CH18: Breaking The Alpha

The myth that werewolves only changed during the full moon was propaganda from the old regime. Before they were on their way out, her kind had to worry about competition from fleabags. They used beliefs about their weaknesses to slip into mage conclaves during the full moon, often posing as victims. Their infiltrators opened gates and doomed whole populations. If ever there was an enemy of mages and mankind, it was the wolves. Her kind fed upon humans, but they also needed them. That wasn't the case for werewolves.

Her human just witnessed what they did to humans. Did he know for werewolves, it wasn't necessary?

Atom didn't seem overly surprised by the howling and didn't react to Sebastion's transformation. She felt a little on edge, but the human looked around, counting.

"Twenty-five shouldn't be a problem. Do you want me to leave any for you?" Atom asked.

Never before had it struck her how unlike a mage Atom truly was. She had dealt with cultivators, but there was none of their arrogance in Atom. He had his own flaw in the form of racism.

The howls grew closer, and she put a hand on the pommel of her relic.

Her attention returned to the warm human who wanted her. Ember felt her fangs lengthen every time he reached for her hand. She had to help him.

Atom despised mages. It was a weakness Ember would have to work on. Just as she had grown to hate robots, he hated mages for similar reasons. Jason had replaced their culture with magecraft. Atom felt betrayed even though he tried to hide it.

"Do you think they will ignore us?" Atom asked.

Neither of them produced much mana. The werewolves could mistake them for normal humans at a distance if they didn't pay attention to their scents. Vampires had a particular smell that werewolves despised, but Atom smelled like any other human male.

He turned his attention, and she listened to the sounds of heavy pads hitting dirt. They arrived.

"I guess I was too optimistic. Then again, Sebastion smelled Emily on me from a good distance while he was eating another girl." Atom said.

Sebastion must have known the girl or been a horrible stalker. They would have had to deal with him eventually, or Jason would. Still, if they could avoid conflict and have a good time, she would try for it.

"Let me do the talking; they won't believe you're a threat. Most will believe you are a slave or emergency food. As a royal, I can get away with pulling Sebastion's tail." Ember said.

She wasn't sure until he slew the Edgar and the VHA men in power suits. Atom was someone that she could rely on for protection. Against the likes of World Gov, she needed him, and all he wanted was her. Ember offered him the option of looking for a soft human girl, but he refused. He gripped her ice-cold hand and watched the sky with her on his roof. When she fed, he looked away and gave her the privacy she needed to let the beast out of its cage.

The werewolves smelled like any other food to her. When lesser vampires smelled them, they were often disgusted. Some claimed the wolf blood tasted sour. Ember liked sour to go along with human sweetness on occasion.

Ember had waited for Dues Machina to interfere with World Gov's betrayal, but it hadn't. That could only mean her god had no further use for them. Either it didn't despise mages any longer, or the world itself was no longer important. The first option was ludicrous, by the latter had some truth behind it.

She lost her privilege, family home, and unending revenue. All the regulations and restrictions that once held her back were gone in exchange. There were rules against feeding on just any monster. World Gov didn't want them to become too strong; she finally knew why.

Ember felt her fangs lengthening as a half-turned-alpha bitch stepped into the clearing. Atom sat on a stomp and said nothing as the red-furred creature strode into view. She had the gall to pop her hip and expose her privates before Ember's lover.

If she could blush at that sudden outrageous thought, she would. The vampire sometimes wanted to appear as a blushing maiden for the human barbarian to take. The feigning weakness so Atom could come to the rescue was an option. Another fantasy of a blood bath as she indulged the beast within while Atom watched. She could feign guilt over her nature and need him to show her she wasn't a monster.

Atom smiled and winked at her. He drummed his fingers against the stump, more interested in her than the pack of werewolves around them.

"Offer me your blood bag, and I might let your sorry leech ass go with only a beating. Hold out your arm for me to rip it off to show your sincerity. If not, we will slowly devour you both from ass to mouth." The alpha bitch said.

"What's your name, boss bitch?" Atom said.

She rubbed her temples. Of course, Atom didn't take the werewolves seriously. Ember barely did. The wolves needed twice their numbers to make a difference against her. She would probably still slaughter them all.

The werewolf alpha growled and scraped her claws against a nearby boulder. A shrieking noise filled everyone's ears, and Atom stood up from his stump.

Ember sighed. "Please keep them intact for my use."

Atom punched the alpha off her feet harder than he had Sebastion. She thought she spotted some of her movements mixed in with his own. Half a decade of royal vampire walking lessons seemed to have fused with him as if by osmosis. Was it the hand-holding? His feet seemed to glide off the ground with a grace neither Atom nor Jason had displayed before. It was a trick more than anything, but clearly something that required a vampire's grace.

