Adam and Sarah (1).

THE YEAR 1468 (642 YEARS AGO).

The Tavern.

When people say life is good among humans, I'm pretty sure this was what they mean, Sarah thought as her glassy black eyes refocused on the four men who were crowded around her, vying for her attention. When Sarah had meant humans she didn't mean people like the idiots in front of her who were nothing but meals to people like her. The people she had been talking about were the people of the undead world popularly known as vampires.

A clan of powerful beings to which Sarah belonged and would never want to stop belonging. Her attention returned to the table when one of the men gave her ass a light slap. She swallowed the words she wanted to hurl at the man and smiled instead when she remembered that it would be her turn so very soon to shock the man.

"Hey, woman. Go get me some good old ale," a man called behind Sarah and she turned back. When she saw who had spoken, she nearly groaned. The man was the number one drunk she had ever come across in all the taverns she had worked in, which was a lot if she was being honest. Until he was thrown out of the tavern, Sarah knew that the man wouldn't be leaving on his own.

"Go attend to old Bill," one of the men who was gawking at her said.

"Don't leave without my permission," Sarah commanded, then she moved away from them to attend to Bill.

"Yes, we won't," the four men chanted after her fading figure but she didn't turn back. She didn't need to turn back since she knew that even if the tavern was on fire, they wouldn't leave if she didn't give them the command to leave. They would burn down to ashes along with the tavern instead. Such was the power those who were dating among the vampires held. After she finished serving Bill the ale he had requested, she told her boss she was done for the night and dropped the towel in her hands on the table. She also unknotted the apron which sat on her old skirt around her tiny waist. Then, she went back to the four men, swaying her hips as she walked. She met them still drinking and ribbing each other about who would have her first.

"Tavern girl, please tell these fools you would ride me so hard they're going to shiver," one of the men spoke. Here was the most handsome amongst the men, but also the youngest.

"Yeah, I'm going to give you all a surprise you won't be forgetting anytime soon. Let's go," Sarah told them as she walked up the stairs to her little room in the tavern. The men kept giggling behind her in exciting voices that were filled with lust. Yes, she was also filled with excitement too but not for the same reason as them. As soon as they got to her room, the youngest among the men grabbed her ass, drew her to himself, and began to grind his erection over her ass.

Sandra turned her head behind and saw that another of the men had just closed the door. The other two advanced towards her and when they got to her, one of them cupped one of her breasts and he began to squeeze from the old and frail dress she wore. Without a word or any warning, she turned and grabbed the man behind her with such a force that surprised the man.

Before any of them could comprehend what was going on, Sarah sank her fangs deep into the man's neck. She drank the last of the man's blood like it was an intoxicated wine she couldn't walk away from. By the time she let go of the man, he was already pale and lifeless, he thudded on the barely cemented floor of her room. She lifted her beady eyes and looked at the rest of the men in the room with her and she smiled at them, revealing her blood-stained fang. Blood dripped from one of the fangs and Sarah ran her tongue over the fang to stop the blood from wasting.

Screams erupted in the room as the men understood what was happening. She smiled at the pathetic looks on their faces and shook her head slightly. Oh, how she hated humans because of their weak bodies and mind. With the speed of lightning, Sarah ran to the man that was trying frantically to open the door and get away from her. She closed his mouth with her left hand while she grabbed him with her right and sank her fangs into his neck also. She heard more screams but didn't bother about it as the blood kept gushing into her mouth and she drank all until there was not a single drop left either. When she dropped the man, he fell to the floor at her feet lifeless also.

"Please. Please, don't hurt us," one of the men said to her and that aroused Sarah's anger the most. Yes, she hated humans, but more than that, she hated those that were pathetic the most. Before the man could blink, Sarah was in front of him. She bent his neck and sank her fangs into him too, drinking from him until he was also dead. She turned to her last victim and saw that he was crouched low, his two hands covering his ears as if to block out the sounds of her previous victim. She heard him reading the rosary and nearly laughed. Did those pathetic humans think that reading the rosary could save them from the vampire's clutch?

"Come to me," she commanded him and watched in amusement as the man stood up and walked to her. "Bend your neck for me," she commanded again.

