Candy: Book 5 of the Lord Emperor Vampire Saga

Chapter 197: Britta the Elder

What the hell can you say when you’re standing before a legend?
Forget the fact, she hates my guts and has tried to off me on several occasions. Okay, I don’t know if she was trying to off us, but still, sending out a team of Alphas to drag our sorry winged ass back to Lycan central isn’t conclusive to thinking it was for tea and crumpets. Lycan. What the hell do I know about them? We took Haley and Ping at face value. They showed us what they wanted and we never questioned it because as Haley had said when we first meet. Lycan don’t discussion Lycan matters outside of the pack.

Now it seems Sex has been a werewolf since he was nine. I crumpled up my greasy wrapper and tossed it back in the McDonald’s bag. Appetite was never a problem with me, even after going off on a killing spree. No. We did not spree. We hunted. Gees, listen to me. The Royal We. Bruce sat with us in the back of the van that was speeding us toward the oldest known Lycan in the New World but his countenance was pensive. Aside from the ordering at the speakerbox, Bruce had fallen silent.

Bruce was something like her right paw wolf. She gave an order, he got it done or tried to, or got toasted. Something like my First, my Marcus, within the House of Assassins. Bruce did what had to be done. I glanced down at his hand. His paw never truly healed properly from that time when Sex phoenixed him. He always wore a glove now when we did run afoul of each other.

As I have said, you know where you stand with Sex.

The van turned into a wooded lot. I glanced out the windows and saw wolves running here and there in the shadows of the trees and underbrush. We must have traveled down a gravel road for at least ten minutes when we came to a guarded gate. The Lycan on watch were huge males. You could feel the Alphaness right through the sheet metal of the van.

The Imperials all went on alert. We were waved through but my Alpha pack didn’t stand down. We were going to the Den of the Northern Pack--a Vampire/ pseudo werewolf and five Eastern Alpha. Heaven only knew what the hell we were getting into.

After all the veiled references Haley had given me. Haley. There was a sharp jab in my heart. Not yet. Lock it down. Grieving time would be later. I took a deep cleansing breath then opened my eyes to find Bruce staring at me. He nodded slightly toward the side window of the van and I focused my eyes on the Den. I don’t know what the hell I was expecting…a Tudor mansion wasn’t even in my billboard top 100 guesses. I was thinking cave.

“You will be given a tour later, Prince Xavier.”

“This is Azrael.” Vladimir corrected with a sharp yet calm voice.

“My apologies, my Prince.”

“It takes a little getting used to.” Of course I was referring to knowing who was in the driver’s seat of pale, short and pretty. I think my eyes were googling everywhere. The place was freaking huge. It could rival any mid-size stadium. Wolves ran free on the grounds. Alphas normally didn’t stalk around all Alpha-ized unless they were getting ready for a fight. So the yard was filled with pups, and adults and human guised packs.

“I must apologize for this breech in protocol, Prince…Azrael. We Lycan like to stick with our ceremonies but as this is a matter of urgency…please follow me.”

The door to the van slide back and Bruce popped out and started motoring up to the grand entrance. I think I must have had about 200 eyesballs glued to my back and 100 noses trying to catch my scent. I suddenly found myself surrounded by the Imperials as we motored after Bruce into the Den of Britta the Elder.

Cutting through the grand foray, I was left with the impression of light. Not a welcoming thing for a creature of darkness. The little bit I seen of it while being ushered through the house left me thinking of Rivendale from the Lord of the Rings movies. Damned impressive. It made Von Drachenfeld look like a cramped dark hovel. Hmmm.

If the Northern Pack didn’t know of my impending visit, they sure as hell knew now. Some unknown female had just sent out a pack call and the intensity of it made all of us males stumble. Bruce actually dropped to one knee.

Then I heard that fragile yet commanding voice. /Bring him./

Alpha males guarded the hall. They opened the doors to Britta’s private chambers and ushered us in. There was a gigantic suite filled from ceiling to floor with….stuff. Britta could give Father a run for his money with pack ratting tendencies. Five female Alphas ranged immediately around the queen sized bed. There was another layer of Lycan beyond them, then another and another. Britta lay in the middle of bed propped up with bolsters and pillows. The crowd around the dying Den Mother parted as Bruce approached.

