The Merciless Alpha(erotica)

“I didn’t think she would take a bullet for that useless wretch,” Dazza replied by way of apology. “Now the warehouses still stand, and another company is moving in that will promote harmony amongst the lower species. She is dangerous,” he continued. “I cannot explain it, but she’s more of a threat than we imagined. Your obsession with her could prove costly my lord,” Dazza said, knowing that he was pushing his luck by challenging Frost even in this slightest of ways. “Are you sure it might not be better to –”

“You have behaved intelligently so far this evening.” Frost’s voice was neutral. “I would make sure that any future suggestions do not spoil your batting average.”

“Yes sir.”

“She’s only a threat if she is an enemy. If she chooses to remain an enemy . . . well, even Arbiters sometimes meet with accidents.” He leaned back, an idea occurring to him. “She will protect those around her I think, even if it means making a bargain. Maybe this predator just needs a new kind of bait.”

Outside in the hallway, Terrence McDermott listened in with great interest. Normally, he had stayed out of his employer’s business and just collected a paycheck, but things had gotten out of hand. Lines were being drawn, and he wanted to know what the heck people were fighting about.

——————- ———————–

In New Plymouth . . .

——————- ———————–

Melissa was sitting quietly in Mary’s living room, sipping Earl Grey tea. She wasn’t normally a tea drinker, but the wraith had just handed it to her when she showed up and started to talk. She was just as impressed by the home that Mary kept as Sadie had been. She had just gotten done explaining Sadie’s story and her reluctant acceptance of Mary’s “terms.”

“You don’t seem surprised,” Melissa said. Mary was just staring at her, and it was making her a little nervous.

Mary broke eye contact reluctantly. “I’m not. She has a sense of power to her . . . too much for a century old darkworlder.”

“None of the other vampires think she’s that old.”

“If she is in hiding, she may be hiding her presence. It is difficult, but can be done if you have proper training.” Mary smiled. “But her actions speak true to me, so it is those that I shall trust, whatever name she may use when enacting them.”

“She said that you told her your story as well. Was it hard? I won’t ask you to repeat it –”

“It was difficult,” Mary interrupted, but necessary. “I would tell you, but I don’t wish to upset you more than you are.”

“I’m not upset.”

“You’re gripping my teacup as if it were a lifeline.”

Melissa released her grip and placed the cup on a coaster on the coffee table. She’d missed the coaster earlier, and had gotten a shriveling look for it. “I’m just never quite sure if what I’m saying to you is appropriate or whatever.”

Mary nodded. “Except for the occasional call or thirst for vengeance, I am the same person that I was in life. And undeath. I have the same emotions and needs –” Mary actually stopped herself, picking up one of her many cats and fussing over it.

The goth chick was curious. “You . . . you mean physical needs? Sexual needs?”

The wraith stood up, depositing the cat back onto the floor and took both cups to the kitchen.

“I’m sorry,” Melissa said, following the other woman. “See, this is what I meant!”

Mary turned around. She had to compose herself, as she didn’t want this young lady to realize she’d actually been embarrassed by the questions. Those were exactly the needs she had meant. “It is all right. It is still hard for me to talk about things.”

“Me too.” Melissa leaned her butt against the counter. “I had a lot of issues I was working through, and I didn’t have anyone to talk to about them that I really trusted until Sadie came along. Now, she’s got me talking to some people in California that own this club because they know more about . . . things . . . than Sadie does.”

Mary brushed a stray hair away from the young woman’s eyes. “What things? Unless you don’t want to say . . . I would understand.”

‘You want her to trust you enough to tell you the truth,’ Melissa thought, ‘then maybe give her the truth.’ So she did. She talked about her sexual identity, how Sadie helped narrow down what she was comfortable with, and how she needed to be willing to admit when something surpassed her limits.

“This submissive from the Dark Eden club really knows her shit too. She’s told me a lot about her relationship with her mistress.” Melissa was smiling. “It’s nice to know that despite the sexual part of it that they have a very normal, romantic relationship.”

