8 comments/ 23325 views/ 17 favorites Lovers' Oath By: FantasticFantasies Author's Note : - This story is going to be long, and is not meant for instant gratification. In other words, this won't be a quickie, so if you were looking for that, sorry to have disappointed you. I'll be writing other stories to fit that category. Hope to see you there. Please bear in mind that the story is located in a fictional world of magic, Cardaera, where our 'normal' world and supernatural world mix and coexist, often without the knowledge of humans. The history and geography of the world is nowhere near our world, since I was never good at those. There will be some depiction of heterosexual,homo, BDSM and group sex. Rape and horror will only be depicted as a part of story development and NOT for arousal. All characters are of age, and the author encourages safe sex. Last, but not the least, this story is my very first attempt, and I'm kind of "testing the water." so be generous with the constructive comments and let me know if you liked it. ----------------------------- --------------------------------------- Somewhere in the Dark Cave, UnderWorld. Now. --------------------------------------- ----------------------------- The world around her felt like a dark void. Rayn was slowly gaining consciousness.... Slowly, and Painfully. She felt... Battered. Her first instinct was to try and rub off the perspiration from her body. It was uncomfortable. She groggily wondered why she was sweating. Was it because of the bad dream she had? She could not yet remember the particulars of the dream, but she remembered it being bad. She almost tried to turn on her side to bury her face in the waiting arms. Something was restraining her, pinning her in place. 'Probably one of his games again,' she mused. Relaxing her muscles, she wondered how long it was since she had last had a nightmare. She knew the answer to that - 'I had not had a nightmare ever since... Since...' and then it hit her. Memory came rushing back to her and with that came the full realization of pain. Incredible, intolerable pain. She could not move. She was chained and bound to a metal frame. And with horror she realized that it was not perspiration that covered her body. It was blood. Her own blood...and something else, something that smelled foul. She felt her stomach heave, only there was nothing in it to throw up. Her limbs were feeling disengaged. As if they did not belong to her body. She could not even feel the limbs. She could only feel the pain. She felt the cold of the dungeon numbing her senses somewhat, but it was not enough. Rayn closed her eyes. There was nothing to see but the threatening dark. She tried to distract her mind. She was trying to think back to the point when this all had started. It was hard to think when her body was feeling like it had been battered with a heavy rod, which it had been. But she knew she had to. She had to keep reminding herself why she was here, why she was going through this and why she could not simply give up. She can not break down. And breaking her was exactly the purpose of the torture. And they would come back to try some more. That inevitable made her shudder. She was not coward, but the pain was unbearable. And she feared breaking down under it. Yes, she was not particularly afraid of dying, no. Die she will, whether she gave them what they wanted or not. She only feared breaking down and giving them the information. No. She could not do that. If they knew what she knew, her Clan would lose any hope of winning. It was crucial that she kept her resistance up. Rayn lazily wondered about her captors. How long would it take for them to realize that she would not talk, and the only thing that they could do was to kill her? She prayed it would be soon... Very soon. That way, she would not have to worry about her breaking down much longer. While she morbidly pursued that line of thought, a small voice of hope still whispered to her - 'May be if the captors were resisted long enough, the Clan would come for her?' As she realized the presence of that hope, her heart skipped a bit. And then she firmly killed the hope, the tiny voice in the back of her head that never seemed to give up hoping the impossible. No, it won't be so. The Clan would not come for her. She was only another fighter in the war, a fighter who has been captured by the enemy and held to extract information. She could imagine the writing on the long list of their ranks. She could picture the tiny hand-written letters beside her name 'Rayn Slader - M.I.A'. Missing in action. And considered beyond the hope of rescue. Those captured by the demons, were never returned whole. In pieces scattered all over the area within a 100 km radius from where they were captured, yes. But never returned whole. As if the demons were determined to show them just how cruel they could go; and that was without the Clan knowing what happened to the victims before they were killed. Now Rayn knew what they had to go through. No wonder some of them broke down. After all, not all had the same motivation. Not all had practically begged to be a fighter - to fight side-by-side with the Alpha and help to bring the victory to the Clan that was long fought for. She had. And she was going to keep the Oath she had taken. Yes, the demons will be relentless. That made her smile dryly, despite the wounds that started bleeding again. 'It doesn't matter' - she told herself. She was capable of being relentless too. She heard something. Yes, the door of the cold, stone chamber was opening. She could smell the creature that entered. They were back to torture her, and this time there were more of them. She sighed. 'It doesn't matter' she thought as she prepared for the oncoming pain. ' Kiel has to be safe. That's what matters.' she reminded herself of their Alpha. His location was her captors' interest, it was what only a few knew, and what she was adamant to protect. He has to remain safe to lead them. And her life did not matter. She heard them taking their places around her, They asked her questions and she only answered with silence. And then the blows begun. She could feel them gathering around her. They were preparing to take the torture up one notch. Till now she was only beaten, now, as she felt several hands on her body, groping her, penetrating her, she realized with horror what they would do next. In almost desperate effort she tried to scream, - "NO!" - Her voice failed her, she only could gasp. Some how one of her captors heard her. He... It... cocked his head to one side - - "No? well you know the magic word..." with a smile intended to put on display his pointed teeth, he added in a raspy whisper, - " Tell us where he is, and all this will stop. You know it will. Tell us what you know..." She heard him through a fog of panic. And stilled. She could not do that. -"No. Never." - "No? Well, then we must continue persuading you, shouldn't we?" the demon added with a smile. She remembered him. He was the one who had captured her first, and questioned her. They had first come to her as angels, not only in their words but in their looks, too. When she had refused to budge, the pretense was gone, along with the glamor, showing her exactly what they were. Reminding her of her first fight against them. Only difference was, now she was heavily chained. She had told them what she thought of them - cowards; they did not care. They wanted her to tell them something they did not know, but wanted to know. Then the torture had truly begun. And this particular demon had delivered the first blow. Rayn felt the demon move between her thighs, separating them. She sobbed dryly. She had no power, no strength. She wished she had rather been killed in their last action. She felt her womanhood being penetrated... And then she screamed with all her effort, because one other had just mercilessly rammed into her anus, stretching her beyond her capacity. And they started fucking her respective holes in unison. The pain compelled her to scream again. This time her scream died in her throat as an immense member was thrust in her mouth without warning. She gasped for breath. The tears that had stopped before, now welled up again. Someone was also fucking her ample cleavage, pinching her nipples so hard that her skin had punctured in several places. All of them thrust inside her and they did not care if she had died. Now she knew why they kept her alive this long despite her silence, they wanted to take all the fun they could get out of the capture. She had to divert her mind. She thought back to the time before... before her capture. She had no idea how long ago she was taken. She thought about the powerful hands, slightly calloused from extensive fighting, that had held her, touched her ever so gently, pleasuring her. Thought about his gentle kisses and caresses, and tried to lose herself in the memories of the past. Memories of her only refuge she had ever found. She thought back to the time it had first started. She wanted to forget everything, she did not want to note that one of her rapists had already cummed in her mouth and was replaced by another. Her mouth was being abused again and again. Her butt and cunt were being ravished over and over, without giving her any pleasure. She could feel the numerous bleeding scars from where the demons had buried their sharp nails and teeth. The metal frame was being moved and positioned so they could fuck her in every way possible. And she was being covered by their seed. She would have vomited from the smell, only, she had no strength left in her ravaged body. She lost her self in the memories of the pleasant past. The only escape she was able to take. Chapter - I : HOW IT HAD ALL STARTED ----------------------------- --------------------------------------- City of West Debra, OuterWorld, 3 months before. Night time. --------------------------------------- ----------------------------- It was Approaching midnight, and Rayn was yet to reach her home. She was a little nervous. She had never returned home this late, and one reason for that was her aversion to traveling in dark, especially if traveling meant walking. She was not scared, only hated the fact that nights in Cardaera were mysterious, and unpredictable. Despite the busy city, the nights were still, and only a few people were seen outside, especially in this part. But tonight seemed unusually still, even for West Debra. As if the night was waiting for something to happen. Rayn became alert of her surroundings. She wanted to hear it if someone came from behind her. As she walked past one dark ally after another, she thought about the bakery she worked at. 'Bakery and coffee shop,' she corrected herself. She had only joined Sips and Nibbles a few weeks back, and was still in the process of getting used to working there. Before, she had worked at a restaurant as one of the wait staff. But quite soon had managed to get herself fired by making an enemy out of Kirsten - a girl who had made almost a pet out of the owner by batting her eyelashes and flashing her pearly teeth ( 'And Lord knows what else'- Rayn added in her mind) at him. Rayn had refused to cover up the mess Kirsten had made in the kitchen, because in Kirsten's vocabulary covering up meant taking the blame upon yourself for the mess of others - to be specific, for the messes of Kirsten. Kirsten had taken out her anger on her by making a mess for Rayn and by pushing the blame on her. A 100 gold credits missing from the Cash Register had been found from the pocket of Rayn's uniform shirt , and the owner of the restaurant had been informed mysteriously that her rent was due. He had not waited for any explanation, and had fired her. That too, without any salary for that week. "You are lucky that we are not reporting you. And a week's salary is the price you gotta pay, and it is not much if you ask me," he had practically growled at her. Rayn had NOT asked him about the justness of the punishment. Instead, she had emptied her locker and before leaving the restaurant premises, had punctured the tires of the cars of Kirsten and Mr Donald, and had dropped quite a lot of cheese in their cars, which were bound to stink the hell out of them within a few days. Rayn had a taste for vengeance. And she satisfied it in any way possible when she felt something was unjust. And if Mr Donald had seen the flash in her big, hazel green eyes, he would have known better than to withhold her payment. She knew it was petty; after all, they'd go about their own business in a few days as if nothing had happened. But then, Rayn could not have gone Vigilante on them. Going Vigilante did not pay, and she needed to get on the search again, and desperately. If she had not been able to get this job when she did, she would have lost her home, too. Her landlord did not take well to rents pending due. As Rayn walked nearer to the area she lived at, she started to enjoy the night weather. The cool breeze soothed her tired body. She distractedly played with her hair. She realized that she rather enjoyed working at the bakery. She could remember how she would bake with her mom every Restday when she was a child. That came in handy now. Also, the other staff there were quite friendly. As a small team, they were relatively helpful. She hoped she could hold this job a little better. She had at last found a place where she felt accepted. Suddenly, startling her, it started raining. She was shocked. Shocked and delighted. She loved rain! She loved watching the rain and the way it cascaded down to wet the soil. Hell, after her birth, when she would scream murder at anything unknown, rain was the only other thing that would stop her crying instantly, even her mom was not that effective. That's why she was named that way - Rayn. It was her mothers idea. Her mom had always told a story of her childhood. After her birth, she was named Sheela at first. But she would never respond to that name. Then they'd tried quite a few other names. But she would ignore them, too. Then observing her fascination with rain, her mom had named her Rayn, and she didn't had to be called twice with that name, ever, she would respond every time when someone called her. It had not taken long to discover the name - she was born on the second day of the span of the Goddess Vera, that was the season of rain and prosperity. As she remembered the season, she frowned. It wasn't the span of Vera, it rarely rained at this time. She was indeed a little taken aback. But nevertheless, she was happy. As she walked at a slower pace, she closed her eyes, feeling the raindrops dancing on her body, on her naked shoulder and arms, lightly caressing her face; it literally felt like a lover's touch to her as the rain drops touched her eyes and forehead to trail down to her chin traveling through her cheek, as if someone was laying kisses on her face while being very, very gentle. She spread her hand to her sides, lifting her face towards heaven, welcoming the water on her body, embracing the beautiful feeling. She smiled as she felt the music in her soul, her feet wanted to tap to the rhythm, to dance as if responding to a primal need to express herself. She could barely contain herself. Not content with walking anymore, she spun on the spot she had come to a halt. Feeling the smell of the rain call to her, she started to take slow rhythmic steps, bending her body with the tune that the breeze played for her, her feet stepping to the rhythm of the rain drops. She was almost oblivious of the fact that this was not her home, she was in an almost deserted area and very much vulnerable. She did not care. She could only sense the tune as she started to dance, also very oblivious to the pairs of eyes that followed her steps, looking on with curiosity. The nocturnal creatures of Cardeara rarely got to see such behavior in the people. They did not mind it though. They looked on to the creature dance to the heavenly tune. Suddenly her concentration broke. As she opened her eyes she frowned, confused as to the source of the disturbance that caused her to stop. She didn't have to look for long. As she glanced to the narrow alleyway at her left something came barreling out. Before she could blink, it had collided with her and continued to shoot towards the stone wall at the far right to her, which was getting less far from her every second as she tried to think. she was paste if they hit the wall. Her eyes opened wide in fear. As she tried to think something suddenly she felt herself spinning around, she was now shooting backwards and was held in a stony embrace against something furry. She felt the collision the moment the creature hit the wall, cushioning it for her. She slid onto the ground from where the creature was holding her firmly. She could hear it panting roughly. She straightened to look at it. Creatures so big were rare on Cardeara, let alone the city. 'It must have been hurt very much' she thought, trying to decipher the black fur against the downpour. As she squinted, she realized the creature had spun to protect her from hitting the wall and had taken it on itself. She did not know of any animal that intelligent. She shrugged off the thought as she tried to find the creature. As she took a step forward, someone grunted in pain. She jumped back, a little shocked. Then she realized, she probably had stepped onto his foot. She again proceeded carefully. As she saw an outline of a body, she knelt, -"Hey, you okay?" she asked, mastering as much softness as she could to talk above the sound Of the lashing rain. -"I'm fine." The man grunted out, then continued through obvious pain -"You need to get out of here... Fast. If they see you..." he trailed off, rendered incapable of speaking by the pain. -"You're hurt, let me see," she tried to touch him to understand how many of his bones were broken, momentarily forgetting about the big, furry creature. But her fingers never touched him. Instead, he held her arm in a vice like grip, immobilizing her, demanding her attention, then growled out, -"I said I'm... I will be fine. Don't bother. Save yourself. Get away before they see you. They won't spare a civilian. Get lost before anyone is hurt saving you." he snarled. -"Hey! I'm just trying to help you. And who are 'they'? Are some criminals after you?" she said, protesting, yet in a soft tone. She did not want to enrage him. -"Woman, the only way you can help us, is by getting lost..." he stopped, looking behind her, then growled through gritted teeth, "too late, they're hear. And to satisfy your need to know who 'they' are, just look over your shoulder." he was growling like an animal by the time he stopped. She looked. And went pale. She crawled backwards, almost pressing herself up against the man's chest, -"Wha...what are those?" she managed to get out of her chattering teeth. -"Demons. From hell where humans don't go. And I can't protect you, my spine has not healed fully. You're on your own. Sorry." the man growled out, bluntly, betraying his frustration. Noting that, she blinked, then looked down at the man. 'His spine has broken, yet he is thinking about saving me,' she thought with awe. Then she shook herself as determination set in. -"Got any weapons?" she asked. -"Yeah. The gun, and the long knife. About the only things that work on them." as he distractedly gave out the information, he frowned, and followed with a question, -"WHY?" -"So I can save both of us, obviously." she answered as she located both the weapons and tugged them free from below him. His eyes shot up as he saw her advance, putting him at a safe distance away from the potential battle field. -"Do you have any idea how many there are?" he shouted after her, incredulous, amazed and furious at the same time. Lovers' Oath Ch. 02 Author's Note : - This story is going to be long, and is not meant for instant gratification. In other words, this won't be a quickie, so if you were looking for that, sorry to have disappointed you. I'll be writing other stories to fit that category. Hope to see you there. Please bear in mind that the story is located in a fictional world of magic, Cardaera, where our 'normal' world and supernatural world mix and coexist, often without the knowledge of humans. The history and geography of the world is nowhere near our world, since I was never good at those. There will be some depiction of heterosexual,homo, BDSM and group sex. Rape and horror will only be depicted as a part of story development and NOT for arousal. All characters are of age, and the author encourages safe sex. Last, but not the least, this story is my very first attempt, and I'm kind of "testing the water." so be generous with the constructive comments and let me know if you liked it. Lovers' Oath Ch. 02 -"Thanks Kiel." Rohan tried to find words to express the gratitude he felt. -"That's fine, Ro. Let's get back and get some rest. That was some work out with these Demons tonight." Flashing Rohan a mischievous smile, he added, "And you owe me a dinner for saving your butt tonight, well, at least before you got kicked anyway." he grinned innocently, listening to Rohan's grumbles, trying his best to take his, and his wolf's, mind off of the girl. ***** --------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ The next morning, The Den... ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------- As he ate breakfast, Kiel decided to check up on the girl before leaving the manor. They usually called it The Den, since most of his pack stayed here. Some, who like to keep away from the bustle, stay in their own houses, but within reasonable distance. As Kiel made his way downstairs, he felt really thankful for having such a wonderful healer in his pack. The healer, Kendra, had told him last night that the girl was healing fast. Even for a Were, her healing rate was accelerated. Entering the medical room, he saw the healer going through some paperworks, her back to the door. He had an idea. As he crept along towards her, moments away from pouncing, Kendra just turned and grabbed hold of his nose, -"Ou, ou ou ou ou... That hurts that hurts that hurts..." Kiel barely kept from shouting. Him shouting would bring down the whole pack down here and he was feeling humiliated enough without the whole pack knowing it. Kendra snorted, then released her hold on his nose. He sprang back, gingerly holding onto his nose. -"Ki, when would you stop behaving like a pup around me? I could hear you down the corridor entrance. You really thought you could sneak up on an Elder?" she chuckled, seeing him pouting. Despite being the alpha known for his reserved manner around others, he was still mischievous as a puppy around a few people. She should know, being one of those people. She knew why Kiel kept up the cold disposition in front of others. She reached at his nose again. He promptly backpedaled with wary eyes. -"Oh stop being a kid, Kiel. I only want to make sure I didn't break your nose." she lightly reprimanded him. -"You didn't." he replied grousily, still hiding his nose. -"I still want to make sure. Now remove you hand, or I will." That got his both hands down and away from his nose. Kendra checked his nose for swelling, she knew it wasn't broken, but a swollen nose won't put a very good impression of him in his pack. Once she was sure it was alright, she went back to the papers. -"What are those? Her reports?" Kiel asked. -"Yeah. She has healed nicely. Right now she is still asleep from the sedative I had injected into her last night. She would be out till this evening. That way, when she comes around, she won't be in as much pain. How is Rohan doing?" Kendra was very curious to know what exactly had caused him to heal so rapidly. She had an inkling that it had to do something with that girl. But she could not think what would establish such a connection. And she was dying to know. -"He is keeping fine. Preparing for the pack meeting I guess. I want to see her, where is she?" His curiosity was getting the better of him. And of his beast, too. -"In that room." she replied, pointing to a door to the left. Just as he started for the door, she added," I think Sam and Preeyal are still inside. See what they can tell you. I'll be there in a minute." Listening to her, he suddenly felt a pang of jealousy. Why are the other people there before him? Without realizing, his beast growled in frustration. He still wanted to smell her, and he was not gonna get the chance, again. Shaking his head, he entered the room. Preeyal was leaning over the girl, sniffing at her. He frowned. What was going on? Preeyal was a special one in his pack. Her talent was something he could not give a name to. She was simply extra sensitive to supernatural and magical cues. That, coupled with her knowledge, often helped to provide useful insight into situations that they otherwise would have missed. But, being extra sensitive, she almost never tried to stimulate her senses. And sniffing was out of the question. Yet, she had her nose almost glued to the girl's neck. Seeing that, before he could control, his beast let out a growl, making Preeyal jump and step back from the cot on which the girl was lying. Preeyal looked up at him, then at the girl, and then blushed furiously. -"What were you doing?" he asked, keeping his tone as calm as possible. -"Umm... I was taking a whiff... To... To decipher what she is..." Preeyal was stammering. -"That was not taking a whiff. You were drowning your nose in her scent." Kiel pointed out. -"Yeah... Her smell... It's... It's delicious... Addicting. I couldn't pull out of it." Preeyal managed to answer before burying her face in her mate Sam's chest, embarrassed. Sam chuckled. Then looking at Kiel, who was standing next to the girl's cot, he supplied, -"We couldn't understand what her fourth part is. It's not of our world. That part is keeping the two beasts together, binding them. We don't understand from where did the beasts came. Since she is not mated..." Sam stopped at Kiel's questioning look, then added, "Preeyal checked," then continued, "we're assuming from her parents. And probably at their joining, this magic was imparted to bind them. At her conception, it became a part of her. That's our assumption." as Sam stopped, he saw some of the other Pack Council members file inside. Nodding at Sam, Kiel was trying to understand it all. Magic to bind a Black panther and a Wolf? Bonding between them happened, only, the offspring showed dominant features of one beast, with some of the qualities of the other. But this woman had two distinct beasts. 'Would she then have two beast form as well? And how would her hybrid look like?' he wondered silently, gazing down at the beauty. She had long, beautifully curling black and blue hair fanned around her perfect milk and roses skin in stark contrast. Only, where the sun touched her hair, it looked like... Almost silver... 'No, that's not right,' he frowned. Then without noticing what he was doing, he buried his fingers in her hair and ran them through, marveling at the soft, smooth feeling. As he held a bunch of her locks to the sun, he found the perfect comparison. 'They're like glistening river in a moonlit night.' he thought, quite pleased with himself at finding the perfect analogy. As he continued to gaze down at her, he realized that the healer had taken off the woman's cloths last night. Right now, a small part above her right breast was exposed. At the thought of someone seeing her like this, he felt jealous. To pull up the sheet covering her, he leaned in, and then noticed something. There was a sign, right where her breast had begun. It was almost like some kind of a written symbol. To get a good look, he leaned across her, slowly tracing the curves of the symbol with his finger. As he did, Sam suddenly started, -"Careful Ki... She is gonna..." BAM! "...Hit you." Kiel caught the end of the sentence from where he had fallen on the floor. Her punch had sent him flying a good two feet back. He glared at Sam, -"Thanks for the warning, soothsayer !" he said, gently massaging his jaw where she had hit, pulling himself up. -"Any time, man." Sam answered with a chuckle. Then, a gentle squeak brought their attention back to the girl. She was now clutching to the sheets, trying to scoot back on the bed, as far from the people as possible. Noting her bewildered look, and a hint of fear in her eyes, Kiel turned toward the others, -"Everyone, out." As he saw them silently file out of the room, he turned and started towards the frightened girl. He instinctively wanted to sooth her, calm her. He wanted to tell her it was alright, that she was safe, while cradling her in his arms... As his thought reached that point, two things brought him up short. First, he had no idea from where that last thought had come from, and secondly, her eyes were still wide with fear. Hearing a footstep, he turned to see the healer just enter the room. -"Call Rohan. He might be able to calm her down." Then, seeing Kendra gesture toward the girl, he turned and saw her huddle at one end of the bed, still clutching the cover to her chest. He sighed and turned towards to door, mumbling to Kendra, -"Forget it. I'll get him myself." Then he left the room, hoping Kendra would be able to calm her down somewhat. As he drew away from the room, his heart was saddened, his wolf lying down, burying his nose within its front paws. He didn't understand why she was scared of him. 'I didn't hurt her by touching that symbol, did I?' he tried to figure it out as he tried to find out where Rohan was. ***** She was feeling weightless, like when she was fully immersed in a pool. The only difference was, it was real dark here. She tried to think where she was. She couldn't remember. Was she drowning? She wondered. She tried to swim, but her limbs would not move. They were almost non-existent. She could not feel them. She tried to move again. And again she failed. She started to panic. What was happening to her? Am I dying? As she thought that, something flashed in her mind - a big, bulky creature, slowly stalking towards her. It went away as soon as it had came. She tried to think what it was. Slowly, very slowly, she was feeling as if swimming towards the surface of a calm sea. There was a hint of light above. She heard voices... Garbled... But voices. That reminded her of a particular garbling sound. She couldn't place it, but the memory triggered a defensive emotion. As if she had to protect herself from whatever made that noise. As she finally surfaced, she almost forcefully opened her eyes. It was all a blur. But even through the blur, she made out the outline of someone leaning over her, reaching towards her. The defensive reflex came into action. She pulled away her right hand from her side and let it fly. As the man flew backwards, she scrambled up, intent upon jumping to her feet and fleeing, but stopped short as she realized she had nothing on her body except a sheet, and the room was full with people. Clutching the sheet to her chest, she scrambled back towards the headboard, squeaking loudly when she saw the man she had hit pull himself to his feet and again start forward, towards her. 'Where am I?' she wondered, watching the men surrounding the bed she was lying on. She had heard of some groups of criminals who would kidnap young women and trade them as slaves. 'Are these people one of those groups?' she couldn't decide. Then she heard the deep voice again. She looked at the man who owned it. He was the one she had hit. He was ordering everyone out. 'Crap, he is the leader. And I had to hurt him, of all people. Crap!' she thought, still watching him through wide eyes, wondering if he is going to hurt him back. A small voice in the back of her head hoped he won't. 'He is so handsome.' the small voice mused, ' and his voice sounds so soothing. It would be a pity if he turned out to be so bad.' the small voice decided. She saw the man coming towards her. She thought of scooting further away, then realized she was pressed up against the headboard. Besides, it was meaningless anyway. As she observed him coming, she became curious. She could plainly see the rippling muscles beneath the shirt he was wearing. She wanted to know if those muscles would feel just as good beneath her questing fingers as they looked despite being hidden beneath the smooth fabric of his shirt. But she didn't get much time to pursue that line of thought. She saw a woman enter the room. As they talked, her eyes traveled down his body, stopping as they reached his buttocks. 'What a beautifully firm butt. It will be fun to knead them. They look so deliciously soft.' as soon as she realized what she was thinking, she was horrified. She had no idea where those thoughts were coming from. She never thought of any man like that. She simply froze in mortification, her wide eyes still fixed at him. Then she saw him turn, and after a glance at her, he left the room. She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. She hadn't realized she was holding her breath. Hearing approaching footfalls, she looked up, opening her eyes. The woman who had just entered was smiling at her, holding out a shirt and a pair of sweatpants at her. In response to her questioning looks at the cloths, the woman said, -"Get into these cloths before the boys come back here. Then you have a lot of story telling to do." as she handed over the cloths to Rayn, she went back to the clipboard she was clutching in her other hand, scribbling something. As Rayn changed into the cloths, she wondered what the woman was writing. Once she had finished, the woman turned towards her and smiled, -"There you go. I knew you'd look cute in those. A little over sized, but never mind. They make you look like a kid." Noting her embarrassed expression, she offered her hand, "Hi, I'm Kendra. And you look really pretty." Rayn shook the offered hand, and giving a tentative smile, said -"Hey, I'm Rayn, and really embarrassed." It seemed that the tentative smile was all what was need to win Kendra's heart. Giving her a bright smile, Kendra mused, -"Rayn! Hmm... Interesting..." she was eying Rayn curiously and speculatively. Tucking away a wayward lock of hair, Rayn smiled, -"Yeah. My mom gave that name to me. Because I would only stop screaming at the top of my lungs when it was raining." she explained. -"Oh... I can imagine that..." Kendra chuckled. -"Umm... Kendra, where am I? And why? What happened to me?" Rayn asked directly. -"That's what even we want to hear from you. Last night, we found you lying in a pool of blood... Injured... Very very injured. We'd like to know how you were there. Don't you remember anything?" Kendra asked, very confused. Surely, she'd remember events like that? Rayn shook her head, hesitatingly. She was still trying to remember. -"No. I don't recall anything." She sighed. Rubbing her head, she tried to think. Snippets of a face came to her, but incomplete. They went away as soon as they came. Only one snippet held a little longer. A pair of warm, brown eyes, surrounded by thick eyelashes, and eyebrows like the wings of an eagle... They were... Intense... Looking at her... Rayn frowned. Where had that come from? She was trying to remember who those eyes belonged to. As she tried to concentrate, something happened. A sharp tone hit her ears, instantly giving her a throbbing headache. She gasped and pressed her hands tightly around her head. She heard Kendra approaching. -"What is it Rayn? What's wrong?" Kendra's voice almost soothed her. But it lacked something. A memory came to her, a deep yet soothing voice. It had a seductive touch to it. Almost like an aphrodisiac. Rayn shook her head, gasping as her head throbbed again, -"Headache... Sudden... Oh..." she whispered, not trusting herself to speak any louder. Then she heard Kendra move closer and place her palms at the front- top and the back-bottom of her head, applying a little pressure. The headache was gone almost as soon as it had came. She opened her eyes and blinked. -"What did you just do?" she blurted out. Then something distracted her. Footsteps. But something was strange in the sound. The footsteps weren't close enough to be outside this door. She didn't notice as she took a few steps towards the door. Where were those footsteps coming from? She cocked her head, trying to concentrate on the location of the origin of the sound. It felt like, the sound was traveling down a long corridor, after coming down a huge hall. She frowned. How could it be possible to hear sounds from that far? She turned towards the other woman to find her staring at her with a confused expression. -"What?" she asked, instantly self-aware. Kendra just shook her head. She had seen something, she just didn't know what. It had seemed... Her ears had somewhat elongated for a few moments. Then they became normal again as the girl had turned at her. Noting Rayn's questioning stare, she decided to tell the truth, only not the whole truth, -"I'm just finding you hard to figure, that's all." she confessed. -"Oh..." a slight blush crept up Rayn's face. Then an awkward silence ensued. Well, awkward for her since the other woman simply stared at her, watching her movements. Then suddenly someone gave a shout of joy behind her. She turned and instantly found herself caught in a bear hug. She simply blinked. Who was this? The grip the person was holding her into reminded her of something... Something furry... She tried to disentangle herself from the man. After several gentle pushes, she managed, and looked up to find a pair of warm brown eyes looking down at her. She frowned. She knew them... But from where? Then the man spoke, -"Hey, how are you doing? I thought you won't be conscious until this evening? Oh, I'm so happy to see you. You saved my life out there..." he trailed off, seeing her confused look. -"What?" she asked. -"Rohan, she doesn't remember last night's events. Go slow." Kendra supplied in that soothing voice. Then she saw the flash in those eyes. Anger... No, fury... Something nudged at her memory. Something very important. She looked at his face. She knew him. And he said she had saved his life last night. As she tried to recall, she heard him growl in rage. He still had one hand on her shoulder. It clenched as he growled and said, -"If anything happens to her, I will do my best to obliterate those demons from the face of the world." She heard him. Then something clicked. As if a middle part of a bridge clicked into place. And then the flood gate opened. She remembered... Everything... The rain, the man - this man, the fight, the demons, everything. As she remembered the demon throwing her, she visibly flinched away. -"Oh... Oh... Oh... Oh..." she gasped. It felt as if the world was tilting around her. She clung to the man holding her, using his hard stature to keep herself standing. Then she felt someone... Someone else... gently picking her up and placing her on the bed. -"Hey, you o.k? What happened?" The man still held her draping one arm around her shoulder. She had kept her eyes tightly shut and breath held this far, afraid she may cry out otherwise. And she didn't want to cry in front of someone she had saved so bravely just a few hours ago. As she drew her breath slowly a new smell assailed her nose. It was so rich... Spicy... Sensual... Soothing... Calming... Something very very... Edible? Something stirred in her mind. A kind of hunger. No. A mix of hunger and lust. She wanted to bite into it. She wanted it to flood her senses. Instinctively she turned her head and buried her nose into the source, never realizing that she had just buried her nose into the crook of the neck of the man she had just hit sometime ago. She drew her breath slowly, deeply. It was so... addictive. ***** As Kiel entered the room a little after Rohan, he saw the girl fainting, barely holding on to his arm as Rohan tried to steady her. It only took him a few long steps, and then as he cradled the barely conscious girl in his arms, he shot a questioning look at Rohan. He shrugged, confusion and worry written all over her face. 'I was just thanking her for last night, then Kendra said she didn't remember anything. Then as I mentioned the demons, she gasped and started to faint. I think mentioning the demons brought back the memories of last night and it was too much for her to take.' Rohan supplied over their mental connection.' I also noticed something, Kiel,' he continued. Lovers' Oath Ch. 02 'What?' Kiel asked. Lowering her into the bed. 'Last night, when she was fighting, her eyes were different, not the hazel green as now. They were electric blue with a single yellow streak through the middle. It was her beast... Beasts... Umm... What ever, her non-human part, that had fought.' Rohan told him, a little excited at his discovery. As he watched, he saw Kiel staring at her, still keeping his arms draped around her. For some reason, it pleased him. -"Hey, you o.k? What happened?" Kiel gently asked her. He felt like pulling her into his chest and rock her, soothing her. He compensated by holding her. As he tried to think of a way to calm her, she startled him by burying her nose in the crook of his shoulder. Realizing what she was doing, he lost his control. He drew her closer and buried his nose into the crook of her neck. He slowly inhaled, feeling the light sensuous brush of her own breathing on his shoulder. He skimmed the naked skin at her neck and collarbone with his nose. His senses were flooded with her scent. She smelled like, dew drops and rain, and... And... Delicious. Something else was there too. A slightly flowery scent. He had never smelled any flower smelling this sweet. As he felt her light brushes, he slowly nuzzled her neck, his wolf doing a yippity yip dance all along. Instantly, he became aware of two things, she had pressed her body into his, making him feel her soft curves through their cloths. That made him tighten his hold onto her. The very next moment she licked at the naked skin at his neck, a light flick of her tongue and before he could react, she bit down on the spot, drawing blood. 'She didn't.' He thought, simply frozen on the spot. Then as she sucked on the bite,slight shivers ran up and down his spine. A part of him, the human part, didn't almost believe. He didn't even know her name! But she smells so lovely, and after her bite, he wanted to return the gesture. He could sense his wolf was quite happy with the way things were going. A small, contented sigh escaped his lips and he closed his eyes, burying his nose in her neck. Unconsciously, he ran his fingers through her hair and continued down her spine. Her reaction at that caught him off guard. She purred. His eyes shot open. Slowly, carefully he drew her away from his body. He almost stopped when she made a mewing sound in protest and tried to snuggle back into his lap, but held her away in a gentle yet firm hand. She sleepily opened her eyes, her brows furrowed at the unwanted intervention to her exploring. He noticed her eyes - blue, like the sky in a sunny day, with a single streak of interwoven gold and watery silver through the middle. They were simply beautiful. It took his breath away as he realized that it was her beast that had tasted him. He looked on with wonder and slightly wary of her aggressiveness. As he watched, he saw her expression going from a contented calm to horrified embarrassment in an instant as realization dawned on her face at what she had done. He saw her eyes return to their natural green, the bright blue slowly fading away into green as the gold and silver bled and blended into the blue. He heard her gasp, -"I... I... I'm..." she stammered apologetically. He looked on with fascination as the blush slowly crept up her throat to color her cheeks. Hearing her stammer, his first impulse was to kiss her mouth shut. He didn't want her to apologize for what she did. He settled for completing her sentence as she again started, "I really am..." "Yes, you are really fine." Then he added with a chuckle, "I was just checking." Turning, he looked at Rohan, "I have to attend the council meeting to discuss tactical issues. You talk with her, and make sure she understands this." "Yeah, I know." 'Rohan, don't scare her.' Kiel was a little worried. He didn't know much about her to judge how she would take it all. He will have to leave it to Rohan for gathering information about her. Despite her reaction to him, he knew her human would probably be best left to Rohan to let her know things without scaring her. 'Oh, that'd be hard not to scare her. What with her saving me yesterday, and me being so scary and grumpy looking. Oh no, wait, scary and grumpy is you.' Rohan sarcastically supplied, his eyes doing a sparkling dance. 'Yeah, o.k, Prince Charming! We'll see about that.' Remembering her reaction sent a delightful shiver up his spine. Shooting a mischievous grin at Rohan's confused stare, he walked away, his wolf a little grumbling at not being able to stay with the delightful creature he left in the medical room. ***** Rayn stared with wide eyes behind the fine specimen of maleness that left the room. She was shocked when she had realized she was not only nestling in his warmth of his chest but had also actually nipped him. She was horrified. She was also apprehensive about his reaction. That was the second time in one day that she had managed to injure him. And both times he had simply left her, walking away from her. This time she felt a genuine yearning for him. She wanted him back in her arms. But he had left her with someone else. She shook her head, dropping her eyes to the floor. 'Well, what do you expect? He probably thought you were some kind of cannibal or a vampire that wanted to eat him alive.' She admonished herself silently. Lifting her eyes to look at the door he had gone through, she found herself looking at Rohan. She remembered something. ''Aren't you supposed to be in a bed recovering from a broken spine?'' Her direct question instantly made him a little nervous. "Umm... Yeah... The thing is, we heal fast." he answered, eying her apprehensively all along. She shook her head, what did this man take her for? A retarded ape? "No human recovers that fast from injuries that bad." she spoke confidently. "Yeah... Honey, I hate to break this to you, but we're not human." he replied with a faint smile, already preparing for the volley of questions he knew she was gonna throw at him. And she did. "Not human? What do you mean, not human? What are you then, bear?" she was almost sure he had lost it. "And what do you mean 'we'? Who else are you talking about?" she added as she recalled his full sentence. "Your guess is quite close. Not bear though, something else. But first tell me how much of last night do you remember?" She was a little baffled. She wanted to believe he was completely cracked. But his words had one support. Himself. She knew beyond doubt that this man had a broken backbone last night. Yet, he was standing in front of her, like he had just had a tiny scratch. And while talking about injuries, she knew she had broken her right arm. Frowning, she lifted it slowly, tracing the scars - they looked ages old. But apart from those, her arm was uninjured. She lifted her confusion ridden eyes to him. He grinned. Then as if something had occurred to him, he stretched his hand towards her, "Rohan. Still alive, thanks to you." She wondered at his mischievous smile. Did he always smiled like that? "Rayn Slader. Still confused, thanks to you." well, she had her own mischievous smile, didn't she? Her reply made his smile widen. Chuckling, he surveyed her. 'this is a witty one, perfect.' he thought. "Well you never told me, how much do you remember?" he demanded again. "Most of it. Stepping on your foot, the monsters, the fight." He nodded, "Do you remember the furry animal barreling into you?" A little confused, she nodded. What did that animal had to do with this? "Yeah, that was me." He thought she would be a little concerned with his sanity now. Instead, she lifted one eyebrow. He smiled. This was a true alpha. He took a step back, never breaking eye contact. "Remember I said we're not human?" she nodded, anticipation dawning on her face. As he saw that, without warning, he shifted. Rayn gasped. Where Rohan was standing, now stood a massive wolf. Its fur was dark as night, just like his hair. Only the eyes never changed color. They were still the warm brown. Standing on its four, its head was above her head. As she stood up from the bed, the wolf settled down onto the floor. Its huge head resting on its front paws, watching her through sleepy, half opened eyes. She walked forward, taking in its huge form. "Beautiful." A whisper escaped from her lips. Then she tentatively reached with her hand towards its fur. Suddenly she stopped, then looked at the creature. As it closed its eyes, she took the necessary step and buried her fingers in the soft smooth fur of its coat. "Oh." she gasped, marveling at the feeling. With her other hand, she scratched behind its ears. She smiled as she heard him rumble. Suddenly she noticed the corner of its jaw twist up. She looked at his eyes and as she saw a mischievous glint, she instinctively tried to take a step back, but never succeeded. As she tried to get away, he simply stretched his tongue and licked her whole face. "Eew. Rohan." she whined, playfully smacking at his nose. He easily dodged the slap and his tongue lolled out in a wolfy grin. She cleaned her face with a towel. "Pup!" she glared at him. In answer, he shifted back. "Do you believe now?" he asked, with an amused expression. "Yeah. Was licking me a part of your persuasive strategy?" Hearing that, he shrugged. "It was necessary to give you an experience that would remind you that it's real, should you ever chose to doubt it." He informed her innocently. Still glaring, she couldn't help her curiosity. "So is every one I saw is like that? Like, a wolf?" she asked. At her eager expression, he smiled. Curiosity always gets the cat. "Yeah. Everyone. We're Werewolves. There are other varieties as well. Werebear, werecats. A more general term is Lycanthrope. There are also instances where there will be two beasts in one human." He added the last part for her benefit. Watching her carefully, he continued, "We stay in packs. And the man you... Umm... Met... Before..." he saw a blush form again on her throat,"... He is our leader, our alpha. His name is Kiel." Rayn mulled that over. Then something occurred to her. Her healing rate was like this man, then... "What am I, then? Wolf too?" she asked, eager to know the answer. Rohan lifted a brow. "What, don't you have a radar or something? Some sixth sense that tells you who's who?" she blurted out. He burst out laughing. She simply pouted, her brows scrunched. "We're not entirely sure about you." as he sobered up some, he continued, "So far we've determined, you have a black panther and a wolf. But a third entity is there as well. We don't know what it is. It's like a powerful magical bond that keeps your beasts together while maintaining their separate identities. It's rare." by the time he finished, she was jumping up and down in excitement. "What are you thinking, Rayn?" he asked warily. "How do I change...into that animal form?" she asked eagerly, excited to try it out. He laughed. 