A/N: So, here we are, peeps: Chapter 12. This chapter, as they say, will be serious business. Here it be, hope everyone likes it. Oh, and before I forget, Bryan Danielson did pop up in here in the last two chapters; he did a quick cameo with Josh. But I used his slave name in here -Daniel Bryan- 'cause I didn't want anyone to be confused about who I meant.
A/N2: Thanks, to everyone, for reading this. I'm glad you're liking it. Thanks for the feedback; my muses thrive on it, and it makes me mark out completely anytime I see some. candy_belle, thanks again, chickie, for all the random convos, pic spams, and babblings that always seem to end up with fics every fucken where. And I'm gonna get you on my side of the Punk fence, eventually. Might as well give in now *muahahahaha* Also, energy_purple, I hope you're feeling better and enjoy the chapter; there may or may not, be a little bit of Guns action in here. To everyone at fanfiction, thanks for the reviews, alerts and favorites. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter.
"You need to relax," Chris told Justin softly, leaning against the side of a building. "I know it's hard, but you need to remember what we told you -" "It doesn't have to hurt," Alex said, watching the people walking past them. "I know that's hard for you to understand, to believe, but it's true."
"They smell like..." Evan trailed off, sounding horrified with himself. "Vergewe my assebelief." Justin murmured, closing his eyes.
Alex rolled his eyes. They're such drama queens, he complained, conveniently forgetting there was a time when he had been convinced his life was over, and that he had nothing to live for.
Of course, he had acted completely different then these newborns and maybe that's why he was getting impatient.
'Lex, Chris said. Only one word, but Chris managed to put all his love for Alex into it, all his affection and how much much he believed in him. But Alex could hear the exasperation underneath it and he smiled in apology at his mate.
'Lex, Chris repeated, smiling back at him. They're not like me -or you, for that matter. They're submissive, both of them. Neither one of them is ever going to be as aggressive as we are. They react different; you know that. When I was Turned, I already had my mate; I already knew where I was headed. They found theirs very quickly, all things considered. You were alone, 'Lex.
Alex nodded once, trying to let go of guilt he didn't even realize he was feeling. Chris was like that, though; even before they had been fully mated, he had been aware of Alex. Where he was, what he was feeling. It was one of the reasons he hadn't been able to resist Turning Chris. Well, that and the fact that Chris threatened to throw himself off the nearest bridge if Alex kept refusing.
I meant it, Chris told him, his voice low and serious. After so many years, Alex was never surprised any more when Chris knew what he was thinking. I didn't want to live knowing there would be a day when I had to leave you.
I know; I felt the same way. Alex assured him, before dropping the subject. He hated talking about things like that, it made him feel like a girl.
"I hate when they do that," Evan pouted, looking at Justin. "It's fucken rude." Justin smacked Evan in the back of the head and glared at him.
"Stop it," Justin hissed. "You're being a jackass." "It's OK, Justin," Chris assured him, his eyes on Evan. His eyes gleamed, turning black and Evan realized something: Chris was just as dominant as some of the wolves, and he wasn't going to take Evan's mouth just because they both happened to be vampires.
"Watch it, Evan," Chris told him, his voice hard. "I cut you some slack 'cause I know it's been hard for you, but I'm not going let you go around blatantly insulting people, especially your own pack. Understand?"
Chris put his own power behind the last word, and Evan noticed it felt different then when Randy had done it -or even Mike. The wolves power had felt hot, scalding like it had left a third degree burn over his skin wherever it touched. Chris's felt colder, like ice and it hurt almost as much as Randy's did. But this felt like there were icicles in his chest, leeching all his life from him.
Evan nodded hurriedly, showing his neck to the older vampire. Chris smirked, he wasn't a wolf; showing neck wasn't necessary to calm him down but he knew that Evan didn't know any other way to show he acknowledged Chris as dominant.
Alex could almost feel sorry for Evan; the newborn wasn't the first person to misjudge Chris at a glance. Chris was so laid back and easy going that most people didn't see the core of sheer strength that was beneath the surface. And it had been more then one person's last mistake, especially when they had still been roaming.
Chris might not make everything into a battle like some dominants, but once he reached the point where he decided enough was enough, he was quick to make sure no one forget it -if they survived. It had been years since Chris had killed anyone, regardless of the reason but that didn't mean he wasn't still capable of it.
"I'll take Evan, you take Justin." Alex suggested, smiling when Chris smirked and nodded. "Come on, small fry," he told Evan, turning around the corner without waiting for the younger vampire. Evan looked at Chris nervously and when Chris nodded at him, he turned and ran after Alex.
"Let's go," Chris said, throwing an arm around Justin's shoulders and leading him out of the alley. Justin glanced at Chris out of the corner of eye and was relieved to see his eyes were back to their normal blue color.
Chris smirked again, but didn't say anything. A little fear never hurt anything. And if thinking that Chris might get pissed and beat him into the ground would get the newborns to pay attention and start really listening to them when they tried to tell the newborns how to hunt, Chris thought it was a fair trade.
Chris lead Justin toward a bar where he knew things got rowdy and no one would miss someone for an hour or so.
"Well, Justin, you're about to get schooled, make sure you pay attention." Justin winced a little but he could feel the thrill of the hunt building a little and when he looked at Chris, he could see that dominant gleam back in his eyes and Chris's fangs flashed briefly when he smiled at Justin.
"There's nothing wrong with enjoying the hunt," Chris murmured, eying the people walking around them. "You're supposed to; even if you are submissive, you're still a predator. The trick is keeping track of who you are while you're stalking your prey." With those last words, Chris walked away from Justin, accidentally bumping into a guy who was leaving the bar.
