Beta Bait Ch. 03

Yellena had always hated mornings for as long as she could remember. She was always sluggish but never late, thanks to Donovan. She hated the smell and taste of coffee, the sun peaking through the windows hurt her eyes and overall Yellena just seemed to get more done after lunch. Normally, she would go to bed just before dawn, just like most of the other wolves and creatures of the night, but this time she couldn't sleep. Not after what happened with Samuel. Even now, Yellena wasn't quite sure if Samuel had been joking about knowing she gave him a blow job or if he was serious.

Hours after her encounter with Samuel, Yellena sat in the bay window of the house looking down at the town street. The sky was clear and there was a nice breeze sweeping off the Atlantic into town. It was an hour before dawn, and although the street was still, there were the few early birds hurrying to their destinations. In the shadows of the ally across from her building, there stood a figure in the shadows. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the individual was looking at her. In fact, Yellena was almost certain that the person wanted their presence known but not their identity. Why would anyone want to play tail early as hell in the morning? This is when people were more than likely to pour piping hot coffee over your head for invasion of privacy.

Rubbing her eyes, Yellena yawned then stretched. She straightened her legs, bent at her waist and touched her sock-clad toes. She remained like that for several seconds. A chance at a real menu, huh? Maybe he'd said it out of the spur of the moment. No matter how much her mind tried to put a damper on the thought, her little measure of happiness never faded. Yellena opened her legs into a split then stretched her body to the left, arms out. She wasn't sure when her childhood crush on Samuel turned into love. Though she was pretty sure of her feelings by the time she was 19, when he would only allow her to enter his room, dress his wounds and soothe his mind. However, Yellena didn't want to make a damn fool out of herself. What if everything she perceived from his end was only out of respect for her father?

Yellena saw the figure in the reflection of the window before she heard anyone. As she sat upright again, Yellena stuck out her hand, palm upturned.

"What did you find out, Gus?" Yellena asked nonchalantly. Gustav squatted behind Yellena's outstretched left leg. Taking her hand, Gustav bared his four sets of fangs, top and bottom, and was fully prepared to sink them into Yellena's palm when she snatched it back. "Info first."

Gus sighed like a petulant child. "Totally unfair. Can I at least get a, 'hello, Gus? How was your night?'"

"Hello, Gus, how was your night of gorging yourself like a pig on a sorry unsuspecting female's blood?" Yellena retorted as she rearranged her body to sit Indian style. She wasn't really in the mood to play these games. There was only today and two more days before Donovan's death. Yellena glared at Gustav waiting patiently.

He was what most would consider cute. Gustav Moreau had unique boyish features -- a nose that was a little too long and light brown eyes that seemed to be shadowed by the strong features of his eyebrows. He had curly dark brown hair, creamy skin and dressed like a hipster. Though that was always his thing even before the hipster craze began. Now that the hipster craze was in full swing, Yellena could only imagine the damage he must be causing to young girls everywhere considering he was turned in his 17th year of life.

Gustav was Yellena's closest friend other than Juniper. Coincidentally he was also her ex-boyfriend and June's current boyfriend. June thought he was the best boyfriend in the world; however, Gustav's nature made him quite the playboy. He required more than one food source and had his favorites carefully highlighted in his fancy iPhone. Yellena thought at one point she would have been fine with his nature, but drawing blood was also a very sexual ritual that didn't always end in just a drink. June didn't have to know all that though. Yellena felt like it wasn't her place to say anything considering it was a very complicated matter to explain to your good friend that her boyfriend was a two-timing son-of-a-bitch who used his blood sucking parasitic nature as an excuse to pick up chicks every other night. June still thought vampires sparkled and were all going to sweep you off your feet in their angst, self-hating mood. Come to think about it, Yellena wasn't sure Gustav ever drank from Juniper.

Realizing that Yellena wasn't going to get much more patient than that, Gus twisted his face into a mock expression of hurt. "I'll have you know I was out the entire night working tirelessly on your fruitless mission, Lena. That woman is dead. Been dead for seven years, take some months away. That blood bag didn't last very long on vampire tables, let me tell you."

