Romeo Alpha Blood Lines Romance Series - Books 1 to 5

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Romeo knew he was in deep crap when Lilith pulled out the third bottle of wine. Six hours into her tirade about life as a wicked mix of vampire and werewolf and she had yet to pause for more than a moment. He couldn’t use the vials and this crazy b***h showed almost no signs of being even slightly inebriated.

“So,” Lilith smiled as she filled their glasses again. “There I was, just eighteen and I knew that this place was special. I knew I wanted to settle here, but I had no idea what was in store for me, even when Fenris came along. I stepped into a bar one night and there he was, smoking hot and arrogant enough to get my attention. He smelled amazing and I could hear the blood pumping through his veins. It was my first major test, going into public with this voracious need to feed inside of me.

“He asked me to dance and I accepted. We were inseparable all night and I was more than happy to accept his invitation to go back to his place. Being a vampire doesn’t satiate that need for s****l excitement, of course, so I was all too ready when his actions asked for more than just a goodnight kiss. I think I nearly killed him that first night. We played house for a solid week, screwing on every surface in his house and some outside before I showed him what I truly was.”

Romeo could just imagine how that turned out. “He ran didn’t he?”

“Like a little b***h,” she laughed, sipping her wine. “He even screamed like one when I caught him by the collar of his shirt. I leapt on him, pinning him to the forest floor, but I knew, even before I bit him, that I wouldn’t drain him. I wanted to share the gift I had inside of me. Even scared like he was, I could feel his erection. I pulled up my dress and slid over him, riding him until he came. Then I bit him and as the poison filled his blood I made him bite me back. That’s when we became mates.”

“So that’s where the mating ritual came from. Mates have to bite each other to make a mark, like marking a territory.”

“I guess you could look at it that way, yes,” Lilith said. “After he’d bitten me I let go, jerked him up and nearly dragged him back to the house. He fought the poison, which is never a good idea, but I couldn’t make him understand that. It took nearly three days for him to start looking and acting normal and after that he seemed somehow okay with what I was.” Lilith paused for a moment to recollect her memories.

“He said he felt incredible, but neither of us knew yet what would happen really. When the full moon came up a week later, Fenris went through his first change and it was amazing to watch. I knew in that moment that I wanted an army of werewolves and now I knew how to get them. That night, while he hunted, so did I. I found a gorgeous woman who was slightly less intelligent than average. She was innocent in so many ways and especially sexually. I befriended her rather easily and after a few glasses of wine, I asked if she’d like to come back to my place. She accepted and on the way home I asked if she’d ever been intimate with a woman.

“She giggled and shook her head. I kissed her then and slid my hand up her thigh. It didn’t take long to have her so aroused that she couldn’t see straight. I brought her into Fenris’ home and seduced her even further. The first time she came, I let her enjoy it. Then I taught her how to pleasure me in return. Surprisingly she was a quick learner and we enjoyed each other immensely. The next morning before Fenris made it back, I took her again. This time I bit her and when she bit me in return, I came hard knowing I’d have my first line of wolves.”

“What happened after that?” Romeo asked, encouraging her to continue. Close to dawn or not, he needed to know everything she’d tell him. He poured them each another glass of wine and her sharp eyes smiled at him, holding a sense of evil even he couldn’t grasp.

“Fenris came back home and knew I’d been up to something. He opened the door to my room and groaned. When I explained what I wanted and that I’d brought her home to be his mate, I could tell he was horny. She was obviously in no condition at that point to oblige him, so I did. By the time she healed, Fenris, unbeknownst to me, had already impregnated me.” Lilith took the glass of wine that Romeo filled and gulped down half the glass.

“Still, being ravenous for a line of wolves to do my bidding, I offered her to him and they mated. She turned on the following full moon and I became a little jealous you could say. Every full moon for the next year I found and turned as many people as I could, joining us all together. I excavated a network of caves that would hold us all rather comfortably, until my new wolves could control themselves. By then I’d delivered my first hybrid. Fenris’ mate had had a set of twins and several of our other wolves were expecting or close to delivering. Soon after that, Fenris’ mate was killed on a hunt and after we mourned her passing, I took him as my mate.”

