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Chapter 96
Last Updated:
2024-12-28 07:11:22
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In Service of the Alpha Chapter 97
JohnathanThe mood in the dining room is thick and uncomfortable tonight. Everyone keeps stealing glances at Rose, who is sitting quietly and obediently in her place next to Mara's seat.In the harsh light of the glittering chandelier, she looks deathly pale and sick, but her eyes are starting to clear up a bit.Perhaps Kahn was right. All she needs is a little sunshine and proper food. I know the vampires feed their blood bags well, but I’m not so sure that diet extends to a wolf slave.Preston is back at the end of the table, Donovan on his right side, Gregory next to him and to my left.Mara quietly takes her seat on my right and looks around the room. Every place at the table is occupied. “At this rate, we’re going to need a bigger dining table,” she remarks.“We’re going to need a bigger dining room first,” I reply with a chuckle.For a while, no one speaks, and again Mara is the one who breaks the uncomfortable silence. “Tell Daddy what we did,” she says with a smile, trying to b
Last Updated : 2024-12-28In Service of the Alpha Chapter 98
Mara I run through the woods, my feet slapping hard against the forest floor as I go straight for the town’s border. I’m aware that Kahn is following me, but I pay very little attention to him. There are several places where the wolves cross the border into our expanding territory. Sometimes, we’ll see the ones looking for the entrance, witness the outright fear on their faces when they can’t get in, and every time I want to go help them. Every time, one of the others stops me. And now I know why. No matter how scared those lost wolves are at that moment, they are the ones who’ll eventually turn on us and tear our pack, my family, to shreds. Just look at what Theresa did - and she’s not even in the town. Oberon materialises, as he always does, out of thin air, and right in my path. I can’t stop myself in time and run full-force into him. The fae doesn’t budge, but I stagger back. I trip over my own feet and start to fall, but Kahn catches me just before I hit the ground. I jump ou
Last Updated : 2024-12-29In Service of the Alpha Chapter 99
MaraOberon whispers some words I don’t understand in my ear, and I start to feel a little lighter. The crushing fear dissipates and the exhaustion that's keeping me on my knees lifts. “What was that?” I ask the fae king when he’s done.“A little fae magic.” He squeezes my shoulder, gets to his feet and turns to Kahn. “You plan to perform the spell on the next full moon?”“What spell?” I ask and shakily stand up. My legs feel like jelly and my head still buzzes. I glance at the ashes again. The wind is starting to pick it up, carrying the Lunae away on the breeze. It’s almost surreal. I can’t believe that I’m capable of wielding magic that destructive.I can't quite get my head around it, and when I think about it, it feels as if someone else did it, and I just stood back, looking on. Like it was a movie.“I am done being a vampire,” Kahn says, ripping me from my thoughts. “I would like to turn back on the next full moon. That is if you are still willing to do it.”I nod. “Why wouldn
Last Updated : 2024-12-30In Service of the Alpha Chapter 100
JohnathanMara falls asleep on my lap, curled up like a cat, her face buried in my chest, hand fisted around my shirt.It’s not a peaceful sleep. Kahn asked me about my first kill - and it was true that I didn’t feel guilty about that one. It was pure self-defence. If anything, I was proud of myself for overpowering a fully grown werewolf with experience.But there have been others since then. And they do haunt me from time to time. All of them deserved it to some degree, but that doesn’t make it any less painful. Ally visits me often in my dreams. I keep reliving that moment just before she died. That split-second when she was sane and simply asked, “Why?”I didn’t have a chance to answer her question. I hope she knows that I didn’t want to do it, that I regret it almost every day of my life.I get up, holding Mara close to me, and go upstairs. I lay her on the bed and open the windows to let the cool, rainy breeze in.My mate moans softly in her sleep and flops over on her stomach.
