The Merciless Alpha(erotica)

Sadie had a different frame of mind. She never thought the best way to get to know people was to stare at them through glass like they were animals at the zoo. You had to get in there and give them a scratch behind the ears sometimes. And she loved barbecue.

Before going in, she took a look around. She wasn’t expecting trouble, but that usually meant jack-shit in her line of work. Her eyes penetrated the darkness, seeing a small band of werewolves playing street hoops in a lot across the street. There were a couple of elves hanging out in front of a convenience store. One of them was harassing women that came in or out of the store while the other one just kind of stood there.Please check at N/ôvel(D)rama.Org.

‘Hunh,’ Sadie thought, checking out the elf in the trenchcoat. ‘He’s kinda fat for an elf.’ She shrugged, having seen weirder in her life. There were a few human kids looking at the court, waiting for their turn. Midian was a strange town. While the percentage of darklanders was higher than any other city in North America, they were still outnumbered by humans, who could breed like rabbits. But despite millennium of living together, humans still feared the things that went bump in the night. She was surprised to see humans up this late. She could tell that the werewolves weren’t going to give up the court anytime soon. Maybe she’d encourage them to “play nice” after she’d eaten.

The restaurant itself was everything that she’d hoped it would be. It was obviously a mom and pop type operation, probably run by the goblins working the kitchen and register. It was hard to tell if a goblin was male or female, even for Sadie. They were all squat, stout, blue-skinned people to her. There were no tablecloths, the menus were limited to selections that were unhealthy or VERY unhealthy, and everything smelled tangy. Devlin looked like he was going to be ill. Sadie ordered the ribs. The workers and established clientele seemed edgy about newcomers barging into their routine existences, but Sadie wasn’t the type to be put off easily.

She got her food (Devlin had opted not to order anything) and after cleaning the first rib all the way down to the bone, she insisted on hugging the cook for “bringing culinary heaven into a drab world.” The locals warmed to her pretty well after that. And she found out why the word “roll” was in the title’s marquis after they brought out some hot, buttered dinner rolls the size of cantaloupes. Even Devlin wasn’t able to resist the sweet smelling baked goods,

The young human officer was picking fiercly at the roll, enjoying every bite individually, when he hit Sadie with a question out of the blue.

“Hey, I hope this isn’t a personal question he started, staring intently at his snack, “but . . . well, there aren’t a lot of vampires who do public service.”

“S’okay. Most vampires are pretentious eurotrash wannabies. But that’s their choice. Spit it out. What did you want to ask?”

“Have . . . how many people have you Turned?”

If Devlin had been very observant, he might have noticed a slight slowing of pace in how Sadie ate and moved. It didn’t last long, but her eyes also went blank for a moment.

“I don’t Turn people,” she said with a certain degree of finality.

“Why? Aren’t you entitled to at least one Turn –”

“I just don’t. There’s plenty of other vamps out there who keep the species going, some of which have no business taking care of house plants much less a new Turn.”

Devlin wasn’t always the fastest gun in the fight, but he wasn’t stupid by any stretch of the imagination. He’d touched a nerve, but he just couldn’t help himself. “Is it that you’ve just never felt anyone worthy or that you –”

“I just don’t do it,” she said, wanting to change the subject. Then it occurred to her, “You . . . you weren’t wanting me to Turn YOU, were you?” It came out sounding arrogant and incredulous, and Devlin blushed in anger. “Sorry,” she said. “I’m surprised is all. Why?”

“Why WOULDN’T you want immortality?!” he whispered heatedly. “Both my parents died of cancer, so you know what that makes my risk factor, don’t you?” He calmed down a bit, eating his biscuit. “I don’t want to go out that way.”

Sadie understood that at least. There were two reasons why people were drawn to vampirism, and neither of them were all that good by her way of thinking. Some loved the mysteriousness, others the immortality. Most people didn’t understand the price that was paid for these gifts, but Sadie understood it.

“Okay,” she said at last. “I think I get it. I’m sorry to hear about your parents. I realize that probably doesn’t mean much right now, but I do. But being at high risk doesn’t mean you WILL get cancer. So please, before you go asking for membership into the overly-expensive-black-suit-and-fangs club, please promise me that you’ll think about this some more. I know you’ve thought about it already, but now consider this. Ever wonder why vampires tend to hang out with their own starting about ten or so years after being Turned?”

