WANTED by the ALPHA

Ten

"I won't tell anyone. I promise"

"Stop bugging me Celeste. I won't tell you anything"

"Why?"

"Because I don't know where he goes or what he does" Clarence replied. Judging from the way he raised his voice, he was ready to throttle that little witch. Dannan found himself smiling.

Celeste had been staying there for almost a month and she never failed to surprise him. He'd cornered her one time and demanded she get rid of the bloody stinking air once and for all. But she'd told him she wasn't strong enough to do it alone so they all had to live with what she could offer or kick her out and go back to their old days. He'd known that of course. The first time she'd done it, he had known she couldn't do more and had been grateful for the little she'd done. However what was intriguing wasn't her confession but the confidence with which she confessed. As if she wasn't afraid of him killing her for lying. And maybe she wasn't.

Hadn't she gotten in a fight with the Eternal Flame coven and somehow won? She had taken a blow from Nissa but still managed to get the b***h in a chokehold. That in itself was impressive. The only reason he'd intervened was to make sure they knew Celeste was his guest and the next time they tried to kill her, one of them would pay for it. Before taking them there, he had separated Abigail from them. That way they wouldn't be able to break the spell surrounding the house. Without one of the members, they were trapped. If they helped him the way Celeste did, he wouldn't have to lock them up. Damn stubborn witches. Why did they think anyone who wasn't like them was their enemy?

Hearing Celeste's laughter from the kitchen, Dannan realized how much he missed Esadora. Where could she have gone? He'd looked for her everywhere, had even ventured into other worlds but there was no trace of her. Eventually he'd given up but had never stopped thinking about her. Did he miss her so much that he had started hallucinating? Why did Celeste sound so much like her? Could they be one and the same person? Witches were known to change appearances whenever they wanted to hide. Maybe she really was.... He closed the book he was holding and put it back on the shelf. It was clear Celeste hadn't known who he was when they first met. Besides that witch was pretty but no one would ever come close to Esadora's beauty. She was one of a kind.

At the moment he had bigger fish to fry, namely Mordecai. That son of a b***h was up to something. Otherwise he would be in the castle nagging them the way Celeste did. In his head, he thought he was more fit to be king and Dannan would have vacated the throne for him if he wasn't a psychopath. He had grand ambitions about taking over the world and having everyone submit to him. As if it wasn't enough to be the vampire king. What was so great about being on top of the world? Didn't he know that the position came with more responsibilities? Dannan had more than enough on his plate. Such useless ambitions didn't appeal to him. Instead he wanted to find someone he could settle down with. A partner he could trust since love was out of the question.

"When are we going to eat her?" Clarence's voice drifted to his ears making him scoff. He'd said that to scare her. Ever since humans had been moved to a different world, they had stopped eating them. Their taps overflowed with blood instead of water, so there was no need for that. There was also the fact that witches were known to take several precautions to preserve themselves. He'd heard of some who made themselves a fake body and hid their real bodies where no one would ever find them. Only a stupid vampire would try to eat them. He would rather try his luck with a wolf. Their blood was bitter but at least he knew they were real people or animals and not a golem.

"How old do you think I am? If you were going to eat me you would have done it already" that from Celeste who was probably spotting a scowl.

"I'm fattening you up so you'd be healthy and juicy"

"Did you just call me fat?" The sound of a chair falling to the floor prompted him to leave the library. Every time he left those two alone, they would either be huddled up together sharing secrets or doing the complete opposite. Fighting.

"What is it now?" Dannan asked entering the kitchen.

"He called me fat" she said that with the most offended voice that he had to hold back a laugh

"Why would that bother you if you know you aren't fat"

"That's true" turning to Clarence, she said "You can call me fat all you want. I don't care anymore"

"I take back what I said about taking her after you were done with her" Clarence announced leaving.

"I don't want you either" she spat huffing "He has such a bad personality and still expects to find a wife?"

"He says he heard that"

"And what are you going to do about it?"

Dannan studied her. The white hair and slender build made her look delicate but she was one of the strongest witches he'd ever met. Keeping her would not only be beneficial to him but his people. If given time maybe she could solve their problem of not being able to walk under the sun.

"How old are you?"

"Twenty five. Why?"

No way. She had to be more than a hundred to have that kind of power "Twenty five? Are you sure?"

"Did you just ask me if I'm sure about my age?"

"You're too young to be that strong. Excuse me if I don't believe you"

"You're excused"

"If I asked you to mate with me would you do it?"

"Why? Do you suddenly want my blood too?" She threw the fork she was holding down "I guess it's time for me to leave. I've done more than enough to repay your kindness"

"I don't want your blood but if you tell me who tried to take it, I'll track them down and end them"

"And what would you ask for as p*****t?" her temper was unstable. One second she was fine the next she wanted to gouge his eyes out with his cutlery.