“Wow,” Romeo said, truly blown away by the beginnings. “That’s quite a legacy.”

“I’m not through yet,” she said. “There is still some time before morning, although I can feel the sun beginning to rise.” Lilith took a moment to stretch her arms and legs, oozing sexuality. Romeo took a sip from his wine glass to avoid staring. He thought of Amanda to ward off Lilith’s efforts.

“What I didn’t know during those first years, was that Fenris had an appetite that was nearly insatiable. We screwed all the time, producing several wolf pups for our pack. Fenris, however, had a whole new pack under his rule as well... one I had no idea about. Your line came from that pack and although the branches from it fizzled out some over the years, your lineage has remained strong, stronger than most of the packs east of the Delta.”

“Is that why you’ve been obsessed with me? Because you knew Damon wouldn’t rule?” Romeo said, coming to understand fully how devious and evil Lilith really was. “You encouraged him in the black arts, didn’t you? You knew if he got too far down, he’d destroy himself and I’d take over as alpha.”

“It didn’t take much, really,” Lilith said, her eyes honest and sober.

Romeo felt his stomach turn and his chest tighten.

“After you tried to kill me, I let him believe it for a time. It fueled his anger, made the perfect platform for me to introduce black magic. I did it subtly, without him knowing it was me. I knew the first thing he’d try was to bring me back, so after a few weeks of practicing, I let him believe that it had finally worked. After that, he couldn’t get enough and actually became very good as a magician. Had he not been so soft I might have used him much more often, for more than just good sex.” Lilith flashed a wicked smile, one that made Romeo hate her for how she treated his brother.

“Still, I knew after a time that his heart was too dark to be what I needed in a mate. I let him continue on in his revenge, knowing it’d eventually doom him to destruction. When your father passed the alpha position to you, I knew instantly that I wanted to have you as my mate. Before I could introduce myself as someone else entirely, someone you’d approve of, you went and found that little wench. I was flabbergasted by how quickly you’d talked her into mating with you and knew you must be something incredible in bed for a girl like her to completely unravel her whole world for you. Still I couldn’t just usurp all your plans. I’m a hybrid vampire wolf, but there are still some things even I can’t do.”

“So you’ve waited all this time to be with me?” asked Romeo.

“I knew eventually she wouldn’t be enough for you. I knew you’d need much more than she could give you, witch or not. She’s still much more human than either of us and you need a woman who truly understands you,” Lilith said, sliding onto her knees. “It looks, Romeo, as if you win. The sun is coming, but my story is over and it isn’t yet dawn.”

Romeo watched Lilith unsnap his jeans with a single twist of her wrist. Fighting the part of him that was drawn to her, he bit the inside of his cheek hard, until he tasted the metallic flavor of his blood. Coughing hard, he spit the blood into his hand. “Lilith,” he said, coughing again. “I’m not at my best for fellatio or any other niceties right now.”

Her dark eyes glinted like steel as a smile spread over her face. Grabbing his hand in a vice-like grip, she flexed his palm and ran her tongue over it, lapping up the blood like a pup to water. “Mm,” she moaned. “You’re so rich.” Her hands pinned him to the bed and her mouth fused to his as she slid her body over his.

“Lilith,” Romeo begged. “I can’t...”

“Oh, you can, Romeo. Don’t you feel what’s inside you? It’s begging to be free to run wild as only I can let it. Be with me. Be with me this one time and I promise you’ll never look back.”

Her mouth closed around him before he could regain his ability to move and Romeo knew if he didn’t get out now, he never would. “Lilith,” he breathed. She giggled as his c**k slid into her mouth so deep that he could feel the back of her throat pulsing against him. Grabbing the wooden stick he’d set under his pillow, Romeo called her again. “Lilith baby.”

