Blood Oath

I decided that I was going to do it. I was absolutely terrified of course, but when I considered how sick and tired I was of living my life as the slave of the Vampire King Lucas Sangrey, I could not help myself. When I ran into the mysterious man in the subway, I could not resist his invitation for freedom.

"What is your name?" He had said to me, peering at me with those dark brown eyes, eyes that seemed to see right through me. Beautiful eyes, captivating eyes, but eyes that at the same time that they held me prisoner seemed to set me free. I could not look away, and I could not just keep going about my business, even though I probably should have done so.

"Adriana." I whispered, as if I was afraid of someone overhearing me talking to this man.

I knew better than this of course. I was a slave and I was not supposed to be talking to strangers. Talking to people I did not know would put me at risk of being exposed, it would put my master at risk of losing his property, and that was the last thing that I should have been doing. If Lucas Sangrey lost something that belonged to him, there would be hell to pay after all. Yet a part of me did not care, and a part of me wanted desperately to be lost. I just did not know it yet.

"Who are you?" I asked, unable to keep myself from speaking those words, even though I really should have bitten my tongue.

I should have ignored him. I should not have engaged. I would be punished. It would be bad. I would regret it. The words and threats that I had received time and time again echoed in my mind and soul, and they should have been enough to keep me to myself. I had been the object of the king's wrath before. It was no laughing matter. It was nothing to take lightly. He would whip me, starve me. Slap me around. If I angered him enough he might even kill me.

"My name is David." He said in a voice that was strong and reassuring in a way. The voice calmed me for a moment and made me forget my doubts. "I know what you are. I know you are a slave to a vampire. I know that you do not really want to be. I can help you get away. I can help you get free. All you have to do is to trust me and you can start over far away from the clutches of Lucas Sangrey. I will help you Adriana. All you have to do is to say the word."

"I don't know how you know about me. All I know is that you better keep going. Leave me alone. Get as far away from me as you can. Walk away now and I will forget we had this conversation. I will even keep it a secret from Lucas. Just walk away." I said.

"You know you do not want me to do that." David said as he stood there, refusing to move. He was not going to leave. I knew this somehow. For some reason I could not fathom he was willing to help me. Somehow, I was willing to consider letting him do it. "Tell me, Adriana, are you happy as his slave? Is this really the way you want to live the rest of your life?"

"It does not matter what I want, David." I said, my voice trembling. "My fate was written in the stars a long time ago. Lucas owns me, what he owns he never relinquishes. The only way out of this for me is death."

"You are wrong. I can help you. You know in your heart I am not lying when I say this. I can and I will help you." David said. "Just trust me. If you are sick and tired of bowing before a monster, when we reach the next stop, get off with me. Never look back."

It seemed like an eternity as I waited for the car to come to a screeching halt. It was now or never.

"Fuck it." I said as I followed the man out of the car. I hoped to God I had not just made the biggest mistake of my existence.

I really did it. I stepped off that train, and I followed this man that I did not know away from a life of slavery to a vampire. Nothing was ever going to be the same, and there was no going back.

I was scared to death, as you can imagine. As soon as Lucas Sangrey found out I had run away, he was going to come after me. He was going to do whatever was in his power to stop me. He was going to kill us both, if he got his hands on us. Unless of course my instincts were correct, and David was a lot stronger than he appeared.

You see, I am an empath. I am able to read the emotions of others to a certain extent, and I have something of an idea of whether or not someone is human. I know if they have supernatural powers, and I know just by looking at them.

I know without a shadow of a doubt that David is not like other men. If this were not the case, I obviously would not have been stupid enough to run away.

"It's going to be ok, Adriana. I know you are afraid, but I am going to help you. We are going to be ok. I am going to take you to some friends of mine, and we are going to figure out what we are going to do from here." David said in a voice that was confident and self assured.

"Aren't you afraid?" I asked as we walked away from the subway into the dark night. "This city is the king's domain. He has men everywhere. I bet he will know that I am not coming back in less than an hour. He is going to be after us for vengeance, so I really do hope that you have some kind of a plan."

"Of course I am afraid." David admitted. "Lucas Sangrey owns the city, as you have pointed out. He does have men everywhere, and he and I go back a long, long ways. He already wants me dead however, so rescuing you from a life of slavery is not really going to change things for me all that much. But what I am doing right now is going to change everything for you and that is really what matters here Adriana. You have to get away. Everything else depends on it. If you do not get away, then I will have failed, and failure is simply not an option."