"A location spell. I'm trying to find someone who's been missing for...." He trailed off. Twenty five years. Esadora had disappeared twenty five years ago, which just happened to be Celeste's age. Coincidence? He didn't believe in coincidences.

"For how long?"

"I'll tell you when the time comes. Now tell me who it was that took your blood and why they did it"

"Will you really kill them?"

"Yes" because she'd looked so angry while saying it and for some reason, he couldn't stand knowing someone had tried to hurt her.

Her demeanor changed immediately "Let's see. You're the vampire king so you might be able to take her out...."

"Might? I'm offended"

"She's not just anyone. Besides, who knows what kind of spells she created with my blood? You can't underestimate her"

"What's so special about your blood?"

"I don't know. All she said was that it was powerful"

"I see. Care to tell me who this witch is?"

"Dalila Hallewell"

Dannan snapped his head up "Dalila? Where is she? Take me to her right now!" She was Esadora's best friend therefore might know where she went. He had also tried to find her but witches could cover their tracks really well.

"Do you know her?"

"Tell me where she is Celeste"

"Judging from the way you're acting, you definitely know her. If you're friends then all more reason for me to leave"

He moved in front of her, invading her personal space "You will tell me where that witch is...."

"Or what?" She threw back. Dannan noticed she was trembling and her eyes were slowly changing into a golden color.

"Celeste"

"I am so sick of Dalila and her minions who think they have a right to me. That they could do whatever they want with me because I'm weak. Go tell that f*****g b***h that if I ever come across her again, I won't hesitate to kill her. I'm done being the good guy here"

"Didn't you hear what I said? I don't know where she is"

"But you know her personally. I will not continue helping anyone who is associated with her"

"We have a prob....." Clarence rushed in saying but stopped midway "What the f**k is going on?"

"Nothing. What's the problem you were talking about?"

"You know how rogues have been attacking packs of late?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"They just invaded the Prime Howlers"

"Get to the point" he said impatiently

"The ones who went there are some sort of hybrids no one's ever seen. Caspian is asking if you know anything about it"

"Hybrids? You know what this...."

"Did you just say that rogues invaded the Prime Howlers?" Celeste cut him off. Her eyes had gone back to normal but her hands were still curled into fists "That f*****g Marmon. He just doesn't know when to stop. Does he?" She tried to leave but Dannan blocked her path

"Where do you think you're going?"

"To kill someone I should have killed a long time ago"

"Didn't you hear what Clarence said about them being hybrids?"

"All the more reason I'm going to kill them. If they have hybrids then it means a witch had to be involved. Guess who that witch was?"

She had a point. One needed a spell to create hybrids, a strong one. If Marmon was Dalila's lackey then it would explain everything. But they had no idea what those hybrids looked like or how strong they were. It also occurred to him that Mordecai could be involved with them. Which meant he had a plan to either stop them from leaving or killing them. There was only one way out of that castle.

"Do you know how to open a portal?"

"No"

"Let's go. I'll share a few secrets about where I go when I'm not here" he said leading them to the library. There was a room at the far back. It was designed like an office but in reality it was a portal, courtesy of Esadora. Anyone could go that far but they wouldn't be able to open it without his blood.

"Why are we here?"

"Hold hands" he told them before walking through an invisible door. They appeared a few meters away from the Prime Howlers territory. Ahead of them, Caspian and his people were engaged in a fight. Judging from the number of hybrids, they were outnumbered by a large margin. Marmon was at the back watching as his men created chaos.

"That bastard" Celeste ground out, her voice dripping with spite

"Calm down. You can't charge into that kind of a battle without a plan"

"I have a plan. I will tear all of them to pieces and if I find out they harmed anyone, I'll bring them back to life so I can kill them all over again!"

"How about a protective...." She shook their hands off and ran towards Marmon. He saw her and smirked, motioning to some of his men to take her out. Dannan thought that she had been right about people underestimating her. If Marmon was bright, he would have ran the same way he'd done a month ago. But what to do? Stupid people were everywhere.

At last minute, Celeste changed directions. He realized she was going to save Caspian who had his eyes on her therefore couldn't see the hybrid coming at him from the side. He managed to make a cut on his arm before Celeste threw him in the air. He exploded into tiny pieces that rained down on everyone.

"f*****g focus!" She told the dumbfounded Alpha before turning back to her original target. Dannan didn't know what their relationship was but one thing was clear. No hybrid was getting out of there alive.

"Let's go. Keep one alive, we'll question him later" he told Clarence before joining in the fight.

*****************************************

Have you figured out what Celeste is yet? I'd like to hear your theories. Go wild guys.