He coaxed her off his d**k and smiled, leaning forward. He ran his tongue playfully along her collarbone and over her neck and jaw. Then he kissed her until he felt her body relax. Pulling back, he used all of his strength to hit her across the face with the flat of the stick. He heard her howl in pain as he ran through the caves. Over the last week, he’d mapped them out rather well in his head, but he’d never been allowed near the exits. With that she-devil on his tail, he knew if he didn’t find an exit soon, she’d kill him quickly and painfully.

Making the change on the run brought a whole new level of agony as he felt his bones c***k and shift. He rounded a bend in the cave and saw light streaming in from the exit ahead. Leaping, he caught one guard with his claws as his teeth ripped the other one apart. Romeo burst into a clearing and just kept running, knowing that the she-devil and her hell hounds would be after him.

>>

Amanda woke with a start just as dawn crept over the ridge. She knew instantly that it was Romeo and before she could reach out to him, she heard him in her head.

~I’m coming, darling. But we need the first line of defense.

~I’m on it. Just keep heading home...

Amanda scrambled to dress and was calling everyone as she ran downstairs. “Romeo’s on his way, but Lilith is hot on his heels with Fenris’ pack. We need everyone we’ve got. Shawna, you stay with the twins.”

Wolves poured out of the house as others came from all four sides of the Delta region, swarming in like ants to defend their alpha’s home and life. Tense and ready, several wolves made the change, howling through the pain as the Radiants worked their magic. Briana brought a hurricane ripping through the forest so that trees lost their leaves and branches snapped. At Sarina’s request, Penelope put up a wind barrier over a small cottage and its land that was centered in the woods. Not only would it be safe from the other Radiants’ magic, but the onslaught of Lilith’s wolves would move around it as well. She didn’t elaborate, but Penelope wondered correctly if Sarina was protecting Brandt, a man who’d once disguised himself as Brody to try and impregnate her. She heard bits of the story and knew that Sarina and Brandt had made peace with each other, a feat she was sure she wouldn’t have done as easily.

“He’s coming!” Amanda shouted as she stretched out her hands. The earth began to tremble just as Romeo broke through the trees. He was sprinting, his dark coat glistening with sweat and shining green eyes focused on the line of wolves that would meet him.

Come on babe, Romeo heard in his head. Fueled by his pack, Romeo picked up his sprint and leaped over the first line of defense just as Amanda pulled up a massive line of earth. He watched as Amanda lifted the earth high into the air and then dropped her hands forcefully, bringing the line of earth back to itself like shaking out a tablecloth. Lilith’s wolves tried everything to stop before the fall into the abyss Amanda had opened up. The ones who’d found themselves in the air lay broken and bruised, if not dead, on the ground.

Lucia sent flames of fire-like lightning from the sky and instantly consumed any wolf who couldn’t move fast enough to evade her. Still, Romeo knew that Lilith and Fenris were far back, keeping themselves clear of the mayhem. They’d live to fight another day as Romeo sent his wolves out to pick off the weaker ones who’d be easy prey. The skirmish lasted another hour as the Radiants made sure that every last wolf that had been left was taken care of. Lucia stayed the longest, incinerating the remaining wolves who had been left only half changed, dying in pain as their bodies fluttered in the change. When she finally came inside, Romeo wasn’t the only one who noticed the toll it took on her.

“It’s never easy using our powers to give someone the respite of death,” Amanda said, wrapping an arm around Lucia, who quickly turned into her shoulder and cried. Romeo watched with both admiration and love as his wife comforted the young woman. Barely a woman at all when her mother had been killed, Lucia had found in Amanda the mother figure she’d needed to enter adulthood with both grace and dignity. Briana too, had looked to Amanda for much guidance as she stepped into the powers her own mother had passed to her. It was something Romeo rarely commented on, but knowing what he’d stood to lose, he knew he needed to take the time to tell his wife just how amazing she was.