TS

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing about this story...the writing is all L.L. Raand's and the Characters are all from various television shows (South of Nowhere, The O.C., Orange is the New Black, Lost Girl, The Fosters, and The L Word) Credit goes completely to all listed above.


Bo stood on the landing of the Vampire's town house and sniffed the air. Nothing unusual—the park was across the street. Dogs, humans, squirrel and other prey. A faint scent of Were, a few days old. Vampires were hard to scent under the best of circumstances, and she was surrounded by them. If a Vampire assassin lay in wait for them, she might miss them. She growled unhappily. A dark-haired Vampire, female, in black fatigues and boots, an automatic strapped to her right thigh, appeared beside her and echoed her visual scan of the street.

"I can't scent any Vampires," Bo said, because pride had no place when duty was at stake. "Can you?"

"No sense of any other than ours," the female murmured.

"You feel each other?"

The Vampire regarded her blankly, and Bo stared back. The female smiled after a second. Her incisors gleamed. "Yes."

"Handy," Bo said thoughtfully.

A black limo pulled to the curb. Foster waited in the foyer with Alex and Lena.

"Clear," Bo and the female Vampire said simultaneously. They flanked the group as everyone moved down the stairs toward the now-open rear door of the idling vehicle. A male Vampire, the driver, stood by, his black suit jacket unbuttoned, a holstered weapon on his hip.

After everyone was in, Bo climbed into the back of the limo, and the female Vampire got into the front along with a male Vampire dressed in combat gear. Alex curled up in the corner a foot from Bo. Foster and Lena settled across from them. The vehicle was luxurious—leather seats, a recessed mini-bar, phone, satellite radio—and it was also armored with reinforced side panels and smoked UV-filtering glass.

"This vehicle will have trouble off-road when we reach the Compound," Bo commented.

Foster smiled. "I believe it will manage, Wolf."

All three Vampires in the front were dark haired and dark eyed like Foster. Bo had difficulty telling the age of the ageless and didn't understand the bloodlines, but one thing she recognized. The carriage of warriors. They weren't just bodyguards, they were soldiers. From the practiced ease with which they had maneuvered the car up to the house, covered the street, and escorted Foster and the others from the house to the vehicle, they were Foster's personal guard. Foster was more than just a detective. Why the Vampire put herself at risk, working with humans, unprotected, unguarded, made no sense. Why anyone would let her made even less sense.

Bo would never allow the Alpha to be so vulnerable. Where was the Clan allegiance to this Vampire, that they allowed her to be so alone? Or were they all so singularly focused, they cared only for the one who held power in that moment? At least the Vampire had guards now, and something else. Something strange. The human—Lena—kept her hand on the Vampire's leg, something Bo had never seen before. She had been in Gray many times with the Alpha, and she'd seen how Vampires acted with their retinue of blood servants. She'd witnessed possession, domination, and primal passion, but she'd never in her memory witnessed tenderness. She'd never seen a human, or a Were for that matter, put claim to a Vampire. Foster slid her hand over the human's, and their fingers intertwined. Bo raised her head and found the Vampire watching her, a speculative look in her eyes. Bo stared back, but felt no challenge. Rather, she read an acknowledgment of what lay between the Vampire and the human and sighed inwardly. She supposed she would have to continue with the Alpha's directive to protect the Vampire and the human as well as Alex. She leaned back and closed her eyes.

Before the Exodus, she'd understood her place in the world, in the Pack. She was born to protect Ashley, the Alpha, the heart of the Pack. She was needed, she had purpose, and she was proud of who she was. Now she was riding in a limousine with a Vampire, a human, and one of her Packmates who had somehow been changed—not taken from them, but made other all the same. The Alpha was mated to a mutia, something not forbidden, but something that would soon become a problem. Suddenly, everything she thought she knew about life, about her duty, about herself and her own value, had changed. But one thing she knew with absolute certainty. Her heart would always belong to Ashley, to the Pack, and to her Packmates. She would die for any one of them. She reached across the space separating her from her Packmate, pulled Alex close, and kissed her.

"We're going home, centuri. We're going home."


"Be careful tonight, darling," Madison said, watching Shane get dressed. "I don't like you going in alone. I don't like Schecter sending a car for you either, but if I insist on having guards accompany you, she'll think we fear her power."

