Master Alpha
Chapter 8

Rhea sat at the round oak table in the dining room of Xavier’s house. She sat at one end of the table while Elias sat in the chair beside her. Two wine glasses filled with blood rested between them, a chilled wine bottle of blood in the center of the table. White ceramic plates rested on crimson place mats, one in front of each of them. Rhea’s plate had a rare steak soaked in blood while Elias’ plate encased a blood-soaked heart. Decants typically ate by hand with their canines as their cutlery. Instead, Elias had not brandished his canines once.

Rhea heard muffled voices somewhere in the house, her shoulders relaxing slightly. As expected, Lincoln detested the idea of her being alone with one of Xavier’s people, and was able to extend the invitation into the home further than dinner. While Rhea was with Elias, Lincoln was meeting with Xavier. Neither of Lincoln’s parents were old enough for death or retirement to be an option as of yet, but she knew that Lincoln was tired of ruling behind his parents. He would never challenge them, but he craved the assurance that the legacy that they had built would stay standing long after they were gone. And he is the one in charge of keeping that legacy alive, she thought.

Rhea cut into the steak and pulled the steak off the fork with her teeth. Her eyes widened in surprise at the flavor in the blood, it was infused with red wine. “Oh my god, this is delicious,” she said as she took another bite.

“Thank you,” Elias replied as he finished a sip from his glass. He then cut into the heart in front of him with a knife and took a bite.

“Why did you request this dinner with me instead of my Master Alpha?” Rhea asked as she drank from her glass.

“Because I wanted to understand a Nanta.”

“Which my Master Alpha is.”

“He is half, as he is half Decant,” Elias said as he took another bite. “He is fascinating because he is an abomination, but you? You are fascinating because you are forbidden fruit.”

Rhea cocked an eyebrow at Elias. “I hope that you understand that my agreeing to dinner does not deem me as permitted fruit, Heir Elias.”

“Of course not,” he grinned. “And, please, just Elias. My hope in this dinner is to just get to know you.”

“Ask away. You will realize that we are not so different,” she said as she finished her steak.

“On some aspects, sure,” he nodded after a drink. “We are both monsters, but our monsters are different. I become a wolf, but you don’t change at all.”

“That is our only difference. I still bleed like you do.”

“I wonder how you taste,” Elias pondered. He chuckled when he noticed Rhea tense. “Relax, I’m not going to eat you.”

“I wouldn’t let you if you tried,” Rhea answered calmly as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“You think you can stop me?”

“I know I can. You are one monster. My Master Alpha is two, and I train with him daily.”

“Care to show me?”

“What?” Rhea laughed. “You have to be joking. I will not fight the prince when I’m the outcast here.”

“I am serious.”

“As am I, I will not harm you.”

Elias lunged at Rhea suddenly. She pulled from her speed to push herself away from the table. She jumped in the air as the force of the push sent her chair clattering to the floor. She grabbed the wine bottle off the table and rushed to the other side of the table. She faced Elias while she brandished the wine bottle over her should like a baseball bat ready to be swung. She watched Elias’ eyes widen in realization as they finally focused on her still body. “I told you,” she shrugged. “I won’t hurt you, no matter how you bait me.”

“Fascinating,” he whispered. “Decants are fast, but not that fast. Your Master Alpha must be terrifying.”

Rhea grinned as she saw the gears turn in Elias’ mind. Lincoln had been a rumor, almost a myth, to this pack. A man composed of two monsters with all of their strengths. The only weakness that Rhea knew that Lincoln had kept was the Decant allergy to silver. Silver did not burn his skin like acid like it did for regular Decants; rather, it became the pain of a sunburn that was constantly intensifying. She tilted her head curiously at Elias. “You aren’t going to boast that you are stronger than my Master Alpha?”

“Am I?”

“No.”

“Then what is the point?”

