Love Or War

Power

18 years ago…

“You’re pathetic. You will never be a son of mine. You're lucky you're still alive and I didn’t get rid of you as I did your father.” she spat.

“All I asked was one simple thing. Just one simple thing. All I wanted you to do was to take out that sorry excuse of a dog king. But of course, you chicken out. And instead of sticking to the task, you kill his parents? I have no interest in his bloody parents, they are not the king or queen anymore. Have you forgotten what I have taught you your whole life?” she said throwing her hands in the air.

“We are not supposed to rely on emotions, that is how you get the task done. I thought you turned your emotions off a long time ago?” She raised one brow.

“King Lucas was supposed to be the target, without a queen on the throne by his side, he is easy to take out. And when the king falls, so does the whole kingdom with it.” she scoffed.

“Now mother, it's all in due time. I took care of the late king and queen so that the werewolf king will have no one in his life. Just give it time and he will begin to suffer slowly. Especially without a queen to rule by his side. Darkness will consume him as the years go by, and then and only then will he let his guard down and when he does, we can eliminate him once and for all.'' I took a sip of my drink and looked at it as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

“You better be right, Zeek. if you fail, I will just take the throne myself and you know I would do that right?” she smirked.

“Yes yes, kill me and take the throne to have all the power to yourself. I'm getting a little sick of you always threatening me and treating me as if I'm still a little boy. I am the king mother, and you will treat me as such. I do not need you to question my tactics on the matter of war. That is none of your concern anymore. Now if you'll excuse me, I’d like to have a little fun with some of my guests.” I smirked thinking of bringing in the gorgeous humans that I had left down in the kitchen.

“Whatever, just don't leave a mess like last time. Blood never comes out and this is a very expensive carpet.” She waved to me.

Being king can be very stressful sometimes, especially when you have your mother trying to control you as a child when you are over 300 years old. But being king does have its advantages as well. I get to feed endlessly on as many humans as I want and no one dares to bat an eye.

Even though I consume on beautiful women, they never seem to satisfy my hunger. So in the end I have to kill a dozen of them just to at least feel content.

My mother was right about one thing though. Never let your emotions get in the way of being king. That's why she was so rough on me as a child. For the longest time, I hated her very existence for beating me and torturing me. But now that I am king, I understand why she did it. To win wars and be king you need to let go of your emotions. And just let the darkness consume you to your very core. That way you never have to worry about anyone but yourself.

Even if I have a beloved out there somewhere in the world. I’m going to have to kill her right away. But not before she gives me an heir to the throne of course. Just as my mother did. Beloveds just make you weak. They make you have a weakness. Because in the end, they are your weakness. Without a beloved, I wouldn't have to worry about her safety or my enemies hunting her.

In the end, I'm just watching my own back just as my mother taught me to do. My kingdom and power come first and above all. In second comes an heir to the throne. I do know that one day I will have to set out to find my beloved and produce an heir. If I have offspring with my true beloved, then my heir will be more powerful than if I had it with a chosen beloved.

Beloved is, in a sense, just what those filthy mutts call a mate. But it is slightly different. The difference and, in my opinion, the only good thing about having a beloved is that their blood can fill all your deepest desire and hunger. It would be the best thing you have ever tasted. I just hope I never have to worry about it.

I quickly finish up my daily feeding. And I needed an actual drink this time. I pick out my phone and dial my second in command.

“Zander, get to my office”. And hang up the phone.

Nearly 3 minutes later I hear a knock at my door.

“Come in”. I say

He carefully opens the door to my office and sits down on the couch across from my desk.

“You wanted to see me sir?” he asked with a curious look on his face.

“I'm aware you don’t get a lot of days off, so how would you like to go get a drink with me? A real drink, maybe do a little dancing as well. I need a stress reliever and was wondering if you would like to accompany me.” I look into his eyes.

He sits up immediately, with a surprised look on his face.

“It would be an honour, your highness, I know just the place!” He grabs out his phone and dials the driver to pick us up in front of the castle.

As the limo slowly comes to a stop, Zander opens the door to let me in first and hops in quickly after me. I do feel a bit bad that he doesn't get out much. But the thing about Zander is he doesn't understand the word discrete. We used to be best mates back in the day. But one thing led to another and he was feasting on village after village. He has a real problem with blood lust and can't keep it under control.

Back in the day, he would pass slaughtering as many people as he could, regardless if it was men women or children in each village we went to. It was too much to cover up. Eventually, humans discovered our kind for a bit. So over the years, we have had to work with witches to help keep our kind a secret and kill all those who knew of us.

I look over to Zander and I can see he is anxious. His legs bounce up and down quickly with anticipation of finally going out.

“Zander, I don't want any funny business while we are out, do you understand? If I hear so much as one death by your hands I will not hesitate to throw you in the dungeons again and bring over the witch to go over her spells with your blood lust. Do you hear me?” I look his way, he looks at me as if he can hear me and understand me, but he has a look on his face and I already know that look.

