Candy: Book 5 of the Lord Emperor Vampire Saga

WARNING: VICIOUS MINDFUCKING AND THE PELTS MAKE A COMEBACK

Chapter 203: Serephina

General Isaac Kreuz. He’d personally killed twenty-three vampire and more than a hundred werewolves...and two full blooded Lycan. He was an Orel Wessel from the day he was born and it was a calling, not a career. And...he had nothing to do with Hennessey. This was an Orel Wessel operation. They saw a chance and they acted on it. The Prince was down. Take out the princess...the pups were just pups but the older ones would have to go. If the newborns could be captured, they would make a valuable addition to the ranks if they could be trained.

Skell had killed him. He wasn’t going to last long and his screaming had been reduced to gurgles but it still wasn’t enough. Treska and Lia. The plans Orel Wessel had for Haley’s last litter were unspeakable. I crunched him hard. I pulled back the Healing Light. His body fell back into dying mode. I saw his soul. A pale grey ribbon try to detach itself. I reached out and grabbed it. I pulled on it, pressing it back down into his wreckage of a body, forcing him to stay and feel every inch of agony he had inflicted on my brethren...my blood...my pod.

Then I saw what Endellion had told Skell. A woman. A mage...no a sorceress. Kreuz only knew of her as Serephenia. She was of medium height, medium built, average good looks, blonde with cold blue eyes. The brotherhood wronged her? She wasn’t familiar. Still, I now had and image of her. We would all be on guard and I would be able to give Dad a heads up. The world of mages wasn’t that huge that a dark worker of considerable skill could get away without getting flagged somewhere.

I stood up, stood over him and watched him die. Somewhere deep inside me, I knew that maybe I shouldn’t enjoy this...it wasn’t really enjoyment but Kruez got what he deserved. The grey ribbon didn’t float away like I had seen with the others. It collapsed in on itself. Did that mean he went to hell? I hope so. Fucking Orel Wessel. Skell and my brothers were never going to be free of them.

“Lord Alpha.”

“Lord Alpha...” I think that was more than the second time that the Lycan had called my name. I turned toward Vladimir. “The right for succession is not over...”

I was dripping with entrails and blood and other goo I really didn’t want to identify. I turned on my heel and realized that I was ringed with Lycan. All Alphas. Some had been defeated in the dancing with wolves scenario...some hadn’t. Right now, they were all looking at me as if I was something unnatural.

/Wolf it./ Manu urged.

What? What was....what the hell had been going on? I scanned through Azrael’s recent memories and ....holy crap we got bit by Britta. She died? She’s dead? I’m a Lycan? I’m a litter? What the....
/I got it, X..../ Azrael’s voice cut through the Darkness.
/What the hell have you two been doing?/
Skell replied, /We did what had to be done. Do not condemn us.../

/Ah...er....I’m not condemning you...gees, I’ve been in mourning. It’s only been...SIX HOURS!!/

“Lord Alpha?”

/Can you shift to a wolf?/ Skell asked quietly in that oh so calm voice. That just meant that he was slowly coming out of the killing zone. I looked down at the body..er, body parts in front of me. I think there was another one out in the woods and one charbroiled like a Kingsford. Damn it... What the hell was going on while Sex and I were at the beach.

/No, I can’t shift to a wolf.../

/Then let me in...we’ve got Haley’s killer sitting on the Lycan throne and we can’t touch him until we challenge our way to the top. /

/I will debrief you and Sex, Xavier...now is not the time, not in front of our enemies. Do not undo all the work that Azrael and I have been doing these past few hours. We have shaken the supports of the Lycan Nation...don’t let it collapse on us./

Xavier let me back in but he was not really happy about it but he knew that he was still locked in grief to really effectively work on securing the Lycan Nation. I stripped off the leather jacket. The fighting leathers were probably never going to be the same. I slipped off the ribbed tank because blood had seemed in through the collar and now stuck to my chest. I unbuttoned my leather pants. I searched for the ‘iggly’ feeling I felt before. I didn’t kick my pants off just in case I couldn’t change down into a wolf on command. I didn’t need to be bare assed naked in front of the Nations defenders.

