"I woke up and saw him clearly for the first time and was entranced by him. He was by far the most beautiful person I'd ever seen. I wasn't even scared of his predator at that point. Nor did I register the fact that I was naked in his bed. The softest bed I've ever been in or that the sheets I was wrapped in were sensual against my skin. A feeling I've never had before. I took me awhile to find my voice and when I did it seemed to startle him.

"Who are you? Where am I? I said, it was only after that, did I realize that I was naked in his bed, at least I believed it to be his bed and only wrapped in the sheets of some material I've never seen or felt before. I only learned later that it was silk.

"He admitted to me what he did and what he was. But then he offered me his blood and that's when it really sank in. I couldn't stop myself from drinking it. 

"From then on, I would do whatever he needed.

"The best part for me, although I was young, I looked older, far more mature. I looked the age I look now. Although, at times I acted younger, his younger sister, sometimes I would act his wife or mistress. I would be the age he needed me to be. 

"The two males that were with us, were actually a gift to me from Tracey. They were my food and my servants. Then one day I was injured badly and I took too much blood from them both. Tracey turned them since he knew that I was so attached to them. He had me give them blood so that although I wasn't their creator, I was still their mistress.

"That is how he started out as being the king." Dara says and falls back into memories of centuries past.

"Back then, there was no king or council or anything else to regulate the vampire people. More than once we nearly had vampire hunts like the witch hunts of history.

"Most vampires lived on their own if they were strong enough. If they weren't they banded together under one strong leader and a seethe was created.

"We would go from city to city. Those that lived there didn't like us coming into their territory. Slowly I took over territories, created more children and bonded vampires that were weaker and wanted protection.

"As I took over an area I would leave one of my children in charge, but Dara and the twins, Chance and Charles or Chuck as he goes by, would always remain with  me. If there was any trouble then I would usually send one of them out to deal with it." Tracey tells his rapt audience.

"I don't understand why you would send out your young children to deal with problems." Stephanie is confused, she still doesn't know much about vampires.

"There are different kinds of vampires. There are the pure bloods,  those that are born and not made. They are some of the strongest of the vampires. But the strongest of the vampires are the children of the pure bloods. When pure bloods have children they are even stronger than their parents. Especially if the child comes from two vampires that were pure blood as well and had no human in them.

"Then of course the weaker vampires are those that are turned, but it varies greatly by who turns them.

"Since I am a child of two pure bloods and they were pure blooded themselves, when I turn a human they are still very strong. Sometimes stronger than pure bloods.

"So when there were problems I would send out my children, even when young they were strong. That and people knew that if they didn't listen to my children then there would be hell to pay if I came.

"Then of course as they age they gain strength as well. So now Dara here is as strong as most pure bloods. The twins aren't much weaker."

"Vampires can have children?" This blows Stephanie away. 

Tracey smiles as he nuzzles her neck. "Not all vampires. Only those that find their beloved and if they are of opposite sex. Once a beloved is found and they are accepted it will activate something in the vampire couple and their seed becomes living, male sperm and female eggs become viable and the female can get pregnant by her beloved mate. The other consorts will be unable to get her pregnant."

Stephanie turns to look at him, "So I won't be having your child?"

Tracey smiles sadly,  and shakes his head, "Sadly no. Only my beloved will have my child."

Stephanie nods, she hadn't thought she would, but then again she hadn't known that vampires could have children. "Good to know."

"Slowly I made children and took over territories. I didn't like staying in one spot for too long so we traveled a great deal. That of course made it possible for me to take over more territories. It got to the point that the vampires would come to me and pledge themselves to me rather than have me take over the territory violently. Those vampires were allowed to keep being in charge as long as they recognized me as their overlord.

"Slowly I took over first one continent then another. This is or rather was the last one I took over. It was here that the twins found their beloved, Bessie. 

"She was pregnant with their child when we were attacked by the hunters that sold us to the hell lab. The twins kept the hunters busy sufficiently that she was able to get away. She's been dealing with things and raising their child ever since. She'll be here or rather will meet us at the apartment complex," Tracey tells her.

Stephanie smiles delightedly, "I can't wait to meet her, but did you say that she was their beloved?"

Dara smiles, "Yeah, one beloved for the two of them. Highly irregular, but then so is your arrangement. They share one beloved and have no idea who the father is of their son."