The man obeyed the order without any resistance. Sarah smiled as she ran her tongue over the man's neck, then she punched two holes into his neck. The shock and horror on the man's face as the pain hit him gave her more joy than drinking the man's blood did. When she was done drinking, she tossed the man's body away from her to a corner of the room. She stood still for a minute as she felt power cussing through her. This was why she loved human blood, it gave her power more than even the blood of a hundred different mixed animals could ever give her. She looked around at the mess she had made and hissed.

Let the humans take care of it, she thought as she opened the door and walked back downstairs. The horrible looks on the face of everyone present told her that they had heard the screams from her latest victims. She kept talking until she got into the middle of the room where she paused and looked into the eyes of everyone in the room, daring them to say a word. Everyone took several steps backward from her and she smiled at the fear they emitted. When no one said anything, Sarah walked out of the tavern into the deep call of the night feeling unstoppable.

***

The Vampire Headquarters.

Scott, the vampire leader for the past one thousand years, sat at the dining table along with some elders of the clan who helped him in ruling the clan and making sure everything was in order. He had just received another letter from the head of the human clan of the nearby village about his daughter, Sarah, and he felt sad. Why wouldn't he? He was the vampire leader and he had made the rules but his daughter was the one breaking those rules with no regard for his reputation. If it had been any other person who did it, perhaps, it would not hurt Scott in any bit but for his daughter to break those rules means that he would lose his authority as the leader if he didn't curb her on time. He fingered the letter again and thought about the letter he had received in the past with the same report about his daughter. He also wondered how many more letters he would get if nothing was done to stop the reason behind the letters.

Scott kept fingering the wordings in the letter that had been written to remind him about the deals between the humans and the vampires. One thousand years ago, after Scott's father died from the war of dominance that had broken out between the humans and the vampires, and Scott became the vampire leader, he went to the human leader and made a pact with the man.

As long as the humans tolerated the vampires and they were allowed to live among them, Scott had assured the human leader that no vampire would ever feed on human blood again except that of animals. After he had succeeded in convincing the human leader and elders, Scott had returned home and had given the command that no vampire was allowed to drink from humans from that day on. The rules had become effective immediately and no vampire had broken that rule until his daughter came into the picture.

"Get a bottle of vervain," Scott commanded one of the servants in the room.

"My lord," one of the elders at the table said.

"She's your daughter," another one said as he tried to discourage their leader from the decision he was about to make.

"Exactly why I need to make an example out of her," Scott told the elders at the table. "Get the vervain and make sure to mask the smell and taste." The leader commanded the servant he pointed to.

"Yes, my lord," the servant said and walked out of the room.

"Please, reconsider your decision, my lord," Rex, who was also one of the elders, said. He was the youngest of the elders seated at the table with only a few years older than the leader's daughter but he had merited the position with his bravery. Scott knew that the young man was trying to dissuade him because he liked Sarah. So many times, Scott had caught Rex professing his love to his daughter but Sarah never gave him any chance, which was a pity since Rex wouldn't mind a son-in-law like Scott.

"Only if she understands the errors of her ways and promised to change, then I'm willing to give her a second chance," Scott assured the man.

The vampire leader got up and began to pace around the room, waiting for his daughter to return. He hoped that she would regret her actions and plead for forgiveness of her sin since he wasn't enthusiastic about losing his only daughter and child. The servant returned with the vervain and set it on the table. Scott walked over to it and smelled it. When he was certain that Sarah wouldn't be able to determine the smell, he dropped it back on the table.

While the vervain doesn't kill vampires, it weakens them completely for a certain amount of time which makes them vulnerable to the enemies during those moments. They had the door cracked and they all turned to see who it was, just in time to see Sarah pop her head in before the rest of her body followed.

"Hey, Dad," Sarah greeted her father while she ignored the rest of the people in the room like they didn't exist. She had only taken the first step towards her room when her father's voice stopped her.

"We need to talk, young lady," Scott told his daughter in a voice that left no room for arguments.

"I am not young," Sarah grunted at her father as she returned to the table where everyone was seated.

"You are only 300 years old. Of course, you are young to me. Just like humans consider their children babies, no matter their age," Scott told her. Compared to his one thousand and five hundred years, Sarah was still a baby to him.

"Do not compare me to those pathetic humans," Sarah told her father. Her black eyes gleamed of the hatred she felt for them despite their blackness.