"Failed at what? What do you mean everything depends on this. God damn it, would you stop talking in riddles and simple tell me why you were willing to risk everything to save me." I finally demanded. He was driving me nuts with the way he was speaking to me. "I am risking my life here, so the least you can do is be forthcoming with me."

"Because I promised your father I wouldn't let this happen to you. I failed you and him once before, and now I have a chance to make things right." David explained, although what he told me gave me more questions than it did answers.

"How did you know my father? Who are you David? I already know you are not human. You know that I am an empath, I am sure of it, and so you know that years of being fed vampire blood to enslave me has made me able to sense the feelings of other people. You know it has given me True Sight and that I am able to tell if someone isn't human. But what the hell are you David?"

"We don't have time for this line of questioning. Someone is coming." David said as there was a flash behind us, and someone with a sharp deadly katana started slashing their way towards us. Well it seemed that the attack was coming more for David than it was for me. The blade cut him. I was not sure how deeply. I could see the torn fabric of his black shirt, and I could see the blood.

I thought were were totally screwed at this point. I didn't even see what happened next. It was a blur. But somehow, he managed to get the blade away from the attacker, and he managed to use it to decapitate our attacker. I was dumbfounded.

"We have to go, now!" David said as he took my hand, and we started running into the darkness of the night.

We ran for what seemed like an eternity. David and I kept going until we came to a manhole cover. I was not extremely thrilled about the idea of going underground. I had followed David and so far he had kept me safe, so there seemed to be no reason to believe that he would not continue to do so.

I followed him down the ladder, climbing down until we reached the underground tunnels that I had heard so much about before. This was not an entrance to a waste treatment facility like I had feared it would be. It only masqueraded as such. I followed David until we made it to the entrance way of what proved to be a large underground structure, something that had obviously been built for a very important purpose.

"Are you going to tell me where we are?" I asked. I was getting very irritated at this point. "Because if you are going to keep dicking me around like this, and not answer my questions, or only give me part of the truth, than I can just leave and take my chances on my own."

"This is a safehouse" I exclaimed as I looked around, seeing all manner of people gathered around. They appeared to be human, although I was not certain if all of them were.

"Your right, this is a safehouse." David told me, as he had a seat over on a bench, while I noticed that all eyes in the room were on me. It was making me slightly uncomfortable.

"Who are these people David?" I asked. I was not going to wait around for an answer, and I think by this time he realized that I meant it when I said I was going to leave if he did not satisfy me with his answers.

"They are humans mostly, people we brought here, but not all of them. Also a few vampires are here as well." David explained.

"That is it." I said as I headed for the exit. "I knew I shouldn't have trusted you."

The door behind me slammed shut, and as I grabbed it, and tried my damnedest to get it open, it simply would not budge.

I lost my shit on David as the fear and the perceived betrayal sunk in more completely.

"Open this door right now god damn it!" I screamed as I pounded on the door, as if my strikes of desperation would force the door open. I realized I was in tears. How could I have been so stupid? I had left the clutches of one vampire for the clutches of another. It had to be. I was no better off than I was before.

"That is not true, Adriana. You are free now. I am going to let you out of here eventually and we are going to keep running, unless you decide you want to stay here, I just need to rest for awhile, and I need something to eat."

"Something?" I asked. "Or do you mean that you need someone to eat?"

I watched him carefully for a moment. I had been around lots of vampires before. I realized as I studied this man, I did not know for sure if he was a vampire or not. If he was a vampire I was obviously in as much danger as I was in the hands of Lucas Sangrey, and I had just left one prison for another.

"I assure you, Adriana, this is not a prison. So calm the fuck down, stop hitting me, stop crying, and have a seat and just breathe. It's going to be all right." David insisted. I wanted to believe him. I was just not sure I did.

David spoke his reassuring words to me, and I finally decided to take a moment and hear him out. Maybe he was telling the truth. Maybe I was safe.

I had a seat on the bench next to him, and I asked him the question that was burning in my mind.