Yellena's hand shot out and slapped Gustav across the cheek. His cheek was warm and turning red, which was an indication that he really had fed recently. "I'll have you know that that 'blood bag' had a mate who loved her deeply, a name and a child she cared for like her own since she couldn't have any!" She snapped glaring daggers at Gustav.

"Sorry," he mumbled, looking sincerely apologetic as he resisted the urge to rub his cheek. He knew perfectly well how much this meant to her. "You know my kind ... We kind of have to be insensitive to stomach what we do."

"I know," Yellena sighed rubbing her temple. Taking out her frustrations on Gus wasn't going to help her any. Tomorrow was to be Donnie's execution, or so she heard through the grapevine. But if she knew her father the way she did, today would be Donovan's last day on this earth, giving the pack tomorrow to mourn and then the Super Moon Ball to release the tension.

It was planned out perfectly really. Her father wasn't expecting her back until the day of the ball. Samuel was the only one she visited. She didn't even go back to her rooms, but she was pretty certain her father would trace her scent across the grounds. That didn't matter because she had run out of time and felt like such a letdown.

"But I did find something else, though." Gustav reached out and toyed with one of her locks.

"Yeah? What's that?" Yellena asked half-heartedly. Gustav took her hand and placed a small glass vial on her palm and then closed her fingers around it. His hand was warm and soft.

"We vampires have a saying, 'Responsum est in sanguinem.'" He looked at her seriously. "We don't like to make it common knowledge that we can siphon out memories from blood. Take care with the knowledge that you know."

"Yeah, okay." She stood up and grabbed her bag off the floor. "You were a real big help today." There was a hint of sarcasm in her voice. Yellena turned and began to walk away when Gustav grasped her hand again.

"I want to be able to take Juniper seriously. Do you think you can help?" Gus asked looking almost shy. Something twisted in Yellena's chest and she ripped her hand out from his.

"Like you took me seriously?" It was an old question and a new one. Trying to stay on focus, Yellena continued. "You didn't have to look that hard for that information because you already knew it. And someone somewhere higher in the fucking food chain that you told you that you could relay it along with this!" she shook the vial.

"Look, before you get too crazy, let me stop you." Gus's eyes blazed. "I really like you Yellena. Always did from the first day we met when you were 14. So as a friend let me say that the questions you are asking can be your death. And if I have to keep a secret or two or a thousand from you so that your heart can keep pumping, I damn well will! I also want Juniper's heart to keep pumping, in a manner of speaking, and I would like to continue walking this earth in my half dead state for a while longer, thank you very much! So show a little god damn gratitude because I went the extra mile in trying to find that for you!"

Yellena snorted. "Well, thank you for giving me a useless vial of blood and a Latin quote. But I'm not a witch, this doesn't help."

"She said you would know exactly what to do." Gus was suddenly by the door. "And if you're smart you will stop with just Donnie and forget everything else you picked up along the way. Be careful getting back. There are people watching you. I can only shadow you but so far because the sun's coming up." Then he was gone.

"Who the fuck is 'she'?" Yellena grumbled as she left the studio.

By the time Yellena returned to the estate the sun was up and casting an eerie glow through the mist. It was peaceful, as it should have been since most would still be sleeping, but also unsettling. Today would be Donovan's last daym and with each step taken Yellena felt heavier and heavier. She'd failed miserably to bring Donovan around. The truth was she had already known Donovan's mate was dead. She'd tried in vain so many times to pick up that string, but it was never there. In vain she thought something had been blocking it, but nothing could do that except death.

Yellena pushed through the double doors and entered the foyer. The house was silent. Too damn silent. She stood in the foyer and listened. Children born from werewolves and humans always had some kind of strength. Whether it was better hearing, being stronger than the average, keen sense of sight or smell. Sometimes a combination of a few, but they were still very much human. Yellena didn't have their sense of smell or strength but she could see better than the average person at night, and her hearing was superb.

There was very little moving about around the house. The omegas were not craftily moving about fetching clean linens or preparing breakfast. Matter of fact there was no scent of breakfast being prepared. That's right, the morning deliveries were still at the side gate and it was a little after 7. Yellena surmised that they'd been out there for at least an hour if her timing was correct.

