Chapter 14 - Fire and Ice
Ariadne
Ariadne had left the twins alone, only for a moment to use the bathroom. The second she opened the door she knew something wasn't right. There was a foreign scent in the air, and a voice whispering in the dark. "Alcide." She whispered his name. They hadn't had time to figure out exactly how their bond worked, so she could only hope he felt her panic. She was still unable to shift, and their babies were in danger.
Swiftly, she made her way back into the room just as the strange female strapped Aubry into her carrier. "I suggest you step away from my children, bitch." Ari said, her body shaking with the force of the growls rippling through her. She wasn't sure if she would be able to hold back the shift, but if she didn't she could end up hurting herself. The woman's head jerked up in surprise, her murky brown eyes wide. She stood straight, allowing Ari and opening. With another growl, Ariadne's fist seemed to move on its own, finding it's target on the woman's face. Ari had never been a physical fighter when in human form, but that didn't mean she didn't understand the basics.
Aden cried from his carrier, distracting Ari for a moment, allowing the other female to throw her off balance and land a punch - splitting her lip. "God, I fucking hate Russel Edgington." Ari growled before lunging at the strange female.
"You." Eric looked towards the woman staring at his crotch. "Leave. We'll only be needing one." The woman huffed, but obeyed. Eric knew Pam would be willing to give her a parting gift anyway. Eric didn't want Adda or Pam to know that he had been surviving off of Tru Blood since Adda left. Every human he drank from just made his anger grow. Or perhaps, he himself made his anger grow.
"It'll be easy for you to drink, it's an instinct." He said addressing Adda. He would feed later on, when she went to ground. As a newborn, she would feel the effects of the oncoming sun sooner and stronger than he would. "It's stopping that you're going to have trouble with. I'll be able to feel it, if you get out of control." He assured, his hand resting on her lower back as he walked her over to the human. The woman looked calm, but Eric could clearly hear her heart speed up. "You should try and glamor her first."
Before Adda could move, Eric placed a hand on her shoulder. "I suspect you've retained your... abilities. If that is the case, they might be stronger now, and you might not be able to control it. What I'm saying is that you'll be taking the very essence of this human's life. It's likely you'll see things unwillingly." Eric had researched Adda's ability while she had been away, and there had only been one other to turn vampire. Sadly, he met the true death before Eric's time.
Alcide
The younger wolf was stunned as the older woman punched her square in the jaw, she retaliated hitting her back landing a blow to the woman's lip. She herself had tears in her eyes, she was barely out of being a teenager and had been enlisted by her Parent's wills to steal away the infants. They had said it was necessary, that the kids wouldn't be harmed and the other packs would come around to seeing things there way- never did the young woman think she would be going blow for blow with a terrified mother. She had tears in her eyes from the stinging from the initial blow as well as the guilt she felt at the job at hand; "Please just join us, I don't want no harm on you or your kin. They told me you'd eventually understand. Russles' trying to help us be better and more evolved." She declared.
Meanwhile Alcide could feel an odd warm haze at the edge of his thoughts, a hot white rage mixed with distress. He had never really fully felt their connection but he knew out of instinct that was what this was, this pressure in his chest, something was wrong; "Come we need to go, I think Ari's in danger."
He didn't wait to see if anyone followed as he tore off for the home he had left her and his twins in the care of. He needed to get to his wife, while they had been planning the other countering side of this war seemed to be a step ahead. He pushed his paws on as fast as he could, tearing through brush and forest to reach his beloved.
Addaleigh
Her eyes and ears were focused on the tick, tick, ticking of her pulse in her throat everything else around her melted away into a hushed din, but that sound, that glorious sound of life that she had once possessed was beckoning. She had never grasped until this moment just what an emotional and gut wrenching need blood was to her night walkers; it wasn't just sustenance for them but the experience of life, almost a jealous craving to take back the warmth their bodies animated but dead are denied.
She hadn't been able to connect with a life line yet so she wasn't sure if her powers had left her body now that she was no longer among the living, but his theory was one close to her own, if her powers did remain they would be altered and more powerful just as she had become. Taking a needless deep breath she step up to the awaiting woman, glad she was calm and not the least interested in Eric the girls tastes seeming to be more like that of Pam's, as she appreciatively eyed Addaleigh. Glamouring was something that came almost naturally since her body was used to the magic of intoning into the wants of others. Her silver eyes gazed into the donors searching her before grasping that thread, and it was amazing- she could almost cipher through her thoughts, through the wants she had the decisions she wished to make, a far more organized and controlled version of her seerers ability.
