The Bronze was, as always, full of boys. What it wasn't, was full of potential mates. Cordelia watched the crowd around her with sharp eyes. No one dared to meet her gaze. Weak fools, always cowering away. None of them were worthy of licking the bottom of her shoes.
They were far too fabulous for this wimpy throng of dweebs. She had great taste in shoes.
Cordelia glanced back at her pack. They were mostly curled around each other, having given in to their animal instincts. Personal space was a thing of the past for her court. They were gazing at the dance floor too. Scenting the prey.
"They smell good." Tor murmured. He wasn't happy with his place in the pack. It made him blood thirsty. Cruel, ambitious, and power-hungry. Cordelia kind of liked it. But it was too bad. He couldn't be allowed to get any ideas above his station. He would be punished the second he stepped out of line.
Cordelia smiled viciously, she couldn't wait. Tor wasn't the only one who was blood thirsty.
Cordelia snapped her head towards the door.
A scent caught her attention. Death, she could smell it, the faint decay of a fresh corpse, maybe a day rotted, but it smelled so old. There was blood too, that was fresh, and she was pretty sure it was from a pig. And underneath it all the sharp tang of a predator.
It was disturbing.
It was familiar. This was what she had sensed before. What she had to protect her pack from.
She continued scanning the crowd, trying to tie a face to the scent. It was so confusing. An anomaly. Cordelia didn't like those. It might mean danger, danger to her pack. That was unacceptable.
She was alpha. Only she was allowed to hurt those who belonged to her.
Cordelia stood. The crowd wasn't about to disperse, it was up to her to follow her nose. It just figured the Bronze would be packed tonight.
"Kyle, with me. Be discreet." She whispered. No one else could have heard over the sound of the music. She may have been approaching an unknown danger. But she wasn't stupid.
Kyle disengaged himself from the others. Disappearing into the crowd. Having a beta was good for something it seemed.
Cordelia followed the scent up some stairs. Her nose led her into a corner. There was a man tucked into the shadows. Handsome, but not human. He smelled strong, even through the smell of death. This was a strong predator.
But Cordelia didn't have to worry.
He wasn't as strong as her.
"Hi!" She said sitting herself before him."What's your name?"
She met his eyes imperiously. He stared back, what ever animal instinct drove him recognizing the predator inside of her. He was the first to look away.
"Hello." He replied softly, weary."I'm Angel, who are you?"
Cordelia smiled, a baring of fangs. This might just be easy after all.
"My name is Cordelia Chase. And your going to tell me what you are, and what the best way is to go about killing things like you. If you save me the trouble, you might just make it out alive."
Angel's head snapped up and he tensed. That was never a good sign. It meant he was either preparing to fight or to run. If he fought, Cordelia would have to beat him to death all over again. If he ran, she would have to chase him a bit before she killed him.
Either way, she probably wouldn't get the information she wanted.
So she told him his choices. If he wanted to live, he had to talk, simple. If he was going to be stupid, well, Cordelia hoped he ran. She always liked a good hunt.
Angel met her eyes again, a challenge this time. "I'm three hundred years old, do you really want to do this."
Cordelia let her beast flow into her eyes. The swell of power almost leaving her drunk. "Do you really think I care? I'll be the one to walk away if you do this."
Cordelia was being completely honest, completely alpha. He could smell the truth on her skin, see it in her eyes. He was animal enough to want to survive. So he began to talk.
Apparently, she would be needing some stakes some time soon. She wondered how much they cost. Where would she get them anyway? Did the Mall stock them?
xXx
They were standing just outside of the Bronze.
"Vampires? For real?" Heidi asked.
Cordelia slapped her, she'd been meaning to do that all day. Heidi was just aggravating. What was with the constant need to state the obvious? Did she think she was clever?"Would an amazing alpha like me bother to lie?"
"Never." Kyle answered loyally. He was such a brown noser. But it could be nice sometimes. Like now. He'd never even entertain the idea of doubting her out loud.
"So how do we kill them?" Rhonda asked, eyes darkening at the promise of the hunt. That strength, that hunger, was what could have made her a beta, or perhaps even an alpha if Cordelia hadn't been stronger. But she was, and Rhonda simply wasn't assertive.
Still, maybe Tor wasn't the only one she should be looking forward to punishing. One could never be too careful with a new pack.
"Stakes. A lot of the stuffs pretty well-known actually. Fire works. Sunlight, too. Stakes through the heart. Crosses repel and bun them. Garlic is a no go, but decapitation works." She informed her pack.
