now you want me to tear him up.”

  “That asshole clawed Shamar.”

  “Oh? Your friend all right?” Was Don caring about Shamar?

  “Uh, yeah. He was able to get patched up from the first aid kit.”

  Don nodded before he swore under his breath. “Fucking bloodsuckers. I should have been there.”

  “Lucian’s not like that.”

  Don snorted. “Yeah, for now.”

  “For ever. Lucian has been my friend since I first started high school. Maybe his family can be assholes, but he’s not. So don’t hold it against him.”

  “Just be careful, Fern.” I expected him to fight me more. Maybe he realized Lucian wasn’t much of a threat? “You okay?” Don rested his hand on my head before trailing his fingers down my face.

  “Hey!” I didn’t have time to push him off before he let go.

  “You’re pretty good,” Don smiled. “So how long have you been playing?” Was Don curious about one of my interests?

  I tried to fix my hair as I led the way down the stairs to the speakeasy where my guitar and amps waited. “Since Mom gave me one when I was in middle school.”

  “Was that around the time I protected you?”

  I thought about it. “A little before, actually.”

  “You protected Fern in school? When?” Shamar was putting away his drum set. Alphonse and Lucian were still closing their gear.

  “Not really any of your business, is it?”

  “Geez, Don!” I glared at him. “He’s just asking a question.” I turned to Shamar. “Yeah, it was from Brig and his group.” Shamar and I had become friends in the second year of middle school, so he was familiar with the group of senior alphas who used to bother me.

  Shamar eyed Don skeptically.

  “I’m gonna grab another drink.” Don didn’t seem bothered when Shamar’s skepticism turned into a glare.

  “Wait,” I called him back, “get me one.”

  “I’m not buying you alcohol.”

  “The fuck, Don? Since when are you my parent? Come on, if you’re my mate and all, then you have to share—”

  Don looked at me with wide eyes. Stepping into my personal space, he cupped my chin and kissed me hard.

  I pushed him away. “Wa-Wait!”

  “You called me your mate.”

  I shook my head. “Slip of the tongue.”

  “Well, your drink that I had changed my mind about getting you just slipped my mind.”

  I growled. “Jerk. Can’t you be nice to me for once?”

  “Who’s not nice to you?” The corner of his lip rose in a smirk. “Say it again, say that I’m your mate, and I’ll get you something to drink.”

  “F-Forget it.” Kina, the bartender, liked me. She would give me Jars Lite. She was cool like that. I didn’t need to stoop so low for alcohol. “Never mind. I’m tight with the bartender. She’ll give me something.”

  “With what money?”

  Oh. With Don present, there was no way he’d allow me access to his family’s Vault like I had on the bus to Shamar’s.

  “Fuck it, I don’t need anything, anyway.” I turned and continued putting my guitar away, trying not to take my anger out on the instrument. I was pissed. The chasm between Don and I widened even more. He was the one with the money and the power in this relationship. He had age, and soon the law, on his side too. What did I have? I couldn’t even go to a bar with my friends without being attacked.

  I turned around and glared at Don at the bar. Jerk. He lived to humiliate me. That was why he had to point out that he had money while I had none. I had nothing without him.

  I sat my guitar case next to the coffee table where we normally liked to hang out after a show and have a drink. Alphonse had already claimed some couches. He kept looking at Don with large, dreamy eyes—probably wondering how he should ask for an autograph. Alphonse and his stupid spawn.

  Shamar already had a drink. “Got you one. If you’re up for it?” He passed me a Jars Lite.

  “See? I knew Kina was working tonight!” I took a swig before my smile weakened. “Oh, wait. I don’t have any ules this time.”

  “Pay me back later.”

  “With what money?” Don held a drink in each hand. “Here.” He placed one down in front of me.

  It was one of the warm liquor-based drinks. Fancy, but not overly high in alcohol. About the same as a Jars Lite and probably tasted much better.

  “He already has a drink.” Shamar snarled at Don, narrowing his brow—it made it look like he didn’t have eyebrows, and that made his eyes stand out. He looked like the menacing zombie that he was. “He doesn’t need to be in any more debt to you.”

  “You really are an annoying, little brat. Aren’t you?” Don picked up the Jars Lite Shamar had given me and took a sip.

  “What the hell, jerk?” I couldn’t believe he drank from my bottle.

