"Strength and Glances"

“I will bed you another time,” Glynn says angrily. “There was a rape tonight and I must go attend a meeting with the council.”

“Shouldn’t I go?” I stand on my heels facing him.

“Not this time.” His eyes flicker. “You have just been linked to me, and I want you to get your rest after the ceremony and the blood practice. When I come for you again, I will want to take what’s mine.”

I didn’t fight back this time. Fighting back as a married alpha queen is useless. My biggest job now is to bring cubs to life. Even if I hated him, I would have to lie with him. It was even within his rights to procreate by force. Also, he was right, I needed my rest.

I was tired and the last thing I wanted to do was to face a pack member who could commit a rape. Worse if the rapist were a vampire then I wouldn’t want to see the consequences of their actions. I couldn’t watch the carnage tonight.

I think instead about my own future and the tension I can finally let go of from this evening.

I hate that we are stuck on patriarchal rituals. Only the upper class succumb to such archaic practices. I feel like I’m being punished by my birthright. The elders wouldn’t want an alpha king raising the child of another. The king, however, could spread his legs and seed all over the land.

Glynn no doubt had other loves already waiting for him to cool down after the wedding and bedding me. I didn’t care as it would give me more time for duty and friendship. We hadn’t decided on a joint permanent house, but there were spaces for us to stay for short periods.

I chose tonight to go to my parents. Their house is empty when I arrive, and I drag my tired bones upstairs and into my bed. Immediately upon laying my head down, I see a face. This face is almost translucent and framed by coal black hair. He is icy against my warmth. He is vampire.

“Come to me.” He calls to me as if this is more than just a dream.

I squeeze my eyes closed and think about the way vampires held me with their dead hands tonight. Seeing them about to lay fangs into Glynn’s neck would help me to recognize fear. My blood no longer boils from a beautiful face and instead freezes at the thought of one of my own, dead.

“Come to me.” His voice is a mysterious finger wrapped around me like a delicate bow. Was this creature able to call me in my dreams?

“Are you there?” I call inside my head as if this is something natural to me. Energy bursts rapidly through my brain, and I can see him cuffed inside our dungeon hall. Silver holds vampire as much as it holds us.

“I don’t want my people to die. I don’t want war. Your people have been pressing war, but I know you are different.” His tiny voice seems so juxtaposed to the vampire I met in the woods.

How could his mates leave him here? Would they try for their Master? Were alpha vampires so expendable? He chuckles hearing my thoughts.

“They know I can take care of myself.” He responds to me, and then the line between us is closed.

Someone had come into the room where he was being held. He was using glamour on his captors to get information and to have an easier stay. He was magical, and I found him interesting. Dark eyes in a pale face suddenly merge into Glynn’s almond-brown eyes.

My alpha’s arrogance was as profound as his passion. He was used to getting what he wanted, and tonight he had wanted me. Heat became molten lava between us. Burning under him and feeling his flesh pressing between my legs, I wanted him, but only carnally.

Would that be what marriage is like for me? My parents had been a love match, and I witnessed their example my whole life. My dad was sure that I would melt Glynn’s heart. What everyone didn’t count on was that I would want something for my own heart.

I find sleep again. This time I don’t dream. When I wake up to a silent house, my curiosity is piqued. Marta must have found a match last night. My mother was no doubt making plans with her new family, and my father would be propositioning the council.

“Thank you, mother moon.” I smile and head to the bathroom to wash up.

What I see in the hallway stops me in my tracks. Booker is standing with his clothes ripped to shards. He is breathing rapidly, and even though he is human, there is nothing ‘man’ in his look. He stares at me as if he had been waiting for me his whole life.

“Hide me.” He grabs my hand and pulls me into my room.