“I have brought Prince…Von Drachenfeld and his Imperial Court as requested, Den Mother.” Bruce bowed his head and knelt before his Queen. The rest of the Lycan horde dropped down as well. It wasn’t the reverence pose I was used to. All the Lycan dropped to all fours and hunched their shoulders forward until they were the highest part of their body. The head was forward and the nose scraped against the carpet. That looked damned uncomfortable.

Eyes the shade of weak tea stared back at me from a sunken dark eye sockets. Her hair was pale, white and silver and plaited so it hung over her shoulder. Again, I was struck at how much she resembled Granny from the Beverly Hillbillies. “Well, you cheeky little bastard, I only had to be on my last breath to get your ass here.”

Just as charming too.

“Britta.” I didn’t have X’s smooth banter, but I could pull out the charm when I had to. Most of the time, I just killed whoever was in my way. It wouldn’t work here. I bowed my head but didn’t kneel. I might be on the roll for the Lycan Nation, but I still was a Von Drachenfeld with fangs and wings. I greeted her as an equal.

She saw it and grinned. It was just a flash, but you could see in that moment what she would have looked like when she was younger and in her prime. The whole of the place rose and crowded around the bed again. I found this to be just creepy. I shuddered. This reminded me from a scene out of the movie “The Dark Crystal” when everyone had gathered to watch the old Lord die so they could make the next claim to the throne. Ick. Just…ick.

“You decided to listen for once, my Prince puppy.” Her voice was weak but there was nothing dampened regarding her spirit. She tested the air. “The scent of blood is strong on you. You avenged my Grandson?”

I stepped up to the edge of the footboard of her bed. Another thing that struck me as really an ick factor. Her bed was made up of Lycan pelts. It was just soooo….no, I can’t be ethnocentric about it, but….she was sleeping on the carcasses of her children. I schooled my face into stillness but I was jumpy internally. Ewwww. I met her eye squarely. I thought I had met the Ancient vibe before but Britta emanated more than just age – it was almost tangible. Something you can feel. It was willpower, confidence no, it was more than that. It was…greatness. The pale feral gold of her eyes were not dimmed. They were at odds with the decay of her body.

She was a legend.

“I got the shooter. He has tasted a bit of the suffering he has caused. Before he left this world I got all I needed from him. I know who held his leash. I have his face. I just have to track a name down.”

“Vampire skill.” Britta gave a snort of distain.

“You use what you got.”

“Show me…”

The rest of the Lycan assembly rushed the bed to prevent me from touching their beloved elder.

“Get off!” Even laying there flat on her back, the personality that built this pack was indomitable. “Prince Puppy, come here.”

I wasn’t too happy with the name, but it was better than cheeky bastard. “I will know the face of the Lycan who has murdered my grandson in such a cowardly fashion.”

I moved around the side of the bed and had to set my ass down on the Lycan fur to get close to her. Don’t think about it. Reaching forward, I set one finger on Britta’s forehead. Oh, God…the pain she lived with. Every joint was arthritic. Each breath was a struggle and stabbing. I think I clacked my teeth together as her agony swamped me for a moment. Then her voice ripped into me, cutting through that pain with the sharpness of will and determination. /Get on with it, Pup. We both know I don’t have long left. I want my Haley avenged this day. I want his remains to be sent to the stars on this night’s full moon./

I let the image of the frowny Lycan flow. Britta actually snarled. “Richard. Richard Hennessy.”

Britta pulled her head back. “He’s a distant relative. Seventh litter, fourth son’s third litter.”

Holy crap.

“He’s not even an Alpha.”

I frowned. “How can you remember that?”

“Just because my body is failing me, doesn’t mean my mental faculties are too. Let it be known throughout the Den that Richard Hennessy has broken the law. He has used a human to advance his claim. Death is to be swift and immediate.”

I made a move to get off the bed of Lycan pelts but Britta’s hand came out and closed around my wrist. There was a voice from the peanut gallery. “You are taking the claim of an outsider as truth?”