"Are you a vampire?" I demanded. This was not an optional question. I needed to know. I had to know, and I could not and would not tolerate any more of his bullshit answers. He was going to tell me straight up or I was going to slap the shit out of him again.

"Yes." David said in matter of factly. "But I will not hurt you. Lucas Sangrey turned me about three hundred years ago. He kept me as a slave much as he did you. I finally managed to get free about a century ago and I have been running from him and fighting him and his minions and freeing slaves like you ever since."

"So let me guess." I said in reply. "These other vampires are all people he turned as well. They are trying to help these humans, right? They are trying to keep them safe, and they can leave whenever they wish?

"Not all of them. Some of them were made by Sangrey, others were made by other vampires. Noone staying here is a prisoner." David said. "Anyone can leave when the doors open when the sun goes down. They cannot leave in the middle of the day because the sun would kill all of the vampires who have taken refuge here, and we are still in the middle of constructing a sun free zone in the underground so that we no longer have to worry about the possibility of the sun killing us. It's not that you cannot leave, you just cannot leave until the sun comes down again. I am sorry but it is something we do to protect the blood drinkers that we have taken in here."

I felt myself calm down immediately as David explained this. I studied his features again, and I could kind of see what I could not see before. His skin was not as pale as normal vampires, but it was still paler than a human. He was stunningly handsome, but then again a lot of supernatural creatures tended to be. The thing that gave it away the most at this point was something I had missed before because I had not really looked. His nails. They were like glass. Beautiful but inhuman. How could I have missed that? I asked myself. I made a mental note to pay more attention to things like that in the future.

"Come on let's get something to eat. I know you have to be starving. Its a few hours after dinner time, and you have hypoglycemia, the last thing we need is to worry about you getting sick because you waited too long to get something to eat. I know you have some of your shots with you but you have a limited number, and I dont want to have to waste them just because we put off having dinner."

"How did you know?" I asked. "Never mind I don't really care let's just get something to eat. At least I should get some food before my low blood sugar kicks in and we have a major problem.

We entered an adjacent room, where I helped myself to some sandwiches. Cold cuts, not the most appealing food in the world, but it was food and it would take care of the problem of my blood sugar for the time being.

I got up from where I was seated, and then I bumped into David by accident. His skin was cold, and it alerted me to the fact that he had not fed himself in some time. If he had fed more recently than he wouldn't have been so cold to the touch and would have carried the warm of his last meal.

"You can feed from me if you need to." I said. I could not believe that I was actually volunteering to do this. Had I lost my damned mind? He was a vampire. I had no idea how much self control he had and I did not know him.

I studied him carefully, wondering as I did whether or not he was going to go ahead and take my invitation.

David looked at me with those haunting eyes, as if considering my invitation and trying to decide if this was something he really wanted to do. He looked like he was very unsure, and I wondered of what exactly. Was he afraid of hurting me? Was he afraid of getting too close? Was he afraid this was going to change the dynamic between us forever? Whatever it was, something was definitely scaring him about the proposition of doing as I had invited him to do.

"Are you sure, Adriana?" David asked me. He seemed to almost be warning me of something. I just wasn't able to read between the lines.

"Yes, David I am sure. I wouldn't have offered to do this if I was not sure that it was something that I wanted to do. Drink from me. It is the least I can do in return for what you did for me."

David finally seemed to have decided to take the invitation. He took my right hand in his, and brought it to his mouth, and sank fangs into my wrist, and gently started to drink.

It was a sensation I should have been prepared for. I was a blood doll to a Vampire King for most of my life. However this was a new level of euphoria. I do not know what it was.

Perhaps he had a special ability that made it feel this way. Maybe it was because he was not a monster that was basically using me. Perhaps it was because he was stunningly handsome and I was attracted to him. Whatever it was, this was taking me to new heights, and I was embarrassed at just how good it felt, and I was worried because I knew that he could sense it and could totally see my reaction to this.

He pulled away rather meekly, had a seat again. Although I never had any concerns whatsoever about offering my blood to my liberator, I never thought I would be giving my blood to any other vampire and I honestly did not know what to think about the fact I had actually done so.

When the Reckoning occurred thirty years ago and human families were divided amongst the various vampire families out there, I was made the property of Lucas Sangrey after all. Noone else should have ever touched me. Yet here I was offering myself freely to another.