'Typical cat.' he mused. Then chuckled as he heard her stomach rumble. "Okay, kitty. Lunch time. Change can wait. Let's go get you fed, or you'll take a chunk out of Kiel when you next see him." he jumped out of her reach as she tried to smack him. "No scratching, kitty." he warned as she pursued him. Laughing, he ran towards the door, Rayn hot on his tail. ----------------------------- --------------------------------------- Somewhere in the Dark Cave, UnderWorld. Same time. --------------------------------------- ----------------------------- Gedan looked on as the spy returned. He narrowed his slit like eyes. If the spy had again returned without news... 'Well, my pets are never too full for such delicious treats.' he thought with slight glee, but never dropping his cold face. "And what news do you bring, slave?" He could almost feel the waves of terror the insignificant creature of the OuterWorld was giving off. He basked in the power it supplied him. He inhaled deeply, and saw the shudder shoot through the vampire as his sharp teeth showcased themselves from his black vortex like hole of mouth. He smiled broadly at the creature, leaning forward, with his palms firmly set on the globose handrests of his throne, "Speak, slave, or you will be shred to pieces. What news?" The vampire visibly buckled down under his malice-laden gaze. "P...please, m'lord... I bring good news." he squeaked, but still hopeful that the news will spare him. He quickly continued, "M'lord, the prophesied girl have been found. Her life force... Your messenger tasted it on the four soldiers who were killed at West Debra. It seems she has joined the Reynolds Pack." As he spoke, he looked up to see the Demon lord's expression and was instantly wary; the demon was displeased. He bowed again. "Four were killed?" "Y... Yes... M'lord." Surely, the Demon lord wouldn't punish him for another's insolence? The vampire's core shook. The Demon lord wasn't known for his mercy or justice. "Four of my best warriors killed, by a mere slip of a bitch?" the demon was positively growling by this time. "She is powerful, M'lord. And not yet fully developed. They didn't know what they were facing." The vampire mumbled. Then he lifted his eyes to the Demon's. Gedan smiled. "So, I assume you seek a reward now, slave?" He asked smoothly. "If... If it pleases my lord." Gedan's smile widened. Looking around, he found his brother. He beckoned him forward. "Kan, this is your toy, for as long as he can please you." as he saw the vampire's eyes widen in shock, he smiled at him, "Vampire, when you betrayed your coven for us, we became your masters. Serve him well, and you live as long as you can please him. Displease him, and you die instantly." He watched as Kan collared the vampire, and without ceremony thrust his member into his mouth. The Vampire latched on for dear life. Death didn't come easy to the undead. Gedan called in one of his guards. As the guard knelt before his master, his cold voice echoed through the court, "Bring the girl. I'd prefer her alive, so that I can fulfill the prophecy. If our chance has passed, then bring her beating heart on a platter. If you fail, do yourself a favor, just die." ***** ----------------------------- --------------------------------------- The Den, OuterWorld. 2 days later. --------------------------------------- ----------------------------- Kiel groaned as the beautiful scene unfolded before his vision. This has to be a dream. This has to be. One of those cursed dreams he's been having for the past two days. He had never before seen anything like it. He was standing on a riverside. The pebbles beneath his bare feet felt satin smooth, and beautifully cold. He was facing a dense forest that started off a little further away. The merry sound of the flowing river was coming from behind him. He slowly turned, taking in the heavenly scene. As his eyes fell on the river, his breathing stopped. The river was moderately wide. He could see the other side fairly clear. But the beauty was in the middle of the river, where from the river bed, a pure white flat-top stone rose. As the full moon showered its silver rays down on the white stone, it revealed a barely clothed Rayn lying on it. Kiel slowly walked towards her, wadding through the waist high water, never realising his nakedness as he was held enthralled in the vision before him. He could smell her deliciousness. And it did something to his senses, mixed with the scent of the forest, and river, and the moonlight. As he knelt on the rock by her body, he shivered in delight. She is... Angelic! Her beautiful traces lay around her face like a halo, holding her heart shaped face in sharp contrast, it looked like rivulets of water slid down her face as those strands sparkled like water in the moonlight. Her eyes were closed, as he looked at her slowly rising and falling of her breasts, he almost lost control. She was exquisite! He pressed a brushing kiss on her forehead. At his contact, she lowly moaned out. Kiel grinned. "Mine." he whispered at her ear, then slowly brushed his lips along her cheeks as they warmed at his softest caresses. He straddled her hips, looking down at her. His eyes were riveted onto the creamy mounds of her breasts, barely covered in the black, lacy bra that cupped them, thrusting them up and together. Her brushed her cheeks with his three fingers, slowly dragging them over her throat, down the valley of her breasts. As his fingers felt their softness, he couldn't hold himself back. His thumb circled one of the nipples, slowly rubbing around it, working towards the center. the nipple puckered up as his thumb passed over it fleetingly. He smiled. He rolled the hardened pebble between his fingers, lightly tugging on it. Rayn moaned louder, arching her back to thrust her mound up. At the sight of her wanton body, his cock hardened. But he wanted to torment her some more. Like she has been doing to him in his dreams. He dragged his hand away from her nipple to cup the mound gently, slowly kneading it in his palm. Did her breathing fastened? Curiosity flicked in his mind. Experimentally, he cupped the other mound with his other hand, kneading them together. She gasped, pressing up into his hand. His grin widened. 'Not yet, my angel,' he murmured before capturing her lower lip between his. One of his palms lay possessively over her left breast as he suckled on the captured lip. She whimpered as his other palm deserted her other breast to slowly caress her belly before circling her belly button lazily with his thumb. As she moaned again, his warm mouth captured her lips in a deep, slow kiss. His hand continued the lazy exploration down her body as his tongue moistened the seam of her lip, dragging the tip gently across the seam. Her lips parted, granting him access. His tongue rubbed against hers, then slowly withdrawing to persuade it out of its shy retreat. She moaned again, her pink tongue urgently darting out to play with his. Then gasped, feeling his finger entangling in the thatch of hair as it slowly descended to her mound. Her arms slowly crept up his masculine ones, savoring the feeling of his strong arms as they traveled up his shoulders to snake around his neck, her fingers grasping his hairs, securing his lips to hers. She writhed as his fingers brushed against her wet folds, slowly parting them. He withdrew his mouth from hers, his eyes locked onto her expressive face as he slowly encircled her nub, gently pressing his thumb against it. She thrust up her hips to press her folds against his thumb, her brows drawing in in her frustration. Her lips slightly parted. He groaned at the vision. Why does this have to be a dream? Why? He slowly inserted one digit inside her, gently sliding in and out to gather the moisture, his lips slowly trailing kisses on her throat and shoulders. As he felt her heated flesh with the invading digit, he caught her earlobe in his lips, suckling on them, lightly brushing his teeth as he slid the finger into her, completely sheathing it in her warmth. He felt her clamp down on his finger, trying to lock in the slowly retreating digit. Pressing his lips firmly in the crook of her neck as he slid another finger in, then thrust inside her. He felt her shudder in pleasure as her inside fluttered around his fingers. One of her hands slowly descended along his to hold onto his wrist, trying to force them further in. Shaking his head, Kiel collected both her wrists in his hand, pinning them over her head. She stretched, arching up to press her body into his. He sped up his thrusts inside her. As he felt her peak nearing, he latched onto one breast above the lace. Slightly biting down on the flesh, he felt her body shudder before her low cry announced her orgasm, Lovers' Oath Ch. 03 Author's Note : - This story is going to be long, and is not meant for instant gratification. In other words, this won't be a quickie, so if you were looking for that, sorry to have disappointed you. I'll be writing other stories to fit that category. Hope to see you there. Please bear in mind that the story is located in a fictional world of magic, Cardaera, where our 'normal' world and supernatural world mix and coexist, often without the knowledge of humans. The history and geography of the world is nowhere near our world, since I was never good at those. There may or may not be some depiction of heterosexual,homo, BDSM and group sex. Rape and horror will only be depicted as a part of story development and NOT for arousal. All characters are of age, and the author encourages safe sex. Last, but not the least, this story is my very first attempt, and I'm kind of "testing the water." so be generous with the constructive comments and let me know if you liked it. A huge thanks to Gabriel for editing this chapter. Without his help it may still be going through the editing process. Your finding this chapter free of the errors present in the previous chapters is due to his skills. ----------------------------------------- ***** ----------------------------- --------------------------------------- The Den, OuterWorld. 1 week after the rescue. --------------------------------------- ----------------------------- Kiel was in deep thought. There had been more reports of random demon attacks lately, in fact, the attacks were steadily increasing in frequency. As a result, they were running low on manpower. It pained him more than it affected his strategy. To him, those people were more than soldiers, they were people who had devoted their whole life to his service, people whose lives he had failed to save. He felt guilty with that knowledge. At the same time, he knew he couldn't have done much. Those people knew what they were doing when they enrolled in the organization. And they wouldn't want him to remember them any other way but with pride. And yet, he felt guilty. Opening his eyes, he sighed. There was only one way to get up the manpower- by bringing in new recruits. He didn't like the idea much, since it meant involving more and more younger people in this all consuming War. But it had to be done. He only tried to find solace in the thought of the probability that he may not have to lead it alone much longer. Rayn may be able to work alongside him, taking some of the pressure off his shoulders. But she needs intensive training first. And he's not going to be able to provide it by secluding himself to his room, reclining on the couch. At that thought, he got up and went out to find Rohan. He had to know whether she was ready or not. There wasn't much time. After a short search, he found Rohan talking to Rayn in the recreation room. Kiel came to a stop outside the room realizing two things at once. One, they were very... chirpy. And two, he was jealous that Rayn would be so joyous when talking to Rohan, but whenever she spied Kiel even from a distance, she'd instantly turn red and try to escape from the spot as soon as possible. Kiel really wished that the girl would at least tell him why she's so afraid of him instead of avoiding him altogether. 'I'm not a monster that'd eat her up in one gulp. Why the hell is she scared of me?' Kiel silently wondered, standing outside the room. ''Umm... Kiel, were you planning to enter the room or are you just standing guard outside making sure no one disturbs me and Rayn?'' As Rohan's mischievous smile gave up a little hint of the tease he was aiming at, Kiel entered the room. Lightly sinking into one of the recliners opposite to Rohan, he could see Rayn standing at the large window, looking up at the clear night sky, a little wondering smile curving her lips as she looked at the thousands and thousands of sparkling, twinkling, winking stars, marveling at their beauty. Kiel remembered that there were frequent meteor showers at this time. Her back was to him, revealing her tresses cascading down her back to reach her waist. Kiel simply stared at her, wondering whether it was just him or did she really grow more beautiful everyday. That she had a cat in her was evident from the natural grace of her stance. Even now doing nothing but standing at the window she seemed so poised. Her palms were laid on the window sill. As his eyes traveled down her bare arms toward her soft fingers, he lost track of everything around him. At that moment, he just wanted to take her palms in his hands and caress them, kiss those cute fingers that seemed to promise him warmth and affection if they touched him. As his thoughts proceeded towards more intimate forms of caressing her, suddenly she stilled. Her back erect, her body frozen. Her head slightly turned towards right, as if sensing for him. He could hear her drawing in her breath slowly, deeply, trying to find his scent in the air. 'Hmm, so she really does like the scent of me. Interesting.' Kiel mused as he watched color rush up the bare column of her throat, no doubt to reach up to her forehead. He sighed. He could guess what happens next. She would fidget a little, and then try to invent ideas about how to escape from the room. After trying a few excuses, all of which Rohan would negate, she would simply mumble out something and almost run out of the room, at last succeeding in her evasive maneuver to some extent. That's what she had been doing all these days, making Kiel more frustrated. There were the nights, when she would come in his dreams, seduce him, make love to him, only to leave him aching for more when he woke up; and then there were the days when he'd see her, reminding himself of the sensuous, yielding body of her from the dreams, and she would escape even at the hint of his approach. Kiel couldn't figure out either of the two things - why he desired her as much as he did, and why she was so afraid of him as much as she was. If anything, in his opinion, he should be the scared one. After all, she is the one who had hit him and bit him within the span of an hour right after she gained consciousness. But her thoughts didn't seem to follow the same logic as his. This time, as he waited for her to start trying to devise excuses, she surprised him by relaxing again and continuing to stare out of the window at the night sky. Kiel was a little surprised at this development, but he instantly felt a lot better as he surveyed her stance for any hint of discomfort and found none. She continued to look at the stars, leaning against the window ledge. He felt pleased. "If you're that fascinated with her, why don't you approach her?" Rohan continued their silent communication. Without taking his eyes off of the girl, Kiel replied with no hesitation, "Because if this is indeed just a fascination, there's no point approaching her, only to break her heart later." As he saw Rohan's face taking on a particular expression, he interrupted, having already guessed what he was going to say, "Drop it, Ro. Tell me, she seems well?" "She is well, Kiel. She has fully recovered." Rohan replied, anticipating what Kiel is going to say next. Nodding once, Kiel proceeded, never taking his eyes off her back. "So, she is ready?" At his short, to-the-point question, Rohan sat up in his chair. Then, meeting his eyes with a thoughtful expression, he replied, "Physically, yes. Mentally, I don't know. She's been in a light mood ever since the first day, and I couldn't bring myself to destroy the joyous light in her eyes. I didn't brief her about the War. And I'm not going to, either. You or Kendra's got to do it." Kiel nodded, unaffected at Rohan's blunt rejection. He understood. Rohan was too close to her to take away her sense of security. But it had to be done, he knew. The security she felt, didn't exist. Only, Kiel had to figure out a way to make it as pleasant as possible for her. Her willingness was crucial. If she is brought into it prematurely, she'd form a bitter perception - not only about him, but about the organization, too. And that would be a hindrance to her progress. She has to participate of her own will.He watched her thoughtfully, searching for an answer. As his gaze caressed her body, he saw her gently shiver from the cold night air. She tried to warm herself a little by rubbing her palms on her arms, but she didn't move away from the window. Something stirred inside him - a kind of protectiveness. He wanted to wrap his arms around her, lending her his body heat. His thoughts took a turn towards figuring out more ways to warm her up. He lost himself in those thoughts. He tried to imagine if they were alone in the room, without any restraint, what he would do. He could think of a few things. Now, only if that brat would give him a chance to do those things to her. ***** As Rayn stood at the window, looking up at the starry sky, enjoying the murmur of the lazy wind, she wondered about the recent happenings in her life. A few weeks ago, she wouldn't have believed if someone said he was a werewolf. At that time, she'd have just laughed hard and thanked the person for a good joke. Now, her only concern was how to learn to change into a beast form. Well, that and to get an idea about Kiel's feelings about her. At the thought of Kiel, she remembered the dreams. They came every night. In her dreams, he always had a glorious, God-of-War-like body. And she always wanted to explore that body thoroughly, without inhibition. Though he gave her pleasure every night in her dreams, it absolutely tormented her that in reality, he may feel nothing for her. Every time she saw him, she remembered the caresses of the previous night, and it instantly made her want to press her body up against his, throw her arms around his neck and kiss him hard. The only way she was ever able to resist the urge was by fleeing from the spot. She somehow felt sure that if she stayed where he was for any length of time, she'd simply lose control. And she didn't want to replay the events of the first day again. Last time she'd bit him, he had walked away from her. 'Surely, if I bite him one more time, he'd just kick me out of this place.' she thought with some amount of pain at the thought of having to leave The Den. it was the only place where she felt some sense of belonging, where she was accepted by everyone. Here she had found a good friend in Rohan. More importantly, Kiel was here. And she wanted to be where he was. She didn't want to leave this place, ever. As that thought came, she wondered when she would have to leave. She had recovered totally over the past week. She imagined they would ask her to leave soon. Probably they wouldn't want her around now that she was well. Today, she almost had Rohan cornered in the recreation room so she can bring up that subject. She had even hinted at the prospect of her leaving, but then, instead of answering, Rohan had drawn her attention to the shooting stars. It was like a shower. She was simply mesmerized at the beauty of the star shower. As she had stood there, Rohan had quietly taken place in a chair behind her, talking to her about the various constellations seen at this time. After a while, he stopped talking, letting her watch quietly. She simply stared up at the clear sky. Just as she started to wonder at why Rohan was so quiet, she felt something, it was like a presence. Like someone was pressing his body against her back, running his fingers along her arms, slowly tracing designs on them. She knew that feeling, it was how she always felt in her dreams when Kiel caressed her. It was how she felt when Kiel was near her. She froze in place. Was he here? She had not heard him approach. Instinctively, she turned her head slightly to the right, and slowly inhaled. If he was here, she'd smell him. Sure enough, there was the rich scent of his body in the air. Just inhaling it made her want to crawl up on his lap and chain him to the bed. Unfortunately, neither were possible right now. But even knowing that she couldn't help the urge to wrap her arms around his waist and bury her face in his wide chest. She felt the usual rush of color to her cheeks. She knew she should go away right now. But the smell of his body simply immobilized her. She didn't want to move from his proximity. So she relaxed again, leaning against the window. She would enjoy these moments as long as they lasted, until it was time for her to go away. She again looked up at the sky. As she stood their, her thoughts gradually went away from the stars. Now, she was wondering about what Rohan and Kiel were discussing. She always felt a little irritated when people around her communicated in that weird way - without speaking. She felt out of the loop when they did that. Thrice, she had tried to establish a similar communication with other people here, but had only succeeded once- with Rohan. With others, she couldn't get into their heads. She had wondered long and hard to figure out why that was the case. At last, she had come to the conclusion that it had something to do with the nearness between her and Rohan. She figured that was the reason why she could "tune into" Rohan's head but not others'. At that thought, an idea came to her. She closed her eyes and searched the surroundings for a mild vibration, that of Kiel. Previously, she had wondered whether she could do this, now, she figured she had nothing to lose by trying. As she concentrated on Kiel, she almost didn't expect to establish a connection. So when she felt the tell-tale brush in her mind, she was startled, and immediately resented her reaction as she felt the channel close down on her senses again. She tried again, focusing on the now familiar cues associated with Kiel. She was still a little confused about the last connection. Even his mind was quiet. It made her wonder what he was doing sitting there, if he was not communicating with Rohan. Then a feeling surfaced. It was not hers, but his. That made her aware that the connection was reestablished. And this time, she kept her composure, trying to decipher what was going on in his head. As she tried, she shivered from the cold night air. Unaware, she rubbed her palms along her upper arms, trying to warm herself. Then, something happened. A warmth washed over her, relaxing her, like someone just wrapped his arms around her. She lost herself in those feelings as they overwhelmed her senses, effectively drowning out any resistance she might have had to those feelings. She felt his presence, even stronger than before. It was as if he was standing right behind her; she could almost feel his hard muscular body pressed into her back. But, she knew from their connection that he hadn't moved from where he was seated opposite to Rohan. As more and more of the rush of emotions washed over her senses, she even lost the will to try to understand what was happening to her. She simply gave up and let the feelings take over her mind. She felt his body against her skin, as if they were not even clothed. He was running his fingers through her hairs, gently pulling them over one shoulder, effectively leaving the other shoulder bare. His sensuous lips trailed kisses along her throat and her shoulder, his fingers slowly ran down her arms, then curved around her fingers, locking them together. She arched her back, trying to feel more of his body. As she rubbed her hips against his pelvis, his lips caught her earlobe and he nipped on it, then suckled it. A whimper almost escaped her lips as she felt the evidence of his mounting desire against her back. She threw back her head to give him better access. He lightly nuzzled her shoulder, his fingers tracing their way over the slight curve of her belly. Her fingers followed his, unwilling to let go of them. He drew her into his body. Tilting her head a little to the side, she pressed a kiss on his lips. Before she could draw away from his mouth, it captured hers in a soft, yet demanding kiss. She felt his other hand cupping one of her breasts, softly squeezing it. She sighed, again arching her back to thrust her breast into his hand. At her response, he squeezed it harder, this time effectively drawing a soft moan from her throat. He rolled the hardened nipple between two fingers, then lightly tugged on it. His other hand slowly descended towards her sex, combing through the thatch of curly hair. She drew a sharp breath at the sudden invasion of her wet pussy by two of his exploring fingers. She whimpered softly, her lips still held captive by his. As he thrust his fingers into her, she felt the heat building inside her, the throbbing sensation grew more demanding. She tried to thrust her hips down against his fingers, trying to get them deeper inside her. She shivered in anticipation. She could feel the climax building. She gasped as his lips left hers to lick and kiss at the sensitive spot on the nape of her neck, his other hand, at the same time, pinching on her nipple. She felt her climax moments away. Just as she felt the first spasm starting in her groin, another feeling invaded her senses. Unlike what she was feeling now, it was cold, chilling to the core, and then their connection snapped, leaving her with a feeling of emptiness. And she was clueless about its origin. She slowly opened her eyes, still a little disoriented from the onslaught of the emotions. As her senses recovered, she heard some one speaking behind her. It was one of the pack members she had often seen accompanying Kiel. She turned around just in time as the man informed Kiel in a dead, cold voice, "Two entire sub-stations were entirely destroyed. None of the two thousand operatives who were on close quarter stand-by inside survived. Almost 75% of the data was lost beyond recovery, and a good amount of that data is suspected to have been compromised during the attack. The compromised data contained an encrypted list of some of the other sub-stations - their personnel list and their locations." As Kiel stood their listening to the report, Rayn could feel the waves of cold fury rolling off of him. As the man finished, without blinking, Kiel issued the orders, "Evacuate all personnel of those sub-stations within the hour. Destroy all tech support and data. Only retain what is needed. Call the Council meeting. We have strategy to discuss. Alert other Packs in the immediate area. We will be bringing in new recruits from their territory as well." Rayn stood there, perplexed. As realization dawned, she was horrified. Two thousand people... dead? Just like that? As Kiel's voice penetrated her dazed mind, she shivered. His voice was so cold, void of any emotion. She had heard his voice before, it was deep, low, husky, still it soothed her. She could identify warmth and care in that voice. But this was different. It was cold, it promised not warmth, but uncaring elimination to his enemies. It was deadly. As her eyes locked onto his face, she realized something. Not only his voice, he was deadly, too. The Kiel she had seen till now, was powerful. The Kiel she saw now was lethal. All expression had left his face. His stare was blank, calculating, always maintaining a calm exterior, never betraying a hint of the fury inside his heart. It only made him look more like the beast of prey he really was. Her wondering gaze never left his face as he turned towards Rohan and instructed in the same cold voice, "Prepare her and get her to the white room within the next 6 hours. It's time she is briefed on the situation." At that Rohan opened his mouth, with every indication of protest but Kiel interrupted him, "That was an order Rohan. Get it done." Lovers' Oath Ch. 03 With that Kiel left the room, followed by Rohan a few moments later, leaving Rayn alone in the room to process all that just happened. Only one thing was clear in her mind, she wasn't going anywhere any time soon. And despite the circumstances, it made her feel extremely good. ***** The minutes slowly ticked by, leaving Rayn to grow more impatient. She was now pacing around the circular room, circling the only metal chair in the middle of the room. At first she had wondered, now she understood why this room was called white room. The room was built with some sort of metal alloy, white in color. There was no one source of light in here. As she had looked around for the past two or so hours, it seemed that the surface of every wall and the ceiling in this room gave off the light. She was intrigued at the thought. She didn't know of any substance that fit this description. There were things that gave off light and heat, but usually they were not this strong. For the umpteenth time in the last two hours, she stopped and glared up at the camera that followed her every movement. She just couldn't understand why she was here. As Rohan had brought her here, blind folded, he hadn't uttered a single word about where this place was or why she was here. On her non ceasing questioning, he had simply and somewhat grumpily replied that it wasn't his place to talk about it. Now, once she had a little time to think, she felt the grumpiness could have been the result of her hitting him when he wouldn't take the blindfold off. Well, hitting him and breaking his nose. But, surprisingly, he hadn't even uttered an "Uff" when she did it. 'May be I should have hit him harder,' she thought to herself. Rohan had only taken off her blindfold once she was in the room and seated on the single chair, and then without so much as a backward glance, he had left the room, locking the metal door behind him. Once her eyes adjusted to the light in the room, she had started to see and observe. The very first thing she noted was the sleekly designed chair. It gave off a sense of 'no-nonsense'. 'Must be Kiel's choice,' she had mused. Then her eyes settled on the built- in metal restraints on the chair's armrests. There were a pair on each armrest, one fastened at the wrist covering up to the palm and another right below the elbow. Although they were not in use right now, she still pulled away her hands from the restraints and kept them firmly on her lap. As curiosity flared in her mind, she leaned forward and looked down at the legs of the chair. Sure enough, similar restraining measures were also built there. This observation, instead of assuaging her curiosity, took it up one notch. Now she had to know what was the purpose of this room. As she stood up, a slight whirring noise caught her ears. Looking up, she saw the camera following her movements. Just to test her theory, she stepped a little to the left, and watched the cam adjust its positioning accordingly. A mischievous idea came to her. She started to pace around haphazardly, making it hard for the cam to follow. As she continued to play, a clicking sound caught her ears. Looking back at the cam, she saw it freeze for a second, then it folded itself in half and retracted into the wall. As the camera completely vanished, a sound coming from above her head got her to tilt her head back and see what it was. Once the sound stopped, she realized it was due to the lowering of a 270 degree camera that monitored everything in that room without moving. She growled at it playfully, 'Spoil sports! Won't even let me play.' she muttered. Since then, for the past 2 hours, she had paced round the room, first methodically, then lazily, and now angrily. All the nooks and crevices of the room she had memorized to a fault. She had tried the door to find it shut. She had tried to sit and calm down, but the metal was simply annoying her. She put her back towards the door and glared at the opposite wall. 'You'd think someone would have come in and answered a few questions by now.' she muttered to herself. Then, hearing the door open she turned to see Kiel enter the room, silently shutting the door behind him. As she surveyed him critically, trying to decide how best to punish him for making her wait, she realized that he was very tense. That distracted her thoughts. Although he never revealed any expression, she thought she could detect a hint of tiredness in his eyes. Her heart melted. As she searched for words, he initiated the conversation, in that calm, infuriatingly emotionless voice of his, "Hello." She raised one eyebrow. That's what he says after making her wait for two boring hours? Her temper flared again. She growled out, "Hello? Hello? That's what you say after making me wait two bloody hours in this stupid crappy room?" she stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at him. "What would you like me to say?" Kiel replied, again in that controlled tone. She cocked her head, considering whether to hit him, so that he'd at least make an uncontrolled sound or to continue the conversation. She decided on the latter. "How about some explanations? Like what the hell is this place, and why am I here?" She demanded, watching his face intently. He took a few paces towards her, his eyes locked onto hers as if searching for their own answers. She felt a little nervous, but stood her ground. Not wanting to seem a coward in front of Kiel, she stared at him right back. Coming to a halt about 3 steps away from her, he gently ordered, "Sit." As she looked at him with defiance, he sighed almost imperceptibly. Then he repeated, "Sit down, please. Then we can discuss why you are here." At that, she stepped back and dropped herself into the chair, folding her hands on her lap. Once she was settled down, he slowly paced in front of her as he started with the explanation, "This place, is the headquarters of an organization called La Lumière - the light..." "Never heard of it." she blurted out, frowning. At this interruption, he stopped pacing and stood facing her, pinning her in place with his piercing gaze, then he slowly continued, "When I speak, I prefer not to be interrupted." As he continued to gaze at her, she flushed a little, then, a little hesitantly she mouthed the word 'sorry'. "I didn't hear you." he coldly responded. She glared up at him, then stiffly relied, "I said I'm sorry. Won't happen again." At her stubborn reply, Kiel nodded once, then resumed his pacing and the explanation, "La Lumière is a secret organization. Apart from its employees and its enemies, not many have heard of it. The secret is carefully guarded. Our enemies are ones you have already fought - the demons. We were impressed at your success on that night and think you could be a powerful warrior to aid us in the ongoing war between us and the demons. Since you are untrained, you'll start training today. You have another briefing with Kendra within the hour. Then you will see Rohan, he will be you tactical trainer. Sam and Preeyal shall help you with controlling your magic, if you have any, and your beasts. From tomorrow, you will start training with me for hand-to-hand combat and a few other things. Any questions?" As he stopped talking, Rayn realized she was staring at him open mouthed. She hastily closed her mouth. As her brain processed the information, she blinked slowly, totally confused. "What war are you talking about? There's been no war on Cardaera for the past millennium." she inquired. Kiel simply stated, apparently unaffected by her incredulous tone, "There's been a cold war going on between the demons and the OuterWorld for the past millennium. The open war before that was only dissolved in public eye, so it can be continued under cover. Kendra will give you the details." With that Kiel turned and proceeded towards the door, stopping only when she called from behind, "And you want me to fight for you, for your side?" "Yes." He calmly replied, without looking at her. "What if I don't?" she asked in a cold voice, feeling the hurt in her chest at his detached behavior. Was this the only reason he wanted her around? He slowly turned his head, locking his eyes with hers once again. As she waited for his reply, searching his eyes intently for any emotions, he simply, yet confidently replied, "You will. You just don't know it yet."And with that, he left the room, leaving Rayn alone to make the decision that would affect her life for good. ~oOo~ Lovers' Oath Ch. 04 Author's Note : - This story is going to be long, and is not meant for instant gratification. In other words, this won't be a quickie, so if you were looking for that, sorry to have disappointed you. I'll be writing other stories to fit that category. Hope to see you there. Please bear in mind that the story is located in a fictional world of magic, Cardaera, where our 'normal' world and supernatural world mix and coexist, often without the knowledge of humans. The history and geography of the world is nowhere near our world, since I was never good at those. There may or may not be some depiction of heterosexual, homo, BDSM and group sex. Rape and horror will only be depicted as a part of story development and NOT for arousal. All characters are of age, and the author encourages safe sex. Last, but not the least, this story is my very first attempt, and I'm kind of "testing the water." so be generous with the constructive comments and let me know if you liked it. ----------------------------------------- A huge thanks to Gabriel for the editing of this chapter. He's the one doing the smoothening of all the rough edges in the chapters and polishing them. ----------------------------------------- ***** ----------------------------- --------------------------------------- Rayn slowly walked out of the room a little over 5 minutes after Kiel had left it. She had needed that time to think. Think about what he had said, about what she should do, and most importantly, about Kiel himself. She had never thought he was so cold. She always thought of him as the source of the warmth he had given her on the very first waking moments in the Den, as the concerned and caring man he was in her dreams. But the last few minutes had shocked her into realizing just how much the dreams deviated from reality. She had felt hurt, she was pained by the coldness of his behavior. How can someone be this cold to anyone? As she had sat there, she had remembered the last dream she had had, about how good the mental connection between him and her had felt. Piggy backing on that memory had come the memory of the news she had heard. A chill ran down her spine, her eyes closing as she remembered the horror of what had happened. Her thoughts went to the families, wives, husbands, lovers and kids of those that died in that attack. She hugged herself tightly. Then, opening her eyes, she somewhat realized the implications of that news for Kiel. He was their leader. He was responsible, not only for their success but for their safety, too. And right now, she could bet that he felt guilty for their deaths. He blamed himself, because their death meant his failure as a strong leader. And she would double the bet that he never even thought about the role of the attackers in all this. She shook her head, slowly rising from the chair. She decided to forgive him. Perhaps he had good reason to be this cold. As she had walked out of the room, she had also decided to first hear the rest of the story from Kendra, she had to know how Kiel was so confident that she will fight for them. Taking a few steps away from the room, she stopped, looking around for some clue as to where Kendra might be. Although her sweeping glance didn't give her much idea about that, it did give her some idea about this place. As of now, she was standing in front of the opening of a corridor, the corridor that connected the White Room to the enormous hall partially visible to her. As she made her way into the hall, she realized she was standing inside the main hall of the building. There were various corridors leading away in different directions. And in the middle of the hall, there was a round hemispherical unit, apparently made of a glass like substance. The unit was divided into two semi circular panels, she could also see some screens on those panels. A few people were working there, almost in a frenzied way. Hearing footsteps to her side, she turned around, finding herself face to face with Rohan. "Hey." she quietly greeted him, noting his somewhat stiff and wary expression. He nodded, surveying her features with curiosity. After a moment's hesitation, he started, "Did you talk to Kiel?" at her replying nod, he proceeded, "Am I forgiven?" At the almost pleading touch his voice lent to the question, she couldn't help but give a wan smile and nodded, "Actually, both of you are." "Both?" "Mmhm... You and Kiel." Seeing Rohan's confused stare, she added, "Kiel for his annoyingly cold and expressionless manners. But I understand. He must be under so much pressure now. So I decided to forgive him." she smiled. At that, Rohan nodded, "I know what you mean by annoyingly cold." he finished with a slight curve of his mouth. "So, now that we agree, tell me, what exactly is this place?" she asked, hoping for details. "Didn't Kiel tell you?" "He did. But as we know, he's not very high on details, is he?" making a face, she added, "He said in way of explaining, that the details are with Kendra." Amused at her expression, Rohan gave a short bark of laugh, "Right. To Kendra then. And she's not annoyingly cold." He generously informed her, more amused at her responding glare. As they made their way through the hall, Rayn could not help but marvel at the way the whole set up was designed. As her eyes went up to the ceiling, she stopped in her tracks and simply stared at the black glass-covered part of the slanting wall. Something told her it wasn't just a part of the wall. She grabbed Rohan by the elbow and pointing to it, asked, "What's that?" Following her pointed finger, he smiled gently, "That's the main control room; Kiel's Office. It overlooks most of the floor, and that black glass is a one way window. Well, actually, it can be made two way, but Kiel prefers to keep it dark when he is doing something confidential. The dome like set up on the floor to your left is the communication center." Cocking his head to the side, he took in her inquisitive look traveling around the hall, taking everything in, and added, "You know, you are quite fast. It usually takes newbies a while to start noticing and taking everything in." "Well, these things are quite unmistakable. Hard not to notice." she replied absently, her eyes fleeting back to the main control often, as if something in there was calling her attention to it. She didn't see the slight amusement play on Rohan's face as he shook his head at her, "That may be. But usually they are a little jaded after their first briefing with Kiel, and they take time to just take in the idea of something this big and secret." "Big and secret?" she wonderingly asked, her attention now completely riveted on to Rohan. "Hmm... To Kendra's office. Now." Rohan firmly stated, putting a smile on her face. Taking one of the corridors leading away from the main hall, he led her up a staircase that took them up two levels and joined a walkway at a peculiar looking door. As Rayn stood perplexed in front of it, looking for a door knob, Rohan reached out and touched a particular spot with his finger. After a beep, a small square metal piece slid aside, revealing a blank pad that looked like it was made out of stone. Rohan placed his right palm on it and muttered a few words in a language unknown to Rayn. As they waited, the door slid aside, letting them on to the walkway. As soon as they stepped through the door, the only intimation of the door closing felt by Rayn was a slight, almost inaudible hissing sound followed by a low beep. As she looked around, she noted that a part of the walkway led off to the left, too. At the end of that stretch, she could see a door slightly ajar, hinting at the huge library that lay behind it. Tearing her eyes away from the inviting looking room, she looked to the right to find Rohan a few paces ahead. She had covered the distance with a few long strides, when he came to a halt in front of another door like before. As he went through the same motions, he stated in a low voice, "This is a high security area. This door leads to Kendra's office. The door on the right side a few paces ahead leads to the Central Control. And you have already spotted the Main Library and Records room. Not many people are given access to this level." pausing for a moment, he turned an intense gaze on her, "That you are given access only goes to show the amount of trust we put on you. No matter what happens, I know you will never betray the trust." as Rayn tried to find words to express what she felt, he interrupted with a smile, and simply stated, "I know." then turned and walked down another short corridor and into Kendra's office, followed closely by a still somewhat confounded Rayn. On her entering the office, two things greeted Rayn instantly. One was the warm, beautiful smile that Kendra offered her, and the second was the beautifully arranged vines and ivies on the walls of the office. This office and its occupant were so different from what she had seen outside, that it didn't almost seem like a part of the whole building, apart from the various computer screens and video feeds that adorned some parts of the walls. " Hello Rayn. You seem well." Kendra's low, soothing voice invited her, capturing her attention. "Hello." Rayn smiled at her. For some reason, Kendra's voice always reminded her of Honey and... And lavender. Nodding, she added, "Yes, I am quite well now. Thank you. I had a nice doctor take a look at me." noting Kendra's amused expression at her reply, her own grin broadened. "Well, I do prefer the title 'Healer', personally. It has a touch of mystery to it." Slowly, as she spoke, Kendra's feelers reached out to sense the mental state of the new recruit. As soon as her feelers came in contact with Rayn's psyche, something happened to surprise Kendra. Something like an electric shock traveled through the feelers and into her own body, stunning her into silence. Without letting her expression give away the surprise and pain in front of Rayn's inquisitive gaze, Kendra grasped the corner of the table in front of her and slowly sank down into the chair, her soft smile never dropping. This had never happened before, and she didn't know what to make of it, either. After sitting down and taking a couple of slow, deep breaths, she spoke up, "Oh, where are my manners? Please sit down, both of you." Brightening up her own smile, she added, "My age shows in such moments when I lose myself in the memories of the past while the future stands in front of me." As they sat down, Rayn still admiring the decor of the room, and Rohan somewhat concerned at spotting the stiffness with which Kendra was sitting, Kendra herself was busy with studying the other woman closely. As if sensing her stare, Rayn's eyes turned away from the surroundings and locked onto Kendra's. Instantly self-conscious, she asked, "What?" As Kendra kept staring at her without speaking, she squirmed in her chair a little, wishing she could get into the other woman's head and know what was she thinking. As if reading her thoughts, Kendra gave a small laugh and said, leaning back into her chair, "You remind me so much of myself, Rayn. I was wondering whether I looked just this uncomfortable when once I was in your place." As her words visibly put the younger woman at rest, she slowly shook her head and continued in her soft tone, "Kiel has briefed you, I believe?" Her query yielded only a short nod accompanied by a little irritated expression. She smiled gently, nodding, "Yes. For Kiel, briefings do tend to be brief. For any sort of detail you wish to know and he hasn't told you, you can come to me or go to the library." after