Dark Temptations

by Eric Alan Williams

  "What are you going to do?" he asked.

  "It's my nephew. It ain't his fault his daddy is a human. I don't want my own flesh and blood ending up in foster care. So, as much as it will piss Kyrone off, I'm not turning Kaysen away. I just hope he eventually comes to understand my decision is all."

  "You all are immortal, what's the rush on having kids?" Ezra wanted to know.

  Marine rolled her eyes. "Now that he is an alpha, he just wants it now, plus an alpha’s drive to mate, especially a werewolf, is an intense one. Some alpha werewolves go crazy when they can’t find a mate because of that need to bond and breed. I wish I were a damn vampire right now so I could delay when I got pregnant, damn vamps can get laid once and then five hundred years later decided to give their baby daddy a call and say SURPRISE!"

  "I heard about that."

  "Female vamps have it made on that market, that's for damn sure." She said under her breath.

  "So has Xairin even text you?" She asked sarcastically, but deep down, she did really want to know. She knew how much Ezra was into him.

  "Not a single text or a returned phone call," Ezra said as he leaned back against a gold-painted Pillar and scouted the crowd.

  Marine brushed it off. "So, he was your first real man-crush. There will be other guys, Ezra."

  _____

  Jason Fifer wasn't accustomed to city life in any capacity. He always craved it, had a taste of it back when California was a state, had a brief few dates he had went on, and more after he had been exposed that his father halted him from advancing with. Before his father knew, Jason had a few wild nights in San Francisco back before World War III. He had been on a few dates with a man named Tim Kingston, but that ended the night he ran into a tribe member, Sydney Boothe.

  Tim never called Jason back after that night they ran into Sydney when they were at a club dancing.

  Jason had only gone all the way a handful of times until his father found out about it through Sydney. Occasionally the tribe would enact arranged marriages, pairings to produce stronger wolves. Homosexual pairings had been allowed in the past when two Alpha's had children that were LGBT. Knowing Jason's secret, at one of the tribal pairing ceremonies, Sydney stood up and asked about being paired with Jason. That night, his secret was out. Ever since then, Jason had been kept from ever having a relationship with anyone.

  Tonight, was going to be a better night. Jason was sure of it. He had borrowed Sam's Hovercycle since he didn't own one of his own but did have a flying license. He made it to the country retreat in a little under three hours, and by the time he was dressed and ready, he had already text Xairin. Xairin decided to pick him up.

  Jason was nervous. He took a shower twice, dressed four times, and was pacing. He couldn’t believe this was happening. The room he had been given, was huge. It has a large king-sized bed, white carpets, a lavish bathroom, and a full-sized kitchen. He felt like he was staying in a presidential suite, it felt like a nice exquisite apartment.

  The doorbell rang. Jason rushed to the door, looked out the keyhole to seeing a handsome redhead standing there in a black shirt, and pants. Jason’s heart skipped a few beats. Seeing Xairin’s muscular build, broad shoulders, and the outline of his tight-fitting shirt, had Jason turning around leaning against the wall, and panting. His alpha drive was gnawing at him. “I can’t believe this. Man, he’s good looking!”

  Jason opened the door. He didn’t see Xairin’s right hand through the viewing window. Xairin brought a bouquet of red roses. Jason’s heart skipped again. “I’ve never had someone bring me flowers before.”

  Jason knew right then, that keeping his alpha’s desires in check was going to be a hell of a lot harder to do then he thought it would... Xairin was a knockout, a perfect ten in Jason’s book. He was six feet tall, perfectly built, the exact build that Jason craved, and that rich auburn hair and green eyes, had him swooning. “Let me see if I can find some something to put them in.”

  Xairin smiled as he handed them over. “I’ve never bought flowers for another guy before. I’m kinda used to it being the other way around, but I figured why not.”

  _____

  Jason was sitting in the passenger seat as Xairin flew the black jeep he had been given by the Council. The man looked like a kid going to the circus. He was excited.

  "I still can't get over you not owning a flying vehicle at all," Xairin said, trying to break some ice.

  "I've had my license, just never cared for owning one. I'm just glad Sam let me borrow one of her bikes."

  Xairin smiled. "I guess I should have asked you earlier about how you were getting here. I guess I just assume everyone can fly a car or whatever." Xairin looked over at him then back at the airway ahead. "I could have arranged for you to have a transport to pick you up."

  Jason looked over at him, "Xairin,' you've already done enough for me. Freeing me from August, arranging that really sweet hotel room. Did you know it has a hot tub? I haven't been in a hot tub in, well, gosh, since I was probably a new Immortal."

  Xairin looked over. "Not that it matters, but, how old are you anyway?"

  Jason looked over at him with a warm smile. "A hundred and twenty."

  "When did your immortality kick in?' Xairin asked.

  "I was twenty-six, it was June third, of 2024. I remember attempting a pride week in Florida, Daytona beach. I was camping on the beach, lying in a tent and bam, got sick, dizzy, felt like I was freezing, and my blood told me what was happening."