Last Updated : 2024-12-31In Service of the Alpha Chapter 101
JohnathanThe morning comes too soon. It feels as if I barely closed my eyes before the morning alarm woke me.I really need to switch those fucking things off. They're not doing their job anymore, and they are more annoying that comforting now.I’m dreading this day. Not only do I have to sit back and watch as my exhausted mate go to Oberon for training, I need to break the bad news about Felicity to Kahn, close the town, and see to the new blow-ins that arrived overnight.We have officially run out of space, and there’s nowhere I can put the newcomers, unless I use the empty school, our one Christian church, and the brothels. No one’s going to like any of that. Not Joseph, the brothel madams, or the human priest who made this place his home after finding out that he was fated to a werewolf. The priest told me his story in vivid detail. How he tried to ignore the pull of the mate bond because human priests aren’t allowed to take wives for some reason. In the end, he couldn’t withst
Last Updated : 2024-12-31In Service of the Alpha Chapter 102
MaraThe morning is darker than usual. The clouds are so full of rain that they are almost black. I can feel the electricity in the air, nature holding her breath as she awaits the inevitable release.Usually Kahn is somewhere around the pack house, but today he’s nowhere to be found. Day or night, unless he’s feeding, he’s here. He’ll come inside when the sun is highest, but that’s about as much as he hides from the day.I don’t think he ever sleeps. He tells me he does, but I am sure he’s lying. Vampires go into a dead state during the day - their hearts stop beating and they don’t breathe - but Kahn being half-Lycan never reaches that state.It must be awful to go through life like that. Never sleeping, watching time pass by, the people you love moving on without you. A part of nothing, fitting nowhere. All alone for all eternity.“Kahn?” I ask for the tenth time, feeling tears well up in my eyes. "Where are you?"He doesn’t answer me.I try to mind link with him, but can’t. It’s l
Last Updated : 2024-12-31In Service of the Alpha Chapter 103
JohnathanI did not sense Mara’s approach until she started running towards me. It was sudden. Like a balloon popping. Oberon brought her to me. She’s in a terrible state, but trying her best to put up a brave front. Things haven’t exactly been going her way lately. Or at all really. It's been one clusterfuck after the other since we mated.It’s my natural instinct to protect her. I want to fix everything for her. I want to wrap her in cotton and put her in a glass case. Safe and snug. I’ll burn this whole damn world to the ground if that’s what it takes to see her smile. But intellectually I know how stifling that kind of union can be. I've seen men with the purest intentions crush their mates under the weight of their protection.As far as I’m concerned, It’s just another form of abuse and control. I make sure that she stays well out of the way as we put up the barriers, and when we take a break to drink some water, I stand by her side, telling her about the floods we can expect.
Last Updated : 2024-12-31In Service of the Alpha Chapter 104
JohnathanUpon seeing my reaction, Mara quickly starts to raise her defences again. I grab her wrist to get her attention. “Don’t.”“I told you-”“I’m fine. It was just very sudden. Give me a little warning next time.”She stops what she’s doing and settles back in her seat. The pack house comes into view as we round the last corner, and I let out a little sigh of relief. I want some time with my mate before I tackle the next crisis.I know I have to go down to the town to figure out this mess with the accommodations, but I’m absolutely not leaving Mara here by herself. The state she’s in scares me - she’s bound to do something to herself - but I have to convince her to come with me.“Quick shower,” I say as Baxter pulls up to the front door. “Then we’ll go into town.”“You want me to go with you?” Mara asks.“Yes,” I say and switch over to our mind link. “More time together, remember?”“You’ll be busy. I’ll just get in the way.”“Fuck’s sake Mara, you are never in the way. Stop beatin
Last Updated : 2024-12-31
Latest chapter
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 137