a brief pause, she smiled warmly and continued, "chances are, if he hasn't told you, then it's not really necessary to know and in that case I won't be of any help either, but there are exceptions. Like this time. So, what do you want to know?" Finishing with the light smile characteristic to her, she stared expectantly at the girl, curious to know which of the important questions she would think of asking. Keeping her waiting, Rayn slowly leaned back into her chair, gathering her palms on her lap. Then, looking up into Kendra's eyes, she gave a bright smile and almost startling the older woman, uttered one word, "Everything." At Kendra's somewhat bemused, somewhat startled expression, she repeated herself, this time slowly, "Kendra, I want to know absolutely everything that I can know. But, for starters, why don't you tell me about this war and the role of this organization in it?" After eying her a little speculatively, Kendra smiled, "Of course. But first, tell me, what do you know of the Great War that started two millennia ago?" "Nothing much, really." Rayn replied, scrunching her brows a little, trying to summon up the memories of an almost forgotten history class. "That war has very little documentation, and although it continued for a millennium, almost no records can be found about it. At least, nothing that is reliable." Kendra nodded, once. Standing up, she walked around to the side of the table and leaned against it, her eyes staring at nothing in particular, her fingers clasped in front of her. "Yes, that's right. There is a reason why the history books offer so little, next to nothing in the way of details, and why the religious texts tend to... Er...over embellish... the facts." Without almost realizing it, Rayn spoke out, "So that everything but the truth is revealed." as her comment received a confirmatory nod, she saw Kendra shoot an unfathomable look at Rohan. Unable to make heads or tails of it, she continued, "So, what is the truth then?" At this question, Kendra turned and smiled at her, "Well dear, even we are still trying to find out the whole truth. But, there are a significant amount of facts that we do know. You see, Cardaera, has long been divided into two worlds, almost from the start of life. One is the OuterWorld, the one that receives the blessings of the sunshine and rains, the one that is above the ground. And the other one is the UnderWorld, the shadow lands, the world that lives underground. And yet, you won't find it if you dig the deepest of holes through the planet. Their existence is more on a magical level than a physical one. To find it, one must have some of the primal magic that created the two Worlds in one's blood. The Demons, a race that has adapted to life below ground, thrive in the UnderWorld, while the OuterWorld has been devoted to the other magical beings and of course, to the non-magical ones, too. Two millennium ago, the OuterWorld witnessed the most brutal attempt made by the Demons to occupy and take over control of the OuterWorld, too. We, the non-human residents of the OuterWorld, collectively called the Children of the Elements, resisted and built an army to check their invasion. Initially, the resistance was not as organized, consequently it was not as strong. That is when we decided to build one Center and make it the rallying point for the defensive efforts. So, La Lumière came into operation." After saying this much, Kendra straightened and slowly walked to a particular screen on the opposite wall. As her fingers elegantly pressed a few buttons on the touchscreen, a view of the entire planet came up on the screen, the screen next to it bringing up some facts and more thumbnails of maps. Coming back to her listeners, Kendra sat on her chair and taking out a small bottle and 3 glasses poured them a clear, sparkling liquid. Smiling up at Rayn, she gently said "Drink. We... Or rather, you, my dear, are going to have a long day." Taking up her own glass and sipping from it, she continued, "La Lumière, as Kiel must have told you, is kept secret from the civilians. Civilian means anyone not involved in the War, be it human or Non-human. Apart from our enemies and our allies, not many are aware of it's existence. This was done to stop a mass breakout of panic and chaos. A millennium ago, the War was made covert so the civilians remain as unaffected as possible. But, that also requires that we take the responsibility of keeping them safe, too. So, the objectives are clear - resist the attack, stop and destroy the invasion and keep the civilians safe." after finishing speaking, Kendra took a long sip of the liquid and looked up at Rayn expectantly. Somewhat overwhelmed by the amount of the new information, Rayn sat staring speculatively at the screens showing the map of the planet. Sipping her drink slowly, she tried to process what Kendra had just told her, and decided on her next query. "So, is this the only defense force?" "No, not really. The non-human beings are varied on the OuterWorld. The library should provide you with information related to the types and numbers of other such beings. Although, Lumière is the largest and the oldest defense force, there are other armies, too. Most of them are comprised of homogeneous beings, meaning, all vampires, all were-, or all witches. Ours is the only one that has almost all kinds of beings and human employees too. We have sub-stations - branches, all over the planet and we are, so far, the only independently operated resistance army." "Human employees?" Rayn raised her eyebrows. "Yes. Mostly humans with gifts, but we have normal human beings working for us, too. I believe they deserve an equal opportunity as the Children of the Elements to keep their world safe. We offer that opportunity to people who we think are capable and willing." Nodding, Rayn asked the one question that has been gnawing at her ever since her briefing with Kiel. "Do you think I am capable?" Her eyes locked onto Kendra's face to detect the slightest possibility of duplicity. After a brief silence in which the older woman tried to decipher the younger woman's true query and thought of how much of the truth should be revealed, Kendra gently answered, "Yes, we do. But the willingness, is of course, to be decided entirely by you." "Is that the reason you kept me in? I mean, I had recovered quite a while ago. You could have just told me to go home. But you didn't. You kept me around. You let me go wherever I wanted. Is that because my fighting impressed you, or you thought I would be a good addition to your army?" Rayn was trying very hard to sound objective, unaffected, to keep her voice level... To not let out the tears that threatened to roll out any moment. She heard Rohan shift uncomfortably in his chair. "No Rayn. That was simply out of gratitude. And also, we are fighters, warriors. We respect people who are good fighters. Keeping your freedom intact is our way of showing you our trust." Kendra's voice, once again, took on the soothing lilt. Rayn nodded slowly. Looking up, she asked, "So, what does my deciding to join you involve?" as she looked, Kendra's expression became somewhat guarded. "It involves an oath of loyalty and nondisclosure. You will swear to be loyal to our cause and to us. Also, that you will, at all instances, keep this secret guarded with your life. Once that is done, you start your training. All public records that you have will be erased from all databases and it will be as if you never existed." "So I don't get to see my friends? My family?" Rayn's voice was once again on the brink of breaking; for some reason, the knowledge that she had to leave the world she has known for so long behind and become nonexistent to it made her heart heavy. "Friends who will miss you? How many are we speaking of exactly?" Kendra's query was gentle in its tone. Thinking about the answer, Rayn slowly shook her head, "None." Kendra nodded, her eyes softening. Then continued in that soothing tone, "Your parents will be informed of a report of a disappearance from work. They haven't spoken to you for the past two years, so we're not expecting much reaction from them." At this point, in answer to Rayn's sharp look, Kendra paused and said, "Yes, we did a background check on you." as Rayn's expression slowly transitioned from angry to uncaring, she again continued, "Although we may not fill the blank left by your parents, I hope that you will one day perceive this organization as a part of your family. The way we all do." Lovers' Oath Ch. 04 This took Rayn by surprise. She almost expected talks of rewards and glory to gain. But Kendra had hit the bull's eye with the family talk. Was that from the background check they ran on me? She wondered silently. Then she realized that she didn't care. For some reason, all that Kendra told her made sense. Coming to a decision, she looked up, "So when do I take the Oath?" Kendra smiled at her question. She was a little surprised, but this wasn't entirely unexpected. Cocking her head to a side, she asked, "Do you understand our purpose?" "Yes." "Do you swear to be loyal to the purpose and this organization?" "Yes, I do." After a little hesitation, she added, "So there isn't some kind of Oath taking ceremony or anything?" Without answering her question, Kendra simply shook her head and continued, "Do you, Rayn Slader, swear to protect the secret and the execution of the purpose as long as you are alive?" "I do." As the words left her lips, she felt a warmth flood through her mind and body. Her vision blurred for a second. Her skin felt sensitive, almost too sensitive. She could feel each fiber of the long gown she was wearing. Her fingers closed around the arm rests of the metal chair. Then, as soon as the feeling had come, it was gone, leaving her somewhat disoriented. She took a deep breath, steadying herself. "Wh...what was that?" "Oh... Only the magic in your blood and your beasts responding to the magical bond you just entered. That's all." The warm smile was back on Kendra's mouth. "Ah. Yes, I see." Rayn replied sarcastically. Then collecting herself, she said, "So that's it? The Oath taken? When do I start training?" "I can see what Rohan meant by the cat in you." Kendra stated with a laugh, "You start training today. Rohan will give you an overview of the whole facility. He will also train you in tactics and weaponry. Sam and Preeyal will help you with the mastering of your beasts. Oh, and Kiel himself will be training you on some other matters. He will explain them himself. Have a good day Rayn." as she noticed a peculiar expression on Rayn's face, she raised an eyebrow, "Anything wrong?" Standing up, Rayn shook her head, "Well, just that Kiel and explanations... They don't fit together in a sentence." "Rayn," Kendra's voice took on a reproving tone despite the slight amusement in her eyes, "As a trainee, you are a level one operative, and Kiel is the Chief of Operations. You shouldn't be saying those things about your superior." At that statement, Rayn made a face, but noting Kendra's manner, she nodded, "Alright, I won't... say... those things." Kendra could almost hear the part Rayn kept unsaid, 'I can still think them.' "Good day, Rayn. Rohan see me later." and with that, Kendra's attention was back on the monitor on her desk. Coming out of the office, as they went down the stairs, something occurred to Rayn, "Umm, Rohan, what is the status of Kendra in La Lumière?" "Well, she is the chief strategist. She and Kiel are the decision makers. Kiel has the power to override her, though." "Oh..." "She is also the mother of La Lumière." Rohan very casually stated. "Oh?" Rayn was a little taken aback. If she is the founder of La Lumière, how old does that make her? "Yes. She and her mate founded La Lumière. He died 400 years later. He had led this organization ever since it's conception. After his death, Kiel was the chosen one to be the leader." "Why didn't she head La Lumière?" she asked. Shrugging, Rohan answered "She felt that she is fit to be where she is, and not as the leader." "Oh." Rayn didn't know what else to say. She almost felt sad for Kendra. "It must have been hard to go on without her beloved at her side." she muttered. As they entered the corridor to the main hall again, Rohan quietly murmured, "You have no idea." and then both fell silent, deeply immersed in their own thoughts. Entering the main hall, Rayn's eyes slowly wandered around, surveying the openings of other corridors and the video feeds and monitors with curious looking graphs and readings set along the walls. As her mind wondered where those other corridors led to, Rohan's voice brought her attention back to him. Waving his hand at one of the corridors, he quietly said, "That way is the trainee quarters. All new recruits are supposed to be in their rooms when they are not training. Due to some special circumstances, we have decided that you'd be staying at the Den, with us." at Rayn's continued questioning stare, he smiled, "We have never before had a potential Alpha as a trainee. As those new recruits are mostly werewolves or werecats, your staying there may not be wise." pointing to a corridor behind them, "Those last two corridors, lead to holding cells and the interrogation chamber. Passage is only on Authorization from either Kiel, Kendra or me. " Pointing to the corridors leading away from the opposite wall, he continued,"The one on the right most corner, that leads to the briefing rooms, debriefing rooms, systems and surveillance, and the Council Hall. Council Hall is where most of the strategic planning is discussed and meetings with the Elders are held. Passage to Systems and Surveillance is only open to level 5 operatives and Kiel, Kendra and me. Before you ask, level 5 is the upper most level. The second corridor leads to mission prep and conveyance exit," Pointing to the left most corridor, he drew up a mischievous smile on his face and said, "and that, my dear Ray, that you take whenever you wanna see me, or, perhaps, see our armory." "You are in-charge of the Armory?" She raised an eyebrow. Rohan's exaggerated bow was the confirmatory reply. "I never would have imagined." "Why not?" It seemed Rohan was a little miffed. She shrugged, "You just never seemed like the guy to handle weapons." Noting the "I-am-so-pissed-that-I-don't-Wanna-talk-to-you" look on Rohan's face, she very innocently stared at him, and casually said, "you always seemed like the guy who can tear through the enemy ranks bare handed." and smiled. Rohan dropping his gaze to the mischievous girl smiling up at him tried to figure out if she was just pulling his leg. Since her twinkling eyes didn't give away anything, he grunted, "You are just trying to pull my leg." then remembering something his face brightened up. Pulling her by her hands towards the Armory, he said, "C'mon, I want to show you something. You will like them." "Wow, slow down Ro. What is it?" "You'll see when we get there." he tugged on her arm a little impatiently. As he came to a stop at the corridor entry to look at something a guy had brought over to him, her eyes, as if attracted by someone calling her name, traveled to the still dark Main Control. As she stared, wishing with all her heart that she could see what Kiel was doing there, as if on cue, the glass became transparent. Startled at her wish coming true, she blinked. Then it came to her. The glass hadn't become transparent. It was still dark and yet, she could still see inside. And right now, she was staring straight at a standing still Kiel. And his own eyes were fixed on her. Her eyes were captivated by the intensity of his eyes. Something stirred inside her. An urge to go to him, to touch him. To feel if he felt as hard as he looked. Responding to the urge, unaware of what she was doing, she took a step in the general direction towards him. "Hey, Ray, where are you going?" even as Rohan's hand took hold of her shoulder, she didn't hear him. Taking a farmer hold of her upper arm, Rohan shook her, "Rayn, what is it? Hello?" "Huh?" she blinked, his voice ultimately penetrating through the haze in her head."What?" she blankly asked. "Where were you going?" he frowned, she didn't look good. "Umm... I'm not sure. To the Armory, right?" Still a bit disoriented, she asked, unsure of herself. Then remembering Kiel, she looked up at his office. The glass was impenetrable again. She shook her head. "Umm, Ro, you didn't tell me where that corridor leads to?" she said, pointing to the only remaining one. "That one goes to the elevator that takes you up to the various levels. Currently you don't have access to them. As you move up the ladder, you gain access. Are you okay?" He seemed a little concerned. Her attention once more back on Kiel's office, she somewhat distractedly replied to Rohan, "Yeah. Yeah, I am." Then, as if a chain was released, her attention was once more in her control. Still a little confused by these events, she shook herself mentally. Turning to Rohan, she gave him a bright smile and urged him on, "well wolf-boy, weren't you going to show me something in that armory of yours?" Still eying her curiously, he said, "Yeah, well, your attention was elsewhere. Let's go?" he offered her his elbow in an elegant, gentlemanly fashion. Chuckling she took the offered hand, letting him lead her to their destination. ***** After about 20 minutes in the Armory, Rayn felt as if her smile was going to be the only expression she would manage to have for sometime. Saying that the armory was impressive would be an understatement. Any and all kinds of weapons imaginable were there. And apparently, all were designed by Rohan himself. And she had yet to see almost two-thirds of the collection. "Umm... Do you even need all these or are many of them just for the purpose of collecting?" she asked, her eyes riveted onto the fine piece of art in the form of a wonderfully carved gun. The metal used for the gun was pitch black in color, and there were intricately woven yet simple looking designs on the handle, lending the gun a calm, cold beauty. She reached her fingers to touch it, as if to feel whether it really felt as cold yet yielding as it looked. As her fingers closed around the gun, she could almost hear the mental click with which the gun fitted in her palm. Picking up the gun from its cushioned holder, she slowly traced its muzzle with her fingers. Then, turning abruptly, she pointed and fired at one of the practice targets that ran all along the length, completely covering the opposite wall. The bullet hit the bull's eye with pin point precision, effectively putting a smile of satisfaction on Rayn's face. Turning to Rohan, she widely grinned, "This is awesome." her excitement drew a smug smile on Rohan's face. "Still want to know whether they're just needed or up for grabs, do you?" as if reading the thoughts running behind her sparkling eyes, he shook his head, reaching for the gun to take it back from her, "No, Ray. Being a trainee, you only get a gun for practice, that too, only on authorization from your trainer." "Umm, aren't you my trainer?" she wiggled her brows suggestively. "For tactical, yes. But Kiel is your mentor. So, you need authorization from him." He could barely suppress his laugh as she made a face, and with a sigh returned the gun to its place. "So apart from drool worthy fire power, what else have you got?" as a reply, he gestured with one hand towards the door at the other end, "This way please." As the door to the next room opened, she gasped. This room, on one side contained a large area equipped with ancient and modern tools to practice using swords and daggers. But the more impressive things were on the other side. There, panel after panel on the wall showed off Daggers and swords and knives and also, some innovative combinations of rods and blades and chains. As she slowly proceeded through the room, her eyes riveted on the beauties, three particular pieces caught her eyes. Almost mesmerized by them, she went towards that panel, unaware of the queer look with which Rohan was observing her. Two of them were beautiful, curved daggers. The handles were slightly carved, making it easier for the holder to grasp the hilt firmly, and the dagger would snugly fit into that grasp. The blade of the dagger started from the rear part of the hilt, making a flipped-C curve that started from the back the fist, then coming to the front and straightening off, resembling the tip of a sword. Almost as if invited to do so, Rayn took up the daggers with her hands. As her fingers closed around the hilts of each, the rear parts of the hilts, from where the blades had started, elongated slowly, revealing a pair of gleaming, straight blades that only stopped an inch or two short of reaching her elbows. This way, she realized, the wielder would not have to shift his grasp for attacking from separate angles. Even as that realisation set in, she wondered from where that second set of blades had come since she had not seen a retractable part in the hilt. An unreal blue gleam on the blades captured her eyes, betraying their magical nature to her. As the carvings on both of the blades caught her eyes, she raised one of her arms to her eyes, trying to decipher the meaning of the alien words on them. "Ow!" "What happened?" Rohan was instantly at her side, reaching for the arm she was holding the dagger she was observing. "I... I cut myself on the dagger." She answered with some embarrassment, then added hastily, "It's nothing. Just a scratch. There was only a drop or two of blood. It will be alright before you know it." as she felt the wounds closing, she showed it to Rohan, "See?" He nodded, his brows still drawn in reproof,"Yeah, alright. Just be careful while handling these. There are some with poisoned tips. While they are not fatal to werewolves, they would make you quite sick." "Mmhm." she hummed in reply, her eyes once again on the dagger. Then she almost dropped both of them. She blinked and looked again, was it just her imagination or did the letters of the writings just gleam red for an instant? Looking from one dagger to the other, she frowned. She could have sworn that the curious looking symbols had changed... Or rather, rearranged themselves. "Umm, Ro?" she muttered, still unsure of what she was seeing. "Yeah?" he looked up from the short sword he was examining for balance. As he saw her continuing to frown down at the daggers, he closed the little distance, and looked down at them. "What is it Ray? Something wrong?" "Er... No." she wasn't sure what she had seen. Looking up at him, she repeated more confidently. "Nah. I thought I saw an irregularity in one of them. But it's just the light playing tricks, I guess. These two babies are as perfect as ever." she smiled brightly, mimicking the one on Rohan's face. "Yup. These are the beauties of the whole collection, actually. Handcrafted by the greatest forger on Cardaera. Made for and wielded by the most ferocious of our warriors ever. She was amazing." "Was?" "Yeah. At the Last Battle, the one we fought before the War going covert, we lost her. We had won that one, and the victory was due to her sacrifice." Stopping after saying this much, he stared unseeingly at the daggers still held in her hand, his fingers automatically going to trace the blades, almost caressing them. "Sacrifice? What sacrifice did she make? And, why?" Rayn's questions were wondering and confused at the same time. "She sacrificed... Something precious. And the answer to the why part is not mine to give. That is something only she could have explained." Looking into her eyes, he gave a sad smile. "Not all questions can be answered, sugar. As Kendra said, we are still trying to find out the whole truth ourselves." Nodding, she looked down. Then realizing that Rohan was holding out his hands for the daggers, she pouted, placing them in his hand a little unwillingly, "So I can't even carry a dagger or two either?" "Nope. All weapons are only issued on authorization from Kiel until you are at least level 3. That is when you are considered to become a team leader and are allowed to carry one weapon on request citing suitable reasons, but that too has to have clearance from Kiel or Kendra, or under emergency circumstances, under clearance from me. But even then you won't get to keep such battle pieces. They are only issued for field actions where heavy hostility is anticipated." He smiled at her pout. "So, want to start training with me?" That instantly got her attention and excitement. "Yeah. What are you training me in?" "Well, training with me won't be in sessions. You've already seen the weapons we use. I'll be simply instructing you on the pros and con's of each and basically which to use in what situation. In order to do that you need to study some of the recordings of previous field jobs." At this point Rayn's eyes turned to his with an incredulous look, "Field jobs? Wouldn't attack be a better choice of word?" "It would have been if all we did was attack." he shook his head, "Many times, we don't attack, rather we even sabotage their plans of attacks, or, simply defend their target without revealing ourselves to them. So, we call it 'field job'. It also affords us some discreetness. Being discreet about the identity of our employees and allies often comes handy." Seeing Rayn's nod of understanding, he continued, "You will, from now on assist me on the tactical team on all our future missions. Tactical includes not only directing the teams and communicating to them, but also, it partially, yet significantly depends on the leader of the tactical team the smooth progress of all operations. It is your judgment of the situation and it's assessment that bears the responsibility of switching plans, making changes in the plans, and even aborting the mission. Although the plans and profiles are prepared in advance, things may turn out differently in the field, and that is when it comes to the expertise of the Tactical Team and the Team Leader to proceed with the mission and succeed. From the preparation phase till the team or teams return to base, you have to be in touch with them. You also oversee the process of assigning weapons and other tech support and issuing them." with a grin on his face, he wiggled his brows, "Got it?" Pushing away from the part of the wall she was leaning against, she answered dryly, "Think so. So when do I start studying the records?" Curving his index finger, he smiled, "Follow me, Kitty." ***** --------------------------------------- A few hours later, at the Main Control. --------------------------------------- Entering the sleekly designed office, Rohan observed for a little while the still standing form of Kiel in front of the monitor showing the progress of a live mission. He quietly walked to his side and stood watching the progress. After a while he started in a low voice, "I need to talk to you." "It has to wait. There's a mission in progress." Kiel stated, his attention totally focused on the screen. "I know. But this is important Ki." "Once the team has secured the middle location, we can talk." Kiel's tone went a little towards the steely, cold one he used with others, making Rohan somewhat irritated in turn. "She picked Eleyna's blades, Kiel. She chose the Bloody Pearls." he growled out, his voice giving away his irritation. As the words escaped his lips, Kiel's head turned sharply towards him, his eyes locking onto Rohan's, as if asking for confirmation. As Rohan nodded once, Kiel's eyes widened a little, almost imperceptibly. Then his eyes slowly traveled to the one way window and stared at the casually sprawled form of Rayn on the sofa in Rohan's office, her attention on the monitor. As if on cue, just as his eyes regarded her thoughtfully, she raised her eyes up at his office and stared right back. Unless he was sure that the glass window was still dark, he would have suspected that she was actually staring at him. Instinctively, taking a step away from the window, he brought his attention back to the screen. He knew Rohan was thinking the same thing as he. And he himself almost prayed it was true. But still, Lovers' Oath Ch. 04 "It may not mean anything at all, Ro. It was probably just a coincidence." Even without turning his head he could almost see the rapid shaking of Rohan's head. "Ki, out of thousands of blades and firearms, she chose those blades that generally repulse people. Those daggers inspire hate and fear in others' hearts, but she was caressing those blades. And you haven't heard all of it yet." Kiel froze in place. Did he dare hear him? He slowly turned his eyes to Rohan, "The Bloody Pearls marked her?" his question was whispered. He didn't dare to hope the answer to be affirmative. One part of him, the selfish part, almost wished it wasn't. Even as Rohan's nod confirmed his query, his heart throbbed with pain. 'It had to be her, didn't it?' he thought bitterly, his face impassive as ever. He nodded slightly. Looking back to the screen, he said in an unaffected tone, "It still doesn't mean anything. The Bloody Pearls have marked people before, too. She is yet to go through the tests. Even with the Pearls' marking, The Dragon may not choose her." Looking back at Rohan's face contorted with suppressed irritation and disbelief, he said, "We proceed with her training as planned. There will be no changes." With only a short nod as his reply, Rohan turned to leave, only to be stopped when Kiel called from behind him, "Rohan, if there is a problem, you can tell me." Turning around Rohan shot back with barely suppressed anger, "I think we should tell her but for your 'higher purpose' I have to keep mum and act as if everything is normal. That is the problem here Kiel. I don't like lying to her." "It doesn't matter what you like, Rohan. Her training proceeds as planned. This discussion is over." "How is this discussion over Kiel, when the key person to this debate is unaware of this debate even existing?" "Because I say so, Rohan. Do not forget, I am the Alpha." Kiel's eyes flashed in anger, and in frustration, yet his voice remaining as calm as ever, "Training proceeds as planned." Taking a mock bow, Rohan growled, "Of course, M'Lord." then turning around, he stalked off. Turning back to the monitor, Kiel stared unseeingly at the readings and various data and video feeds streaming in, announcing the success of the mission. His fingers danced across the keyboard, bringing up the profile for Rayn. As several of her photographs flashed on the screen, presenting data regarding her birth and her life, the field named DOB caught his attention. It read, "Unknown; Adopted." even as he tried to bring up more data regarding her birth, or biological parents and the adoption agency, the only reply he got was "Information not available." with a frustrated sigh, he turned towards the window, searching the floor below for a sign of the girl. Unable to locate her, he turned towards the monitor again. This time, bringing up a beautiful picture of her to adorn the full screen, his fingers slowly trailed across her cheeks. "Why you? Why?" He whispered. As his brain worked in overdrive to figure out the puzzle, he laid his palm on the screen that showed a bare expanse of her shoulders. "How?" he frowned. Then he recalled something. The mark. The mark above her right breast. Even as his eyes searched for the mark in the pictures, he realized that they had never seen that mark in any of her photos that revealed that part of her skin. With a jolt of realization, he remembered his dreams. He had never seen her mark in his dreams, either. "How the hell is this possible?" There was only one reason why this should happen. "It's the Magic of the mark." and if that was true, he had some idea of who would be able to trace back it's origin to its conception, consequently answering his questions about Rayn. And despite the prospect of knowing the answers, the idea didn't seem welcome to him. "Orpheus." He almost spat out. Shaking his head, he dismissed the idea. He'd never allow that man to lay eyes on her. Lowering his eyes to the hall below, he found her. She was at the communications unit, leaning towards a monitor, reading the data it presented with rapt attention. Even as he watched her interact with others and at times flashing a smile at them, his resolve wavered. What if involving Orpheus meant a safer life for her? A life at least safer than the one he was offering her? Couldn't he do that much for her? Shouldn't he? He closed his eyes. Blocking all images out except for the one of her smiling face. "It can wait." he whispered. Opening his eyes, he searched her out. It has to wait. "Not ready to let you go yet, Angel." As if hearing him, her eyes again traveled up towards the darkened window, a sweet smile lingering on her face, drawing out a little of the joy and pleasure he hadn't felt for so long. And yet, he wasn't sure what was the right thing to do. ***** ----------------------------------------- Yes, yes I know that the time gap was too long. And that's why, a huge thanks to all my readers who keep checking back for the chapters and hang on to the story, and of course to my new readers as well. I hope you are still liking it as much as you did the previous chapters. Let me know through your votes and comments. Lots and lots of them. Thank You everyone. And 5th chapter is already underconstruction. ---------------------------------------- Lovers' Oath Ch. 05 Author's note: Yup, long time, no see. My editor tells me it's been almost 3 months since my last posting. I really don't have any excuse other than that there were a thousand things to get done which slowed down writing. But, here's chapter 5, good and pretty long, I hope. Go ahead and enjoy! Huge thanks to Gabriel for editing this chapter. Another huge thanks goes out to my readers who have hung around this long. Go on people, enjoy the chapter. ----------------------------- The next morning. ----------------------------- Rayn slowly walked down the corridor that was supposed to take her to the training area. She was a little nervous and she was trying her best to hide that fact from showing. And yet, she couldn't speed up her pace to reach the training area faster. So, she walked down the corridor slowly. While showering this morning, she had tried to think why she was so damn nervous about the impending meeting with Kiel. She didn't really think that it was due to fear. No matter how big and muscled and grumpy he was, she really didn't feel afraid of him. And while she finished the shower, she still couldn't think of a reason for her nervousness. And yet, there she was feeling jittery and worried a little about today's training. At the end, she had just chalked it up to the task of facing something unknown. Training with Rohan was easy, because she knew him, training with Kiel was, well, another story altogether. She had no idea, not any more, about what he would want out of the training. What would happen if she didn't do as well as he might want? Even as she contemplated that line of thinking, she realized she was again worrying despite deciding earlier that she wouldn't. She shook her head, this time quickening her steps. The longer she delayed it, the more it would worry her. Turning around the next bend, a ringing sound greeted her ears. As she proceeded towards it, the sounds continued, as if a sword fight was going on. Growing curious, she sped up to a brisk walk, coming to a full stop in front of the door on her right. The door was made of reinforced glass, making the inside of the room clearly visible. As she stepped inside, she saw that a fight was going on in the middle of the room. Taking her eyes off the fight, she took a moment to glance around. The room was minimally decorated. Along the right side wall, several weapons were displayed on racks and panels. Some bottles of water were also there. As her eyes traveled around, she saw a few more couples practicing towards the further end, but many more stood along the walls, their eyes completely focused on the pair in the middle of the room. Following their gaze, she also watched them, first with curiosity, then - as she saw one of them quickly proceeding towards victory - with appreciation. Trying to remember if she had seen these two before, she shifted a little to her right to get a better picture of the winning warrior. Then her mouth hung open. One of the two sparring was Kiel, and he was the one winning. Thinking a little, she realized she had never thought he would be someone to spar with his subordinates. She had thought of him like the boss ordering people around, someone who had others do the work, not someone to be on the field with his people. 'Now why did I think of him like that?' she mused to herself, her eyes glued to his body. She might have been able to find the answer to it, only she was a little distracted by the grace with which he fought. She marveled at the fluid movements of his body, how he twisted and turned, blocking each blow and attacking, always aggressive, and yet, his face and eyes as calm as ever. She knew she was staring, but she couldn't help it. Almost to soon, or at least, too soon for her satisfaction, the fight was over as the other man conceded and lowered his sword. Bowing, the man slowly walked away, apparently distracted, probably a little discouraged. As he went a few paces, Kiel called from behind, "Rogers..." at his call the man jerked out of his distraction and turned towards him, slightly surprised, "Yes sir?" A small smile crossed Kiel's lips, "You fought well. Only there will always be someone a little ahead of you. Try to adapt more quickly to your opponent's style of fighting, and...keep changing yours, so your opponent doesn't get the chance to get a hold of you." cocking his head a little, he added,"You are a good warrior, Rogers. You just need to accept your flaws, so you can work on them." As Rayn watched the other man's face to decipher if this was normal behavior from Kiel, she saw Rogers' eyes brighten up at Kiel's words of appreciation, conveying clearly how rare they must be. She saw Rogers nod to him. "I will keep that in mind, sir." With another little bow, he walked away, now a little joy noticeably there in his steps. Looking back at the arena, she saw another man approach Kiel, and bow nervously. As Rayn watched, she saw Kiel stride casually towards the arms panels and deposit the sword there. Then walking back to the middle of the arena, he took a very casual stance, barely aggressive, and giving off a laid back and relaxed posture. As if this is not at all a fight he is in, but simply talking to a child. Rayn noticed the other man relax somewhat seeing Kiel's laid back attitude, and he adopted a somewhat similarly loose pose and they started circling each other. Her eyes swung back to Kiel's face, already having anticipated Kiel's next move. Her throat itched to warn the other man. Before she could give in to her impulse, Kiel broke the circle and one of his hands moved forward swiftly to connect the heel of the palm with the underside of his opponent's chin. Rayn's eyes widened in shock as she registered how quickly and fluidly his body moved. Her appreciation only increased as Kiel followed up the move with a swift sweep of his opposite leg under the other man's feet, effectively getting him off his feet. Without giving him time, Kiel brought down the other foot towards the man's throat, only stopping a few inches above to step back, giving the man time to get back on his feet. As the man did so, he was visibly shaken and shocked. Rayn regarded him for a little while, then thought back to the start of the session. Shaking her head, she leaned back against the wall. She probably couldn't blame the man, but he should have realized that Kiel had only loosened his posture to get the man to tone down his guard and get him off balance. He changed his style to not give his opponent a chance to adapt to it, and also, to keep the other man from developing a fixed style. She watched them face off again, this time the man tightly winded up. Her eyes narrowed, 'Too high strung and nervous. He won't think or plan his moves clearly.' Assessing mentally, she shook her head again, then looked back at Kiel. "Loosen up, Johnson. Getting high strung won't win you a fight with a demon." Kiel coolly instructed. "Loosening up doesn't help either, sir." Johnson shook his head resolutely, his eyes fixed onto Kiel. "Loosening up helps, losing focus because your opponent seems to be slow doesn't. You didn't even try to anticipate my move. A demon, low ranking demons, count on that. Their power is in their deceptively slow movement, which they compensate for by their strength and weight." She rolled her eyes, he was again successful in distracting Johnson. "Demons ranking a little higher, however," Kiel continued his lazy toned instructions, "do not count on the in-built lack of focus in their opponent. Instead, they work actively to distract their opponent, and attack." With that, he moved forward towards Johnson, startling him and leaving him with little time to get his defenses up. This time he lifted Johnson bodily and threw him down. Again he stepped back to allow the other man to stand up. As soon as he stood up, without losing a beat, Johnson moved forward with a swift one-two at Kiel's face and abdomen, followed by a round leg sweep, all of which Kiel avoided with smooth, serpentine agility. As Johnson followed up with a kick to his knee, Kiel blocked the kick with his foot and followed up with a kick to Johnson's head. Johnson avoided it by leaning back slightly, keeping his head out of reach. "Good, you are learning." Kiel commented, simultaneously moving forward to Johnson's left side, grabbing him around his chest with his left hand and using the leverage given by his own left foot to drag him down on the floor, then pinning Johnson's body by placing his knee on his chest squarely, his hands pinning down those of Johnson. "Apparently, not." Johnson gritted out, his eyes flashing, and surprising Rayn a little, his fangs elongating. 'He is a vampire!' Rayn mentally wondered, trying to recall what Kendra had said about the organization having employees of divergent kind. Kiel stood up, regarding the other man with disinterest, "Well, yes, probably you are a little slow to learn, but you learn nonetheless." With that he turned around and started to walk away. As Rayn pushed away from the wall to approach him, she saw Johnson rise. Anticipating his intention she opened her mouth to warn Kiel even as Johnson jumped up in the air, his eyes riveted on Kiel's neck. Knowing that she had no time, she prepared to intercept Johnson's attack. But, rendering her intervention unnecessary, Kiel wheeled around and jumped up, using his momentum to bring down his foot to Johnson's chest, throwing him on the floor. As Kiel landed, Johnson stood up. But without giving him time, Kiel swiftly delivered two kicks - one to his knee and the other to his shoulder - both kicks followed by a resounding 'snap' announcing the breaking of both joints. As Johnson collapsed on the floor, Kiel calmly said " As I said, you learn slowly. Attacking from behind would succeed in case of a lower ranked demon. Only, you forgot to factor in the fact that I am a wolf, and an Elder at that. And you never attack a Wolf from behind." starting to leave, he turned around once more to lock his eyes with the pain clouded eyes of Johnson, " Next time I'd expect better from you, Johnson. Good day." With that, Kiel turned around and walked out of the room, without glancing back at Johnson or at Rayn. She hesitated a little to follow him, looking at the injured man worriedly. As she saw two other men assisting him up, she followed Kiel out of the room. Seeing him enter a room a little further up the corridor, she hurried to the room. As she entered, his calm voice greeted her, "Close the door behind you." Having done so, she looked around the room. This one was a little larger than the previous room. A little to the left from the middle of the room, there was a dome like set-up on the floor, much like the dome of the comm center in the main hall, only instead of glass, this dome was made up of thin web like structure. Casting her eyes around, she saw a few exercising machines and a few things she was sure she had never seen before. Looking back at the dome she found Kiel standing half way between her and the dome. Approaching him, she casually started, "Hey Kiel, I'm..." "Yes, you are late. I'd assume you were going to apologize for that. Keep in mind that it doesn't happen again." He interrupted, and then turned around to walk towards the dome. Watching him walk away leaving her this infuriated with his back to her, she could almost understand why Johnson had attacked from behind. But, having learned by observing Johnson, she decided to shout instead. "You broke that man's shoulder and knee, Kiel. What were you doing, training him, or trying to kill him?" Kiel almost rolled his eyes, "He is a vampire, Rayn. He will recover instantly. And in case you didn't notice, he was trying to kill me. I merely defended myself. And yes, that is how I train my people." "Well then, serves you right for turning your back towards your enemy." she muttered, getting even more angry at his pointing out the needlessness of her worry for Johnson. "Really, you think so? Hmm." he answered her as if he had almost not wanted to, and yet answered because he was distracted. Pressing a button on a small, thin black remote, he powered on the Dome, and continued "Anyway, look here. This is the primary Training unit. This is where you train with simulations and several hurdle tasks where you will face with simulations of increasing difficulty. The simulations involve overcoming different battle situations with enemies of different nature, and of varying difficulty levels, at times the tasks will be time bound. Your performance will be assessed for your efficiency of time and ammunition management, and in some cases, on your strategy and tactical moves. Today, since it is your very first training session, I've decided on something light. For the warm-up, we will start with a little hand to hand combat training. " Looking back at her, he arched an eyebrow, "I heard you've had some experience with four lower ranking demons. Let's see what you learned from them, shall we?" He turned fully to face her. Coolly regarding him, she casually replied, "Sure. Just give me the gun and dagger, and you'll be dead within five minutes. Then I can go get brunch." Her lips curved up at seeing the flash in his eyes that her challenge had earned her. "Hand-to-hand combat, Rayn. Meaning, no weapons." Then, flashing a sly grin, "Of course, weapons don't include teeth. You can bite me all you want." Listening to his teasing, she carefully eyed him taking position, a rather tightly wound, ready to spring kind of pose. She maintained her calm and relaxed stance, without hinting that she had noticed his tease. "May be I will if I get hungry again. Or may be I won't. Arrogant dogs don't taste good." she took a few steps to the left as Kiel started circling. "You did like the smell of it, though. You almost drowned in it." as he saw his words bringing a rush of color to the creamy column of her throat, he quickly moved forward with a low kick to her thigh. To his surprise, she deftly captured his leg, lifted it higher, and swiftly twisted under it depositing him flat on his face on the floor, all in the space of a heartbeat. Not yet satisfied, she sat down heavily on his back and pulled his head back by pulling his hair. "You play dirty." He groaned. "Nope. I just learn quickly." She coolly supplied from atop him. Leaning in, she inhaled deeply at his neck. "Definitely don't like it." Kiel's smile broadened slightly. He had noticed the little tremor in her voice. The tremor that told him she wasn't being completely honest. Without missing a beat, he reached behind, took hold of her shoulder, and rolled her off himself. As he tried to pin her down by placing his body on hers, she rolled away and sprung to her feet a little out of his reach. As he looked up at her, he flashed a boyish grin at her, and sprang up. "Yes, you do learn quickly. And play dirty, too." he qualified. As they again circled each other, he appraised her style. In some ways, she was almost like him when he had first joined La Lumière. With a slightly rueful smile, he thought how things have changed over the years. With any hope, she will be a worthy companion in the fight against the darker side. But for that, her skills needed to be polished too. He fluidly moved forth, grabbing hold of her just under her knees and at the same time pushing back on her chest, succeeding in getting her on the floor. The next thing he knew, she was holding his throat with her calf muscles, her feet hooked behind his head. As his eyes widened, she deftly pulled her body up and punched his nose hard. Then she dropped herself back on the floor and got her feet under her with a vault. "Good, very good." Kiel's eyes sparkled with excitement. He didn't meet such a good fighter on a regular basis. One that could meet his challenges and expectations like this."Let's play." he whispered, again beginning to circle each other. ***** He could smell grass, and some flowers. His groggy senses kept faltering, not giving him enough stimulation to wake up. 