THE SHE-DEVIL AND HER ALPHAS

"Can you both stop it already, we're in the middle of a war" whined Dan who finally tracked him down.

Asher was reluctant to let go of his mate- he had missed her so much- but had no choice. 

"Geez, you look great," Dan ironically pointed out Lia's startling appearance. 

"Thank you," Lia appreciated him nevertheless. 

"I've found my mother," Asher announced to their surprise.

"You have?" Lia and Dan asked in unison. 

Asher tilted his head in the direction of the floor the late Ezekiel had him thrown - late Ezekiel? It sounded unreal.

Though the evidence was right in front of him, Asher still had a hard time believing Ezekiel had not only been defeated but exterminated.

The vampire had been so full of himself and was sure that he would put an end to him, who knew he would be the one gone. 

Dan teleported both of them to the room where they saw the sleeping beauty. 

"Wow, she's beautiful!" Lia exclaimed when she saw her mother-in-law. 

"Of course," Asher grinned at her. He hugged her from behind, whispering into her ears.

"Anybody who gave birth to a handsome face like me - I mean, my real face- has to at least reach that degree of beauty,"  

"Tsk tsk," Lia clicked her tongue in disapproval, " Such a narcissist," she shook her head. 

Dan observed "She looks dead yet not dead as if she's …." 

"Peacefully asleep? Her damned mate put her in hibernation," Asher filled in.

"She's going to be pissed," 

"Yes, she would, until she realizes that Ezekiel is dead. Evil or not, Ezekiel was her mate and the loss would devastate her," Asher sighed. 

"You think your mother is going to blame you for his death?" Lia asked with concern, squeezing his arms. 

"Send her back to the house while I search for Raphael, he should be around the corner," Asher tactically avoided the question and she didn't quibble on it, thankfully.

"You mean the house that moved over with us?" Dan reminded him.

"Ah right," He scratched his head, remembering the disastrous spell Devon had performed. 

Devon was strong and quick to adapt to situations but she was too damn Impulsive and Asher was grateful she was unable to make it. Who knows what she would destroy this time?

Asher sniffed the air," Sabrina's around here. Take her with my mom, let her create a ward -" 

"Like you did to me?" Lia reminded him.

Asher's mouth quirked," I've paid for my sins, remember?" 

"Fine," Dan acquiesced and carried the older generation off the bed with care. The fact she was Asher's mother alone entitled her to be treated well by all Nicoli clan members. 

As Asher predicted, Dan found Sabrina downstairs and together they left for the clan house which had been invaded by a few enemy vampires.

"Do your thing, I'll get rid of them" He told Sabrina after teleporting both to one of the guest rooms.

Dan vanished and appeared in the hallway, intent on finishing off those vampires when he saw two figures that made his eyes almost bulge out of their socket. 

"What in the name of God!"

Those two rats, how did they get in here without him noticing? Oh, Lia would be so pissed. 

But Dan got to admit, he was impressed with their fighting skills, most especially that little one who was the brother to Asher's troublesome mate. The boy would be a formidable hunter in the future. 

However, what was wrong with Ben? He was strangely strong? 

A vampire grasped Ben's neck from behind in an attempt to rip it off, but that weird boy reached out his hand and pulled the vampire over his shoulder as if he weighed nothing. 

The vampire was hurled to the ground and before he could stand, Ben had obliterated the vampire's head with one stomp of his feet. 

"Eww," Dan commented, watching as Ben nonchalantly pulled away his feet, notwithstanding the sticky grey matter mixed with blood. 

The Ben he knew was not brave enough to pummel a vampire's brain into mush, the boy must have done something to himself; he was too experimental. 

"Watch out !" Dan shouted and teleported himself to the back of Rex. He quickly finished off the vampire who was about to launch a sneak attack on the little boy. 

"Now, what did Lia tell you about - " He turned around only to be flung away by Ben. 

Damn, that hurt. 

"You stupid ghost, he's on our side," Rex mistakenly kicked Ben on the groin. He was aiming for Ben's leg when he miscalculated and the kick went awry. 

At once, the ghost angrily departed Ben's body, leaving him to face the music. 