Scott walked back to his seat, sat down, and held the letter up before he said anything.

"It's those humans we need to talk about, young lady. This is about the seventh letter I have received from the human clan over your deeds," Scott told her. He dropped the paper on the table and tapped it lightly. "How would you explain killing those innocent people, Sarah?"

"You worry yourself too much, Dad. Why do they need to report in the first place? They should come after me if they can," Sarah retorted and made to leave.

"I'm not done, young lady. So, where are you going?"

"I don't have time for this," she told her father. "They are just food, so don't concern yourself over them." She picked up the letter and read it. "Why did they report again since they already placed a reward on me?"

Scott shook his head in surrender. His daughter was already too set in her ways and there was nothing else that he could do to reform her. It was a good thing he had made plans concerning her already.

"Sit down, young lady. The elders and I were just discussing how to change the rules I had set about not drinking from the humans. How dare they set a reward on my daughter's head?" Scott said in an angry tone.

Sarah sat down immediately and Scott asked the servant to get his daughter a cup. When the servant arrived with the new cup, Scott poured his daughter a cup of vervain. Sarah picked up the cup and gulped down its entire content immediately. She dropped the cup with a loud sigh.

"Now, you are my father," she told her father with a point of her middle finger at him. She watched in horror as the finger lost its motion and dropped. "You poisoned me?" she asked as she slumped into the chair she sat on.

"Come in," Scott commanded. Some vampires trooped in, carrying a coffin. "Put her in."

"My lord, please reconsider," Rex said and rushed over to Sarah. He stood protectively over her to prevent the vampires from taking her.

"Stand down, Rex," Scott commanded. When Rex didn't move, he spoke again. "That is an order."

Rex left Sarah's side in regret. He watched as the men took out their extracting weapon and began to pull each of Sarah's fangs out. She couldn't scream. She couldn't resist despite the pain Rex was sure that she was feeling. When they were done with the removal, blood dripped from the open spaces where the fangs once belonged to and stained her dress in just a few minutes.

The men carried Sarah and dropped her into the coffin without a word, then the vampire priest went over and covered it. She began to chant some incoherent words as she sprinkled some things on the coffin lid. In minutes, she was done with whatever she was doing and she turned to the vampire leader.

"It is done, my lord," she announced to him, bowed slightly, and went out of the room.

"Take her out," Scott announced to the vampire men who had brought the coffin in. They bowed to him, picked up the coffin on the four edges, and went out of the room also.

Adam and Sarah (2).

THE YEAR 2022 (PRESENT DAY).

Adam Richards stretched his arms open as the maids helped him prepare for the ceremony which would be starting in less than two hours. The maids helped him put on a green shirt which Adam knew would complement his eyes color perfectly well. He watched in amusement as the maid in front of him ran a quick finger over his flying wolf tattoo before she helped him button up his shirt. His wolf whispered in his head that they could have a good time with the maid before the ceremony began and Adam quickly shushed him off before the thought took any root in his body and his desire rose. He sat down and two of the maids helped him with his pair of shoes and another maid helped him comb his hair perfectly into the favorite style he loved wearing.

Adam sighed and waved the maids away when they were done prepping him up. He waved his hand once more as the maids bowed their heads to him before they disappeared from his sight. Adam picked up the mirror when he was done and stared back at his handsome face in the mirror. His ocean blue eyes stared back at him in boredom and his wolf screamed for freedom. Much as he would like to oblige his wolf, Adam knew that today had to be perfect. Not just for him, but for his mother and also the rest of his pack.

Today would determine who his Luna would be among the females of his pack. If luck was however not on their side, Adam would be getting his Luna from outside the pack. While that was sure to break the hearts of the ladies who were hoping to take the space beside him as his Luna, he knew that everyone would still be happy as long as he got a Luna and started the procreation process as soon as possible. Even if the whole pack weren't that eager, Adam knew his mother was more than eager that if there was another greater word for it, Adam wouldn't hesitate to use it as a description for his mother's eagerness. While Adam could understand his mother's eagerness, he also feels burdened by the weight of expectations on him.

When he was only thirteen years old, he had taken over the Colven Pack after his father had gone hunting with the pack one certain night alive, only for his dead body to be brought back along with several other dead bodies. The few people who returned had explained how they ran into another neighboring pack and a fight had broken out. The other pack was much more than the Colven pack which had allowed them to emerge victoriously.

