For Love of a Wolf: Alric's Story

by SpikesKat

Chapter 12

Alric carefully extracted himself from the girl’s embrace and slipped silently from the bed, pausing only long enough to grab a pair of jeans and pull them on before escaping the bedroom. The source of his… humiliation.

Hope you’re bloody satisfied, he berated himself. Because she apparently hadn’t been. 

Not that she would ever voice that particular complaint, perfect little slave that she was.

Should have waited.

Alric could practically hear his demon snort in contempt. 

She’s your Consort, not your fucking pet, you idiot. 

Master. She’d called him Master and he’d come like a newborn fledge with his sire. Alric snarled and went to kick something out of his way as he paced between the living room and dining room. He stopped, barely in the nick of time; the girl needed to sleep. He’d be damned if he’d wake her because he was too busy arguing with himself to keep the noise down.

Where was his infamous control when he needed it? Because from the moment he’d laid his eyes on Tala, he’d been rash and impulsive.

With nothing but time on his hands, time he should have spent sleeping, Alric settled onto the couch and stared mindlessly at the television. Bob was ensconced in a suite two floors down by his order, and Alric almost wished he’d not sent the human off on his own – he could have used the distraction.

The hours ticked by slowly. He watched the room steadily lighten behind the drawn curtains and guessed it to be close to midday. The girl would be waking up soon; she'd adopted his sleeping habits quickly enough.

He must have succumbed to his exhaustion and fallen asleep at some point because he woke with a start at Tala’s softly whispered, “master?” He sat up abruptly, instantly awake, and glanced towards the open bedroom door.

She stood there, hair disheveled but looking no less beautiful, garbed in absolutely nothing. Looking anxious at having woken him. 

“What is it?” he asked, his voice gruff.

“I… that is… can, uh... should I take a shower?” 

Alric sighed at her timid tone and motioned her towards the bathroom. Before she disappeared from sight, he called out, “Are you hungry? I can call room service, have something brought up.” 

The girl turned and nodded but didn’t speak, and he waved her off with instructions to take her time. Listened to the sound of her footsteps as she padded barefoot to the bathroom.

The water was cut on, and it took every ounce of willpower he possessed not to get up and follow her.

~*~*~*~*~ 

Tala let out a heartfelt sigh as the heated water rained down on stiff, sore muscles. The walk to the doorway and then to the bathroom had been slow going, but in the grand scheme of things, she didn’t hurt any worse than anything else that she’d been forced to endure.

She gave a passing thought to her lost virginity, but figured if she had to lose it to someone, something, the vampire was hardly the worst demon of those that had been circulating the open arena. Truthfully, there’d been a time that she’d actually enjoyed it. The things he’d done with his hands, his mouth. And he’d been kind, almost reluctant at first – definitely not the behavior she’d been led to expect from her new owner. Until he’d stopped suddenly and ask her name. Then it had been hard kisses and possessive hands. Even that she’d not minded so much.

It had been his abrupt penetration that had made her stiffen. After that she couldn’t relax and enjoy herself. She’d had to block the pain from her mind, eagerly drifting off to her place, the one that kept her sane in the face of the reality that was her life, sputtering out grunts and encouragements that had, thankfully, not appeared too contrived. It was the sting of his fangs in her throat that ripped her back to the present, driving home the pain between her legs. Made her whimper for mercy.

She’d felt a cool splash of something against her insides and heard him growl around the mouthful of flesh in his mouth. A moment later it had been over and she'd sunk gratefully into the unfeeling realm of unconsciousness. 

Her master had said to take her time, and Tala did just that, standing beneath the spray for several minutes before finally rousing herself enough to shampoo her hair and get cleaned up. And even then she lingered once she finished. Until the water began to cool and it, and her rumbling stomach, forced her from her sanctuary. 

There was a robe hanging next to the towel on the rack; it hadn’t been there when she’d stepped inside the shower.

He’d watched her. Watched her while she showered.

And he’d not joined her. 

How did I not sense his presence? 

Tala put it from her mind and quickly dried off, then slipped into the robe that had been provided. It felt weird being clothed, at least beyond her customary thong, and the cloak she wore while in public.   

Her eyes lit briefly on her master’s manservant as he wheeled the food tray towards the dining room table. He must have returned while she’d been in the shower, since she’d not noticed his presence beforehand. Not that she was overly concerned about her safety; Bob had been nothing but courteous to her, though she was unable to convey her appreciation for his kindly demeanor. It had been a habit she’d gotten into, being hyper aware of those around her, all while not appearing to do so.

Tala had no sooner dropped to her knees by her master’s side than a piece of fruit was dangled in front of her lips.

She sucked the sweet treat into her mouth and so began the slow, tedious process of eating. A morsel of food. A thorough licking of her master’s fingers. Over and over until she couldn’t take another bite. The glass of water threw her for a loop, however. She stared at it for the longest time as it was held suspended between her master's thumb and forefinger in front of her face, until the growled, “take it,” had her reaching for it. And even then she hesitated, until the end was tipped up and she was forced to either bring it to her lips or have it splash all over her.

She drank. 

Awkwardly. 