Britta’s eyes turned feral and I could feel the strength of her hold grow. “Who dares question?”

The Lycan sea parted and a young female pup was revealed to the eye of the Den Mother. The pup dropped to her knees. “This is Sigmund Edward Xavier. His name has been inscribed in the Lycan Roll for forty-five years as the First Generation werewolf of Eliza Dennings, Third Litter. With Haley Dennings Saitou’s assassination, he is now my chosen High Alpha.”

Yips and growls rose up. Bruce howled and the whole of the chamber fell silent.

“I have spoken. Let my will be carried out.”

“Prince Xavier – High Alpha.” Bruce shouted it out to the assembly. “Ping Saitou, Den Mother. Arashi Saitou, Heir.”
“Everyone out.”

This announcement startled Bruce. I don’t think much startled the big Alpha. “Clear the room.”

The Female Alphas made no move to budge. My Imperials made to move to budge either. When I tried to get off the bed, Britta tightened her grip. Bruce ushered everyone out of the bedchamber then moved to close the doors behind him.

“Bruce, you need to stay. You are my most trusted advisor and you have proven to be a loyal confidant. I need you to be a creditable witness.”

Okay, freaking me out again.

Bruce locked the doors from the inside and came to stand at the end of the bed. “Den Mother, you don’t have to leave us today.”

“I have hung on as long as necessary. Listen up, pup.” Britta let go of my wrist and leaned back into the covers. “Fate and the Lycan run in tandem.” She began to cough, and cough. A Female Alpha sat on the bed and held a cloth to the Elder’s mouth. I didn’t need to see the redness on the material. I could smell the blood in the air. Death was coming for Britta the Elder.

The Northern Den. They way Haley had spoken about it I was fully expecting death and treachery at every corner in dark shadows almost like the back alleys in the streets of whitechapel. Pups died here too quickly disappearing from the Roll under the flash of blades. I had been wrong about that. Advancement of your bloodline was fine if you did it with fangs. Artificial means was against the Law. Killing in the Lycan Nation was still a matter of getting up close and personal.

Frowny, aka Richard Hennessy, had thought that by distancing himself from the kill it couldn’t get traced back to him and his machinations for the position of High Alpha. I really didn’t get why he wanted to be High Alpha, he wasn’t even an Alpha. He was just a regular run of the mill Lycan with enough ambition and coldness of conscience to try and kill a two month old pup. He might have gotten away with it but he forgot one thing. Haley had family outside of the Den. Haley had littermates with talents like mindfucking and access to Mages. That dark talisman would have worked if Haley was just a Lycan. Haley was part of my pod.
Britta coughed once more then laid back on the bed. I switched my sight over to soul-o-vision. Her soul was attached to her pain wracked withered frame with just a pale gossamer thread. The era of Britta the Elder was coming close to the end.

“I offer my apologies for Haley’s…”

She cut me off with a curt tongue. “Haley’s fate has always been sealed.” She waved the Female Alpha way and stared at me. “As I was saying, Fate and the Lycan are constant companions. Seers are few and far between in the Den. It’s a gift and and curse when a Lycan is touched by the hand of God. I wept when my daughter, Eliza, manifested this ability. Once ‘the sight’ arrives, that individual is treated like a pariah. She had litters but for some reason or another all her pups were sickly. Few made it to months, most took only their first breath then passed back to the stars. One lived -- Dennis. He made it to nine years old. He was still a sickly pup but it was the only one who grew old enough to call her Mother.”

“Nine…”

“He didn’t wake one morning. What little sense she had just snapped. She made predictions for two weeks solid. The rest of the pack was in fear of her. She made predictions that come true that day. She made predictions that came true that week, in months and in years. The worst one she told me in private. None of my blood would take after me. My grandson would find Hashmalliam and would guide him into fullness but would fall. The spilling of his blood would turn the Den into a slaughterhouse.”
Britta started coughing again, longer and with enough force to shake the bed.