Devlin looked confused. “I just figured its because that you bond with your own. They take you in, train you and teach you and –”

“You do it because when you become undead, you become very aware of death.” Sadie’s eyes darkened and she knew she was scaring him a bit. This was the part of vampires that people didn’t like to think about . . . the part about dying. “Then, the people around you that you cared about while alive start to die, and it hits you. Then you don’t want to be around mortals much, or at least not get too close. For a while, you want to save them all, but the Greater Council and the mortal races put limits on how many new vampires can be made. You have to choose who you save and watch the others cry that it wasn’t them.” She sat back, not even talking to Devlin directly . . . she was just talking. “Being mortal is precious Devlin. It means the moments matter. That’s why I like being around them, even when it hurts.” She met his eyes, “Because they appreciate the time they have so much more.” It was odd for her to express her feelings, normally preferring to keep things superficial and light, but she didn’t want him to walk into what he was asking for blind. And she certainly wasn’t going to accept responsibility for him.

He looked troubled, but looked like he was going to let the conversation drop. “I need to use the bathroom,” he said, quickly standing up and walking through the double-doors with the typical male/female caricatures on them. It made her angry that she’d dug that speech out of her soul, and angrier still at him for making her.

She felt a hand on her shoulder about the same time that a bag smelling of confectionery paradise was put on the table. It was the goblin from the register.

“These are for you hun,” the goblin said, flashing a smile of jagged teeth.

‘Okay, it’s a female,’ Sadie realized from the voice. “How much do I owe you?” she added, reached for her wallet.

“First one’s on us Arbiter,” the squat woman said.

“How did you know –”

“Word travels fast, even as a place as big and diverse as the Gravestones. Lady like you tends to make an impression.”

Sadie returned the grin. “Okay, but I couldn’t possibly take this –”

The woman, whose name tag read the obligatory “Marge” that was required at all diner-type establishments, interrupted again. “First time for dinner, but you can stop by for rolls any time. And if you want to encourage some other cops to come down and support this fine establishment, so much the better.”

Sadie laughed. Goblins were good business-folk. Get the local cops interested in your place, and that alone will keep you in business for a long time. “I think I could do that.”

Marge touched Sadie’s face in an oddly matronly way. “I heard what ya told the boy. Can’t be easy looking into someone’s eyes and tellin’ ’em the truth when they want you to promise ’em the moon. You did what was right, and I admire that.” Then the goblin walked (or waddled) away, leaving Sadie with her spirit brightened.

‘And people like that is the reason I do what I do,’ Sadie thought, standing up and walking outside to wait. She noticed that the werewolves were still hogging the court. ‘Time to mix with the locals.’

When Devlin walked out, he saw that Sadie was unhooking her gun belt and securing her pistol in the SUV. “What’s going on?”

“Just gonna go play some basketball,” she said gleefully.

Devlin was now completely baffled, but this he HAD to see. ‘What the hell is she up to?’

Sadie walked over to the humans, who looked like they were still in high school. “So,” she purred, you boys wanna play?”

They stared at her blankly.

“Basketball?”

One of the young men finally pulled his eyes off of her cleavage long enough to speak. “Yeah. We’re just waiting for them to be done with the court. Which should be any day now.”

Sadie looked over her shoulder at the wolves. “Hey, you gonna be much longer?”

“As long as we wanna be,” one replied, bringing about that guffawing laughter common amongst young men.

The vampire wandered over and the game stopped. She could tell they’d smelled she was a vampire by the time she got within ten feet.

“What’s a tasty lookin’ blood sucker doin’ this far in our town?” the lead one left. Closer up, Sadie thought these were all guys in their early to late twenties. They smelled of ammonia and bleach and stale garbage . . . these weren’t troublesome kids, but just some blue-collar night howlers looking to unwind.

“Just checking out the scene. Hey, you guys mind playin’ half-court so we can get in some too?”

“Sorry, but can’t get a good sweat up just going half-way,” another one said, eying her over. “You understand.”

Sadie smiled as sweetly as she could possibly muster. “You must be saving a ton of money on antiperspirant then, because I can’t imagine anyone letting you go all the way.”