JohnathanStaring at Thrax’s disembodied head is quite disconcerting. I hold him up by his hair, looking into his slack-jawed face. His mouth is open in a silent scream, and his eyes keep blinking at me. “How do we keep this thing alive without blood?” I ask Kahn.“A vampire as old as him can go several months, if not years, without blood. He will be fine.”Donovan holds a canvas bag out to me, and I drop the head into it, rubbing my bloody hands on my jeans. Not that it helps much, but it makes me feel better.That was absolutely revolting, and probably one of the worst things I have ever done in my life. “Do not beat yourself up, Warlord,” Oberon tries to comfort me. “He deserved it.”Maybe he did. But it still feels so, so wrong. The floor is slick with blood, we’re all covered in it, and my office smells like death. “I need a shower.” And about twenty bottles of rotgut whiskey to forget this night. I'll take the cheap moonshine the rogues used to distill - it's a hundred perce
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 136
JohnathanI wish I could say that drinking Kahn’s blood was one of the more disgusting things I’ve ever done in my life, but that would be a lie. I have had far worse things in my mouth than a little vampire blood over the years.And it did work. Not only did it sober me up, I am wide away, and I feel stronger than usual. No wonder the vampires don't share their blood.When Thrax showed up, Kahn whispered four little words in my ear. “Careful. Don't trust him.”While Thrax went on and on and on, I managed to put up a wall, blocking him, and I could contact Preston, who went straight to work - he found Oberon, he rallied the troops.I am still not sure if I changed my mind about our future. But what I have to worry about now is this new threat. There will be no future if Thrax kills us all. Or worse, hands us over to the humans. I knew the vampires, especially Thrax’s younger children, wouldn’t be able to resist the nymphs. Much like Lycan blood, theirs is considered to be a rare deli
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 135
MaraJohnathan doesn’t budge. His face is passive, his expression stern. I can tell that he doesn’t believe Thrax. I have seen many sides of Johnathan, but this is a new one.He's really starting to show his true colours... and I like it.I glance at Kahn. He just stands there, his mouth slightly agape. Thrax has some kind of effect on him. It must be some vampire thing - my friend has never been this quiet.I have to admit that I did not see that coming either. I thought for sure the ancient vampire was here for some other reason. Not that I have any kind of idea what that reason was - not to kill us, I know that. But that’s about all I know.“You better start talking,” Johnathan says.“Or what?” Thrax challenges him. “What will you do, puppy?”Johnathan’s eyes flash and he growls, the dangerous rumble vibrating deep in his chest. I have no doubt that my mate will attack the vampire. He might lose the fight, but he’d still try.Kahn is the one who comes to his senses first. “Perhaps
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 134
Mara“Quick,” Kahn’s voice is barely above a whisper when he turns back to my mate. the vampire bites into his wrist and holds his bleeding arm out to Johnathan. He whispers something in my mate’s ear, speaking so softly that I can’t even hear him.Johnathan nods, and with a grimace brings Kahn’s arm to his mouth, sucking on the vampire's wrist. I gag and turn away from the sight.“Now, now, Kahn,” the dangerous voice from the window says. “You know it’s illegal to share our blood with mortals. The blood is sacred.”The vampire’s eyes widen and Johnathan jerks.How the hell did he know what the two of them were doing? They were so quiet about it, if I weren't looking right at them, I wouldn't even have known it was happening. I know vampires can see very well, but surely even this one, Thrax Kahn called him, can’t see what’s going on behind the closed drapes.And they talked so softly, that I was sure no one would be able to hear them - not even a vampire with their super senses.“T
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 133
JohnathanI stumble up to my bedroom, completely oblivious to the world around me. My head is spinning, my mind trying to work out my next steps as fast as my alcohol-addled brain will allow. The vampires can’t cross into Oberon’s realm, I know that much. My son will be safe, at least. I don’t have such high hopes for myself. I will die. Probably soon. But I'll take some of those bastards with me.Tomorrow, as soon as the sun comes up, I’ll take Mara to Oberon too. She can live with Gregory. Safe. Happy. With her child by her side. They will miss me at first, but then that, too, will fade. Mara can take another mate, have more children, be happy.My heart clenches at the thought of my mate finding someone else, but I ignore it. I won't deny her love. I can't do that to her.Rhoda comes out of my bedroom as I approach. “King?” she asks, her voice faltering when she looks at me. “Uh- the Queen- we were just- are you alright, King?”“Don’t call me that,” I growl and push past her, slamm
