8. Luka.

Mariella was deeply puzzled. Her little talk with Mimi had once again told her new things about Mimi's mysterious mind and she knew that Damon being who he was might not appreciate every little thing that Mimi had in her mind. Like this vast knowledge, that she had gotten from those shifters. It had been years even before this seven-year break that Damon had sought knowledge for himself, but no shifter had talked to him.

Well, it had been partly because of that one year long ago that Damien had set up, how Damon had killed those feral cubs and gotten his reputation with shifters in a terrible place. And then when Mimi had been helping those very shifters to overcome their fertility issues, and she had made a difference in their lives, it was obvious that Mimi had their trust.

She was soon back to their room, and she knew that this would take some doing to come up with a plan that did not blow up in their faces. Mariella approached Damon, carrying the stack of books, and his raised eyebrow conveyed a mix of curiosity and skepticism. There was quite a pile of books. Those weren't the only books that Mimi had. He had gotten that piece of information from her mind and she had some sort of hidden library in Moldova. 

What she had learned from these books would have long-term consequences for them, and Mariella needed to learn as fast as she could. Though Mimi had said that she had to apply a lot of the knowledge in order to get to work on herself, still.

Damon was not happy as he touched these ancient tomes. Feeling their history, knowing their importance, and knowing too that their alpha bond lacked so much. He had heard the conversation and how Mimi had described those couples. He had seen glimpses of those couples and their bond.

It pained him to know that Mimi did not want it; he knew also that he could never provide her that kind of bond, but it was hard. Despite it being more than likely that he and Mariella could get something like that in the future, the mere knowledge that he would never know Mimi that intimately, where mere touch would tell him about her feelings and her mood, with no telepathy.

And Mariella knew that all these books would not be good for Mimi because she had such strong willpower and used it to make things happen. There might be some idea that Mimi would find interesting and with her willpower, she could make it so. And it might not be how it is supposed to be.

Of course, their jealousy of Mimi getting this information was one thing that drove them to learn. They had this need to be the ones who knew the best and who knew everything, and it was something that irritated them when Mimi knew more than them. Mariella got into bed next to Damon, picked up the first book, and started reading.

She could feel Damon's tuning; the more she read the first book, the more the tuning grew. there were just so many familiar things in this book alone and Mariella knew Mimi had gotten her ideas from this book and learned quite a lot.

Damon tried to focus and get his alpha power to obey, but it was not as easy as he had thought. But he persisted in his lesson and got something done, and he wanted more of her alpha power so he could show it how mighty he was and make it obey him. Soon, he would be ready to do something for Mimi to get her under control, but Mariella wasn't sure what yet.

Mariella was impressed by the knowledge, and Mimi had spoken the truth. It was all about how to use that power to help your pack and how to protect your pack. How to be an alpha female dedicated to saving and protecting the pack. What had been a little thing that had led Damon over the edge, so to speak, had been one or two chapters about how to keep your alpha male happy.

it had listed a lot of pheromones but also quite bluntly told that other females of the pack would be suitable companions for the male if there was the need for a female to do her stuff in order to save the pack. There was a lot of stuff also told what females could do and in this book, there was not much talking about relationships between alpha couples.

It was more that if a female decided she would require male help, she would get it, but it was always written from the female's perspective, not from males. It was a little like this book told that males were lazy and they needed to be left alone unless there was a real crisis that would require males to do something. The book left Mariella feeling bewildered and confused. She understood that there was a lot of good knowledge, but what about relationships and being together?

She had just finished reading the first book when Damon gazed at her, and said lazily, " Have you ever fought with poles? "

Mariella frowned and said, " You know damn well I haven't. You will remember our vampire wedding."

They had had their vampire wedding once when Wulfe had made one little spell when he had wanted to give Mimi the freedom that she deserved, but it had not worked out fully as, by fate, they had seen her. And even Damon had not remembered her. Something had made him try to save her and then he had kissed her. True love kiss had broken the curse, and they had gotten their memories back. It felt so a long time ago. Of course, Wulfe being Wulfe, Mariella remembered her first wedding, Wulfe had, well, ruined them, more or less and she had gotten to be the flank victim for Damon. 

Damon laughed. He noticed his wife's memories, and he had enjoyed that wedding.

He said, "Mimi wasn't much better than you. I wonder how she is now? If I challenged her to the gym, to a fight with slightly modified rods. Tooth vampire against tooth vampire. This is the way to get her in medbay and drugged, too."

Mariella looked at Damon carefully and said, " What are you up to now?"

She was not following his train of thought, but his expression was smug and confident. So he had a plan.

Damon smiled and said, " It's quite simple what I'm planning, my dear. Very simple. So, we'll start by having special rods to load the materials onto. Before the fight, we taste each other's blood, Mimi and I, so we can make each other a substance. We don't tell each other what we're doing to the other. We load our sticks with our stuff." His eyes shone as he was getting excited by his plan. His voice was now dark, with a hint of smugness in it.