Adam had been furious and had shifted into his wolf form and ran off before anyone could stop him. Luckily for him, he met the leader of the pack at a stream where he was drinking. When Adam realized that the man was alone, he had engaged him in a fight. Even though the man's wolf had been bigger than that of Adam, the thirteen years old boy had still won the battle between the two. The scar on his left shoulder twitched as if to remind Adam about how close he had come to death because of that reckless decision.

He unbuttoned the first three closed buttons on his shirt and fingered the scar. True, he had nearly lost his life in the fight before the rest of the pack found him but he had also gained the respect of everyone in the pack. When he had taken over as the Alpha of the pack, no one had questioned his power to lead nor had they thought he was too young. But the burden had only seemed to grow since then. The Lead Pack which was their neighboring pack had turned to their enemies after Adam had killed the leader of the pack. The son of the man,

Evan, who was the new leader was always looking for opportunities to launch an attack in the Colven Pack and Adam had always had to be on the guard against the man ever since. Anything that concerns the well-being of the pack was always thrown into Adam's lap. He had had to make every decision concerning the pack ever since then. Even the things that wouldn't affect the pack in any way were always brought to Adam for what to do over it. Sometimes, Adam wishes he could just go away from all the troubles for a while. And now, he was getting another burden piled to the ones he already had on his shoulders.

A knock sounded on the door, distracting Adams from his thoughts and he commanded the person to come in. Adam smiled when he saw his Beta, Ian, walked in.

"It is time," Ian announced to Adam.

The smile that had decorated Adam's face fell instantly. For the past month, he had kept praying that somehow, his 25th birthday would not come but then, like a crawling child trying to get to his mother, the day had hit him in the face. He was sure that if the goddess was still their leader, she would be laughing down around him.

"You don't have to look like someone who is being led to slaughter, Adam," Ian told him with a smile.

"I can't wait until it's your turn in a few months and throw your words back at you," Adam replied with a snort.

"Easy peasy, Alpha. I'll just keep her somewhere and go on living my life as if nothing has changed. There's no way I'm getting tied to a single woman all my life when I can have varieties. Unlike you who has no choice being the only son and Alpha," Ian said with a shrug.

Adam picked up a book on his desk and tried to hurl it at the other man. He stopped when his sister, Alisha, opened the door and walked in. Here comes trouble, Adam thought and quickly dropped the book in his hands back on the desk. He watched as she hissed at Ian before she fixed her gaze on her elder brother.

"Mother said to call you," she announced to him.

"Hey, sugar," Ian called to her. His voice dripped with sarcasm as he said the words.

"Did you hear a tiny wolf speak a few seconds ago, Adam?" Alisha asked her brother.

Adam saw Ian's brown eyes shoot fireballs at his sister. As he opened his mouth to say something back to her, Adam grabbed his beta by the arm and dragged him out. Adam knew that if he didn't do that, then war was sure to break out between the two people he loved. He never could understand why his beta and his sister hated each other in such a tremendous way. It was critical to the point that the two of them could never be left alone in a room just for a minute. Adam was sure one would have killed the other.

"She's my sister, you know," Adam told his beta, who was also the only one Adam could call a friend.

"Teach her some manners then," Ian retorted and looked behind them. Adam looked back too and saw Alisha making the 'fuck you' finger at his friend. He grunted and held Ian firmly as his beta tried to free himself.

"Ian, behave. She's just a girl," he told his beta. "Lisha, behave too. Ian is my beta."

"Good for him," Alisha said with a voice that clearly indicated that she didn't care what position Ian held in the clan. Before either of the men could give any reply, she walked past them into the hall full of the entire Colven Pack members.

It was time, Adam thought as he let go of Ian and the door. It was time to have his life take a drastic turn without being asked if it was what he wanted. He sighed audibly to still his racing heart, then he opened the door and walked in. Everyone kept mute as soon as they all saw him. Adam nodded his head to respond to the greetings of his pack members as he walked to his mother to greet. The woman frowned at the open buttons on his shirt but Adam ignored the looks. If he wanted a loose button, then he was having a loose button.