“Healing…”

“Bah, Vampires and their healing. I am too far gone for that now you, cheeky bastard.” She lifted her paw and tapped me rather hard on the cheek. “The first son of the 10th litter will have a third son, first litter and that pup will usher Hashmalliam into the Den. That pup’s fall will signal an end to the Northern Den. The first daughter of the first litter from the East will reform the pack and lead it to greatness. Haley, the youngest son of my 10th litter’s first male, Wolfgang, has always been destined to be your companion even if it was just for a short while. His fall has been set into motion before you were added to the Roll.”

“That Lycan, Eliza, thought I was Dennis?” I wasn’t going to get picky over who was who back in the past. Britta was hanging on by a thread.

“After that two week period…she lost what little reason remained. She escaped from us. I can’t tell if she knew you were Hashmalliam reborn or if it was just happenstance, but she saw you and claimed you as her son. The fact that you were the son of the Lady Regent was not lost on me. To kill a Lycan of royal blood is normally punishable by death, but Eliza was in pain and lonely and the magics surrounding you were stronger than a human could produce.”

What?

“Who knew that Hashmalliam, the ultimate destroyer, would be just a gayboy hottie?”

Crap, Britta was the queen of backhanded compliments.

“I thought you hated my guts.”

“Few things frighten me, Pup. In my extended years, I have seen the coming of flight, the automobile, the advancement of medicines, wars and time of peace. I have tried to change Fate but it has a way of subverting my will. I didn’t know if Haley’s path would be nothing but pain, so when he defied me, I tried to change his doom.”

“By killing him.”

“Instead, I set the wheel of fortune into motion. I sent him into the arms of Hashmalliam. I sent him to the East. He bore a daughter who is the spitting image of her Mother. All the prophesies that Eliza has made, have come true, except for one.”
The Females moved and closed the curtains sending the bedchamber into darkness. Oil lamps were lit and four of the females took up point at each corner of the bed.

Bruce came finally spoke. “Is this the only way, Den Mother?”

I snapped by eyes around unsure of what the hell was going on but it didn’t strike me as a simple nightlight, going to bed now thing. When I made a move, Britta’s hand came back to my arm. I was aware that where her paw landed was where Sex had gotten bitten and dragged off by Eliza Dennings. “What are you doing?”

The last female crawled on the bed behind me. The Imperials moved but the females growled lowly. “A Vampire cannot become High Alpha.”

“That’s what I am.”

Britta shook her head. “Magics bind your Lycan blood. You have been a werewolf for forty-five years, Pup. When Eliza first bit you then fell, as is custom, the Pack was sent out to gather you up and bring you home.”

“I was home.” I looked back at the Female behind me.

Britta brought her paw up and urged my face back towards her. Her eyes were still glittering feral. “You changed. My daughter claimed you for her son on the night of a full moon. You changed into a wolf pup that night. The Regency Mages cannot reverse a bite, but they bound it with incantations and ancient earth power. You have been a part of my bloodline for almost all your life. You were a pup long before you were a fledgling. I need to release the lock the Mages have placed on you. For the sake of the whole Nation, if you can’t be a Lycan, you must be a werewolf.”

Considering how old Britta was, and how weak and pain filled; she changed into a grey Alpha Female faster than I could react. The Female Alpha behind me grabbed me in a hug under my one arm that Britta had been holding and then I was attacked by the Den Mother of the Nation. The pain and horror that swamped me wasn’t what was happening now. This was what Sex had to endure when he was attacked as a scrawny red headed kid. It happened so fast. He had been headed back home from swimming in the pond out behind the barn. All he had on was damp swim trunks and a wet towel. The shadow that hit him like akin to being run over by a car. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t scream as the Alpha chomped down on his upper arm. Eliza had dislocated his shoulder when she took him down and tried to drag him off into the woods. The terror and the pain…no wonder Sex had to retreat. The Lycan had dragged him about twenty feet before he could get air back into his lungs and start screaming. Sex was all of what, ninety pounds? The Alpha female shook her head trying to keep him quiet. Her fangs just dug into him arm right to the bone. She shook him again and his head slammed into a tree. After that the memories were just it was Mage after Mage chanting.