Shane tucked her blood-red shirt into her tight black pants and pulled on knee-high black boots. She looked like a bloodied blade, sharp and dangerous and beautiful. As she slipped a silver cufflink into her sleeve, she crossed the room and kissed Madison on the mouth. "We don't fear her, we will never fear humans."

"Let me do that," Madison said, taking the second cufflink bearing her crest from Shane. "Roll up your sleeve, darling." Shane complied, and Madison strapped a sheathed stiletto to her forearm. "You're right, of course, humans are not our equals, but even a pack of jackals can take down a lion if there are enough of them and the lion is alone. I will not have you harmed." She inserted the cufflink, slid her fingers into Shane's hair, and kissed her deeply. "Eternity would be so very boring without you."

Shane stroked Madison's face and laughed. "Regent, I don't believe your heart or your bed would be empty for very long without me, but I promise you, as long as you call, I will be there."

Madison tapped Shane's mouth with a scarlet-tipped finger. "See that you come back undamaged."

"What do you think the human really wants?"

Madison shrugged. "What everyone wants. Power. Humans mistakenly believe their numbers provide them the strength to control us. They only admit to wanting dominion over the Weres, but I am sure they feel the same way about us. They'll be looking for our weaknesses. Take care not to show them any."

Shane shrugged. "What do you think I would reveal while feeding from a Were?"

"One of the reasons I'm sending you is I know you can think through the bloodlust. For those few seconds when we are lost in the lust, we are vulnerable. Take care that doesn't happen tonight."

Shane's eyes narrowed. "Regent, it's been centuries since I lost myself to bloodlust. Since I hosted for you, before my turning."

"Do you regret it? That you didn't remain blood-bonded?"

"If I'd thought you loved me, I would have remained your bonded host for as long as your power allowed me to survive. But you didn't, so I chose eternity at your side instead."

"Should I say I'm sorry?" Madison said, stroking Shane's breast beneath the scarlet silk.

"No, Regent." Shane caught her hand and kissed her palm. "I am pleased with my existence, and honored to stand as your second." She laughed, but the green of her eyes darkened for a second, and Madison felt the wave of sadness Shane usually kept buried.

"You're a romantic, darling," Madison said, "though you hide it well. You should take a lover—a human, perhaps, who would shower you with devotion."

Shane shook her head. "I have the satisfaction of feeding at your side, of sharing your body when we share hosts. I have the honor of pleasing you. I am well contented."

Madison nodded, believing Shane believed her own words. Believing also that a day would come when Shane would want what she had never been able to give her. When that day came, she would have to decide if she still held Shane's allegiance, because Shane knew far too much were that not the case.

She kissed the only being with the knowledge to destroy her. "Take care, darling, and at sunrise, I promise you we will celebrate."


The three guards came for Alice and Carmen as they always did, laughing, sneering, taunting. Alice had no idea what day it was—without windows, without sunlight, without air, she couldn't judge where she was in the world, and without contact with the Pack, she had no way of finding herself.

The guard, Glen, did not look directly at her as he released the shackles on her wrists and legs, but he kept his body between her and the other two guards. The thin one who smelled like rotting prey, the one who liked to stun her until she twisted on the floor in her own fluids, reached around Glen and gripped her breast. Glen shoved him aside.

"Damn it, Tim, don't rile her up. You heard what the supervisor said. He wants her delivered pumped up and ready to go. You get her pissed off enough, we'll have to stun her, and then we'll pay for her not performing in the lab."

"Oh fuck," Tim sneered. "They're just gonna do the same thing in there to get her juicing. A little poking, a little jolt. We might as well get a head start. Fucking job doesn't have any other perks. We get treated like we're the prisoners. Scans and body searches. Fuck."

"Look," the third guard said, "the money makes my old lady happy. And when she's happy, I get more pussy. So leave this one alone. I need the job."

"Fine," Tim snapped. "I'll go get the other one ready."

Alice didn't want Tim molesting Carmen. She snarled and thrashed and snapped when they tried to collar her.

"Damn it—Jake, get that collar on her," Glen said. "Tim, hit her with a low dose. I mean it—low."

Alice roared when the current arced over her skin, but she stayed standing. The jolt left her teetering on the edge of release, but she held herself together. Jake clamped the electric shock collar on her neck.

Glen snapped, "I'll get the other one."

