The Highest Stakes

Tyler spent most of the day not sleeping at all, Alexa had a 100 years on him. He finally woke up, seeing her sleeping next to him, he broke away from her and had a shower. He was just about to grab the soap, when he felt hands on him.

He turned around and saw Alexa, "Did I say you could use my shower?' as he smiled playfully, she smiled back, "Oh, you are so human still...all the jokes."

He looks at her, "Is that not what you like?" She takes the soap from him and shakes her head, "It is purely sexual reasons, feelings for someone because of their "personality" that doesn't exist anymore after time goes on."

He watches her soap up her hands and then bring them onto his body, she leans in "It's why Kira will; never go for you."

He breaks off and looks at her,"Why would you bring her up?" She continues to clean him, as she talks, "I am not a fool...I can tell she is what you desire, even more so when we were together but I will do my best..." Her hand finds his cock, "to help you move on."

-------------------------------------------------------
Moments later, they are downstairs and Alexa is getting Tyler his blood. All the vampires laugh at this but she does it anyways, then sits next to him. Resting her hand on his shoulder, admiring him.

Apparently Alexa and Tyler had gotten acquainted. Kira didn't dare look for long. Julian was watching them both. Perhaps last night had sated his doubts, but he still didn't like the fact that Tyler was here.

Alexa, meanwhile, was practically sitting in Tyler's lap. His level of discomfort was palpable.

"I believe I like our guest," Alexa proclaimed as her fingers wormed their way through the boy's hair. Her cleavage was proudly on display and nestled against his cheek.

"Well, I'm glad someone does," Julian said offhandedly, his fingers wrapped around a blood bag. From across the table, Abel chuckled and directed his gaze toward Tyler.

"Speaking of," he began, "how's that training coming along?"

Tyler looks at Julian and what he said, part of him wanted to say fine and leave the house but he didn't want to leave Kira. He realizes this and thinks he is really in big shit now.

He glances at Kira because of the training question, then back to Julian "Since it's taken me awhile to adjust to everything, I want to start..whenever Kira is ready."

Alexa looks at Tyler, "You will do so well baby..." she kisses his cheek. Tyler just smiles at her politely and drinks his blood some more.

Kira emerged from the bedroom in a pair of tight jeans and a tank top and stooped to zip up her boots when Julian approached.

"Training attire," he noted as he gazed down at her.

Kira nodded. "We never got around to the training. He's practically a baby. He needed to adjust to being vampire before his strength was tested."

She tucked the ends of her jeans into her boots and stood. Julian remained in front of her. "I said three days," he reminded her.

"You did," she confirmed. "It wasn't out of disrespect that I didn't heed your command. It was out of experience. We've never once taken in a vampire so fresh."

Julian watched her as she picked up the duffel bag of training essentials and tossed it over her shoulder as if she hadn't just undermined him and toyed with his trust in less than two days' time. This was a part of Kira he wasn't used to seeing. He wasn't quite fond of it, either.

He took the duffel bag from her shoulder and offered her a deadly smile. "I think I'll take the training from here."

Without waiting to hear a word, he spun on his heel and left the room toward the training quarters.

---

The boy already wanted to fuck Kira, and he damned well wasn't going to get the pleasure of rolling around with her wearing what she was wearing. Tyler needed to toughen up if he was going to join their team of fighters. So far all Julian had seen the kid do was gawk at Kira and mope about his ex and all the depression he'd found with eternal life. Training with Kira wouldn't harden any part of that boy but his dick.

He let the large wooden door swing shut behind him and found Tyler standing at the center of the large room, his hands in his pockets. He froze when he saw who'd come to join him.

"Kira won't be training you today, much to your disappointment," Julian called out, dropping the bag to the floor at his feet. "I figured I'd take her place."

Tyler looks at him, "Didn't think it was up to me who did train me...why would I care?" He was in a tank shirt and work out pants. He stands closer to Julian, "What exactly are we starting with...?"

Faster than Tyler could register, Julian reached into a duffel bag and withdrew a gold-tipped arrow. With a flick of his wrist, he sent it flying through the air. It planted itself into the skin of Tyler's left bicep. He let out a howl and stumbled back, his gaze wandering toward the weapon sticking out of his skin.

Julian pursed his lips. "Hm. Definitely need to work on your speed."

