Vampire Council

Talia Stillwater’s POV

La Crosse Pack House

I licked at the mating bite I’d left at the junction of Randall’s left shoulder and neck. I’d gotten him good, my teeth shifting enough to leave a good scar. Mating bites were the wedding rings of the Werewolf world; they scarred heavily, the shiny marks proclaiming to all that he was MINE. My vampire nature loved the taste of his blood, my wolf was satisfied now that the bond was completed, and my human part was near a breakdown. “Uncle Clark, I need you in our room, it’s an emergency,” I said. “I need your Pack Nurse as well.”

“What’s going on,” he sent back.

“Just come,” I said. I pulled Randall to the bathroom where I pushed him into the shower. I wiped the blood off my face and chest and pulled on clothes.

The door opened as I pulled a T-shirt on. Uncle Clark rushed in, looking me over. “What’s the matter?” He could hear the shower, and I seemed to be all right, but I was still panicked.

“I bit Randall while we were making love,” I said.

“Congratulations, Talia. You’re a mated wolf now, I’m so happy for you!”

I shook my head. “You don’t understand, I’ve just killed him.”

He listened to the shower. “You can’t fuck him to death, you know,” he said with a laugh. The Pack Nurse came in carrying her bag, looking around for the problem.

“What do I smell like, Uncle? Take a deep sniff.”

He put his nose to my neck and sorted through the smells. “Well, other than sex and Randall, you have your personal scent, and something else. It’s not a Pack scent…” He sniffed again and his eyes got wide. “It smells like vampire.”

“That’s because it is. I’m part vampire, and my bite contains a diluted form of their venom. It will take a week or two, but it will kill him.”

The nurse was horrified, there was no cure for the venom, but normally the werewolf died in minutes. He sorted through his thoughts. “Alpha Justin… you bit him at the end then had him put in a cage.”

“Yes, no matter what you or the Council may try, he’s going to die slowly and painfully. I wanted it to be public, but now there’s no hiding what I have become. I made friends with a Coven and they changed me, I’m more than a wolf now. I need blood occasionally, I have vampire speed and healing, and I have their venom.”

“Fuck me,” he said. “The Council is going to flip.”

“I know this. Nurse, I need equipment for a blood transfusion set up by the bed,” I said. She moved over after Clark nodded and started to pull stuff out. “I have to get to New Orleans as soon as possible. I need you to take care of things here, I doubt I’ll be back.”

“Justin isn’t a problem, and Rhoda will be here soon. What do you want done with the Beta?”

“I was going to have Randall interrogate him, but you’ll have to do it. We need to know everything we can about who he sold Tania to. Send me the information and Randall and I will take care of it when we are ready.”

“I can do that.” He pulled me into a hug. “You have a plan?”

“Yes, if it works. It has to work, I just got him.”

Randall came out of the shower, a towel around his waist. “Do you have a flight?”

“I’ll have to hire a pilot since mine is down in Texas. If we can’t find one, we’ll have to drive. I don’t want my name popping up on a TSA screen.” I didn’t say anything, but since I was responsible for multiple murders, you couldn’t be too careful. “Can I take Erica with me? Someone has to be awake with him at all times, and if we drive we’ll need to swap.”

He linked for a few seconds, then nodded. “She’s a few minutes out. I’ll chain Rhoda up and brief my men, then I’ll check back with you.”

“Thank you, Uncle.” I hugged him and he left.

Randall was already lying down on the floor next to the bed and the nurse was prepping a vein for the transfusion. “What blood type are you, Alpha?”

“O negative,” I said as she nodded. Universal donor so no problem.

“I need you to sit in this chair for me,” she said. The tubing was soon filled with blood, going from my arm into his hand. “How much blood does he need?”

“A pint is more than enough,” I said.

“Ten minutes then.” My call to Jarrod had given me a ray of hope. He explained that while the venom would normally slowly poison and kill Randall, my own blood might help him become immune. It wasn’t strong enough to turn him into whatever weird hybrid I was, but it should give him more time. The blood needed to go straight from my body to his, hence the transfusion.

We needed to get to New Orleans, because only a Vampire Master could save him, and only one would even consider doing it. He would be risking his existence and his Coven if he did so without permission again.

Jarrod Covington's POV

Forty Months Ago, New York City

The Council had learned of Talia’s change, and summoned me to an emergency meeting in New York City. I had flown in last night with Malcolm, my trusted familiar, and had been taken to the chambers five stories underground Manhattan.

The Vampire Council was made up of the five oldest Vampires in North America. The youngest was sixteen centuries old, the oldest more than thirty. They were powerful men and women, not to be trifled with, and had absolute authority over our kind. I was escorted to their meeting room, where they sat at an elevated table while I stood in front of the chairs below them. “I am informed your werewolf has completed the change,” the leader said. Master Nikolai had moved his coven from Russia to San Francisco in the mid-1800’s.

“She has, Master. The change took well, she is adapting to the changes in her strength and speed. She was lacking in training, but her werewolf genetics are very strong. Alpha blood both sides, and she is smart and clever.”

“This plan is dangerous,” Mistress Daniela said. “These hybrids cannot be trusted. They are not bound to their Maker or their Pack.”

“This is true, Mistress, but she is loyal to me and has taken a blood oath for revenge. The change and her service is the price she paid to be given the power to exact her vengeance. I have no worries; she has fit into my coven well and is rapidly becoming family. It is my opinion that this will provide her the stability the previous subjects lacked.”

“She volunteered for unselfish reasons, that could help,” Mistress Edith said as she sat back. “The rogue we recruited wanted power. What is to prevent your Talia from seeking this out once she realizes how much stronger she is than her old kind?”

