ARES:
She really could put 'em back-this one. Not alcohol. Food.
I sat there amazed at how much this relatively small young woman could scarf down a meal. It wasn’t just her ‘sweet treats’ that she loved so much. She seemed to be a connoisseur of food in general.
Vale was a voluptuous woman-more than most inhumans I’d ever known, but she was still fit.
I continued to watch in amusement as she finished off a large bowl of baked spaghetti with meat sauce and meatballs. This was the sixth in a seven-course meal that she ordered. Her dessert was next.
She slurped up the last spaghetti noodle and as she finally met my mirthful gaze. “Not what you had in mind, I take it.”
I could do little more than chuckle at her remark. “To be honest, I am not sure what I should have expected.”
She smirked and then pushed away her meal before pulling this large chocolate domed cake toward her. Something called a truffle bomb.
“I’ve never seen an inhuman relish human food like you do.”
“Is that right?” she said as she dipped her fork into the cake. Her eyes closed as she brought the sweet treat to her mouth and began to chew. A small moan left her lips and then she looked at me again and leaned back into her seat.
“Inhumans use food as fuel, but blood is usually what grants us the look of euphoria that I see on your face right now.”
“Mm,” she grunted and then took another bite of her cake. She looked around the dimly lit restaurant.
It was closing time, but the owner made our visit a special occasion to keep the place open a little longer. Especially, once he saw the daughter of the great wolf alpha.
“You know,” she said, looking around. “This was the last place I came to before I died that day.” she looked at me. “My father took me here.” her astonishing eyes shifted to the dessert sitting before her. “This was what he ordered.” She chuckled. “He gave it to me.” Then Vale’s delightful expression turned into something…sullen and sad. “That was before our argument,” she sighed. “I can hardly remember anything after that moment…. isn’t that funny?” “No, it’s not,” I said without hesitation. It wasn’t funny at all and I knew that she felt the same. “I wish you knew more about what happened to you.”
“So do I.” she pushed the plate away and looked out of the window of the restaurant a distant look of concentration on her face. Maybe she was trying to remember. “But I can’t.” Just as quickly as the expression appeared, it dissipated into something of bitter contentment.
“Ms. Wade,” the owner of the restaurant approached the table. “Alpha Barbosa.” He smiled at the both of us. “Is there anything else that I can get for you?”
“Hmm.”
“I’m fine, thank you Ronaldo.”
He smiled at me and then turned his attention to the little inhuman. It was at that moment that I noticed the sclera of her eyes turning smokey as they lingered wantingly on his neck.
“She’s fine, Ronaldo. I think that’ll be all for us tonight. You can send the check.”
“Oh, nonsense, sir.” he smiled genuinely. “It’s on the house!”
“Thank you.” I said and pulled out a wad of bills, nonetheless. “For the trouble.” I placed them in his hand.
“Oh-tha-thank you, sir!” he said and then quickly scurried off.
As soon as he left, I stood to my feet. “Don’t even think about it,” I told her. Ronaldo was a kind man and there was no need for his death.
“Don’t think about it,” she laughed. “You…have got to be bloody kidding me.” She rolled her eyes and sighed. “Not thinking about it…you demand that I not think about it is like telling me not to breathe.” She looked to the back of the restaurant where the human had disappeared. Then she stood to her feet. “I will not hurt him. I like Ronaldo,” she said and headed for the door, taking the remainder of the truffle bomb with her. “But I will need to feed at some point,” she exhaled. “This food, alpha…it helps me keep myself in check. At least for the time being. Now.”
I opened the door for her, giving her space to exit. “Well, we will see about finding some sustenance after we’ve visited with your father. Come.”
“Come?” she chuckled. “Did you really think that this was the first and last place that I wanted to go?” Before I could answer, she kept walking. “I’m not done, alpha,” she glanced back at me. “And you promised.”
When I didn’t respond to her remark, she turned around to face me, and began to walk backwards. It was hard not to cave to her every whim, but I knew that while she made light of it, Vale was hankering for a meal-one more…sustaining and delicious than human food.
“Are you afraid that I am going to get you into trouble, Alpha Barbosa?”
She was baiting me. The alpha rebel in me did not care, but alpha who respected Alastair Wade, and cared for him dearly did. That wasn’t the reason behind why I wanted to seek him out, however.
“I will make you a deal, pet,” I said to her as I took gradual steps toward her. “You come to see your father now, and I will do whatever you want later.”
“Or” she said to me. “You do…whatever I want now, and I will do whatever you want…later.”
I didn’t even bother to fight the playful grin that surfaced upon my lips at her remark.
What I wanted to do; I knew that she would not comply with. Under all of that sensual bravado, I knew that there was an innocent little inhuman lurking.
“You promised me, Alpha. What I want first,” she said. “Then I will do what you want, remember?”
“I remember.”
She smiled. “Okay, let’s go!”
It didn’t take too long before we ended up at a spot not far from the town line of Shadow Veil.
“Vale!” The large security guard exclaimed excitedly as we approached.