It started just like the bite. Why did it start in my arm? It could be because that is where Eliza made the first one and Britta followed it up with a second. Okay, as far as the rest of the assembled Lycan were concerned, I and I alone had just done all this mayhem and destruction. If I started screaming from the fact that my blood was on fire and it was lighting me up from within....it shouldn’t be too bad. It wasn’t like the phoenix. Maybe in the beginning when the burn scared the hell out of us and we didn’t know what it was doing, it wasn’t that kind of hurt. Actually the phoenix was now a warm breeze caressing the skin -- almost like a summer wind. The Lycan burn was nothing like a warm breeze.

I twitched. I heard the bones crack. I felt them lengthen and change. Faster...faster, faster. It felt like an allergic reaction. Pure white hair covered my arm. I had four legs and I was in leather pants. Pytor took a hold of the waistband and yanked my pants off. Vladimir and Manu had already shifted and basically wedged me between them to keep me from falling over. I was a six hour pup for heaven’s sake. Actually, I was stronger. I took a few steps forward under my own steam.

I did make Vladimir look like yellow snow.

/I heard that./ I heard Vladimir mutter.

/This danger has been neutralized./ I tried to make it sound official.

/Lord Azrael, what is going on. Why was Lady Ping shot at?/

Help came from an unexpected venue--Gregor. “Richard Hennessy has turned away from the true path. He has hired humans to advance his claim to the throne. Britta has heard the evidence and declared him a traitor to the blood. This is just more evidence of his treachery.”

Uh....hmmm. Maybe it would be easier to keep quiet. The growls of angry Lycan just reinforced that decision.

Gregor turned back to me. “You asked me to swear to you, High Alpha Azrael.” He gracefully lowered himself to his knees and hunched up his shoulders then dropped his snout to the ground in the Lycan form of reverence. “I swear to defend the Blood of the Eastern Lycan Nation in the name of Azrael, High Alpha. While you are an Emperor-in-waiting to the Vampires, my cousin – you are a King among wolves here. Death is the only obstacle that will keep me from fulfilling my service to you.”

I thought Gregor was impressive. Apparently, I was impressed too easily. The remaining thirty dropped down into the Lycan bow. I sat my ass down, crunching my tail for a second. Gees, I got a frickin’ tail...and a Lycan horde. The three remaining contenders to the throne shuffled forward, wolfed it then basically crawled toward me in submission.

/Uh, Vladimir, do I have to dominate anyone here?/

/Not unless you want to./

/Not really into bestiality./

/I’ll ignore that./

/Sorry, but you know what I mean./

/You are for Lord Marcus. That has been understood for decades, Lord Azrael. Get their scent, then let us get back to the arena./

Get their scent. That doesn’t sound bad, but I really didn’t want to be sticking my nose up anyone’s butt...even if it was my Mastiff. The things I do. Big Sigh. One. Two. Three. I walked past on all four legs. The balance was different. My center of gravity was lower. I experimentally began to trot. Then lope. I didn’t realize how far out from the Arena we had come.

I can only imagine the sight we made when the cream of the crop of Eastern Alphas came loping back into the battlegrounds lead by a pigment challenged wolf. I was a little smaller than Vladimir and little bigger than Manu. My Alpha, the few moments that I call remember before I passed out on my face I must have stood at least close to seven foot tall.

Bruce met us and his face was dark with fury. “Why did you leave?” Then he realized that I was a wolf and that I lead the pack back from the burning tree. The only reason it was on fire was because of the Hand of Light spear Skell had shish kabobbed through the core of it. There really wasn’t a need to have a fire brigand of standby.

“Capture the usurper.” Frowny ordered from the throne. There was a shuffling from those considered guards but no real movement towards us.

/Bruce?/

“All the others ran off with you. There were no more challengers so Hennessy is declared the winner by default. He has the throne and has claimed himself to be High Alpha.”

/How can he claim High Alpha. Doesn’t he had to be an Alpha to do that?/ I glared past Bruce and realized that Sang Kyu and Baojia were down, flat on their backs and bleeding. Ping! Ping was held between Frowny’s Lycan pack. Her countenance was dark and furious. Those Lycan bore the evidence that my little sister did not come quietly into their presence.