“I have seen no signs of this, but we will be watching her carefully. She is showing no signs of problems with her human trainers. She is able to spar with humans in the fighting arts being taught and has mastered the limits on strength and speed needed to avoid attracting attention. In spars with my Coven, she can match our speed and power but is gaining experience. In wolf form, she is a beautiful mix of grace and fury.”

“When will she be sent on her first mission?”

“When she is ready, I expect in the next few months.”

“You must keep control over her,” Master Nikolai said. “At the first sign of rebellion or instability, you are to destroy her. If she is captured by the wolves, she must not divulge her secrets. If the werewolf council finds out we are experimenting with hybrids, they will go to war.”

“I understand, sir. I am using a remote charge to ensure her destruction if captured, before they are able to learn of her true nature.” The system was normally used on prisoners; it was a small charge of high explosive connected to a miniature timer and radio receiver, surgically implanted in the neck. If not removed within 24 hours, or if a detonate command was transmitted, it would blow the person’s neck apart and cause rapid death.

“We use this one to accomplish what we agreed to, but no more hybrids are to be created,” Nikolai said. “She may live as long as she remains loyal to you and has value to us. Issue the decree to all Covens; any Master who creates or attempts to create a werewolf hybrid will be destroyed along with their Coven.”

Present Day

I made the phone call to the Council secretary, requesting a conference over the video system as soon as possible. While I waited for a reply, I called my other Coven members together. Marceline was flying back from Denver now that those Alphas had been taken care of. We gathered in the gardens behind the home, enjoying the warm night and the scent of the moonflowers and gardenias, and I caught them up.

“Talia’s coming here soon, and she and Randall will need our help. Prepare a room down here for them, they will need constant supervision until he’s stabilized from the change,” I said.

“The Council forbid the change,” Eduardo said. “It would be more merciful to kill him for her. Watching her mate wither and die may drive her insane, and I don’t want to see her put down like an animal. The bond is still new, maybe it won’t be as bad if it is done quickly?”

“She’ll never forgive us if we take her mate from her,” Anastasia said. “She will fight us to protect her mate. We have to let things run their course and be there to support her when he dies. If she is unstable, we need to be the ones to destroy her.”

“I hope it doesn’t get that far,” I said. My phone buzzed, I got a text message with the videoconference code, I had to get on it immediately. “Wish me luck.”

I went into my office and opened my computer to the program, entering the code. On the other side, the Vampire Council was sitting in a conference room. The five were seated, and Master Nikolai started. “What is going on that requires an emergency meeting with us Jarrod?”

“I received a call from Talia Stillwater, Master. She has asked me for help that I cannot give her without Council permission.”

“What could she need, she’s setting the werewolf world into chaos right now,” Daniela said. “We’ve gotten the reports of her abduction of the Copper Mountain Luna and Heir. Is this going to blow back on us?”

“No, Mistress. She’s handled that problem quite ably.” I filled them in on how she had already defeated Alpha Justin and removed Luna Rhoda’s wolf, and how the attack on the La Crosse Pack had been thwarted. “Once the Council or Talia finds the coward Alpha Todd, her revenge on the werewolves will be completed.”

“Good,” said Master Louis. “Our part of the bargain will be complete, and since we have no further use for her, she can be destroyed. No one will ever know of what we’ve done.”

“I’m afraid that isn’t the case, Master Louis. You see, she has found her mate, Randall Meechum, the son of the Sulphur River Alphas.”

“We have no quarrel with them, Alpha Brent is fair and reasoned,” Master Daniela said. “Do they know she is a hybrid?”

“They do now. Talia’s wolf took over as they completed the mating and bit him. If I don’t interfere, he will die in a week or two. The loss will force me to destroy her as well.” A few nodded, it was well known how unstable a werewolf became when they lost their mate. Many committed suicide, in the worst case they might become feral and uncontrollable.

“Put them both down now,” Master Louis said.

“I would like to turn him instead,” I said. Louis and Daniela came to their feet, but quickly sat again as Master Nikolai slammed his hand into the table. “Talia has been with my Coven for four years now, she is part of my Coven and my family. She has never refused a task, and three times she has risked her life in our service. The Mount Shasta Pack would still be performing medical experiments on vampires if it was not for her.”

Fourteen months ago, we had learned two missing vampires were actually being held prisoner there. Rather than risk open war, the Council sent in Talia. She had killed the Alphas and Betas, all the medical personnel involved in the experiments, set the lab on fire and returned the vampires to their Covens. It was all blamed on the Alpha Killer instead of vampires. “She has value to us, even if we have no current jobs for her,” Mistress Edith said. “You are looking at this as a problem instead of an opportunity. The presence of a mate stabilizes a werewolf and will do so for the hybrid. Allowing Jarrod to change her mate, should he volunteer to be changed, puts her back in our debt. I know of this man, he is an FBI agent. His contacts could be valuable to us.”

“We are creating a breeding pair of abominations,” Daniela objected. "We cannot continue this foolishness.” The debate continued for another ten minutes, and the Council seemed divided. Master Nikolai called for a vote, and it was 2-2 for whether to change him.

“Jarrod, I am going to allow the change, but you will be responsible for the pair. If it starts going bad, you need to end it. I expect daily updates with the Council until the change is completed, then we will discuss how to use them.”

“Thank you, Master. You will not regret this.” They cut the connection, and I let out a breath. Randall still had to agree to become like Talia, but I knew he would. The mating bond was above everything; if it meant they were outcast from werewolf life, that he would be living with a bounty on their heads, he would do it for her.

And I would do it for her as well. She was more like a daughter to me than those I had turned, and I didn’t want to lose her either.