Alpha Mate: BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance (13 page)

Maturity didn't necessarily come with age.

Charlotte wrinkled her nose in disgust and disdain. You
could live for centuries and still be the same. The only thing you
did was grow older, not grow. And growing older wasn't something you
did
. It just happened.

“
You didn't feed,” the dirty blond vampire
smirked at Bryn. “How...disappointing.”

He crouched and stuck a gloved finger through the bars
to twirl around Bryn's hair. “Why didn't you feed, sweetheart?
Didn't you like what's on the menu? Not to your taste? Are you on
a low fat diet? Is this one too...fatty?” He chuckled, as he
eyed Charlotte's curvy figure.

The other vampires hooted and cracked more inane jokes,
all of which Charlotte had heard before. She tried not to roll her
eyes. Had to keep her eyes on them.

The blond vampire stopped laughing suddenly. His smile
turned ugly. “You are tougher than you look, bitch,” he
told Bryn. “We didn't think you could hold out for so long.
Granted, fatty foods aren't good for you, but they're irresistible.
Yum.” He smacked his lips at Charlotte, and curled his tongue
suggestively round his fangs.

“
Anyway, sweetcakes, we brought you a little
something.” He turned his attention back to Bryn. “Never
let it be said that we starve our own. This one's fresh, tender and
young.”

He snapped his fingers, and two of his minions stepped
forward.

They were holding something between them.

Something in the shape of...a little girl.

Charlotte's throat went dry. It was a tiny, terrified
toddler with wispy brown hair and large chocolate eyes that were
filled with tears. She was too frightened to make a sound, or
struggle against the two scary vampires holding her by the scruff of
her neck.

She simply clutched an old teddy bear to her chest and
stared at Charlotte with wide, frightened eyes. The little girl was
dressed in a frilly pink pajamas with Disney princesses dancing all
over it.

This sweet little thing was her parents' precious
princess. And those filthy vampires had broken into her home and
snatched the sleeping tot from her cot.

The blond vamp, who acted like he was the gang leader,
took the girl and dangled her in front of the cage. The child
whimpered and let out a small shriek in fear and pain, her chubby
legs kicking the air. She began to cry in earnest when the vamp
shook her and snarled at her to shut up.

“
We got you a fresh meal, Bryn,” the vamp
smiled. “Can you smell her blood, so warm and fresh? We got
you a young one, so her flesh is sweet and tender. Come on out.
Dinner's ready, Bryn,” he cooed, and turned the key in the
lock.

Charlotte noticed that all the vamps were wearing
gloves, to protect themselves from the silver cage. The door swung
open and the vamp reached in for Bryn. Charlotte moved to stab him,
but he caught her wrist in a flash and twisted viciously. She cried
out as the dagger clattered to the floor. The vamp kicked it away
and hurled Charlotte against the bars. She landed in a corner of the
cage, dazed at the impact.

Struggling up, she watched Bryn being dragged out of the
cage and screamed when the door slammed shut in her face. “Let
her go! You can't do this! Let them go! I'll kill you, I swear!”

The vamp threw the little human at Bryn. The girl was
crying noisily, but when she saw Bryn with her matted hair and
bloodstained face and arms, she screamed even louder, and ran blindly
towards the cage.

“
Girl, come here,” Charlotte whispered
urgently, stretching out her arms through the cage to the child.
“Come here. I won't hurt you. I promise. Come!”

The child turned to Charlotte, screaming, “M-Mommy...I
want my Mommy!”

“
We'll get you back to your Mommy. Come here,”
Charlotte coaxed. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Bryn pushing
herself up. The young vampire stood swaying, her thin arms hanging
by her side. “Come here quickly!”

The girl finally went to Charlotte, whimpering and
burying her face in her teddy bear, her only source of comfort.
Charlotte gathered the frightened child against her, clinging to her
tightly through the bars. “Shhh, hush, just stay with me,”
Charlotte breathed against the little girl's soft, bubblegum scented
hair. “We'll be all right. All of us. You, me and Bryn.”