Slower this time, he withdrew another arrow from his bag and held it before Tyler. "To be fair, the humans won't act nearly as quickly. Not by hand. But they have weapons that will cause a lot more damage than that, as you saw when you were rescued from imprisonment."

He thought for a moment. "And humans, sadly, will be the least of your worries." He twirled the arrow in his hand and watched as Tyler yanked the first arrow from his arm. It healed almost instantly.

"Correct your stance," he ordered Tyler, bracing his feet apart for demonstration and squaring his shoulders. "You're too wobbly."

Tyler yanked more of the arrows out and glared at Julian, "How the hell is that supposed to teach me anything...teach me how to be fast, should I just know how to automatically do that? You're pissed at me, that's all this is..."

He goes up to the guy, grabbing a weapon "Show me something useful, not just make me your punching bag."

The corner of Julian's lip quirked as he assessed Tyler. "You kissed Kira. Forgive me if I'm not one for heart to hearts here."

He drew his hand back, his next arrow prepared, but stopped with Tyler flinched and raised his arms. It was fun toying with the kid. He nodded toward Tyler's unprotected midsection. "Never leave your chest exposed. Your heart is what they'll target first."

He let the hand holding the arrow fall to his side, again picking up the twirling motion he'd done before, the arrow gliding effortlessly between each finger. He stepped closer and circled Tyler. "Good stance," he noted. "Shoulders back. Hands at the ready."

He walked backwards until Tyler was again far enough away for the next throw. "The goal is to catch or to evade the shot entirely." He tossed Tyler his arrow. "I know you've been dying to do this," he said with a grin. "Give it your best. Practice your speed. It's in you; just focus it and try to hit me."

Tyler takes it and looks at Julian, he prepares to shoot it but first says, "She kissed me..." he sets the arrow into the bow and lines it up, he releases it and hopes for it to hit.

It didn't take much effort at all for Julian to catch the arrow. His hand shot up, and in the next instant, he was holding the arrow by the center of its thin cylinder, staring back at a wide-eyed Tyler.

"And you just begged her to stop taking advantage of your hapless little self, yes?" Julian quipped.

Tyler looks at him, "Are you intimidated by me or something?" He still looks at him, impressed but not wanting to show at all he was scared of him. "She was helping me out, I know you don't want me here...it's no secret."

"You want my help, you're the one training me..." He states, he shoots another arrow really fast.

Julian laughed once he caught the next arrow Tyler sent his way. "You've got spunk, Bübchen. I like it."

He reached back into the duffel bag and tossed Tyler another arrow. "And intimidated, no. Possessive, as I've said before, yes. Enjoying fucking with you? Absolutely."

He flicked his hand toward the bow Tyler was holding. "Drop it. It's cheating. You've got the strength to break walls and lift cars and the speed to be anywhere in a matter of seconds, and you choose a bow like you're Katniss fucking Everdeen."

Taking another step back, he braced himself for the hit. "Don't let me know it's coming. Just do it."

Tyler suddenly starts laughing, "I find it hilarious you know what The Hunger Games is, not so big and tough after all are you?"

He looks at him, "Again, show me something useful...all I see is you spouting theories and ideas, not showing me anything useful to back it up. I got it...bow and arrow is gay, so what should I be doing?"

Julian was impressed. "Says the kid who knows the series," he retorted with a quirk of his brow. "Jennifer Lawrence is hot, Bübchen. I've got over seven centuries on you. I read. A lot."

He kicked the duffel bag away from his feet and crossed his arms. "All right, perhaps I should teach you to read a little music before I insist you play Brahms."

He strode over to the corner of the large room and pulled out two chairs. He motioned for Tyler to take a seat, then did the same. "How much do you know about werewolves?"

Tyler takes a seat, "I only know what I have seen in movies...I meant to put "meet a werewolf" on my bucket list but obviously that isn't going to happen."

He sits back and relaxes a bit more, "You're telling me they exist too? How about leprechauns?"

Julian narrowed his eyes. "Sarcasm doesn't become you." He leaned back in his seat and crossed one leg over the other, an ankle balanced on his knee. "The werewolves, and yes they are real, have an alliance with the humans."

