Gamma No More - Book 3

Leif had smiled at Toni’s explanation but had been gracious to say it wasn’t an unexpected response with the information she had, especially given her past. He brushed it under the carpet with his last words.

“Toni, you are still young, even for a werewolf, but your desire to keep your pack safe is a credit to you.

The mistake was ours in not explaining our plans to you fully. Expecting you to understand the minds of others you don’t yet know well is flawed reasoning.

Prince Einar and I are too used to thinking strategically together to remember that others may not see the same picture as us.

But if it helps to understand my motivation, then let me give you my brief history. We have time to kill while we wait.” He looks pointedly in Iris’s direction.

“My Sire, Prince Einar, came to this continent not long before he turned me. Back then, this was a chaotic warring nation of Humans, Werewolves and Lycans, very territorial and tribal.

His father, the King, sent him and his brother here to establish a Vampire presence, to learn the responsibility of leadership, while My Sire will eventually take over from his father, he hoped his brother, Prince Ulrik, will then take the vampire lands here as his to rule.

Anyway, I was a weapon smith’s apprentice, ready to finish my training and hoping to impress my master with my last piece, so that he would consider allowing me to court his daughter.

My apprentice master had insisted I learn to wield weapons as part of my craft, to understand how a fighter uses a weapon.

Only then do you learn the balance you need to craft into a weapon to make more than just dead steel, to give it life in the hands of warriors.

Years of working in a forge had given me the muscles to wield weapons easily, even if I still looked wiry, not muscle-bound.

That night I was working late, melting the gold to finish the crest on the hilt of the sword, when one of the nomadic tribes attacked, slaughtering my people in their sleep.

They slaughtered every man, woman and child, sparing no one and I tried to take as many with me as I could before I, too, fell on the field of battle.

My sire found us, the dead and dying, left to rot where we had fallen. The attacking tribe had already taken their spoils and moved on. He and his brethren gave each of the dying a painless passage to the afterlife as they feasted on the folly of humanity that night.

It was the Prince who came across me, as he closed the distance, my hand reached for the sword I’d made, barely able to grip it anymore, but I was determined to go down fighting, thinking they were demons sent to pull us to the realms of Hell; it was that night that I cursed the Gods for taking away my family and my love.

He ignored my feeble attempts to kill him, instead he propped me up, told me it would be easier for me to smite him with my blade that way, and then asked how many of the surrounding bodies I had killed.

It seemed like we spoke for hours, but in reality, it could only have been a few minutes at most, but time moves slowly when you have grievous wounds.

He then offered me three options to choose from, to die alone, slowly as nature expected, to die quickly and he would replace the pain with pleasure, or to live and gain my revenge as one of them, a demon in my eyes.

Obviously, I chose life and back then, newborns worked through their bloodlust by drinking their fill on any victim close by. Some never did and were eventually put down by their sires after they had served their purpose.

I sated mine while honing my battle skills, and over the next few years, I wiped out the clan that attacked my own. Not something I am proud of now, but back then, things were different.

When I look at you, I see myself fifteen hundred years ago, you may not have the same desire for revenge that I had, which is commendable given what you have been through, but you are still technically the sole survivor of a massacre even if it took place hundreds of years before you appeared on this earth, your bloodline hidden in plain sight.

Now there are things I won’t deny, like that the blood you occasionally trade with is an appealing treat, one I’ll never turn down, nor that His Highness sees having you as an ally as a strategic move for the longer term.

Nor that he asked me to get you involved in things like the Neutral Zone issues to start your journey into becoming a ruler one day, or finally that we believe having a Lycan like you back in charge of the wolves would be good for this continent to help keep the future peace between the species.

But when you wonder at my motives in the future, remember that it’s because in my eyes you are a kindred spirit, a sole survivor. The rest, well, it’s a lucky bonus that I’ll never turn down.”

Toni feels like she’s had a weight lifted from her, as she listened to Leif telling his story. It still didn’t help her identify the mystery man that had funded her assassinations, but it allowed her to take Leif from that list, albeit the list was only in her head.

It wasn’t long after they had finished when Alaric burst through the door. His whole demeanour screamed of rage, his hair no longer perfectly groomed, was tousled and wild, his nostrils flaring as he picked up the pungent scent of Iris’s blood. His eyes were no longer just ringed with red, but now a deep, unsettling crimson that seemed to glow in the dimly lit room.

He searched every corner until he finally found her asleep on the couch. Understanding without words, she had begun her transformation. He approached her slowly, his hand reaching out to caress her hair gently. But Toni could see the tension in his body, fuelled by the intoxicating smell of Iris’s blood staining the carpet.

For Toni, this scene had sadly become all too familiar. She watched as Alaric’s every breath seemed to feed into his growing anger, his eyes never leaving Iris’s sleeping form. The surrounding air crackled with tension, like a storm brewing on the horizon.