"Um, Alpha, just asking, why didn't you decapitate the vampire you interviewed?" That was Tor, stupid little Delta.
Cordelia back-handed him too. It was the principle of the thing. As if a Gamma could question her on anything. "Psht, please," She answered all the same, the rest of the pack looked curious, even if Cordelia felt it was fairly obvious. She was alpha for a reason, and part of that job was to enlighten them."Information's pretty important, duh! He's one of them so he'll know where they go. Right now most of the new ones hang out by the cemeteries, but when we kill all of those, we'll need a new place to hunt. All prey will wise up eventually. Angel will have us new places to go. At least, he will if he want's to live."
She observed her pack. Kyle and Rhonda looked happy, eager to go throw down. Tor was shooting her wounded looks, but he couldn't stop lapping at the blood on his split lip, that was definitely excitement. Only Heidi seemed nervous.
Cordelia grabbed her by the hair and pulled her up to her face. Up close and personal."Are you doubting my ability to protect you?"
"Never Alpha." Heidi gasped in pain. Smart girl. But so very weak. Cordelia would have to be very tough on her if she ever wanted to toughen her up. The weak didn't live long after all.
She couldn't help but wonder how Heidi had beat both Rhonda and Tor. There had to be something she was missing. Cordelia hated that. Especially when it came to her pack. It belonged to her, she should know everything about it.
That was when an interesting scent caught her attention for the second time that night.
xXx
It wasn't even hard to get him away from his little friends. Stupid losers didn't know what they had. And if Cordelia had her way, they never would.
And Cordy always got her way. Always.
Even before her new senses had opened up the world to her, Cordelia had known Xander was different. Loser actually tried to give back as good as he got. Hell, sometimes he even gotten close.
But that wasn't why she'd ordered Kyle and Tor to 'fetch' him.
No, when they brought him, ranting, nervous, and dragging his feet, it wasn't because he could be clever. It was because Xander Harris was one in a million. He was Omega.
And that, that was beyond different. Better than special. It was extraordinary.
Outside of the pack and yet at the very heart of it. Strong enough to stop the usual pack instincts from kicking in, yet knowing better than to try and lead. Oh an Omega would, if the alpha was weak. An Omega would do anything to keep the pack safe. To make it strong. Even go against it's very nature. An Omega would lead when it couldn't follow. And not one the pack would argue it. But Cordelia was a strong alpha.
A weak one would have never recognized him for what he was. A weak alpha didn't deserve an Omega. But Cordelia did. And Xander would be happy to follow her lead. More than that, Xander would make the the others just as happy to follow.
Cordelia slammed him against the ally wall. Pinned every inch of his body against every inch of her own. An Omega. How fortunate. And to think, dweeb boy was actually worth something after all.
He was perfectly human, but Cordelia could smell it. The ruthlessness, the loyalty, the strength. Xander wasn't strong like her. It wasn't the same kind of strength. Of course not. She had no interest in another alpha. Xander was omega. He wasn't meant to rule, he was meant to care.
But in his own way, Xander was just as strong as her. Just as perfect for the Pack. Xander Harris would be her mate. All that was left was for Cordelia to figure out a way to make him like them. And she knew just where to start looking.
But first...
Cordelia kissed him. He'd ceased struggling the second she'd pinned him. But when she kissed him, Xander went completely slack. True surrender. It tasted sweet.
Absolutely perfect.
xXx
Xander leaned against the alley wall, completely dazed. He didn't know diddly squat about what just happened. He knew some parts were weird, some wiggy, very much so actually. But some parts of it. Well one part of it, at least, had been nice.
He blinked.
Yeah, that was totally hellmouthy. In no sane world did Cordelia Chase get her two new goons to fetch him for kissage. Hell, in no insane world did this happen.
Whatever had gone down had to come straight out of the mouth of Hell.
Nothing else would make anything resembling sense. Because Cordelia Chase had kissed him. She'd brushes those full warm lips against his own before claiming him with a passion that had made him weak in the knees.
Not that he would ever admit it. Because it had never happened. Definitely not, he'd simply had a psychotic break with reality. It was all very tragic. He completely blamed the hell mouth. Except, you know, it hadn't actually happened.
Maybe he was on drugs. Someone could have totally roofied him. It wasn't like he was smart enough to notice. But no, it couldn't be. Because absolutely nothing had happened.
Nope. Nothing at all.
Why hello there, denial sir, so nice to see you're not just a river in Egypt.
Xander touched his lips.
They were warm.