  Xairin looked over at him. "When was the last time you were in a hot tub?" He said with a playful smirk.

  "Right before World War III, I think it was probably when I was in San Francisco. I had hooked up with a guy that had a townhouse just outside the city, he had one on his back porch. I'm pretty sure that was the last time."

  "So, when was your last date with a guy?" Xairin asked.

  Jason shrugged as he looked forward. "A decade or more. I tried to go on some dates, but after I was outed, August would look into my mind pretty often and stop me or force me to say things to turn the guys away. I thought a decade or two, would give him time to, forget to pull that mental spying crap; I was wrong. I was on a date about ten years ago, and, right as we were kissing. August did to me what Argosh did to him on the burial grounds. Freaked the guy out, and I never saw him again."

  Xairin frowned. He truly hated hearing that. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that."

  Jason shrugged. "Don't be. I'm over it. If there is one thing, I have learned about living forever, is you have all the time you need to make new memories." He looked out the window. "Besides, I knew one day I would finally become an Alpha."

  "I couldn't have exercised that type of patience," Xairin said.

  "Sure, you could. All of us Immortals can."

  Xairin shrugged as he turned the wheel, changing the course. "Thanks to my grandmother, I was pretty ignorant of what I am. I guess it kept me safe, but I never knew what was happening to me. What to expect, any of it."

  Xairin decided to be honest. He didn't care about the Council wanting to keep his secret from others. He had already told Topher, and since he was feeling lonely and did want a relationship, he didn't want to start a relationship on lies. Besides, if it didn't work out, he could always go to Argosh. "Can I be honest about something?"

  Jason nodded. "Honesty is always appreciated."

  "Lilith is my great grandmother, that's true, so is Damien Winters, aka Vlad. My grandmother, Sara, she was a full vampire like them. But my mother, and me, we were bitten by those bats." He looked over at Jason. "I was a dhampling until a bat bite activated all of my dormant vampiric genes, and then made me…"

  Jason finished his sentence. "Are you saying that a bat bite made you one of the new Original Purebloods?"

  Xairin nodded. "Not only am I the descendant of Lilith and Vlad, but I am, I guess you would call it, an original re-forged pureblood."

  "And you're immune to silver?" He asked.

  Xai
rin nodded. "Totally immune." He looked over at Jason. "I have red eyes, unlike the other vampires which is a dead give way that I’m different from other vampires... I just wanted to start off with being honest."

  Jason was taking it in. "I've never heard of halfbreeds or less being converted."

  Xairin nodded. "We can be. But it has to be a bite from a creature that spawns the lines in the first place. An infected wolf, biting a half-bred werewolf, or a bat biting a dhampir or dhampling, it has to be the creatures that spawned what we are, that allows the original strains to assimilate the cells of those that are not fully immortal."

  "And the council knows?" Jason asked.

  "They want it kept hush, hush."

  "Got it," Jason said. "I'm not a blabbermouth, so no worries on my end."

  Xairin looked over. "Thanks."

  Jason shrugged. "Least I can do for you helping me with August, plus, I appreciate the honesty."

  "Where are we going tonight?" Jason asked.

  "Up to you, honestly."

  "I was watching some TV feeds before you picked me up. There is a new club opening tonight. The Twisted Mango? Heard anything about it?"

  Xairin shook his head. "Honestly, no. Not surprised, though. Bastion City is full of LGBT." He smirked. "It might not be a bad idea to check out something new anyways. One of my best friends owns a club called The Haze. I was thinking about taking you there, but my friend Topher has been kinda preachy lately about me using my powers."

  "Using your powers?" Jason asked.

  "Not only was I a dhampling, but my dad was a sensitive. I inherited his sensitive powers, which, when I was made into an original pureblood, the bat bite really enhanced my sensitive side. But, my powers, well, I decided to make a few thralls, and since I have Lilith and Vlad's genes swirling around inside me, my powers are sort of, well, let's just say as a delta I can kick a Grand Alpha's ass."

  "Cool," Jason said. "As long as you're not one of those that are subject to dark temptations getting the best of you."

  "My Great Grandfather already gave me the lecture." Xairin looked over. "And no, I don't think I'm going to turn into some mindless power-hungry monster."

  Jason looked over in all sincerity. "Let us hope not, because you know all of those stories about werewolves being mindless murdering beasts?"

  Xairin nodded. "You mean like how the movies portray werewolves?"

  He nodded. "That and every book humans’ wrote about us." Jason looked over at him. "Some of it is true. The mindless monster bit. You see, omegas, deltas, and even betas, with us werewolves, it is a stronger drive to become an Alpha. Sometimes that innate will to become the top dog drives our omegas, deltas, and betas to attempt to evolve before they're ready. They usually wait until a full moon, since that usually forces us to change sometimes, thinking it will give them that boost they need to evolve. Those that have achieved it during one of those three nights that we are at our most heightened, well, let's just say they became the very things that gave my kind a bad name."