“Seymour,” she smiled.
The large human embraced her, tightly wrapping his large arms around her waist.
I didn’t like it. I didn’t like it at all.
“Can we kill him?” Bain asked as I stood there glaring holes in the human’s head. His only obsession was the young woman standing in front of him. “We haven’t eaten in a while. We should kill him.”
“Reel it in Bain.” Now it was my turn to control my counterpart.
“And who is this?” The security guard-I didn’t care enough to remember his name, had said.
I could see in his eyes that he wanted to challenge me. It was because of this that I came to the realization that he didn’t even know the truth of Valene’s true title nor her true nature. Else he would have known how much danger he was in.
“New boy toy of yours?” he asked.
Valene glanced at me and then back at the human. I waited because I wanted to see what she would say.
“Something like that,” she finally replied to him as her umber gaze fell on me.
Cute. But not a good enough answer for me.
I took a step, facing the burly young man. He was almost as large as me. Almost.
“Ah, a beta!” He exclaimed with mocking laughter. “He thinks that he’s a big man because he has a bit of size on me. I’d hate to have to embarrass you in front of this beautiful young woman and these bystanders.”
I laughed. Bain growled. Needless to say, there was a mix of emotions.
“Seymour,” Vale stood between the two of us. She looked up at him and shook her head. Little else needed to be said.
“Oh, so it’s like that, huh?” He didn’t like this but he seemed to know better than to rebut against it.
“Can we just…go in?” she asked.
He glared at me. “I guess. If that’s your wish.”
She walked in, and then glanced back at me. I lingered a moment, hoping that he would try and step to me again. I knew that he wouldn’t. Though he wanted to act hard, he knew better.
After one more lingering moment, I followed after Valene. “She just saved your life.” For good measure, I growled and allowed my eyes to dilate into something dark and inhuman. Something…Bain.
He shuffled back, and his eyes widened. It was the intended affect. I chuckled and then walked away. I was sure that he’d pissed his pants.
I went into the club and immediately the music began to blare. I hated places like this. Being an inhuman with extensive psychokinetic abilities, situations like this made it hard to keep the voices and emotions away at times.
I started to lose my train of thought and became overwhelmed. This hadn’t happened in a long time. Then again, it was probably because I hadn’t been in a club this loud in a long time.
“Come on,” I heard the echo of her voice in my ear. As if she was standing right next to me. As if her lips were lingering against my ear. Then suddenly, I felt her hand tug on mine.
Wordlessly I followed her. I had hoped that she would be leading me into a quieter space. Then she released my hand and sauntered off. My eyes followed her until she began to sway her hips to a song. It was a song that I had never heard before but with a tempo that matched the rhythm of her sultry dance to a T.
As her eyes stayed steady on mine. Then suddenly a pair of hands slithered across her shoulder. It was a female. She seemed to want to dance with Vale.
Vale faced her and with a smile she obliged. I sensed that something was off, however. Vale was hungry and I didn’t trust her to be alone with an innocent human. My suspicions were confirmed when I watched as Vale slid behind the girl and moved her hair to the side. Her eyes began to darken, and immediately I knew what was about to happen.
Just as Vale started to sink her teeth into the girl’s neck, I flitted over to her, and immediately pulled her away, wrapped her in my arms and immediately she grinned, her eyes still dark with bloodlust.
“I was wondering when you were going to save her.” As she said this, her body boldly dissipated into the shadow creatures that seemed to embody her. The swarm wrapped around me and as they did, it felt like velvet silk against my skin. It was a tantalizing feeling. One that I almost didn’t want to end.
Then she reappeared and her back was against my chest, her arms around me.
I forced her to face me, her eyes still dark. I didn’t say anything at first, and just pulled her close to me. We began to dance, our bodies almost melding into one another. I spun her around again. I liked how she felt. Her plump round backside pressed against me. As we swayed against one another, I whispered in her ear.
“I am not trying to save her, little inhuman. I am trying to save you.”
After I said this, she turned around and looked me in the eye. Her smile became smaller and smaller. She then backed away from me.
“I don’t need you to save me, alpha.” She walked away. “I’m not having fun anymore,” she said. “Dad’s waiting for us.”
I followed her. “He’s been waiting this whole time.” We were outside of the club. The bouncer was still there but he knew not to say anything else. “Now all of a sudden you care that he’s waiting.”
She turned around, looked at me, and said, “You wanted us to leave. Let’s leave.”
“On the contrary,” I retorted, following close behind. “I was just starting to have fun,” I teased. I knew that she was frustrated with me. Unfortunately, I wasn’t clear on why. I’d find out later, though. “But since you are giving in so early, I will oblige.” I started to walk away, when in a second she was standing in front of me.
“I don’t know what your end game is, Ares Barbosa, but I’m not playing it.”
I scoffed. “There is no game, little inhuman.” I walked past her. “ I do not play games, Vale. I stopped. “But you are mine, and I will entertain your childish little game. For now.” I continued walking. “Now, let’s go meet your father.”