/Are they breathing?/

Bruce nodded. /Hennessey had them clubbed into submission. Lady Ping has been declared an interloper. You are branded a usurper – a troublesome pup who doesn’t know his place. He has promised the Overseer that he will be your guardian until you know the ways of the Nation. I have no doubt he plans to kill you the first chance he gets./

Since none of the guards were obeying High Alpha Frowny’s orders, his Alpha Leader stepped forward. Gregor settled himself in front of me, pushing Vladimir back as second line of defence. /I have sworn to defend my High Alpha. No harm will come to him this day./
I swear I saw Frowny pale. I couldn’t fault him for pulling a Napolean. I did vacate the battlefield, however...he is not good for the Lycan Nation and he killed Haley. I don’t know what Frowny was thinking. Maybe that Loyalty was blind. If he thought the guard and the Female Alphas were on his side just because he won the throne, he was realizing how mistaken he was. I had thirty oath sworn Lycan Alpha Males on my side. I had one of the more powerful acknowledged contenders for the throne standing before me as my first line of defence. Hennessy had five, that was it. Just his Alpha Pack.

“By the law of the trials, I am the official successor to the throne of the Lycan Nation! You owe your loyalty to me!!”

Gregor growled. /You must have honor and respect before you can expect loyalty. All of these traits have been missing from your character since you were a pup. We don’t expect you have magically grown them now./

Frowny’s leader took three steps toward us and wolfed it down to a frickingly huge wolf. It was like giganticism in Lycan form. /High Alpha Richard had given an order. Obey it./

/Never. I will never bow to a blood traitor. I will never bow to a non-alpha. High Alpha Azrael is Britta’s last litter and he has proven he is worthy of the title./

Bruce sidled up beside me. “Stop them. You must stop them before blood is shed. This will lead to a full scale war.”

/Tell me exactly how I can do that other than stabbing the bastard through the heart?/

“Right to single combat – Moon Dance.”

/Moondance?!!/

“It’s a one on one, winner take all.”

/Why the hell couldn’t we have just done that before?/

Bruce looked at me with a self suffering expression in his eyes. “Before was a battle for succession. Hennessy is declared High Alpha. Now, there is a position you can take.”

/How do I do that?/

“I do it.” Bruce stepped around both Vladimir and Gregor. He gracefully bowed to the Overseer. “Lord Alpha Azrael challenges High Alpha Richard to Moon Dance.”

That just shut everyone up. Why did I think this was more dancing?
The female turned toward me. Vladimir and Gregor just melted from in front of me. The little smile of indulgence she had graced me with before was gone. “Under what grounds does Lord Alpha Azrael make this challenge?”

“Richard Hennessy has contracted with humans for the assassination of Prince Haley and the attempted assassination of Lady Ping.” Bruce’s voice carried to the furthest reaches of the arena. I could see Frowny’s face getting red with frustration and rage.

“You have proof?”

One of Gregor’s former Alphas came forward and pulled out the dead lump of metal that was once a powerful talisman. Frowny shouldn’t even attempt to play poker. The shock on his face that we had that talisman in our possession just told him he had under estimated us, the brotherhood, yet again. His reaction was not lost on the Overseer as well.

I forced myself back to Vampire mode. It fucking hurt but I had gotten faster already. I was crouched bare assed naked to the assembly. My bared genitals were twisting in the breeze. I was more concerned about standing up without fainting or falling over. Bruce, the gentleman that he always was, stripped off his shirt and laid it across my shoulders. The hem hit me about mid-thigh.
I took the talisman and chain from the Lycan and held it up between myself and the new High Alpha. Sweat beaded his forehead. He was a nervous thing but when I caressed his shield...it was strong and it was more than one directional. What he lacked physically, he made up through cunning and mental ability. If I wanted to smash his shield, I would also wipe out anything I wanted to learn from him. But then again, he wore his heart on his sleeve. I just needed to know one thing from him.

“Serephina.”

He blanched.

The fucker. The fucker contracted dark magic, then went and hired an soldier of fortune and shot the beloved father of twelve in the head. Orel Wessel tried to captialize on the tragedy and chaos.

/X. Do your thing./

To everyone else, Richard Hennessy, High Alpha – King if you will, of the Eastern Lycan Nation collapsed in a Grand Mal seizure. I smashed his shield. I took the shards of that metaphysical device and sliced at his core as if they were razors. Yes, he hired Carter Wills but first he knew he had to cover his tracks. He found the sorceress Serephina and outlined what he wanted. She delivered. That was the only name he had of hers. There is magic in a true name. She was smart enough and powerful enough not to get caught in a Lycan trap. She gave him the Dark Talisman. He gave the talisman to Carter Wills. ...no...wait. I grabbed at the memory and tapped at it like hitting a tv screen to tune in a channel. No...the sorceress approached him after the failed puppy assassination. I let a slow smile curl my lips.