"Come here," she called the girl in a glaze stepping closer and tilting her head languidly to the side in anticipation, the beat of her heart elevated, a drumming noise that was more precious than music. Adda's cool fingers trailed over the heated flesh of her arms and up to cup her cheek, amazed how sensuous this feeling of power and control was, understanding so much about her new species and their ways with just this first feeding. Then with fangs still bared she lowered her mouth to her neck puncturing the tender flesh as easily as biting a ripened peach, the squirt of crimson life into her mouth causing her to closes her eyes in a moan. Instinct took over and she drank greedily as the other girls hands curled into her glossy brunette locks in the ecstasy she was helping to give her, a deep part of her wanted to just rip her throat clear open to drink until unable to be filled, to steal away the life in her powerful arms, but she restrained as best she could teetering between ecstasy and madness as she drank more than her fill.
Ariadne
Ariadne froze, pity welling in her chest for the young girl. Is this what would have become of Ari if her parents had given in to Russel's tirade? "Russel is an evil man that is using his blood to turn once great wolves into lap dogs. I'm sorry you were pulled into your pack's warped beliefs, but if I have to kill you to save my pups, I will." Ari growled, her eyes glowing yellow. She knew she shouldn't shift, but she wasn't sure how much longer she could hold back. Aubrey and Aden cried behind her, driving her onward, provoking the instinct to protect. "I don't want to hurt anyone, but Russel will kill my family if I don't stop you. He has already killed so many people close to me, and I will die before I let you bring my babies to him."
She crouched slightly, her eyes threatening. The poor girl looked scared, but all Ari could focus on was protecting her children.
Eric
"Addaleigh." Eric said her name with authority. With one hand on her shoulder, he yanked her away from the human. Pam, who had been watching from the door, took the human girl from the room as Eric retained Adda. He knew the blood lust would get to her, as it did all newborns. "Addaleigh, you have to calm down." Eric said, his voice demanding. He could see in her cold silver eyes that she wasn't herself. They were wild and pure vampire.
Eric hated seeing her like this, and wondered why he had ever wanted her to become a vampire in the first place. She was perfect as a human, not that he still didn't view her as such. He simply didn't want their dark life style to corrupt what he loved about her, her free spirit and strong will. He would hate himself if she gave into the monster within, as many vampires did. "Please Addaleigh... calm down." His voice was softer now, having no hold over her. He wanted her to break away from the monster's hold on her own, to find that human side of her that he knew still remained.
Alcide
The girl hadn't heard about the evils of the vampire and worry flooded through her for her own family and for her life. What if this woman was lying about the Vampire, she didn't want to risk angering her family or the vampire King, but right now she faced imminent danger and possibly death if she tried to touch this Alpha's pups again. The poor girl was caught in a dilemma and was close to sobbing worried that either way she would be facing death; "I can't go against them, he might jus' kill me." She pleaded
Alcide reached the house smelling Ari and the twins still inside and another figure. Since as a wolf he wouldn't fit through the door frame he shifted back and barreled in to the house the scene a relatively calmer one that his mind had conjured up, "Stand down girl." He growled to the young bitch, his chocolate eyes glaring her smaller form down into submission. "What the hell's going on here?" He asked Ari his eyes darting to see his two children fine outside of their frantic tears.
"They're gonna kill me." The girl cried hugging herself.
"Silence I was asking the alpha, Ari what happened?" He asked turning to his wife, knowing that between the two of them the girl wouldn't be able to overpower them.
Addaleigh
She hadn't wanted to stop, she had hated every one for taking away her meal, hated Eric from using his influence to still her from feeding with the power of his maker's call. She felt panic and lost only wanting to feed again to fill herself and that empty void where life belonged with the transfusion of blood to her lacking body. He ordered her to be calm and immediately she felt a wave of calm relax her body and into her muscles, the blood lust became a dull roar in her thoughts, the world was coming back into clarity. She wanted to both calm down and in the same vein fight her maker for making her be calm, so many humans lay right beyond the door way, so many lives that she could see and feed from, end.