That seemed to pique Tyler's interest; he sat up straighter, brows furrowed, gaze intent like the ever-learning pupil that he was. "Being that our kind have been kidnapped and tortured and experimented on by mortals for the last five decades, you can see why we'd have a slight problem, yes?"

Tyler nodded. Gone was the smartass from mere moments ago.

"This Jessica who turned you, along with any other vampire who goes against the rules of our kind, are largely to blame for the exposure. They got tired of hiding. They fed on humans. Openly. Naturally, their government took notice. They knew we weren't normal. We were the monsters they never thought to be real. At first they simply tried to eradicate our species, but that wouldn't do. They had to have their research. So, they opened facilities, much like the one we found you in."

He waited, his eyes set on Tyler, to make sure the information was coming across loud and clear. After another nod, he continued. "After a short while, they learned all sorts of miraculous things about us little devils. Namely, the healing powers our blood contained. And, well, what fucking good would it do to kill us, am I right? We're a walking cure. We're strong. We don't age. Over the decades, I can only assume they got hungry for more. They keep us imprisoned, they hunt us down, and they keep us in captivity. Why not poke and prod all the live long day? And so, that's where we are with the big, bad mortal government. The people have not a clue what they're paying for. Oh, but hospitals have some damned good healing rates. You've read that in the papers, I'm sure."

Wow, this was a lot of talking for one session. He probably should have brought Kara in for this part of it. Still, he carried on. "As for the werewolves, well, who fucking knows for sure? They hate us vampires. More than that, they fear us. They know they've no chance against us, and while they're vicious little sons of bitches, they're also smart. They see what's going on between us and the humans. Before the humans could focus on the pups next, the pups came to them. They herd vamps in by the assload, and they get a fine piece of the profits by doing so."

He dropped both feet back on the ground and leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, his eyes piercing into Tyler's. "We're up against weapons you'll have never dreamed of, and we're up against some pretty fucked up beasts, Tyler. I'm here to teach you how to fend yourself against both. If you can do that, you can survive as a vampire and you can fight amongst the rest of us until the day we can thrive without looking behind our backs. We're going to take our freedom back and a fuckload of revenge while we're at it."

Tyler looks at him, listening to his story without interruption. Finally, he spoke about it "I find it odd, how the werewolves believe the humans won't turn on them, after they have accomplished getting rid of vampires."

He stands up, "I want to help...show me more."

Three hours had passed since Julian had entered the room. Kira wasn't too worried about what was going on. Julian may not have been Tyler's biggest fan, but he also never broke his word. He wouldn't harm the boy. At least not too badly.

Kira found Tyler sitting at the dining table draining a blood bag, two more bags at the ready. She smirked when she eyed the holes in his clothing and the dried blood staining his skin. "Fun day at training?" she asked.

Tyler drinks his blood, looking at her "Turns out your boyfriend is not a fan of you kissing me..." finishing his first bag and takes the next, "Thanks for that by the way..." he adds, makes a noise of some discomfort.

He tosses the bag, "I should drink the real stuff, can't I go hunt?"

Kira thought for a moment, not wanting to test the waters with Julian. She was free to come and go as she pleased, not that his permission meant a damn thing to her, but Tyler was a different story. The more time they spent together alone, the worse Julian would be. And if Julian wasn't happy, Tyler was going to be ten times worse, being that he was taking the brunt of Julian's retaliation in the training sessions already.

Before she could offer up an answer, Alexa strode into the room with a beaming smile. "I'll take him," she chirped.

Tyler looks at Alexa, how she follows him everywhere. He was desperate enough for blood, so he gave a nod and went off to leave with her.

Kira found Julian in the bedroom, pulling off his shirt and boots and rifling through the closet for a change of clothes. He acknowledged her without turning around.

"Alexa, huh?" he asked.

Kira snorted. "She's found a new plaything."

Julian spun around and pulled on a henley, the top buttons undone and leaving a good portion of his toned chest exposed. He rolled his shoulders and ran a hand through his hair. "I almost feel sorry for the boy, and that's saying something."

Kira shrugged. "So long as she knows who's taken and who's not."

Julian let out a laugh. "Oh, sweetheart, I wish I had footage of the day you turned her face into pulp because of me." His eyes twinkled when he met her gaze. "Have I mentioned lately how sexy you are?"

