Alpha's Little Vampire

With tears rolling into itself, Charlotte was mourning for her father's sudden demise. Only her friend's family was attending the funeral in this untimely rainstorm. Her best friend Ava's arm was wrapped around her tight, holding her close under her umbrella. Even in the flickers of fire in complete darkness, the look in Charlotte's swollen eyes could break anyone's heart. The kind where the tears are lifeless and the death of loved one seems surreal. There was no use of crying and wailing, tears were not going to bring life back to her father's deceased body.

Mostly funerals are sweet sorrow, there are memories of good times that came as blossoming spring meadows. But that wasn't the case for her. There was endless darkness wherever she looked. With no relative left to support her, Charlotte was on her own now.

As only daughter of the vampire house guard Carl Williams, she paid for her father's funeral with the saved money of her tuition fee. At least, she was able to afford a proper goodbye to her loving father. Rest could be arranged later.

That 'later' came for her shortly after the funeral, Carl's boss gave her the notice of loan repayment which was due next week.

"Your father took twenty thousand dollars as loan for your study. He was paying it back with his paycheck as monthly installments. Now, when he is dead and you are not a boy who can take his place, we want our remaining money with ten percent interest."

Charlotte was heartbroken with the fact that her father was working extra hours to pay for her college.

How ignorant she was!

She could have a part time job but no, her father never let her discover that they were tight on money. All of her life, she lived in a custom made paradise, which shattered with a single blow of reality. Indeed, life is unpredictable.

If Uncle Tadd (Ava's father) didn't help her, she would have ended up in prison. He sold her one room flat to repay the debt and Ava found her a cleaning job in the same mansion where she was working. Charlotte was more than thankful to them for saving her sanity.

She left college and started working as a cleaner, as she had no money left to pay for her last semester. Ava suggested her to apply for student's loan, but when there wasn't a penny in pocket to buy blood for meals, how could she think about luxury of education.

Days passed and with her continuous hard work, Charlotte got another job at human bar. Pay was more than normal cleaning work, eight hours of night shift solved her residence problem. She shifted from Ava's house to a rented room, which she shared with three servant girls.

Room was quite comfortable to share but difference of their status was a problem in maintaining good relationship with them. Charlotte was a day walker, because she was born as a vampire and her roommates were sired by some unknown day walker. They were also struggling for living just like her, as rules for human hunt were strict than ever. This brought them closer, she also found an acquaintance to go out at night considering worsening condition on border.

From previous five years, neighboring wolf pack was growing by multiplying both in numbers and lands. Alpha prohibited vampires to hunt freely, ensuring the safe trade of blood. Only Royals were allowed to hunt during full moon night, and pets were a status symbol for rich and respected. As Charlotte didn't belong to any category, she was surviving on cold blood bags just like sired ones. It wasn't a favorite method for her, but only affordable way to live on.

It wasn't that there was no King in vampire kingdom, but last battle didn't end well for Royal Vampires.

The new head of Werewolf Council (neighbor Alpha) was a ruthless killing machine, he alone was enough for an army of sired vampires. Vampire King lost the battle and his younger brother; a peace treaty with Alpha's rules saved them from further damage. He was also childless despite of two hundred years of married life, that played a pivotal role in surrendering before classic enemy.

Anyhow, Charlotte's life was finally back on routine. Although it wasn't an ideal scenario, but her heart was at peace. She was a brave daughter of her loving father, she was definitely going to survive this hard time.

As for her mother, she died during childbirth, leaving her under Carl's care. He brought her up like a princess despite of being an ordinary worker. Now, when he also left her at tender age of ninety years old(seventeen years in human life), this was a huge turning point in her life.

Journey of a carefree girl to someone counting coins before spending was great in terms of self growth.

Working in a bar broadened her horizon, she was introduced to a new way of earning: having a rich boyfriend. Countless girls preyed over spoilt brats, who spent hundreds of dollars per night for their company. Unfortunately, she wasn't a fit for this opportunity. Vampires were known to be hypnotically beautiful creatures but Charlotte's chubby body was quite the opposite of folklores.

She had a symmetrical round body, without any distinct curve, as there was lots of fat on her every body part. She was like this from early childhood, her father often joked that her mother merged their bodies at the time of death.

So back to business, this money earning method was out of question. Her midnight black hair and sea green eyes were not impressive even for human boys, this lead to another tension in her mind: will her beloved also dislike her?

Thought of rejection kept startling her in her dreams as well as in reality. Seeing her worsening condition, Ava assured her,

"Don't worry, believe in the bond of souls. No one can ignore the attraction between two parts of the same soul. Purity of heart matters, focus on good things about future. I am sure your beloved will love you for who you are."

