Alpha Ch. 10

"I haven't had the pleasure of hearing that." Ealasaid muttered aggressively.

"When I arrived at her home she was there with her family. They all begged, pleaded for their lives but not her. She put herself between my children and her son and I knew that she would fight with everything she had to keep him alive. That was refreshing, something I hadn't seen in a long time. Bravery." Elyas was speaking happily as though catching up with an old friend.

"Well that's a lovely story of the death of a family but I don't see why you're telling me." Ealasaid threw back trying to keep his mind off the people chained behind him. He seemed to have forgotten about them as he spoke.

"But there was something else." Elyas continued. "Something that excited me. She smelled different. Drago sensed it too but I don't think he knew what it was, but I did. She isn't what she seems."

Elyas echoed Baal's words and Ealasaid felt her interest growing despite herself.

"She's a Feeder. She can take the powers of creatures like us. A Vampyre could bite her, fill her with its venom and she wouldn't die. She would become like them. A Witch could hit her with a killing curse and the next day she would wield that same magic. A Basilisk could bite her and the poison would not kill her, it would become a part of her. Do you see now why she is valuable?" Elyas asked and Ealasaid nodded. She didn't even pause to think, Elyas' revelation had stunned her and made it impossible to think.

"A Feeder is rare. There were more at one time but unfortunately the Order saw them as threats and they were nearly all wiped out, but a few remain. Somewhere in the Van Helsing bloodline one survived and now we have another." Elyas glanced back at Oana who stared at him with tears in her eyes and her mouth set in a hard line. Her stomach was rolling at what he was saying and she couldn't keep her emotions from showing on her face.

"Maybe when I'm done here I'll start her transformations. I wanted to keep her human as long as possible, they taste much sweeter, but she will prove a very useful weapon with a few changes." Elyas seemed to remember where he was and rounded on Ealasaid. "But first there's you. I want you."

Ealasaid shuddered in disgust at his words but refused to back down.

"I've waited long enough, it's time to finish this." Elyas drew on his dwindling power and a green light shone though his skin.

"Then let's do it." Ealasaid brought her hands down and felt the blue flames burst to life on her skin.

There was a thunderous crash as they leapt at each other. A flash of light as they met and they were both thrown backwards. Ealasaid landed in a crouch, skidding backwards across the floor before bringing her hands up and sending flames shooting across the room towards Elyas. He covered his face, defending himself from the scorching magic that she created before charging at her.

Ealasaid ran at him, colliding once again and driving her fist into his stomach. He winced in surprise but found the strength to grab hold of her and slammed her to the ground. Landing atop her he brought his fist back then delivered a devastating blow to her cheek, snapping her head to the side.

She struggled to bring her feet to her chest and pushing with all her strength sent him flying off her. Without waiting she followed, throwing herself into the air and her wings sent her flying higher. The fire burned hotter and she punched twice throwing the flames back towards him. Elyas rolled out of the way and pushing himself to his feet. His face was twisted in a snarl. Crouching he propelled himself into the air and they collided. Wrapping his arm around her waist he pulled her close and his other hand found her throat.

"I'm growing tired of you defying me Faerie." He spat the words out, his face was close to hers and she struggled in his grip.

"Go fuck yourself." She said and grabbed the front of his shirt. With one powerful stroke of her wings she sent them careening back to earth. They crashed into the floor sending a deafening blast through the room and Ealasaid rolled off him pushing herself back to her feet.

Together they stood, staring at each other. His orange eyes watched her warily while hers darted back and forth looking for a weakness. He came at her and she grabbed his shirt again, pulling him down to drive her forehead into the bridge of his nose. The satisfying sound of bones crunching pushed her forward and she delivered three hard punches to his stomach, making him double over and allowing her to push him from her.

"Enough!" Elyas shouted and Ealasaid heard the pain in his voice. It sent pleasure running through her and she couldn't help her smirk.

"You giving up?" She asked cockily as he wiped blood from his face.

"This ends now." He pushed out through gritted teeth and beckoned to an unseen figure behind her. Before she had a chance to react an agonising pain ran through her whole body and she fell to her knees. Looking down she saw thick chain wrapped around her and turned her head. Dylan stood behind her, holding the ends of the chain and she felt fury rise in her again.