She stepped forward, eying that portion of his broad neck and chest that called to her, and licked her lips. "Wouldn't hurt to hear it again," she answered seductively, stopping when they stood mere inches apart, her hand reaching up to brush against his skin and tug at the material of his shirt. Julian's grin grew wider. In an instant, his lips were pressed to hers, his hand curled against the back of her neck, imprisoning her against the bulk of his body. She let out a moan when his tongue found the skin of her neck and sent a shiver through her entire being when his grip tightened just a little more.

She was conveniently wearing a dress, and his free hand took advantage of the easy access. In a matter of seconds, his fingers were curling past the edge of her panties and ripping them from her body. They lay in a single ruined scrap of fabric on the floor.

Just when he returned his hand to where she needed it most and rubbed against the sensitive bundle of nerves, a knock came against the bedroom door. Julian snarled, the lustful intensity of his gaze turning to a deadly rage at having been interrupted, his fangs protruding past his lower lip.

"Sorry, boss," Ivan's voice called out. "You're going to want to see this."

Julian and Kira shared one fleeting look, and with a grimace, he pulled away and reached down to fix the all too evident situation straining against the material of his jeans.

"Later, sexy," he growled, and then he was gone.

Tyler went out with Alexa, who both were drinking blood from a young woman. Alexa breaks off, watching Tyler with intense attraction. He pulls off and Alexa compells the human to forget.

Tyler looks at her, "I had that..."

She steps up to him and kisses his neck, "I can take care of you...don't worry about it." Tyler breaks off her, "I need to learn how to do these things, I don't intend on living in that mansion forever."

Alexa looks at him, "Julian will want to use you as a fighter, so good luck with that one."

They head back to the house, walking in and at first it's all very quiet. Alexa whispers in his ear, to take her right now in the hallway, Tyler looks at her blown away, not used to how forward she is. She pulls him closer and starts to kiss him.

"Someone had better be dying," Julian snapped, keeping pace with Ivan as he sped down the hall at his side. He could still taste Kira on his lips, feel her on his fingertips. Such was the life of being the leader, though, so his anger wasn't as merited as it was childish. Sue him for wanting to have one night of carefree, sinful fucking. The kind of fucking that was outlawed in more places than he could name. He ran a hand through his hair and tried to push the thoughts aside. Whatever needed to be dealt with, he couldn't go in with the massive hard-on he was sporting.

"Given your current mood, I believe you'll get your wish," Ivan volunteered, speeding ahead of Julian toward the double doors that opened into the largest room of the house, the designated meeting room for all affairs. The doors swung open and Ivan stepped through, motioning for Julian to enter first.

Julian sighed and stepped through. Before him stood every member of the clan, Abel and Maria at the center, their grasps on the shaking man at their feet. His gaze zeroed in on the unfortunate one on his knees. He sniffed the air and it reeked of fresh human sweat. But of course.

"How sweet," Julian murmured, gliding into the room, all business once again. "The humans sent us a toy."

Maria snickered. "Caught him trying to sneak through the gates. Apparently he has a message."

Julian stopped until he was mere yards away from the three in the middle of the room. "Oh, but don't they always?"

He had to hand it to the human. He was glaring daggers into every vampire he set his eyes on. Even Julian's. "Go ahead and kill me," he spat. "You think this'll end with me? We're coming for you. All of you. It's only a matter of time."

Julian's brows shot to his hairline. "Oh, gee. Clearly we misunderstood who's winning this Spiel. The way I remember it was, we massacred the fuck out of you little shits in a matter of seconds."

The human scoffed. "That was hardly a massacre. You took a few of our own. We recruited three times that. Our numbers are building by the day."

Julian grinned. "Wish you could say the same for your brains." He looked up at Abel and Maria and crossed his arms. "What's his name?"

In her hand, Maria held the human's tattered brown billfold. She eyed his identification. "Thomas Lowell. Born May the 3rd, 1987." She smirked. "And a donor."

Julian couldn't contain his laugh. "Well, this just gets better by the minute." He heard movement behind the door at his back, curious footsteps idling outside. He spoke without turning. "Bübchen, Alexa. Please, do join us."

Alexa quickly goes over to Julian, Tyler joins her and sees the scene before him. The human looks at Julian, "Kill me..it won't stop us from coming."