'Flowers?' he wondered. He hadn't smelled anything but rotten flesh in several months. Was he going mad then, at last? He again inhaled deeply, almost again losing consciousness from the pain the action caused. But he held on. Yes! There it was again, fresh dew drops and flowers. He couldn't understand what flowers they were, but the smell brought up an image of calm and cold night. He liked those nights. He liked those flowers blooming under the black cloak of midnight, too. "Fow..ers." he murmured softly. Then let the darkness overcome his senses again. ***** Rohan quickly walked towards the Comm section. Entering, he softly growled at the seated man before him, "This better be good Johan. You just ruined a perfectly good day with a hot date." Turning around in his seat, Johan lifted his eyes with mock surprise. " You mean a day with hot metal and cold guns? Yup this is definitely better than that." turning around at one of the screens, he quickly brought up two pictures, one of a man in his mid twenties, smiling up at the camera, flashing a pair of slightly elongated canines, the other of the same man, lying on the ground, bloodied, missing an eye and several fingers, his legs bent in an odd angle. "Our agents picked up this intel at Sector 31 just a little over 10 minutes ago. This man, Meyer, was reported missing several months ago from one of the nearby Vampire covens. Last night, this man was found left near the Highway, severely wounded, unconscious from loss of blood and possibly starvation over several weeks. One of the shelters took him in and are treating him." Leaning forward, Rohan carefully scrutinized the data. "Demons?" he frowned. "Seems so." "Why wasn't general protocol followed?" he growled. "He might be infected." "Sir, we believe he has valuable intel that we can use." "And he might also be a bait planted by the demons. They don't just let go of their slaves, Johan. They use them for any purpose they might serve. If he is infected, he will wreck havoc within hours. We can not extract information from him. Follow protocol." "Sir, we didn't follow protocol because he was not infected. We are assuming from his unconscious blabbering that he somehow escaped." "Escaped?" Rohan's brows went higher on his forehead. Then, frowning, his expression turned thoughtful, " Hmm... Now that indeed is valuable intel. Priceless. What has he already said?" "Nothing much. When he was rescued by our team, he only said 'demons... Escaped...' then nothing until he regained consciousness in the shelter. There he asked the agents to contact La Lumière base, and get their leader to talk to him, he wouldn't say anything to anyone else." Johan made a face. "Kiel? No, he's not expendable." as Rohan hummed a while studying the information on screen, he asked, "Can't we get him over here?" Johan shook his head. "His condition is delicate. Any amount of travel might kill him. So far, he has only improved enough that we can hope he'd live long enough to give us the intel. Then he'd die anyway." "I see. Then we must act soon." Rohan straightened, thinking fast. "Arrange transport for me to the shelter within half an hour. Needless to say, the vehicle shouldn't stand out, and, don't let word of my solo trip get out here in base. Clear?" "Sir?" Johan asked, stunned. "What?" Rohan asked in a slightly bored voice. He really didn't want the lecture about not going alone. "He asked for the leader..." "Well, who's gonna tell him I'm not?" Rohan snarled."Kiel and Kendra are not expendable. They will want to go if they hear this, but we can not afford it in case this is a trap. Neither can we afford the necessary time for arranging their security." Lovers' Oath Ch. 05 "Sir, but going alone is a risk for you, too. And you're not expendable either." Johan protested. "Then who do you suggest should go?"Rohan asked, hoping his sugar coated tone should convey the message of "Shut-the-Fuck-Up" clearly to the man. "Sir, perhaps you should take some of the operatives with you?" Apparently, message not conveyed. Rohan sighed, frustrated. He pinned the man with a glare, "Are you suggesting, Johan, that I, an Elder, am incapable of protecting myself?" cutting the man's stammered protests off, he continued, "Besides, our best operatives are engaged elsewhere in missions of greater priority. I don't want them pulled out. So, arrange my trip. You've only 20 minutes left." As Rohan turned away to leave, Johan tried for the last time, "Sir, perhaps Rayn could go with..." Whirling back, Rohan drew up the man sharply with his collar, "She is non-expendable, too... Any more questions?" he gritted out. The shock of the information made Johan forget the threat he was in for a moment, "Non-expendable? but... she's just a trainee! How..." seeing the flash of anger in Rohan's eyes, he stammered shut. "Arrange. My. Transport. You have 10 minutes." Rohan growled, letting go of the man. "Yes sir." he quickly replied. Then added, "What do I tell Kiel if he asks me about it?" His voice held a pleading note,"He will put me in abeyance if he finds out I've let you go alone on this one." Without turning, Rohan called back, "Well, then don't let him find out before I come back." As Johan stared almost dumbfounded at Rohan's retreating back, he muttered automatically, "Sure. No problem." ***** Standing up from the floor for the seventh time within the past 5 minutes, Kiel found himself panting slightly. Right now, he was very much unsure about his feelings towards that slip of a girl. A part of him felt irritated at being felled by a tiny, untrained girl like Rayn, another part felt excited at having met his equal after a long time, while yet another, a tiny part tried very hard to remain objective and appreciate her skills as a warrior and not focus on the softness of her curves whenever her body came in contact with him. What was more irritating, her beasts hadn't even surfaced to fight with him except once, when he was sure he had her under grip only to find himself on the floor a good ten feet away a moment later. Looking up, he had seen that swirl of colors in her gorgeous eyes that indicated her beasts. But except that once, she had consistently handed him his ass without any kind of help from either her cat or the wolf. Growling slightly he stalked her, trying to decipher her next move. To his consolation, he had been able to take her down a few times too. Unfortunately, she recovered quickly, had a nasty streak of tenuous determination, and learned what not to do to win a fight with him very quickly. Grudgingly he admitted to himself that she matched him in quite a few aspects. He would also have to respect the fact that she took him down without any training, which only highlighted her being a natural at this. But currently, that arrogant smirk that played on her beautiful face had him a little irritated. He looked more closely for a chink in her armor. Seeing her drop in a slight crouch, it came to him. It would be playing dirty, but he never said he wouldn't do it. As she jumped at him, he prepared himself, flashing a wicked grin at her. ***** Halfway in the air, Rayn caught the grin, and didn't have to wait long to know why he'd grinned. Her eyes widened as she saw his body shimmer and shift into his hybrid form. He leaned forward, fangs bared and growled viciously. As she instinctively threw her arms forward and tightly closed her eyes, the thought that streaked through her mind was 'Nice puppy...Only if it weren't growling so!' As her body jarred from hitting the floor hard she squealed out loudly from the unexpected hard impact. She was expecting the soft furry landing on the hybrid body of Kiel, not the cold floor. Getting up to her feet in a flash, she looked around, confounded as to where he was. "Kiel?" she tentatively asked, stepping forward. As a low whining sound reached her ears, she looked down to locate the source. What she saw shocked her, "Kiel?" And she burst out laughing. The whining noise came again from the little black furry ball of a puppy on the floor. As her eyes teared up from laughing, it slowly shimmered and transformed to reveal a stark naked Kiel on the floor. Blinking up in surprise and confusion, he stayed on his back on the floor. "You already had your session with Sam and Priyal?"he asked, sounding a little bored - bored from getting beaten over and over again. This was one trick he had thought would catch her unaware, and that failed too. "No. But if this is what I get to do frequently after my sessions with them, then I'd like to start soon." she smiled widely. Seeing him trying to stand up, she offered him her hand,"Here, let me help you." and instantly regretted it. Kiel got hold of her hand, and pulled her down. Jumping up, he looked down at her, with a slight teasing grin, "What? Did you think we were taking a break?" "Nope. Just trying to not be like the jerk you are." She answered from the floor, using this opportunity to catch her breath. As her eyes traveled down along his body, she saw his cock getting semi-hardened with the passing second. Seeing the size of it, she silently gasped. Eyes slightly widened, she wondered 'Now how the hell did I cause that?' she saw the growing member twitch as she took in a particularly big breath. Instantly her eyes flew to his face, and her ears heated up as she saw Kiel watching her with amusement... And hunger? 'That's interesting!' she mused. Not breaking eye contact with him, she slowly stood up. Taking the few steps to close the gap between them, her body was only a few inches apart from his. Even as his eyes grew guarded, she felt his body tighten in anticipation, his cock clearly announcing his arousal that was probably only dampened by his will to control it. He almost flinched away as she splayed her palms on his chest. She smiled slightly. Looking down at her palms, he again looked up at her from under his eyelashes, his breathing hitching ever so slightly. He stood there without moving a muscle, just looking at her, and again trying with all his wits to decipher what the minx was up to. Leaning in, she inhaled deeply at his neck, smiling when she heard the sharp intake of breath from him. Pulling back, she looked back up into his eyes, her own breathing stopping as she saw them getting darker. She slowly dragged her nails down his broad chest, applying just enough pressure to arouse him more, but without breaking his skin. As her eyes landed on his red lips, she bit down on her own bottom lip, her insides almost melted to think how it would feel to kiss those satin smooth lips in reality and not only in her dreams. Her nails traveled down his body to rake over his stomach, just stopping short when she felt the curly hairs beneath her fingers. His eyes were blazing with desire. Leaning in, she whispered in his ears, "Kiel, I need to tell you something." "What?" he almost groaned. "I... I have wanted to tell you this ever since I saw you first. I don't know how to say this." pulling slightly back she hesitated, keeping her eyes down, her teeth worrying her bottom lip again. "What is it?" He gritted out. He was having a hard time controlling the impulse of his beast to pounce on her, and take her then and there. "I... " she stopped and deeply inhaled, "I didn't know if I was right, but after today, I can no more deny how I feel about you." His eyes widened. "So I need to tell you this." she let her fingers play around a little up his stomach, then slightly caressing his chest. "Rayn..." he whispered, his controls breaking. His eyes were smoldering. "Kiel, I think you are... You are... Oh, I don't know how else to say this, Kiel, but you are an ass." Taking a step back, she looked up at him to find him almost dumbstruck. She grinned. As the clock announced her break, she picked up her training kit and turned towards the door. Just before exiting, she turned her head and winked at him, "See ya!" and left. As Kiel watched her disappear behind the door, he exhaled the breath that he was holding in unconsciously in a whoosh. "That minx!" he growled out in pent up frustration. His wolf agreed, also growling. When she had first touched his bare chest, he had almost jumped her. Only if he hadn't waited for her to say what he thought she would say. She had effectively dumped cold water on his heated desire with her later words. getting himself clothed again from his training kit, he chuckled. 'She wants to play it rough, huh?' he liked that. "Well, two can play the game." he muttered to himself. Adjusting the shirt collar, his fingers brushed against the scar from her bite. Smiling to himself, he left the room humming a tune. As he passed through the main hall, several people stopped in their tracks to turn and stare at him with shock in their eyes as they registered this never before heard or seen phenomenon. By the time he was back in his office to look down from his glass window, everybody was back to taking care of their work, only a few people casting curious glances up at his perch every now and then and wondered what exactly was their leader up to. ***** "Are you planning on saying something?" Rohan asked the man lying on the bed. He was trying very hard to not lose patience. "I asked for the leader." the man said in a hoarse voice. "You are not him." "I'm one of them. And whoever I am, that's all you get. No one else will be coming, so whatever you gotta say, say it to me." Rohan surprised himself by speaking in the calm yet firm voice. He didn't think he could talk like that when on the verge of killing something. He again felt his control slipping when Meyer shook his head stubbornly. "No. Kiel only. I won't talk to any other." he rasped. Rohan stepped forward, bringing himself closer to the bed, his hands clasped in front of him. "Meyer... Is it?" the man nodded. As soon as he did, Rohan blurred with speed as he closed the gap between him and the bed and then leaned in and got in Meyer's face. "Look Meyer, Kiel will not be coming here. If this is some bait by those demons of yours to kill him, well, bad luck... he isn't coming. I'm all you got, so talk fast. If you don't talk, I'll kill you and leave. If you talk but not fast enough and waste time, well, you're not going to live much longer anyway. So, if you really want to deliver a message, I suggest you do it quick cause time is something neither of us have." Rohan's voice went deadly calm, and threatening. As he straightened, he smirked and resumed his calm voice from before, "Your choice." As he watched, several emotions darted across Meyer's face. Fear, protest, desperation, helplessness, pain. "How long do I have?" His voice was choking. "The healers estimate a little over 20 hours more. According to them that is the point when the pain from the prolonged torture and starvation will get worse. It will only be a few more minutes until your system completely breaks down. Only a miracle can save you. The damage was extensive." Rohan supplied with sincere regret in his voice. He didn't like giving people bad news."If it means any comfort to you, the demons didn't infect you, so you are not under any of their control or influence. Your body will be properly taken care of by your coven after you're... Gone. You are not of any danger to them. No demon is going to take control of your body to make you harm them." he added. He saw Meyer nod in understanding as a resigned look settled over the man's severely wounded face. "Fine. I'll talk. You don't have much time to act." Meyer stopped to take a deep breath, then continued in his raspy voice. "I know about La Lumière because my father once worked with you. He was killed a few years before I got turned." He gulped from the heartache it still caused him to think of his father, then winced from the pain the small act caused him. "That is also the reason the demons captured me. They had thought I might have access to people to get them information. But I didn't give in. I couldn't disgrace my father's memories like that. He taught me to be strong. He would have been proud to know I held up his name." He almost whispered as he said the last sentence. It was getting too much for him to keep talking. He decided to get it done and over with quickly. With another deep breath, he launched into his story that would give then enough information to thwart the storm the demons were brewing up. ***** As Kiel walked down the corridor to his office, he heard Kendra's soft voice over their mental link "Kiel, can you please step in to my office for a moment?" Entering the office, he saw her head bent over a book large enough to need a separate stand for it. The size and the worn look of the book only prodded his curiosity. Silently walking up to her, he tried to look over her shoulders to read the writings. With disappointment, he saw it was written in some language unknown to him, but apparently Kendra was reading it with ease. Before he could peek any further at the book, Kendra slammed it shut and, much to his surprise, chained and locked it to the stand. As she turned her glare at him, he couldn't help his curiosity, "What language is that? I've never seen it before." Curiosity and amazement laces his every word. In reply, Kendra only continued to glare at him reprovingly, "Tsk, Tsk... Kiel Kiel Kiel, when will you learn? Don't you know it's bad manners to read over one's shoulder?" Standing in front of Kendra's reproving glare, he felt like a small puppy that had ran on the "Freshly Cleaned" hallway after rolling in the mud. His sheepish grin returned. Before he could say anything more, she continued, "How did your session with Rayn go?" "It was good." He nodded, "She seems to be a natural fighter. She also seems to have some powerful magic. With training it would be an asset to her fighting skills." "Hmm, yes. I heard she handed you your ass pretty nicely. And as much as I found it hard to believe, you apparently make a very cute puppy." Kendra's eyes twinkled in amusement. Despite a slight irritation building inside from his bruised ego, he shrugged nonchalantly. "As I said, she is quite natural at this." he left out a little thought of his own unspoken, 'natural like I was.' Without taking her eyes away from him, she nodded, "Yes. Natural like you were." she sounded like she was stating a fact that she knew he was aware of. Did his face betray the surprise he felt inside at her observation? He hadn't thought their similarities were so apparent. Without speaking, he nodded once. Taking a seat at her desk, he asked her, "So, whose brain did you pick? There was no way anyone other than me and Rayn to have witnessed the session." "Rayn met me before starting on her first session with Sam; right after her session with you. She wanted to give me this." Kendra pushed a paper towards him. As he went through the contents of the paper, his brows crunched in a frown, "She wants separate quarters?" he returned the formal written request for a place other than the Den for Rayn to stay. "Do you know why she would want that?" Kendra's eyes were taking on the reproving look again. He shook his head, "No." as he watched her eyes turn severe, he blinked. 'Now, what did I do to cause this?' he wondered silently. Seeing his confusion, Kendra sighed and sat back in her chair. "Kiel, she is new to our world and our way of life. Even at The Den she has very few acquaintances, let alone friends..." "She is close with Rohan." he supplied, interrupting her talking. Throwing him an exasperated look, she asked, "With Rohan. And?" As realization dawned in his eyes, she nodded, "In our world, the young learns from the elders. The future Alpha, learns from the present Alpha. If you two are to work together - lead our organization together, she needs to feel that she can trust you, that she can trust us. For that, you need to connect with her on a friendly level, and not give her the impression that you are an ass." a little of her irritation seeped into her otherwise soothing voice. The irritation faded a little as she saw him nod in understanding. As she observed him, she frowned remembering something. "Are your dreams still troubling you?" this time he clearly showed his surprise. With an eye roll, she supplied the answer to his unanswered question, "I caught a few of the people from cleaning crews discussing that they are frequently hearing moans from your apartment. Added to that, the striking deficiency you are showing in your judgment and temper control for the past few weeks all indicate only one thing. You haven't shown this level of distraction ever since you joined La Lumière." As she saw him digest the assessment, even flinching at the 'striking deficiency' part, she softened her tone, "Kiel, you need to find her, and mate with her. Or the pull will only drive you insane." He shook his head, "I can't Kendra." "Why not?" "It's too dangerous. We're in the middle of a war. Choosing my mate will only add to the potential weaknesses the demons look for. If I mate with her, the demons will hunt her down and use her to control us. I can't allow that to happen." He dryly told her. "Kiel, we can't allow our leader to turn insane, either. And if you continue to deny the mating pull, it would be inevitable. Then the demons won't even need to look for a weakness to exploit. They will still find out the reason for your break down, leaving her unprotected with you unable to take care of either the organization or her. On the other hand, if you mate with her, it'll be easier for us to protect her." she saw the conflict play across his face for a while before he buried it. "I will think about it. Is that all?" "Actually, no. What is this I hear about you and Rohan fighting?" "I... It wasn't anything important. He wanted to tell me he didn't agree with a few decisions. His aggression was getting out of hands, so I had to remind him that I am his Alpha." "Hmm." She calmly nodded. "Is this decision which he is opposed to connected with Rayn?" "Yes. They are quite attached to each other. Naturally, he is concerned for her. But I think he should have known better than mixing personal life and his profession." She shook her head, "It's not that simple, Kiel. There is a reason behind their attachment. She is a powerful Alpha, although not at her full potential. She saved his life at a critical point. If it weren't for her, he would be dead by now. She also has some kind of ancient magic inside her. All things combined, when she saved his life, she forged a powerful magical bond with Rohan. He is indebted to her in more than one way. His wolf recognizes the Alpha in her, and it also submits to her in part. Since she hasn't realized her full potential yet, he doesn't have to reconsider his loyalties. Your hold is still stronger, so he continues to recognize you to be his Alpha, but there's a part of him that recognizes her, too, as his Alpha. This part is yet unconscious to him, so that recognition is expressed through the need he feels to protect her." As she felt the wheels in his head start turning, she paused a little to give him time to process the information. Then continued, "This phenomenon is quite rare, as it needs the Alpha to be very powerful. In most of the cases, the Alpha is also one with knowledge of Wizardry. The first Alpha is often referred to as the Pack Alpha, the second one is referred to as Chosen Alpha, since he or she achieves the status by being chosen by other wolves, and not by default rules of the Pack. The previous recordings of this phenomenon suggest one common course of action. As she gains power, his attachment to her as a Beta will grow. If ever the need arose when he has to choose among actions that go against her interests, or brings harm to her, his need to protect his Chosen Alpha will bypass the influence your Alpha wolf has on him. Since Rohan is also a powerful wolf, a typical Beta, he will be faced with the conflict of choosing one of you as his Alpha. In such an event, it is more than likely that he would choose Rayn over you." Lovers' Oath Ch. 05 "I see." he clasped his hands in front of him, and placed his chin on the clasped hands. "It would be wise to tread carefully with him, Kiel. He is your oldest and closest friend. He is not disloyal either. If you are to prevent a potential defection, you need to consider his need for protecting Rayn, too. Don't do anything rash." she flashed a grin before continuing, "Besides, you need to get friendly with Rayn for her safety, too. I can't grant her request for separate quarters. Out of The Den, she would be too exposed and in danger. We can't afford that." As she said those words, the frustration within him emerged again, "Well, how the hell am I supposed to even touch her if she goes the other way whenever she sees me?" he blurted out with vexation. As he saw Kendra blink, he realized what he had said, and silently prayed she wouldn't understand it. "Touch her?" Kendra surveyed him with amused interest, "I was thinking more like you forming a friendship with her, but obviously, you have other ideas. Hmm. Tell me, Kiel..." she leaned forward, "Who is it that you see in your dreams?" Hearing the amused curiosity in her voice, he quirked his eyebrow at her. "Now now, Kendra, I don't kiss and tell." he said smoothly. "Oh come on Kiel, you can tell me. May be I will help you, even." she smiled knowingly. His grin was back on his lips, too. He stood up, then leaned forward and looked at her with his palms flat on the desk, "Kendra, why don't you tell me what language that book is written in, and may be I will help you finish reading it, even." he suggested cordially. "Ah!" her lips quirked. He nodded. "That's what I thought." straightening up, he strode towards the door, "Have a nice day Kendra, and thanks for the information. I'll keep it in mind." "You need to win her over Kiel." the sincerity in her voice touched him. Turning his head, he saw her again immersed in that book. His curiosity flared again. But with the amount of information she had just given him, he knew he would have to wait to get things worked out before he could look for information on this book. ***** A few hours later, Rohan casually walked in the main hall when Johan hurriedly approached him from behind, "Um, Rohan..." as Rohan turned towards him, he quickly continued, "Kiel was looking for you. He is currently waiting for you in his office." as soon as the message was conveyed, Johan hurried off before Rohan could say anything. Looking up at the glass window of Kiel's office he caught a glimpse of his friend looking straight at him before the glass darkened. ***** "I have been looking all over for you, but no one seemed to know where you were. So, what exactly were you up to?" Kiel's question didn't have the bite he was expecting. It sounded humorous. "There was a communique from sector 31 about recovering a vampire who was reported missing some time ago. Seems it was the demons. He had valuable information he wanted to give us." "Hmm. So you went down there to check it out?" "Yup." "Alone?" Kiel's eyes were steadfastly observing a speck of dust between two buttons of a keyboard. "Uh... Er... Yes." Rohan didn't know exactly what would be Kiel's reaction. "It could have been a trap." "Uh... Yes." Kiel was still confusing him. "It was dangerous, Rohan." Rohan nodded, "I can take care of myself." he grumbled. "Not against a whole troop of demons, you can't. I know that a majority of our operatives are engaged, but you could have taken me along." The concern for his friend's safety leaked into Kiel's voice. Then he saw a guilty look flit across Rohan's face. "What?" "Er... Nothing." a sheepish look came on his face, "He had asked to speak to you. But it was too dangerous for that." as he saw Kiel's nose flare, he grinned broadly, and before Kiel's growl could go any further, he quickly continued, "But as it turns out, it wasn't a trap, and he indeed brought us valuable news." "Oh?" Kiel decided to ignore the anger he was feeling at Rohan for now. "Yeah." Rohan looked straight into his eyes, "The Demon Lord knows about Rayn." as the meaning of Rohan's words sank in, Kiel's body went stiff. "What else?" Rohan handed him a disc, "Most of the information he gave me is compiled in it and cross referenced with our data base. The only information I haven't put in is regarding Rayn." Taking the disc, Kiel strode towards one of the monitors to play it. As he went through the data, he heard Rohan's retreating steps. "Rohan" Kiel waited for Rohan to turn towards him, "Thanks." Blinking in confusion Rohan nodded, then after staring wonderingly at his friends back, he slowly walked out of the office. ----------------------------- Five days later, La Lumière Headquarters. ----------------------------- Kiel's eyes followed Rayn as she emerged from one of the corridors opening in the main hall below. As she walked towards the opening of the corridor to the training area, he saw her stop and turn around with a smile on her face. Following her gaze he saw a man approaching her. As the man's back was towards him, he couldn't see who it was. As he waited impatiently looking down at them, it became quite obvious that whoever it was, he was on friendly terms with her. Unable to see his face, Kiel tapped his fingers on the glass. 'Who the hell was that man, and why the hell was he that close to her?' he grumbled silently. He wished she would hurry up and reach the training area soon. 'And stop standing so close to that man.' his wolf agreed, growling. After what seemed like an eternity to him, she parted the man's company to start towards the training area. As Kiel stood watching her back, the slight sway of her hips caught his eyes. His eyes followed her until she went out of sight. As his eyes traveled back to where she was standing before, he found the man still standing there. He frowned. Obviously, that man could still see her, and was reluctant to let her go out of sight. As Kiel saw the man raise his hand and give a small parting wave in Rayn's general direction, he bristled. He knew he was being jealous. And irrational. But he couldn't help it. As the man below walked away from the spot, he tried to decipher who it was. For some reason, right then it seemed the most important thing in the world to identify the man. As he strode away without once turning towards Kiel, a snarl of frustration broke free of Kiel's throat. ***** "What, are you tired already?" Rayn playfully asked, parrying his attacks with ease. They'd been practicing sword fighting today, and surprisingly, Kiel seemed to be completely distracted. "Not really. Just letting you play today." She frowned. "I don't want to play. Fight back, Kiel." with that she rained some fast blows on him, most of which he dodged, and blocked a few with ease. Having gotten his attention, she circled him while pointing her sword at him. He simply held his sword leisurely at his side, ready for defense, but not in a mood for attack. She was growing frustrated with his lack of enthusiasm at this. She again attacked, this time he blocked her blow, and then with a swift twist of his sword, managed to pin her sword down. With a growl, she pulled her sword free and took a step back. "Who was that man you were talking to?" he casually flung the question at her. "What man?" she guardedly asked. In the past few days, she had learned not to let her guard drop at any moment while fighting with him. "The man you were talking to in the hall just now, who is he?" "A friend. A close friend." she gritted out. 'What does he care?' "Yes. I understood that. What is his name?" he continued calmly, blocking yet another attack from her. "What do you care?" She was getting even more irritated. "I just do." watching her reaction closely, he asked again, "May I know who he is?" "No. It's none of your business." she kept circling him, trying to get him to attack this time. His laid back attitude was getting on her nerves. "You seem to be very reluctant to mention the name of a man who is supposed to be a close friend." he stated in a matter of fact way. "Kiel, back off. My friend circle is none of your business." She barely kept from snarling at him. 'That self-assured, arrogant ass.' "Hmm. Let's make a deal." he suggested, his voice placating her, almost patronizing her. "What deal?" she growled at his patronizing tone. "If you win the next round, I won't ask about your friends." Damn right, you won't. "What if I lose?"she asked. "You'll agree to have dinner with me, tonight." his eyes twinkled. "Of course, if you would rather not take on the deal, I'll understand." he grinned. Her eyes flashed at the challenge. "Fine, deal." "Wonderful." his smile broadened. "Now pay attention." she spat at him, instantly going on attack. After a few minutes of swift attacks and twirling bodies and flashing blades, her sword flew out of her hand to land a few feet away. Dropping his own sword point towards the floor, Kiel smiled, "Tonight at eight, meet me at the main hall of The Den. I'll drive." watching her turn back and walk away, he chuckled, "You really look beautiful in blue you know." she didn't stop as she threw daggers with her glare before exiting through the door. ***** ----------------------------- Same day, 7:30 p.m., La Lumière Headquarters. ----------------------------- Rohan strode towards the comm center, fixing an ear piece in his right ear. Watching the men work frantically, he asked Johan, "Do we have confirmation?" Breathless, the man answered, "No. Not yet." "How much longer would it take?" "I'm not sure. Their broadcasts are not coming clearly. Seems one of the Senders have decided to put a Haze spell on them. It's taking a while for our Receivers to single out the original message from all the noise surrounding them." "We need to hurry up. Kiel and Rayn will be leaving for point one within half an hour. The secondary team lead by Rogers will leave five minutes later, once they get confirmation from Rayn. And she can't give it, unless we can confirm the target to them first." "Yes, yes, I know." Johan snapped, frantically, but methodically ordering everyone else as he himself worked on the incoming stream of data. "Wait, did you say Rayn?" "yeah. Why?" "Umm, she was saying something about a date tonight. You sure she's with Kiel?" Rohan frowned, his mood souring instantly. "Yes, I'm sure. Her date is Kiel. And they're going to the Diva." Johan's eyes widened. "He's taking her to point one of a mission on their first date?" as he read Rohan's face, he realized what was going on. "Erm, she won't be gushing to her friends about this date night, would she?" pausing a little, he added, "Does she know?" Rohan shook his head. "He will tell her once we confirm the target. Tonight is her initiation. Tonight determines her capability." "Ah! I see." Johan stared blankly at the screen to his left side. "Well, what is he gonna do about the weapons? How would he give them to her?" Rohan sighed," You ask too many questions, Johan. We'll see once they get there." He pointed at the screen playing live feed of the various parts of the restaurant. "But confirm their entry point and the target first." Johan nodded, "Doing it now. The data is almost complete." "Good. Hurry up. They should be leaving in about ten minutes." ***** ----------------------------- 7.55 p.m., The Den. ----------------------------- Kiel stood in the hall way, impatient. As he checked his watch the third time within the last 2 minutes, he growled in frustration. They were supposed to leave in five minutes, and she still hadn't come downstairs. He started pacing, but as he caught the smirk on Sam's face as they crossed each other, he stopped pacing. "Kiel..." he heard Rohan's voice over their connection. "What?" "Have you two started?" "No. We will in five more minutes." "Good. We don't have confirmation yet. If they have discovered Meyer's disappearance and his link to us, it is possible they might not want to take a chance and change their plans altogether. You two have a booking at The Diva for a table for two, it should be a table somewhere around the middle from where you can keep an eye out. We will contact you as soon as we get the confirmation." "Yeah, alright... Sure." Kiel sounded distracted. Rohan frowned. "Kiel, are you okay?" "Uh, yeah. Umm... I'll talk to you later." Rohan felt worried for a second, before he caught an image of Rayn from his friend's mind. He would have wondered what had caused Kiel to drop his Shield, but the image of Rayn said it all. Smirking, Rohan broke their connection. As Kiel stood stock still in the hall way, his eyes never left the beautiful creature descending the stairs. He could see she had taken his observation into consideration, and was wearing a beautiful dark blue off shoulder, calf length gown. A simple yet elegant pleat ran all along the front of the gown, starting at a point slightly right to her cleavage fitted with a floral design made out of some kind of white metal, then continued down to the hem where it curved and disappeared within the folds. The gown hug her body closely, flaring out at her hips and then flowing down to cling slightly to her shapely legs, giving her body a nice shape and accentuating her curves. A thin white chain ran around her waist and the ends twisted around each other as they hung a little off to the side. A drape of a lighter shade of blue was wrapped around her shoulders, their ends coming to hang down from her arms. As he finally realized he was staring, his eyes quickly traveled to hers, and then he almost blushed seeing her watching him closely, standing still on the third last stair, her right hand resting on the railing. Had she put on make up? He couldn't tell. He also completely bypassed the elegant style in which her hair was done up. His eyes only took in her green eyes framed by the thick lashes, and her luscious lips. He internally groaned. How the hell was he supposed to concentrate on the mission with that woman at his side? Mentally giving himself a shake, he stepped forward and offered her his hand, his eyes riveted onto hers. She slowly descended the last stairs, and placed her palm in his. When she stood by his side, his lips curved up in an appreciating smile. He leaned into her ear, his smile broadening as he saw her eyes widen slightly, "You look beautiful." her sudden intake of breath was unmistakable. Pulling back, he saw a blush creep up her throat. "Shall we go?" at her nodded assent, he put her hand in the crook of his elbow and led them out towards the waiting car. ***** Descending down the stairs, Rayn was a little nervous about this date. Yes, he was grumpy, yes, on more than one occasion she had called him an ass. And then he goes and does a 180 degree and uses his ass-y ways to take her on a date. What's more is the jealousy he had been displaying, however subtly, whenever she interacted in a friendly way with another man. That, she had checked time and again by intentionally doing so whenever he was around. And then the way he demanded to know the name of the man today... She had wondered what was that about. Descending down the stairs, she was trying to anticipate what to expect from this evening, until she saw him, waiting impatiently in the hall. And boy oh boy, was he looking good. If she didn't think him to be an ass, she was sure she would be drooling over that man. His shoulder length black hair was swept backwards in an attempt to but barely succeeding in taming the unruly hairs, giving away his wildness, while his clothes gave off the impression of a wealthy, habituated to luxury and not so wild man. If she didn't know better, she would have mistaken him to be one of the innumerable businessmen who went about their businesses all week and came to Raymond city's superb restaurants to woo their women on weekends. She could almost see the muscles beneath those clothes moving sensuously as he stepped closer and offered his hand. Descending the stairs, she took his hand, taking her sweet time to rove her eyes on the delicious looking treat in front of her. One glance had told her the fabric was something she had only seen in magazines and in shows that featured costly designer clothing. Coming to stand in front of him, she looked up at his blue eyes that twinkled away as his lips curved up in a smile. Seeing his lips this close in a situation when they were not going at each other with weapons in hand she was suddenly feeling an insistent need to lock her own lips with his. Just as she was trying to resist that particular urge, he chose that moment to lean in towards her ears and seductively murmured "You look beautiful." He might have said other things too, but she didn't hear them, because as soon as he had leaned in, his rich, deep, masculine scent washed over her, instantly lighting desire inside her. She sucked in her breath and held it in an attempt to control herself from jumping him in the middle of the hallway. She knew she was blushing profusely at this point. Fortunately and a little to her disappointment, right then he took a step back and asked her "Shall we go?" she nodded, letting him lead them towards to waiting car. ***** The demon growled in frustration, "What are we doing here? We should be at the restaurant overseeing the deal." "Keep quiet Dral. It is the Demon Lord's orders that you are following, not mine." Kan snapped from his hiding place. Then, seeing a green light flash twice, he gestured to move forward and stepped out in the moonlit street. As he made his way towards a nondescript house, 10 more bulky shadows stepped out behind him and followed him. Stopping a few feet away from the house, he turned towards them, "Two of you, cover the back door. Two keep an eye on the front door and warn us whenever they return. Three of you check out the ground floor rooms for anything of interest to us. The rest come with me to the first floor and check the bed rooms there. I'll check Rayn's room myself. Be careful while checking her parents' rooms. Don't leave a trace of our searches just in case they have tracking abilities." His followers nodded and padded silently towards their indicated positions. Approaching the house, a little tampering of the locks had the door open in no time. As they stepped in, one of the demons wrinkled his nose, "This house smells of human, boss. No way they can have tracking abilities." "Regardless, follow orders. Any wizard or witch will be clever enough to cover their smell, and these people are the parents of a powerful magical creature." "But..." "Keep your mouth shut unless you have useful information. Carry out the orders as is." Kan barked out at the protesting demon. He didn't wait to see the demon nod and start searching before walking up the stairs. After 10 minutes, all the demons had joined Kan at the first floor corridor in front of the door to Rayn's room from which Kan emerged within a few more seconds. "Any findings?" his voice clearly gave away his irritation at anticipating their answers. They confirmed his suspicion by shaking their heads. Frowning, he nodded. "It seems she hasn't been living here for a long time. Probably she has broken her ties with her parents. That poses a problem for us in finding her weaknesses." he muttered under his breath. His brother was not going to like this very much. He looked up as the demon he had barked at before cleared his throat. "What?" "Boss, these people are human. I'm sure. No trace of any magic in the house. Are we sure they are her parents?" Lovers' Oath Ch. 06 Author's Note : Alright. Back again after a long wait. I just hope this chapter is long enough to compensate for the wait. As usual, dealing with other necessities of life took away time for writing. And since this chapter covers a lot of background story, it took a lot of writing and rewriting. Thanks to my wonderful editor Gabriel. Without his keen eyes to find irregularities and mistakes, this chapter would have taken even longer to come out and not nearly as smooth and clean as it is now. If you spot any mistakes, it is purely to be attributed to my post-edit tweaking around. And many thanks to you, my readers, who faithfully hang on to the story and vote and leave comments. I promise, the next chapter will not take this long. No more waiting. Enjoy the story. ***** ***** ******* "That was a good step. Well done." Kendra's soft voice sounded like a drum on the mental connection as it startled Kiel out of his deep thoughts. "What are you talking about?" He frowned at his desk. "Of course I'm talking about the way you handled Rohan's need to protect Rayn. By asking him to choose her side over yours, you assured him that you are concerned for Rayn, too. That should influence his decision to some extent if ever a situation for potential defection emerges." Kendra stated in a matter of fact way. "That's not why I did it Kendra. You know me better than that." His irritation was pretty apparent over their connection. As Kendra's soft 'Gotcha' laughter sounded in his head, he almost wished they were speaking over a phone or something. At least then he would have the satisfaction of slamming down the phone on her. "No, that's not why you did it. Good thing you admitted that. Now to the reason why you did it." Kendra had gone from smiling to serious in a heartbeat. "I think your reasoning behind the decision to not mate with Rayn is faulty. You should reconsider..." "I've already told you I'll think about it. Anything else?" He snapped at Kendra, something he had almost never done before. Even as he realized that, he didn't feel like apologizing. His mind was already troubled. "Yes. We have to inform her about her parents." "I know." He grew wary. 