David pulled me close and started to kiss me, and I was totally and completely startled by the action. I did not kiss him back at first, and then I felt his hand going to the small of my back, pulling me closer. There was a heat between the two of us, and sparks of desire came from deep within my soul. I knew now that he obviously felt the same way that I did. This absolutely terrified me. Giving my blood and risking injury never frightened me, but being kissed by this vampire scared the living shit out of me.

I pulled away, and he let me. He could see the look on my face and knew my uncertainty and fear by the look that was plastered on my face.

"I'm sorry." I said, apologizing for the way that I had reacted to the kiss. I started to walk away from him, uncertain just where in the hell I was going as I walked through the nearest door, trying to escape his presence. This was really happening. I had really just been kissed by someone who did not own me for the first time in my life, and I had no idea what I planned to do about it.

That was when the door opened behind me, and David stood there, capturing my gaze with those mysterious brown eyes. I watched him watching me, and tried to gather my thoughts so I knew what to say.

David followed me in the other room and took my hand. "Where are you going?" He asked. "You have no idea what secrets this place holds. Never go wandering around here without me. I do not want anything to happen to you. It is up to me to keep you protected because I brought you to this place, and I cannot do that if I do not know where you are."

I paused for a moment as David took my hand and stopped me from going into the next room. "Well would you like to tell me, just how safe is the safe house? I do not expect a total and complete tour, but if you have like a horde of zombies in the basement or a demon chained up or something like that, I would like to know."

"No it is nothing like that. Its just that its a big long maze and I do not want you to get lost. These tunnels are very old and it would be very easy for you to get lost in them. That is the only concern I have Adriana. I assure you we do not keep zombies demons or anything else in the basement here."

"Well that is reassuring." I said in reply. "I would not be very happy with you right now if I found out that you took me to a place that zombies, demons, or anything else resided. I am uncomfortable enough obviously with the fact that you have vampires here. But I hope that you are stronger than they are an able to deal with any issues that may arise from having them here.

I stopped dead in my tracks, and made my way over to the nearest chair, a plain wooden thing that was as uncomfortable as the benches that were situated in this room.

David asked as he put his hand on my shoulder. I was shaking I realized as I heard his voice deep in my mind.

"I know where you are Adriana." He whispered in a chilling tone that he had used with me over and over again since I had come to be his slave many moons ago. "I know where you are and I am going to find you. I swear this on all I hold dear. I am going to find everyone who means anything to you, and I am going to kill them. I am going to keep doing this until you return to me. And tell David I know he is behind this my dear, and he is also going to pay for what he has done. Rest assured I will have my revenge."

"What is it Adriana?" David asked of me in a supportive tone of voice. He could tell that something was wrong. He was a powerful enough vampire that he was able to sense that something was amiss, though it was obvious now that he had no idea what that was, and that he still need to be informed of what had been said to me, and what I had just experienced.

"It's Sangrey..." I whispered, in a tone that would have been hard for a human to pick up. but David was no human and I knew he had no trouble hearing what I had said whatsoever.

"Lucas says he knows where to find us. He told me that he will kill everyone that I know, everyone that I love, until I return to him. David I don't think I can do this. I think freedom was just a pipe dream. I have family out there in the world. I have friends I have made. If something were to happen to one of them I do not know what I would do."

"It's going to be all right. Even if he knows where we are, this place is secure. I am not the only supernatural creature of any power that resides here. He would have to start a war with the mage community, and I doubt sincerely he is going to want to do that." David looked towards one of the exits and then offered me his hand. "Let's go Adriana, I will find you a place to sleep. You need some rest so that we can talk and decide what our best course of action is now that you are free."

I followed him into one of the sleeping quarters within the safehouse, and fell asleep, though not without trouble. I was going to have to give a lot of thought as to whether or not this 'Great' Escape' was something I was ultimately going to be ok with. The cost was going to be so much higher than I ever realized. But for now I was free of such worries and lost in the land of dreams.

I, Lucas Sangrey was seated in my red upholstered chair, keenly aware that it was more comfortable than the wooden chair that my run away slave, Adriana was seated in just a little bit earlier that night.

I could see everything through her eyes. I do not think that Adriana was aware of this at all as she hid within this underground safehouse with one of my greatest enemies, David Hansen. If my little blood doll had known just how much I knew about what she had done since escaping me she would have been even more terrified than she already was.