"Iron will drain the strength of a Fae. Did you not know that?" Elyas said arrogantly and Ealasaid looked back into his smug face.

"Take these off me and let's finish this." She said even as her body trembled in pain.

"This is finished. I am finished sitting by while you and your Mate take what is mine. you took Oana, LaBelle took Lara. They are my children and I want them back." Elyas said. His eyes didn't leave her face and he smiled as he spoke his next words. "Agents, kill her Pack."

"No." The word left her before she could stop it and she watched in horror as the hooded figures stepped to her family.

"Elena, take her wings." Elyas spoke, pointing at Ealasaid and the wolf stalked towards her.

"No!" Ealasaid shouted this time, struggling against the chains even as they burned into her skin. The pain was all encompassing and she watched helplessly as the Senior Agents took brought shining knives from inside their coats and pressed them against her family's throats.

"No! Let them go, I'll stay." Elyas held up his hand at Ealasaid's shout and everything stopped. "We had a deal before, if I stay will you let the others go?"

"A Fae would truly be the most wonderful child but a defiant Fae will bring nothing but pain to me."

"I won't defy you. Just please don't hurt them."

"Do you promise to be good?" Elyas asked sickeningly.

Ealasaid dropped her head, submitting to the Entari. "Yes I promise. I can't lose anyone else, I don't want anyone else to die because of me."

Elyas was quiet for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. "I wish I could believe you child but I have found those whose spirits are broken are much more pleasant. Kill them and Dylan, make her watch."

Ealasaid felt a hand grabbing her hair and yanking her head up even as she shouted and struggled. She couldn't break the grip, the iron had made her human again and she was no match for a Vampyres strength. Elena was inches from her and she looked around hopelessly. Her eyes stung and her throat burned as she realised the truth. She couldn't win. She was going to watch the people most important to her die and she could do nothing to help them. She had let them down, just like she had let Tavish down, like she had let Grif down. Like she had let Jaylon down. There was so much death surrounding her and the weight clawed at her. dropping her head, she gave into what was coming. She couldn't win this one.

"Elyas."

A roar shook the room and a silence fell upon them. Elyas looked up at the stairs and for the first time in his long life terror gripped him. An inhuman figure was descending towards him. It stood over fifteen feet tall, its skin was black and cracked showing burning red from beneath. Its hands ended in long black talons and two gigantic black horns curved from its forehead. Two black, leathery wings unfurled from its back, they were torn and the edges of the tears glowed the same red as though a fire burned beneath the surface. As it walked, it left smouldering footprints on the floor and Elyas felt himself freeze as he realised what was coming towards him.

"This is over." It spoke in a demonic voice; the sound of millions of condemned souls rang through in every word.

Elyas couldn't find the words to speak. His throat was tight and his body was covered in an ice cold sweat.

"You were given a great power and you used it selfishly. For that, you will pay." The Devil said as it came closer. Behind it the screams of the damned grew louder, filling the room with an icy cold that seemed to burn the skin of everyone there. The Senior Agents dropped their knives in terror and tried to disappear into the shadows and Dylan darted to the side of the room in a desperate attempt to make himself invisible.

"This is my right." Elyas finally found his voice but it was trembling and weak.

"You have no right to keep people as pets, to control their lives. Now you will answer to me."

Ealasaid didn't raise her head as Baal passed her. There was no emotion left in her and she gave herself over to whatever would happen.

"You can't be here. This is my life; you have no right to be here!" Elyas sounded deranged.

"This is the end Elyas." Baal reached out and grabbed hold of the Entari's shirt. "You're mine now."

A bright red light shone from the floor and Baal began to sink into it. Elyas screamed and thrashed trying to get away. Just before he was pulled into the ground he broke Baal's grip and scrambled towards the throne.

"Help me!" He called desperately to the Senior Agents but they didn't move.

Almost lazily Baal reached back out and took hold of his ankle. Elyas clawed at the marble, his nails leaving deep gauge marks as he tried frantically to get away. The room was silent, watching his distraught struggles to save himself but it was no use. He was pulled into the into the ground leaving nothing but the echo of his scream behind.

