The Vampire and the Alpha's Son

Mental Warfare

Bate’s POV

There were three blankets and one couch, so I spent that first hour arguing with David over who gets the couch and who has to sleep on the floor. Whoever had to sleep on the floor would at least get to sleep on the third blanket, since Liz didn’t need it. David kept insisting that I take the couch, saying it was his duty as Alpha to make sure I was comfortable. I kept returning with the argument that it is my duty as his Beta to make sure he has the best of everything.

Eventually, Liz made us flip a coin for it, and after I lost a few rounds, I begrudgingly took the couch. I’m pretty sure she stacked the game in his favor, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. On the floor, there was more room for them to lay together, but I made them promise not to do any funny business while in the same room as me.

Just as I was curling up in the small blanket, trying to get comfortable, my stomach rumbled. I realized I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten. I let out an annoyed sigh as I sat up. David and Liz were on the floor spreading out the blankets when they looked up at me with raised eyebrows.

“Hungry,” I grunted, “Shoulda taken that dude up on his offer when he asked if we wanted anything to eat.”

“You can have the beef jerky I got at the gas station earlier,” Liz offered, "Or I could go into their kitchen and see what I can find."

“No, the jerky will be fine, I guess,” I sighed, and went for the bag she had handed to us earlier. Being offered food was one thing, but raiding their kitchen on our own felt wrong.

There were two packages of jerky and two bottles of water in the bag, so I took one of each and handed the rest down to David. We sat silently chewing for a few minutes, trying to take in all the drastic changes from the past couple days. So much had changed in so little time, and I felt like I hadn’t yet had a chance to slow down and process it all. Life can sometimes be maddeningly unpredictable, and I was starting to struggle to find reasons to smile. I had left my home, left my family without a goodbye, left everything I knew behind for a life that didn’t even have an end goal in sight. I had at last found my mate, but she didn’t even want me. She didn't seem to want anything to do with me. Since we came to her apartment, she had barely even looked at me.

I managed to force down two bites of jerky before it became too much to swallow. I threw the package down on the floor and hastily turned toward the wall and closed my eyes. It would probably take a while for sleep to finally find me, but I was ashamed for my Alpha to see the sadness in my eyes. I had to be strong, I had to smile for him, but at that moment, I didn’t think I could.

David’s POV

Something seemed a little off with my Beta that night, but I let it go for now. I hoped he would tell me what was on his mind when he was ready. I knew our lives were a little less than ideal for the time being, but I had hope that there would be light at the end of the tunnel.

I turned off the light in the room, then laid down on the floor on my pile of blankets next to Liz. I listened to Bate’s breathing for a while, and when he eventually fell asleep, I tried to do the same. However, I was painfully aware of my mate lying silently in front of me. Her open eyes seemed to glow in the darkness, like some kind of wild feline predator.

“You should go to sleep, my love” she whispered.

“I’m trying,” I whispered back, “But it’s kind of distracting when you’re staring at me.”

“Oh, sorry, is this better?” she chuckled as she closed her eyes.

“Yeah, a bit,” I answered with a smile.

I desperately hoped that Bate’s mate would accept him. Through all our crazy circumstances, having Liz by my side had made it all bearable. I didn’t care where we were or where we were going, as long as we were together. Her intoxicating scent filled me with passion and desire, yet at the same time, her presence gave me a calm reassurance. I reached out and grasped her hand as I closed my eyes and sighed contentedly. Even though I was sleeping on the floor, it was better than sleeping on the ground as we had done the night before.

I awoke in the morning feeling sore, but restful. I slowly opened my eyes to see my beautiful mate lying beside me with eyes closed. I wondered if she had actually slept last night, or if she was only feigning sleep for my sake. Our hands were no longer linked, so I stretched out my hand to brush her hair back from her face and caress her cheek. Her eyes flew open at my touch and my heart skipped a beat.

“Good morning, beautiful,” I greeted her softly, and was met with her stunning smile. My heart beat faster as she transfixed me with her loving stare.

The next second, I heard Bate stirring from the couch, so I sat up to look at him. He arose slowly, with a few groans and sighs, and looked a lot less rested than I felt.

“How’d you sleep, bro?” I asked good-humoredly to try to help him wake up, but he only grunted in reply.

He perked up after a moment, however, when Alissa emerged from her room and walked down the short hall to the living room. She paused for a moment when she saw us, then sighed and continued to the kitchen. We started to get up and fold up the blankets while she was in the other room, and she returned shortly after with a granola bar in one hand and a lunch bag on her shoulder.

“I’m leaving for work,” she started speaking to the room at large as she leaned against the door frame, “Y'all can use the shower while I’m gone. Y’all filthy as hell.”

“Well, we did spend the whole day walking through a desert,” I grumbled defensively. She was right though; there were layers of dust and dirt in our hair and clothes. It would be nice to be able to take a proper shower before heading out.

“Before you go, can you tell me where the nearest casino is?” Liz asked, before Alissa could reply to my argument.

“There ain’t one,” she answered shortly, “Not anywhere ‘round here anyway.”

“Oh. I was kind of relying on that to earn us some money,” Liz commented, her voice heavy with disappointment.

“Guess you’ll just have to get a job then,” Alissa replied unsympathetically, looking down at her nails.

“That’s fine, but job applications kind of require an address,” Liz replied suggestively with feigned innocence.

“Ugh! You people are really not gonna leave me alone, are you?” she groaned, her irritation dripping from her voice like poison, “Fine! You can stay here long enough to get a job, then get your own place!”

She yelled the last part as she stormed toward the exit. Without a look back, she flung open the door and promptly slammed it shut behind her.