His tenderness in tone made her blink a few times as if clearing away a night's terror, her glare softening to something more like her normal self. The hunger was subsiding and soon it was nearly gone, now just a whisper to be echoed in her body, no longer the driving force. She felt light headed and giddy almost now that she had fed, eager to move her muscles, her body humming with warm energy. She stared up at Eric as a clearer mind came, parting her lips slightly and working her jaw to retract her fangs, instinct guiding the action. She was sure as she looked up at her new maker that she both loved and hated him for all that he was, she loved him for their relationship and the love they had shared but hated that he had been cruel and callous in tossing her away taking away her free will in the matter of their relationship and what she was willing to risk. She loved him for saving her life but hated him for being her maker and a constant humming awareness in her mind.
She was fed and inhibited with this new life and body, and with a dark but wanton glare at him she firstly slapped Eric, a part of her crying out for striking him. Her hand stung and she was sure with the new force of her body he would feel the sting of the hit, and just as soon as the echo of her slap faded a brief moment passing as they stared down one another, she threw her arms around his neck going up on tip toe her lips colliding with his in an unbidden passion and months of anguish. He tasted the same but so much more complex and different, and for once his skin against hers felt normal and not the usual chilling cold of the dead. She didn't know if she could ever love him the same, she knew she would love him more and in the same way hate him as well.
Ariadne
Ariadne felt relief the moment Alcide entered the room, finally feeling like their children were safe. "Russel sent her. I found her trying to take the twins." Ari growled as Darren entered the room. It seemed he stopped to throw on a pair of shorts. Ari backed up slowly, putting Alcide between the woman and her. When she was sure Alcide was acting as a wall, she crouched and picked Aden up from his carrier. Darren quickly did the same with Aubry, both lulling the children into silence. Her heart was still pounding in her chest as she bounced up and down lightly, her eyes watching the girl. Her inner wolf howled at the idea of the stranger so close to the pups, but Ari suppressed the urge to growl. The babies were safe, and for now that was all that mattered.
"If they're gonna kill you, why stay with them?" Darren asked in a bored tone as he cradled Aubry's head against his shoulder. "Why not join us against them?"
"Don't make offers like that Darren." Ari hissed, her eyes on the girl. "For all we know, that could have been her plan all along. It wouldn't be unlike Russel to get a man on the inside."
Eric
"Addaleigh." Eric breathed between kisses, his hands on her hips. He wasn't sure if he was trying to push her away or pull her closer. He knew that the blood was feeding her newborn emotions, making her intoxicated. Still, he had missed her touch. Her skin was still soft, although not as warm. Ironically enough, she still tasted of sunshine. He backed her into a wall, his hands gliding up her side until he could cup her face and force his lips off of hers. "This isn't you Adda." He nearly hissed at the loss of her. "I want nothing more than to take you here in my office, but you're not thinking clearly." He squeezed his eyes closed against his own desire being fed by hers. The fact that he could feel her emotions wasn't helping.
Backing up, Eric began to pace. "I'm sorry Addaleigh. I lied to you." He ran a hand through his hair, meeting her eyes before sitting in his chair. "I didn't mean what I said to you the night you left. I wanted you to hate me so that you would go back to California. I didn't want you to have to give up everything you knew for me. I didn't want you to go against your king, and your brother just to marry me." He sighed, finally giving in and pulling a Tru Blood from his desk drawer. Popping the cap, he curbed the thirst burning his throat. "I never stopped loving you Addaleigh." He breathed, his eyes tracing the rim of the glass bottle.
Alcide
Alcide wanted to kill this insolent child for laying any hand against his children who thank god were settling down now that they were comforted and in safe loving arms. Crossing his arms he mulled over the situation. She was after all still just a young reckless kid and she didn't smell of v, didn't bring any weapon that he could tell. The older twins did have a good point however, was she a spy to infiltrate their ranks. She looked terrified and he could smell the fear radiating off her.
"They're my kin." She sighed her voice warped from the tears, "I don't want us to go to war against one another, I just thought this would help."
"You were wrong." Alcide chided in a firm tone.
"I know, I'm so sorry." The girl said looking to Ari in shame and remorse.