"I can't believe that you are 25 years old now and already having a mate, Alpha," his mother said and wiped an exaggerated tear away from her eyes.

Adam rolled his eyes at how dramatic his mother was before he walked to his seat. After he sat down in the golden seat meant for the Alpha, he signaled for the ceremony to begin. It was better for him to know his fate now rather than later. The pack's priest came out, bowed his head to the Alpha, and sat down on the bare floor. He brought out some items and arranged them on the floor in front of him. When he was done arranging them, he began to chant some words. At a point, the priest closed his eyes as he continued to mumble the words.

"Alpha, your Luna is dead," the priest announced.

Everyone in the hall exclaimed in shock. Even Adam sat forward in shock as he heard the man's declaration. His mate was dead? How could that be possible? Why would his mate be already dead? It felt to Adam like the goddess had played some kind of trick on them just before they dethroned her. Murmurs went around the room as everyone began to talk about the fate that had just befallen their Alpha. His mother made a loud shriek and went forward to the priest.

"Priest, check it again," his mother asked the priest.

The priest closed his eyes again and repeated the process he had done earlier. This time, while he changed his words, everyone waited in expectation of what the words he would speak this time would be. After a minute, the priest's eyes began to tear like he was exhilarating himself. By the time he would open his eyes again, Adam saw that they were red as blood. The priest focused the red-blooded eyes on Adam's mother before he spoke.

"The Alpha's mate is dead, my lady," the priest said again.

Adam crossed his hands over his laps as he heard those words again. He watched as his mother, sister, and the rest of the pack looked at him with pity in their eyes. When they saw that he didn't say a word or reacted in any way, they all assumed that he was in shock over the revelation. The women of his pack began to cry in loud exaggerated voices. Adam shook his head inwardly as he thought about how deceitful females were. He knew that they were all feeling happy secretly despite the tears on their faces.

Or maybe they were shedding the tears of joy knowing that they could have him for a little while longer. He knew that some of them would even be thinking that he might just choose one of them and his Luna just to satisfy the pack with an heir. The only people that were shedding honest tears on his behalf were his mother and his sister. The rest, he knew, were fake emotions and he was tired of seeing them already. He cleared his throat and stood up.

"Well, the celebration is over," Adam declared and began to walk away from the hall and his pack members. His beta, Ian, followed him at a close distance without a word. When they got to Alpha Adam's room, Ian closed the door firmly behind them.

"You can display your happiness now," Ian told Adam.

Adam turned back to look at his friend. When the man cocked his left brows at him, Adam bestowed upon his beta the widest grin he could summon at that moment and his beta laughed. He couldn't believe back there in the hall that people were feeling sad for him because his mate was dead when Adam himself was anything but sad.

Why would he be sad over a mate that was dead? A mate he had never met or knew anything about? No, he wasn't sad. If anything, he was more than happy to be free from the mating thing. Not having a mate meant that he could frolic about some more with women. Now, he didn't have to think about getting an heir for a while again.

"You lucky bastard," Ian said with a grin. "I hope I'm as lucky as you in three months."

"Well, I hope you aren't. That way I can get the women all to myself," Adam told his beta with a smirk. He took off the expensive green shirt he had worn for the ceremony and threw it on the floor. He opened the wardrobe and brought out a tee with the inscription 'I'm free, baby' on it. He rolled the top over his head and turned to face his beta with a crooked smile.

"Where the fuck are you going to?" Ian asked him.

"To party, of course," Adam said and swiped up his car keys.

"Lucky bastard," the beta muttered again and Adam smiled.

Before anyone could spot him, Adam got into his BMW and sped out of the pack house. As he drove the six hours drive from the pack house to the city, he thought about how much of a good time he was going to get with whichever lady he picked up. He turned to the lonely street where the regular club he frequented every time he came to the city was. That was when he saw the completely naked young lady trying to cross the street. Adam applied the brake to his car just in time to stop the car from hitting the naked lady. He shivered in fear as he saw that the car was only a few meters away from hitting the lady.

He peeped at the naked woman from his front glass and saw that she was covered in blood. He looked at her again as he thought that perhaps the blood from her body was just some sort of costume she had on since he could never put it past the people in the city not to do such a thing. When he saw that it was real blood, concern for the young lady filled him up and he unlocked his seatbelt to get to her.