"And we fight, and the lady will probably make some kind of poison for me. I'll do purple velvet or something like that. A substance potent enough to damage her. Slowing her down may affect her healing. And since I'm a good husband, we or I must fix her. So we went to medbay. And that stuff might come in so much more during a fight. I'll make it strong and anti-rage that the lady is pretty much unconscious."

He was quite sure of himself, and Mariella could see a smile playing on his lips.

"Or has she been so badly damaged that she'll have to be stunned? And then the flank organ and its filling, the lady's rage control in place. And then we'll get into the lady's head to do the poking. To find that information. Flank walk with proper powerful drugs all the time and me to interrogate her. Get the lady under control. What do you say, sweetheart? Do you think we'll succeed? Isn't that a rather delightfully cunning plan?"

He was relaxed as he lay beside her, looking at her. 

Mariella looked at Damon and said, "How are you going to keep her from blowing through your stuff with her rage?"

Damon grinned and said, "My stuff will be absorbed from the touch, from the skin, and fast. I will make it very strong. One part of my stuff is now always my will, and it's now strong enough that Mimi has to fight on two fronts if she tries to stop the drug from working, and I can guarantee I'll get a lot of fucking hits in her and the stuff in full swing. What with her little poisons, I'll take whatever formulas she throws at me because her stuff is unique, and my teeth always want to learn new ways to make stuff. She can make so damn complex poisons and I need to learn them, too. We should focus someday on her teeth and dentals more and I know that is one thing that she does not like to share."

Mariella was smiling. Damon was so damn ready and so damn cunning. Mimi thought everyone would just be nice and quiet, respecting her space, and Damon, in particular, wouldn't approach her at all, but soon she'd get a lesson of how fucking strong Damon was. They lay in that bed for a while. Mariella read a few more books for them to get a good idea about the stuff Mimi had been learning. When Mariella read in one book how many ways alpha powers can be combined, and then there was a story or a story about the chaos alpha and her husband and how they combined their powers.

Mimi probably didn't even see the significance of the entire story. She didn't see everything when she thought about things in her way. Damon thought about things differently when he was old, experienced, and telepathic; he knew directly what people or creatures were thinking, and he didn't have to waste his energy thinking as Mimi did.

But Damon was interested in Mimi's pretender abilities, and after Mariella had read the third book, she did a spell to call all the books about pretenders that Mimi had in stock. Then she started reading them, too. Those books were very interesting and one source of information that they could pump was Jarod. It would be good for Damon to have a one-on-one conversation with Jarod and talk with him for a long time. Damon could then see more of this pretender ability and its uses for him, too. 

They did their research for a week, just letting Mimi do her own thing and not watching her food, so she'd have to have a drip after the match, anyway. Every day, Damon kept his radar open and was happy with the problems it showed. Vitamin levels had been dropping steadily and Mariella spent a lot of time reading and fucking her life was now reading and fucking. After a week, they were so ready. At this point, a match would be a formality; he'd get her to medbay for the radar alone, but he liked to beat Mimi and her well.

He was a week of developing the stuff, and it would be honed to a peak when he got a taste of her blood, and he knew how well he could challenge her. It was narcotic, reflex-slowing stuff that would dampen Mimi's healing and fast. Then, there would be a brief fight with the rods and the consequences. Fight would not take long. Few good hits so her healing would be off and then a few good smacks to get her bones break and that was it. Oh fuck, he was looking forward to the whole thing, and this would be another one of those systems that she wouldn't believe could happen.

I'd been working on myself for a week. I had been in my little nests and eaten when I wanted and I had also indulged in salmiac candies quite a lot, as they were a rare treat for me. When Damon told me he wanted to fight me in the gym in a certain way, he was bored and he needed to have a decent opponent, my curiosity was piqued. I put on my gym clothes and I was prepared to see the Lord's idea. I'd have to do at least that much research. What was the way how he wanted to fight? So I went to the gym.

Damon was already there and had two wooden sticks. Poles. Yes, I remembered how good the gentleman is with that, but it's no use when you chop it up. Let him have it if he wants to fight me with the stick. I could do it too and I had learned a lot since, so it was not so easy anymore. 

Damon turned to look at me and said, " Excellent, you came, baby. So now we were fighting with rods. I had made this interesting. These rods are enchanted. You can't break these. So you can't chop them up into little pieces. And then there's the thing, and these come with another magic. These stay in your hand, always. You can't throw away your staff and try to get by on the strength of your own hands. No, now we don't do that; we don't improvise."

He was feeling smug. Oh really, I was ready to take the challenge. My gym clothes were thick jeans, a tight tee shirt with sleeves where had he a sleeveless loose tee shirt, and pants. I had also sneakers on me. He had those too. He looked at my ensemble for a while but said nothing. 

Then he tilted his head, took one staff and explained to me calmly, "But now we're fighting with the staff. As you remember, I am very good at this. But there's one more little thing about these. So you can load the stuff into these. Soon, we'll be tasting each other's blood. And then we're going to make each other some stuff. That stuff can be anything you think will weaken me and give you an advantage. I made my stuff for you."

His voice was sure, and I suspected that this was a trap, but he knew how to lure me into one. I was hooked and ready to take on the challenge. 