  “Fine. Have it your way.” He placed the Jars Lite back in front of me. “Drink this crap. Or…you can have the good stuff. Your choice?”

  I sniffed the warm drink. It smelled heavenly. But Don was the one offering. Should I take it? Shamar looked pissed like he wanted to hit Don but thankfully thought better of that. Of course, Don ignored him like an unruly child, which, I imagined pissed Shamar off even more. Don was such a belittling jerk.

  Sipping the warm drink before I could stop myself, I tasted it.

  Wow.

  “See? Told ya.” Don’s smile widened, and I realized I spoke out loud.

  Shamar’s look of betrayal made me feel guilty for drinking it.

  Despite coming of age in wereduin society, somehow, I still wasn’t old enough to drink. Funny how I was now allowed (required?) to join the Offering and potentially get killed in the stupid matin
g game. Not to mention forced to mate with some asshole alpha, but Arduinna help it, if I actually wanted to get drunk. Our society had its priorities up its ass.

  “Well, it is kinda good.” I snubbed Don. “Not like I’m gonna thank you.”

  Don looked irritatingly smug. “And yet you did.”

  “I’m going home.” Shamar collected his things.

  “Shamar!” I went after him when Don grabbed my hand.

  “He has to accept you’re mated now. Otherwise, I have no intention of letting him come around.” If Don could have picked the worst possible words to say to me then, he did.

  “What the fuck?” I tried to yank away from him, but he was too strong. No surprise there. “Maybe you expect the whole world to think what you’re doing to me is not wrong, but Shamar isn’t like that!”

  “Wrong? You’re my mate. I’m not doing anything wrong to you.” With his free hand, he chugged his drink. “We’re going.”

  “W-What?”

  “We have to get up early for tomorrow, anyway.”

  “But I haven’t even finished my drink yet?”

  “Then it’s a good thing you didn’t want it. Let’s go.”

  “No.”

  “Fern.” His tone was low, challenging. “Are you trying to test my patience? If you don’t want to get thrown out of your own bar, pick up your stuff and let’s go. I won’t say it again. We’re leaving.”

  I wondered if I should challenge him. But…I really liked this bar. As it was, they were giving Don unwelcoming looks. If the two of us started fighting in here, I might not be allowed back.

  “I fucking hate you. You know that?”

  “Come on.” He downed the remainder of his drink and headed up the steps. “You’ve got five minutes to get your stuff, or else I’m dragging you out of here, got that?”

  “Fern?” Alphonse had been silent the entire time. Lucian had gone home to prevent Loretta’s story from being the only one given to Father. Oddly, even though he was alone, Alphonse didn’t look afraid. Weird. “You really ought to be nice-nicer to-to him, you know?”

  “What?” I exhaled sharply like he’d socked me in the gut. “Me, be nice to him? You were right there. You saw how he treated me!”

  “Well, I saw you f-fight-fighting him. He even got you that-that drink you wanted. Honestly, he’s a-a nice guy. Maybe in-in-instead of fighting him, y-you should try and get t-to know him.”

  “Fuck you.”

  Alphonse held up his hands. “S-Sorry, I don’t wanna butt my nose in.”

  “Then don’t. Fuck…just ’cause he’s a spawn player, that’s all you’re thinking about.”

  “No. I mean, yeah, but besides all that. He’s like th-the nicest alpha I’ve met. Really. I don’t think he’d be mean to you, if-if you didn’t act the way y-you do.”

  “The way I do?”

  “Ye-Yeah…”

  “He threatened to drag me outta here. And he would too! He pushes me around. And he’s the nice one? Fuck this.” I grabbed up my guitar case and stacked my amps on top of it, carrying it up. Alphonse’s words lingered.

  Don had gotten me a drink. He hadn’t prevented me from going tonight. He’d even showed interest in my playing. Though I wasn’t sure how I felt about him coming with me, it was nice to know that he was there to keep me safe. Still, Don, nice? He was a jerk, right? He was a rapist. He kidnapped me. He ordered me around. He threatened to not let me be around Shamar. I scoffed. Like I would ever stop hanging out with my best friend.

  Still, I couldn’t get Alphonse’s words out of my head though, regardless of how hard I tried.

  …to be continued in book 2!

