by Alanea Alder
“Everyone likes you, baby girl. It seems to be your gift. One that, I think, might have saved us,” she said. Aleks looked up from Rebecca’s hands.
“Ma, you’re really starting to scare me. What is going on?” he asked.
Ma looked up at her son then to Rebecca.
“Rebecca, the man that you by happenstance ran into at the bookstore and unknowingly charmed, was none other than Prince Gabriel, leader of all vampires, and is said to be one of the coldest men of his race.” Aleks looked from his Ma to Rebecca, to Ma, and then back to Rebecca. He felt a pit of ice begin to form in his stomach. She had been so close to danger, to death. He grabbed Rebecca, putting her in his lap, wrapped his arms around her, and placed his chin on her head. Rebecca, feeling his fear, soothingly began to rub her hands up and down his forearms.
“I’m sorry, I thought you said Prince Gabriel. Ma, that can’t be right. He is known to be ruthless, cold, calculating, and he never leaves his coven,” Bran said, grabbing Kate and holding her.
“Elder Lachlan reported that the council has been tracking his movements over the past year. He has evidently moved his coven to the town outside of Arkadia and opened a paranormal-only club called Purgatory,” she said.
“Fuck!” Liam exploded.
“Normally I would say something about your language, Liam, but that sums it up nicely. Fuck indeed,” Ma said, and everyone just stared at her. For her to be cussing said volumes.
“This is so cool! I think Purgatory is a wicked name for a club. I can’t wait to go now,” Rebecca exploded.
Everyone as one turned and stared at her.
“What! Until he proves otherwise, Gabriel is a good guy in my book. His actions were that of a perfect gentleman. You can’t always believe what people say,” she said pointedly.
Everyone was quiet, lost in their own thoughts.
“You’re absolutely right, Rebecca. I have always been afraid of others based on what I believed of them to be true. I am ashamed I let so much time go by without reaching out and missed years of friendship,” Ashby said, smiling at Rian and Damian, who smiled in return.
“You have been chosen to be our next Alpha Mother for a reason. We’ll follow your lead on this,” Kate said, looking around the room.
“And if that person or persons proves to be dangerous or breaks their trust with you…” Bran said, looking at Aleks and Liam, who nodded.
“Then we destroy them,” Liam said simply.
“Great! Now that we have our world domination plans settled,” Rebecca said, grinning, “let’s call and arrange a meeting at this wickedly named club. Then we can party!” she said, bouncing up and down on Aleks’s lap. He grimaced and stilled her bouncing. She looked back over her shoulder and up at him, then bounced twice more before wiggling to get comfortable. She could feel Aleks’s semi erect cock spring to life. Aleks groaned as his head fell backwards. His lips were moving and Rebecca heard him faintly counting to ten. Connor and Rian started making catcalls. Rebecca blushed and started laughing.
“I’ll call and make arrangements,” Ma said, covering her mouth to hide her smile. She had never seen her sons and close friends laugh so much or smile so freely as they had around Rebecca. She prayed that nothing would happen to steal away their newfound happiness. But being in charge meant that even though you don’t want to face hard truths, you had to, to keep your people safe. She steeled herself against the growing reality that things would get much worse before they got better.
Chapter 15
“Aleks, the line starts back there,” Rebecca said, pointing to the end of the long line that was starting to snake around the corner. Rebecca smiled nervously at the people who were glaring at them. But she had to admit their group made an impressive sight. All seven Arkadion brothers, Kate, Bran, Liam, Rian, Damian, Ashby, and Nicholas were decked out in their best club wear. The Arkadion brothers seemed to have gone with a leather theme. They were decked out in leather pants and different color silk shirts. They had on boots that screamed “bad ass biker” and leather jackets to keep out the worst of the winter’s cold. She knew they had to have bikes somewhere. After seeing them together like this she was going to make them take her riding when the weather turned. She looked at all the leather. Yummy. Her eyes went to Bran and Kate, they looked like they just walked out of a high society magazine. Bran was rocking a grey suit with no tie, and Kate was pulling some serious lust-filled stares with her backless red gown. Ashby and Nicholas complimented each other, wearing jeans and flashy club tops, and Liam surprised her when he showed up wearing jeans, a white button-down with the sleeves rolled up onto his thick forearms, and a large belt buckle. Take me away, cowboy. Whenever Aleks wasn’t looking, she kept staring at the Arkadion men standing together. She sighed. He looked down, his eyes narrowed. She just grinned up at him.
