The Vampire and the Alpha's Son

Along the Riverside

Liz’s POV

I felt bad for my mortified mate, but I was thankful for the opportunity to get to know him even more. Bate’s stories from their childhood revealed a lot about the characters and histories of them both. It made me feel somehow closer to David, though I dreaded eventually returning the favor. There was a lot in my past that I was not proud of. My human life had been pitiable and uneventful and I would have died an even more meaningless death if it had not been for Malachi. Despite this, I did not consider him my savior, though at the time I had felt a certain sense of debt.

I was more or less forced to spend the decades by his side, his prized possession, carrying out his countless abhorrent whims. He delighted in everything gruesome and violent, taking advantage of every opportunity to showcase his strength, and he heedlessly dragged me down into his bloody prison. It was a dark time in my past, when I had grown calloused to all the death and bloodspill around me. I was horrified by my own enjoyment of it all, as we hunted and killed humans and werewolves for sport. We would even ruthlessly s*******r any vampires who dared oppose us. Malachi’s coven was well-known as a force to be reckoned with, and only the foolish ever dared.

I had always felt like I was living in a nightmare, unable to break free. I was watching a version of myself that I didn’t know, watching as she became adept at killing, beheading, and torturing her victims. All I could do was watch in horror as I slowly turned into a formidable and terrible monster. Finally, one day it felt like I suddenly woke up, and that was when I had made the decision to leave.

It hadn’t been easy. After spending all those years fighting by Malachi’s side, I knew for certain that I would never be a match for him. No matter how strong I got, he was always stronger. No matter how fast and nimble I was, he was always faster. My only break had been outwitting him and using his obsessive behavior to my advantage. I waited until one of his ventures in his pursuit of power, staying behind so I could quietly slip away. This particular trip of his had lasted almost a week, meaning that by the time he returned to find me gone, I had quite a lead. Honestly, I was surprised it had taken him so long to finally find me. He’s not one to let the things he likes go without a fight, and I won’t be surprised if I have to face him yet again some day.

For now, I decided I would allow myself a little bit of hope, and maybe even a bit of happiness as well. I held David’s hand as we crested hills and waded rivers, and I couldn’t remember a time in my unnaturally long life that I had ever been truly happy. I realized that at some point I had decided happiness wasn’t in my future at all, that I was undeserving, due to all the havoc and suffering I had caused. I guess this higher power the wolves call the Moon Goddess had other plans.

Though David was a mere child compared to me, even at my human age of thirty-two, I was continuously shocked every time I looked into his eyes. Rather than seeing a teenage boy, all I could see was the man I desperately needed and wanted. Everytime I looked into his warm, chocolate eyes, all the horrors of my past faded away like winter melting into spring.

All that day, we ventured southward, loosely following the Clarks Fork Yellowstone River as it led us toward Wyoming. I felt we would be slightly safer in another state entirely, and the nearby river gave me comfort. The flowing water could easily hide our scent if I sensed any danger. With the river our constant companion on our right and the moon hidden somewhere behind the densely overcast skies, we crossed the border from Montana into Wyoming sometime around midnight.

A vampire and two werewolves, with no money, no phones, and only the clothes on our backs. I sighed heavily as we trekked further into the unknown, secretly cursing myself for dragging these two boys down with me and turning their worlds upside down. I looked up into the olive-colored sky as we passed some fields and commercial-sized barns and wondered what the future would hold for the boys. For once in my life, I had more than just myself to look out for, and I swore to myself I would protect them for the rest of their lives.

As David squeezed my hand reassuringly, we heard Bate let out a yawn from behind us. It dawned on me that these boys had very little sleep in the last day or so. It would take me some time to get used to traveling with mortals.

“I’m sorry, guys,” I said, breaking the silence for the first time in many hours. We had all instinctively stopped chatting sometime around sundown. “I forgot about sleep being a thing.”

“You forgot about sleep?” Bate asked incredulously, “How do you forget about sleep?”

“Vampires don’t sleep, Bate,” David answered him simply, as if it were a fact everyone knew rather than something he himself had found out not too long ago.

“Well, how was I supposed to know that?” he grumbled back.

“We’ll find a place to make camp, then I’ll keep watch while you boys get some sleep,” I instructed.

“It’s fine, I don’t need sleep,” Bate scoffed, trying to sound tough.

I fixed him with a stern glare as he tried to suppress another yawn.

“I mean, yes, Luna,” he corrected himself quickly, looking down.

“Luna?” I laughed in shock. Never in my life had I ever thought I would receive such a title. It sounded strange and unnatural.

“Well, yeah. As my Alpha’s mate, that makes you my Luna,” he explained with a shrug, as though it were not a big deal that a vampire was his Luna.

“Right,” I replied nervously.

Being in a position of power wasn’t the issue, however, since I had been Malachi’s second in command for many years. But it was different among my own kind. The prospect of being in charge of werewolves was a little unnerving. Most of what I knew about them was from the perspective of a predator and mortal enemy. At least I knew that my mate and his Beta would be there to help me every step of the way.

We traveled about another hour before finding a good place to make camp. We didn’t have any camping supplies, so we gathered some fir branches and laid the extra clothes on top of them. It wasn’t much, but the boys didn’t complain. After tonight, all I needed was to find a casino where I could make some quick cash, and then we could stay in hotels instead.