Both of them were at the age where girls yearn to be loved and appreciated and unlike Charlotte, Ava was hopeful for their happily ever after.

Charlotte's work was going great but there was a slight inconvenience she was facing on her way back to home. She was bullied by a werewolf patrol team on daily basis, who considered her a plaything due to her weak aura.

One night she came back, bruised with sharp claw marks on her back. Her roommate Rory attended her immediately and offered her own ration to heal her back. She was also concerned about border's aggravating state, the warriors of neighbor pack were victimizing sired vampires for fun.

In the past, there was at least thousand miles distance between vamp-were border. It was occupied by some rogues, but Alpha eradicated the entire rogue pack and claimed that land too. From that day, all nightwalkers were bullied by night duty warriors.

As sired vampires were considered as "extra" even in the vampire kingdom, Vampire King paid no heed to these incidents. Days walkers were privileged but none of them worked in night bars so patrol wolves also considered Charlotte as a sired one: their next favorite toy. Her un attractive appearance was quite funny for them, they enjoyed calling her names, and cursing her eating habits, claiming it as their concern for her well being.

"Eat less, you polar bear! We don't know the blood also came with extra fat packaging."

"Maybe there's a new type of vampires who suck calories instead of blood. ROFL!"

Charlotte never responded to their verbal abuse no matter how heart rending it was. She was also a Goddess's creation just like them, it wasn't her fault that she was like this, round and fat!

Unhappy with her silence, they often use their claws and due to this, she had to buy extra ration everyday for fast recovery. But this was disturbing the balance of her earning and spending. Normal produce was cheap but blood, it was as precious as gold due to it's high demand. She was fed up of this routine of bruised and blooded body, occasionally broken bones were not in counting yet.

Along with her continuous suffering, there was another incident which frightened her. There was a cute little girl of her age in their basement, working as a waitress in same bar where she worked. She was the most famous among human boys, her slender waist earned her at least five hundred dollars daily.

Yesterday, her dead body was found by a guard. She was gang raped and tormented with draining tactic, which was the cause of her death.

This occurrence was eye opening for every one. Charlotte was so afraid that she contacted her friend Ava about this problem, who recommended her for cleaning job in a school with same pay. Once again, she was on her rescue mission.

Charlotte went to that bar one last time to conclude her work there. Her visit was necessary to get her paycheck, so it was just a matter of an hour that she'll be back safely. She noticed the time of bully's team duty so she was relaxed tonight.

But to her dismay, she encountered seven new warriors on her way back, who were more crueler and deadlier than previous ones.

"You low life, how dare you trespass in our territory? You should be punished severely."

She was flabbergasted at their false accusation. She was just a passerby, walking through the thin long path specially allotted for sired vampires. She tried to reason with hot headed wolves, who were clearly in the mood of no mercy.

"Kneel down and accept your fate. You should have died long ago, we are just doing you a favor."

In between countless blows, Charlotte cried to say that she is a born vampire, but they were too busy to listen her tiny voice among their loud growls.

"Shut up, you bloodsucker! You are not even pretty so we could think about having you as a slave. Disgusting!"

Their leader kicked in her stomach while jerking her body, forcefully grabbing her hairs. She yelped in pain and screamed, which was adding a boast to their fun.

"She is round like a football, brother. Let's use her extra cushion for practice."

On that junior's vile suggestion, a new torture of soccer game started, with Charlotte as a ball in it.

This continued for a while, but then unsatisfied with their heartless game, their leader once again turned towards her with two warriors fixing her against tree trunk. He plunged his razor sharp claw in her flesh, tearing her belly and chest apart.

Charlotte screamed while closing her eyes, and waited for death. That's when her father's trick flash a crossed her mind, like he was trying to help her desperately.

"Predators hunt for fun, Charlotte. They love to torture their prey and enjoy their misery. Don't provide them entertainment, this can save your life."

Immediately, she pretended to zonk out, not responding to his powerful blows.

"We were just started having fun and she passed out. What a bummer!"

At the sudden end of their enjoyment, they left dejectedly cursing about weakness of vampire race.

Lying alone in the deep forest, Charlotte was in desperate need of fresh blood to survive.

But how?

She wasn't in state to hunt, and border was almost 10 miles away. In her desperate need, she called to the Goddess Sanguis, whom she loved and worshipped from her heart.

"Please save me this time, I'll never leave my hometown ever again!"

She was waiting for a miracle when leaves rustled, she scented a strong werewolf with at least six to seven warriors. Her heart thumped at this, considering that another team was here, tracking the scent of her blood. It was her experience that high ranking wolves were more vile than juniors, and her bad luck invited some high ups to end her life right now.