“You keep checking them out and Aleks will put you over his knee,” Kate said, smiling.
“That’s what I’m hoping.” Rebecca winked and Kate laughed.
Aleks walked right up to the two vampires who were watching the door. They watched him approach.
“Sir, the line forms back there,” the blond vampire said without batting an eye. Aleks just stared at him, his face grim. The blond stared back. After another moment, the blond started to look nervous.
“Name?” he asked.
“Aleksander Arkadion,” Aleks responded. The vampire’s eyes widened and he stood straighter.
“My apologies, sir, please come this way. I will show you and your party to our VIP section,” the blonde replied, pushing back the line of waiting guests to open the double doors so that the group could enter. He hands shook as he lifted the clasp to the velvet rope to clear the path. Their group started to make their way into the club.
“Do you know if Gabriel is here yet?” Rebecca asked. Aleks looked down at her, surprised, and the blond vampire’s eyes widened and a flash of unease crossed his features.
“Oh God, you know the Prince. I am so sorry to have kept you waiting,” he replied. Rebecca reached forward and patted him on the arm. Aleks stood waiting for Rebecca. They were the last ones to enter.
“I only met him the one time when he invited us to come see his club. Don’t worry, I think you’re doing a great job at making sure the club is secure,” she said, smiling. The blond relaxed a fraction.
“Thank you, Ms.…?” he asked.
“I’m Rebecca Morgan, but soon I’ll be Rebecca Arkadion,” she said, showing him her ring excitedly. The blond gave her a gentle smile. Aleks rolled his eyes. Another person succumbed to his mate’s charms.
“Congratulations to you both. I’ll make sure a bottle of our finest champagne is sent to your table to celebrate your mating,” the blond vampire replied.
“Thank you…What is your name?” she asked.
“I’m Bryn, and this is Radek,” Bryn said, pointing to the dark-haired vampire holding the door open for the pair. Radek waved.
“It’s nice to meet you both,” Rebecca said as Aleks took her hand and led her inside.
Once inside, they had to walk through another set of heavy glass doors to get to the heart of the club. When the doors opened, the bass of the music moved through Rebecca’s body. She felt an instinctive need to dance and move.
“Come on!” she yelled and pointed up to the balcony where she could see Rian and Damian already moving to the music. The VIP section overlooked the dance floor. He smiled and nodded. The crowd seemed to part as Aleks walked through a throng of people to head to the stairs leading to the balcony. Rebecca found herself wanting to imitate Liam and hiss at the women who were openly checking out her mate. She was starting to understand his need to constantly touch her. At the top of the stairs the room to the right opened up as the large VIP lounge which had a long elegant table with chairs. There were soft-looking leather sofas that lined the wall to the left which was directly across from the balcony rail. Rebecca smiled and headed to where Kate and Rian stood at the railing, lookin
g down. The balcony was closed off floor to ceiling with a thick clear glass, leaving a panel in the middle open. It left whoever was in the balcony able to talk to their guests, still hear the music, and feel like they were in the middle of the action. Aleks had to admit it was extremely impressive.
Kate turned and grabbed Rebecca in a hug.
“I’m so glad we came. Bran and I wouldn’t have warranted this kind of treatment if we came alone.” She grinned at Bran, who rolled his eyes.
“What took you so long in getting up here?” Kate asked.
“The blond vampire, whose name I found out is Bryn, looked scared that we were mad about being kept waiting. When I mentioned Gabriel’s name, he looked like he wanted to cry, so I tried to make him feel better. He really was doing a great job. He and Radek, the dark-haired vampire, probably thought we were just trying to cut the line,” she said in almost one breath.