Frowny was a pawn. Serephina offered the talisman. His own arrogance and sense of delusion made him claim it as his own idea. He made himself believe that it was his own idea. I saw Frowny’s soul ribbon begin to detach. It was grey and spotted – like a rotten banana but there were still speck of bright sliver in it. That didn’t matter. He reached out and touched my pod. He hurt my family. I rammed that ribbon back into his convulsing form. When I did this, his voice yelped and began to whine.

That sound galvanised his Alpha Pack into action. The Imperials formed a wedge in front of me but found themselves a lack of opponents. The Lycan Thirty descended and ripped the High Alpha’s back to shreds. They were dead before their Leader. I made him pay. I forced him to feel everything that made him who he was liquefy beneath my onslaught.

A paw landed on my elbow. “That’s enough, Benedek...my vengeance is satisfied.” Ping urged my arm down.

The silence was eerie when I finally allowed him to die.

The Overseer approached the fallen High Alpha. She turned and looked at me a gleam in her eyes. I tensed for a moment. If she called down the Female Alphas, we were screwed. “High Alpha, Richard is dead! As there are no direct female descendents of Britta Denning, and Richard Hennessy has no pups, the position of High Alpha must be claimed as per the ancient trails of our origins – the Eastern Pack.”

“Those that make a claim to the position of High Alpha come forward and join with Prince Azrael before the Seat of Leadership.”
All the Lycan on the stage parted like the red sea, opening up an aisle for me up to the large ornately chaired throne. They dragged all the sundry pieces and pieces of the former High Alpha’s pack out of my path. I walked barefoot through their spilt blood . Frowny was laying on his back, his eyes open and sightless up to the afternoon sun. I stepped over his corpse then turned and kicked him off the small dias.

I sat down on the throne. Boajia and Sang Kyu were up and moving but not quickly. They joined Vladimir, Manu and Pytor beside the throne. No one else came forward. That wasn’t something the Overseer was expecting.

She laid her gaze on Gregor. He turned his gaze passed her and stared at me then bowed his head.

“Being no challenge to Azrael Dennings claim, he is proclaimed High Alpha!”

Gregor and the remaining thirty dropped into Lycan reverence. The rest of the audience did the same thing. Bruce walked up bowed before me then stepped closer and pushed my knees together. “There is no need to advertise the goods, my King.”

Holy crap. I felt a flush cross my cheeks.

Kay and the rest of Britta’s Female Alpha pack came out carrying bundles. Azrael’s memories sent a shock through me. They skinned her when she died. It was an honor. It was tradition. “Rise my King, High Alpha Azrael.”

The large greyish white pelt was draped over the throne then Kay offered her arm to seat me down on it. “You have honoured your Mother, our Mother, Britta the Elder.” She leaned forward and licked the back of my hand. I made sure to keep my knees together.
Ping stepped forward, unshed tears glistening in her eyes. “I know that our ways are foreign to you, Xavier. The taking of a pelt is a high honor that few Alphas are given.” She turned and gestured to the second ranked of Britta’s females. “Accept this with the honor and reverence it means. With this pelt, our...Haley will never be far from us.”

The other female stepped up carrying a multi-color Lycan pelt. Oh. My. God. Together Ping and the other Alpha unfolded it and laid it across my bared legs. My hands clenched convulsingly in the soft fur. Who would have thought that the little pup would have so much hair? My eyes began to burn. Haley...

“King Azrael! King Azrael!”

I straightened my spine and blinked. Ping reached out and pulled my hair forward and kissed my forehead. “Thank you...thank you for seeing his killers dead. I ask that you send my love to the stars with your phoenix wings tonight. He was always destined to usher Hashmalliam to the Nation. He would find it a blast to fly a final time in your arms.”

“This, I will do.”

Ping kissed me once more then moved to stand at might left. The Lycan Nation chanted Azrael’s name. Inside my broken heart, I could feel it mending, or at least hardening and growing cold. Hennessy and his Pack were just the tip. Haley’s death could be laid at my feet. An old enemy has roused itself from the depths of hell from which I thought I had banished it. A new enemy who existed on absolute hatred for me – hatred and magics were never a good combination. Endellion and the Phoenix fire will have to be enough to counter it.

Serephina.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

She was about to find out the kind of hell that the brotherhood could create. In the names of Haley, Prince of the Northern Lycan and Britta the Elder, Serephina was going to meet Hashmalliam. My hands curled in the pelt across my lap.

This I so swear. You’re fucked, bitch.