Then, he fully shifted into her combat stance and delivered a paralyzing blow to a werewolf. A limb went limp, and she moved in. Blood magic congealed around her fingers as she crafted blood silk. With the grace of a black widow, she cocooned a downed werewolf. They upped their speed, Atom easily keeping up with her as they targeted incoming werewolves, mostly transformed already.

10 bodies wrapped in silk were piled up in less than a minute while the werewolves were still going through fight or flight instincts. Ember realized she was having fun with the routine. It was like fighting with another vampire.

Atom's eyes practically sparkled as they ramped up their speed again. The Alpha werewolf snarled, tried to slash, and lost its arm to an energy sword. The red blade wouldn't look out of place in her repertoire as she quickly captured the alpha in silk. A larger cocoon fell on the pile, and the werewolves tried to flee.

White light glinted atop Atom's finger. Like how the drones fought, lasers flashed, impacting bodies and boiling blood. Ember followed his aim with strands of silk attaching to the distant werewolf bodies and dragging them back into the clearing.

Atom shot into the forest and threw the werewolves back into the clearing. Ember captured them until her pile of werewolves numbered exactly 25.

She sat on the tree stump and waited for his return with her parasol open, blocking out the dreaded sun. The struggling cocoons wiggled, but none of the werewolves could break free.

"Capturing isn't something I'm good at. I can knock them out, but even my knots aren't very good." Atom said.

She smiled at his modesty. He could be very sweet when he wanted to be.

After wrapping up the final captured werewolves, she stared at the prize. Feeding off of them would bring her a new ability. Feeding on mutant cows allowed her to change the consistency of her blood, allowing the creation of silk and clothing. Atom's red suit was a construct of her blood magic. Before, she could only make solid objects with little flexibility.

"Are you going to make a straw and suck them dry?" Atom asked.

She flicked him on the forehead. It was the first time she had harmed him in any way, and he grinned at her before grabbing her waist. He pulled her in close, and she sank into his heat. Ember felt her throat go horribly dry, and her fangs lengthened. She raised her arm and bit down to keep from biting him.

When he backed away, she released her own arm and sighed. She would bite him eventually; they probably both knew it. Vampires and humans couldn't form lasting relationships.

"Sorry, no venom to melt them down. Maybe if I drank a few spider mutants."

"I think there was a nest in the Everglades." Atom said.

"Rumor has it there are many exotic mutants in the Everglades."

"While on the run, we should head there and see the sights. I have a sister and would love to introduce you to her." Atom said.

He acted like she hadn't just bitten her arm to stop herself feeding on him. Maybe it was the stress of training to defeat the drones, meisters, and anything else World Gov could throw at him. A hungry vampire wasn't even on his radar as a problem.

Ember wanted to do better to be good for him. He saved her from a miserable death, knowing what she was. It was sweet, and everything the love novels she read claimed would lead to happy lives. Atom has already put in the effort to change.

"You know, even now, I'm learning from them. They are trying to change to find a way out of the silk. I'm not sure what I will do with what I'm learning, but I will write down my notes. Maybe one of Jason's kids will read it one day and find a use for it." Atom said.

That hurt, she spoke up before she could stop herself. "Why not our own?" Ember said.

She cursed herself for saying it. They hadn't even kissed. Atom was the first man she held hands with in a romantic sense. Her life before had been training, learning, and working for World Gov and Dues Machina. She had free time without expectations attached, and it was glorious.

They left together to party and let off some steam. Ember didn't want to ruin their good time with a more serious talk.

"That's possible." Atom said.

She turned her head to the side before blinking at him.

"I see; you need a lesson on vampire physiology." She smiled at the embarrassed expression on his face.

He glided up to her, barely touching a foot to the ground. His vampire glide had improved dramatically.

"Stop that when we get to the town, or the town guards will think you're a vampire," Ember said.

"That would be ironic."

Ember sighed. "Practice walking normally; we can't afford to draw suspicion. We want to do this again."

Atom grinned and fell into step behind her.

"What are you about to do with them?" Atom asked.

"I will drink them like cheap wine," Ember said.

She watched him for any signs of discomfort. There was none, or he was getting better at hiding his feelings. While no one wanted an emotional bitch she would prefer to have a tell for how he's feeling. Especially when the topic was her feeding. Humans should feel squeamish about her thirst; she naturally wanted him to trust her.

Context did play a role in this situation. Ember's targets were man-eating werewolves with mountains of bodies to their names. Maybe Atom saw it as no different than the cows. With that in mind, she had a question for him.

"Would you feel bad about eating a sapient cow?" Ember asked.

He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't even joke about that. It's been our biggest fear since we read Animal Farm. Jason once saw a pig oinking at the others and thought it had gained intelligence. He slaughtered them all, and had nothing but pork for months." Atom said.

That wasn't the answer she sought, but it was enough.