Eliza bit Sex as an Alpha. Wolf form would have done the trick if she had wanted to create a red werewolf pup. Why would she had torn into a little kid like that? What had she been trying to do?

Britta unhinged her fangs from my upper arm and all hell was breaking loose. My Imperials were trying to come to my rescue but were getting soundly thrashed by the Females. I twitched myself off the bed out of the hold of the female behind me. Britta flopped back down into the pillows. I grabbed at my upper arm. It felt like my blood was on fire.

“ENOUGH!” Bruce’s voice ripped through the darkness.

I began to shake. This hurt… It shouldn’t hurt like this. /Skell…./

I got no answer. I felt no presence. I was on my own with…whatever the hell this was. I thought I heard bones crack. I groaned as the pain his me. I did hear bones. They were mine. Oh God…

“Undress him. Hurry!” Vlad’s face showed up in my line of vision for a moment then I screamed as I felt my spine behind to…what….grow? He ripped my tee shirt off, someone yanked my pants free. The veins in my neck pulsed my muscles tightened into rigor mortis. I twitched. I screamed. I groaned and when I was finally fortunate enough to almost black out I saw my hand turn into a paw.

/…a creature no Blood can call its own…/ Britta’s voice rang in my head.

Every bone in my face broke just like a baseball through plate glass of a living room. That’s when darkness descended.

I didn’t get the beach. I didn’t get the Darkness. I got nothing. There was nothing. I was alone. I could hear noise off in the distance. I was swimming in a lake of pain. Everything, every inch of skin was hypersensitive. My breathing sounded unbearable loud. I tired to move and a whimper of pain broke from my throat. It sounded like a whine. Uh? I opened my eyes. I was laying on my side flat on the rug of Britta’s bedchambers. I tried to move again and I whined. Since when do I whine. My eyes focused and…why do I have white fur? On my leg…er foreleg…uh FOUR LEGS!

I scrambled to my feet. Feets…all fours and promptly fell over. I went to speak and I heard a yelp call out. I staggered like I had just been pumped full of tranquilizers. I slammed into a body. Valdimir. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close.

“Relax, Lord Alpha…don’t tense up…you are a wolf…”

His hands scratched at my shoulders and sides. There was a hairless spot on my left shoulder where the Von Drachenfeld glyph had been branded. I couldn’t find my center. My haunches flopped over. Haunches? /Azrael…relax. Breathe…give your body and mind a little rest so they can talk to each other…/

My eyes began to focus. I was a wolf. I was a wolf. How the fuck could I be a fucking wolf?

/You have all bared witness to the birth of my eleventh litter. Record his name – Azrael Saitou in the Rolls. My blood line will inherit the Northern Pack. Fate…will not win./ Britta sank back into her bed but here eyes blazed Lycan ferocity towards me. “Te vagy az Apja. Te vagy a Jövõje. Õrizd meg a Nemzet erejét.”

She shrank back down into the frail looking grandmotherly type. Her eyes returned to the weak tea color that she had gifted to her grandson. “Drága egyetlenem. Sajnálom”

Britta the Elder died.

Mournful howls began in the throats of the females. Bruce dropped to his knees at the end of the bed openly weeping The Imperials came around Vlad and me. I leaned heavily on Vlad and tried to ride out the lingering pain. The room was flooded with light as the curtains were pulled back and the windows were opened. The Females howled again. It was picked up and carried forward echoing eerily through the huge mansion and out into the woods.

Britta the Elder was dead.

The howl echoed around inside my skull. My hearing was too sharp. I couldn’t block it out. I ended up ducking my head trying to cover my ears with…paws.

“Time for us to go.” Vlad made a move to pick me up but Sang Kyu gathered me in his arms. He carried me like a dog. I shivered. My tail went thump against Sang Kyu’s leg. I had paws and a tail.

/The first change is always painful, Lord Alpha. It doesn’t matter if you are a werewolf or a Lycan. It will never be this bad again./ Sang Kyu offered friendly advice.

/It doesn’t hurt again?/

/Oh, it hurts, but you figure out how to make the change quicker./

I lowered my head to his shoulder. I hurt everywhere.

