ALPHA TACTICS
Rating: Mature (eventually)
Genre(s) : Fantasy, Yaoi
Pairing(s) : Valko and Reynard (possibly others later...)
Warnings: Violence, Slavery, eventually sex, and possibly other things...



Chapter 00


The sharp crack of the fighter’s leg breaking was drowned out by the bloodthirsty cheers of the crowd that surrounded the fighting ring. Scores of humans coming to watch the bloody battle of life and death played out exclusively for their entertainment.

From a distance the fighter might almost have passed for a human himself; a lean male figure with pale skin and shaggy blond hair. But even from a distance the round furry ears and long slender tail gave him away for what he truly was; a hybrid, a strange mix of man and animal. From closer up the differences became even more distinct. Yellowish discoloration and black cheetah spots painted its way in patches over his skin, sharp claws, fangs, and luminous golden eyes that were anything but human.

The crowd watched as the desperate fighter tried to scramble back to his feet. And many of them cheered as the leg proved too broken to hold his weight.

With a pained howl he crumpled to his knees in the dirt, wrecked and defeated.

The cheetah’s young opponent stalked around the fallen fighter, watching with amused golden eyes as the feline struggled to stand again. With his ears flattened against his head the feline half-human hissed angrily at the other fighter. A wolfish grin split across his opponent’s deceptively young face, flashing sharp, bloody canine teeth as he gave a vicious growl in reply. The cheetah’s blood ran cold.

Although the younger fighter was almost a whole head smaller than the feline, the advantage of height had proven to be a very little help against the brute strength of the stouter youth. With graceful, confident steps the smaller hybrid approached his prey. His hand thrusts out and grabbed a fistful of the feline’s bright golden hair.

The cheetah yowled as his opponent gave a vicious yank on his hair while slamming a black clawed foot down onto his back. He almost snapped his neck in the process. The cat struggled against the canine’s hold. Thrashing in a hopeless attempt to escape his fate, he only managed to tire himself out with his efforts. Fighting was futile at this point.

With a firm hold on the cheetah, the young wolf tipped his head back and gave several long, loud howls. They echoed thru the surrounding stadium and stirred the crowd into a vicious frenzy. His nostrils flared. He could smell the bloodlust in the air. And it made his senses tingle with anticipation.

He raised a bloody hand and looked up at the surrounding crowd as he awaited their decision to seal the loser’s fate. The malicious feelings of the crowd were confirmed as they took up the chant:

“Kill him! Kill Him! Kill HIM! KILL HIM!!!~!”

The wolfish grin widened. Then the smell of blood filled the air and the crowd’s cheer rose to a violent pitch as they took up a new chant and the victorious fighter’s name echoed around the stadium:

“Valko! Valko!! VALKO!!!!!”





~0~0~0~

Chapter 01


The prevailing mood around Bright Wood castle was one of eager anticipation. Servants and slaves were busy preparing for the upcoming Birthday Celebration of Rohear Kingdom’s Second Prince. Prince Reynard ShieldHeart’s birthday was always a spectacular event, and guests came from all over the Kingdom, as well as neighboring Kingdom’s, to enjoy the celebration. Everyone in the Castle was in high spirits for the approaching event.

Well, almost everyone….

Macy ShieldHeart stomped down the grand hallways of Bright Wood Castle, and he was in anything but high spirits. His young features were clouded with irritation and his dark blue eyes were blazing with barely contained anger. The ominous dark aura that surrounded his small frame made all those who crossed his path run for cover. Whenever he was in one of these moods the maids would duck behind curtains or any available piece of furniture when they saw him coming down the hall.

This time one unfortunate maid wasn’t looking where she was going and ended up almost colliding with the little blond-haired Prince. She stammered out a hurried apology before quickly fleeing from the angry young man, and all the time wondering what Reynard had done to upset Macy this time.

Prince Macy’s second oldest brother, Reynard, was frequently the source of the sixteen year-old’s bad moods. Macy was sick and tired of his selfish older brother brushing off his responsibilities; forcing everybody else to clean up after his messes while he flirted and philandered about with every nobleman, woman, pleasure slave, maid, or house-boy he could get his hands on.