'Did Kendra know?' he wondered. Shaking his head he banished that thought from his head. If she didn't know what he was thinking, she would know if he kept thinking about it while talking to her. Being an Immortal, she had powers many would die for. Ferreting out information from someone's active memory while connected to their mind was one of those powers of hers. "Do you want me to do it?" Kendra asked, even as her curiosity flared as she felt him strengthen his guard. "Yes. That'd be for the best. And Kendra..." "What?" "Tell her the truth. She has the right to know the truth." "She might over react. She's still too young..." "I'll take care of that if she over reacts. But she deserves the truth." "Yes she does. When does she get to hear the truth about you and what you feel for her? And oh, I guess telling her about you two being mates would be one those truths, too, that she deserves to know." "That's for me to decide." Kiel was trying hard not to scream at her. What were they trying to do, irritate him to death? "She was right you know. You do become an ass when it comes to Rayn." Stunning Kiel with that taunt, Kendra broke the connection, leaving him alone to grumble. His connection with Kendra now broken, he again wondered if she had gotten whiff of his uninformed activities. He didn't want her to know, not yet. He should be the one to inform Rayn about that, not Kendra. He sighed. Doing a quick search of the main hall when he couldn't see Rayn there, he made his way down to Rohan's office to find him pouring over a design for a new armor. As he saw Kiel enter, he straightened up to greet him, "Hi. " "Hey." Kiel's reply was subdued, somewhat grim. Rohan could almost understand why. "Kendra knows?" he asked knowingly. "Not yet. But I think she suspects something." Kiel replied in the same tone, picking up a small throwing knife and starting to play with it. "Quite possibly. The medical bay is crowded and not for a reason she knows. And unless you put that knife down, there's gonna be another patient there shortly. Those knives are poisoned." Rohan didn't seem much worried by the possibility of Kendra knowing their secret. His thoughts were centered elsewhere, "Whether she knows or not is a moot point. She will have to be informed eventually. But I think it should be you telling Rayn about this, not Kendra." Kiel nodded distractedly, still playing with the knife, throwing it slightly up in the air to again catch it by the small handle, "Yes, I know. Where is Rayn right now? I need to talk to her." he lifted his eyes questioningly at Rohan. Shaking his head, Rohan said,"Not yet. She's out on a solo trip to meet a contact for her next mission." He paused and flashed a smile, adding, "Her first mission as a full fledged operative. I think Kendra told her this morning about the initiation and her new status as a level two operative. I think Rayn likes the fact that she's not a trainee anymore." Rohan's eyes twinkled with amusement. As he saw Kiel nod and smile in agreement, he continued, "And as far as I know, she then has a date with Rogers, and they will be having dinner at his house. So in all likelyhood, you won't be seeing her until tomorrow morning." seeing the look on Kiel's face change, he swiftly extended a hand and caught the knife Kiel was playing with in mid-air, adding, "and I will take that for you, thank you." "She's dating Rogers?" was it jealousy he was feeling? Kiel didn't think about it, but nevertheless, he couldn't stop the growl that emanated from his chest, courtesy of the suddenly edgy wolf inside him. "Uh-huh." Rohan calmly replied, as if he hadn't even noticed Kiel's growl, "In fact," he continued, "I've even started to facilitate their relationship by getting her on his team for the next several missions. They'll grow even more close, just like you wanted." Rohan had the nerve to smile at Kiel as if he had done a great favor for him. Even as Kiel tried very hard to reign in the sudden urge to snap someones neck, even as he tried to humanly reason with the aggravated wolf inside himself, hearing Rohan's last words almost overrode his efforts, almost. Despite his relatively good control over himself, he took the few steps necessary to close the gap between Rohan and himself, growling, and gritted out, "You. Are. Facilitating... This ?" he couldn't find a nice term to fit the situation between Rayn, Rogers and himself. He was keeping his arms tightly crossed across his chest to keep himself from doing something to wipe the grin off Rohan's face. "Yeah. Just like you wanted. You know, that she falls in love with another." Rohan supplied innocently, his words tinged with mock confusion. As his words penetrated the haze of rage inside Kiel's head, he understood the trap Rohan had gotten him into. What is it with these people today? Kiel silently wondered. "Yes, I wanted it. But only if it happened naturally. I didn't want you to play Cupid. This is not a match making organization we're running. I'd appreciate it if you don't turn it into one." His voice was calm enough, his mind wasn't. He knew what Rohan and Kendra were trying to do - and they were succeeding at it. Kiel was realizing very well that despite what he had said earlier about Rayn loving another, he wasn't ready to let go of her. He would never be ready. He knew that too. And still, he didn't want her to know about them being mates. Loving someone meant keeping them safe. He had not succeeded in keeping her family safe, and that was going to hurt her pretty badly when she would come to know of it. He couldn't save her from that pain. But he was going to do all he could to save her from meeting the same fate as her family. She was irrevocably involved in this war now, the demons knew of her and she was in no less danger outside than inside the organization. He wasn't going to do anything that might give the demons a chance to find a chink in their armor. Calming himself down he stepped away from Rohan, then turned towards the door to walk away, "Please tell Rayn to see me when you see her next. And get her off Rogers' team. I want her on my team. I'm her trainer, not Rogers. She needs to learn a lot and learn quickly. That won't happen if she's on his team." with that he walked away. If he had paused and turned for a second at the door, he might have caught Rohan's knowing grin and a murmured, "Sure pal, whatever makes you feel better." ***** Rayn slightly swiveled on the bar stool she was sitting on, her back towards the counter, one leg crossed over the other, her left elbow resting on the counter top, her palms clasped firmly. She had walked in just a few minutes ago, and decided she wasn't going to find another bar as shady as this one in town. With her gradually enhancing beast senses, she was hard pressed to control her expression as the bar literally reeked of foul things. She completely hated it. Yet, when she had placed her order, she had smiled as sweetly as possible, all the while swearing mentally at Rohan. She was going to have to yell at him in person for sending her to this meeting because she wasn't allowed to connect with anyone mentally as long as she was here. Supposedly, even demons visit here and some of them have senses that enable them to "listen in" on such connections. The smells were proof that the speculation was true. At least one demon was here. She had to get out of here as soon as her job was done. Rayn casually ran her eyes over the surrounding crowd. The contact should be here by now, and that's the person she was looking for. "Here's your drink, ma'am." the bar man's voice almost startled her, she hadn't heard him approach. Quickly hiding her reaction, she turned towards him. "Thanks." Once the bar man went to attend to others, she peered at the drink she was told to order. It was a curious mixture of colored liquids. As she stared at it, the colors swirled and changed continuously, hypnotically. She couldn't take her eyes off the misty looking drink. "You don't frequent this bar, do you, beauty?" a deep male voice sounded beside her, jerking her out of the trance. "Huh?" she lifted confused eyes to find a middle aged balding man sitting beside her, surveying her with interest. "Why would you think that, may I ask?" did she look that obviously new to the bar? The man laughed. "Cause anyone who is a regular here, doesn't order the Bleeding' Mesmer, specially if they are alone and are looking to keep their sanity." as he looked her up and down, he added, "It takes a hell of a strong mind to drink that thing and walk outta here on their own. Last man I saw order that, went crazy after one shot. Jumped up from his chair and went out running' shouting at the top of his lungs that Demons were all around him." "Ah, I see." even as she said that, she sipped at the drink. The man's eyes twinkled at her action. "I wasn't lying, you know. The drink acts differently for different people." "Of course it does. For humans." she smiled at him, sipping her drink again. The man laughed, "You are not human?" he asked. Putting down her glass on the table, she leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, "Nope. I'm a VampOwl." she smiled brightly. "Oh?" His lifted his eye brows. "What's a VampOwl?" he whispered. "An Owl which has been bitten by a Vampire, thus turned into a Vampire Owl." she stated in a matter of fact way. "Hmm, see, I told you people go crazy from drinking that stuff." "I'm not crazy." she protested, sipping at her drink. "Then show me those big teeth vampires get." "How can a bird have teeth?" she frowned reprovingly. "Then how will you drink blood from a victim?" he shot back. "That can not be described, only demonstrated." "Fine. Show me." he challenged. "Don't invite yourself to be dinner. You might not live to speak of it." she said with mock menace. "Pfft." Even as she started to open her mouth to reply, Rohan's voice sounded in her head, "Rayn, the contact is there. It's a woman in a white dress, pink scarf. Follow her." Sweeping the room with her eyes, she easily picked out the described woman heading towards the ladies' room. Looking back at the man, she smiled, "Excuse me. I'll be right back." "Seen an interesting dinner?" "Oh yeah. Don't be jealous, though." Getting off the stool, she hurried towards the ladies' room. As she entered, two girls slipped past her out into the bar. As their giggles faded away, she found herself alone in there. Looking carefully around, she didn't see anyone else. But she was sure the woman had come this way. And there wasn't any other way the woman could have gone once she went through the door they had come through from the bar. Confused, Rayn returned to the bar, this time walking slowly and looking around carefully as she searched for the woman. When she reached her seat, she still hadn't found the woman. 'Where the hell did she vanish?' Rayn wondered. Looking back at the stool beside her, she found it vacant. She frowned. Something was nudging at her mind. She couldn't pin point it yet. Picking up her drink to sip again, her fingers brushed against something sticking to its bottom. Detaching the object, she brought it nearer her eyes. A small, thin 1c.m long plastic box was attached along with a folded piece of paper. "Shit!" whirling around, she tried to find the man who had been sitting beside her. But, like the woman, he had also vanished in the crowd. "Damn it." she cursed in frustration. Walking out of the bar she climbed inside her car. After driving for a few minutes, something occurred to her. "Rohan?" "You are not supposed to use the connection until out of the bar." "I'm out of the bar. Were you trying to contact me mentally within the last hour?" "No. That would have been risky. Why?" "Crap. Uh, nothing. I mean, something weird happened. I'm coming in. Tell you all about it once I'm there." "Weird? What do you mean? And did you talk to the contact?" "Damn it!" Rayn cursed, frustrated over her failing to identify the man as the contact. She had to extract some much needed information from him. "It's part of the weird stuff. I'll tell you when I get there." "Alright. Come on in. Don't talk to anyone else about this until you have talked to me." Rohan instructed. "I know that." "Good. See you later." Rohan broke the contact. Getting the car on a less crowded road, Rayn increased her speed to get to the headquarters sooner. She had a hell of a lot of explaining to do. Banging on the steering wheel she cursed again. ***** "He did what?" Rohan's tone was almost incredulous. "Umm, he, I think he did it, you know, because one moment I was talking to him, and the next moment I heard you over the link telling me a woman in a white dress was the contact and I am to follow her. When I started to follow her, he distracted me for a second, then when I went after her, I didn't see her any where. As if she wasn't even there. Then I came back to my seat, and this was stuck to the bottom of the glass." she showed him the small box and the folded piece of paper. Taking the things from her, Rohan first opened the piece of paper. After reading the written lines he opened the thin box. A small, thinner, rectangular piece of metal was lying there. Rohan lifted the metal piece with a pincer and placed it onto the platform of a small gadget which Rayn could only describe as a scanner of sorts. "Umm, what is that?" "What kills the cat, Rayn?" Rohan distractedly asked as he watched the gadget read the data stored in the metal piece. "I just want to know." She pouted. Rohan laughed. As the gadget beeped to announce the completion of the task, he connected it with a data panel to transfer the data. "The small metal piece is a -data cell- of sorts. The data stored in it isn't electrical. The data is stored there using magic. That cell can not be read by just any reader. You need this to start with." he pointed towards his gadget. "This gadget is infused with the type of magic that unlocks the binding spell placed on the data cell. This data cell is demon made, using demon magic. A demon would not need a data cell reader, he'd only be required to place a drop of his blood on it. The magic in the blood drop will do the rest. Werewolves and others need this reader to unlock the data cell.Then you need a key, a Spell that pulls out the data in it. Then the data needs to be decoded in order to understand what is really being said." as he scrolled through the apparent gibberish appearing on his data panel, he glanced at Rayn face. Seeing the stunned look on it he laughed. "Uh, alright. Nonhuman technology is confusing. I was better off as a human." "Hmm, yes, of course. I don't know how you could stand the thrill and excitement of being human."He rolled his eyes. "Hey!" Rohan chuckled,"Alright. I'll get off your case. But I gotta tell you, Scott must have liked you to just give it to you that easily. Last time he had a meeting with our operatives, he made them run through 3 cities in 1 hour to give them the information they wanted. He likes playing hard to get. Your charms must have been irresistible for him." "Uh-huh. My drunken charms are indeed that irresistible. Or me telling him that I'm a VampOwl." she grumbled. "What's a VampOwl?" Rohan frowned, trying to remember if he had ever read about them. "And why would you tell him you are one?" "A VampOwl is a... Oh never mind. It's just something I was telling him after he told me drinking Bleeding' Mesmer makes people go crazy. So I told him I won't go crazy because I'm a VampOwl." "You... drank Bleeding' Mesmer?" his jaw dropped. "Yeah. You told me to order that. Why?" she frowned. "I told you to order that because that's how he was to identify you. You weren't supposed to drink that. People don't order that drink because it drives people crazy. Only very few people can withstand its effects. He was telling you the truth." as he replied, he first checked her pulse, then her temperature, then he examined her eyes. "But it tastes so good." she was surprised. "Of course it does, you stupid girl. It has elf and fairy blood in it. It's not exactly the most legal drink around here. But we can't arrest them for selling it unless we could prove that the blood is forcibly taken and not donated by elves and fairies looking for some quick cash." despite not finding any observable illness, he couldn't relax. "Well come on, let's get your ass to the medical wing. We need to get you checked. No wonder he didn't give you any crap after seeing you drink that stuff." As he rushed them to the medical wing, she had to do a fast paced jog to keep up with him. Once there, he quickly told the healer about what had happened and asked her to check for any internal problem. After running a few tests and examining a blood sample of Rayn the healer found nothing wrong with her. "She must have absorbed the magic laced in that drink. The magic that the elf and fairy blood lend to the drink is otherwise unstoppable. The only people who can stand it are the ones that can absorb it." The elderly woman smiled at Rayn."You must have a strong, courageous heart and powerful magic in you, little one. Those are precious treasures for any mage." Rayn smiled at her, feeling good from the compliment. Lovers' Oath Ch. 06 "Thanks. I should get going now." "Alright. If you feel any dizziness, weakness or find yourself hallucinating, get yourself down here as soon as possible. "I will." Rayn nodded. Looking back at Rohan, she smiled again, "Let's go. I have a date I don't wanna miss." "Hmm, yes." Rohan paused, then looked back at her, "No wonder Scott liked you. Demons usually have a liking for strong hearted girls, especially if they have powerful magic in them." As the meaning of what Rohan said settled in her head, Rayn stopped in her tracks, "Demon?" "Yeah. Why?" As he saw her expression, he shook his head, "Not all demons are bad, Rayn. Just like there are traitors among us - non-humans and humans alike who work for the Demon Lord, there are several clans of Demons who work alongside us. They are also a part of the defenders.These are the demons who didn't agree with Gedan when he wanted to take over the OuterWorld. They were banished from the UnderWorld. Actually, they have a huge role in our success in resisting their attacks. If it wasn't for their knowledge of the ways of the UnderWorld and their assistance, we might have lost the war on the very first blow they had delivered to us. Right now, there is at least one demon in each sector enlisted in the army of Gedan, and they work for us endangering their lives. That could be seen as treachery to their own race, but they see it as being defenders of truth, justice and the greater good." He smiled a little to put Rayn at ease. "I understand." She nodded. "Why isn't their contribution documented in our records?" she frowned. "They are. But those documents are highly guarded. Otherwise one leak will destroy any and all demons Gedan suspects of treachery." "Oh. I see." She paused as they came to a halt at the entrance of the armory. "I thought you had a date you didn't wanted to be late to?" Rohan asked. "Hmm. I won't be. My date isn't back from his mission yet. He's leading the Recovery team on sector-3. Speaking of which, what exactly are these Lost Jewels that they are recovering?" she asked curiously. "Jewels of a magical origin. Some say the Gods had given them to the eleven leaders of all the magical beings. The speculated number of jewels is twelve, but we've so far been able to trace only eleven. It is believed that the twelfth jewel is more powerful than all of the jewels combined. That bit might be a myth. But these eleven jewels are documented through out history, although, each time with a different name. Their mentions are rare, and disguised. It's hard to trace them. Even harder to be sure that we are on the right track. If we are right, Rogers should return tonight with those eleven jewels. And if we're right, then the demons will lose a powerful source of their powers. If they get to the jewels before us, it will be chaos all around." "We'll be able to use those powers in fighting with the demons?" "We should be able to, yeah. We'll see." As they spoke they entered the room in the armory where the daggers and blades were kept. As Rohan took a log of the weapons and checked which ones were issued on missions and whether all of them were returned, she remembered something. "Uh, Ro?" "Hmm?" He was distracted as he noticed a few irregularities. He opened the records file to check something when Rayn asked, "There haven't been any potentially high casualty missions within the past few days. Yesterday, before I went on that mission with Kiel, the medical bay was unoccupied. Then why are there heavily injured people today?" Rohan almost dropped the tablet like data panel he was using for logging the weapons. "Huh? What?" he looked at her. "The medical bay is crowded, at least ten people are there today, heavily injured. There haven't been any missions involving highly dangerous fighting yesterday or this morning. How were they injured?" "Umm, one of the cold missions went wrong. We didn't expect many hostiles. But we either had bad intel or they knew we were coming. Enemies were more than we expected. The mission had to be aborted. They were brought in this morning, when you were out." He explained with his back to her. He didn't like the idea of lying to her. "Oh, that's bad. Did we lose many?" the sincere concern and pain in her voice for those people touched him. Nodding sadly he replied, "Yeah. Four. The others were able to get away. We lost two in the field, two others had irreparable damage. They died, despite the Healers' best efforts, a few hours after they got here." as he saw the saddened expression on her face, he almost cringed to think that if the death of people she had never met saddened her so much, how much pain it would cause her when she learned of her parents' death. He put a hand on her shoulder, "Don't be saddened, Rayn. We'll miss their presence, but they knew of this eventuality. They died fighting for a cause they believed in. And they'd like us to remember them with nothing but pride. Their souls will be reborn and returned to us one day. They will be reincarnated to return to their loved ones. So don't feel sorrow for their death. Be proud for them instead. They had the courage to stand up and fight for what they believed in, fight to save the innocent." She nodded, "I know all that. Doesn't mean I have to like it." looking up at him, she ruefully smiled, "At moments, I am just a silly human girl who feels sad at the loss of such precious lives. They had a family. Loved ones who will feel their absence with all their heart. I can't even imagine the pain they must be going through right now." she sighed. Rohan stood motionless on the spot as his heart wrenched. He didn't know what to tell her. He opened his mouth several times, then closed it again. His thoughts darted to the impending future. Almost like a blessing the display inside the armory that announced a mission's return turned on. He looked up at it, "Looks like your date has arrived. Come on, let's go disarm and strip'em. You get to strip Rogers." he smiled down at her. Playfully smacking his arm, she glared at him, "Shut up, Ro." "No scratching, Kitty." Laughing, he mussed her hair as they went to meet the returned team. ***** "Wow! I never thought Rohan was gonna let you out of the debriefing room." Rayn exclaimed dropping herself on a chair in Rogers' kitchen. She heard him chuckle before he turned around from the coffee machine and placed a cup of steaming coffee in front of her, and sat down opposite her with the other cup, "Well, he's very particular about the minute details of each mission. Those details are to him as a bit of good gossip is to an old woman. He just wants to know everything." He smiled at her. She nodded, "I know what you mean. So, did you find the Jewels?" he shook his head. "Nope. This is the third time we have failed to retrieve them. Every time, we seem so close one moment, then we seem to have veered off to another path, leading us away from the jewels. It's getting very frustrating." He shrugged, frowning. "Third time?" she asked wonderingly. As he nodded, she thought out loud," The jewels gotta be pretty powerful if they have managed to misdirect you three times. Good luck getting your hands on them!" "What?" He looked up at her, blinking in confusion. "What?" "What do you mean 'misdirect us'?" "Well, it just seems too much of a coincidence to occur three times in a row. Rohan told me these jewels are pretty powerful, and they've been mentioned very rarely in the earlier documents, although people have been looking for them for centuries. Most of the times when they were documented as found, someone had stumbled onto one of them. So I figured they might have some magic to escape people looking for them." as she watched him observing her, thinking about what she had said, she blushed, "I could be wrong though. I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry." "No." he replied distractedly, his eyes staring at nothing,"No, don't be sorry. I think you just gave me a clue about where to look. I shouldn't have underestimated the power of the Jewels of the Gods. They are smarter than that. Of course they would have put such a protection around those jewels. Is it possible..." the last three sentences were murmured to himself as he became visibly immersed in deep thought. Letting him think, Rayn sipped her coffee silently, doing her own thinking. As she finished her coffee, she went to the sink and washed out the cup. The slight sound the cup made as she put it in the cupboard, jarred Rogers out of his thoughts. "Oh! I'm sorry, I was thinking about some possible locations of the jewels." He looked apologetically at her. "I understand." she smiled reassuringly. "But, something was bothering me. If the Jewels are that important, and the demons know about them, then why were you sent in with that small team? Suppose the demons had attacked you?" He shook his head, "The team you saw return with me was only the recovery team. There were 3 back up teams located near by. Two teams were keeping an eye on the sky, and several other ground staff were there. The demons know, that's why I've been given this mission as a special assignment, rather than any level five operative." He answered automatically, again distracted by some thoughts. "Special assignment?" She frowned. Special assignments were only given to operatives who have outstanding records as level five operatives over a long time. They were referred to as "Special Operatives". And very few people got to that point."Exactly how far up the ladder are you, Rogers?" she asked cautiously. That question got him to pay his full attention to Rayn. "I... Umm... In ranking, right behind Rohan." he looked sheepishly at her. "I'm one of the spec ops." "I figured that. Were you ever going to tell me?" "There wasn't anything to hide." He looked into her eyes sincerely, "I never told you because there wasn't any need to. You never asked before today, either." "I see." she fell silent, broodingly staring at a page of a magazine that lay on the kitchen counter. Standing up, he went to sit on the chair beside her. She didn't look up. Extending his hand, he cupped her cheek to turn her face towards himself . Resisting for a second, she gave up and turned her face to lock her eyes with his. "This doesn't change anything between us, Rayn." "And what is it you think is between us, Rogers?" she whispered. Hesitantly, he replied, "Anything that you want it to be." his fingers slowly caressed the cheek he had been cupping. Reaching up, he tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. As his eyes returned to hers, he found her looking thoughtfully at him. "Anything I want it to be?" she asked, half whispering. He nodded. "What if I don't want it to be anything at all?" He smiled, "I can always be a friend." "I'm not sure that's what I want it to be." she murmured, her eyes roaming over his face. "Then what do you want it to be?" he leaned in a little, barely keeping himself from capturing her lips with his. "I dunno." her whispered reply was almost inaudible as she leaned in and brushed her lips against his. The touch of her lips was so tempting, yet so minimal, that he craved that touch instantly. Pulling her chair closer, he locked her lips with his. As he kissed her deeply, he stood up, pulling her up from the chair along with him without breaking the kiss. As she stood, he picked her up and carried her to the couch in the living room, dropping small kisses on her eyes, cheeks, and lips all the way. Sitting down on the couch with her straddling his lap, he again captured her lips. As he suckled and nipped her lower lip, he felt her fingers roaming over his chest. Lifting his hand, he pulled back her head by gently pulling on a fistful of her hair, taking care that he didn't hurt her, supporting her back with the other hand. As her head tilted back, exposing her throat to him, he started placing small kisses on her throat and neck. First kissing the spot, then nipping it lightly and then suckling the spot. As his lips slowly made their way down her throat and nearer her cleavage, she moaned in pleasure. He lifted her shirt to expose her belly. Bringing down the hand with which he was holding her head, he splayed his fingers on her belly, dropping slow kisses on her cleavage and the upper parts of her breasts that were exposed. His fingers slowly caressed her belly, making their way up to her bra covered breasts. As he lightly cupped and squeezed one of her soft breasts, she whimpered in pleasure. Before he could unbutton her shirt, she caught the hand he had slid up her body and tugged on it. As he looked up at her, he saw the unsure look in her eyes. "I... I'm sorry Rogers... I..." she stuttered as the color started to rise up her throat. He pulled himself back. "It's alright, Rayn. We can take it slow if you are not ready for that." he smiled reassuringly, but that didn't seem to put her to ease. "I... I just don't feel so sure about this." she murmured apologetically, her eyes averted. "It's fine. We can wait till you are okay with it. No rush." he brushed his knuckles against her cheek. She lifted her eyes to his shyly, "Are you sure it's okay? You're not... Disappointed or something, are you?" she asked. Despite hearing her worried tone, the way she said it made him laugh, "It's alright, baby, really. I'm not disappointed in you. Don't worry." She nodded. Then realizing she was still straddling his lap, she got up and sat down beside him. "Thanks for understanding." she murmured. He simply nodded, then got up, "Wait, I'll get some snacks for us. Anything in particular you'd like?" he asked, knowing her answer full well. "Those chocolate wafers you make please?" he laughed at the way she gave him the puppy eyes and blinked up childishly at him. "Alright, princess charming. No need to bring out the heavy artillery. I'll get them." as he got a bowl of the wafers she wanted for both of them, he couldn't help laughing at the way she attacked the bowl. "Easy kitty. It's not gonna run away." She simply smiled at his comment. As he leaned back on the couch and looked at her, she pushed the bowl towards him. Within a few moments they had emptied the contents between them. "Can you tell me more about the Jewels? I thought they were called the Lost Jewels. Why did you call them the Jewels of the Gods?" she looked at him curiously. At her question, he laughed. "Actually, there are several names for them, all given to them at some point or another when they were found. The name Lost Jewels is the most recent one. The most ancient name - and also the most accepted name- roughly translates into The Jewels of the Gods. The name was given in the Original language." As he explained the history, he saw her eyes shine with a thousand questions. "But why the reference to the Gods?" she frowned, "Even Rohan was using the same term." "Well, the legend is that after the Gods- the powerful beings of the higher plane - became acquainted with the undivided Golden race of Cardaera, they blessed them with powers of magic the people of that race had only dreamed of. I mean, they already had such powers, but not as strong as the Gods made them. It is not known what kind of, or rather in what form was the magic given to them. Some believe some people were given powers beyond imagination, some believe all the people of the Golden race were made equally powerful, while still others think that not magic as a power, but magical tools - such as crystals and such were given to them. Since there are no written records of any such event, the stories of the legend are rather fuzzy on this point. The Gods also met the other races, and seeing their bravery, they picked eleven rulers from the people of the Golden race and assigned them leaders of all the races and gave them one powerful jewel each. Each of these jewels are supposedly this powerhouse of magical energy. A person who has the knowledge of how to channel that energy can control the magic of these jewels. There is also a prophecy associated with them, the oldest prophecy in recorded history. It says that when the descendant of the Original Mystique Princess shall combine the eleven Jewels, three worlds shall come together and the Golden Race shall resurface again to thrive and prosper." as he found Rayn devouring his words with rapt attention, he smiled, "Actually the prophecy speaks of other possibilities, too. It's really an If...then situation. But the Descendant seems to be pivotal. She is the balance." "What makes you think the descendant will be a she?" Rayn demanded. At her question, Rogers looked away to the side, and murmured softly, "The descendants of the Original Mystique Princess are always women. Women of great courage, and of tragic endings." he added the last part in a bitter tone. "Tragic?" "Yeah. They bring peace, but at the cost of some great sacrifice." As he said that, he seemed to get lost in some memories. Something nudged at her mind. She frowned, "When I was in the armory the very first time, I had seen two daggers there. Rohan had told me they were Eleyna's - someone who was their greatest warrior and that she had made a great sacrifice. Was she..." her voice trailed off as she found Rogers staring at her intensely. He nodded, replying to her unfinished question. "Yes. She was the fourth descendant of the Original Mystique Princess." "Who are the Original mystiques?" She asked, her curiosity triggered. As she looked expectantly at Rogers, he smiled softly. "It's hard to explain, Rayn." "Well, try please. I want to know." Rogers' eyes twinkled in amusement as he heard the eagerness in her voice. "You really want to know?" "Yes, of course." "Hmm, let's see." he eyed her speculatively. "The historical data points that the city of Aliadon, speculated to have been situated near the Aliad Mountains and now buried under the jungle surrounding it, was the home of the Golden race. Alongside them, housed in the neighboring state Solin, were the Original Tribes, people who claimed to have been born shortly after life started on Cardaera. The time I'm speaking of is roughly estimated to be around 35 to 40 billion years after the first signs of life started on Cardaera. So you can probably guess how people reacted to their claim that they were near 35 billion years old. But, after a lot of research, the disbelief melted away slowly, since their ages could not be determined and they seemed immortal. Due to the mysteries surrounding them, they were named as the Original Mystiques. They were... More like a collection of several tribes, with their own laws and law makers. Some historians believe that the Original people lived in Aliadon too, as a part of the population of the Golden race. One thing is sure, that the two races had significant interaction, both social, economical and political..." as he caught the incredulity written on Rayn's face he stopped and smiled, "Tough to believe, huh?" She shrugged,"Yeah. I mean, some people claimed that they were billions of years old and others believed them?" she gave a disbelieving snort. Rogers frowned at her disbelief,"They had ample reason to believe, Rayn. Remember, almost anything is possible if the proper catalysts interact in the correct way on the right time. Don't be too rigid in your beliefs that you overlook the evidence, or refuse to learn the facts." Rayn felt guilty at his irritation, "Well, yes, I guess I shouldn't have refused the notion before I heard it all." she looked at him apologetically and urged him on, "Tell me the rest." He nodded. "The Original Mystiques were masters of Magic. What the present Children of the Elements have is residual magic. They only learn to channel it in proper ways. But they... They were something else entirely. Their body, their blood, not only stored and channeled magic, but, in a way, produced it. They didn't have to learn to use magic, they instinctively knew how to wield magical energy just like a child instinctively learns to feed from his mother's breast. It is also believed, that the Golden race had started from the Original Mystiques." Here he paused a little, gathering his thoughts, "There is a distinction between Original Mystiques and the Original people. The Original Mystiques are the Masters, and, although not all, but most of them were from the Royal bloodline. That is the bloodline considered to be the Original Bloodline that had started from the Beginning and then had spread out. The Original Tribes were the subjects under their rule, but in someway or the other, each tribe's every ancestor could be traced back to the Original Bloodline. At some early point of time, a group had detached from the Original Bloodline and had gone on to establish their own identity as the Golden race. That is why, despite having descended from the Original Bloodline, the Golden race owned magic in lesser quantity, but of similar quality as that of the Original people. No one has ever been able to compare up to the powers of the Original Mystiques. " As he continued, the look in Rogers' eyes became far off. "Those were the golden days, the people of Original tribes lived in peace. There was immense wealth at their disposal, yet no one ever dared to attack them due to their prowess, not only in magic but in battle, too. Then came the darker days. Lovers' Oath Ch. 06 The Third Empress of the Original Tribes gave birth to a girl child. No one knows what happened to the Empress after that. Searches for her whereabouts lasted long, but to no avail. The Emperor never took another wife. The child was nurtured well by the people. In time, after the Emperor...passed on, she went on to become the First Original Mystique Princess, since she had never taken the throne of her mother. Said she wasn't capable enough to be crowned the Fourth Empress. One day, a stranger lost in the desert of Salisac was rescued by a caravan of traders. They brought him to the Princess. She, after speaking to the stranger, gave him shelter in the capital city Parlon. Since then, she grew reclusive and was often absent from the royal court. A few months after this, news spread that she had agreed to marry the stranger. The advisers vehemently opposed the decision. No princess or prince had ever married an outsider. They had feared such a match would wreck havoc in the way the empire was ruled. But the princess didn't heed the opposition, neither did she consider the suggestions of her well wishers. She went ahead and married the stranger. After her marriage, she was almost never seen in council. Her husband, now known as Suc Dan to us, took over as the Emperor of the tribes. He took the throne of the Princess' father and then the darkest ages of the Original Tribes were upon us. Suc Dan was a ruthless and careless ruler. The very first act he did after gaining the throne was to attack the neighboring countries of the other races. It was his idea that since those people were not originally wielders of magic and they only had those jewels of the Gods for magical powers, they should be brought under the control of the Original tribes - the masters of magic, and those jewels should be surrendered to the people of the Original Tribes. What he had actually wanted was to gain those jewels for himself and become powerful enough to conquer the OuterWorld." Rayn gasped audibly. "He was... A demon?" Rogers looked up at her and nodded, "Yes. He was the one who had started the first war. But that one wasn't as large scale as now. The Golden race, alongside the other races, fought bravely and strategically under their capable leaders. Their numbers had halved by the time Suc Dan succeeded in defeating them. Suc Dan had succeeded only because of his army of Demons. Despite winning, he didn't have the jewels. The eleven leaders who had them had managed to hide those jewels and omitted all traces of the Jewels of Gods from all records. That is when the search for the Jewels began. In the mean time, the princess had given birth to a daughter. At that time Suc Dan was heavily engaged in the war and was away from the palace. It is understood that she had been under some kind of magical influence and that was why he had had such control over her. However, such a long absence had made the influence weak, and after the birth of her daughter, she came to her senses soon. No one knows for sure what exactly had happened that night, but the next morning the baby had disappeared. It is rumored that the princess had sent away the new born to a safe house with the child's hundred trusted guardians. The princess had stayed back to finish what she had started." "She wanted to kill her husband?" Rayn asked quietly. She felt like a small kid listening to some fairytale. Only, this story seemed more real with every word Rogers spoke. "Yes. We now understand that Suc Dan had been playing a game from the beginning. He had gained the princess and the throne of the most powerful country by deception. The princess had been under a spell ever since the first night of his arrival. Now that the princess was aware of the circumstances she was determined to put a stop to this. On the day Suc Dan returned, unaware of the news of the birth of his child, she waited in their bed room to get him alone and unsuspecting at night. Night came and went. Suc Dan was seen entering and leaving the chambers, but no one ever saw the princess after that night. In the morning, a maid rushed into the guardroom, half maddened, blubbering nonsense about a bloody, black vortex; ugly, winged creatures raping the princess and about Suc Dan laughing over her writhing tortured body. She said that Suc Dan had learned of the child's birth but not where she had been hidden. That was the information Suc Dan tried to extract out of the princess by torturing her. But she never gave up the information even with her dying breath." Rogers paused, his face contorted in pain and disgust. "Since his demonic nature was unsuspected by the guards, the maid was ignored and banished from the palace. Her body was later found in the jungle, mangled and half eaten by some kind of animal." "The demons had killed her, hadn't they?" Rayn shivered. "Oh my God!" she whispered as Rogers confirmed it. He continued, "The records of the Dark ages are rare. Nothing can be known from the records in the royal archives discovered a few hundred years ago. The only records that are found are cryptic and vague. They speak of tortures, plagues, and of foul creatures never seen before on Cardaera. The only proper records start a thousand years later. It states the progress of the war between the descendant of the princess and Suc Dan. This descendant was named the first descendant of the princess. Her lineage has been kept secret so we're not sure of her exact generation, but since she was the first to resurface, she was named such. Suc Dan was killed in that war and the descendant ascended the throne to restore law and order. But, although Suc Dan was no more, he had left behind a son begotten of another demon named Salal. This son was named Gedan. Gedan, a small child still, fled the country and went to the UnderWorld to grow up and go on to become the leader of the next war to conquer the OuterWorld. In his first blow, he managed to destroy both Aliadon and Solin. very few people of the Golden race had survived, and, although the Original tribes survived, they scattered all over the planet and the royal family went into hiding for another two thousand years. Since then, the descendants have resurfaced 3 more times, each time with the aim to find the Jewels and destroy the evil, only to be destroyed by the evil." As Rogers finished his tale with closed eyes, a heavy silence settled in the room. After a little while, Rayn broke the silence, "Can I ask you something?" "Sure. Go ahead." His eyes were still closed. "What exactly are you?" that question got him to open his eyes and look at her. "What do you mean?" his tone was guarded. "Which species do you belong to?" Her tone was innocent. "I'm... A shape shifter." Rayn frowned, "What does that mean? You're not Were?" "Uh, no. I can shape shift to any form." Rogers was relieved to see her frown melt away. He relaxed as his concern that Rayn had suspected something melted away too. "Ah, I see. So, what is the truth, then?" Rayn could actually see his muscles stiffen up. "What do you mean?" "I mean, now that you have told me what you say to others, I'd like to know your true identity." as Rogers' wary eyes met hers, she lifted one eyebrow, "It's hard to miss that reference to 'us' and 'we' when you speak of the Original people. Also, the irritation when I didn't believe in their claim." As he continued to stare silently, she gently asked, "Are you one of the Original Mystiques?" He silently nodded, "One of the only few not belonging to the Royal bloodline." Pausing a little he asked, "Is it that obvious?" "Not exactly. Not unless you always tell this story like that to the others, too." Rogers laughed, "This is the first time I've told anyone this story with that much in the way of details. No one is supposed to know this much of the history regarding the Princess. I think you have a way to get people talking." "Hmm, probably. So, being an Original Mystique, what can you do with that much magic?" In answer to her question, Rogers drew one of her palms toward himself and covered it with both of his. "This." as he spoke softly, she felt a smooth, cool surface of something on her palm. Squeaking, she tried to pull away her hand. Not letting go, Rogers kept it to himself a little bit longer and then uncovered it. As her eyes fell on her palm, she saw a blueish-white rose sitting there. As she brought her hand closer to her eyes, she saw that the rose was made of ice and yet, a blue flame danced at the center of it. "Is that fire? Inside ice?" she didn't know whether to trust her eyes or not. She didn't even looked up at him as she asked the question, afraid if she took her eyes off of the rose, it would melt away. "Yes. Control over the elements comes when you've truly mastered the art and science of magic." leaning forward, he gently brushed his lips against her wrist, "You like it?" "Yeah. I do." finally looking up at him, she shyly smiled. "Thanks, Rogers. It's wonderful." "Can I tell you a secret?" he whispered. Widening her eyes, she nodded. "I want to tell you my real name." "Rogers is not your real name?" her face registered shock as he shook his head. "My real name is Kai. I was one of the royal bodyguards." "Oh? Why was?" "I was assigned another task, that involved changing my name and identity." As Rayn continued to stare expectantly at him, he shook his head, smiling, "It's not important. Another story for another day. For now, just remember, don't tell anyone what I've told you today. The names of the Original Mystiques hold great power. We only tell our real names to people we trust." as he saw understanding in her eyes, he smiled, " But let's not worry about all that. Let's enjoy the present for now." pausing, he leaned in towards her for a kiss. As he was about to gently brush his lips against hers, she suddenly drew away. A little surprised, he drew away from her. "Did I do something wrong?" Rayn shook her head, her face and neck coloring fast as she felt embarrassed, "No. It's not you. I... I don't know what's happening. This is so confusing Rog...Kai. Oh god!" she groaned, closing her eyes and covering her face in an attempt to hide her embarrassment. "What is confusing you? Tell me..." He urged, feeling agitated at her distress. "I dunno. I mean, one moment I want to... I want to kiss you, but the next moment, I dunno, like, a part of me wants... Something else. That part just wants me to get the hell away from you." She mumbled. Feeling more embarrassed with every word. So, when after a little thought, Rogers laughed she was startled enough to open her eyes and peek at him from between her fingers. "What's so funny?" She growled. "Your beasts are funny, Rayn. They, or at least one of them are surfacing and she seems to know I'm not her mate, which means, she also probably knows who her mate is. So she's urging you to pull away from me." He grinned unrepentant as she continued to glare at him. As he didn't say anything more, she huffed, "Are you gonna explain this mate thing or are you just going to sit there and grin like the monkey-king?" She demanded. In reply, he simply blinked, "Wha... Hasn't anyone told you yet?" He was surprised as she shook her head. "That's...curious." Then bringing his attention back to her, he continued, "You see, Weres, more specifically, the canine and the feline varieties mate for life. Like, they select only one person as their partner and with that person, they spend their entire life. It's not destiny, though. More like, this man or woman whom the were selects is the best match for that Were. As a matter of fact, the beast of the Were is the one who does the selection. One whiff, one smell of the mate is enough for the beast. You'll find tons of books in the library explaining all that. But, honestly, I'm surprised no one has told you this yet. Isn't it Kiel who is mentoring you?" "Yeah. So? He isn't big on talking, is he?" Rayn spoke in a slightly bored voice. Was she the only one who didn't think highly about Kiel? "Well, when the details are not necessary he doesn't provide them. But generally it is the mentor who is supposed to inform you about Were life and pack rules. I'm surprised Kiel would think this part of were life unnecessary." He couldn't think of a reason why Kiel would overlook this part, unless, Kiel had a really good reason. Was her mate someone unfriendly to them? Or, Kiel didn't want her to mate with that man? The mystery piqued Rogers' interest. "So, I guess you don't yet know who your mate is?" "Nope. Not a clue." "Hmm, you spend a lot of time with Rohan. Could he be..." before he could finish his sentence, it had Rayn rolling her eyes. "I don't feel anything romantic for him, let alone feel like spending my entire life with him." she scrunched her nose, "I mean, he's like a big brother or something like that." "Well, it sure as hell isn't me, then who is your mate?" His irritated question had Rayn laughing. "Oh, I'll find him out. Don't worry." Even as the wheels in her head started turning, she fought to keep a hold on her curiosity. "Let's eat. I'm hungry." As they sat down to eat, she thought about the people she knew here and tried to think how she felt about them. By the time they finished eating and cleaned up, she had a nagging suspicion as to who her mate was, and she prayed very hard that she was only making an insufficiently informed guess. ***** ----------------------------- The next morning, La Lumière HQ. ----------------------------- As Rayn made her way down the corridor towards the stairs leading to Kendra's office, Rohan's voice stopped her, "Rayn, where are you going? I need to talk to you for a minute." As she turned to the side from where Rohan approached her, she could see the tension written on his face. "What's wrong, Rohan? Everything alright?" She had only seen Rohan and Kiel this tensed whenever a mission went bad and the teams took heavy casualty. Despite spending so much time here and knowing that these people didn't care for dying, she still couldn't help worrying about them. "I...No, there are some problems. Anyway, Kiel wants to see you at his office at The Den as soon as possible." As Rohan turned away and started to hurry off before his expression could betray his sorrow for her loss, he heard her reply a little late, "Okay, tell him I'll be there right after meeting Kendra. She asked me to see her, too." Before he could try and stop her, she was already up the stairs and going through the first door. Even if he followed her, he couldn't stop her from seeing Kendra now. "It would have been better if you had talked to Kiel first, Little one." He murmured before shrugging and turning away to make his way towards his own office. ***** "You wanted to see me?" Rayn threw the question at Kendra's back as she casually walked into the office and dropped herself on a chair. As Kendra turned towards her and walked back to her desk, Rayn caught a brief glimpse of the screen Kendra was looking at - there was some footage of a car wreck playing on it, before Rayn turned away her eyes to focus on Kendra who was now sitting behind her desk. Pulling out a file from a drawer, Kendra looked up at her, "Yes. I wanted to talk to you about a few things." As Rayn nodded and waited for her to start, she casually stated,"Good work with the contact. Rohan told me the contact had valuable information that you very successfully extracted." She paused to hear Rayn's reply. "Well, 'extract information' is an exaggeration. I really didn't have to do much except drink some supposedly dangerous drink." Rayn shrugged. "Yes. Rohan informed me about that, too. Seems you really have some powerful magic in you. And, to be frank, that concerns me. You see, when you have that much power, it is that much more important that you learn to master it. Or it will fire on its own will. And also, the stronger the power is, the harder it is to master it. You will need to try really hard to control it." Rayn nodded, "I'll definitely remember that. Anything else?" This time, Kendra first sat a little straighter, and then leaned her back against the backrest of the chair. "Yes, actually. How are you adjusting within the pack and the organization?" "I'm alright. I mean, considering I've lived for