"My poor child producer," Ben groaned, holding his groin and plonked down to the ground in pain.

When the ghost was in his body, he hardly felt any pain but now, he felt everything.

"Oops, sorry," Rex apologized. He squatted down beside Ben whose face was distorted from the pain and asked," Where does it hurt exactly? Do you need me to blow air or smooth there?" 

"What are you staring at? Smooth your head? Get out of my view!" Ben glared at the little boy who pursed his lips and stood back to his feet. Well, he did offer his help, that's all that matters. 

"What are you two doing here?" Asked Dan already recovered from the unpremeditated attack," Didn't Lia ask you to take care of the kid?" 

"Well, she did, but the kid doesn't need a babysitter," Ben replied with effort. 

"Just because you both fought a bunch of weak vampires and won - well, not completely won since I still saved his ass," he pointed at Rex who blinked innocently with his hand behind him.

One look and an unsuspecting person would think, "Oh what a pure kid, incapable of inflicting harm - only if they knew. 

"Still yet, we survived" Ben threw his hands up.

"Fine, you can play with your own life not his," the words were hardly out of his mouth when Rex vanished from sight. 

"What did you do?" Ben was upset.

"Sent him back to your place. You are free now to toy with your own life, not his," declared Dan.

He added, "And be careful the way you mess with ghosts, there's always repercussions for that" 

"I can control them," Ben insisted. 

"I bet you controlled it when you tossed me halfway across the floor," Dan mocked.

"This is my own gift. If you can teleport and do whatever mojo you do with your mind, why can't I ?"  Ben poked himself on the chest. 

Dan snorted laughter, "You don't understand, do you?" 

"Understand what?" Ben was confused. 

"Being a medium is not a gift but a curse. It just depends on how you use it," Dan told him and vanished away. 

Meanwhile….

Asher and his mate searched around the house for any sign of Raphael all to no avail. 

"He's not here neither my mother- at least she was- I picked her scent in one of the rooms," Lia informed him, coming out of a secret room she discovered by chance. 

"This place is vast and has long stretches of land. We should search outside," Asher suggested. 

Hence, they began to search the wood behind the clan house and stumbled upon a clearing. 

Lo and behold, Raphael was awaiting them, looking smug. 

"What took you both so long, I'm honestly not impressed," He pouted.

Asher stared at the face that once belonged to him and it made him furious. The face that asshole was flaunting was his. 

"Asher wait !" Lia was about to warn him to be careful when her fuming mate sped over and punched him right in the face. 

But the cry of pain from the side wasn't what Asher expected. 

"Easy before you do that," Raphael smirked, tilting his head in the direction of Jenny who was moaning in pain. She was pressing the swollen side of her cheeks which was strange.

Asher's brow knitted in confusion, he had seen that bruise suddenly appear on Jenny's feature and that was exactly the spot he had punched Raphael. What has his freak of a brother done this time? 

"Mom!" Lia screamed in terror and ran to her but she was pushed away instead. 

"P-please, don't hurt me" Jenny cowered away. 

Lia was stunned, what the hell was going on with her mother? Did her mother not recognize her because she was covered with blood or what? Or maybe Raphael hurt her mother and it affected her negatively?

The hybrid saw red and she rushed at Raphael before Asher could stop her this time. 

"You bastard, what did you do to my mother?!" Lia, blind with rage, tried to whack him but Raphael intercepted her and held her captive instead.

Raphael was suddenly behind her and had his arm around her neck while the other hooked around her waist tightly. 

Asher was incited by that gesture; his eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared like an angry bull. He attempted to rescue his mate when Raphael separated them with a line of fire that made him reflexively take a step back. Vampires weren't friends with fire. 

"Why would I hurt her? She's my future mother-in-law," Raphael whispered into her ears while she strived to break out of his handle. 

"I simply told her of our existence and the rest is history," he finally disclosed. 

"You bastard!" Lia head-butted Raphael, escaping his grip. 

However, she was so angry that she was oblivious to the cry of pain from her mother and continued to hit Raphael until she heard Asher shout.

"Stop it, Lia, you're hurting your mother!"