This morning Reynard was supposed to be attending to his studies, preparing for his eventual position as a leader in the Court and consultant to their oldest brother and future king, Alben.

But a few minutes ago Macy had been informed that Reynard had never shown up for any of that day’s lessons. After giving the poor mousy instructor a glare that sent the timid man scurrying back to the safety of the Palace library, Macy had immediately stormed off to find out where and with whom his brother was hiding.

Of course, he already had a pretty good idea where the older man was.

Macy came to a stop in front of the large gold leafed doors that led out to the palace’s extensive garden rooms. Macy glared heatedly at the tall young man standing guard in front of the doors. Seeing the dark-skinned figure standing there he knew his brother had to be here.

Unfortunately for the prince, this was the one man who was unaffected by the sour expression that sent every other servant, slave, or noble running for the hills. He only returned the dark look in those sharp blue eyes with a soft smile that was partially apologetic, but mostly indulgent.

“Good afternoon, my Lord,” The older man’s smile never wavered as he bowed to the teenage Prince.

Reynard’s personal manservant, Tendaji, had been on the receiving end of Macy’s unhappy look for a very long time; mostly because of Reynard’s antics. The dark skinned young man had watched the look grow from the trembling pout of a petulant child to the angry glare of a high-strung young man. He had also long since learned that Macy’s vicious bark was worse than his timid bite. “Are you headed out for a walk in the gardens, my Lord? I would be happy to accompany you, if you wish. I hear that the roses are in full bloom, and it is quite lovely to see.”

“Don’t play games with me, Daji! He’s out there, isn’t he?” Macy was not in the mood for the manservant’s playful teasing. He stomped over and glared up into Tendaji’s dark brown eyes, trying his best to look intimidating. Not an easy task considering the top of his golden head barely came up to the manservant’s collarbone.

“Who is, my Lord?” Tendaji’s dark eyes danced playfully; amused, not intimdated. The effect was way off the mark.

Macy huffed. Daji never made things easy. “You know very well who I’m talking about!” He grabbed two small fistfuls of the manservant’s pale cotton shirt. “I told you not to play games with me!”

Tendaji bent down to meet those angry midnight blue eyes, his smile deepening fondly. A few of his long dark dreadlocks fell forward over his thick shoulders and brushed against the pale skin of Macy’s neck. He gently covered the small fists with large dark hands, the soft white skin in sharp contrast with the dusky tone. The familiar deep voice dropped an octave, soft and soothing, “I would never dream of it, Little Master.”

The dark glare softened into a childish pout. He tore his hands away from the older man and planted them on his own hips. “I know that you are covering for him, Daji. Just stand aside and let me through!”

Tendaji didn’t hesitate at the order. He simply moved aside and let the angry teenager storm past him and throw the doors open. Reynard deserved whatever lecture was coming to him anyways. Tendaji smirked as he followed the small blond out into the garden rooms to watch.


Macy easily spotted his older brother lounging with another figure on the other side of the large, open-aired room and stalked across the dark red and gold cobblestones towards the pair.

Reynard was in an area populated with lush lounges. It was set up as a place to relax and enjoy the fragrant flowers and flourishing trees that populated the large room. There was even a small area set up for entertainment. The older prince could often be found here, usually in the company of whomever he happened to be wooing at that moment. Of course, today was no exception.

The charming 2nd prince of Rohear’s long frame was artfully sprawled out on a luxuriant red divan, propped up by a multitude of rich downy pillows and with a glass of wine held in one poised hand. Reynard's long, pale blond hair was draped across the pillows and it flowed out over the side of the divan. The jacket of his customary black uniform was removed and placed to the side and he had his dress shirt open to reveal his pale chest.

Though exuding a presence of control and power, Reynard was apparently too occupied with his companion to notice Macy's arrival.

Straddling the prince’s lap was a small male hybrid. A snow fox breed, if Macy could guess from the short, bushy, white tail extended from the base of the spine and the round furry ears popping out from long snowy white hair. Absolutely everything about the small male was incredibly pale, including the skin which was startlingly contrasted against the dark blue-grey uniforms of Bright Wood Castle’s House boys. The only part of him that had any strong color was his bright yellow eyes, which stood out sharply from his small white face.  