Ealasaid felt sick. She felt the chains fall from her skin and pulled herself back to her feet. Looking around at the stunned faces she felt exhaustion trying to seep into her bones but she forcefully kept it at bay. She wasn't finished. Movement caught her eye as the Senior Agents and Dylan tried to escape and she threw her hands out to the side. A wall of blue flames leapt up behind the Senior Agents, pushing them forwards and Dylan screamed in agony as they burned his flesh.

"You will not leave." Ealasaid said, her voice was thunderous and her face was unrecognisable.

The Senior Agents felt true fear grip them but they couldn't move. There was no way to escape, behind them was an impenetrable wall of fire and in front of them was the Fae. Dylan's screamed lessened as the flames that engulfed his body died down and he lay whimpering on the floor and clutching his face.

Lucius and the rest of the Council watched in horror as Ealasaid came towards them beckoning at the Senior Agents behind them. Elena paced back and forth behind her Alpha, her sharp claws tapping on the marble floor and her snout wrinkled in a snarl.

"I have questions and they will be answered." Ealasaid felt a sadistic pride that her voice was level despite the emotions raging in her body.

The Senior Agents slowly came down the stairs and stood in front of her in a line. She was tiny, at least a head shorter than all of them but she seemed to tower over them in her anger.

"At the Order you sent Dylan to me. Did you know what he was going to do?" Ealasaid asked.

"We had nothing to do with that." A male voice came from under one of the hoods and Ealasaid's hand shot out, her hand curled into a claw and she heard his voice stop in his throat in satisfaction.

Ealasaid squeezed her hand into a fist. She could feel the resistance of his neck in her hand though she only held air and listened as his windpipe was crushed under the pressure. She watched in boredom as the Agent clawed desperately at his throat, sending his hood flying off and revealing his purple face. His eyes bugged out of his head and Ealasaid tilted her head to the side, contemplating him. Clenching her hand into a fist she watched as the mans throat was ripped out and blood gushed down his chest to soak the floor. He collapsed and Ealasaid looked back to the other Agents.

From the corner of her eye she saw her Pack staring at her in abject horror but she ignored them. She wasn't in control of what was happening, her anger and pain were too much and she let them take over.

"I am very tired of being lied to. The only reason any of you are still alive is to give me answers, if I am not happy with the answers you give me, then you'll join him." She motioned to the dead Agent.

"We didn't know what he was going to do but we knew he would hurt you." A female voice came from the remaining Agents and Ealasaid nodded.

"And why did you want to hurt me? You had already taken me from my family and tortured me, why did you need him?" Ealasaid pushed on with her questions.

The Agents glanced at each other but didn't say anything. Ealasaid sighed and brought her hand up, her palm facing the ceiling as the flames moved in, surrounding the hooded figures and they flinched back from the blistering heat.

"What makes you think that I won't stand here and watch you burn alive? I have lived my whole life not knowing anything about me, I can survive not knowing now."

"Because you wouldn't submit to us. We thought you would be easier to control if you had lost hope." Another male voice reached her over the roar of the flames.

Ealasaid nodded and lowered the hand. The fire died down until it was nothing but a smouldering ring around the Senior Agents.

"And what gave you the right to hurt people? You kept Elena locked up her entire life because her parents fell in love. What the fuck gives you the right to decide who is allowed to be together?!" Her voice rose to a shout and the Agents cowered as she came towards them.

"It is what we were taught from the Agents before us and the Elders before them. Our kind should not mix with humans; it taints the bloodlines. We must remain pure." The woman poured out, bringing her hands up in front of her face trying in vain to protect herself from the Fae.

Ealasaid was stopped in her actions by a voice from behind her.

"Alpha?"

She spun around and saw her Pack standing at the top of the sweeping staircase. They looked around the room at the corpse of the Agent, the still writhing figure of the Vampyre and the tied members of the Council.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, her lip curling.

"We waited for you." A redheaded man spoke. "But you didn't come and then there was a voice. He said we needed to come to you. There was a door and it brought us here."