Elias rose to his feet. “My father may claim ignorance about your Master Alpha, but I do not. Prior to meeting you, I had heard stories of Nantas, so I began to believe that he could be stronger than myself.” Elias walked around the table to stand in front of Rhea. “Proof by your belt buckle and that knife on your hip, you are not allergic to silver like I am. You are strong like I am, of that I have no doubt, and your speed would leave me in the dust. I believed that he was stronger because of rumors. But, meeting you, I know that he is.”

“How does that reside with you?”

“Anything other than acceptance of your Master Alpha is a fool’s mentality. Denial and anger are not going to make him disappear.”

Rhea leaned her back against the table and set the wine bottle back down. “Tread lightly,” Rhea warned. “It is unwise to call your Alpha a fool.” She appreciated the honesty of the Heir, of his realization of Lincoln that the Decants and Nantas back home came to the day that Lincoln was born. Some people did retaliate against Lincoln, but he prevailed. He proved himself countless times, that he was not going anywhere and would not be treated with such degradation. Elias may be Xavier’s heir, but Xavier was still his Alpha. She commended him on speaking his truth but calling his leader idiotic may not end well for him. Elias was permitted to have his own thoughts, but was required to stand behind his Alpha, just like every other Decant with their Alpha. Or Luna, in our case, she thought.

Elias smiled softly. “A Nanta concerned for my safety? How sweet.”

“Would you rather I allow you to speak so poorly of your Alpha and feed you to the wolves? Pun intended.”

“I like you,” he grinned.

“I’m flattered,” she replied as she rolled her eyes.

“Do you like me?” he asked as he stepped closer to her. Rhea kept eye contact with Elias, not even flinching at his movement. She was able to read that he was a natural flirt, and possessed a rather endearing charm, but she was not naïve. She had heard that Xavier exhibited the same façade to Victoria and had only revealed his true nature after Victoria had become pregnant. Rhea studied the prince before her as she smiled lightly. “You’re tolerable.”

“Only tolerable?” Elias whispered as he took another step forward and placed a hand on her arm. “You should see me when I shift.”

“Ah, modesty,” Rhea teased. “But you should know that I cannot be around you tomorrow night, I cannot be around any of you.”

“It’s not modesty, dear, just fact,” he said as he gazed at his hand on her arm. “Your bright skin against mine, it glows like the moon will tomorrow night. How are you going to stay hidden?”

“I’ve had practice. Master Alpha and his Decant guard will pollute the room with their scent to mask mine, and I won’t leave the house.”

“Speaking of his scent, I do believe that he’s returning for you,” Elias whispered and turned his attention to the doorway.

As if on cue, Lincoln entered the doorway of the dining room. Rhea wanted to pull away from Elias but thought that doing so could be mis-interpreted. She had nothing to hide, and the point of the dinner as to build some sort of rapport with Elias. Like Lincoln was trying to do with Xavier, she thought. She studied Lincoln’s face and noticed fatigue as his most prominent emotion, which told her that he was wearing a mask. Lincoln had become rather skilled at masking his emotions, but his favorite mask to wear was fatigue. That, or everything that was on his mind was physically exhausting and he just does not care to hide it, she thought. His blue eyes were bright as he found her auburn ones but hardened suddenly as he observed the proximity of her and Elias.

“I see that dinner went well,” Lincoln nodded.

“It did,” Elias grinned, then looked at Rhea. “She is quite fascinating.”

“You’re only saying that because I’m the first Nanta that you have met,” Rhea said.

“That is partially true, but the other part is you just being you,” Elias said as he stroked her arm again. Rhea looked down this time and could not deny the beauty of their contrasting skins. He was right, her skin practically glowed against his darkness. As he moved his hand along her arm, the light of her skin sent ripples against his.

“He replaces you fascinating as well, Master Alpha,” Rhea spoke as she rose her eyes back to Lincoln’s. “You should sit with him one night.”

“I would like that,” Elias nodded. His eyebrow rose suddenly, and he turned to face Lincoln. Rhea noticed Lincoln’s clenched jaw and Elias’ shoulders roll in response. They sense something about each other, she thought. Rhea rested her hand on Elias’ hand that was still on her arm. His eyes shifted back to hers curiously. “For now, we need to retire. My Master Alpha drove the duration of our travels.”