the past 3 years alone in a shady neighborhood with no friends to talk to, I'm actually doing fabulous at The Den and here. I've made some friends, I'm doing something that will help make others' lives safe, and I stay in a suite at a huge mansion, not to mention everyone here and there seems to respect me and appreciate me, too." Suddenly, Rayn stopped talking as she realized she was talking too much. Kendra smiled reassuringly, "It's alright. I understand how you feel. You said you were living alone for 3 years before coming here?" "Yeah. I... Left my parents' home on my eighteenth birthday. Been living at that apartment ever since." "Hmm. You never told me why you left their house." Kendra regarded her thoughtfully. "I... Um,... we had a difference of opinion regarding something, and I decided to leave them." Rayn said quietly. Although it was obvious that it was something she didn't want to discuss, Kendra continued to look at her expectantly, waiting for her to explain it. Noting that expression on Kendra's face, Rayn sighed softly. "Well, I guess, telling you doesn't hurt anything." Pausing a little, Rayn took a few seconds to gather her thoughts, "I don't know if it showed up on my background check, but, I was adopted into the family. They told me a year after I started school. Something... had happened at the school and..." She exhaled forcefully, remembering those days was making her body go stiff with the distress she still felt; she tried to coax her body into relaxing and get her erratic heartbeats down as she struggled with her words, "Kids can be very cruel at times, and my school kids were somehow cruel most times. They would tease me relentlessly, bully me... Sort of, push my buttons to see how far they could push me. One day, I just snapped- lost control over the rage I felt, and the girl who was bullying me, something scary happened to her. One moment she was standing face to face inside the deserted classroom, calling me names, telling me lies about my parents, saying they didn't want me and I was just a charity case for them, the next moment, it was as if everything went red. I just looked up at her with all the rage and hatred I felt for her, and felt like something snapped inside me, and I just saw red. Then her body was floating in mid-air, each part of her body bending at odd angles, and the room was full of her cries and screams. Oh God! Those screams! They haunted me night after night." Rayn shivered, she could feel her muscles tighten with tension. She hugged herself. "I was so scared. I tried to pull her down, but nothing would happen. My touch seemed to aggravate her pain. I could see her eyes. As I touched her, she screamed loudly, so loudly that blood welled out of her mouth; her eyes rolled up. Seeing that, I jumped away from her, wishing her screams would stop; and then she just made gurgling sounds. Her body was thrashing now-- still hung in air. I wished someone could help her, that her pain would stop. Just as I thought that, her body went limp and she fell down on the floor in a heap. Before I could get to her, people were streaming into the room; her cries had brought down the whole school, just, not fast enough. They found me huddled in the farthest corner of the room from where she was lying unconscious. Everyone suspected foul play but there was no proof that I had done anything. The girl had gone into a coma, almost all the bones in her body, save those of her skull, were broken without leaving a mark on her skin. Lovers' Oath Ch. 07 Author's Note: Alright, Chapter 7. Sooner than chapter 6, but not as soon as I would have liked. It's short, yet, hopefully, good. As usual, thanks to my wonderful editor Gabriel who took time out of his exhausting schedule to do the editing and polishing this chapter, And a huge thanks to my readers who regularly read and vote and comment and again wait for the next chapter. Now go enjoy the chapter. ***** "SHE DID WHAT?" Rohan bellowed into the communication unit plugged into his ear, making Kahun wince at the receiving end. "Sir, she went back in to retrieve Chief. He couldn't get out before the explosions started and got trapped inside the burning factory." The vampire supplied. "DAMN IT!" Rohan cursed loudly. At the show of his temper, everyone inside the Hall stopped in their tracks and warily eyed him at his seat in the communication center. Suddenly he sprang up to his feet and hurriedly typed in a few commands and watched a particular satellite feed of the currently burning and collapsing factory on a side screen with a frown. "Sir do you want us to go back in?" Kahun's voice disturbed his thoughts. "Absolutely not!" Rohan sternly commanded, "Come back to base with those darned data cells intact." After a brief silence, the steely reply came. "Copy that. Over and out." Once Rohan was sure that the vampire would obey his orders, he whirled in place, his commands ringing out to each corner of the building as he spoke into the internal communication system, "Daniel, Rubin, Rogers, Joyce, Maurice, report to the armory in five minutes. Sarah, Louise, to your circles please, prepare a transport." Wheeling around to a very stunned Johan, he instructed, "Send out another team of 20 operatives to follow us by road within 10 minutes. No humans, only vampires and Weres." "B..But... It will take you at least 2 hours to reach the factory." Johan confusedly stuttered. "That's why my team won't be using the conventional modes of transport. The witches will transport us directly through their circles." Rohan gritted out before he walked away to meet his team in the armory, not taking another look back at either the comm center or the hall, both of which had already burst into a frenzy of activity as operatives sped around purposefully, preparing for the emergency mission. ***** Heavy smoke was making it difficult for her to breath. She coughed loudly, laboring to supply fresh air to her lungs. Slowly blinking, she looked up at the smoke covered sky, not quite aware that she was lying on a mount of debris, more of which continuously fell down around her. Gasping for breath, she sat up straight, her eyes quickly adjusting to take in the burning building to her side, on her other side a high wall obstructed her view. As she remembered how she had gotten there, she jumped up to her legs. "Crap!" Rayn cursed under her breath, not daring to do so loudly in case a demon heard her. As she looked for a point of entry into the building so she could get to Kiel, she gingerly touched the back of her head with a finger, wincing as it grazed the spot she had hit on a chunk of concrete when she had fallen down from the high boundary wall, causing her to black out. As she felt the ground shake and hadn't yet found an entry, she panicked. She was losing precious seconds, each of which may be taking Kiel closer to death, on top of what she had already lost having fallen unconscious. After another searching glance, she decided to seek entrance to the upper floors. Surely, all this rubble having fallen away, there must be a crack from which she could get entry. As she turned around to look up at the high wall, she again cursed her luck. The wall on this side was smoothed away unlike the outer side, making it impossible for her hands to find holds on it. Unfortunately, she hadn't yet been able to shift fully into any of her Were forms - despite Sam and Priyal's best efforts. The bigger size would have been very handy at this situation. "Desperate times, desperate measures." She muttered and closed her eyes, searching within herself for a touch with her beasts. Suddenly another howl of a wolf pierced the skies. Opening her eyes, her head snapped in the general direction of the howl. "Kiel..." She whispered worriedly. A small part in the back of her mind noted that he must have been able to evade the demons for a little while, he had moved from where he was last time he had howled. He was still alive. 'Alive, but injured.' Her heart fluttered. She suddenly realized her vision had changed. Everything now seemed sharper, and - red. Looking down, she found a glistening set of claws adorning her finger tips. "Wonderful." She bitterly muttered. She wanted a full shift, but it seemed her beasts had other ideas. Only comfort was, the long claws would help her grip better. Not wasting another moment, she jumped up in the air, trying to cover as much initial height as possible, and landing on the wall, she clung to it with her claws which dug deep gashes into the wall, then quickly scaling it, pulling up on the narrow strip of wall within a few seconds. As Rayn ran swiftly on the narrow top of the boundary wall, she felt another blast shake the grounds. "Damn it!" She angrily muttered. The more the blasts continued the harder it became for her to locate Kiel. She still kept running, having only a slight idea where he was based on the last point his howl had come from. As she found an opening into the building where a portion had blasted away, leaving only the contorted concrete structure open from the ground up, she promptly jumped in, landing softly on a narrow strip of metal that was part of the concrete skeleton of the building. As she half ran, half jumped around and over the fallen away floor, her eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of glistening black fur three floors below, her view only slightly obscured by a part of the floor below. With a light jump forward, she caught a rod protruding from what once was supposedly a pillar above her, and swung herself to land on another metal bar that was almost directly above where Kiel was. Squatting down on it precariously, she glanced down at the situation below. As she took in Kiel's position, she was immensely relieved at having found him when she did. Kiel, in his hybrid form, was completely surrounded by at least 12 demons, only five of which were lower level demons, all the rest of them higher in the hierarchy - very capable at fighting, and fighting with speed. With a silent prayer to the Gods, she took out her guns, feeling slightly uneasy as the cold metal contacted her new found, equally cold and sharp claws, and jumped down to land in a crouch beside the snarling and bleeding Kiel. As she landed softly by his side, Kiel whirled, thinking a demon had been able to come close to him and lifted a clawed paw to rake down its front, only coming to a halt a second before he did so. His stark blue eyes took in the terrible beauty before him, smiling up at him. He sucked in a startled breath as he recognized who that beauty was. 'Marvelous.' His beast purred, momentarily forgetting his surroundings, the danger, everything. The human part noted she looked equally dangerous, 'But marvelous, nonetheless.' The beast agreed with an animalistic growl of desire. Only if those damned demons weren't around, he would claim that dangerous beauty right now. Her eyes were completely golden, no iris was visible, neither any of the white parts; her smile revealed two rows of sharp, pointed teeth, glistening in the fire; her dark hair fanned out behind her, framing her pale face in perfect contrast. As he watched mesmerized, she lifted one clawed hand up at him, a gun held firmly in it with its muzzle pointed right at his head and said, "Duck." and fired twice in succession just as he had managed to get his head out of the line of fire. Whirling around, he found a demon crumpling to the ground a few feet away from him. Two more shots rang out from her guns, doing away with another demon. Hearing swift heavy foot falls behind him, he turned around just in time to stop a demon about to take out Rayn. Snarling, he vaulted up, grabbed the demons head and as he landed, snapped it away from its body with a powerful jerk, utilizing the demon's own body weight to make the jerk effective. As he heard her shooting away and the ground shook as the demons fell, he felt new hope that they would yet live to see another day, because she was with him. Standing back to back with Kiel, Rayn didn't feel an ounce of the worry that had been eating away at her heart a few minutes before - before she had found him. She had nothing to worry about now. They were together. And that was all that mattered to her right then and there. As they made short work of two more demons, she smiled darkly seeing an opening to a side that should lead them out of the building. Inch by inch they fought their way towards that opening, unaware that with each inch of ground they covered, more and more demons seemed to join their enemies. What was once 12, now almost had grown to 30 or so growling and ever advancing demons, almost chasing them towards the opening. ***** "What do you mean it's taking time?" Rohan irritatedly asked Sarah. With a sharp look, she lifted up her chin stubbornly, "We're not getting enough energy to open the Gate. A few more minutes are all we need. And silence helps." She coldly supplied, again starting to chant and walk around the circle, pausing at strategic points as the other witch also did the same on the other circle. As both of them came to the point where the two circles touched each other, the two women held hands and with closed eyes started to chant louder, the air around them thickening. "What's happening, why isn't the Gate opened yet?" Someone asked in a quiet tone from behind Rohan. As he turned around, he found Rogers standing there with a frown. "Their flow of energy is disturbed. They can't get enough energy to open the Gate. This is their third attempt." Rohan muttered to the other man, his eyes glued to the air around the women which was now taking an oblong shape. As their chanting increased pace, suddenly the now mist like shape fractured down the middle and scattered away. The women staggered back from each other. "Fuck." Rohan growled, trying very hard to control his temper. As he desperately watched, the two women again started drawing the circle without a pause, and again started their chanting. From behind him, Rohan heard a slight shuffling, "Yes, 'Fuck' indeed. This has never happened before. Something must be blocking the Line. Excuse me. I'll be back in a moment." Rogers muttered and left as he saw Rohan nod. ***** "Coming this way was a mistake." Rayn slightly panted as she again evaded clutching hands of another demon and slashed down at its arm with her sharp claws, successfully detaching it from its body. "We are trapped." "No. This indeed is the right way out. That's why the demons are trying so hard to keep us in." Kiel coolly supplied as he decapitated another demon. "Well, I hope you are right, then. We don't stand a chance otherwise." She muttered. Things had gone from bad to worse in the last ten minutes. Her ammunition for the guns had almost melted away. When she had finished all the bullets, she had felt as if the fight had just started. There were more demons now than when she had started firing. They only had her bare hands now to defend themselves. "Remind me why you don't have a blade?" Kiel demandingly growled from mid-air as he tried to vault over one demon and land on its scaly back. "I didn't exactly have a lot of time to get out of the van. The explosions kinda ruined that." She almost ran up the length of a pillar and jumped back into a slight clearing amidst the growling and clutching beasts. Landing in a crouch, she kicked out, taking a demon off its feet, and panted, adding, "Besides, I didn't think there would be so many of these fucking bustards. I'd estimated about 12-15 before jumping in. Where the hell do they keep coming from, anyway?" "No idea. Some underground bunker, possibly." He replied before growling viciously as he tore down the middle of two demons with his claws. "Where did your daggers go?" She asked, eying two of the demons who currently advanced at her, trying to decide which one to go for first. "Two of these fuckers decided they felt too good inside them and fell down with the daggers beneath them. Didn't have time to get them back." To Rayn's astonishment, he hadn't tired yet, despite having taken most of the fight onto himself, away from Rayn. "Ugh..." she gasped as a demon managed to land a disorienting blow on her jaw. As her head reeled from the punch, she felt another blow hit her across her chest, causing her to get thrown back several feet and into another demon's reach. Even as she tried to get her bearings back, she felt the foul stench of the demon's mouth that was descending towards her throat. "No." Kiel growled as he saw the beast lift her bodily holding her throat. A gurgling sound came from her throat. Snarling, he momentarily disregarded the demons advancing on him and instead, started to cut through the beasts like a crazed animal. As he saw the demon's talons puncture her throat, drawing blood, his heart clenched, despairing that he would be too late. Only if he could cover a couple of feet more... As he snapped another demon's neck blocking his way, he saw in his peripheral vision her body going slack. With another growl he lunged at her captor, his arm outstretched to grab the monster's throat in his claws. Even as Kiel's claws dug deep into the foul beast's arm with which it held Rayn, another demon threw a heavy punch at his middle. The blow made Kiel stagger back a few steps, his claws ripping out a large chunk of flesh off the arm of the demon that was restraining Rayn. Roaring in rage, the demon dropped the now limp body of Rayn on the floor and whirled towards Kiel, the black blood dripping from the wound falling freely on Rayn's deathly pale face and neck. ***** She felt the pain as the demon's talons dug into her throat. She felt the blood start to drip from her wounds. Her thoughts were in frenzy. Even as she thrashed and dug her own claws into the demon's arms, she realized it was futile against its increasing hold on her throat. The demon wasn't merely killing her; it was killing her slowly, enjoying each of her desperate attempts at freedom as they failed to deter her death. The demon slowly increased its pressure on her throat, gradually cutting off air supply to her lungs. As blood flowed out of the punctures in her throat, she felt the darkness coming. 'No' She frantically thought. They weren't out of enemy territory yet. What would be the point of her dying if she didn't manage to accomplish the task for which she had come back in the first place? If she died, Kiel would be alone, and would not be able to make it out alive. 'No. That wouldn't do.' As the thought formed in her head, she stopped thrashing, hoping against hope that would make the demon drop her, thinking she had died. To her disappointment, the demon didn't immediately discard her. She heard Kiel's furious roar, felt the jerk when he attacked her captor, and then, her whole body burst with pain as she hit the cold stone floor. Gasping silently in pain, she tried hard to just lay there for a second and catch her breath. As she inhaled, the sharp pain on her throat threatened to overtake her awareness. She felt the darkness clouding her consciousness again. The air she was getting wasn't enough, and with every passing second, her strength diminished as blood flowed out of her wounds. Something was dripping on her face and neck, something cold, and foul smelling. She tried to pull her head away from it, but her body didn't cooperate. The liquid slowly seeped into her mouth; her tongue tasted a bitter liquid -a liquid unknown to her. She again tried to coax her body into action. Still, her body remained limp. She heard Kiel's snarl. She even heard the sound of a demon's claw slash through his body. Her ears told her he was circled by, two... no, three demons. Her nose told her he was bleeding profusely, his body must be marked with long gashes from which blood flowed freely. The air was thick with his scent. She heard the 'snap' as he broke one of his attackers' necks. She even heard him panting as he tried to come towards her, pushing through the demons. She felt him drawing nearer. He was close. Just a few steps more. Her heart fluttered in anticipation of feeling his touch. So close... She could hear his heart thumping on in a wild rhythm... in worry. He was worried she wasn't alive. He would know when he touched her. Blood still flowed in her body. She felt the ground vibrate as rapid footfalls approached Kiel from behind. With a loud thud Kiel's knees collided with the ground as a massive club hit his head from behind. As she heard the second blow hit his chest, she heard the painful crunch of rib-bones breaking. His body hit the ground not even a step away from her. Her own heart fluttered in panic as she heard his heart falter. 'No. Please, no, no, no. You can't die. Not now. Not here.' She heard him yelp in pain as a demon kicked him. 'I won't let you die.' she felt something snap inside her. Some... binding restraint... Just broke. She felt a fiery heat start in her body. Her eyes snapped open, a vicious growl emanating from her throat. As she stood up, almost without any effort, she found herself head to head with the demons. Her height had increased. As she stepped forward and ripped down the front of the first demon within her arm's length, she found that her claws had extended as well. Everything around her was in sharp contrast. Every movement she made was blindingly fast, yet her vision didn't falter. She didn't even need any effort to easily decapitate the first few demons. As she crouched over Kiel's body, the throng of demons retreated a little, maintaining distance as they formed a circle around them. Every now and then, one of the vile beasts would break away from the circle, snarl and then again retreat. Not paying attention to them, she glanced down at Kiel. He was covered with wounds. Long gushes marred his back. His black fur covered with blood - his own blood as well as his enemy's. Shaking his head, he tried to lift himself up, but fell down as his arms gave away. Lifting her eyes back up, she found the demons much closer. They had moved in, closing the circle in on them. Snarling, she crouched down, her claws ready to defend herself and Kiel. But even with her increased speed, she knew it was impossible to cut through the innumerable demons now surrounding them. As her eyes darted around, she felt a sharp pain start at her left arm. The pain started from a point on her lower arm, then like a heated metal flowing through her veins, reached to her fingertips. She didn't get the opportunity to look down at her arm as a demon broke rank and attacked her from the left. Without thinking she slashed out with her claws. To her surprise, right before her claws made contact with the demon's flesh, a hilt of a dagger formed at her left palm, her hand instinctively gripped it, and a curved blade appeared just as it slashed through the demon's head. Looking down at her right hand, she found a similar dagger take shape almost out of the air. 'The Bloody Pearls.' Her brain only had a second to register the weapon as familiar, before the circle around her rapidly closed in. Without wasting time, she started slashing through the numbers with her new-found weapons. As she heard several demons approach her from behind, instinctively she made a backward stabbing motion, and the straight blades came out of the hilts, going straight through the demons' throats. Without missing a beat, she twirled the hilts, swinging them forward, and the straight-blades cut out of the flesh as if going through butter, successfully decapitating three more enemies as she made a half-circular turn. Lovers' Oath Ch. 07 Slowly, yet surely, she drew the beasts, now completely focused on her, away from Kiel's recovering body. She knew... She felt her energy slowly wane, but she had to keep the demons busy at least until he recovered enough. Her heart soared as a fleeting glance showed her his silent approach from behind the raging beasts. Nervously, she noted he was still bleeding, and he walked with a slight limp, but swiftly and strategically, he made short work of the beasts at the back. She again felt hope as between the scissor attack between themselves, the numbers of their enemies diminished. ***** He didn't know how long he could go on. He felt his energy slowly fade as his wounds continued to bleed. The wounds were innumerable and healing was slow. But he couldn't let Rayn fight alone. If they had to die, he would prefer it if they died together. If she died, he would rather die along with her than live and walk the rest of his days alone before his wolf gave way to insanity. And most importantly, he would be happiest if both of them walked away from this alive. After having done with a few of the demons, he glanced towards Rayn as his eyes caught a glimpse of a flashing metal. Before he noticed the Bloody Pearls in her hands, he noticed her transformed body. To his surprise, it was neither a cat's nor a wolf's. Her height had increased; she was now as tall as the demons she was fighting with. Her talons were long and blackish red. Golden strips of hair were intermingled with black. And, dully gleaming red curving symbols appeared on the visible part of her skin. He realized this was not the hybrid form of her beasts; it was the part that was unidentified. As she turned her head towards him for a moment, as if responding to his stare, he caught a glimpse of her completely golden eyes. Two vertical red lines had appeared just above and below her eyes, extending down to her cheeks. As her red lips drew apart in a snarl, he saw the curved fangs crowding in her mouth. If he didn't know any better, he would have sworn she was a demon. But demons don't have golden eyes; neither do they have dull red etchings on their milky white, almost fluorescent skin. And most of all, no demon can summon the Bloody Pearls. Shoving his thoughts away to scrutinize later, he focused on the fight. That was what mattered now. He could explore what his mate was later. First, he had to help her to get out of here. As he moved swiftly and strategically to synchronize his attacks with Rayn's, he felt the shift in the air. He felt the telltale sign of magic and the rushing away of wind to concentrate in a particular area. Help was coming! A Gate was being opened! He grinned and looked at Rayn, hoping to convey the knowledge to her. What he saw made his grin falter. She still stood, but greatly weakened. The still fighting demons had divided into two groups, each group attacking them separately. Currently, there were about 20 demons left. With a snarl, he vaulted over a demon, grabbing its head and snapping its neck as he landed behind it. Without stopping to look back at the other demons, he rushed towards Rayn, just in time as her legs gave away and she crumpled to the ground unconscious. Standing over her body, he quickly took her place, sparing a glance at her crumpled form. Even in her transformed body, she was stunning, and to his relief, very much alive, having only fainted due to the loss of blood and energy. As he quickly dispatched two more enemies, the ground shook again. Knowing that the explosives he had planted had already exploded, he could think of only one reason behind this new shake. The Gate had opened. Help had arrived. Letting out a loud howl, he sprang back into the fight with renewed energy. Only a few seconds more! True to his hopes, within seconds a large part of the building to his side disappeared into rubble and dust and the massive hybrid forms of three wolves almost flew in followed by a vampire, snarling at the demons now completely surrounding them. Joyce and Rubin glided in behind them, their palms glowing as magical energy crackled around them, blasting away more obstacles in their path. "Kiel, take her and get away, both of you need medical attention immediately. The Gate is right outside, being held open by Sarah and Louise. We'll take it over from here." Rohan communicated mentally. "Thanks." With a nod of his head, Kiel picked up the unconscious Rayn and quickly walked away, towards the Gate. As he approached the magical opening, he felt her body returning to normal form. Worriedly, he looked down at her face. As he saw her nose flare a little as she breathed, his worry decreased slightly. "Hang in there, little one. We're almost there, my Angel." He murmured. As he stepped through the portal, victorious howls of the three wolves reached his ears. ***** The healer felt nervous, slightly irritated, yet more nervous than anything else. As she attended to the unconscious girl lying on the bed, she was also very aware of the Alpha's unwavering gaze at her. He had brought her inside the medical bay carrying her on his arms. Had barked out orders to the healers in order to get them busy with her treatment, and despite their repetitive assurances that she would be well, he had refused to budge an inch from where he stood until her wounds were fully attended to. The healers, after a lot of persuasion had managed to get the Alpha to at least lie down on the bed next to hers. He had still refused to get his wounds treated until her wounds were fully attended to, despite the Healers' worries that the venom might spread to his heart from his wounds if left untreated for long. "I am telling you, she will be alright. Your injuries need to..." The Healer started in a quietly insistent voice, only to be cut off by Kiel. "Finish treating her first." Kiel firmly stated in a steely tone. "Obstinate..." The Healer murmured the first word of her curse, saying the rest of it inside her head only. Despite hearing it, Kiel chose to remain silent. He knew he was being obstinate. But he also knew Rayn was unconscious. Both of them had received great injuries, but he felt more restless for the fact that she was far younger than him, and tonight's events had forced her to transform. It hadn't been by choice, rather by the need of the hour. She was bound to be in shock, and he couldn't rest - wouldn't rest and let the Healers sedate him, while she battled with the dual threat of her injuries and the physical and mental shock of such a violent transformation. He knew he would live even if his wounds went untreated for some more time, hell, he had lived through worse in his long life, most of which he had spent in battle fields. But he couldn't risk losing her. He closed his eyes tiredly, and deeply sighed. 'Don't leave me now, my angel. Stay, please stay.' He thought desperately, worriedly. Despite the Healers' repeated assurances that she will get well, he couldn't believe it until she opened her eyes. 'And you've been brave, so brave. Don't give in to that darkness now, my love, fight it. Fight it and come back to me.' Opening his eyes, he turned his head to look at her on the other bed. The healer was now on the other side of the bed, working on the injuries on her leg. He could already see the rest of the wounds healing. The puncture marks on her throat now barely recognizable but for the angry red pin prick marks. Her body was already on the mend. But that was not the cause of his worry. He was worried about her mind. When the transformation was forced like hers, in the case of Weres, the resulting mental shock was often traumatic. That is why such transformations were inevitably followed by unconsciousness. Some Weres were strong enough to battle it out; some gave in to the insanity that followed. He hoped she would fight it out. He hoped it would be different for her. After all, it wasn't a Were transformation. Hell, he didn't know what she had changed into, but he hoped it was different for her. He wished he could tell her what he had thought to himself. Give her strength to push back that darkness he knew she must be experiencing now. Sighing again, he stretched his left arm to her, bending slightly at his waist to reach her face. Brushing his fingers down her cheek, he felt the desperation to help her rise within him. "Stay, please." He whispered to her, his hand reaching down to grasp her smaller hand and lace his fingers through hers, his eyes never leaving her face, entirely oblivious to the Healer's disapproving glare. The healer, very aware what the Alpha's behavior and that worried, almost desperate gaze at the woman meant, didn't even try to make him leave her hand. She knew he wouldn't do it. So, instead, she went around his bed to the other side, and said, "I need to examine your back first. Roll to your side." Without another protest, Kiel rolled to his side, facing Rayn. At the first few pokes of the Healer's instruments, he hissed at the sudden pain, but didn't utter a word. Taking that as a good sign, the Healer decided it would be a good time to chastise him, so she continued, "That's what happens when someone lets the venom spread and refuses to get his wounds treated in time." If not for the words, her speech wouldn't be recognized for the chastisement it was. "Get off my case, will you?" Kiel muttered indignantly, wishing very much that his treatment would get over soon. "Happily. Only problem is, I'm the on-call healer tonight, and you are the Chief of Operations. Doesn't look good on my resume if it says I let you die because you are an obstinate... Er...thing." She ended it with a particularly sharp poke at the last wound on his back, and made him roll back slowly. Once she started checking his abdominal wounds, the glare Kiel was giving her was quite evident. Then suddenly, he grinned, "Clara, if you let me die, you wouldn't be updating your resume any time soon, she would kill you." He supplied with a jerk of his head towards Rayn. "You are not going to die. I'm one of the best Healers. That's why Kendra hired me. And you are just another obstinate patient." Before Kiel could reply, she had finished cleaning the last wound and made sure there was no more trace of the venom in his system, quickly applying an anti-infection cream. "All done. Now get out of my medical bay." "Excuse me?" Kiel was bewildered. No one ever told him to get out of anywhere, least of all his employees. "Get out of the medical bay. You are patched up. And if you don't over exert yourself, the nastier wounds will be healed in two days, the lesser wounds will take a few hours. Now get out, I'd prefer it if you go home and rest, but since you have a problem with following prescriptions, I'm not going to bother writing you one." Clara coolly supplied from near the basin. As he sat up slowly, his eyes quickly darted to Rayn. "But..." Understanding where his thoughts were, Clara sighed. "I will let you know when she wakes. But before that, you know you can't help her. She has to fight it out on her own." Seeing Kiel's worried gaze remain fastened on Rayn's face, she asked, "Was her transformation that bad?" Kiel nodded. "This is her first transformation, and she never knew what to expect." He glanced towards the healer, "You will inform me when she wakes?" "Yes, I will. Don't worry." He sighed, "I can't help it. I've seen so many succumb to the shock. I can't lose her now." He worriedly brushed his fingers through his hairs. "Relax Kiel. She is stronger than them, she is stronger than most, in fact." Then with a smirk, she glanced down at Rayn's face and back at his, "Actually, now that she had her first transformation, I'd say once she has discovered all her strength, she might even be stronger than you." He grinned, "Don't I know it?" Carefully standing up, he took the loose white shirt and the trousers kept on a side table, quickly covering his body up in them. As he straightened, he saw Clara approach with a pouch of some liquid. As he saw her prepare the pouch for a drip, he sniffed at it, frowning when his nose didn't help him identify its contents. His arm shot forward to still Clara's wrist, stopping her right before she inserted the needle in Rayn's arm, "What is this?" He growled. "A Nutritional drip." Clara glared at him. "What does it contain?" He asked, his grip on her wrist unrelenting. "Gods, Kiel. It has the standard nutritional supplements, what else? It's just a new formula." "Why the hell can't I smell it, then? And why the hell is it pink? None of the other drips were pink." He demanded. "As I said, it's a new formula. It's odorless." As Kiel continued to stare at her, Clara huffed, "Okay, fine. It has Elfin blood in it, an energy boost, and before you ask, yes I do have the signed consent forms. That's why it's pink and its scent is suppressed, so you boys don't go crazy." "Who authorized it?" He stared down at her. "Kendra did. I was the first guinea-pig." someone behind him supplied. Looking back, he saw Rogers stride in. Glancing back at Clara, he at last let her wrist go to complete her job. Shaking her head exasperatedly, Clara went back to inserting the needle in Rayn's arm. Then Kiel turned to face the other man. "Rogers." he greeted him coolly. At the replying nod from the other man, he continued, "I trust everything has been taken care of at the site?" "Yes, Rohan instructed Daniel, Rubin, Maurice and Joyce to comb out the underground layers when the reinforcements arrive. How are you doing?" "I'm fine." As Kiel replied, he saw Rogers' eyes drop to Rayn. At that moment, Rayn shifted slightly on the bed, drawing Kiel's attention, her brows frowning as if in pain. As Kiel looked back up at Rogers, he thought he saw a look of pain and regret flicker in his eyes, disappearing quickly. Growing instantly more protective, he stepped forward and took up Rayn's hand in his, brushing her cheeks with his fingers in a soothing way. She settled almost instantly. As he stared at her unconscious face, he heard Clara say to Rogers, "I think she is out for the next 24 hours." "24 hours?" Rogers frowned, looking down at Rayn. "Nah, a few hours may be, about 5-6 at most. She will be okay." He supplied confidently. As Kiel's eyes shot up towards him, startled at his confident declaration, he quickly added, "I came to tell you that Rohan wants to see you." Kiel nodded, "Anything else?" "Ah, yes, actually." Rogers looked at him meaningfully, "I wanted to talk to you... About something." Kiel nodded again, "Yes, I'm aware of that. Tell Rohan I'll see him shortly in the Armory. And you can talk to me tomorrow evening." "Tomorrow evening?" Rogers raised his eyebrows before some kind of understanding dawned on him and his face fell in disappointment. "Oh. Alright." Shrugging, he turned back and left. Once Rogers was out of the room, Kiel gave way to the barely suppressed smirk that he had kept in check, "Serves you right." Looking down at Rayn, he sighed worriedly. Leaning forward to plant a kiss on her forehead, he softly murmured in her ear, "Get well soon." Then straightening, he collected another reassurance from Clara that he would be informed when Rayn awoke, and left to meet Rohan. ***** "So everything is cleared at the site?" Kiel asked. "Yup." Rohan cheerfully supplied, not looking up from his inventory list. "By the way, we found those at the site. Mind explaining how they got there? 'Cause I didn't issue them." Rohan indicated towards the Bloody Pearls, once more clean and mounted on the wall. "Er... She might have summoned them when she transformed." Kiel muttered unsurely. It got Rohan's attention nonetheless. "She summoned them?" As he saw Kiel nod, he continued, "Huh. Well, it's true then. May be she is the Fifth Descendant." "No. It might just be a coincidence. She is just too powerful for her own good." Kiel shook his head stubbornly. "Kiel..." "Don't." He growled, "Don't even fucking tell me to make her take the second test. I won't." "Then it is just disaster waiting to happen." Rohan snapped. "As opposed to what? Thrusting her forward in face of the waiting danger?" Kiel almost felt as if his blood was boiling. "That's not... We don't know that is what would happen." "Have you forgotten Eleyna?" Kiel's eyes flashed, he continued even as he saw the pain cross Rohan's eyes, "She found out who she was and jumped right in. The Dragons' Breath marked even her, yet she wasn't the prophesied one. We did tell her everything. You told her everything. Have you forgotten?" "I loved her. I loved her almost as I should love my mate despite her not being that. How can I forget?" Rohan turned away from Kiel to hide the pain the newly opened wound caused him. "Then how can you suggest we do the same with Rayn, expecting different results?" Kiel's anger receded as he realized Rohan's pain, yet he couldn't stop himself. "I don't... I can't lose her. She is my mate." With a frustrated bark of mirthless laughter, Rohan turned around, "Really? So you have at last decided to accept one fact so you can deny another? Kiel, she deserves to know the possibilities. It has almost been like a destiny to the Descendants to meet tragic endings. We can at least give her an opportunity to have as many shots as possible at living a full life. If she proves herself good with the Dragons' Breath, we tell her, if she can't handle it, then we still tell her and protect her as best as we can. What's so hard with that?" "The fact that when she learns of it, she will jump into it headlong. She has already vowed to kill Kan, if she gets any knowledge of our speculations, she will become obstinate about killing Gedan as well." Kiel indignantly shook his head, "No, Rohan, we can't tell her yet. She is just a child, as per our standards, and inexperienced in warfare. She is also headstrong and obstinate. She almost lost her life tonight so she could save me, violating my own orders." Kiel again shook his head. "Those traits run in her family, I think." Rohan said bitterly. Kiel eyed him guiltily, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that, about Eleyna." "You better be sorry." Rohan muttered, turning his attention back to the inventory. As he finished his work, Kiel engaged himself with some of the weapons. Finishing taking the inventory, Rohan put the last weapons away and turning to Kiel, stated in a matter-of-fact way, "Get out of my armory." "What?" Kiel asked, bewildered. What the fuck had gotten into everyone tonight? "I'm gonna close it now. So you need to get out." Rohan's lips twitched as he saw the shock on Kiel's face. 'Serves him right.' He thought to himself. "Fine." Kiel growled, and turning around, quickly made his way towards the door. Right before he opened it, he turned slightly to throw a few words at his friend, "I need to talk to you about a few things. Come to my office when you are done." "I know." Rohan simply said with a nod. ***** ----------------- Kiel's Office. ----------------- "So what exactly do you wanna know?" Rohan asked as he strolled in to Kiel's office. "On the site tonight, there was something wrong with the Energy Flow when I tried to open the Gate from my end, right before the explosions started. It didn't open. Do you know why that was?" Kiel asked directly, even before he turned around to face Rohan. "I...may have an idea. The same happened when Sarah and Louise tried to open it from here. There was a blockage placed on the Energy Flow." "Curious. We didn't discuss those 'extra' plans of the mission with anyone except for you, me and Rogers. It wasn't possible for anyone else to know that I'd be using a Gate tonight." Kiel thought out loud. Lovers' Oath Ch. 07 "We haven't used it for quite a while, actually, so the blockage might have been placed right when the mole infiltrated, we just discovered it tonight." Rohan made a face, "And we can't accuse Rogers, not yet. He discovered it just in time and removed the Energy Block. If he was the mole, he would have rather kept it up. You were as good as dead at the mission site, so was Rayn." "So, if he was the mole, he just ruined a perfectly good chance of doing his job and consequently would have been murdered by Gedan by now. Which brings us back to square one." "Hmm. May be not. We still have all those other suspects."Rohan absently supplied. "Yeah. We do." Sighing, Kiel stood up from his chair and walked around his table to stand at the window overlooking the hall below. "Why is it that you don't trust him? He has been working here even before you came along. I believe Kendra's mate, Alexander recruited him." Rohan curiously asked. "Precisely for that reason. He has been working here for even longer than me, yet we know almost nothing about him. He says he is a shape-shifter, yet he lives on like a Were, he has enormous grasp over magic, and we don't even know where he came from." Kiel said with growing irritation. "His file says he is from the Area five of Sector 99, that's around the Saints Islands." Kiel snorted, "Islands that were taken by the Perlin Oceans at the time he joined us. Convenient." He shook his head. "Kiel..." Rohan hesitated before asking the next part of the question, "I don't know if you know this, but, there was a time when he was being considered for the position of Chief of Operations here, your position." He saw Kiel's back stiffen. "But then you came along, and seeing the Alpha in you, Alexander gave you the position." "Yes. I'm aware of that." Kiel quietly answered, "and before you ask, no, I don't feel threatened by him. Did you know, " Kiel turned his head to look at Rohan, "He was then offered your position, too?" Rohan smiled, "Yes. He was a spec op by then, wasn't he? It was the very next promotion he should have gotten." Pausing, he surveyed Kiel's face with curiosity, "Yet, you gave it to me. Why did you?" Kiel smiled at his friend's abrupt question, "And I kept wondering when you would ask that." He muttered. "Yeah, I've been meaning to for the past few thousand years, but I kept forgetting. Old age does that to you. So, why did you?" "Ro, you are hardly old." Kiel turned away his head to look down at the hall again. "Dodging the question, are we?" Kiel chuckled. "No." Then he looked back at Rohan. "You really wanna know?" "Yeah." "Well, I did need someone I can trust in that position. After the Chief and the Chief Strategist, Head of Armory and Tactical is the most powerful position. I knew I'd be more comfortable with you there. But, that wasn't the only reason." Kiel paused as his eyes followed a raven haired woman walking across the floor below. Her hair reminded him of Rayn. As the woman stopped to talk to someone, he continued, "He had refused the position. He actually said the job role clashes with his personality. He wasn't as "Flashy" as the job needs, and that you would be a better choice." "The nerves! He said I'm flashy, eh?" Rohan exclaimed amusedly. Kiel shrugged. "Yeah, well. Later when I grilled him some more about it, he told me he likes the backseat, not the forefront." "Huh..." Rohan eyes his friend thoughtfully, "Yet, here you are suspecting he is the mole. Why?" "Because no one seems to know anything about him. And also because he seems to have a good relationship with Rayn. I don't want to give him any chance to harm her." Kiel frowned. "Ah!" Rohan solemnly exclaimed. "So that's it. You are scared he will do your girl?" "No." Kiel quickly said. Then, seeing the look on Rohan's face, he sighed, "Yes." "But she is your mate. Not his." "You know very well she has a choice in the matter, Rohan. She can refuse me. There have been instances of such happening." "Which is so rare that it may only happen once in a few thousand years." Rohan incredulously supplied. "Really, Ki, you are behaving like a love struck, inexperienced puppy." Rohan continued chuckling as Kiel scowled, "But then you probably are all that, aren't ya Kiel?" "Shut up!" Kiel glared at his friend, and added, "Just because I don't do every woman I lay my eyes on, doesn't mean..." "Yeah yeah, cap it. Tell me, what happened at the field today?" Startled at Rohan's sudden change of topic, Kiel blinked, then turned towards the window again, staring down at the hall. His eyes fell on the woman again. She had turned around, but leaning down on a table at the comm center, studying something attentively. He frowned, realizing he hadn't seen her there before. As a part of his mind worked to identify the woman, he answered Rohan distractedly, "I'm not sure. I went in and planted the explosives. Then went to the room you told me would be convenient to open the Gate from my end. But, it didn't open. By that time, the others had retrieved their material and Rayn gave the signal for evacuation. Seconds after that the demons were after me. And from some place we had missed plotting on the map, they just came pouring out. It was good that she came when she did, without her I'd be dead now." "Hmm." Rohan came to stand by his side, looking down at the hall. "It is possible that the Gateway was diverted. Instead of opening here, it opened at a place they kept a reserve army or something." "Hmm, possibly." Kiel nodded. "So, how long did the healer say Rayn would need to recover?" "Not sure. Clara estimated a day, but Rogers then walked in and said a few hours. Dunno whose estimate to believe." Kiel explained a little irritably. To be truthful, he wanted Rogers' estimate to be correct, because it meant she was strong enough to fight with the trauma. But then, to him, Rogers wasn't the most trustworthy person. "A day? But why? Surely..." Rohan began with a frown, then he realized what had happened, "She transformed on the field?" "Yeah." Kiel's eyes again swept the floor down below, then almost as if his name had been called by her, his eyes fell on the woman again. This time, she was looking right up at him with a smile on her lips. His eyes were captivated by her beautiful, big, green eyes. They made him think he was looking into Rayn's eyes. He could almost see her lips move as someone seductively murmured sweet nothings in an inaudible tone. He strained his ears to discern what the voice whispering at his ears said. "So, how was she?" Kiel heard Rohan ask him. "Beautiful, of course." Kiel answered absently, his attention focused on the whispering. He leaned forward to plant his palms on the glass, his eyes still held captive by the woman's. Suddenly, the woman's face