David was one of my biggest mistakes. I had sired him three centuries ago thinking that I was going to have a companion, a lover, and someone that would keep me company throughout the ages. It was good at first, we had a steamy relationship, walked the night together and killed so many people that we were the stuff of local legends wherever we went. People feared us, and I was happier than I had been in several hundred years.

Then he got religion or something. I still am not entirely sure what happened and how I lost him to the world of the righteous. All I know is that he stopped murdering people and started liberating them, and he called it 'penance' for all the evil that he had done. He was not a lot of fun like this. He was a real buzz kill, and needless to say, he had no more room in his life for a relationship with someone that was totally and completely at peace with being a vampire and all that that entailed.

One of my other blood dolls, a stunningly beautiful blonde woman who was in a state of undress when she knelt before me offering her wrist like a butler offered a glass of fine wine, could obviously tell as I pulled her to me and ripped her throat clean out that I was in a foul mood. Unfortunately she was not ever going to notice anything else.

My sister Lucia entered the room, with a look of disapproval on her face. "Another one? Slaves cost money brother and they do not grow on trees, and this is the third one that you have killed just this week. And the Otherkin Council is going to be very cross with you for continuing to break the law and killing them like this."

"I do not recognize the authority of the Otherkin Council Lucia. You know this." I said as I rose from the chair and stopped just a stone's throw away from Lucia, looking her up and down. "So I see you outdid yourself getting ready for the party tonight.

Do you think that David is going to be able to resist coming? The Slave Auction in the basement should get the attention of HOCA. That damned pesky group of Freedom Fighters needs to be put in their place. They are about as annoying as the damned Otherkin Council.

They do not deserve anything except our contempt. They certainly do not deserve our obedience. You are a Sangrey, a Queen in your own right. Stop acting like a pauper and bowing in fear before the likes of them. They deserve nothing save our contempt."

"You are right brother. Our father would have wanted us to reclaim the throne for the Sangrey Bloodline. We are kings and queens in our own right. I have forgotten this. The Otherkin Council has been promoting peace and cooperation with the humans and the Others for far too long."

Lucia smoothed the invisible wrinkles of her dress with her smooth manicured hand, and then said. "We ought to hurry up and make our appearance at the party. It is our own party after all, and we are more than a little fashionably late to it."

"Two days late. A Sangrey is always at least two days late to everything. Preferably three. We will live forever so we have nothing but time after all." I said with a big grin as I went to the closet and pulled out my new jacket to complete my outfit.

"Have someone clean that rug again. No actually throw it out and just have a new one brought in. After cleaning it it would cost so much money that we might as well just replace it and while we are at it the throw rug in the dining room and in the foyer."

Lucia nodded and took my arm, and together we finally headed downstairs to make an entrance at our own party. I was more than a little excited. I whispered an invitation into David's mind as I finally descended the stairs, ready for blood, food, sex and some entertainment. "Come and get me."

I went down to the party with my sister Lucia. She took my hand in hers, and I presented her to the crowd.

Frank, one of my slaves opened the door to the large ball room and looked back at me and my sister nervously, as if he was afraid that he was going to say something wrong and invoke my wrath. I had already killed three slaves that week, so I sort of understood that. I was kind of terrifying.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Frank said, announcing our presence in a loud voice that demanded respect. "May I present, our king, Lucas Sangrey, and Princess Lucia Sangrey."

Frank quickly stepped out of the way and shrank back as if I had slapped him. I quirked a brow in his direction and barked. "Get out of here. I am sure you have something more important to do than to stand here and open the door for a bunch of idiots."

Frank did not have to be told twice. He made himself scarce, which I probably would have done if I had been him. I was really in a bad mood this week after all, and although it would have cost me money, there was a very real possibility I would kill another three of my slaves before the week was out.

"Don't look at me in that tone of voice." I said to Lucia as she chastised me without words.

"Lucas, you are really being a dick lately. It is starting to get boring." My sister said.

"Go mingle and shut the hell up." I told my sister. I was not in the mood for a lecture from a woman, even if this woman was my only sister.