A minute later, the guards dragged her and Carmen down the hall through murky air that stung her chest and shoved them through the metal doors into the harsh glare of the laboratory. She blinked and tried to clear the fog from her eyes, but her vision was worse than it had been earlier that morning, and much worse than the day before. The glaring overhead lights were ringed with smoke, and the faces of the men and women who tugged her to the cold steel table and tied down her arms and legs with metal restraints that burned her skin swam in and out of focus. She strained to see where they had taken Carmen and saw her only a few feet away. A loop of thick black cord wrapped around her wrists and suspended her from the ceiling. Her body was stretched upward in a tight arch. Their eyes met for a second, and Carmen's amber eyes flashed bright with wolf. Alice's wolf started to prowl.

Somewhere a door whooshed open, and the low murmur of approaching voices penetrated Alice's dazed mind. She recognized the scent and the low sultry voice of the human female who had stood outside her cage and taunted her with her body and her words just… When? The day before, the week before, an hour ago? Alice wasn't certain how many times the human had come, how many times she had been baited into losing control, and the rage swelled again. She snarled, her vision flattening, sharpening, as her wolf clawed to the surface. And this time, Alice let her come.


"This one," Jenny Schecter said, pointing to the brunette suspended from an overhead pulley, "is dominant, but less aggressive. The other one would not be as much to your liking."

Shane surveyed the two Were females. Both were underweight, both appeared dazed and disoriented. The one in four-point restraints on the table already showed signs of shifting. She wondered if the humans recognized how close to going feral that one was. A thin line of dark pelt bisected her tight, hollow abdomen, and her canines protruded. Her lips were drawn back in a snarl, and blood tinged the tips of her fingers where her claws extended. That one would shift before long, and when she did, those restraints were not going to hold her. The one they had prepared for her, the one the human called Carmen, was full-breasted and well-muscled even though thin, and young. Just barely beyond adolescence. Not virginal, none of the Weres were inexperienced once past early adolescence, but Shane doubted this one had ever experienced thrall. Even physically depleted, her Were blood would be invigorating.

"You're right," she said to the scientist, smoothing her hand over the Were's face, down her neck, over her chest. "She's quite appealing."

The Were snarled and tried to pull away, but with her arms extended over her head and her feet barely touching the floor, she had no purchase, no way to escape. Shane ensnared her mind, projected the scent of forest and mountain breezes to soothe her. If the Were fought her, she might hurt her when she fed, and that was of no benefit to her task. The Regent requested she study the facility, and thus far she'd learned some valuable new information. The extensive underground facility was accessible by a single elevator, keyed to the scientist's retinal scan. She couldn't tell how many subjects might be held underground, but she'd seen half a dozen windowless, computer-locked doors that could easily lead to holding pens. Holding areas that might have been built with Weres in mind, but which could just as easily be adapted for Vampires. If there was an enemy in this room, it was not these Weres.

"How can I help you, Dr. Schecter?"

Jenny studied the Vampire who always seemed to be by Madison's side. Shane was beautiful in her androgyny, exciting in her aloofness, dangerous by nature. Jenny found nothing more arousing than danger, and danger combined with beauty was even more appealing. The combination stirred her mind and excited her body. She was wet, and that fact alone was a challenge, considering Vampires enthralled their prey with sexual allure. How very exhilarating. She imagined the Vampire could scent her arousal, and she didn't mind. She wasn't a victim of her desire, not when she could control it and use it to control others.

"I want you to feed from her and ensure that she orgasms. We'll collect specimens throughout. You, of course, are free to enjoy yourself in any way you desire."

"And if she's not enough for me?" Shane slowly smiled at Jenny Schecter and loosed her thrall. The Regent had not expressly forbidden her from engaging the human, and what better way to determine a human's secrets than in the throes of passion?

The Vampire's scarlet gaze cascaded over Jenny's body, heating her skin and tightening her sex. She shivered. So, that was a little taste of Vampire thrall. Definitely powerful. No wonder the species was so resilient despite their small numbers. Jenny had never been with a Vampire, but she would certainly find the opportunity to do so now. "Perhaps when we have completed the experiments, you and I can retire somewhere a little more private and discuss the outcome."

Shane slipped her hand around Jenny's arm. "Let's finish this part, then, so I can spend my time with someone more worthy of my attention."

Jenny smiled and let her fingers graze the Vampire's chest. "Indeed, I couldn't agree more."