It's the look of wanting something. Wanting it so much that it takes over every thought and feeling that you have. It clouds every judgment you can make. It's the little devil on your shoulder telling you all the things you want to hear.

I haven't been to a club in forever, or so it feels like. Maybe it is just what I need. Just to relax and enjoy a bit of dancing, and a bit of alcohol.

We finally come to a stop, and I look out the window. I could feel the vibrations of the music thumping through the windows already making my ears ring. But most importantly, I could smell all the delicious warm liquid that flows through every human here. It felt like going to a wine sellar and looking for the richest, most delectable bottle you can find.

It was like a hunt. A hunt is exactly what I desperately needed.

As We stepped out of the limo skipping every person who was already waiting in line, due to us being/perks of being part of the VIP group. The moment we walked through the doors, the thick cloud of sweat and s*x whaffed/came like a storm through our nostrils. I could already smell some of the sweetest blood in here. Now it's just a matter of picking the best one.

“Zander remember no funny business.” I shouted at him, already knowing he wasn't listening.

Oh well there is only so much you can do to control a caged animal I suppose. All of his senses are heightened including all of his emotions. That's what makes him so hard to control. Though I will have to admit, he does come in handy during war sometimes. With his endless blood lust, he would be able to wipe out hoards of beings during war.

I make my way through the crowd needing a drink before anything. I took a seat at the bar and ordered a double scotch. Luckily being a vampire has its perks. As in it is harder to get drunk.

As I sat down slowly sipping my drink I looked over to my left and saw a decent snack. I took a quick whiff of her. Her blood seemed okay enough to seek my attention.

After hours of talking and drinking and dancing. Zander and I head out of the club each with a snack on our side. Zander already ate 3 different women in the bathroom, so we had to quickly leave before anyone suspected it had anything to do with us.

As we walk towards the limo. I smell the most amazing scent I have ever smelled before. I shove the women off of me and quickly take a look at my surroundings.

There was something about this scent. It seemed young but rare. But It also seemed delicate and pure. It had a hint of rosiness to it. But also with a hint of chocolate and cinnamon. It absolutely smelled like the most expensive bottle of wine I have ever smelled.

I had to find out where this smell was coming from. I had to find out who this was coming from so I could devour it.

I made my way through a couple of blocks down and found myself at a cafe. It was an old style looking cafe that was called ‘Corners’. It seemed to be such a local little spot, not many people were inside. Other than some truck drivers and some elderly people.

But what caught my eye was an elderly woman sitting in a booth with what seemed like a little child. The child had brown curly hair tied in a ponytail. She has such a big smile on her face that never fades. With and such an innocent giggle when the elderly woman would tickle her.

All of a sudden the little girl stopped giggling and turned her head out to the window. I was about to run away and hide when her eyes landed on me, it felt unreal. It felt like time stopped moving and it was just the child and I left in the world. But what surprised me the most was her reaction, instead of the child looking afraid of me, she simply gave me a cheeky smile and waved, as if she had known me her whole life.

Who was this girl? I asked myself. I looked up to the elderly woman and we locked eyes. By her reaction, I assumed she knew what I was. I saw her lean into the little girl and whisper something. And the little girl nodded her head up and down.

The elderly woman got up from her seat and made her way outside. In a matter of seconds, the elderly woman was standing before me. There was something different about these women that made me curious How in the world does she know what I am?

“What do you want lord Zeek?” she crossed her arms across her chest and stared at me. How did she know who I was?

“How do you know of my kind? But most importantly how do you know who I am?” I raised a brow at her.

“Those are not the true questions you wish answers for, so I will ask again, what do you want lord Zeek?” she spat.

“Who is that little girl that is accompanying you? There is something different about her. Her smell is the most potent blood I have ever smelled before.” I looked back at the little girl through the window. I could see her drawing on a sheet of paper with crayons.

“She is of no concern to you, she is just a child. And you will keep your distance, do you hear me? If you so much as lay a finger on her before she is 22 I will not be afraid to show you who you really are messing with.” she balled up her fists.

When she balled up her fists, a glow of light arose from them.

“So you are a witch then?” I was curious.

“Does that make a child a witch as well then?” I asked.

“As I said before, you will leave her and I and all of our kind alone. She is of no value to you at this time. One day when the time comes and your paths cross again, I may not be there to stop you that time, but be warned, others are looking out for her. So you better be mindful of who you are messing with and what she means to you.” she warned.

What does she mean by no value to me right now? I wondered.

“Very well then, may I at least know the child's name since you spoke of our paths crossing again, I’m sure that what you mean by is that our destinies are intertwined together somehow,” I spoke.

“Her name is Able Summers, I want you to remember that name. I want you to remember who she is and what she means to you. From what I have known you are a force to be reckoned with. And that child that you see in there, can change your whole world before your eyes. She can make you crumble and fall, or she can lift you up and set you free of this curse of darkness that shadows your soul.” And with that, she turned on her heels and walked away letting me with her last words in mind.

‘Curse of darkness’?

And that child in there can set me free of it?

Who and what is this child to me?