The blond vampire flicked his finger, and one of his
hooded minions stepped forward. He walked towards the cage and bared
his fangs in a scowl. The girl screamed and shrank back against
Charlotte.

“
Go away, you bully. Frightening a child. You
should be ashamed of yourself,” Charlotte scolded. “Shoo!”

The vampire stopped, unsure of how to react. He seemed
to hang his head, until his leader snapped a command, “Do it!”

“
Oh, o-okay. Sure. Y-yes, Lance,” the
hooded vampire stuttered and tugged his glove off his scarred,
tattooed hand. His nails were curved and sharp like talons, almost
like claws. Charlotte stared at the back of his hand and saw tufts
of fur peeking out from under his sleeve. Strange.
A
were-vampire?

He knelt in front of the bawling toddler and stammered,
“It'd just be a small cut, okay?”

He reached towards the girl's chubby hand, his claw
poised to scratch through her tender skin. At the last instant,
Charlotte jerked her hand up to shield the girl and the vampire's
claw sliced into her own hand. Ignoring the pain, she grabbed the
vamp's bare hand and slammed it against the silver bars of her cage.

The vamp shrieked in pain, as his flesh burnt against
the silver. He finally twisted out of Charlotte's grip, scrabbling
back and screaming obscenities at her.

His blond leader, Lance, watched dispassionately, not
coming to his aid. “You didn't cut the child,” Lance
said, the corners of his thin lips turning down.

“
I...I...it was her fault!” the vamp yelled,
pointing at Charlotte while sucking on the back of his burnt hand.

Lance's attention was riveted on the growing line of
blood on Charlotte's hand. He sniffed the air and smiled slowly.
“Can you smell her blood, Bryn?” He turned his head over
his shoulder. “Come get your dinner. What are you waiting
for? The scent of fresh blood is intoxicating, isn't it? It is
irresistible. So why resist it? Why confine yourself to the boring
blood bars that are licensed and regulated by the PAC? Humans can
donate or sell their blood to the blood bars, but the blood is
refrigerated and stored, to be artificially heated up just before
consumption. That blood isn't fresh. You have to take blood from a
pumping artery. Now that's real food. Food fit for a vampire! And
you are a vampire, Bryn. You are one of us. Yet you hunt us, hurt
us, kill us. We'll show you that you are just like us. No
different, no better! Now eat. Enjoy a real meal on us. And you—”
Lance took off his sunglasses and turned his yellow eyes on
Charlotte. “Enjoy the show.” He leaned in and
whispered, “While you can.”

Lance gave a dramatic, mocking bow before exiting the
room with his vamps. Charlotte watched that narrow door seal shut in
the far wall of the small, cramped room. She glanced around quickly.
This looked like a storeroom of sorts, with no windows at all. The
only way out was through that door.

From the corner, Bryn was slowly crawling forward, drawn
by the scent of Charlotte's flowing blood. Bryn was shaking
violently, moving painfully and pitiably, her face a tortured mask of
hunger and loathing. She kept shaking her head, muttering to
herself, and pressing her mangled arm to her mouth. Her fangs had
already sunk into every inch of her thin arm, and in her mad hunger,
she had torn out chunks of her own flesh. There was almost nothing
left of herself. As she'd told Charlotte, she wouldn't last long.

“
Bryn, Bryn...please...” Charlotte called
desperately to her friend, but the young vampire didn't seem to hear
her. She was growling and crying, dragging herself closer and closer
towards the child, who was stuffing the leg of her teddy bear into
her mouth to muffle her cries.

A savage scream tore from Bryn's throat as she twisted
round and flung herself forcefully away. Stumbling up, she ran
towards the wall, not slowing down, not stopping.

“
No!”

Charlotte's scream was ragged as she watched her friend
run into the wall, and smash her head in. Bryn collapsed, her petite
body lying motionless in a heap at the foot of the wall.

A rivulet of blood trickled out from under her tangled,
midnight-blue hair, flowing across the floor towards Charlotte.