A sick feeling bubbled in the pit of her stomach. Since she was a kid Yellena would always get the worse stomachaches if she was nervous, scared or something just wasn't right. A pair of omegas came through the foyer, footsteps heavy and eyes filled with dread. Once they noticed Yellena, they glanced away and hurried down the nearest path.

This put Yellena on edge. Where was Donovan? Was he still in lockdown? Could it possibly be the two maids acted the way they did because they thought she didn't know? Or was it that her father had already taken Donovan? Everyone was acting like they were in mourning already. She marched her way down the left corridor and then hung another left down the stairwell that led to the kitchens. Instead of going left to the kitchens, Yellena hung a right toward the cellar but kept walking down the dim lit hallway.

At the end of the hall were two men sitting at the entrance to where all the cells were. One stood right in the entrance all twitchy and nervous while the other was in a squatting position, mulling over a set of dice and a list of points scored written in chalk on the stone tile. The one squatting was Sully. He was a black Irish-American male built wide, but not so much tall. He and Yellena were about the same height, 5'7, but Sully had what she lacked -- muscle. Sully had a buzz cut and a scar running across his right eye which had a blank milky grey appearance to the iris. Everyone knew he had lost use of that eye in the military. No one wanted to really ask how.

Sully was not known for his patience or his kindness. He was deadly, and he knew it. This he used to his advantage when he took his time in getting payback for any transgression made against him. Even on a good day, Sully scared Yellena. He made her very uneasy the way his one good eye followed her movements sometimes. Other times, he simply ignored her, or at least he pretended too like he was doing now. Taking a deep breath, Yellena attempted to skirt around the imposing Sully without actually having to touch him.

The other guy, Rat, stood his ground in the middle of the entranceway. His beady black eyes glistened, watching her silently. His nose twitched as he leaned in as if to get a whiff of Yellena. She leaned away as she tried to skirt around him too. Suddenly there was a tight grip on Yellena's calf and she looked down to see a very grim Sullivan looking up at her.

"And where do you think you're going?" Sully's gaze pierced into her. Yellena did her best not to shrink.

"To see Donovan." Yellena stated simply, as if it wasn't obvious.

"To see who?" Sully pretended to think for a minute as he threw the dice with his free hand. "I don't believe he's taking any visitors."

Yellena blew out air in relief and annoyance. When she tried to jerk her leg away from Sullivan's grip, he only tightened it.

"Well that's too damn bad! I'm going in!" She snapped at him, jerking her leg again, but this time Sullivan's grip was tight enough that it hurt. Yellena knew that there was going to be a bruise there pretty soon. "Let go of me before I get angry."

Rat snickered as he stepped to Yellena to flank her on one side. Sully finally stood and was eye level with Yellena, flanking her opposite, skinny, jittery, Rat. He was like a large shadow in the dim hallway. His face was hard, grimmer than usual, and his eyes gleamed as he leaned in.

"And then what?" Sullivan challenged. "Nothing. Then nothing. So hear what I'll tell you. You came in this morning so tired, you took a wrong turn while half asleep and ended up down here. Now run upstairs to your room, little girl, because there is nothing for you down here."

One of Yellena's biggest peeves was condescending pet names. Before she could think about it, her hands balled into fists, and her right one struck home on Sullivan's jaw.

"Fuck what you think, asshole. I tell your sorry ass what to do!" She snapped. No sooner had she finished the sentence when Sullivan's large dark hand closed around her neck, constricting her air flow. He had her against the wall now.

"You are lucky you are who you are, bitch, or I would snap your neck now and fuck your corpse." He growled leaning in. They were gaining an audience but Sullivan didn't care. "I don't take orders from you."

After a few seconds of contemplation he pushed the gasping Yellena into Rat's deceptively strong arms. Rat then proceeded to push Yellena back the way she came. She fought him, but growing weary of the fight, the two wolves grabbed Yellena by each arm and proceeded to drag her back up to the main level. Her legs dangled as she furiously struggled and kicked.

Anya descended the stairwell, smiling. It was a smug expression that remained plastered to her face even as Yellena glared at her.

"Twenty-four and throwing a tantrum? How unbecoming." Anya stopped in front of the trio. "What's it this time? Oh, I know, your little pet is going to be slaughtered today."