Stephanie looks shocked, "You can't tell?"

Tracey chuckles, "No, they are identical twins. There is no way to differentiate between the two so no way to tell whose DNA was the one to create their child. Doesn't matter to them and so I don't care either."

"Wow, I learned more about vampires just now than I knew before. It will take a minute for my brain to sort through everything."

"So, Stephanie, do I pass your interview?" Dara asks nervously. She needs to be with Tracey and although she won't have a problem sharing him with Stephanie and the others and of course the lesser consorts, she would have a hard time watching someone else take the place of queen.

Stephanie laughs softly, "Far be it from me to keep two beloveds apart. I'm not sure that Tracey would ever forgive me if I tried."

"Beloved?" Both Tracey and Dara say at the same time.

"Yeah, at least it sounds that way to me, from how I am with those three," Stephanie points to the male elementalists.

Tracey looks stunned. He'd never thought of Dara like that, not that they weren't lovers. She quite often took that position. He just never thought about how much more he always needed to be around her. Even when she turned it was far more important that she make the turn than any of his other children.

"She's right, you are my beloved. How did I not see that?" Tracey sounds stunned.

Dara smiles delightedly, she has always wanted to be with him, from the first even when she was scared of him, she felt the pull, the need to be with him.

Then the reality hits her, "You will accept me as the queen then?"

Stephanie scoffs, "Of course. And since you can have children since you are beloveds I will expect to be godmother to any children you might have."

Tracey laughs, "I can't think of any one else that would be worthy of such a position."

"Tracey, what about your parents. Are they still living?" Talon ask suddenly.

Tracey shakes his head. "No, they were killed in one of the stupid wars that would take place back then. Perhaps that was why I didn't recognize the pull of my beloved, I hadn't been taught the signs to look for."

"Well, now that we have those two things dealt with, Talon, will you have the wolves help with moving our pack to the apartments? We need them settled before we deal with the council."

"Of course. We've already worked out the majority of the move details with Luke. He will be sending some furniture to help out, but not nearly enough for all those that will be with us. I was hoping that Tracey would help out with the humans. There will be many questions about why there are so many moving in, but so little furniture or luggage."

Tracey looks delighted be of use. "I'll have some of my vampires deal with the humans. They won't notice anything unusual with their neighbors."

"Thank you, Tracey, that will be of great help."

"We'll also help carry some of the people if they need it. We can start tonight if you would like?" Tracey offers.

Stephanie turns around in Tracey's arms, "Thank you, Tracey, we didn't want to impose on you, but that will help a great deal."

"It is no imposition. We will serve you in what ever way you have need, you have but to ask." Tracey tells her looking at her gently. Perhaps he didn't love her when he made the bonding with her, but he is rapidly finding himself in that state of being. Which is strange since vampires have a hard time loving, it is far easier to allow the darker emotions reign. Even with his beloved, it was lust motivated at first. He hadn't even realized that his lust had turned to love over the years.

Tracey isn't expecting the kiss that Stephanie gives him.

But it is all that he needs to lift her up and race out of the room to her bedroom. His control was gone and the over riding need to be with his mate takes over.

The others are left looking at each other. "Please forgive my father. He was so close to breaking that I'm shocked that he lasted as long as he did."

Talon can't say that he's happy about it, but then again he has no right to say that Tracey can't be with their mate as well.

"I am rather amazed that he made it as long as he has." Ethan whispers into the quiet of the room.

"You know that he'll need to be with us shortly as well, right?" Jet says after the others are done talking.

"He's an excellent lover, you should enjoy it." Dara tells them and she can tell that they are more than a little excited by the thought.

"Have you ever had a vampire lover before?" She asks curious.

They all shake their heads, "Never have but I have wondered." Steven admits and colors a deep red as they all look at him.

"Nothing to be embarrassed about, I think we all have wondered at one time or another. If we hadn't been enemies it would be likely that we all would have had a vampire lover at one point or another." Jet says softly, thinking out loud. Vampires and witches have a long held hatred for each other. Vampires love witches blood for the power and witches find vampires to be abominations against nature and try to kill them. Usually they do so as soon as they see them. With vampires now subjected to Stephanie things will change drastically, especially once the council is destroyed.

Jet smiles wickedly, he can't wait to find out just how much Stephanie is going to shake things up.