Ealasaid pulled herself from her fury. She beckoned the Pack and they cascaded down the stairs to fill up the room. Pointing to her Council addressed the Pack.

"Unchain them."

Five members of the Pack hurried forward and unwound the chains from the Council. Nix and Corban immediately leapt to their feet and rushed at the Senior Agents.

"Where are my children?" Nix asked frantically and an Agent pointed towards the door behind the throne.

"They're upstairs. They're safe, locked in a bedroom in the north west tower. This key will unlock the door." The woman held a key out and Nix snatched it from her hand. Her, Corban and Anton sprinted from the room and Ealasaid watched them go calmly.

"If anything happened to those kids, I'll tear your heads off." Her voice was as calm as her expression and the Senior Agents trembled in fear.

The room was quiet, the air heavy as they all waited for them to return. Elena still paced behind her Alpha, scenting the air and staring suspiciously at the crowd of people. Some of the scents she recognised from her time in the Order, they stirred deep memories of cold rooms and painful gripping hands. She felt herself becoming agitated and pressed close to Ealasaid, the scent of her Alpha calmed her and she dropped to the floor resting her head on her paws.

Finally, the door opened again and Ealasaid breathed a sigh of relief. Nix, Corban and Anton came back into the room carrying the children in their arms. Avianna was crying quietly, her face buried in her mother's chest and Orion's face was pale and drawn. He held tightly onto Corban, his eyes were trained on his younger brother and sister and Ealasaid felt a tugging in her heart at the expression on his young face.

"Take them home." Ealasaid said.

Nix met her gaze and felt dread in her gut. Ealasaid was cold, she looked just like Drago had when he had first escaped from the Order. Detached, distant, Ealasaid's eyes were harrowing and Nix nodded.

Anton and Corban followed Nix passed Ealasaid and the Pack. Lucius and Oana followed glancing furtively at Ealasaid as they went. They didn't know what to say, there was nothing they could do to make things better.

Ealasaid made her way to the throne and turned to look out over the sea of faces. Her eyes darted back and forth until Elena joined her and Ealasaid placed her hand in the wolfs soft fur.

"Take the Agents, lock them up. They deserve to know what we went through." She commanded and a group broke from the Pack to march the Agents out of the room. "Take the body."

Ealasaid pointed at the corpse of the dead Agent and another two broke away and dragged the body out of her sight.

"Dylan." She called and the broken, agony riddled figure of the Vampyre stirred. He dragged himself onto all fours and crawled to kneel in front of her. He stared at the floor, clutching himself he tried to focus on anything other that the blistering pain. He wasn't healing, the Fae magic drawing out his suffering but he could do nothing to stop it. It was like his body knew he deserved to be punished.

"You will be kept here. I want you to know what it is like to live in constant fear. To know how it feels to be in so much pain that you pray for death. I want to see you suffer for everything you've done to me." She felt emotion closing her throat as she thought about all the pain the man in front of her had put her through.

"You were my friend. I trusted you with everything, you knew everything fucking thing about me and you gave me to the fucking Order!" She was beginning to shout. "I'm going to enjoy every second of your suffering."

She waved her hand and Dylan was dragged from her sight by members of her Pack. He didn't even try and fight, hanging limply from their hands as he realised what he had lost.

Ealasaid looked out over her Pack. Her hands were shaking and they all stared at her waiting to see what she would do.

"The Order lost its way. It hurt innocent people and turned them into monsters." Ealasaid paused and looked down at the top of the wolfs head. "It has taken people from us and made us live alone. It has taken our children from us, our Mates and our lives. Now we're going to make things right. The Order did good things once, that is why it was created and it will do good again. I'm going to make sure of it."

She pushed her shoulders back and held her head high.

"I will not make any of you stay but those who do will help me do great things. We will make this world a good place for people like us, protect those who need it and destroy anyone who tries to hurt us. Those who stay will go down in history."

She paused again, waiting to see what her Pack would do. A young woman at the front dropped to her knee and bowed her head. A man followed, then another, then another. Finally, they all knelt at her feet, she expected to feel happiness but there was nothing. Glancing back at Elena she made a silent promise that none of them would ever feel the same hurt that she did.