"Oh no! I am doomed!

Goddess, one chance, please!"

How it feels to witness your life draining in a way you never expected, never dreamed of? What would be the last thing in your mind when you realize that this is it, there's not a second more left? What is the extent of dread you endure when you could hear your killer coming towards you slowly, increasing your agony with his each step?

Charlotte was feeling all of the above with her life hanging by a thread. She closed her eyes shut as the beasts approached her, feeling sorry for herself. She was so weak that she couldn't survived six months without her father, how much ashamed he must be in the heaven?

Her breathing was getting shallow and her mind drowning into darkness, waiting for a big sharp claw to end her life. Anticipation was worse than real deal, she begged in her heart for easy, swift death.

Instead, her sensitive nose itched at the most powerful scent of warm blood, the scent she never encountered before. Surprisingly, life saving warm liquid was poured in to Charlotte's mouth, her fangs extended and she grabbed the source of it, drinking desperately.

Her savior didn't mind her sudden shift of lifeless body to a hungry predator and even let her quench her thirst. Crimson blood was sweet and refreshing, something she never tasted before. She took a break to catch her breath, keeping that hand in her mouth. It was fun to suck strong essence from hard callous palm, she rubbed her tongue on the wound greedily.

"If you are done, release my hand."

Her savior said respectfully, showing great patience. Charlotte did not leave his hand and looked up to see the one Goddess sent for her rescue.

The stranger was a young man seated beside her, his appearance was also unique just like his blood. White shoulder length straight hair, sharp jaw line, thin lips and his eyes: Silver eyes with black slits was a deadly combination, totally captivating. Their eyes met and Charlotte felt a jolt of electricity across her body. It was mainly due to his intense unfriendly gaze, his handsome face was annoyed at her ogling. Not to mention his evenly toned muscular bare body, which she didn't gather enough guts to slip past his neckline.

"Are you enjoying my hand?"

He used his eyes to gesture towards his injured hand which was still in her mouth; Charlotte's heart skipped a beat regardless of her near death experience.

As she was her father's princess, he taught her some rules to live in this harsh world. One of the major teaching was: there is no guarantee that your savior is a good man, in fact you should be aware of the one who helps you in danger. In future, he could be a greater problem than before.

Despite of her 20 years long educational career and repeated lessons on dealing with strangers, Charlotte's heart was at peace. There was an unspoken trust surrounding her, she felt safe in his presence. It was like an unspoken agreement between souls that he would protect her no matter what.

Charlotte came back to her senses when he literally shook his hands to break free. It broke her trance, she immediately let him go and apologized sincerely.

"I am sorry, my savior. I was almost dried down that's why it took me some time to reign in my thirst. Please accept my heart felt gratitude for saving my life."

Mr. Savoir got up, then she realized that there were eight more warrior wolves standing behind him.

"What are you doing here? Who hurt you?"

His cold voice was demanding, bearing an order in his domineering tone. He was puzzled that why a vampire was there covered with claw marks in the middle of night. This aroused his curiosity and the sense of justice in his heart.

Charlotte tried to say something about this incident, but thinking that it's not going to happen again, she replied his query with her own.

"Who are you? I just want to know your name so I can repay your kindness, my savior."

That tall powerful man was bothered at her question, but still, he replied patiently.

"I am Alpha Eric Dietor of the Silver Moon Pack, the head of Werewolf Council. I noticed that you are injured by werewolves, tell me what happened here?"

His booming Alpha tone terrified her, she panicked at this bigger issue now. He is THE ALPHA ERIC, overachiever neighboring Alpha who is ruling over several packs with iron fist. She was aghast at this uncanny revelation.

"What is this Goddess? I asked for a savior not that Alpha who is infamous enemy of the entire vampire kind. What should I do now?"

In her extreme panic, she did something ridiculous which can be considered as mindless and stupid.

Yes! She tried to run away.

From her childhood, she always heard that werewolves were strong and best at fighting naturally. To compensate this weakness, vampires were blessed with lightening speed. Their slender legs were capable to sprint away with the speed of forty miles per hour. This credulity was the reason behind her awful escape plan.

Charlotte was confident with her pace, considering that she would be secured in the safety of her kingdom in a matter of seconds, but she was terribly wrong. Approaching steps of Alpha just behind her back shattered her castle of overconfidence.

In a flash, she was pinned against a huge tree trunk. Her arms she always considered so meaty to be grabbed by two hands were cuffed by Alpha's one gigantic hand, her body completely immobile with the barrier of his long leg. Charlotte closed her eyes shut, dreading her mistake as the last one of her life.

Life was so prejudiced against her!