Leif sees the same reaction; his voice is calming like that of a teacher to a pupil.

“Calm yourself, Alaric.

Someone attacked her and left her for dead, but we got here in time.

Toni witnessed her request as an independent as we didn’t have time to do it officially with Jenna and she has fed from me once successfully. She was far more pliable than you were.

If I remember correctly, it took you two days to feed because you refused to comply with my simple requirements. She got it fairly quickly, with minimal control from me, but then I am also significantly older now.

The transformation may have had a rocky start, but the strength and willpower of Iris make me believe it will be successful.”

Leif forces a small smile out of Alaric with his words, but worry etches every feature on Alaric’s face.

“I’ll need her to feed from me once more, then we can try to wean her onto you, I’ll use my sire command and the two of you will need to stay close to me for a few months, but I don’t think she will go feral, old friend.”

Leif had lost his earlier anger, talking to Alaric as a friend and not as his sire.

“I want whoever did this to her,” Alaric growled.

His words dripping with fury and a thirst for vengeance. His deep-seated rage evident in all his features, his eyes glowing a deep red as he speaks. He pays no attention to Leif’s words.

“When we find them,” Leif responds in a cold, authoritative tone.

“I will decide their fate. And you will abide by my decision.” His words hold immense power and authority.

But Alaric doesn’t back down. Instead, he turns towards Leif, closing the distance between them. Toni can feel the tension building, certain that a fight is about to break out between the two powerful Vampires.

As they stand facing each other, there’s a palpable shift in power. Leif unleashed the predator inside, something Toni had never seen before. Every inch of him radiating danger and violence. As Leif meets Alaric’s gaze, his eyes darken, the centre turning black, contrasting starkly with the white of his eye.

His handsome features contort in a gruesome yet captivating way as his skin tightens and features morph, becoming more pronounced, giving him the appearance of death incarnate, but there’s a threat of pain and suffering in his gaze. It’s both horrifying and mesmerizing at the same time.

“You will obey me, Alaric, or face the consequences.

I don’t need anyone else thinking they can test me today, and anyone who thinks they can will regret that decision. There will be no mercy.”

Tension crackled in the air as the two men faced off, their eyes locked in a battle of wills. Alaric’s voice rang out, filled with a mix of defiance and submission as he spoke to his superior.

“I am yours to command, sire,” he said.

Dropping to one knee and bowing his head in deference. Toni observed the scene, feeling the weight of power and authority emanating from both men. There was a shift in the atmosphere, a subtle change that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. But it was clear Alaric had submitted, his pride humbled by the commanding presence before him.

“I apologise for my actions,” he continued, his words laced with contrition.

“I will take no action without your explicit authorisation.” The room grew still as Alaric’s words hung in the air, a tangible sign of his submission and loyalty to his leader.

Leif sits down, his features morphing back to normal.

“She will be asleep for another few hours. Go, prepare your newborn’s chambers, but be back within the hour. You need to be here when Iris next wakes.

You will need to do the legwork yourself while the castle is still in lockdown, but maybe it will give you the focus you need.”

His words are dismissive and Toni watches Alaric leave, looking far more subdued than she had ever seen him, or any vampire before.

“Do you want me to leave you in peace? I can wait elsewhere if it helps?”

Toni offers, aware Leif is probably on edge after the attack in his castle and sometimes, the reality is you want solitude, not to make small talk.

“No, with the file gone, this attack is as much on you as it is on me, so having you here to know what happened is important.

The search will be over soon, so you might as well stay here. The results affect you and your pack, as much as me. Plus, I need you to confirm that Iris had options. Usually when we have a transformation of someone with no family, then Jenna or one of her representatives is here to witness the request.”

Leif sits back, suddenly looking more human, plagued by his own emotions

“Since Alaric learnt to control his bloodlust, I’ve never had to use my sire command on him. It’s left an unpleasant taste as I consider him a friend.

But he has powerful feelings for Iris, so I won’t blame him for his reaction.”

He sits lost in thought for a while.

“It may have been before I became a Vampire, but I remember the pain of seeing the girl I loved cut down.

Revenge is good for a while, but eventually, you realise it doesn’t remove the emptiness you feel inside.

Alaric will get his chance for revenge; but my hand and the fact Iris lives will temper it, at least to start.”

Time seems to pass slowly as they make more small talk, before Alaric enters once more, far more subdued than before, the method of his address far more respectful.

“Sire, I’m…”

“Alaric, relax. It’s understandable, so sit, and have a drink with us.

I’ve been telling Toni my story. There’s blood in the warmer, not my favourite vintage, but in the circumstances, it hits the spot, or whisky in the cabinet.