“You cannot leave!” Bruce turned from the bed as we headed for the door.

“I think Lord Alpha has gone through enough today.”

“Britta has died. You are her chosen High Alpha. You have been publically declared. You step into your role now.” He climbed to his feet and crossed to the door in front of us blocking it with his ancient frame.

“He can’t even stand on his own.” Vlad returned angrily.

“Then let him sit.” Off in the distance, barks and snarls were sounding. Bruce turned his head and listened for a moment. “It begins. The Den Mother isn’t even cool yet. Bring him. I’ll show you to the Den and the throne. You are his Imperial Guard, the Females will be joining you there soon.”

“Lord Alpha needs to go home.”

Bruce pulled himself up to his full height. “This is his home. Britta has made him her last litter. He is the last of her bloodline. The Den is his. Even if you take him from this place, he is now a target for anyone who wishes to control the Den. As you have seen, there are Lycan out there who want the Den so badly that they will break the sacred laws to remove their competition. Haley sent his pups from this place to keep them safe. If you take Azrael back to the Vampires…you make them all a target. You will endanger his fledglings as well as the pups. High Alpha Azrael.” He lowered himself to his knees and did that hunchback bowing thing before me. “Until you claim the Northern Lycan Nation as yours, you cannot return back to your Vampire life.”

/You knew what Britta had planned./

Bruce sat up. His eyes were sad but the tears he had shed were already drying. “The Prince has fallen. The Mother has fallen. With her last breath, she gave you the power to preserve what she has built and to hand it off to the future generations. You must defend her last wishes. You must meet the challenge and you must win. You have no choice. They will not offer any mercy to you and you bloodline be it Vampire or Lycan. You must return the sentiment. Kegyelem nélkül “

I wiggled and Sang Kyu sent me on the floor where I promptly fell over onto my side. Oh yeah, I’m going to take on full grown Lycan when I can’t even find my balance. /I need to be back to human./

/Will it./

Will it? Just like my wings, eh? Fuck….faster…do it faster…I looked down at my hands and tried to throw up my egg muffin. I was light headed and…hey I had arms and legs. I fell over again.

My arm throbbed from where Britta tore into me. I was still bleeding. Baojia pulled his hair out of the way and offered up his throat. My fangs dropped. Okay…I was still a vampire…right?

I didn’t know what I was but I sank my fangs and drew some nourishment out of my Imperial. I felt stronger. Okay…that didn’t change.

/Skell?/

Little Deadly’s voice was harsh and demanding. I’d never heard it like that before. He was scared for me? /What the hell is going on? You shut us out. It was like a safe door got slammed shut./

/Britta bit me. I turned into a wolf. Can you do something about the arm. It’s killing me?/

I flared blue. When the light faded, every Lycan in the chamber was down in the Lycan bow. I felt better. My heart seemed hot. I laid my palm over it. It felt warm internally but other than that I felt like my self.

Kegyelem nélkül, eh? I could do that. This was Haley’s legacy. He had asked me to be Benedek. Maybe I couldn’t have saved his life, but I could give his pups their place within the Nation. Potyr handed me my clothes and they waited as I got dressed. I got to my feet and swayed a bit but everything was pretty well steady as she goes. Bruce climbed to his feet and began leading the way out of the bedchamber. I paused and turned looking back at the frail corpse that had carved a place for her kind out of the wilderness that had been the New World.

I got down on my knees and offered Britta the Elder my poor excuse for a Lycan bow. I could feel my eyes flare phoenix blue as I raised my head. Kegyelem nélkül.

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A little bit of Hungarian

You are the Father. You are the future. Keep the Nation strong. - Te vagy az Anyja. Te vagy az Apja. Te vagy a Jövõje. Õrizd meg a Nemzet erejét.
No mercy. - Kegyelem nélkül. (~ without mercy)
My precious little one - Drága egyetlenem
I'm sorry. - Sajnálom (If I feel with you

A special thank you and kudos goes out to mazsola for assistance with the little bit of Hungarian I have in this chappie. I had planned a different sort of conversation between Britta and the brotherhood but as the saying goes, you just have to go with the flow. Thanks again!!