Aleks shook his head. No matter how many times she did it, he loved to hear her cute rambles.
When the first few bars from “Wobble” started playing, Rian, Ashby, Damian, Rebecca, and Kate yelled and dashed for the steps to make it down to the dance floor. Nicholas and the others laughed and watched them from the balcony. Aleks watched as Rebecca moved from side to side and swayed her body to the music. He found himself smiling when she smiled and straining to hear her laughter. When she rotated her hips, he growled and his pants seemed to grow just a bit tighter.
An auburn-haired vampire appeared at the door.
“Sir, Prince Gabriel will see you now,” he said. Aleks had to grind his teeth. The way it was said made him feel like a subject being summoned. Liam placed a hand on his shoulder. Aleks looked at him, from the sour expressions on his and Bran’s faces he could tell they felt the same.
They were led to an office on the third floor. The man stopped and knocked on the door before swinging it open and ushering them inside. Behind the ebony desk sat an extremely pale and extraordinarily handsome man. Aleks stepped forward and inclined his head in greeting. The man raised an eyebrow before indicating to the black leather chairs. The three men sat down.
“That will be all, Noel,” Gabriel said. Noel bowed and left the room.
“Bran McGregor, mated to Kate Edwards. Alpha of the Arkadion wolf pack. Fought and killed your father to take the title of Alpha twenty years ago and have been having trouble with pack members with the arrival of your mate Kate,” Gabriel said as he read from a folder. He tossed it down and picked up the next.
“Liam Lewenhart, unmated. Alpha of the Arkadion lion pride. There seemed to be an issue with your views on sexual orientation. When you were successful in the dominance fight with your Father, the entire elder generation left, rather than have you as Alpha. The Arkadion Alpha Mother supported you. You opened up your pride to those who had been kicked out of their own prides for being gay. You run a pride comprised solely of males.” He raised a single brow at Liam and set the folder down.
“And finally Aleksander Arkadion. You are the eldest amongst your brothers, which makes you heir to the Alpha position. You served in an all-shifter unit in the Raleigh police force before returning home to take up position as sheriff. You have recently mated to one Rebecca Morgan. The first human I have met in many centuries with a nearly pure aura. I had the pleasure of meeting her in the bookshop.” He set the last folder down, leaned back, and folded his hands in front of him.
“You seem to know us pretty well,” Bran said in a tight voice.
“Those are only the bare essentials. The other folders have your bank information, blood type, and what you ate for breakfast this morning,” he said, taking time to look each of them in the eye. “What I don’t know is why you requested a meeting with me,” he said.
“Why did you move your coven so close to Arkadia?” Aleks started.
“I don’t see how I have to explain anything to you,” Gabriel said coldly.
“I don’t like unknowns. I’m having too many problems with the damn hyenas who decided to go bat-shit crazy out of nowhere,” Aleks said heatedly. Gabriel sat forward.
“You either are completely oblivious to what has been going on or a damn good actor,” he said.
“You obviously know something we don’t. If it pertains to the hyenas or why they have been going after Rebecca, you need to tell me. Or you can keep acting like an asshole and I get to beat it out of you,” Aleks said grimly. Bran groaned and Liam smacked his forehead with his hand.
Gabriel’s mouth twitched.
“It’s kind of cute you think you can take me. Your attitude tells me a lot about you. So does your aura. Right now it’s telling me you are very closely synced with your bear so that in instances where perhaps diplomacy might work better you make honest threats. I actually respect that more than deceit. It’s also telling me that you love your mate with everything in you. That is rare, but having met Rebecca I can understand.” He stood and walked over to a simulated window that was actually an LED monitor showing different rooms of the club.
“I had to make sure you weren’t involved. I apologize for the lightly veiled insults,” he said, turning around. The cold mask had slipped slightly, and he looked tired. Bran and Liam sat forward. If the powerful man before them was stressed over whatever was happening, they were utterly screwed.