Reynard had been slipping one slender hand up under the back of the boy’s shirt when he caught sight of his little brother approaching out of the corner of his eye. His expression immediately changed from the charming, elegant grin that stole the hearts of anyone he fixed his attention on and crumbled into an expression of annoyed exasperation.

Macy rolled his eyes. He hardly cared about his brother’s annoyance. How did the bastard think he felt having to run all over the castle looking for him whenever he skipped lessons? Or having to deal with angry ambassadors who threatened war when Reynard skipped out on meetings? As far as Macy was concerned Reynard had very little right to be annoyed at him.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Macy crossed his arms over his chest and glared at his brother and his brother's little distraction.

The fox boy was watching the youngest prince worriedly, probably wondering how much trouble he was going to be in for being where he was. He tried to get up off Reynard’s lap, but the older prince grabbed him about the waist and kept him trapped where he was.

“What do you think we are doing?” Reynard cast a challenging look at Macy as he ran his hands firmly over the servant’s lower back and rubbed his fingers at the sensitive base of his white tail, causing the hybrid to buck up against him with a startled moan.

“Rey!” Macy’s face flamed red and he looked absolutely scandalized at his brother’s crude actions. Somewhere behind him he heard Tendaji chuckling softly and his patience snapped. Roughly yanking the hybrid out of his brother’s lap he sent the terrified boy scrambling out of the room with orders to get back to whatever duties he was supposed to be attending to. Then he whirled back on his brother.

“Really, Macy, was that entirely necessary?” Reynard looked annoyed as he watched his potential conquest escape out the door. He downed the rest of his wine and sighed forlornly. “And I was so looking forward to having a proper taste.”

“You shouldn’t be skipping out on your duties just to go philandering about with a Servant.” Macy was unremorseful. He snatched the empty wine glass from his brother’s hands. Then he handed the glass to Tendaji who had come to stand nearby, thus preventing Reynard from pouring himself any more wine.

Reynard threw his manservant an annoyed glare at the betrayal, which Tendaji just answered with a sheepish shrug. “The day after tomorrow will be my birthday celebration. Surely I should be allowed a little leniency in my studies.”

“Hardly,” Macy said, as Reynard returned his attention to his brother. “In fact, with your birthday coming up there are important matters to be discussed. Diplomacy. Treaties. And most especially, security. We have this discussion every year and yet you never seem to understand that this is more than a simple party. There are going to be—.”

“I know, I know,” Reynard cut his brother off impatiently. “It’s an important political event. One wrong move and I could start a war.” The sarcasm was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

“Or be assassinated,” Macy muttered, annoyed at his brother’s attitude. He was relived that he managed not to sound hopeful at the suggestion. Not that he would ever really want his brother dead, but it was fun to fantasize about sometimes. “And this year we have a bigger issue to deal with, since the ambassador for Nellark is coming. Our relations with them are strained as it is. The slightest problem could actually result in a war.”

“Alright, I understand.” Reynard rose from the divan with a sigh. He started towards the door of the Garden House.

Macy looked perplexed. That had been a little too easy…..He glanced over at Tandaji, who was putting the wine away. “Daji.”

“Yes, my Lord?”

“Would you be so kind as to make sure that my brother makes it to his office safely,” Macy watched Reynard stop in his tracks, looking like a naughty child caught in the act of stealing sweets from the palace kitchen before dinnertime. “We wouldn’t want anything to happen to him before his Birthday celebration, now would we?”

Tandaji smiled. “Of course not, my Lord.” He grabbed hold of Reynard’s arm, and then bowed to the youngest prince. “I will be more than happy to make sure my Master makes it back to his office without delay.”

Macy finally smiled as he watched Tandaji firmly guide an angry Reynard out of the room; all the while the prince accused his servant of being a traitor.

Just before they disappeared thru the door he called after them, “And do make sure he stays there!”



~TBC~