Alcide shifted his gaze to his wife; "You're Alpha and mother to our children. This is up to you if we keep her here or… send a message." He said knowing that while he detested the idea they would need to use the girl to show that they were not to be trifled with.
Addaleigh
Addaleigh couldn't think or breath, not that breathing was really a necessity now, more of a reflex when the act of passion was at hand. The bond they had shared when she was human through the blood was nothing compared to the sharing of emotions had as maker and progeny. There was lust and frustration and anger and remorse all tied into the senses of Eric being upon her, her name on his lips the sweetest sound.
When he broke away from her, part of her wanted to pull him back to sate this burning in her of want. It was highly intense being in this new form, not the muted thing she once thought being a vampire would be, everything stimulated- something she was sure over time would dull into normalcy and even boredom. He was right, she wasn't clear headed, but that wasn't just due to the blood and sensations, she hadn't been clear since the night she left his side. He retreated behind his desk telling her something she had long since figured out and knew had struggled with and debated over the last half a year apart.
She moved from against the wall to behind the chair that rested in front of his desk, bracing her hands on the back. "I'm not a fool Eric, at first I did believe you, that you held me responsible for Godric. However it didn't add up, before the King came you were fine, then suddenly you didn't want me. I battled with myself again and again,
I wanted to come to you, but I was too angry with you and with myself." She said with feeling her fingers digging into and splintering where her grip was on the wooden chair.
"I was hurt because even if you didn't believe what you said, it was true. I was a liability to you, I could be used against you and even as a sheriff that was dangerous, I couldn't bare the idea that I may cause you one day in an effort to save me to meet the true death. I stayed away. Most of all I hate you for the fact that you did not include me in the decision to end what we had. I matter and I am valid, you are far too pompous and high handed for your own good thinking that only You know the best path and answer for everyone. We were a partnership Eric not a dictatorship in which you held all the power." She searched his eyes still feeling that pain and love intermingled
"I hate that you are my maker because then we can never be equals but I love you more than myself so I would have chosen this path regardless." She said cool and steely, less of an endearment and more of an inevitability that she couldn't escape.
Ariadne
Ariadne took a deep breath, finally putting a sleeping Aden back in his carrier. "We'll let the girl choose." Ari said, her alpha status ringing in her voice. She stepped towards the girl, her gaze intimidating, but not threatening. "You have three choices. One, you will return to Mississippi with a message that the packs here are more than prepared to meet Russel head on. Two, you will stay here and join one of the Louisiana packs. You will work your way from the bottom of the pack, and trust will not be easily gained. Or three, you'll leave the east coast all together and never return to either state. The choice is yours."
Behind her, Darren shifted, having placed Aubrey in her carrier beside her brother. "If she chooses to stay, I will take her into my pack. I am rebuilding one and have recently recruited a lone wolf traveling through these parts." He eyed the girl. She wasn't much younger than them, her early twenties if he had to guess. He didn't like the idea of her being forced into something because her family believed it was the right thing. "And before you decide, consider this: Russel knew we would be able to kill you. He knows you're not equipped to handle one, yet alone three alphas... he knew you would die here tonight. He didn't send you to get the twins, he sent you to test our forces. You're nothing but a pawn to him and your pack, and that's not how it should be."
Eric
"I understand." Eric relented, tossing the empty glass bottle into the garbage can. "When you learn what you need to, I'll release you." He frowned. It was rare for a maker to just release their progeny, the bond was always too strong. "You'll be free to make your own choices." He turned to her, cupping her cheek in his hand again. Her skin felt so familiar under his touch, although he did miss the soft thumping of her heart. He would learn to go on without it, especially if it meant Adda could go on. He hated that she had made him so soft, but couldn't hate her for it.
"I never wanted to hurt you Addaleigh, and if you are to leave me at the end of everything, it will be my biggest regret." He said placing his lips against her forehead like he used to. Pulling away from her, he opened his desk drawer, pulling out a familiar ring. "I do request that you keep this though, if only to remember me by. It was always meant to be yours." He handed her the ring before cupping her cheek once more and ghosting his lips over hers. "I don't want you to choose me because of our bond, because you shouldn't love me more than you love yourself. You should always come first, for both of us."