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 132
Johnathan“Johnathan?” Kahn asks softly. Oh God no. I can’t. I’m too tired for this shit. “What?” I ask without lifting my head off the desk.My Betas have long since left to get some rest. I didn't even bother to get up. I've been sat here all night, trying my best to get wasted, steadily working my way through the second bottle of whiskey.“Are you drunk?”“Trying my best to get there,” I answer with a soft, sarcastic little chuckle. I finally manage to lift my head and look at the vampire. “Do you ever sleep?”He shakes his head. “A few hours in the middle of the day, but mostly no. It's a curse.”I slowly blink at him, trying to focus on the fussy figure in front of my desk. “Why are you here?”Kahn looks over his shoulder at my open door, he closes it, and rushes to my side. He bites into his wrist, holding the bleeding appendage to my lips. “It’s against the rules, but… drink some of my blood. It will sober you up.”I laugh at the mere thought of his suggestion. I push his arm
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 131
JohnathanMara sits by the window, staring out at the rain. She’s quiet - scarily so. The last time she got this quiet, I lost her for a while. “Don’t do that,” I remind her. “Don’t shut down like you did last time.”She doesn’t look at me, just wipe at the tears that keep streaming down her face. She's is exhausted, heartbroken. Her ability to see connections also made her feel the mutations' pain. My mate is very close to reaching her breaking point.It worries me that she’s not talking, but at least she didn’t put her walls back up. She’s allowing me to feel it all, and it’s devastating. We found three more of those creatures before nightfall. Mara killed two, Oberon killed the third one. We dragged the slimy brain corpse thing in under a ledge, and set it on fire. It was revolting.Our method wasn’t as effective as Mara’s magic, we couldn't seem to burn the whole thing, but she wasn't able to release another one. By that point she had already reached her limits - emotionally, phy
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 130
MaraMy heart fills with pity for the poor human who gave his life for the humans' misguided cause. I am not even sure he volunteered. He probably didn’t even know what he came up here to do.I can feel him. All his emotions. He's so very scared.Although, I am still wondering how the fuck he made it up here. Even Johnathan couldn’t do it, and if Oberon and Kahn are to believe, Johnathan can climb up trees and mountains like a cat.I kneel next to the human, and hover my hand over him, trying to find the energy he’s emanating, but it’s something new and foreign. It’s partly supernatural, but it has all been manipulated by human hands. “What do we do with it?” Kalypso asks. “Do we kill it or…” she shrugs, letting her words hang in the air.“I think we should attempt to disable it, and bring it with us. Study it,” Johnathan throws his two cents in the hat. “We do have scientists in town. Maybe we can find out what kind of… thing it is. What makes it tick. We can… dissect it, I suppose.
In Service of the Alpha Chapter 129
MaraThe trek to the foot of the mountain is relatively easy, if a bit difficult due to the rain. The neat footpaths have turned into little rivers that stream past our feet, dragging mud, leaves, and other mountain debris with it.The paths are as slippery as snot, and we fall down often, landing face or butt first in a mud pie or a puddle of water. Everytime it happens, we laugh until we can’t breathe. It’s not funny, considering where we’re going, but the laughter helps to ease our growing tension.The closer we get to the mountain though, the more I expect Johnathan to call off our search and retrieve mission, but it looks like he’s actually having fun. And as a result, so am I. It's a stark reminder of how much our respective moods wrap off on one another.I burn with guilt when I remember how I behaved. How hard it must have been for him to pretend nothing was wrong, while he basically had to walk on eggshells around me.Never, ever again, will I do that to him if I can help it.