“I take it these vague statements will eventually end and you can tell us what the fuck is going on,” Aleks said. Gabriel’s eyes widened slightly.
“You are as refreshing and honest as Rebecca, just in completely different ways,” he said. “Without any vague statements, we’re fucked, gentleman.” He walked back over to his desk and sat down.
“Well shit,” Liam said, sitting back.
“I hate to tell you, but that’s still vague,” Aleks said. Gabriel reached into his desk and pulled out a stack of photos.
“About eighteen months ago I was called to a coven in Detroit to settle a dispute between two houses. One vampire murdered the other vampire’s daughter in a fit of rage. Around the same time the local wolf pack reported two missing families to your council. Two weeks after that incident I was called to New York. One vampire beat to death then ripped the head off another vampire who argued with him over who was going to win the Super Bowl. In that instance an entire shifter only fraternity went missing. Three weeks after that I was contacted by a coven leader in Boston. After a group of vampires went through town, a small local lion family was gone. Not dead, gone. It probably would have gone unnoticed if the coven leader wasn’t good friends with the lion family. We haven’t found the bodies. Seeing a pattern yet?” he said, putting the pictures of the missing and the deceased on the table.
“Vampires are flipping out and shifters are going missing.” Liam’s face went extremely pale.
“Someone is distributing shifter blood to vampires.” Liam whispered, not wanting it to be true.
“That is impossible. It’s the oldest law between both our peoples, punishable by death. Everyone knows that shifter blood is dangerous to vampires. The effects are unpredictable,” Aleks argued.
“It’s out there, gentleman, being bought and sold like a designer drug,” Gabriel confirmed.
“How do the hyenas tie into all of this?” Aleks asked, afraid he knew where it was going.
“From what I can piece together from the few unlucky runners and dealers I have been able to catch, is that this all started with a gambling debt. A hyena owed and owed big. When the vampires went to collect, he offered up his blood as payment, saying it would give them a great buzz. The idiot vampires believed him. Soon he wasn’t enough, so the hyena, seeing a business opportunity, offered to start bringing in unsuspecting shifters for their blood. That was about a two years ago, and business is doing well,” Gabriel said.
“Hyenas aren’t that smart,” Liam said, standing. He started to pace. His lion wanted to hunt.
“You’re right, they aren’t, but the vampires are. They already had connections with all the wrong people. They are using t
he hyenas as suppliers,” Gabriel said.
“Why go after Rebecca?” Aleks asked.
“I tracked the clan of hyenas who are the main suppliers to just outside of Arkadia. Two weeks ago they fucked up and lost a huge shipment of blood that was set to go north. It would be my guess that they would use Rebecca to get you to drain Arkadia dry to make up for that loss. They will only be getting more desperate. I bet they are on a timeline,” Gabriel said. He pushed forward one eight-by-ten black-and-white photo. “Does he look familiar?”
Aleks looked down and nodded.
“That’s the hyena Rebecca and I saw the night at the restaurant.” He handed the picture to Bran. Liam walked over from where he had been staring at the LED monitor.
“I just saw that guy in the club!” he said, taking the picture.
“Something is wrong. Can you see Kate?” Bran demanded, clutching his midsection.
Aleks was about to stand when a blinding pain to the back of his head nearly made him pass out.
“Where is Rebecca?” he asked, getting up and staggering over to the monitors.
“Liam, are you sure?” Gabriel asked as he strode over to where the LED window was. He pushed aside the dark wood paneling to reveal a wall of monitors. He started scanning each monitor.
“Wolves and bears are good with scents. Lions are good with details and tracking. I’m one of the best when it comes to hunting. That and I thoroughly beat the shit out of that guy in Arkadia, I wouldn’t forget something like that” Liam said, joining him at the wall.
Outside they heard raised voices.
“I don’t care! I need to talk to him. Aleks! Aleks!” a voice yelled from the other side of the door. Gabriel beat Aleks to the door and flung it open to reveal a crying Nicholas, who was clutching his chest.
“Nicholas, what is it?” Aleks asked, fear knotting in his throat.