Yellena bit her lip as she continued to glare at her stepmother. It wasn't worth an answer. For reasons unknown to her, this woman always took pleasure in trying to make Yellena suffer. Maybe it was like Cinderella or some other movie with an evil stepmother. That would be far too cliché for her liking.

"Whatever. Tell these mongrels to let me go!"

"See now, this is what I mean. If you were a wolf you would have been able to do that yourself." Anya taunted. "I guess your social status really isn't as secure as you thought."

Yellena didn't answer. To her, that didn't merit an answer. Anya had been giving her grief and smiling in her face all her life. The older woman leaned in and whispered in Yellena's ear.

"Be prepared, Yellena. Your last line of defense is going to be destroyed today. And I am going to yank you out like the weed you are. Then your father will be all alone." Anya leaned back, "Take her back to her quarters and see that she doesn't escape!"

Dutifully, Rat and Sully made sure to toss Yellena on her face once they got to her suite. She pushed herself off the ground and kicked the double doors in anger. It was moments like these that she noticed her weaknesses. If she were a wolf, this would have been a challenge. Yellena would have had the right to fight and kill. Unfortunately she was a human in a den of wolves. Nothing was going to change that sans mating with a wolf for rank.

Yellena whirled around and paced her sitting room. The fact that they were keeping Donovan from her now meant that her father was going to execute him within the hour. That was what the silence was about. She'd returned early, and in preparation for that Anya had been lying in wait. She growled in frustration.

Yellena looked at the vial, rolling it over in her palm. How was this going to help? Doing the one thing that made any sense, she uncorked it. She didn't have a great sense of smell like the wolves or the vampires. All Yellena smelled was iron.

There was a commotion outside the door and she looked up at it. In walked a disgruntled Samuel. He'd shut the door behind him, crossed the room and studied Yellena's neck. He whispered a few choice swear words and glared at Yellena.

"Where did you go?" The look on his face made it clear he was in no mood for games.

"To the dance studio." Yellena wasn't in much of a mood for a fight. "Yes, I met a vampire. No he didn't bite me."

"So what did Gustav say?" Samuel kept his face pretty stoic. He'd told that little leech years ago to stay away from her.

"You know Gus?" Yellena questioned for a moment before shaking her head. "Nothing I didn't already know the answer too. Besides all he gave me was..."

Yellena held up the vile then looked at Samuel. Her head tilted to the side as a thought struck her. Of course... She almost missed it. The vial wasn't meant for her. It was meant for Donovan. However, being that she was barred from visiting her caretaker one final time before his death there had to be another way to get the little present to him.

"Oh, Sammie. It's just been so much!" Yellena closed the gap between their bodies. "And now Anya's threatening me. Well. Come to think of it she is always threatening me."

Samuel placed his arms around Yellena's waist and rubbed her lower back. He couldn't help but take in her scent and buried his nose in her hair. She was trembling slightly. Though, Samuel wasn't sure if it was out of fear or anxiety. All he could pick up was the scent of her pheromones, those a person can't block out. To be quite honest, it was all so overwhelming considering it mixed with Yellena's usual scent in the room. It was the scent that most missed because she dosed herself in those scent canceling products. However to him, it made his mouth water and between his breeches tighten from the slow growing hard on.

"It's alright. Anya's only spouting off at the mouth." Samuel whispered. He knew he was lying. Anya had tried to get rid of Yellena twice before. Once when she was a baby and the second when she was a teenager. By the end of this week, Samuel was going to fix that once and for all, but he had to be careful about it.

"Samuel..." Yellena pressed her head flat against his shoulder and stroked his chest. Today he wore another button-up shirt. The material was checkered and made from fine, smooth, soft cotton. Yellena traced her nails over and around where Samuel's nipple was located. She felt it grow stiff under the pad of her finger. By this time, his hands had stopped rubbing her back but stiffly held her hips.

"Yes?" Samuel answered a little gruffly. It was unintended, but he couldn't quite do all three things at once. Talk, breathe and exert control over his rapidly growing hard on. His hands slid off her hips and over her butt. She was still wearing the linen halter dress from last night. How easy it would be for him to lift the skirt or better yet tear it off of her. He could smell the beginnings of her arousal. Was she even wearing underwear? Gods! His mind was straying and he was fighting the change.