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  About the Author

  Rosary is an author of erotica ranging from sweet and fluffy, to dark and taboo. She aims to foster a sex-positive experience for readers to indulge their fantasies in a fun and safe space. Sometimes she uses her writing to journey into the often hidden and taboo depths of human sexuality, and hopes readers will take away from her stories, not an acceptance of violence and sexual abuse, but rather a way to embrace their inner desires often shamed by society.

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  Also by Rosary Deville

  HENRÍ, À LA CARTE

  À la carte, book #1

  It’s another year, another birthday for Casey until his lover gets other plans.

  Henrí never expected to be asked to join a threesome, but when he’s asked by his crush’s boyfriend, how can he resist becoming a side dish to the couple’s sexual appetites.

  Glossary

  Alpha Wereduin

  Developed to be strong, dominant, and vicious

  Most have Irish-sounding names – although they do not know the origin

  Tallest of the races, they can reach heights over eight feet in werewolf form

  Have the ability to influence their betas with their alpha prowess—mental arousal or physical essence that can be consumed by betas

  Follow strict rules of societal behavior, which is based on class

  When they come of age, they devote themselves to a sect of one of the gods. Most, if not all, involve some kind of fighting

  Alphonse

  Fern’s human friend

  Like all humans in this society, he is a descendant of the legendary Van Helsing and a family of Vampire Hunters. But it’s been centuries since they have hunted vampires. Now the two races live side by side

  Fern thinks he’s a scaredy-cat with the courage of a mouse

  He has a nervous stutter and, although tall, slouches when he walks to not draw attention

  He will return in a spin-off

  Arduinna, Goddess of Hunt

  Alpha goddess known as the mother goddess, because she created the wereduin race from her two hunting worgs

  Her beta mate is Cerowain, God of Fertility

  Arawn, the God of Death

  Beta mate to the Twin Gods of War

  Souls go before him and are judged accordingly, with those found worthy sent to the Moon Vale and those who are not are sent to the Shadows, where they will be forgotten

  Legend has it that the Twin Gods of War protected their beta, Arawn the God of Death, from the old gods who wanted to rid Death from the heavens. From that, alphas from the Twin’s sect swear an oath to do likewise for their betas

  Ayida-Weddo

  In the Voodoo religion practiced by zombies, she is the creator of the zombie race, and they revere her as their Mother Goddess

  She is the most powerful of all Voodoo loa, and the closest to the Supreme god, who later turned her into a goddess

  Bayous

  Swampland where Zombies live in medium-sized communities

  The Voodoo spell that helps maintain and animate their bodies requires a lot of water, so the humid air is perfect

  Beta Wereduin

  Smaller wereduin born to be subservient, as is their natural state, before society made it something to strip away one’s personhood, as Fern said

  Birth young, regardless of gender

  Typically are named after flowers or plants, i.e., Fern, and Rose, etc.

  Can be influenced by alphas’ prowess that calls forth their instincts to submit to their alpha

  We
rewolf form developed for beauty, not strength or fierceness

  Prized in society for lineage and often treated as a commodity. When born, they belong to their parents, and then ownership is transferred to an alpha upon mating. Legally, they are the property of the alpha

  When their alpha dies, they are buried with them, often put to sleep to ease the process

  Are accepted into alpha’s den if they have one

  Blackfang Den

  Don’s family den

  Highborne den with family crests and estate

  Bloodwhispers

  Creatures that hunt after molebats have finished their attacks

  They secrete mists to make their victims comatose, then attack from the shadows

  These are silent blood drawers, crave live blood

  Evolved to be deathly silent since too weak to attack in the open.

  They are long and skinny and inch along the ground like a caterpillar. Their centipede-like bodies are covered in soft hairs

  They’re roughly two feet long

  To draw blood, they use their long feelers that resembled antennae on both sides of their head

  They can draw blood without inflicting pain and can drain their prey dry without being noticed until it’s too late

  Most live close to molebats to take advantage of their leftovers

  Molebats sometimes eat them, but mostly, bloodwhispers wait until the colony has left the arena before looking for food weakened by the molebats

  Bog Homes

  Zombie homes. These circular homes have wooden porches and steps leading up to the door. The poles on either side stick into the mud and prevent the home from sinking

  Brawny

  One of Don’s lowlife friends whose crude humor and abusive nature toward his beta make him particularly distasteful

  He likes to taunt Fern, which borders on harassment and later puts him at odds with Don

  Alpha werewolf who’s smaller than Don and roughly around his age