The Merciless Alpha(erotica)

Melissa nodded and started to turn away. Before Sadie could say anything, she turned back. “You . . . you’re not like any vampire I’ve ever met.”

“Does that bother you?” Sadie asked. “Melissa, why’d you really come out here tonight? Don’t take me for a food girl. No one dresses like that to get someone to sign papers.”

Melissa actually cracked a tiny grin. “I guess not. You knew?”

“Sweetheart, I was born in the dark, but it wasn’t last night. Girl, you just met me and you don’t even know me. You can’t be more than twenty five, so it isn’t like you’ve seen it all.”

Melissa turned back to her car. “Well, you’re not interested, so I guess I won’t –” She stopped because Sadie appeared between her an the door. ‘Damn she’s fast,’ the girl thought.

“I don’t want a brood,” Sadie said, leaning leisurely against the driver’s side door. “Never have. Ain’t got time to go wiping their asses for them or any of that. I don’t need a bunch of people lickin’ my boots to feel good about myself. Hell, if I wanna feel good about myself, I just look in the mirror.” She was grinning big time now.

“So you’re saying it isn’t me . . . it’s you? I’ve heard THAT line before. Listen –”

“Go ahead. What’s on your mind?”

“It’s just frustrating. I know what I want,” she said, her voice sounding normal now, like she wasn’t putting up a front. This was one of Sadie’s gifts . . . she let people open up to her. “I’ve been to the vamp clubs and done everything right. I’ve been propositioned.”

“So why didn’t you say yes? If this is the life you want?”

“Because I look up, see the vampire’s face and think . . . what a poser!”

Sadie guffawed, stomping her foot on the ground and gripping the car door for support. “Damn,” she laughed, “that’s about as good as I’ve ever heard it put. The bretheren are a might pompous, aren’t they?”

“And it’s just so frustrating!” Melissa continued, showing real, unchecked personality. “I want someone to serve. Just want to find someone worth serving I guess.” The girl blushed. “You must think I’m a total loser.”

Sadie shook her head, that pretty white smile lighting up the dark. “Nah. Known lots of folks that follow the path you’re walking, and you’ve already learned the most important rule: know what you’re looking for.” She sat on the hood of the car. “As I said, I ain’t looking for a brood. Don’t mean I ain’t looking for a bedmate or . . . twelve. But I’d rather start with a friend than a follower. Get me?”

Melissa cocked her head again, tempting Sadie to lay more than just kisses on it. “You really are different.”

“Don’t you forget it.” Sadie slid forward until her feet were on the ground. “If you’re ever looking for a night of no-commitment fun, then we can talk. In the meantime –” She stopped and offered her hand, Melissa took it and shook it, and the girl looked somewhat relieved. Sadie wondered if she ever talked to someone about how she felt. “You in a hurry?”

“No. I’d actually freed up my otherwise busy social calender just in case –” Melissa blushed again.

“Hell, it ain’t too late,” Sadie replied, brushing her body against Mel’s as she walked by, feeling the girl’s heart beating like a steel drum. “Or, you could grab a couple of lawn chairs from the garage, I’ll grab some Guinness out of the fridge and then you can tell me exactly how much shit I’ve gotten myself into.”

——– ———————–

A few days later . . .

——– ———————–

“Please turn . . . right . . . in twenty yards,” Scarlett crooned. Sadie had gotten a call on her cell when she was in the shower telling her that a liquor store robbery had gone done and they’d cornered the suspects in some low-income housing projects, so she’d be meeting her team for the first time in the field. She had no idea where she was going, so she’d turned on her in-truck navigation system which she affectionately called Scarlett. Whoever had recorded directions had a sexy voice, so Sadie thought she sounded like a Scarlett.

“You got it!” she shouted, happy to have something to do besides work on the house. She’d finally gotten everything unpacked, including her side-arm and extra ammo for her shotgun, also known as Hooters. She’d named it that after realizing that it had a couple mighty barrels that could knock a man on his ass.

“Please . . . stop,” the semi-mechanized voice said.

“If I had a dime for every time I heard that,” she said. “No, that would be if she said ‘don’t stop.’ Okay, I need a date. I’m getting excited by my GPS system.” She saw a blockade of squad cars and she pulled her truck up a safe distance behind them.

“Ma’am,” a young human man said, “I’m afraid you’re going to have to move your –”

“I can’t move it until Scarlett tells me to,” she said. The man looked confused. Sadie had put her badge on a lariat and pulled it out from under her Nike sports jacket. “I’m Arbiter Sadie Hewitt. Who’s running the show?”

The poor kid gulped. Sadie figured he couldn’t be more than a few months out of the academy. He’d pressed his uniform for crying out loud.