With a blinding smile, Chris looked up into the bigger man's eyes. The guy had stumbled when he ran into Chris and then after he looked at him in annoyance, he seemed to freeze for a second before his whole body went boneless and he just stood there with a vacant expression on his face.
Chris turned on his heel and walked back towards the alley, the guy following him without question, his eyes glazed. As they walked past, Chris only raised an eyebrow but it was enough to have Justin scrambling after him.
Chris hoped, briefly, that Alex was having as easy a time with Evan as he was Justin -so far at least. But then the darkness swallowed them and he didn't have room for any other thoughts.
"The trick," Alex murmured in Evan's ear as he watched the drunks stumble past them, heading for one of the many bars and strip clubs that were crowded together in this part of down town.
"Is to not forget who you are during the hunt." Evan nodded and moved out from under Alex's arm. Alex smirked; he knew Evan was just reacting to anyone touching him that wasn't John. Judging by the look on Evan's face, he didn't know what to make of it. Alex decided not to enlighten him; he needed to be entertained some how for the next little while. The fact that John had asked them not to tell didn't enter his mind; if it had he probably would have changed his opinion immediately and told Evan, just on the principle of the thing.
Dimly, he could feel Chris's thrill and then hunger as he found his prey. Alex shuddered and threw up stronger shields between him and Chris, almost putting up a wall between them. It wrong and Alex knew if they kept it up for too long, it would start to physically and psychologically hurt his brain. But it was only until they were done with this hunt; they often shielded if they weren't hunting together.
Besides rising his own blood lust, it also turned him on beyond belief. The hunt did that sometimes, anyway; all the adrenaline, he guessed. But to feel his mate's blood lust and desire on top of his own was enough to make him crazed. And if they were hunting together, well, disappearing into an alley or the woods for twenty minutes -give or take- wasn't that big of a deal.
But if he was on his own and it happened? Let's just say, that once Chris had found him standing in the middle of a destruction zone that had once been their house. And even with all the aggression and violence he had used up, he had still needed Chris.
He had attacked Chris as soon as he got within reach, but Chris knew Alex inside and out. They wrestled around, trading punches -by this time, Chris had been almost as worked up as Alex- for a few minute before Chris pinned Alex to the ground and proceeded to fuck him until he couldn't walk for almost ten minutes after they were finished. And considering the rate that vampires healed once they were hurt, that was saying a lot. It had been exactly what Alex needed.
And even though they had been out of a house until they could get a new one built and had to listen to the ribs from most of the pack -Mike, in particular, found it hysterical and he still liked to mention it once in a while to annoy Alex- Chris had been proud of Alex. "It's just a house, 'Lex. You controlled yourself well enough to stay here, even if you did destroy the place. It's not like you went hunting."
Alex knew Chris was right; fifty years ago his reaction might have been the same, but the results would have been very different.
For a second, Alex could swear he heard a women crying, and a low, masculine voice purring: "Go ahead and cry, my sweet, that will only make you taste better. Isn't that right, my little Alexander?"
Alex closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to block the voices from turning into nightmare scenes that he could still remember so well.
"Alex, are you, OK?" Evan asked, jumping a little when Alex looked at him and his eyes were black. "Yeah, I'm fine." Alex said, his voice strained. He closed his eyes again and after a second, he opened up his eyes. Even though his eyes were still black, he sounded like himself again.
"Come on, Ev, let's go get some lunch." And despite his disgust at Alex's choice of words he could feel his fangs extend and an excited tempo started playing in his body.
Alex glanced over at him and chuckled. "Ah, the thrill of the hunt," Alex said, not bothering to hide his amusement. "Even submissives feel it."
Evan frowned at Alex. "Why does it sound like you wanted to say 'bitch' instead?" Alex shrugged. "I didn't mean to, and even if I did, I wouldn't have meant it the way you do."
"Aren't you, um, a submissive?" Evan asked hesitantly, cringing away a little when Alex looked at him in disbelief. Alex stared at him for a minute and then burst into laughter.
"No, I'm not," Alex managed to choke out after a minute. "I'm just not as dominant as Chris is. So yourself a favor and not ask anyone else that, alright?" Alex collapsed into more laughter as he imagined the looks on Riley and Jay's faces if Evan ever asked them that.
"I'm confused," Evan admitted, frowning again. "I thought Chris was the dominant one."
Alex shook his head, still smiling. "No, a lot of people think that's how it works. There's not always a dominant and a submissive in a mating, or even just a relationship. Chris is just more dominant then me. In a mating, the most dominant one is the, uh, one in charge, I guess is the best phrase, but it's very misleading.
"Anyway, Chris is more dominant then me, so I get my ranking in the pack from him. And he's the one who answers any power plays or insults if we're both there."
Evan nodded slowly, remembering that from his earlier lessons.
"Ah, perfect," Alex murmured striding out from the alley and walked into a tall guy with black hair and blue eyes. Evan good see Alex laugh and apologize. The guy laughed it off and glanced down into Alex's eyes. After a second he just seemed to sag and he just kept gazing at the same spot.
Alex smirked and turned around, heading back for the alley and Evan. As he walked by, Alex glanced at Evan and winked, before motioning hm to follow. Evan still felt vaguely disgusted with himself, he started to feel excited.
Alex smirked again, he could practically feel the energy radiating off of Evan, and he hoped Chris had as easy a time as he was. He turned around and grinned as he saw the man patiently standing there. This was going to be good.