fell, and she blinked startled. With that, almost like the snipping of a tightly held cord, Kiel felt a connection break between them. Surprised, he looked around at Rohan, who pointed towards the glass of the window. Looking back, Kiel realized that the glass had gone dark, making him invisible to the woman. "Oh." Kiel softly muttered, shaking his head. "Hmm. She is Dina." Rohan pointed at the woman below. She had already gone back to work. "New transfer from substation one to the headquarters." "Hmm. That's the recruit you had told me about?" "Yup." "Okay." Kiel again eyed the woman coolly, then turned to Rohan to tell him something. Before he could say anything, the internal comm unit in his office buzzed, "Kiel, Rayn is looking for you. Please get down here as soon as possible." Clara's voice announced. "Oh!" Without uttering another word, Kiel all but ran out of his office to get to the medical bay as soon as possible. ***** "You said you would inform me when she awakes!" Kiel spat in a barely suppressed rage. He glared at Clara from where he sat on Rayn's bed, his fingers trailing soothing lines on her arm. Clara blushed with anger and embarrassment. "Yes, I know. And I instructed the trainee as such when I left him in charge, so I can go check on the other patients. He...wasn't aware of the circumstances, and when she started muttering your name unconsciously, well, he didn't know what to do." As she saw the look on Kiel's face, she felt bad for him instantly, "Kiel, I'm sorry. I never should have left such a young one as him in charge of her. It's not his fault. He didn't know." Kiel was going to say something in return, when he felt her fingers close around his wrist as she whimpered, calling to him again. He sighed. Despite knowing she can't hear him, he gently trailed his other palm over her head and face, soothingly murmuring to her, "I'm right here, Rayn. We are safe. It's okay." Her grip on his wrist loosened as she settled once more. As he again looked up and around, his eyes fell on the young healer. The rage inside him reared again as he remembered the pained cries he had heard when he entered the medical bay. She was probably going through each moment of the fight, and she moaned and called his name every time she remembered him getting hurt. Only when he had sat down beside her, when he had touched her arm trying to calm her down that her whimpering had reduced. May be, just may be if he had arrived earlier, she would have experienced less pain. He again started to say something to the trainee, when Rayn whimpered softly, this time muttering fearfully, "Eyes... Eyes..." Frowning, he gently wiped at the beading sweat on her forehead. He didn't know what to make of her mutterings about the 'Eyes'. Looking up, he threw a questioning glance at Clara, who shrugged, indicating her inability to understand it. As he saw Rayn's brows frown again, he came to a decision, "I need to get her home. Is there any problem with that?" Clara shook her head, "Technically, no. We can arrange the drip to be transferred to her apartment at The Den. But she needs careful supervision." Kiel interrupted her irritably, "Yes. I'm aware of that. Transfer the drip to my apartment at The Den, to my bedroom, more specifically. I'll take care of the rest." "Er... Your bedroom?" Clara asked, startled. "Is there a problem?" Kiel coldly asked with a raised brow as he stood up. "Er, no. No problem Chief." The Healer murmured. "Good. Arrange transport for me and her, now." Throwing the instructions at no one particular, he once again settled beside her as almost everyone except Rohan, who had followed him to the Medical Bay, went scurrying around to carry out the orders. As Rohan saw the worried look on his friend's face, he chuckled to himself, 'Yep. Love-struck puppy, alright.' He mused, slowly walking out of the room to leave his friend alone with his love. ***** Something kept nudging at her mind insistently. She had to...do something. She tried to look through the darkness. It felt as if something was lurking there. That feeling of restlessness returned. Something was not alright. Danger was around. She needed to move, to act. She tried to stand up. As her body struggled with the lethargy that had taken over her limbs, she felt the darkness pressing in on her, threatening to overtake her. She struggled, pushing back against it. Her whole being screamed in protest. She couldn't let it engulf her. What if she got lost in it? What if she couldn't find her way back? What if she didn't see Kiel again? Kiel. He was in danger. Two gleaming eyes stared down at her maliciously, captivating her. She felt her body growing heavier under their gaze. She again pushed back against the feeling. Suddenly, the eyes changed to long talons, slashing down at her. She felt the pain tear through her as she screamed silently, wordlessly. But, she found herself unscathed. Blood dripped in front of her from two gushing wounds. Slowly, a body took shape around those wounds. Kiel's wounds. He was hurt. Pain and restlessness took over her heart. Why couldn't she move? He was getting hurt every second she didn't move. He was losing blood and life. She again pushed back with all her strength against the darkness. To her surprise, it gave way. Not entirely disappearing, it hovered just around the bend; ready to take over again when she weakened, but away enough to allow some sort of lightness around her. She tried to move again, to open her eyes. Suddenly, she became aware of a feathering sensation against her cheek. Startled, her mind quickly replayed the last things her eyes had seen. She was surrounded by those demons. One slashed at her. Trying to avoid the venomous talons, she leaned back. Then something had hit her hard on the head, and she had collapsed, as the demons closed in on her. She again felt the sensation against her cheek. Enemies. She frantically thought. One of the demons must be touching her. Rage bubbled inside her. Pushing back against the lethargy with all her might, she snarled, slashing at the demon with her own talons. Her eyes snapped open right as her talons were about to slash down at the 'demon'. As she recognized who it was, she gasped, stilling mere seconds before her talons ripped off half of Kiel's face. "Kiel!" Her body shook with shock. To her surprise, she noticed he hadn't even flinched as her talons had come so close to his face. Letting out a tired sigh, she let her body fall back on the bed. The feathering sensation returned to her cheek. This time, she recognized it for what it was. He was tracing whorls on her cheek with his fingertips. She didn't try to move away from him. His touch felt so soothing, comforting. She closed her eyes to make the feeling of disorientation go away. Suddenly, he stroked at a stretch below her left eye, tracing a straight line descending to her cheeks. As his gentle fingers followed that line, it sent sparks of pleasure down her spine. Moaning, she opened her eyes to look up at him, and found him looking curiously down at her. Almost thoughtfully, he again stroked down that path below her eyes. This time, she felt her sex heating up, getting moist fast. She felt her nipples harden almost instantly as his thumb traced a shorter line above her brow. "Oh!" Her back arched. She never knew those regions can be so sensitive, or was it because of the way he was touching her? Suddenly, he stopped caressing her face and turning his head he captured her wrist in his hand, looking speculatively at her long talons. At this sudden shift of his focus, she felt a little empty - as if something that should have happened didn't happen, but she realized that she still had her hand raised, and her talons very close to his face. As soon as realization hit her, almost with an audible 'snap' the talons retracted and her vision, which, she realized, had been showing everything around her in high contrast, returned to normal. "I... I'm so sorry. I thought... I didn't know... I was..." She stammered to apologize to him. She felt horrible as she realized she was about to tear his head apart, and he hadn't even flinched. Did he really trust her that much? "It's alright. You were only disoriented." He smiled reassuringly at her, then waved a finger at himself, "No harm done, see?" Confused and flustered, she just nodded. Although her talons had retracted, she noticed he kept her hand within his. As her eyes went to his, she found him looking down at her with an odd look she couldn't interpret. She could see relief there. But the rest of the emotions she couldn't decipher. Casting her mind around for something to talk about, she let her eyes wander around, taking in the room. "Umm, this is not my room." She stated, looking back to Kiel unsurely. "No, it's not." He agreed, his eyes twinkling amusedly. "Then whose is it?" Before he answered, he eyed her speculatively. Then, with a strange glint in his eyes, he proudly declared, "Mine." "Oh." Rayn mumbled. She eyed him from under her eyelashes. He was still speaking about this room, right? But, why, then, was there that strong possessiveness in his voice? He spoke as if he expected to be challenged for his possession and he had no intention of letting go. Also, did his grip on her hand tighten when he said 'mine'? Trying to focus on something else, she asked again, "What had happened?" "You went back into the factory to get me back. You fought valiantly by my side. Then towards the end, things got heated up, and you... Transformed. I mean, you had your first shift. After fighting some more, you collapsed. That was when reinforcements came and we won. I took you back to the HQ first, then brought you here so you can get some rest and I can keep an eye on you." He quickly summed up the events of the night, then gently brushed back a few strands of hair from her face. She hummed in pleasure. "Mmm... That's good. " She gently closed her eyes. Then frowned, "Why did you need to keep an eye on me?" "Because of this." Kiel stroked down in that sensitive stretch of her face right below her eyes. In response, her back arched, heat coiling in her belly almost instantaneously and involuntarily. "Oh!" Her eyes snapped open landing directly on Kiel's, then she gulped as she saw her excitement reflected in his eyes. He softly chuckled, his palm coming down on one of hers, and slowly trailed one finger down a talon that had reemerged. "You kept shifting back and forth. It took away a lot of energy needed to cope with the trauma; I had to keep the drip going. I think you have almost finished Clara's stock." "Oh, I... Um..." She stammered, embarrassed again. Then as she found his eyes twinkling in amusement, she stopped, realizing he had been pulling her leg again. As he started to rise from the bed, she tried to sit up, "Well, now that I'm alright and all may be I should go to my room..." She tried to say it as casually as possible, trying her hardest to not let the disappointment at the absence of his touch on her skin, show. "Keep your ass right on that bed." Kiel sharply and firmly instructed her as he strode towards a small cabinet built into one of the walls and took out a small bottle and a glass. "Why, you wanna screw it?" She couldn't stop the retort that seemed to have escaped her lips without being registered into her thoughts. The moment she said it, she saw Kiel's head jerk around towards her with a startled expression. As the words she had said registered in her thoughts, she blushed, her ears seemed to have caught on fire they felt so hot. She quickly averted her eyes, but not before she caught the very amused (and... hopeful? She wondered) look on his face. As she studiously observed the fine decor of Kiel's bedroom, she heard him approach the bed. Her breathing grew heavier, her cheeks burning brighter with every passing second. She wondered for a brief second if he was actually going to take her up on her suggestion before dismissing the idea. He was just taking care of her because he was her mentor, right? Not because he had any interest in her, right? As she felt the bedding behind her dip under his weight, her breath hitched. Slowly, she turned her head towards him, only to find him holding out that dreamless sleep medicine to her. Letting out the breath she didn't know she was holding in, she scrunched her nose, "I guess that should take care of the flashbacks I was having while unconscious?" "Yeah." He nodded. Taking the glass from his hand, she quickly drained it, then returned it to him. As she slid under the covers, he pulled them securely over her. Her eyes were drooping when she remembered something, "You know, that 'dreamless' part doesn't work." She muttered, yawning widely. "No?" He quietly asked, his fingers returning to her arm to draw caressing designs on her skin. "Hmm... Last time I had a dream, a nice one." her muttering got slurry as she spoke of the last time Kiel had given the medicine to her. Lovers' Oath Ch. 08 Author's Note: Okay, I've been gone for a long time, but with good reason, one I'm sure all of you will like. I've included it at the end of the chapter so you can jump into the story right now. Any mistake you find is due to my tinkering around after my editor Gabriel sent it back to me. Enjoy. ***** ----------------- Next Morning. ----------------- As Rayn slowly woke up from the blissful unconsciousness of sleep, she felt a familiar feathering sensation against her cheek. Involuntarily, her lips curled up in a lazy smile. Sighing happily, she turned her head to the side the sensation came from. As she drew a deep breath, a delicious smell assaulted her nostrils. It smelled so enticing. As she again took a deep breath, the sweet scent spread heat inside her body. Humming in pleasure, she tried to bury her nose into the source of the warmth. Without opening her eyes, she nuzzled the slightly calloused flesh and let the scent engulf her. Heat seemed to pool between her legs, slowly, yet surely waking her body up. It seemed to wake a kind of hunger inside her, a need to taste it. As she blinked open her eyes, she realized two things first -- one, she had her nose buried into Kiel's wrist right where the vein throbbed, and two, it wasn't her bed she was lying on. Startled and confused, she sat up quickly, holding the blanket to her bosom. As her eyes took in the surroundings, snippets of the last night flashed in her mind. "Good Morning." The husky, sensual sound of Kiel's voice greeted her. As she looked up at him, she realized he had stood up and left her side at some point during her perusal of the room. But the familiar sight that greeted her pushed that realization to the sideline. There he was, leaning on the door frame, looking fresh out of the shower, his shirt unbuttoned, and with a tray laden with food. As her eyes travelled down and back up his body, he cocked an eyebrow as he strode forward, "Like what you see?" he murmured sitting down in front of her. "Huh?" She asked, trying to stop the blush from coloring her cheeks. "The food," He pointed to the tray as he regarded her with amused eyes, "Like all that?" "Yeah, I do." Rayn replied, trying to sound as nonchalant as him. Then looking up at him, she frowned, "You cook." "Yes, I do, anything wrong with that?" He coolly asked handing her the plate as she didn't make any move to do so herself. Stirring the food on the plate with a spoon, she shook her head, "No, just that... it doesn't go with your image." She transferred a portion of the food into her mouth. As she chewed, she realized how hungry she felt. "And what image would that be?" His eyes twinkled knowingly as she bit on her lips, barely stopping from saying her thoughts out loud. But as she saw the mischievous glint in his eyes, she smirked and said it anyway, "The jerk image." "Hmm." He narrowed his eyes, "May be it's time that image changed, then?" "May be." She shrugged, "I don't care either way." Then she noticed something, "You aren't eating?" He shook his head, "No. I have already had my breakfast. I'm going to the HQ. I just stayed to make sure you are alright." "Oh." She didn't know why she felt disappointed suddenly. Putting down the plate, she made to get up, "I better get ready too, then." "And where do you think you are going, little one?" He positively glared at her. "Uh, to the HQ, of course." She replied confusedly, then as an afterthought, added, "Oh Old one." For a moment he seemed torn between getting angry and laughing out loud at her cheeky reply. He settled a compromise by deciding on authoritatively instructing her, "You are to stay right here, and away from the HQ for the next week. If I see you anywhere near there, I'll personally see to your punishment. Eat, rest and sleep. No exertion, no missions, and no cheeky replies. Understood?" As she opened her mouth to argue, he quickly interrupted her, "That is an order from your Alpha. No arguments." Now it was her turn to glare at him, "How come you get to order me around? I thought I am an Alpha, too?" She almost pouted. He shrugged, "You belong to me, so I get to be your Alpha. And an Alpha gets to order his people around, especially the naughty little girls." He smirked seeing the shocked expression on her face. "And you are a potential Alpha, not a full-fledged one, yet." "I don't belong to anyone!" she exclaimed. "You belong to this pack, Rayn. I'm the one responsible for the pack -- for you; and I'm telling you to stay in so that you can recover properly." He reached up to brush back a lock of hair from her face, then cupped her cheek with his palm, softly murmuring to her, "You are too precious for me to let you get hurt by your own enthusiasm. You need to recover properly. Won't you listen to me, just this once?" he looked at her imploringly, his fingers slowly caressing her cheek, distracting her as his eyes held hers captive. "Uh. Okay. I'll stay in." she muttered, not entirely sure why she agreed, but felt that it was important that she did so. "Promise?" the back of his fingers brushed along her jawline, his thumb traced the curve below her lower lip. She nodded, "Promise." Had she made a note to herself about his habit of seducing her into obeying him? She had. Damn! Yet, she didn't feel very irritated at him. "Thank you." He smiled at her, barely managing to suppress the look of victory from showing on his face. Then slowly standing up, he said, "I'll be back soon. You can stay in here, if you like, or in your apartment if you so wish." Then pausing, he added in a soft murmur, "I'd like to see you when I come back." His eyes searched her face for a clue to what she would decide. It suddenly seemed very important to know that she would be there, in his rooms, when he came back. "I guess, um," She looked up unsurely at him, "You will find me in my apartment?" A disappointed look crossed his features before he could mask it. "Okay." he nodded. "Good day." Then giving her a warm smile, he casually walked out of the door, leaving Rayn to look at his back thoughtfully as she tried to decide if her decision was the correct one... or rather, was it what she really wanted? ***** ----------------- Kiel's Office, few hours later. ----------------- "You wanted to see me?" Rohan casually strolled in. "Hmm... Yes, actually." Kiel answered from where he stood near a wall- mounted screen, watching what appeared to be an old video footage of a mission. "Come, take a look at this." He beckoned Rohan. "What is it?" Rohan frowned as he came to stand beside Kiel, then as he realized which mission it was, he nodded, "Ah! So, you think the mole was planted on this mission?" Kiel shook his head, "No. I think this was the first mission the mole was active. It was planted before this mission, in fact, I suspect, at least a year before this mission. But something happened, and they never used this player until this mission." "May be they were waiting for a good opportunity?" "That is possible. However, the mole apparently failed to perform on this mission, both for us and for Gedan. Yet, Gedan didn't punish the operative. Why didn't he?" "That's curious." Rohan frowned, "Perhaps it wasn't a failure for the demons, then? May be the mole actually succeeded?" "May be. But then, if ruining that mission wasn't their purpose, what was the purpose that was achieved?" Kiel rubbed his chin thoughtfully, rewinding the footage and replaying it. "Hmmm... This is getting more and more interesting every minute." Rohan quipped with mock cheer. Letting out a frustrated growl, he unceremoniously dropped himself on a chair and continued to watch it, trying to find out what they looked for. A few minutes later Kiel straightened, switching off the screen and turned to a bewildered Rohan, "What the... What happened?" He asked Kiel. "We have a visitor." Kiel calmly supplied already striding forward towards his desk. Just as Kiel sat on his seat and Rohan sat on the other side of the desk directly across from Kiel, a knock sounded on the door. "Come." Kiel coolly called to the person. As Rogers walked in, Rohan turned towards Kiel raising his eyebrows. "So, did you get it?" Rogers went straight to the point that held his interest. "Good evening to you too, Rogers. Have a seat." Kiel gestured towards a chair. Without another glance at it, Rogers shook his head, "No chief, thanks. Did you... I mean, were you able to retrieve it?" Irritated impatience colored his words. "And by 'it', I assume you are referring to this?" Kiel held up a small, blue, cube shaped gem. At first, Rogers stared at it, almost startled, the slowly, a triumphant smile spread on his face. "So I was right! It was right there, under their noses, all along!" His grin broadened as he reached for the gem. Without handing it to him, Kiel held it up to the light for inspection. "Yes, it certainly seems so. I wonder how you knew it was there, though." Kiel drawled. "Oh, but I didn't know. You see, knowing it would have meant... that is to say, if the gems were pursued knowingly, they would have vanished to somewhere we wouldn't look for. Because of the fact that we didn't exactly know they are there, we were able to find them." Rogers explained as if explaining simple arithmetic to a child. Then, as if saying it would somehow make it more meaningful, he said "It was actually Rayn's idea, you see." Nodding his head, Kiel handed him the gem which instantly captured Rogers' attention. Rogers turned towards the light, holding it up close to his eyes as he peered into its depth. "I didn't find all of the eleven gems there; only this one was in the box." Kiel supplied, his eyes tracking every movement the other man made. With a frown, Rogers turned towards him, "Only this one?" as Kiel nodded, a disappointed look passed on his face." May be the gems have been hidden separately, then." Rogers muttered, turning his attention back to the gem. "What is that?" the sharp question had both Kiel and Rohan turn their attention towards the door, through which Rayn sauntered in, her eyes fastened to the gem. Finding Rogers too interested in it to answer her, she turned towards the other men. "Well?" She demanded, her tone turning cooler as the wheels turned in her head. "We don't know." Kiel admitted, as Rayn continued to glare at him, he added, "Not exactly, anyway." Not satisfied with his answer, Rayn turned towards Rohan, her brow raised in question. Wishing very much that he could be somewhere else, anywhere else than the receiving end of her wilting glare, Rohan slowly nodded, "He speaks the truth." Then in a desperate attempt to turn her focus to someone else, he quickly added, "He knows, though." and pointed at Rogers, who just seemed to become more interested in the gem, to the extent that he seemed to turn red with effort. "Rogers?" She asked, her tone dangerously calm. "Yes?" He asked politely from near the window where he stood perusing the stone. "What, exactly, the fuck is that?" Rayn growled with frustration. He glanced at her over his shoulder, and gave a smile, "I believe it to be the seventh Jewel of the Eleven Jewel of the Gods. This one belonged to Queen Cleoce." "And where did it come from?" She asked. As the room remained silent except for the sound of shuffling made by Rohan, she scowled and looked back at Kiel, who made a point of not meeting her eyes as he got up and around the desk to stand in front of her. "Uh, I better get going. I have some... a few things..." Rohan mumbled and left the office hurriedly without meeting the withering glare his friend leveled at him. "I need to start exploring the powers this gem holds. May be it can provide directions for where to look next. I will send you the paper work shortly." Rogers calmly informed Kiel, trying very hard to not smirk at the Alpha who seemed completely under Rayn's spell. As Kiel nodded, Rogers casually walked out of the room, only pausing briefly at the door to look back at the duo and grinned, "Have a good night, both of you." He didn't wait to see the pair of glares he received from both of them. Once sure that Rogers was well out of ear shot, they turned to each other. "So, you came on the mission for that?" Rayn asked, trying not to show the hurt she felt. "Why does it matter?" Kiel raised one brow. "It does." She barely managed to keep the tears in check. For some reason, it mattered that Kiel had kept the real reason for his involvement in the mission a secret. "It matters because I want to know what the hell I risked my life for. So was that the reason you took point instead of me on this mission?" Before answering, Kiel searched her face thoughtfully, trying to understand the real meaning of her question, and hoping his answer wouldn't disappoint her. As he saw the agitation in her grow, he shook his head, "Not really. I didn't even know that gem would be there. My involvement and your change of position was an out of the profile factor. Something that the enemy was not to be aware of, thus giving us an element of surprise; that factory was a stronghold of the demons and destroying it meant a significant blow to their weapon supply. It was only when I was going out that Rogers asked me to pick up a wooden box of a certain description if I saw it there." As he saw uncertainty and doubt in her eyes, his jaw tightened, "So, yeah, you risked your life for only me, which brings us to the point of you disobeying two of my direct orders." "One." Rayn promptly disagreed, her chin tilting up in a belligerent way. "Two, counting the one you are still violating by being here." Kiel countered. "Care to explain why you keep disobeying me?" he crossed his arms on his chest and raised an eyebrow at her. She shrugged, "It's not my fault that your orders don't have a compelling hold on me." She took a few steps back and leaned back against his desk, trying to be subtle about keeping out of his reach as she saw his eyes flash dangerously, his face turning livid for a second before he reined his emotions in. "I don't want to compel you to do something, Rayn. The orders aren't given for my benefit but for your own." He dryly commented as he casually took a few steps towards his desk, wandering closer to her. As his eyes took in the apprehensive look on her face, and he saw the tell-tale gulping motion of her throat, he smiled at her. He took another step closer, coming up so close that his body almost pressed up against hers. She eyed him warily, trying to fathom his next move, her body never moving despite the apprehension she felt. She would rather take on another round with those demons from last night than admit it, but she was actually feeling afraid of Kiel at that moment. 'I should have just slept the day off.' She mused, leaning back slightly to plant her palms flat on the top of his desk and slid up her ass to rest it on the desk, trying to keep some distance between their bodies while giving the outward appearance of casually sitting on his desk. As she saw Kiel look down at her with a poker face, she grew more frightened. She didn't know what he'd do. She had never consciously disobeyed him, and as far as she could recall, she hadn't ever heard of anyone having done so. May be there was a reason for that, then, apart from the fact that he was the Alpha and his commands compelled his pack to obey? And she had actually violated two of his direct orders. What would he do? Will he ban her from the pack, and from La Lumiere? Her eyes searched his face frantically for some clue, and when she found none, her heart grew heavy. "Kiel..." She started nervously, then stopped, searching for words to say what she wanted to say. As the first scent of her fear assailed his nostrils, his wolf growled at him. It didn't like that he was scaring her. Hell, she wasn't even his yet, and the stupid human was scaring their mate away. What if she rejected them? It again growled a warning to its human. Kiel decided to temporarily ignore his beast; it would be easier to make it realize later that in order to keep her safe from her own whims it was necessary to make her obey him, even if that meant scaring her into obeying him initially. As he fought to tame his beast, his eyes slid down her body as she pulled herself on top of his desk, leaning back slightly to rest her body weight on her arms, her thighs parting just enough so that if he stepped closer, he would fit perfectly between her thighs. He groaned mentally at his human reaction to the seductive picture that she made. Now he had to rein in that part of his body too, in addition to his wolf. He wondered if she did it knowingly. He took that step that made her part her thighs further and brought his pelvis very close to hers. As he saw her eyes widen at this development, he knew the answer. 'Gods help me when she comes to know the power she holds over me.' He silently prayed thinking about what she would do knowingly if this was what she did without knowing. At last managing to keep in check both his beast and his body, he slowly leaned in towards her, making her lean back further until her arms gave away beneath her. Before her body could lie flat on the desk, one of his arms snaked around her to keep her torso tilted and pressed up against his. So soft. His cock stirred at the way her warm body felt against his, at the way her arms crept up his to cling on to him. He felt his cock push against the fabric of his pants. He brought his face close to hers and inhaled to take in her intoxicating aroma, he knew there would be that musky layer to it, the scent of her arousal mixed with the scent of her body. 'Take her.' His wolf insisted eagerly. 'Not until she is ready.' He tried to reason with it, making the beast huff with irritation. Pushing it back, Kiel looked into her eyes, "So, do you remember what I said I'd do if you came here today?" He murmured, his breath caressing her skin deliciously. "Huh... Wh...What?" She asked with confusion, disoriented with the need she felt inside her, a yearning for... something. It wasn't just the need to be taken by him right then and there, but for a connection with him that a part of her desperately longed for. "I'd personally see to your punishment." He reminded her, pushing against her thigh with his pelvis, making her aware of how wet she felt. A small whimper escaped her lips. "So, how do you think you should be punished?" "Don't punish me." She muttered, her lips gravitating closer to his. His insides hummed with a pained pleasure as he realized how his closeness affected her, yet she was still oblivious to the mating pull and thus keeping mating out of the question for now. As he saw her eyes flutter close, he held his breath, trying very hard to not imagine how she would feel if she were naked and in his bed, her heated core enveloping his shaft. Having reached his own limit, he quickly straightened, pulling her up with him and after steadying her on her feet, stepped away from her. The few seconds she took to open her eyes, he quickly blanketed his emotions and turned away from her to hide his obvious arousal. As she stared frustrated at him he partially turned his head towards her and flashed a devilish smile, "Yours is a bad idea. Punishing you is too tempting a proposal to let go of so easily. I'll do it in my own way, so meanwhile, feel free to wander around, 'cause Rohan has been given specific instructions to not put you on any missions until your mentor, that's me, gives the green signal." "Kiel..." She began again, only to be cut off by him. "Scram now, little one." He waved his hand in dismissal, shutting her up successfully. Lovers' Oath Ch. 08 "Fuck you." She angrily muttered before marching out of his office, leaving him to stare amusedly at her swaying butt. "Lovely idea, but not yet, my Angel, not yet." He murmured before going back to his work. ***** Rayn tossed on her bed, her body covered with sweat. Small whimpers of pleasure escaped her lips as she felt the heated shaft of Kiel penetrate her flesh. He had her pinned against a smooth surface of the vertical expanse of a large rock at the base of some hill. The surroundings were so beautiful that it took her breath away, or it would have unless she was being fucked so lovingly by her wonderful lover. It was such a pity this was a dream. She would have liked to be held so possessively by him in real life, too. One of his arms snaked around her waist, holding her to him as she clung to him. Her legs were wrapped around his hips. Another arm went to her back, pulling her head back with a loose grip on the back of her throat, his teeth gently nipping and leaving love bites along the column of her throat and the soft swell of her breasts as he thrust in and out of her in a slow yet steady rhythm. "Yessss..." she hissed as he penetrated deeper within her. "Fuck me harder." She moaned, tightening her legs around him to make him thrust deeper. "Soon, my Angel." His husky voice promised to her. "Now! Take me harder, now!" She demanded. As she tried to press down on his cock on the rhythm, his throaty laughter filled her senses. "Naughty, naughty!" He gently chastised her, slowing his pace down. "Noooo... Harder!" She moaned. "You mean, like this?" He suddenly pulled out until only his tip remained softly encased within her, and then swiftly drove in, burying his entire length within her. "Yesss..." She softly moaned, conveying her agreement to him. "Hmm." He suckled on one of her earlobes before softly murmuring, "Later." Before she could complain his mouth captured her lips in a hard, demanding kiss, making her forget everything. Her fingers crept into his long hair to securely hold his mouth to hers. As he started to pull away, she tightened her grip on his hair, unwilling to let him go just yet. Understanding her intention, Kiel softly laughed, then pulling out of her a little, he started quickly thrusting inside of her wet core, instantly distracting her from everything else. "Oh!" She exclaimed, throwing back her head. As his hard cock swiftly slid in and out of her, creating the hot friction inside of her, she felt her orgasm build. "Faster, harder!" she softly babbled. As his pace increased in response, her pussy clamped tightly down on his cock. She felt his breath brush against the sensitive bead of her nipple a second before his hot mouth claimed it. As he gently bit down on her nipple and suckled it, she felt the first wave of orgasm hit her. Her body stiffened in his arms, her back arched as her pussy fluttered around his thrusting cock, milking it. She barely heard his soft grunt as he climaxed. His thrusting grew shallow and frantic with need as he released inside her. His nose buried against the flushed skin of her breast, the musky smell of her own release only serving to heighten his own orgasm. As the waves of ecstasy slowly subsided, he felt the hold of her thighs going slack around him. She gently lowered her head to rest it on his shoulder, her arms draped around his neck. Slowly, gently, he lowered both of them to the ground; pulling her on his body as he lay on his back. His fingers lazily caressed the length of her back, her soft breath brushing against his chest. She slowly lifted her head, looking down at Kiel, "I..." "Shh..." His finger traced the curve of her upper lip, "Not now, later." She shook her head, "I think I..." She started again. "Yes, I think so too..." He quickly interrupted, "Hush now." He gently pulled her head down on to his chest. He didn't want this moment to fade away, but he knew it would. "I mean, I..." She tried again. "Hmm... Me too, my angel." He chuckled. He waited for the familiar tugging sensation to come that took him away from her every time these dreams came. But for some reason it didn't come yet. As he frowned at this irregularity, he wondered if this was indeed a dream or reality. He opened his eyes to look down at her face, and then sat bolt upright. She was gone. She was gone from his arms! "RAYN!" He screamed at the top of his lungs as he quickly got on to his feet. As he looked around wildly for a clue to where she was, he only saw darkness surrounding him, pressing onto himself. "RAYN!" ***** A familiar darkness surrounded her. Frightening, yet very familiar. She blinked. "What the hell..." She sat up, not understanding what was going on. One second she was getting a lovely "after-hot-sex" backrub from Kiel, the next second... he was gone from underneath her. Was she awake then? Where was she? "Kiel?" She called uncertainly. Cold silence answered her. She stood up, her eyes darting around in search of a glimpse of light. Only pitch black darkness met her eyes. She took a few tentative steps forward. As her eyes grew frantic in their search of light, she felt the darkness move with her like a cocoon surrounding her. "Kiel?" her voice broke as a shiver of fright went down her spine. Suddenly, a movement to the side caught her eyes. Instantly vigilant, she whirled to the side. The darkness shifted and pressed forward toward her. Instinctively, she took a step back. The black mass still came at her -- a darker piece of the darkness that surrounded her. The more it came towards her, the more it seemed to grow. Without waiting another second, she turned on her heels and ran. Without a point of reference in the vast sea of blackness, she didn't know where she was going -- only she knew she had to get away from whatever that thing was. Suddenly an arm shot forth from behind her and took her in a vice like hold, pressing her back against a hard, massive body. Gasping with shock, she turned around, her hands raised to strike. Another hand quickly caught both her arms in a firm grip. Her eyes still not seeing anything, she struggled against the hold -- feeling frustrated at not being able to see who or what she was fighting. "Shhh..." a soft husky voice murmured to her. The arm around her gently loosened, but her wrists were still captivated. As she looked wildly at the direction the sound had come from, her struggling increased. "I'm not going to hurt you, love." The voice again murmured to her. Gradually, as she looked on, the dark veil slowly receded from her -- revealing an outline of the man that held her. He was at least a couple of feet taller than her if not more, and massive -- bigger than any werewolf she had so far come across. She was probably even less than half his width. His well-muscled wide shoulders and chest were left bare, his lower body remained covered with the darkness that seemed to cling to his body. As she looked up at his face, she barely noticed his handsome features, or the long bluish hair that fell below his shoulders. Her eyes went to his black, beady eyes. As she stared into them, she felt them drawing her in, piercing her insides as those eyes tried to read every thought that ever passed through her mind. Even as she struggled to free herself, she felt herself losing. Those eyes turned hypnotic -- the black turned into grey pool of swirling liquid. She found herself falling into their depth, and as she stopped struggling, she felt slowly losing her will, too. "That's it, love. I'll never hurt you." He murmured again, letting go of her wrists. As his words penetrated her mind, the haze suddenly lost its hold on her. Without another word, she shoved him back, turned on her heels and ran. She didn't know why, but her instincts told her she had to get away from him, so she did. As she looked behind to see if she was being pursued, her eyes again met the veil of dark blindness. She slowed down, looking around wildly. "Am I dreaming? Is this happening for real? What the fucking freaking hell is going on?" She muttered as she walked, hoping with trepidation that somewhere in front of her this sea of darkness ended. She again looked back from the way she had come, but again felt as if her eyes were blinded. As she turned her face forward, her eyes widened in shock as the massive body of the man she had run from pushed forward, parting the darkness. Once again, the darkness only receded from around parts of his body; tendrils of it clung to his body as vines clung to a tree. A second later she screamed, as the steely band of arms suddenly surrounded her, pulling her up against his body. "LET ME GO." She shouted, struggling desperately to free herself, but failing to even move a single muscle of his arms. In response to her demand, he only pulled her closer to his body, bringing her body flush against his, and making her instantaneously aware of her nakedness. She could feel each muscle of his body that came in contact with hers. Horrified, she froze. She could literally feel pleasure humming through his body at her vulnerability. "Oh, yes. You always come towards me." He nuzzled her neck before softly murmuring into her ear, "Its destiny." "Let me go!" She furiously struggled against him. "Tsk tsk. So feisty... so soft." His hold gentled ever so slightly, just enough so he could look into her eyes. Even as she frantically tried to avoid locking her gaze with his, he caught her chin gently with his fingers, coaxing her to look up and into his eyes. A small involuntary whimper escaped her lips as once again she found herself drowning in those molten pools of mysteries. As he drew her in, she felt her body relaxing, her will to escape slowly fade away. "Yes, love, that's it. No use fighting your destiny. You belong to me." He crooned, one hand caressing her side, languidly gliding down her curves. You belong to me. It had a familiar sound to it. "Nah... Kiel." She slurred. The dark pool widened, blocking out everything else, her thoughts, senses... memories. "No. not Kiel. Me, only me. Say it, love." His seductive, husky voice took on a hypnotic lilt. "Say it, Rayn." "You?" she asked uncertainly. It didn't feel right to her. Yet something was pushing her to do as he told. "Yes. Say it. You belong to me." his fingers brushed the skin just below her breasts, his thumb coming close to, but not touching her nipple. She shook her head as if trying to clear it. A scent of flowers floated to her nose, a sickly sweet scent. The stranger's fingers crept down her body, exploring the slight curve of her abdomen. "Stop resisting me, love. Give it up. Give yourself to me. You are mine now, and everything you have is mine. Say it, and everything will be alright." Something flickered in his eyes - a reddish glint coloring the dark pools for just a fleeting moment. "Say it." He coaxed again. As she opened her mouth to speak, a throbbing sound started inside her head. She frowned distractedly. Her mind wanted to tell her something urgent, something very important. Yet, another part of her mind pushed and coaxed her to obey him. "I..." she paused as the throbbing sound increased tenfold -- turning into a pounding sound. "Yes, go on, love." His grip on her body tightened. "I am..." "Rayn!" a faint voice entered her mind. A voice which was supposed to be very sensuous, but it was very much worried right now. The pounding sound suddenly stopped, followed by a loud crashing sound. "Don't get distracted. Look at me." He snarled close to her ears. As her eyes locked onto his face, she felt something pushing from inside her, coaxing her to say what he asked her to say. He wanted her to commit herself to him. No, that's not right. She felt another pair of strong arms encircle her, a worried, pleading voice sounded from somewhere near her, "RAYN!" That voice gave her enough will power to break away from the eye contact. "Kiel?" she looked around wildly searching for him. Something was happening; the darkness was breaking away in places. Yet the man still held her to him. As her eyes swung back to him, she found herself looking into a pair of red glowing eyes, "You can't run from me forever. You will be mine." He growled. As the darkness surrounding him disintegrated, he slowly faded away. Just before he completely disappeared from her view, he shifted. Before she could register anything else, the familiar voice penetrated her mind, "Rayn, wake up." ***** As she blinked open her eyes, she found her body drenched in sweat. She slowly sat up, still very disoriented. As the light stabbed her eyes, she gasped and tears started rolling down her cheeks involuntarily. "Rayn, are you alright?" Kiel held her tightly against his body, her head lying against his heart. She looked up at him. Her vision was still blurred. "How did you get in here?" After a brief pause, she added, "Why did you come in here?" "I broke the door." He gently lowered her onto the bed, lying her head down on the pillow. "You were screaming your head off." "Oh." As snippets of the dream started to come back to her, she stared up at the ceiling, "OH!" she gasped again. "What?" Kiel searched her face, "What is it Rayn? Tell me." "I..." she shook her head, "It was a dream, a horrible, horrible dream. Oh." As the image of the stranger came to her mind, she started sobbing, her body shook from shock. "Tell me about it." Kiel dragged a blanket over her. Then noticing it didn't help, he drew her back in his embrace, drawing her head on to his chest again. As he started to gently rub her arms and back to sooth her, her body settled against his, drawing comfort from the heat of his body. "It was just a dream, Kiel, nothing to worry about." She mumbled against his chest, feeling too lazy to move her head from where it was. "It is something to worry about if it made you scream the way you were screaming." He looked down at the top of her head, "Tell me." "Well, um, We were... er, that is to say, I was... standing... beside this hill and... er..." She hesitated, trying to figure out what to say next. Closing his eyes, Kiel shook his head, then gently murmured, "Start from the point where everything got dark." Suddenly, she was tearing out of his arms. As his eyes snapped open, he growled instinctively, reaching for her. Then he saw her face. She was scared, and she was panicking. Ready to flee. "How the hell do you know that's what happened?" Her eyes flashed with suspicion. As he eyed her carefully, he weighed his options between telling her the truth, and telling her the half-truth. As he saw her panic escalate, he decided on the later. "The dream made you so scared that you started broadcasting snippets of it. I was in range, so..." he casually shrugged, "It happens sometimes." "So, you don't know what happened before everything got dark?" She asked. Trying to look as innocent as possible, he shook his head, "No. I guess you weren't having a horrible dream then. The frightening part must have come later." "Ah no, that initial part wasn't frightening." She mumbled, looking away. Damn right, it wasn't frightening. His wolf wagged its tail lazily. "Well, tell me about the horrible part then." Leaning back against the headboard beside Kiel, she drew the covers up to her chin. "I'm not sure what it was. Just, everything got dark, and I couldn't see you anymore, then this stranger came out of the darkness... and it was like, as if he was made of that darkness or something. I don't know, the darkness, kind of, clung to him like vines. I was so afraid. And this man kept pursuing me and capturing me no matter where I ran to." Rayn felt her heart starting to race again as the emotions from the dream came back to her. She took a deep breath, "And he sort of, hypnotized me, and kept telling me to say something to him." She frowned as she tried to recall the words. "What did he want you to say?" "Can't remember." She mumbled. "Try, please?" Kiel coaxed gently. "I don't remember. Besides, what does it matter, Kiel? It was just a stupid dream." Rayn bit out with irritation. As he looked at her face, he saw the remaining traces of the tears she had shed in her sleep, and the tiredness she felt inside. He got up from her bed, "Yeah, it can wait, I guess." He mumbled. Then shooting another craving glance at her, reluctantly, he turned towards the door before murmuring, "You look tired. Get some sleep." As he walked towards the door, Rayn called from behind, "Kiel?" "Yes?" Pausing, he turned towards her. "Thank you." She felt her ears heat up from embarrassment, "For waking me up, and, er... breaking through the door." Kiel stood rooted to the spot, staring at her. Was she serious? She was thanking him for waking her up? Hell, her screams were enough to drive him crazy with the need to do something to help her, even if they weren't sharing the dream. Then he remembered. She didn't realize they were sharing the dream. He wondered how she would react if she knew about it. In fact, for that matter, how she would react to the possibility that the dream might as well not be just a 'stupid dream'? Even as the thoughts raced through his mind, he felt his wolf starting to get edgy just from the possibility that some other magical power could be invading her mind. Crap. Could it be? If that was true, then he had to protect her better. He cursed at himself. If that power could make her scream like that just from a dream, then he didn't even want to imagine what it could do to her in person. As