The Alpha's Jewel

Close Wounds and Open Scars

I was sure that I had passed out. Though I was not sure if it was because of the blood loss or the pain causing me to black out. I could outstand most injuries. A concussion or stab wound was nothing. With the ability to heal faster than the average human, it is not easy to die of blood loss. And with the number of misfortunes I have come face to face with, the pain was something I had become familiar with.

But this? This was true pain.

Evander had come so close to sucking the life out of me. When he finally pulled his fangs from my leg, he just walked away, leaving me to lay in a pool of my own blood. Or at least that's what I can remember.

My memories were a blur at that point, but I remember seeing Elena's blond locks. Heard her voice as she spoke to another as someone carried me to another location. They were my chambers, the ones that I never bothered to reside in. This is where I had woken, not my attic.

That was three days ago. Three days of lying in a plush bed with massive-size pillows that swallowed my head, three days of having poor Elena nursing me back to health. She warned me that the recovery would take as long, but I pushed to get out of the reticulate bed, only to feel lightheaded and have her help me lay back down.

I wanted to go hide out in my attic, relax on my lovely sofa with a glass full of wine, and pretend that what happened a few days ago never occurred. Sadly, if I was to somehow even make it up there on my own, Elena would not be able to clean my bandages or bring me food throughout the day. There were no blinds in the attic to keep the sun from burning her. So thus, I abided to rest in the room for the time being.

Luckily enough, the head wound had healed quite nicely, even though my head was still knocking up a storm behind my eyes. I groaned, "My head still hurts. Do you think I could get any more of those pain-relief meds?" I asked Elena.

She was standing at the table near the right side of my bed, currently setting up to clean the bandages on my thigh. She was cutting the length of the gauze that she would use to replace the old one.

She did not meet my eyes, too focused on the task at hand. "I believe you have already taken your last dose. Any more and you'll sleep for a whole day."

I gave her a look, "Oh but that is my intention."

She narrowed her eyes and resumed her task. She placed the now cut gauze aside and moved to the side of the bed I rested. Carefully, so as to not reopen the now dry blood, she removed layer by layer of bandages with skilled hands. Once the last layer was peeled off along with the dirty old gauze, I could see the big nasty dried-up blood now smaller than yesterday.

Around the time I woke up, it was the size of a golf ball. Now it was a few centimeters smaller, slowly taking its time to close. If I had not been drained of blood, then I would have healed as fast as any other vampire. But due to Evander leaving me in my wonderful state, healing would be slightly longer.

I stared down at my leg as she threw away the dirty bandages, feeling a little self-pity. "Do you think he did it on purpose?" I asked Elena.

She turned towards me, her face expressionless, "Did what on purpose?"

My eyes stayed on the dried blood, "Leaving me to heal for practically four whole nights in bed. Just to keep me in one place."

She considered it for a moment. "Considering how fast you move from one place to another, I'm sure it has crossed his mind, though I don't think those were his intentions." She said, then moved to clean my leg.

If Evander ever wanted me to stay put, he would have confronted me and demanded that I stay. In all my years of living under the same roof as him, the most he had done was slap my hand away from looking through his desk. That was before he tried to choke me, then threw me around the room, and drained me of all my blood, almost killing me in the process.

"He's never been like this," I said.

She looked up from cleaning my wound with rubbing alcohol, me not giving any mind to the burning sensation. This was the first time I had brought up the incident out loud, though I'm sure she knew enough for me to not have to explain what I meant.

"If you had not been gone for so long you would have begun to see the difference in character, Mila," she accused.

"I have only been gone five months," I interjected.

"A year actually."

"I was here five months ago," I glared.

She glared back, "And then you soon left after that. Not long enough to see that there have been changes made to our clan."

I rolled my eyes, not seeing the point of this conversation, "And what of me being gone?"

She continued cleaning the dried flakes of dried-up blood. "Due to the strain the treaty has placed, the Council has urged the Masters to inflict order on their clan. Evander, I believe, feels more pressure has been placed upon him and because of this he has been feeling stressed."

A questioning grin grew across my lips, "Evander? Stressed?" I chuckled and then winced at the pounding the laughter caused to my head, "Oh, please don't make me laugh."

She ignored my response, "I think you are already aware that Evander loves to please the Council."

"How could I not be?"

"Well, he has arranged another meeting with the Lycans in five days, only this time it will be at their place."

I grinned, "Splendid."

This would mean I would have another chance to retrieve the necklace. As to how, I was not sure yet. Father would be able to help.