  Jason looked out the window at the crescent moon in the sky. "Forcing their evolutions before they were ready, always caused an insatiable need to feed to sate the new forms that they could take. Some of them, they literally were mindless killing machines, and since they were betas or alphas, their bite, could infect. Because it was forced, they couldn't control their glands, so everyone they bit, got infected."

  Xairin adjusted the GPS navigation system on the touch screen to route the jeep's autopilot to take them to The Twisted Mango.

  "Wow, I didn't know that," Xairin said.

  Jason was curious. "So, tell me more about you?"

  Xairin looked over as the car's voice software announced that the autopilot was engaged. "Honestly? I come with baggage."

  "Don't we all? I mean, you met August." Jason said, playfully.

  Xairin nodded as he kept eye contact. "I really come with baggage. On top of being an heir to the throne. I have a crazy vampire ex-boyfriend." Xairin scoffed. "Probably hunted down a bat just to get himself bitten. Anyways, there's that, and, well, I'm a rape victim-survivor."

  Jason frowned and took a deep breath. "Okay, baggage, check."

  Jason wasn't exactly sure how to respond. "Not exactly the things I would expect to be unloaded on a first date, but hey, are you okay though? I mean, being a rape victim, kinda messes with people, ya know?"

  Xairin nodded. "I have my moments, plus being a vampire, it does make me want to hunt the guys down and go all uber-vamp on them, but I'm dealing."

  "Guys? As in, gang rape?" Jason asked with a look of shock on his face. "Immortals?"

  Xairin shook his head. "Basically, your run of the mill gay-hating extremists, and mortal, at least I think they still are. The bat that bit me smelled the blood from my injuries. They, well, have hurt others, and I was next. The bat smelled the blood from my wounds and saved me, and as far as I know, scared the shit out of them."

  "That's a lot to deal with," Jason said.

  "Too much?" Xairin implied. Jason keyed in on that easily.

  "No, I mean, it is a lot, but I get what you’re asking, and no, it's not too much for me to handle. If it works out, of course." Jason said as he pats Xairin's leg.

  "What kind of work did you do before all this went down?" Jason wanted to know.

  "Massage therapist, with a master's in nursing," Xairin said with a smile.

  "Damn, a massage therapist? After working all day in the shop, even with regeneration, a massage would be fantastic. Happy ending included?" Jason asked with a snide grin.

  Xairin rolled his eyes. "Hey, I'm a professional, but." He grinned. "I guess someone that I am dating, might get lucky on occasion with some additional foreplay. But I will stress, I never play on the job. So, don’t even try it."

  Jason didn't want to ask, but essentially being new, even at a hundred and twenty years of age, he still had some things to understand about gay culture. He didn't know how to ask it, but he managed to do so with a look of apprehension. "Are you a top? Or…?"

  Xairin laughed. "Usually a bottom. What about you?"

  Jason laughed a sigh of relief. "I haven't been with a lot of guys, maybe about six or seven guys, but I'm definitely a top. Though you know, for the right person, I would switch it up. Especially us being immortal and all, not like we can't keep it up regardless, ya know?"

  Xairin rolled his eyes. "I haven't done much since becoming an original pureblood. Hell, last time I jacked off, it didn't go so well. I feel like I need to be wearing a football helmet just to feel safe when even thinking about tugging one out."

  "Football helmet?" Jason asked.

  Xairin scoffed. "A story for another night."

  "Why did you become a mechanic?" Xairin asked.

  "My mom is a mechanic. She taught me everything I know about cars, well, back when I was a teenager, and I loved it. I love fixing things, especially cars, trucks, and ATVs."

  "Is your mom still around?" Xairin didn't know any other way to approach that subject after hearing about Alex, and Daniel's mothers ended up.

  "Hibernation, after August broke her heart by basically being a fuck-boy, she opted to hibernate, I was twenty when she went to sleep, and she is still sleeping it off."

  "She just up and left you at twenty years old? Man, that sounds almost as bad as my mom and grandparents."

  "Is that how they kept you hidden? Leaving you?" Jason wondered.

  "Pretty much. They had me, my two siblings, and then after a hover car crash, my two siblings ended up not making it, my grandmother and mother put me in foster care, while they played dead and went into hiding. Apparently, the crash was gorgon related. My mom liked to hunt them apparently."

  Jason shrugged. "Gorgons can be pretty nasty. Some are cool, but man, when they have it out for someone, they really come after them."

  Xairin nodded. "Yep. That they do."

  "After we hit up The Twisted Mango, late-night dinner? Go, old school tonight, I guess?" Xairi
n asked.

  Jason smiled. "I think we are going in reverse; dinner would have been first, then a club, or a movie, that would have been old school." Jason laughed. "I am the older of the two of us, I think I have the monopoly on pulling that card."

  Xairin conceded. "Okay. well, dinner afterward?"

  Jason nodded. "Sure, any places around here have a good pork rib?"