The little girl turned her head and bawled into
Charlotte's shoulder. “She killed herself!” the child
wailed. “She's dead!”

“
No, no, she's not dead, not dead,”
Charlotte patted her little head and repeated in a monotone. “No...”

Her vision appeared to be misting over, but when she
blinked hard, she saw that the mist was in fact seeping into the room
from under the door. Gaping, she watched the tendrils of gray mist
creep across the floor, and slither rapidly towards Bryn.

“
Bryn!” she croaked. “Bryn, get up!
Please, get up now! There's something...”

The mist was gathering around Bryn's fallen form,
becoming denser as it wrapped around her body.

Vampire!

With one arm around the child, Charlotte grabbed her
wooden stake with her other hand and took aim. She wasn't going to
let those vamps take Bryn.

But how was she going to throw her stake at the mist,
without hurting Bryn?

Bryn's form rose up, as if someone was holding her up
under her arms.

A tall, dark-haired man materialized from the mist
behind Bryn. He had his arm around her tiny waist, holding her like
a rag doll against his chest. He was dressed in a long-sleeved silk
shirt, and well-tailored black pants. He was elegantly and
expensively dressed. Designer cufflinks right down to his polished,
designer shoes.

Charlotte tightened her grip on her stake. This vampire
might be well-dressed, well-groomed and very good-looking, but he was
still a vampire. And he had Bryn.

“
Let her go,” Charlotte swallowed and said
in her strongest voice.

“
I'm not going to let her die here,” the
vampire grated out. His dark eyes flashed at Charlotte, then
widened. She thought she heard him breathe a name that sounded like
Charlene, but she couldn't be sure.

At his voice, Bryn jerked her head up and turned to
stare up at him. “Glenn,” she whispered. “You
came...”

“
Of course. You're safe now,” he said
soothingly, but his eyes were dark and deadly.

Charlotte blinked at the handsome vampire holding her
friend. She had called him Glenn. This must be Glenn Constantine,
the Master vampire and Council member.

She had not met all the PAC members. Only Jett, the
Chief Trainer and Head of the Enforcement Unit. And Lucas, the PAC
Alpha.

Glenn turned and saw the tiny human by Charlotte's side.
Keeping his gaze rapt on the child's face, he said softly, “Come
here, child.”

The little girl got up and staggered over to him.
Charlotte cried out, and strained against the bars, but the little
girl ignored her entirely. The tot simply ambled over to Glenn,
holding her teddy bear by the hand and smiled happily up at him. She
raised her hand to him and allowed him to hold her small, chubby hand
in his large one.

“
Bye.” She turned to wave at Charlotte.

Dumbstruck, Charlotte could only bend her fingers
stiffly and slowly in a halfhearted wave. Were they really leaving?

Shouldn't she try to stop them?

“
Wait...”

Holding on to the human child and Bryn, Glenn
Constantine shot one last look at Charlotte before his form started
to shimmer. He opened his mouth to say something, but she couldn't
make out the words. A column of dense fog had shrouded their forms.
The fog started to disperse, and Charlotte watched the mist race
across the floor and disappear through the cracks of the door.

Glenn had taken them away.

They should be safe. Right?

Charlotte leaned her forehead against the cold, silver
bars of her cage. She was all alone now. While she was glad that
Glenn had come for Bryn, she was a little disappointed that no one
had come for her.

Well, no time to sit and mope. She had to find a way to
get out of here. Dusting off her bum, she began to test each bar of
the cage, using all the weapons at her disposal. She sawed, she
pried, she hammered. Daggers, wooden stakes, potions and salt all
took their turn at the bars, doing their worst. But nadda. Not even
a scratch.

As Charlotte mopped the sweat from her brow and
growled—she gave a start at the sound. She didn't know she
could growl. The growl rumbled from her again, and she glared down
at her tummy.

But her stomach wouldn't be silent. It continued
protesting loudly, “F-e-e-d Me!” it growled.