Then I remembered the situation with the new vampires and asked, "Will he be bringing the whole clan? I don't think it wise to bring those who are not yet ready to leave the castle grounds."

She shook her head at that, "The Council has already advised him not to. The few who can control themselves will go. One being you," she said as she glanced at me. "He thinks it is best to leave you behind but has agreed to bring you along."

"Of course he has." I smirked, "He would do anything to satisfy his makers."

No one really knew where Evander had come from, or who made him a vampire, though most believed the Council was involved. With him being so old, it was hard to pinpoint around the time he became part of the undead. My guess was he was born around the sixteenth to seventeenth hundreds, which was quite old. Rumer was that he was born into a very wealthy family, some even say a past prince.

However, none were certain due to the underlying knowledge that past history before death was just past history. It was common knowledge not to ask how a person died and was reborn into a vampire. It could be past trauma that most do not want to be reminded of. And out of due respect, the question of who a vampire was before was never to be brought up.

Therefore, Evander remained a bloody mystery.

During the time it took to wonder about Evander's past, Elena had finished cleaning my leg and was now wrapping it up with the new gauze and bandage.

I stared at her as she worked the knot into place. "Not to bring up the past, but I'm sure Evander knew you were a nurse at some point in time if he had you take care of me."

She froze, her eyes jumping from one spot to another, almost as if she was looking for a way out.

I should not have questioned her past. "I'm only saying that I've noticed your medical skills. I did not mean any disrespect," I reassured her.

"It's not that," she said as she moved away from the bed to stand by the table. She hesitated before saying, "I was a nurse in World War I."

I looked at her with shock, knowing it must not have been an easy topic. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want--,"

"I'm not talking about it. I am simply stating," she corrected, doing her best to keep her hands busy. "And no, Evander did not know or send me to take care of you."

I lifted my eyebrows. "Oh? So you're saying you came of your own free will?"

She turned to me abruptly, anger expressed across her face, "You might think of me as Evander's dog, Mila. But the truth is that I have a mind and a will of my own just as much as you do."

I shook my head, "Not as much as me. For if you did, then you would have stopped him from doing further harm to me," I said, remembering she had stood outside the door of the office. I leaned forward a bit, and whispered, "just admit that you love to please him as much as he loves to please the Council."

"If I wanted to please him, then I would not have risked my head by helping you." She noticed my confused face and narrowed her eyes. "There is a reason why I warned you to not anger him, Mila. If you had bothered to speak to the other members, then you would have noticed why everyone showed up to the gathering on time."

Realization hit me then. Elena was scared of Evander. She wasn't following his orders to gratify him. She was doing it because she feared what he would do to her. The fear I smelled from three days ago while standing in the hall with her now made sense. My respect for her grew.

Elena was the only one who either followed or did as Evander told her to do, making her seem like a dog. But truly it was to survive. I felt like a complete ass for all the times I mistreated her.

I sat in silence feeling guilty and afraid. What had Evander done to scare the clan into submission?

She had grabbed her things together and moved to walk to the door. "You should be able to walk on your leg now. And Evander is away on business with other Masters in London. He should not be due until sunrise, so you should be able to make your escape like you normally do."

I went to comment but before I could say anything she closed the door with a slam, leaving me in silence.

With the jewel found and being so near to home, there was no reason to go searching for it any longer. I could stay at the castle and wait for the opportunity to see the Lycans again. But after seeing how things were faring with Evander and the clan, I did not want to stay the night.

It took some time but I managed to get myself up the four flights of stairs of the small castle, and into my dusty attic. I rested on my couch as I explained to father everything that had happened in the past three days, from the gathering to the moment Elena left.

He seemed to be silent throughout my explanation, but then asked if I truly planned to stay or leave for the night.

I played with a lock of hair as I wondered. "I'm not sure. Honestly, I do not want to be sleeping under the same roof as the man who almost killed me."

His response was the crack between the floorboards.

I moved to a sitting position on the couch. "Thank you for understanding, father."

Another crack echoed.

I smiled at him. "Why, there is only one place I could think of that I would be most welcome to stay the night," I said as I moved off the sofa and grabbed a bag from the old chest that sat by the vanity set. I used the bag to pack my things for a night... actually make that a couple. Maybe it was best to stay away from Evander until the meeting in five days. Sunrise would be in a few hours, but I would be long gone by the time he came back.

Because I would be resting at Graysen's house.

My lovely ex.