“I’ve spoken with the owner of that club,” Mary admitted. “Apparently, he is a psychiatrist as well as a businessman, and one of the few who will work with wraiths, albeit mostly on-line. He tried talking me into coming in, convinced that he could find someone there who would be –”

“What?” Melissa was smiling. Mary seemed so approachable now.

“He was sure that there might be someone who would be willing to submit themselves to my appetite.”

“Did you go?”This text is © NôvelDrama/.Org.

“No,” Mary replied. “I . . . It is hard for me to be rejected. It is something I became accustomed to when I first descended into the mid-realm . . . the world that wraiths use to navigate. To go somewhere with a ‘captive audience’ and be looked upon with disdain . . . it would have been too much for me.”

Melissa felt horrible for the isolation that Mary and her fellow wraiths must endure. And it seemed so needless now. “So, the club’s owner thought you might like it there? Does that mean that your interests lie along that line?”

Mary actually covered her face as if she were blushing. “I come from nobility, as I told Sadie. Minor nobility, but still . . . I liked having servants, and not because they did their chores. When I became a vampire, certain urges became even more natural and hard to resist.” Then the wraith paused, and her expression indicated the presence of a memory far less pleasant.

“You can tell me,” Melissa said. “Sadie can keep her secrets, but you shouldn’t have to as well. Trust me.”

Within twenty minutes, Melissa was crying so hard that she wanted to throw up.

Mary thought it might be easier to tell her story the second time in twenty-four hours. She was wrong. Her throat actually felt constricted, mostly as a reflex reaction.

Melissa’s brain was full and was beginning to ache. Her best friend turned out to not be who she claimed to be because she was being hunted by someone, and her new friend had apparently been tortured beyond Mel’s ability to comprehend. Suddenly, her dull life didn’t seem so bad. What did you say after that? So she just wrapped her arms around the undead woman and held her.

The wraith allowed the conact, partially because she didn’t know how else to respond and partially because she craved it. She needed contact just the same as any other creature walking the earth and this, even if given only in comfort, was a welcome change from her isolation.

“I survived,” Mary said at last. “And I shall continue to. I simply no longer wish to survive alone.”

Melissa felt Mary’s cool frame grow warmer. ‘Is this all she wants?’ she thought. ‘Comfort and companionship? Would I refuse her that? Would I WANT to refuse her that? She’s suffered so much.’ She pressed her body even more tightly against Mary’s. She could feel Mary’s powerful arms ensnaring her. A normal person would have screamed at that point, but Melissa wasn’t afraid. Mary wouldn’t harm her. Actually, harming her seemed to be the furthest thing from the wraith’s mind.

“I do not wish pity,” Mary said, reluctantly pulling away. But Melissa didn’t let go.

“I can’t help what I feel. Yes, I feel sorry for what happened to you. But even before I knew, I still came here. I still wanted to know you, and now I know all of you.” She sighed. “I’m not saying this right. It’s more than feeling sick about what happened. I’m proud of you. They killed you but didn’t break you. That bitch tried to beat you and you spit in her face. You’re sitll here and she’s rotting in her grave –”

“There was no grave,” Mary said smugly. “They never found all of the body.”

Melissa should have been further disturbed, but she found herself excited. Mary was powerful, elegant, and mysterious . . . everything Melissa had ever wanted. And if giving herself to the wraith might make some kind of amends . . . might help Mary . . . ‘Oh who am I kidding?’ she thought. ‘This is as much for me as for her.’

The side of her face was touching the side of the wraith’s, so she shifted around until they were eye to eye. Mary’s eyes had gone dark and blue, and Melissa could actually see her own reflection in them. “Do you want me to go?”

“By the darkness of the midrealm, no,” whispered the wraith’s voice. “Don’t leave me.”

“As you wish,” Melissa said, trying to make her voice calm and subdued.

A smile touched Mary’s lips. She had never expected to find something or someone like this in her existence, and now Melissa had come to the wraith of her own free will. “What I wish is for you to look at me,” she said, summoning that ancient aristocracy that had once flowed through her veins. “Are you sure you want this? I was quite . . . demanding . . . of my servants.”

Melissa couldn’t help a joke to help elevate the mood. “I do everything, including windows.”

“I was hoping to start your chores somewhere else . . . say, the bedroom?”