He showed me how the sticks were opened from the ends. He remarked, smugly, "We'll load our sticks with our dope. You see, at the tip of this rod, there is an area, a surface where that substance comes out. You might want to make a substance that is absorbed by the skin. I made one, but if you're confident that you can get enough hits through my skin, it's not mandatory. I just don't take the risk, so I play it safe, baby."

He was so sure about himself, and I knew just the thing that I would do to him. I did not want him near me, so my substance would make sure of that. It would have a few effects on him. And I could make it strong as I had eaten a lot of salmiac, so I knew that this substance would work. 

He spoke lazily now, like he was sure about his victory. "One touch on this tip of the stick, and that's where it starts. You'll see the effect. And it'll affect how it affects you. I thought a little different between workouts. I know you have fought little with the rods, so I can be your coach now. This stuff is just right, fantastic, this kind of motivation. A little reminder of what can happen if you let yourself get hit too hard. Actions and consequences, baby actions and consequences."

Salvatore was confident and cocky in a bastard mood, but I can develop a substance that will whiffle off that bastard mood.

I said to him, "Fine, I might not fight much with these poles but ain't so easy what I was in our wedding and oh my boy, you will feel my substance so well too." 

First, we drank each other's blood. I had my formula pretty ready, but I was honed in perfection after I had drained him a bit. I let Salvatore drink first, and he, oh greedy and very naughty, the smell of strawberry and champagne clearly in the air. It was good. He played right in my pocket. My scent was one part of my substance. Then it was my turn. I did the same, and Salvatore gasped when I was done. I was doing some pretty damn sneaky stuff. I would do what I had always done when I needed my peace. I would get him away from me and into Mariella. 

My substances were in two parts. The first part was the happiness stuff, so that he really didn't want to fight me, but just relax and be happy. It was also arousing stuff, as I would put my undiluted lust for it. The second part would do it. It was the poison of sorts. It made my scent unbearable to him and it would make him nauseous, and dizzy and he would not want to be anywhere near me. He would want to go to Mariella and fuck like rabbits. And my substance was long-acting. This was going to be a masterpiece. He gave me a jar while he was squeezing quite a few different colored stripes into his jar, and then he changed the lid and shook it hard so that the stuff was mixed up.

Mine was just first the color of water, and my second stuff was dark crimson with sparkles, it was quite thick so that it would stick properly when it came out of the tip of the stick I shook it properly too so it was light pink with sparkles and I would see direct hits on him. I loaded the rod and watched as the tip of the rod was full of my stuff. Damon smiled confidently and led me to the fighting mat, and we fought.

He struck like lightning, and I had barely had time to protect myself, and he was fast. I could feel his stick hitting my skin and even though I had my arms only bare, he was hitting those too. But I managed to hit him a few good hits and then I opened my pheromones fully open and saw the effect taking place. He shook his head and his expression got angrier. It was not easy.

This boy was good and fast, and I didn't know if I got how many hits, but sure enough, my attempts were blocked and well. I tried to get more hits on him, but as he felt the effect on my stuff; he was truly making sure that I could not deliver much more of my little concoction to him. He ripped my clothes pieces with his very strong hits and got more of my skin revealed.

Soon, when I felt those hits, I cursed out loud, as my healing had taken a hit. Intense sounds of pole hitting pole echoed with our grunts in the gym as we fought now earnestly and tried to get hits to each other. My vision was blurry, and I was slower. My healing had taken a hit, but as he got more confident, I delivered a barrage of hits on his arms and neck, making him curse too out loud. 

And then I felt him hit me once in the back so hard that my skin stung for a long time afterward. He was getting riled up now, and he made sure that no one of my hits would touch him and he started to make a number out of me. After a while, I realized this boy was playing with his prey, and he would have me down in no time, but no. I had to get played with and hit me. He was now punishing me and showing me that my stuff did not affect him that much, not even my scent was wide open. 

His stuff was some kind of narcotic, reflex-slowing stuff, and he really rubbed it into my skin. He was merciless as he attacked and made sure that I went down and stayed down. I had got him a few good hits, making him even angrier, and I realized he was fighting against my stuff with his rage. He had learned it from me. 

Then, I was quite slow; I was lying on the floor, barely awake, and my body ached as he hit several of my ribs into my chest and broke my wrist and my ankle when he said, " Well, I see you need a medbay. You've got a few bones that are badly ossified, and quite a few are broken and your blood was very deficient. Your stuff is interesting. Two parts of it. I've got the formula; I can use it. I have a lot of your undiluted just too. Thank you for that. Good thinking of trying to get me away from you. Come on; I'll teleport you for a little treatment. You'll be fine in no time. But first.." he approached me, and kicked once in my ribs, so hard that I blacked out from the pain. 

He teleported me to Medbay, and number two and Mariella were already ready with a pile of tubes. I was barely awake as Damon put me in bed and restraints. I could not breathe and everywhere in my body hurt. I could not get to my rage and I felt Damon in my mind to block my access to my rage. Number two came in to cannulate me, and before I could react, number one came in and put something in my cannula and said, "Sleepy time, baby." Darkness took me over and I knew that my freedom was ended.