“You’re the Arbiter?” He shook off his surprise. “That would be Officer Koloff. He’s the one over by the gate.”

“Thanks hot stuff,” she said, giving him a slap on the behind. ‘Cute too. I’m liking this precinct so far!’ “Officer Koloff!” she said, slinging her shotgun across her back and putting her pistol belt on. She pulled out her Smith and Wesson Model 500 S&W fifty caliber revolver and made sure there was a little piece of hell in every chamber. One of the great things about being an Arbiter was that just about every gun you could imagine was on the “acceptable side arm” list.

“Yeah?” the man said. This was one big dude, standing a full foot taller than Sadie with dark hair, dark goatee and muscles in places where most people didn’t have places.

‘Now that,’ she thought, ‘is a whole lot of man. Yummy!’ Sadie flashed her most winning smile and offered her hand. “Sadie Hewitt, here to help.”

The man looked annoyed and narrowed his eyes to slits. “YOU’RE the Arbiter?”

“Why do people keep saying it like that? YES, I’m the Arbiter!” She took a deep whiff and realized she could have problems besides catching the criminals. This guy was a werewolf, and those furry fuckers were a might unpredictable.

Officer Koloff crushed his coffee cup without even thinking about it. He was not happy about being replaced by anyone, he was not happy about an outsider coming into his beat, and was definitely not happy that is was a woman wearing hip-huggers.

“Listen, we think we know where they are and since you don’t know the area, how about you sit this one out –”

“How about you sit and spin?” Sadie replied, her cheerful disposition still unblemished. “Give us a minute?” she asked sweetly to the two other officers. When they delayed, looking to Koloff for guidance, Sadie continued with, “Now! Are you waiting for him to pin a corsage on you? Get the heck out of here.”

The two officers left.

“Okay, let’s get this over with. I outrank you. We both know that. That being said, I have no desire to take over just for kicks. Like you said, this is your turf and you know the rules. I’m more than willing to take your lead on this for that very reason. But try and keep me from doing the job I was brought here to do, and you and I will have serious problems and I would HATE to embarrass you in front of your men by kicking your ass in front of them. Got it?”

Koloff flushed as red as he could. “Technically,” he gritted through his teeth, “they’re your men. This is your team and I –” Koloff seemed like he was going to choke on his own tongue. “I am your Second.”

‘Great way to start a working relationship,’ Sadie thought. “Who all do we have?”Exclusive content from NôvelDrama.Org.

“You already met Officer Delvin. He’s as green as algae. Officer Fitzpatrick is our spell slinger . . . he’s . . . there he is.” Koloff pointed to a slightly overweight gentlemen who was carrying a heavy oak staff with a crystal orb embedded in one end. “You’ve got a full S. W. A. T. unit at your disposal. Oh, and then there’s Bart.”

“Bart?”

“Short for Bartholomew. He’s the demon standing over by the hydrant.”

Sadie froze. There was, as point of fact, a demon on the street corner. It seemed to be male, covered in yellow scales with glowing green eyes. He was thin, but that didn’t fool Sadie. She knew how dangerous demons were.

“Don’t worry,” Koloff muttered. He’d had the same reaction when he’d learned that he was getting saddled with a spawn of the Nether Realm. Demons were one of the only races on Earth that never actually originated there. Demons sometimes escaped the fifteen levels of their hell dimension and into Earth, where they tended to perform unspeakable acts of evil, as was their nature. Any demon worth its salt would kill you and rape the corpse as soon as look at you.

“Don’t worry,” Koloff continued. “Bart was bound by the whole Northwestern Coven to obey the Midian police department and enforce the law as directed. He’s in year three of a century sentence.”

That made Sadie feel a little better, though she still had no desire to work with the damn thing. Demons could get to you in more ways than just hurting you. They always told the truth, but rarely the whole truth. They could twist the concept of “honesty” around on you and make you so confused you didn’t know which way was up.

“Great . . . great.” Sadie shook her head. She knew her boss at the Federal Arbiters Bureau had something to do with this. He must’ve been real pissed about Austin to “arrange” for her to have this crew. Just because the demon would physically do everything to keep those he or she was bound to safe didn’t mean that he was always safe to be around. There were a lot of ways to hurt someone. She wondered what Bart had been caught doing that got him stuck in a gig that he had to find demeaning. Then she decided that she didn’t want to know.

“Think you can handle it?” Koloff asked, smirking just a bit.

Sadie’s pearly whites made a reappearance. “Darlin’, I’ll always pick a challenge over the same ol’, same ol’!” She patted him on the arm. “Damn, do you work out? Nice!” She felt his bicep for a second. “Hey, what’s your first name?”