“Why does his rest cause me your company as well?”

“Because I am his guard. I would be a piss poor one if I allowed him to rest alone on foreign territory.”

“Alone?” Elias teased.

“Jealous?” Rhea taunted as she removed her hand from his.

“You wish, my dear,” Elias grinned. He stepped away from her to allow her to return to Lincoln.

“Heir Elias,” Lincoln nodded.

“Master Alpha, Miss Rhea,” Elias nodded. “I will see you both tomorrow.”

“Thank you for dinner, and your company,” Rhea said.

“The pleasure was mine,” Elias smiled. Lincoln turned and began walking through the house. Rhea followed behind Lincoln and ran a hand through her hair. She was still unsure of the sincerity in Elias, if he truly harbored no resentment toward her kind. She remembered that Xavier sought a better truce than the current one but had made it very clear that the truce should not taint the other’s race. She watched Lincoln in front of her, and hated Xavier for that anger, that naivety. The most beautiful and compassionate man that she had ever known was threatened to be killed before he was even born, over something that he could not prevent. She wondered if Elias would have issued the same threat. I have to believe that he would have until I get to know him better, she thought.

As Lincoln exited the house, he turned left and began walking into the woods. Rhea followed him, slowing her tracks to give him privacy. Maybe the meeting with Xavier did not go as well as mine did, she thought. Even if Elias was sincere with his views toward the Nantas, Xavier was still the acting Alpha of his pack. If Xavier was still keeping a purely platonic truce, they would have to wait centuries for Elias to ascend and begin changing the world. Time wasted waiting for one man to change his mind, she thought. Sounds like every other ruler.

Lincoln turned around and faced Rhea. Worry had washed the exhaustion off his face, his blue eyes soft as he gazed into her auburn ones. She instantly walked up to him and touched her hand to his chest out of concern. “Linc, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing now,” he replied as he wrapped his hand over hers.

“So, what was wrong?”

“Why did you do that?”

“What, dinner?” Rhea sighed. “Linc, it was a good idea to meet the Heir and build some sort of relationship between him and a Nanta.”

“You flirted with him.”

“Well, it was a hell of a lot better than a purely professional conversation. It kept the atmosphere friendly.”

“And you let him touch you.”

“Yeah,” Rhea said slowly as confusion swirled in her eyes. “Because I was the first Nanta that he had ever met, and he was curious. Linc, what is this about?”

Rhea yanked her hand away from Lincoln and he flinched slightly at the motion. She never withdrew from him so harshly, but she wanted the truth. She crossed her arms over her chest as Lincoln clenched his jaw. “I don’t trust him,” he said through gritted teeth.

“And you think that I do?” Rhea scoffed. “Hell no. But I will not be so blinded by mistrust to deny a meeting with the future Alpha if there is a possibility of further smoothing over this truce. But you know all of this. If you still don’t trust me to do my job because of withholding Lillian’s condition from you, just fucking say it, Linc. You act like I’m going to break or that you can’t trust me, and I don’t appreciate either one anymore.”

Lincoln rubbed a hand over his face as Rhea glared at him. If he did not trust her enough to be a guard, she needed him to say it. Either he thought that she could not protect herself, or he worried that she was not reliable for important meetings. Whichever one it was, both possibilities were making her blood boil. She knew that she had earned some doubt with Lillian’s situation, but he could not think that she would sabotage him in Elias’ meeting. “It’s not about mistrust or fragility,” Lincoln spoke softly. “I care about you, Ray. This is fear of something happening to you.”

“Linc, we have enough actual threats to worry about. I’m not afraid for my safety, nor should you be. I will be fine,” Rhea spoke. Hearing Lincoln proclaim fear concerned her; he did not fear anything. “You need to rest. Can we go to bed now?” Lincoln simply nodded and began walking back to the village.