In my boredom and irritation, I reached out with my abilities to scan the minds of Adriana, my little blood doll. You see, as soon as a vampire drinks from a mortal, he or she has permanent access to that mortal's mind unless the blood bond is broken by the intervention of a mage. This basically means, that even though Adriana may have gotten away from me, until David could get her to a mage to break our blood bond, she was still within my reach.

I could sense Adriana's fear, and it was palpable. Through her eyes, I could see various escaped slaves, hunters, and vampire sympathizers. I had the names and faces of many people who would eventually be punished, put to death or condemned to a life in slavery, exile or prison. If I got my hands on them, they would certainly be punished, and with me being in the mood I was in, it did not bode well for many of them.

I decided to watch and listen. I could have spoken more threats into this woman's mind, but sometimes silence speaks volumes, and I knew if I refrained from speaking I would merely increase her fear. I knew her better than she knew herself after all, and I wanted her to stew with it.

I saw something I was not expecting though as I stood there in the back of the ball room drinking a glass of blood wine spying on the little bitch that had escaped my grasp.

There was smoke. At first I thought it was intentionally set and someone was cooking nearby, and then I realized that this was not the case, and that someone had intentionally sat a fire.

There were screams of panic as the trapped vampires and humans started to push their way towards the exits to try and get out. I felt a little bad about the fact I had not thought about getting someone from the inside to set a fire to cause a diversion, but it did not matter, because a fortunate turn of events had given me exactly what I needed in order to hunt them down.

"David!" I could hear Adriana scream. "David where are you?" She was knocked to the ground by someone that was trying to flee, and I felt the irritation rise in me. I could no longer see anything but feet on the floor in front of me.

"What is it, Lucas?" Lucia said to me as she approached with less caution than she probably should have given the look that must have been plastered on my face.

"There is a fire in the safehouse where Adriana and David are hiding." I exclaimed.

"This is a good thing Lucas," My sister said in reply. "They have to come out of hiding now, or they burn to death. It is only a matter of time before you find them."

The fire was not the most pleasant experience I had ever had. Fighting my way through a crowd of panicked people trying to escape certain death was not something that I wished to repeat any time soon. The fear, the apprehension, the uncertainty, it was something that would haunt my dreams for a very long time.

The important thing was that I got out. The bad thing however, was that I did not know whether or not David did. I paused, and said to myself. "Ok Adriana. You appear to be on your own now. You need to pull it together and decide what to do."

By this point I had already called for David several times mind you. I had not immediately given up hope that he had survived the fire, even though I could not find him. A lot of people were exiting that place. More people than I realized were down there, and so he could have been in the middle of helping others get out and to safety. Given the boy scout he seemed to be, that was very likely the case here.

I asked myself. "Could this get any worse?" My heart was beating fast, sweat was pouring down my face. I was coughing from the smoke. I did not have my purse which had my insulin supplies with it.

I was about to find out, as strong arms grabbed me, and a hand went over my mouth to block out the screams, that yes, this was about to get very very bad.

I was dragged kicking and screaming into the back of a nearby van. I did not see David anywhere. I immediately recognized the driver of the van as one of Lucas Sangrey's lackeys. He got on the phone and called the Vampire King. "We have her, master."

"What about David?" Lucas said through the speaker phone. I could hear the satisfaction dripping from his voice. He had recaptured me. This was not good for me, but this was great for him. If I did not manage to escape again before they got me back to Sangrey's home, than I was going to be in deep shit.

The van started rolling off towards the manor, and I started trying my damnedest to kick my way out of the back of the van. Some how, I got the back door open.

Now I knew it was dangerous to do this, but I knew it was also dangerous to be returned to the home of my master after my escape. He would hurt me for escaping, perhaps he would even kill me, and that was the last thing that I wanted to deal with right now.

I went for it. I had already risked my life several times over the past few days, what was one more time after all?

The man driving down the road did not immediately realize that I had escaped again. He was probably going to get killed for it. I couldn't help but not be too bothered by this. After all, the only person's fate that I currently was worried about other than my own was David's. David was the only person who had ever risked his life to save mine after all, so this made him the only person who was worth worrying about in return.

Now I was free again. I started running for the last place I figured that Lucas Sangrey would look for me. I began making my way towards Lycan territory. If Lucas wanted to come and get me now, he would have to risk starting a war.

