His Vampiric Alpha (Ambrollins)

13

-Flashback

The pounding of horse hooves against the frozen forest floor drowned out the sound of the dogs and the people pursuing her as Stephanie swiftly rode deeper and deeper into the wilderness. Seth gripped onto his mother tighter and clenched his eyes shut, wanting this all to be a bad dream. The innocent child cried softly as his brother's final word echoed through his head.

SEEETHHHH!!!!

He would never see Roman again.

Every now and then, as they rode on, Stephanie would not only get a glimpse of her little one to make sure that he was alright, but she tried to brand into her mind the final glimpses of her beloved child before she let him go.

This is all their fault.

She mentally hissed, her once loving and gentle face now as cold and hard as stone, bringing out the true vampire in her. She'd lose not only her kingdom tonight, but her mate and sons as well. She didn't care about her own welfare, all she could do was hope that one day, her little Seth would avenge his people by eradicating those filthy beasts from the face of the earth. But, all that confidence relied on her quick thinking to outsmart those disgusting humans so that Seth will have a chance at survival. She just hoped that her beloved Hunter would succeed with Roman as well.

Stephanie's midnight colored horse easily blended in with the now early morning terrain, making the Alpha and her child difficult to spot in the darkness, the human torches not able to shine that far ahead. The feral beast snorted with each passing gallop, bolting through the woods as if it's own life depended on it. The Queen's head twitched, listening for those dreaded knights. With her sensitive hearing, she could tell that they were left far behind, but still in hot pursuit of their targets.

Now was her chance.

Letting the horse's reins slip from her gloved hand, she lovingly wrapped both her arms around her child.

"Vortex Shard, ignite!" She whispered as tears fell.

The lone black horse ran on into the night without it's rider.

Not too far from the trail, Stephanie ran as fast as she could, trying to find a safe hiding place, holding her son close to her heart. She then came across a large knothole up in an old oak tree, placing Seth inside.

"Mama, don't go!" The child sobbed, grabbing ahold of her hands before she left. "Please, don't leave me here alone."

"Shhh." She warmly said, cupping her hands on his cheeks and kissing his forehead. "Everything will be alright, Seth, you'll see." She softly cried.

"Mom please don't leave me! I'm scared!" The young boy wailed.

"Seth, listen to me." She begged, trying to quiet him down, her voice breaking up as more tears began to fall. "You must be quiet and you are to remain here until morning when a man will come looking for you. His name is Paul and he is an old friend of mine. You are to go with him and live with him from now on, understand?"

"I... Understand." The boy sniffed.

"You are to keep this with you at all times." His mother said, quickly reaching into her bag and extracting a large olive green book, nearly the size of the young boy himself. It was entitled Vampires and Vortex Shards.

"This book contains everything there is to know about vampires, Seth, even the names of your ancestors and all the powers and techniques of the shards that we possess. You are to train yourself to master your powers step-by-step, just like your father wanted. Only then, will you be able to avenge your people."