Afraid that at any moment the glass would be knocked from her hands and she’d be beaten for daring to do something so normal. Tala made up for it by guzzling the water down; it nearly spilled out either side of her mouth in her haste to empty the glass and have it taken away. Her hands shook as she finished and made to give it back, vigorously denying her need for more, exhaling quietly when it was taken from her hands without incident. 

It was a long while before her heart rate returned to normal and she relaxed against her master's leg.

~*~*~*~*~ 

The scene inside the arena was one of organized chaos. Demons were running every which way, trying to escape the murderous rage of the Slayer.

Alric’s job had been to do a reconnaissance of the place before the clan descended en masse so that he could direct their efforts. What he – or any of the others – hadn’t figured on was that many of the more prominent breeders had already sold off their stock and departed the show. Which left them nothing to target. At least not enough to effect a return to the status quo.

Though to give themselves credit, this was the first time the clan had been thrown into this particular type of situation. Usually, they battled evil bent on taking over the world.

It had only been recently that they’d seen such a dramatic rise in human slavery by the demon population.

Spike wasn’t going to be too happy once he found out about the downward turn this little venture had taken. He’d gone with Angelina and Esme to dispense with the organizers of the trade show and had no idea what a bust their interceding had been. 

Buffy, on the other hand, was in her element… a grin on her face as she took on any demon that stepped into her path. She was decidedly brutal, especially after getting a good look at all the humans present, many of them young children – bound, naked, and lifeless. And god help the demon that was actually dragging one about on a leash.

Alric hadn’t had the heart to tell her that the younger ones were usually the last to go – as had been explained to him – and that more often than naught, they had years of a life like this before being sold off. The young ones that were bought usually became playmates for young demon spawn if they were lucky. Food, a delicatessen for some species, if they weren’t. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Alric could see that Tala was still standing where he’d left her, confident in his ability to see to her safety. Either that, or she placed no value on her life whatsoever. A sobering thought, that. One that didn’t sit well with him at all. If she was surprised by what was going on, she gave no indication, instead staring at the scene before her with a trained pet’s detachment.

She’d been like that since the glass incident earlier, and no amount of gentle prodding on his part would get her to behave differently. Finally, he’d given up and had her readied for their last day at the trade show. He’d said not a word on the drive over, and the girl’s continued docility had grated on his nerves. 

Alric swung his katana in a wide arc and brought up short the Polgara demon that thought its bone skewers were enough of a weapon to hurt him. It screamed as first one arm and then the second was severed at the elbow, its bellow of pain and rage continuing until its head was lopped abruptly from its neck. Alric didn’t take the time to clean his sword as another foolhardy demon and then another tried to take the Polgara’s place; they, too, met the same fate.

The crowd slowly began to thin. Enough that he could make out Adam, Marcus, and Derrick dealing with a few of the more aggressive demons trying to incite some sort of retaliation.

For the most part, the demons were harmless enough, and if they managed to make it through the Slayer, were allowed to leave unscathed. The clan’s fight wasn’t with them, but with the slavers themselves.  

Alric eyes lit briefly on Tala again and noticed several demons sneaking out an unmanned door. His eyes narrowed as he recognized one of them.

Glarshnic. The demon that had made a slave of his Consort.

He put his fingers to his lips and let loose an ear-piercing whistle. Clayton, the closest to him, looked up from where he was busily fighting off a trio of Fyarl demons. Alric jerked his head in the direction of the unmanned door, indicated that he was going to take care of the problem. He got a nod from the other vamp and began pushing his way through human and demon alike, pausing only long enough to get Tala to follow after him.

It took Alric awhile to make his way over to the exit and by then Glarshnic, or so he assumed was the demon, was making good his escape in a relatively large, unmarked packaging truck, its tires spinning out on the asphalt before finally catching. The truck shot forward, the rear end fishtailing erratically as it sped towards the open gate and freedom.  

Left with no choice, Alric drew the handgun he’d hidden away inside his long coat and fired a barrage of shots at the truck’s tires. His aim was true and both the front and rear tire of the left side of the vehicle gave a loud pop that echoed throughout the parking garage as they were punctured. The truck lurched to the left and toppled over as the driver ended up overcompensating in trying to keep it upright, exposing the underbelly for the kill shot... the gas tank.

A single shot and the truck exploded into flames. 

The demons frantically racing behind the truck let out a collective cry and retreated back the way they’d come, directly into Alric’s path.

Tala’s sudden anguish tore through his body, causing him to falter momentarily beneath the onslaught of emotion. His demon, having been suppressed the entire time he’d been fighting, couldn’t be denied in the face of his Consort’s pain. He turned, growling, ready to tear off the head of whatever had harmed her.

Only there was nothing there. No blood on her – or anywhere around her. No demon. Nothing. Nothing to give him some sort of clue as to what had just happened. 

The girl was just kneeling on the ground as if her legs had suddenly given out, staring with something akin to horror at the slaver’s truck going up in flames.

She uttered a name – at least, Alric thought it was a name – before she shut down completely, her face devoid of any emotion.

Alric rushed to her side and tried to get her off the ground and towards safety, coaxing at first, then downright yelling in anger. It was like she hadn’t heard him. Not even flinching when he was reduced to picking her up off the ground and practically dragging her out of harm’s way.

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