I was afraid as I stepped into the forest which was deep in the heart of Lycan territory, but at this point, I was out of options. It was early evening, but the sun had not yet set over the horizon, so at least I did not have to worry about being found by vampires at this point in time. Besides, the chances of a vampire being stupid enough to stumble upon me here was very low. At least I hoped it was. Indeed I was counting on it.

I continued on until I came upon a nearby stream that I could only imagine the wolves used to drink. It would only make sense that this would be the case as it was the main source of water for this area. I had to give it to the Lycans, their territory was absolutely beautiful I did not get to see much wilderness as the Blood Doll of a powerful Vampire Lord, and this was a refreshing change of pace for me, being able to appreciate nature. If only I was not putting myself at risk while doing it.

Although I was marked as Blood Oathed and vampires would recognize me as a Blood Doll, or toy of a powerful vampire on sight, Lycans would not recognize me as such. Powerful and influential Lycans would know who I was and who I belonged to however, which could be both a good and a bad thing for me, depending on which Lycan I ran across.

It was not long before a wolf found me. A beast in wolf form. I knew he was a Lycan based on the fact he was slightly largely than a regular wolf, and because he had these blood red eyes that barred into my soul. Hungry eyes, that looked me over and seemed to consider whether I would make a good meal.

"Wait!" I cried, hoping he would hear me out, and not just attack. "I want to speak to your leader." I repeated myself. "I am Adriana Hansen, and I am asking for sanctuary from your Alpha from the Vampire King and his minions."

The Lycan shifted back into human form, and peered at me with those dark feral eyes of his. What I said obviously got his attention.

"Come with me human." He said as he led me deeper into the forest. I followed him without a word, nervous as he lead me deeper into camp where a bunch of men were seated around a fire. They turned in my direction, starring at me, many of them with lust in their eyes. I wondered if I had made a mistake in coming here briefly, but I decided to hold my own and to try not to show just how nervous and afraid I was.

The Alpha, a dark haired main with tan skin and a nice muscular chest stepped forward. He was naked so it was easy to appreciate every single inch of him as he approached me.

"Come sit by the fire and have a drink with us, and I'll get you something to eat and drink." He said as he invited me to come over and sit with him next to the warm fire. "I am Marcus, and I am the Alpha of this pack. It is very good to meet you.

"Do not worry anymore, Adriana." The Alpha said to me in a self assured confident voice. "You are safe her and you are now under the protection of the Silver Moon pack. No vampire in his right mind is going to come looking for you here. Not even Lucas Sangrey."

I had a seat next to the fire, and let the warmth of it and the presence of these Lycans give me comfort. I did not know how safe I really felt honestly, but at least for the moment I did not have to worry about the Vampire King.

Undoubtedly Lucas Sangrey would eventually figure out where I had gone. Some how, he always figured out where I was, and found me no matter how far I ran. I did not really understand it. I dreaded running into the monster again, but at least now, for the moment I was going to be ok, and that was all that really mattered.

"Do you know what happened to David?" I asked Marcus. "Have your people had any word of him? He saved me from Lucas Sangrey yesterday. He gave me the courage to run from the man when I did not ever think that I would be able to do that. We got separated earlier in the fire that broke out in the Safehouse I was hiding with him at. I pray nothing happened to him.

"No, I am sorry." Marcus said in reply. "I know who David is, everyone knows him. He is a good man, for a vampire. I do not know where he is though. If I hear anything you will be the first to know. But try not to worry about anything for the moment and just relax. You are safe now, and under my protection. I will not let anything happen to you while you are here. I assure you. Now eat and drink, enjoy the hospitality of our pack, and do not worry about anything else for the rest of the evening. When tomorrow comes I will send out members of the pack to try and find out whatever I possibly can about the whereabouts of your friend David. I promise you. If there is anything we can do to help him, I will do that too."

I took the offered food. It was a fresh stew, and it was some of the best food that I had ever had.

"This is very good, thank you." I said, complimenting the Alpha for the meal that he had prepared.

"You can thank Kyle over there. He is our cook, and he is very good at it. That and telling stories and getting himself into a boat load of trouble with the ladies. Isn't that right Kyle?" Marcus said, patting the older man on the back as he sat beside me enjoying his own food.

Once I had finished eating, I felt myself starting to get drowsy. I felt relaxed enough in the presence of these Lycans that I was able to drift off and actually get a bit of sleep.