Master Alpha

Rhea was kneeling beside the unconscious Lillian in Jonathon’s bathroom. She gently inserted the needle into Lillian’s arm that connected to the transfusion bag. She taped the needle and tubing down against Lillian’s skin to future secure it. To ensure that Lillian did not attack during the transfusion, Rhea’s father had agreed to sedate the child each time that she awoke. Rhea glanced at her father and smiled softly.

Her father, James, had been Jonathon’s guard back in the States. He met her mother when Mistress Bella had approved the integration between the Americans and the Europeans. Father’s light, brown hair was messed over his forehead, his blue eyes dull as he stared at Lillian. He was sitting beside Rhea on the floor in a black t-shirt and basketball sorts. Her and Father had the same mentality, to wear all black in case the blood bag was ripped open, or Lillian drew blood on either of them. Rhea pushed herself to her feet and held the transfusion bag above her head to straighten the tubing. She watched as the blood began working its way down the tube and into Lillian’s arm.

“So, Lincoln, huh?” Father asked with a smile as he glanced at Rhea.

“I was going to tell you, dad, but everything has been so chaotic,” Rhea sighed.

“I’m happy for you. I’m thankful that I got to see my best friend find his mate, which in turn produced my daughter’s mate. Lincoln’s a good man.”

“I’m beyond thankful that he’s my mate.”

“Considering you’ve had a crush on him for over a century, I can only imagine the heartbreak that you would endure if he wasn’t.”

“How’d you know?” Rhea asked in surprise.

“I’m your dad,” Father chuckled. “I’m not blind. Hell, your mother would have probably figured it out before me.”

Father darted forward quickly as Lillian began to stir. Rhea clenched her jaw and turned her face away. A loud crack followed by chains rattling filled the room as Lillian died again. Fuck, I hope that this works, Rhea thought. We can’t allow her to be feral for much longer. Soon, there won’t be a child left to save. She sighed and shifted her eyes back to her father. “I tried to get him to reject me.”

“What? Why? He may have been oblivious to it, but we all see how much he cares about you,” Father said, bewildered.

“I worried that I was not the right mate for him, for a Master Alpha to rule with.”

“Considering you said that you tried, am I correct to assume that you failed?”

“Yes,” Rhea smiled lightly. “He said that he will never want or need another mate, that I have proven my worth as his mate.”

“I agree with him,” Father nodded. “Master Jonathon filled me in with a brief overview of everything, and I am so proud of you. Putting Lincoln’s emotions aside for the possibility of a cure for our people, a Mistress Luna has to make those types of decisions.”

“I always forget that you are Master Jonathon’s guard,” Rhea smiled.

“I saw him second guess himself a lot when he ascended,” Father nodded. “But not just him, his parents as well. I served them, too, you know. Second guessing is part of being a great ruler; it makes you question decisions before enacting them upon your people to make sure that they are the right ones.”

“Thanks, dad,” Rhea said. She shifted her attention back to the transfusion bag and noticed that about half of the blood had been dispersed into Lillian. She looked at the child who was still unconscious, but it appeared that her skin was beginning to color.

“You ever think that we’d be here? Combatting a blood disease that targets immortals?” Rhea asked.

“Sure,” Father replied. “Our kind have fallen victim to illness before, it was only a matter of time before succumbed to toxins.”

“I hope that this works, for us and the Decants. We need to be able to beat this.”

“She does appear to be getting some color back in her skin.”

“Yeah,” Rhea sighed. “But that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s working. She’s been starved of blood for so long, her body could just be replenishing what she is missing.” Rhea was hoping more than anything that the treatment was working, but she could not get her hopes up again. She was so sure that the treatment with virgin blood would work, that the failure devastated her.

“Master Jonathon told me that the human that is helping you has asked you to turn him,” Father said softly.

Rhea nodded. “I refused, but I think that Lincoln is considering it. The human told us that whether this works or not, he will keep helping us cure our people, and will teach us what he learns so that we know what to do after he dies.”

“It makes sense for Lincoln to consider it, then. The human would be a great asset among our people. If Master Jonathon approves, of course.”

“You don’t think he will?”

“I’m not sure,” Father shrugged. “The last human that was turned began slaughtering his people. It’s hard to regain trust in turning someone again.”

Rhea sighed and nodded. She wanted to keep Sam a human, but she could not deny that he would be valuable to them. A second nurse would be immense help. She was hoping that someone else would follow in her footsteps to obtain medical training, but no one else did. Whether Sam turns or not, that needs to change, she thought. Medical training may seem irrelevant or unnecessary to immortals, but that same training is what is being used on Lillian now in the hopes of a cure.

Rhea looked at Lillian again and dropped to her knees. She kept the bag elevated over her head as she studied the child. Lillian was no longer sweating, and her skin color had returned. She heard Lillian’s heart rate begin to steady itself. Rhea crawled closer to Lillian and placed a hand on her face. The child’s skin was cool to the touch; she appeared to be sleeping with no symptoms of infection. Rhea stroked Lillian’s cheek softly. “Lillian?” Rhea croaked out. Against her own advice, she felt hope. Emotion flooded her as she watched the child. What if this actually worked?

To her surprise, Lillian’s eyes opened slowly. Rhea gasped as beautiful brown eyes had forced her red ones into hiding. “Auntie Ray?” Lillian whispered. Rhea exhaled and scooped Lillian into her arms as she hugged her tightly. Emotions poured out of Rhea as she sobbed in relief. It worked.