The Merciless Alpha(erotica)

Everyone got quiet. “Who?”

“My mate, Dusty Meechum,” she said to gasps. “In last night’s attack, my mate stood alone against the Vampires that attacked. The leader, Master Snow, bit him in an attempt to give up the location of our father and the other hybrids. Erica arrived before he died, she and the New Orleans Coven taking out the Master and his people.”

“If you killed him, how is Dusty being changed,” Nikolai asked.

“We didn’t kill him, but he doesn’t have arms and his teeth are gone,” Erica said. “The only way to save Dusty from the venom was to change him. I used him to start the change in Dusty.” The precise method wasn’t common knowledge, and she wasn’t going to let on what happened. “When he survives the change, I’ll need a Master to change Kimberly so his mating bites won’t kill her.”

“Any other casualties, Alpha Kimberly?”

“Everyone else withdrew to the safe room and with the New Orleans Coven’s help, no one else died.” She paused as she looked offscreen. “I owe my mate’s life to Erica and Eduardo and Anastasia. They are true friends to the Sulphur River Pack.”

“Excellent.” He waited to see if there were any other questions, then continued. “For an update on the attack on Vampire Council headquarters, Chief Enforcer Randall Meechum is on the call. Randall?”

“Thank you, Chairman Nikolai. The Vampire Council Headquarters were attacked last night by three Covens. I arrived in the middle of the attack, when the third sublevel had been taken over and they were cutting through the stairwell door. I was able to slip in behind, and the diversion allowed the remaining Vampires to counterattack. The attackers have been wiped out, even those who fled have been killed now.”

“Casualties must have been high,” Chairman Brent said.

“We lost a lot of good men in this war,” he said. “Master Edith was killed in the fight, but Masters Jarrod and Lukaku survived. The fighting was intense.”

“We will not allow their sacrifices to be in vain,” Chairman Nikolai said. “Now that the crisis is over, I will be returning to New York to oversee the recovery while your Chief Enforcer can return here.”

“Elections will take place later today for the positions on the Werewolf Council,” Brent said. “Regions are to report the results to me by 2000 Eastern time. Installation will happen in two days at moonrise. I’d continue this until all questions have been answered, but I’ve been up for almost forty hours now and we need to rest.”

“We have all had a long night,” another Alpha said. “Our problems will still be there when we awake. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the update and thank you, Chairman Nikolai, for having the courage to achieve this peace.”

With that, the conference ended. I closed the window on my laptop and turned to look at Bobby. “Your brother…”

“He’s strong, he’ll make it through the change,” Bobby said. “We should talk to your sister, though.”

“You’re right.” She picked up her phone and called Talia. “Sis, should I be worried about Dusty?”

“I’m not going to lie. He’s going to go through hell in this change but there’s nothing you can do to help him. Erica is there, his Pack as well. I’ve already talked to Randall and Jarrod, we’re going to head down there in two days to help. When you first wake up from the change, it can go bad quickly. We can make sure he is all right.”Têxt belongs to NôvelDrama.Org.

“And Jarrod can change Kimberly.”

“Yes. We’ll stay until she is stable as well. Dad is going to stay here, and Mom is going home to help. Just be warned, if you go down there, you’ll be swept up in wedding planning.”

“I’m not even engaged yet!”

Talia laughed. “Me either, but he’s not going to be here until tonight. At least I know I’ll like the ring when he finally gets down on his knee.”

“All right, we have to go. The Pack awaits.” I closed the call and got off Bobby’s lap. We had a Pack to release from the safe rooms and get back to normal.

Kimberly’s POV

Sulphur River Pack House

I released everyone back to normal duties, and many went straight to bed. I asked the kitchen staff to prepare a light breakfast for those who would be staying up, but to focus on a big dinner tonight. We wouldn’t celebrate the victory, at least not until it was over.

I called Master Nikolai to ask him what I should do with Master Snow. Without blood, he could not heal and regenerate his lost limbs. “Stake him out for the sunrise,” the Council chair said. “I’ve got enough to deal with back in New York, and they were all warned.” I called two warriors, who carried him outside, him promising death and retribution the whole way.

“Put him on the pile with the rest of the garbage to be burned,” I said. After I made sure the Pack was taken care of, I went outside where the younger Baldwin boys, Matt and Lucas, had collected my Beta’s remains had been collected in a box. Bull had fought valiantly, the dead vampires showed that, and they had torn him to pieces. “Prepare him for the pyre,” I said as I touched his hair “He died bravely and with honor.”

He’d been a constant in our lives, ever since I found my mate and came to this Pack. He was a good man and I will miss him. I went back inside and made the call to the Copper Mountain Pack. Terry Baldwin was going to be on the next flight down so he could be at the funeral.

“Alpha, I need you in Medical immediately,” the Pack Doctor sent. My heart dropped, the only person there was my mate. I ran down there, and beyond the open door I could see Dusty seizing up. The Doctor was struggling to keep him from hurting himself as his body fought the restraints. “His fever is too high,” she said. “It’s going to damage his brain. Get an ice bath ready immediately,” she said.

The attached bathroom had a shower, but one of the nearby guest rooms had a tub. I called the kitchen, telling them to bring ice, while I filled it with cold water. Eduardo and Erica carried his unconscious body in just before they arrived with bags of ice. He was out of it, but the seizure had stopped. “Pour it in and go get more,” I told the Omegas as they dumped the ice over his body. He was burning up. “Is this normal?”

“A fever, yes, but not like this.”

The Doctor looked at Erica. “Call your Master, I need to know what else to expect.” She got him on the phone and put it on speaker; Doc gave the history of the symptoms so far.

“That doesn’t sound right,” he said. “None of the others had that high a fever.”

“Is it possible we didn’t use enough blood?” I was wondering if I had killed Snow too early.

“I don’t know. Marceline and I will head your way immediately, I just have to arrange transport. I will call you with an arrival time, it will be during the day so we’ll be traveling by coffin.”

“We’ll be ready.” I stayed with my mate, using a washcloth to cool his face and head. His temperature turned, finally below 106 degF again, and she let go a sigh of relief. “He’s good?”

“He’s a long way from good, but at least he isn’t getting worse. Keep the ice coming.”

The morning stretched into afternoon; his fever would abate, then come back with a vengeance. Eduardo and Erica had to restrain him when he started to seize again, while I kept his head above water. His screams of agony echoed through the building.

The third time his temperature spiked, it didn’t come back down. His seizures stopped, I felt him shudder and relax, then he slumped down. I felt his bond tear from me, the pain was unbearable. “GET HIM OUT AND ON THE FLOOR,” she yelled. They did. “Start CPR, I’ll be back with the crash cart.”

I watched as Erica started chest compressions. All I could do was hold my hands to his cheeks and beg him to come back. I prayed, begging Luna to send him back. “Where is Jarrod?”

“On the helicopter, we’re twenty minutes out,” the escort said.

“We don’t have twenty minutes.”

They alternated doing CPR as Doc furiously tried to restart his heart. Shocking, adrenalin, nothing worked. “Stop CPR,” she said. “I’m sorry, it’s over.”

I collapsed into the corner, unable to function without my mate. I could hear the helicopter landing, but my loss made it mean nothing.