Rayn waited for his response, She saw a haunted look pass over his face. And for the first time, she realized, he was terrified. She stared at his face. Kiel was afraid of something. And if she knew something about Kiel, it was that he wasn't afraid of much. A Werewolf who has managed to live through a war like this for four millennia, is not easy to scare. Before she could ask him about it, he cut her off, "It's okay." He shook his head. "Good night." "Kiel, I..." "You need to sleep." His lips twitched as he tried to hide his amusement at her indignation that he had cut her off again. As she scowled at him, he gave way to the chuckle. "Go back to sleep. And whatever it is that you want to say, I will listen to it tomorrow." Then, as he remembered something, he added "Your door will be fixed tomorrow morning. So don't worry." Looking at the doors, she found one of them lying on the ground a few feet away from the door frame, the other one hanging precariously from a single hinge. As her eyes went back to Kiel, she found him eying her apprehensively. "Oh. Okay thanks." She muttered. She didn't have the energy to even imagine how much force had been needed to do that to the door. "Good night, then." "Okay, good night." Slipping under her covers, she stared at Kiel's retreating back, and wondered once more what exactly had scared Kiel. As sleep once more claimed her, she didn't notice the gentle irritation that started on the skin just above her right breast. A soft, neon like glow started pulsating from the mark, gradually spreading over her body, wrapping up her sleeping form like a cocoon. ***** ----------------- Next Morning, Kiel's Office. ----------------- "Good morning." Rohan's jovial voice jolted her out of her train of thought. "Oh, hey." She looked up at him, pulling away her gaze from the tiny black spot on the desk in front of her. Then seeing the face he pulled at her less than excited greeting, she presented an apologetic smile. "Sorry. Didn't get much sleep last few nights." "Oh?" He raised his brows, grinning wolfishly. "Kiel's been keeping you up?" He sat down on the desk, his palms clasped on his lap. As she caught the drift of Rohan's thoughts, her cheeks colored, "NO. Of course not. Just bad dreams and stuff." Lovers' Oath Ch. 08 "What stuff?" Rohan's grin was broadening. "Nothing. Just bad dreams. Night mares. That's all." She could feel her ears heat up. As a last attempts at salvaging the situation, she blurted out, "We... me and Kiel, are not... you know..." "Know what?" He innocently asked. Rayn glared at him, "We are not seeing each other. He has just been taking care of me as my mentor." She crossed her arms in front of her, leaning back into her chair. "Is that what you have been telling yourself?" "What?" She stared up at him open mouthed, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He shrugged, "Nothing. Just, you know, you are the first person he is mentoring. He has never taken on the duty of Mentor for anyone else before. So you really can't say what he is doing for you is just as a mentor. I mean, well, for example, I've never heard of a mentor breaking down a door because the protégé was having a bad dream." "Well, may be I have a caring mentor, then." She crossed her arms in front of her. Rohan snorted. "You know, I'm starting to get the feeling that you two are very similar to each other. For one, both of you just lo-o-o-ve denial." She stared at him. If what Rohan is hinting at is true, then probably Kiel has feelings for her, too? "Rohan?" She called sweetly. "Yes?" He got up from the desk and strolled towards a wall mounted screen. "Look at me, please." He turned at her, eying her apprehensively at this sudden change of mood, "Yes?" "Are you trying to tell me something about Kiel?" She asked suggestively. The roguish smile returned on his face, "Nope. If you want to know something about him, you either gotta talk to him or figure it out on your own." "Hmph." She couldn't possibly go and ask him what he felt about her. "Well, where is he, anyway? I have been waiting for him here for the last half hour. He wasn't at The Den, he isn't at his office, so where is that friend of yours?" "He is out on a mission, actually." He turned on a couple of screens and watched the video feeds on them. "If I were you, I wouldn't look for him for the next 48 hours." "Oh." Why the hell did she suddenly feel so lonely and disappointed? "You seem disappointed?" Rohan asked, shooting her a cursory glance. "Um. No, not disappointed. Just, you know, I didn't know he was going out for so long. I had to talk to him." She shrugged. "Something important?" Rohan turned towards her, his eyes searching her face. "Nah. It can wait." She stood up. "So, what mission is he on?" she came to stand by his side in front of the screens. "A recon mission." He checked some data feed that ran down the sides of the screen. As she peered at it, she couldn't understand one word of it. It just looked gibberish to her. "Who else is on the team?" She peered at one of the screens. It showed a beautiful girl's picture from various profiles and some data that looked like biological functioning feedback. "Just him." As Rohan found her reading the girl's data on the screen, he smirked, "And a new recruit called Dina. That's her data on the screen." "Just her and Kiel? Isn't that a little risky?" She frowned. "Meh. Nothing they can't handle. They are posing as husband and wife. Shouldn't get caught. She has played this game before." "Husband and wife?" She whirled at him. He simply nodded. "Oh." She paused. Something inside her stirred. It was a part of her she didn't fully recognize, but it was angry, very, very angry. And it wanted to hurt someone very badly. Preferably her. Rayn's eyes darted towards the picture of the woman on the screen. As she stared at it, she felt her body heating up. They are posing as a couple, her with him. She was starting to see red. She just couldn't imagine him with someone else. Suddenly, a murmuring sound came to her ears. "What?" She distractedly asked Rohan. "What?" He asked back. "Didn't you just say something to me?" She frowned. "Nope." He answered with his eyes glued to the screen. Then frowning, he looked back at her, "Why, did you hear something?" "Ah..." Her brows knitted in confusion, "No. I'm not sure." She shook her head, "You know what, I should just go back to the mansion and lay down for a bit." She abruptly turned on her heels and started to walk away. "Yeah, you do that." Rohan muttered, looking at her back with concern. "See you." She called back with mock cheer in her tone just as she was about to walk out of the door. Even as the last syllable left her lips, it suddenly hit her. The world suddenly seemed to have gone topsy turvey around her. The cocoon of darkness was back. But there was a difference this time. It seemed a thin layer of light was sheathing her body, preventing the darkness from clinging onto her. As she looked around, the darkness undulated like a fluid curtain. That feeling of dread was back, but it wasn't as intense as in the dream. A soft murmuring sound filled her senses. Indiscernible words flooded her ears until she couldn't hear anything else. A now familiar sickly sweet smell assaulted her nostrils. She closed her eyes, unable to take so much any more, her knees buckled as the stimulation overwhelmed her. Behind her closed eyelids, she felt a flash of light. As she opened her eyes and looked up, she found herself staring straight into a huge pair of green eyes. Hanging above her in this darkness, they seemed like two huge green stones sparkling with untold secrets. Her mouth opened in a silent gasp as her soul felt the malice pooled in those eyes. It was almost like a physical pain. As she felt her will slowly crumble under the gaze of those disembodied eyes, she felt compelled to stare into them as they slowly changed and morphed into another pair of black eyes that threatened to consume her. It tugged at her, trying to draw her in. The murmuring sound escalated in volume. It spoke faster now, almost like a chant. Similar words were uttered again and again, reverently, almost seductively. She felt as if she could almost understand them. Perhaps a poem she had heard as a child? She felt as if she could understand whatever it was that was being said. Just a few repetitions more, and may be she will understand exactly what it was saying. Just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. Something shifted in her view. As she blinked furiously, she found herself leaning over the desk, her knuckles had turned white from the force with which she was gripping the side of the desk. As she wildly looked around, she almost collided with Rohan. "You okay?" He asked, frowning. "Uh, yeah, I think so." She irritably brushed her fingers through her hair. "Just a bad headache. Don't worry; I'll be fine after a nap." Shaking her head, she straightened. Then, without giving him another chance to say anything, she almost fled from the office, leaving Rohan to stare at her with worry and a vigilant concern in his heart. ***** "Come on Rayn, try again. You have to do it!" Priyal shouted across the room in which Rayn was training with her in controlling her magic. "I... I can't. I'm too tired." Rayn panted, leaning forward to plant her palms on her bent knees. Not too long into this session with Priyal, she had realized that it was a huge mistake coming to practice right after that vision she had had in Kiel's office. She hadn't realized it at that time, but it had taken away a lot of her energy. Shaking her head, she straightened, and instantly wished she hadn't as dizziness assaulted her. Shaking her head again, she shut her eyes tightly. Then she slowly opened them one at a time to look at Priyal who looked at her with a frustrated glare. "Come on, Rayn. It's easy." Priyal coaxed her again. Closing her own eyes, she spread her arms out by her side. "Just feel the energy flowing around you." Slowly waving her arms twice, she brought them to her front, palms facing each other. "Feel it gather within your hold." She made a complicated twisting movement with her palms, moving them around each other, without moving her arms, almost like a dancing movement. "Focus on it. Inject your own energy into it." A ball of energy took shape within the space between her palms, sparks of visible energy shooting erratically within the ball. "And release." Priyal, opening her eyes, threw the ball towards a target. The ball shot out of her palms like an arrow and hit the target in the middle point. "See? Easy. Now, do it." Rayn shook her head, "I'm telling you. It's taking too much energy out of me. I can't seem to control it." "Only one way to overcome that, then, isn't it? Practice! Come on Rayn, no more excuses, now." Priyal reprimanded her. Sighing exasperatedly, Rayn once more closed her eyes, her arms starting to mimic the movements shown by Priyal a few moments ago. As she went through the motions, she tried to focus on the energy Priyal kept telling her to feel. To her excitement, a similar ball of energy, although smaller than that of Priyal, took shape within her palms. "Good, very good. Now pass on your own energy into it." Priyal whispered. As Rayn tried to focus on her energy, suddenly, like a flashback, the eyes from her vision flashed in her mind, instantly shattering her focus. As the ball of energy disintegrated, the sparks almost snapped back into her palms, causing them to sting. Gasping, her eyes shot open, her knees buckling beneath her. "Almost there, Rayn. Come on, try again." Priyal urged. "I... I can't. It's too exhausting." Rayn closed her eyes, a sense of failure creeping into her mind. "Just once more, come on, try it!" As Priyal insisted, a sudden flair of anger lit in Rayn's head. She snapped, "Didn't you hear me? I said I can't. I won't. I'm done here." Rayn stood up straight and turned to collect her things to leave. Watching her with calculating eyes, Priyal suppressed a smirk, "Yeah, you are right. You are indeed too weak to do this." She shook her head, "I have no idea why Kiel thought you could do any of this magic, let alone complete your training in them. You are just a bizarre hybrid of some kind, a result of some experiment gone wrong, and nothing more." As she saw Rayn's body tensing, she took a step back. "What did you say?" Rayn turned towards her. She shrugged, "You heard me." then pausing, she added, "If you wanna prove me wrong, well, you know how to do that." Suddenly, with an almost audible 'snap' Rayn's talons slipped out, her arms instantly transforming, causing Priyal to jump back in surprise. Her eyes widened as she caught the gleaming carvings creep up her arms like a vine. "Wow!" she exclaimed. Then as suddenly as they had appeared, the talons snapped back into her fingers, her arms back to their normal state. Still, she continued to stare at Rayn's arms with such focus that when Rayn took a step in her direction, she almost jumped again. "Priyal, are you okay?" "Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah. How... how did you do that?" She asked, still gawking at Rayn's palms. "Do what?" "Partial Transformation, you know with your arms just now." As Rayn stared at her with confusion, she understood, "Oh, so you don't know that your arms just transformed now?" "Did they?" Rayn looked down at her palms. Then shrugged, "Whatever. I'm leaving. Bye." She turned back to pick up her kit. "No, wait. What if you tried that Energy Blast with your arms transformed? That can help. Usually your other forms, especially hybrid forms are more powerful than the human forms, you know." Priyal eagerly suggested. "What makes you think that should be the case with me too? According to you I'm just an experiment gone wrong." Rayn muttered, not turning to face her. Suddenly a doubt crept into her mind. What if Priyal was right? What if she really was an experiment? She didn't know her biological parents; and apparently, no one has ever heard of a creature like her -- a cross between wolf, panther and something no one can even identify. May be that's why she never knew her parents, because there never were any. She only distantly heard Priyal speaking, "Oh, but didn't you realize I was just baiting you? You know, challenge you so you do it just to prove me wrong!" She tried to make it sound nice by saying it with as much enthusiasm as she could master. "Whatever." Rayn muttered with indifference. She had almost finished packing her things. As she saw Rayn readying to leave, Priyal chewed her lip to find a way to keep Rayn from leaving. May be if she could show Rayn the power her other form holds? But how to induce a transformation in Rayn? An idea struck her. She brought her palms together, moving them in that dancing movement to form a small energy ball between her palms. As she readied to throw it at Rayn's back; a pair of strong arms restrained hers, startling her, shattering her focus. As the sparks of the energy blast stung her palms, she hissed with pain. "You do realize that she has her back towards you?" a voice hissed close to her ears. Whirling around, she found Rogers looking down at her with censure in his eyes. "I was just trying to help her." She hissed back. "By attacking her from behind?" Rogers cocked a brow. "I was trying to induce a transformation in her. And how I train my student is none of your god damn business." She glared at him. As he realized what she was doing, his jaw tightened. Looking at Rayn, he called to her, "Come on, you are done here. Come with me." "Why?" Rayn slowly approached them. She was getting tired of everyone telling her to do something or the other fast. "For training to control your magic. You will be training with me from now on." He stepped closer to Rayn and reached to pick her bag up. Confused with this new development, Rayn just stared at Rogers, instead of handing the kit to him. "With whose authorization?" Priyal demanded from behind. Turning around, he looked into her eyes and simply stated, "Mine." "You lowlife shapeshifter..." Priyal hissed at him. Before she could say any more, Rogers stepped close to her, and grabbed her upper-arms. Although he didn't apply any pressure, Priyal suddenly felt her arms going numb. As her brain frantically tried to understand what was happening, she heard his soft murmur as her gaze locked onto his, "Be very careful with what you say, youngling. I may be anything, but I still am your superior. So, careful." He warned her. As he stepped back from her before releasing her, Priyal's eyes widened as she saw his eyes - the black of his eyes had completely vanished, instead, all of the visible part had turned golden, lending his face a statue-like look. Her mouth hung open in a silent gasp. As he released her arms, she felt the numbness recede slowly from them, yet she couldn't speak. As he blinked, his eyes were back to normal again. "What are you?" Priyal almost whimpered. He smirked, "Just a lowlife shapeshifter." Taking Rayn's hand, he started to steer her out of the gym. Just before they stepped out of the room, Priyal called from behind, "There will be consequences, Rogers." The only answer she got was just a wave of his hand followed by the door slamming shut behind them. ***** "What the hell just happened?" Once out of the gym, Rayn demanded. As she didn't get a reply, she started again, "Rogers..." "Turn right here." He simply instructed as they neared an archway to their right. "Answer me, Damn it!" She growled, almost jogging to keep up with him. "As the lady commands." He answered with infuriating politeness. She looked up at him, waiting for a response as they walked on. When a few minutes passed, and none came, she stopped walking, growling at him, "Well?" tugging her hand free of him, she crossed her arms in front of her. Smiling at her, Rogers placed his palm on a black stone embedded into the wall. Startling her, a portion of the stone wall slid aside behind her to reveal a sparsely decorated room behind it. Stepping in, Rogers waved his hand at the room, "Welcome to my office, milady." "Shut up." Rayn glared at him, and then followed him into the office. Once she had stepped into the room, the door closed behind her on its own. "Wow". She muttered, looking around with admiration. The room had a wonderfully antique feeling to it. It seemed to be more like the room of a royalty from the palaces of old times. Each wall hanging depicted some or the other magical creature, each more captivating in details than the one before it. As she walked around, she suddenly drew in a sharp breath. Unlike the gym, she didn't have to concentrate to feel the energy flowing around her. She could actually feel the energy vibrating against her skin as she passed through the room. It parted around her, clinging to her body contour almost fluidly like water, only, it didn't suffocate her like water, it felt invigorating, re-energizing. With her back to Rogers, she brought her palms together in front of her, focusing on the energy between them. Then, almost without any effort, a small ball of energy formed between her palms. She could feel the sparks crackling; she could feel the warmth of it on her skin. Wide eyed, she stared at it with fascination. "Like what you see?" Rogers amused voice made her turn around to face him. As he saw the energy ball held between her palms, he chuckled. "Kitty found a ball to play with, did she?" Narrowing her eyes, she tossed the ball at him -- half expecting it to at least have some impact on him so he understood that she wasn't playing. To her disappointment, he waited until it was within his reach, then with a simple wave of his hand, it was gone - disintegrated. "Oh, fuck!" She grumbled as she remembered Rogers' true identity. "Language, kiddo." He reprimanded her, reminding her of yet another fact regarding his actual identity -- how old he actually might be. Probably twice as old as Kendra, even. She mused. Funnily enough, she managed to easily forget that most of the time. It was only at times like this that she remembered his actual identity, and felt awestruck all over again at knowing him - an Original Mystique. Only, she would never tell him exactly how childish it made her feel. "Whatever. Mind explaining what the fu... er, effing hell did just happen back in the gym?" She demanded, glaring at him. "Nothing much. You saw what happened." He casually sat down on a couch, motioning to the one at his side for her to sit down. "I saw you bullied Priyal and then you dragged me out of there." She dryly informed him, then as an afterthought she added, "Also, you did something to make her think that you weren't a shape-shifter after all. You blew your cover." "Nah. It's okay. My cover is fine." He shrugged, then, reaching out, he pulled her hair free of the ponytail she had restrained them in earlier. "That's better." "Intact, huh? What's stopping her from running to Kiel or Kendra and spilling the beans?" She countered, snatching the rubber band back from Rogers and restraining her hair with it again. As he watched her actions, he pouted. "You look better with your hair down." He suggested, then as he saw her glare at him, he sighed. "Okay, alright. She wouldn't go to them because she doesn't have any proof against me. And yes, I bullied her to get you out of there, because that stupid girl was trying to induce a transformation in you by attacking you from behind. She had no idea how dangerous it was for her, how volatile you could have been in the transformed form." "But it seems you have a good idea about it." Rayn stared at him. Could it be? Did he really know what she was? A small part of her mind hoped he knew. After all, he was so old; he was an Original Mystique, wasn't he? Perhaps, she could even find out about her biological parents too. She just stared at him, hoping for some answer that would confirm his hopes. When none came, she asked again, "Well, do you? Do you know what I am?" She whispered, afraid if she spoke loudly, this moment will be shattered. Lovers' Oath Ch. 09 Author's Note: Life sucks, and then we don't get to do things we love, e.g, write good stories for great readers. Then we start writing and posting again. :) Thanks for hanging around. Any errors you might find are results of my post-editing tweaking. Thanks to my editor Gabriel for keeping the chapters error-free. Enjoy. ----------------- 2 days later, Kiel's Office. ----------------- "Kiel, can I talk to you?" Priyal asked from the door way of Kiel's office. "Only if it's highly important and can be completed within 5 minutes." Kiel replied sharply as he looked through a few files. In truth, he wasn't in a mood to listen to any more reports or anything. He had returned from a mission just a few hours ago, and had been dying to go meet Rayn ever since he found out she wasn't at HQ. He had to leave on the mission without talking to her, and now, being so much closer, he felt restless not being able to see her. "It's about Rayn." Priyal said as she walked in. That got his attention. "What about her? Is she alright? Has she gotten into some trouble?" He asked worriedly, quickly closing the files. "No, she's alright. Just that, I don't think she should be hanging with Rogers much. I'm not sure but he seems...well," She paused searching for an appropriate word, "Not good for Rayn." Then she added, "And she has been hanging around with him a lot, lately." Noticing the suggestive tone in Priyal's words, he frowned slightly, "Is there any particular reason that you think he is fishy?" Priyal shifted uncomfortably in her seat, "No. Well, I can't exactly put my finger on it, but... He is supposed to be a Shape-shifter, yet he seems much too powerful for that. I think he is lying." She blurted out. Standing up, Kiel picked up his jacket, "Well, Kendra recruited him. And neither Kendra nor I find anything suspicious about him, so you don't have to worry about it. Good day." He prepared to leave. "Wait, Kiel." Priyal stood up, "I still don't think it's good for Rayn to spend so much time with him. I mean, for the past two days, she has been spending almost all day with him locked up in his office, leaving late at night. The day you left, we were training in the gym, and he came and literally dragged her out of there, saying he would be training her. He didn't even ask for my permission." She fumed, completely failing to notice the way Kiel stood rigidly in front of her, his face turning into a dark mask. "Is she with him today?" He asked without facing her, barely managing to keep from growling. "Yeah, I guess. They are probably 'training' again." She replied scathingly. "Oh!" He stood rooted to the spot for some time, then threw his jacket back on his desk. Going back to sit on his chair again, he pulled the files back. "Well, who she hangs with is none of your concern. I'm sure she knows what she is doing. You can leave now." He dismissed her without looking up at her. "But you just got back! You should go home and take some rest." "I appreciate the concern. I know what I'm supposed to do. Go back to work. Good day." He replied coldly. As he heard the door shut behind her, he pushed away the files and leaned back into the chair, closing his eyes. As Priyal's words came back to him, he pinched his nose. "Mistake. Big, big, big fucking mistake". He cursed at himself even as his heart wrenched to think he had lost Rayn. He shouldn't have waited for so long to claim her heart. He should have just snatched her up the moment he had known she was meant for him and made her his. Now, he had lost her. He felt like some one was holding his heart in a strong grip and squeezing really hard. It was so bloody painful. Opening his eyes, he stared blankly at the ceiling. Was it just two days ago that he had held her in his arms? It felt like a century. And now, he would probably never be able hold her like that again. He felt his wolf curling up, burying its nose between its paws, unable to bear this pain. The wolf didn't understand the complexities of human relationships, but it did understand this gut wrenching pain -- somehow, for some reason, their mate had rejected them. The wolf was pretty damn sure it was the human half's fault. After all, it he had his animalistic way, she would be with him right now. "It doesn't matter", he muttered, half conscious that he was talking to himself, despite knowing he didn't have to say things out loud for his wolf to understand it; he said it out loud to make himself believe it, "It doesn't matter whether we were mated or not. If she wanted us, she would be here." As the human half tried to bury his pain under his work load, the wolf remained curled up, trying very hard to resist the temptation of simply overtaking the consciousness and fight to win his mate over. It wasn't the nature of the animal to just let go of his mate. If someone tried to take away your mate, you fought back tooth and nail -- that was his philosophy. But knowing his human side would not go with that plan, it stayed put, simply waiting until the human burned out and returned home. His human may give up, but it was only in his sleep that the wolf would be able to persuade him to keep fighting for their mate. ***** ----------------- That night, The Den. ----------------- "No, I don't bloody want dinner. All I want is for you lot to leave me fucking alone. Think you can do that?" Kiel half growled half shouted at the young man who flinched with almost every word he uttered. The poor man had been assigned the job to ask the Alpha whether he would like his dinner to be sent up to his room or not. As he stood at the receiving end of Kiel's murderous glare, his knees trembled. Trembling like a leaf, he meekly answered, "Yes sir." "Yes sir what?" Kiel shouted again. "I... I will not bother you again, sir." The man's reply was barely audible. "Then why the fuck are you still standing here?" As Kiel growled, the man quickly turned and walked away as fast his trembling legs would carry him. Glaring at his retreating back, Kiel stepped back into the elevator. As the door closed and it started moving upwards, his anger started to drain little by little. Even as he realized how futile his anger was, still he tried to cling on to it. Because once the anger left, there would only be pain to deal with. And he seriously didn't want the pain to return. "Oh hell." He slumped against the back wall of the elevator. As the gut wrenching pain started to come back, he slowly sank down onto the floor. Staring up at the brightly lit panel as he saw the numbers change, he felt utterly and profoundly hopeless. In all his life, no matter how hard the situation got, he had never felt hopeless. But this one woman walked into his life and changed everything. Just the thought that she wouldn't be his anymore made him feel lost. Missions and wars didn't matter anymore. Everything seemed pointless. Right now it felt as if every step he had taken in his life was for him to reach her. And now, when she was so close, he had pushed her away and into someone else's arms. The only thing he wanted to do right now, was to mimic his wolf and curl up on the bed, trying not to wake up ever again. He sighed. He didn't even realize that it was his floor until the door made a soft 'ding' sound as it started to close. "Crap." He quickly stood up and exited the elevator just in time to get out before the door closed. Standing outside the elevator, his eyes instinctively drifted towards her door. Wandering closer, he stood in front of it like a true blue heartbroken puppy. A quick sniff at her door told him she wasn't in her apartment, in fact, she hadn't been in the apartment the whole day. She was with Rogers, probably. Sighing again, he turned towards his door. Walking into his apartment, he threw his jacket onto the couch. Then starting to take off his shirt, he lazily dragged himself towards his bed room. As he opened the door to his bed room, he had already taken off his shirt and the belt and was about half way through undoing his zipper when a sleepy voice greeted him, "Kiel, is that you?" Kiel froze in place. A small sensation of hope and joy started in his chest. Could it be? "Kiel?" The voice tentatively asked again. As his eyes adjusted slowly to the darkness of the room, he could make out someone sitting on his bed. He took a few hurried steps forward as the figure stood up. "Rayn?" He guarded his eyes with his palm as the light was turned on. "Hey." There she stood beside his bed, looking as if she had just woke up from a long sleep, her hair was messy, her cheeks looked rosy, and her slightly puffy, pouty lips called to him, as if begging for him to kiss them. "Uh, hey there." He replied unsurely. Should he ask what she was doing there? He opened his mouth, then closed it. It might sound rude. After all, he was very happy she was there. Should he tell her how happy he was to see her in his room? He opened his mouth again, and closed it again. It might sound cheesy, or creepy. What if she freaked out? May be she had just woke up from sleep and had come to meet him? Still, it doesn't explain why she was in his room in the first place. Was she waiting for him here the whole time? That feeling of joy grew a little. He could almost feel the smugness of his wolf. Oh, how he wanted to grab her and kiss her senseless right now. He couldn't help the mischievous grin that spread on his face. "I was... I was just..." She fidgeted as he just stood there smiling at her. "I'm sorry, you must be very tired. I was just leaving." She tried to quickly brush past him. "Uh uh uh, wait." He caught her with one of his arms around her waist. Gently dragging her back to himself, he tilted her head up with two fingers, "That's not why you were here in the first place." He murmured softly, then unable to resist the temptation, he let one of his fingers gently caress her lower lip. He had almost forgot how adorably fluffy they looked when she was fresh out of bed. As he brushed back a few strands of hair from her face, her eyes fluttered closed for a brief moment. Seeing that look on her face, he groaned mentally. Gods that felt so good! It felt like being able to breathe fresh air after having been locked up in a box for days or months. As he cupped her cheeks, she shivered slightly. Thinking she was feeling cold, he pulled her closer, bringing her body flush against his. "I wanted to see you when you got back. I figured that you being tired and all you would come straight home. So I waited here, then fell asleep. Just woke up to find you coming in." "Hmm..." he rumbled. "So you were right here the whole day?" He could feel her getting sleepy again. She planted her cheek against his chest. "Hmm. Yes." She was loosely holding on to his upper arms. Circling her with his arms, he smiled gratefully, sighing contentedly. "Oh. That's wonderful." He rubbed his cheek against her head. He just couldn't stop touching her, letting her get out of his arms were out of the question. "Hmm, yes it is." She sleepily murmured against his chest, then yawned. "I feel sleepy again." She complained, starting to pull back. "Hmm, better get you to bed then." He wasn't going to let her out of bed anytime soon. "Yeah you are right. It's too late." Then, as if something had just occurred to her, she stepped back from him with a frown, getting out of his arms. "Where the hell were you? I thought you came back this morning?" She demanded suddenly. "Yeah, I did." He guiltily admitted. "I had to stop at the office first, and well, work just kept piling up." "Ah, I see. Well you must be tired. You should get some rest." She looked back at the bed then back at him, "See you in the morning then. Good night." She smiled up at him. "What?" He stared at her, and then comprehension dawned on him. Of course, she was going to go back to her apartment. Why should she stay the night with him? She had no reason to. As he frantically tried to come up with a reason to make her stay, she walked away from him, towards the door. "Uh, wait. You can't go back to your apartment." He desperately tried. "Why not?" She turned back towards him. "Um, because... because, I broke the door, remember?" He offered hopefully. "Yeah. Then you got it repaired the next morning, remember?" Then pausing, she added, "Oh, no, you don't remember. That was the morning you went away on the mission. Without telling me." She glared at him. "Ah, um, it came up so suddenly. I didn't have much time." Did her pout always look that sexy? "Well, you had time to call up Dina and ask her to get on this mission, didn't you?" Nope, it looked so sexy because she was so sleepy, he decided. "I didn't. Rohan did that." "Whatever." She shrugged, turning back and walking out of the door. As he heard first his door slam shut and then the opening and closing of her door, he dropped onto his bed with a big sigh. Not only had he managed to waste an entire day working when he could have been with her, he had also managed to piss her off as soon as he met her. The only bright side was, he still had a chance to win her heart. And he wasn't going to waste that. All he had to figure out now was what went on inside her head, and everything will fall in place. "Dear Gods, help me." He groaned loudly. ***** "You are here?" The sudden inquiry made by Rohan made Kiel jerk out of his thoughts. Turning around to face him, Kiel drew his fingers through his hair. "Huh?" He asked, his brows knitted in confusion. "I asked why you are here. You are supposed to be at home, making peace with a certain lady, aren't you?" Rohan cocked an eyebrow. "Ah, yeah, that. Not going so well. So I figured I should get some work done." Kiel mumbled turning back to the monitors. "Clueless why she is so mad?" Rohan guessed. When his friend didn't answer, instead his ears started to turn red, he took that as a confirmation. "Oh, well, I might be able to provide some clues to that." Rohan sat down on a couch and pretended to focus on one of the monitors. After a few seconds passed, Kiel growled. "Well, what the fuck are you waiting for?" "Um, I don't know, for you to ask me?" Rohan shrugged, trying very hard to hide a smile. It bugged Kiel to no end to admit that he couldn't understand his own mate, and Rohan knew it. Letting out a sigh, Kiel glared at him, "Well, then. Do enlighten me, why is she so fucking mad at me?" Kiel was suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to strangle Rohan as he smirked very smugly. "Hmm. I think it has something to do with the fact that you selected Dina to be your partner on this mission and not her, so she hates it. You also waited until last night to meet her despite being back in the morning, and oh, you left without talking to her. So, at this moment, she feels pretty pissed at you because she thinks she has feelings for you that you do reciprocate, yet some of your actions tell her the exact opposite and she feels as if she is being foolish in believing that you actually care for her as something more than a protégé." Pausing, he added, "Yeah, I think that's about it." Then frowning, he added as an afterthought. "Also, Priyal said something to piss her off a few days back. That might have something to do with it too. I'm not very sure." Staring at him with wide eyes, Kiel shook his head, "I don't even wanna know how you know so much about her thoughts." "Meh." Rohan shrugged, "It's not hard when you've studied women as extensively as I have." "Ahh... I see." Kiel nodded, before his brows furrowed, "Wait, what was that about Priyal saying something to her?" "I'm not sure about the details, but it seems Priyal had said something during training to piss her off and they were on the verge of a fight in the gym when, apparently, Rogers showed up and took over Rayn's training, breaking up the fight." "What do you mean 'it seems'? What did she say to Rayn?" Rohan almost winced seeing the anger in Kiel's gaze. "Whoa, calm down. I told you, the details are fuzzy. No one was in the gym at that time. An operative saw something happening in the gym from a distance, he didn't hear anything, but judging from the way Rogers seemed to be shouting at Priyal he thought it was a fight and came and reported to me. Rayn and Priyal aren't talking about it, and knowing Rogers, he would make a riddle out of it before he talked." Rohan shrugged helplessly. "Huh..." Kiel muttered thoughtfully, putting two and two together. "That explains the venom." He muttered to himself, his eyes staring at nothing in particular. "What venom?" Rohan asked with alarm, not having heard him fully. Then he frowned at Kiel, "How the hell did you know about that Toxicology lab screw up? I thought I covered it up nicely." "Oh?" Kiel's eyes focused on Rohan. "Did you, now? And why didn't you tell me?" He demanded, trying hard not to smirk. "Didn't want to bother you with petty details. Besides, it wasn't anything serious. Some new assistant mixed the wrong chemicals, and won't admit it." Rohan shrugged. "Huh." Kiel found it somewhat curious; he knew his Tox lab team was very efficient and scrupulous, so such screw ups, and then denial of the screw up was rather unexpected from them. "Oh, well, even they have to screw up sometimes, I guess." He shrugged. "Yeah. Barry, the team leader, he said he would shove a Dragon scale up my ass if I said that to him again. Said, his team didn't do screw ups. There was, supposedly, some kind of an 'energy surge' in the immediate environment which led to the accident." Rohan pulled a face. "And?" Kiel prodded. When Rohan stared blankly at him, he added, "Didn't you investigate this energy surge further?" "Oh, yeah, I did. But no one else felt that, and, besides, none of the 'Works in Progress' can result in that kind of Energy surge." "Hmm." Kiel stared out of the window for a few moments before turning back to Rohan, "Rogers is working with the gem. May be..." "Nope. I saw his logs, and he wasn't working with it at the time of that accident." Rohan was starting to get irritated now. "Look man, I know my job, and I know how to do it. I'm telling you, there was no energy surge that night. So stop worrying." "Alright." Kiel stared at his friend, Rohan rarely lost his cool, and even then, only for something really irritating. "You okay?" "Yeah." Rohan shook his head slightly, "I'll see you later." Then, without giving Kiel another opportunity to say anything, he stalked off. Kiel blinked with confusion. Apparently, something had happened in the two days he wasn't here and it had changed quite a many things. Looking down from the window, he followed Rohan's progress through the hall towards the Armory. Suddenly, a movement off to the side in the hall distracted him. Looking towards the side, he found Rayn walking into the hall from the corridor leading to the gym, she was waving at someone with a smile on her face. As his eyes followed the direction of her gaze, he saw Rogers walking towards Rayn. As they came close, Rogers said something, smiling down at her, to which, Rayn replied with a shy smile. A few moments later, Rogers had turned and offered her his arm, and Rayn placed her hand on his arm as they walked away towards his office. As he followed them with his eyes, he promptly felt an urge to run down to Rogers' office and drag her away from him. He closed his eyes, inhaling deeply. A memory surfaced in his mind of Rogers taunting him. "I think you should just tell her... before she starts wanting someone else." It was high time he won her heart, because, if he didn't, there was at least one other man who would. ***** "I'm sorry, I just lost control." Rayn pouted at Rogers who stood in the middle of his office, drenched in water. Rayn was supposed to shield herself against a Water Blast that Rogers directed at her. Instead Rayn had pushed back the magically created wall of water on him. Shaking his head, he huffed. Lovers' Oath Ch. 09 "I think you did that on purpose." He accused. She shrugged, "Yeah, may be you are right." She smiled sheepishly as he glared at her. "Stop playing, Rayn." Hearing the disapproval in the softly spoken words, she hung her head. "Sorry." As she saw the smile tugging at Rogers' lips, inspiration struck her, "Hey, wanna see what I discovered?" Without waiting for a reply she focused on a flower vase, lifting her hands up in the air with her palms slightly apart, as she tried to limit her visual field to the immediate area around the vase. Within moments, the air around the vase condensed, slightly obscuring the vase. The very next moment a bluish fire erupted around the vase, pulling it up in air. "Uh, uh, uh." Rogers quickly stepped forward and pushed her hands down. Startled, as she looked back at him, she heard the distinct thud of the vase landing on the carpet. "What?" She pouted. "No playing with fire." Rogers stepped back, turning to look at the vase. "Not until you have gained control over the energy." Looking back at Rayn, he saw the pout. "These things command more energy, Rayn. And it can be disastrous if you lose control of that kind of energy. Remember the last time you lost control?" "Yeah, the Tox lab accident." Rayn murmured guiltily. "It could have been life threatening, Rayn. Just think, the energy surge broke through all the protections placed around it, placed by me. If I hadn't interfered in time, the lab could have blown up." Rogers regarded her with piercing eyes, "You have too much power at your command, so you have to master it well, or it can end up hurting others." "Yeah, I know." She mumbled, "I just discovered this the other day, I was practicing and the punching bag just caught fire, yet it didn't burn." "Yeah, stuff like that will happen unless you learn to control the energy. And that act, requires much more energy than what you've been doing so far. It is because you don't have full control that you've been unable to transform at will so far." Then, after a slight pause, he added, "And just so you know, if you tried that Fire swing -- that thing with the blue fire, on any type of animal, it will suffer great pain, the animal will feel like every fiber of its body burning up, yet no physical marks will appear, it will still live." Rayn gasped. "Oh God!" she stared with disbelief. Rogers nodded grimly. "Yes. The powers are terrible." Then taking a few steps back, he prepared to throw the Water Blast again, only pausing to add, "Remember Rayn, both the Demon Lord and you have immense power at your disposal. It is the way you utilize that power that distinguishes you from him." "Is that the only distinction?" Rayn wondered, her eyes fastened on the toppled flower vase that she had moments ago put on fire. "More or less." Rogers shrugged, "Come on, block the water blast again." "Kai..." Rayn softly called using his real name for the first time, startling him. "Yes?" He tilted his head. "I... I'm not so sure that is the only distinction between me and any demon." Rayn determinedly looked away from Rogers as she let out her thoughts. "When I was a kid, I was in school; I did something very, very horrible to a girl because she was being nasty to me. I didn't want it to happen, I just, I simply thought about punishing her, and there she was, hanging in the air, screaming her head off, and then when I wished she would shut up, she did, but her body writhed in pain nonetheless." She looked up at Rogers to see him staring at her with understanding. "Now this Fire thing... It seems torturous ways come naturally to me, without any effort. You tell me to block, I push it back at you." She shook her head. "Isn't that, sort of, demonic, too?" her eyes shone brightly as she tried to hold her tears in check. "Well," Kai regarded her with thoughtful eyes, "That is one way of putting it. In my opinion, that is what differentiates between you and a demon. The 'demonic' way of using the power comes naturally, because for doing that, to some extent, you don't have to exercise as much control over your power as in the case of the other way of doing things." He saw Rayn's expression register relief, then he stepped closer to her, pulling her to him holding her upper arms. She tilted her head up to look at his face. Looking down into her eyes, he brushed two fingers on her forehead, tracing the crease that had appeared there a few moments ago, "There is a demon in each of us, Rayn. Some we know of, some we don't. Don't judge yourself prematurely." Rayn mutely nodded, then offered a small smile at him. As Rayn tried to step back from him, suddenly, Rogers tightened his hold on her. As she looked up at him, slightly surprised, he gently placed a hand on her cheek, placing his thumb beside her eye, the other fingers gently cupping the back of her head. Locking his gaze with hers Rogers let his senses explore her mind. He found the memories of the day easily enough, but as he tried to go further back, he met resistance. There was a veil over everything that had happened before that day. Intrigued, he coaxed his way further. "Let me in, Rayn." He softly murmured, "You know you have nothing to fear from me." He pushed against that veil. It gave way little by little. Snippets of memories came rushing out. Faces of some people stood out, his, Rohan's, Kiel's. then, without warning, a handsome face stood out. He knew that face too well. Trying to keep his focus despite his surprise, he delved further. Rayn shouldn't have known that face. As he tried to go further back in her memories, he found the resistance increasing. Why was she so resistant to show him her memories? He frowned. Pushing hard against the block, he suddenly found what he was looking for. The memories of her dreams and visions poured forth and with them, came the flood of emotions that she had felt with each of the visions. Her anxiety, her fear assailed him, and as he experienced the emotions over and over again, he knew why she was resisting. Her mind was trying to protect her from this fear. She was scared of the strange dreams, of being pursued and captured relentlessly no matter where she ran to. And worse, she didn't even know which ones were mere dreams and which were true. Crap. Gasping with shock, he pulled back from her mind. As his senses retreated, he swayed on the spot still reeling from the emotions. Then, steeling himself, he looked back down at Rayn. "What the hell did you just do?" Rayn demanded with confusion. She felt exhausted, emotionally drained. "I... I tried to explore your memories." He saw her jaw hang open as she tried to say something, but he cut her off. "And I came across something interesting." She blinked, "What?" "You have been having some visions lately?" "Some stupid dreams, nightmares." Rayn promptly answered, dropping her eyes to his chest. "No, Rayn, visions." He corrected her, "Those eyes you keep seeing, that man you saw in your dream - those are visions." As he saw her wondering gaze return to his face, he continued, "There is a fine distinction between visions and dreams. You feel them differently." He frowned. It was happening too soon, given her powers. "You need to protect your mind better." He muttered. "Protect my mind?" Rayn laughed hoarsely. "Kai, every time I see that man in my dream...vision, I feel as if I'm battling a thousand demons at once. I run, but it doesn't matter, he always captures me. I...He wants me to obey him, to... say something. And I get so tired of resisting that pressure." Rayn's eyes threatened to spill the tears she was holding back. "What use protecting my mind will be, if I can't even resist a dream?" She whispered. "No, no. I told you, it's not a dream, a vision, a vision." Rogers shook his head with vexation, "Some outside power is trying to influence you, and you need to protect your mind so you can resist that power." He let her go, stepping back and then started pacing with agitation. "This is too early. Fucking way too early for this to be happening." He thought frantically. He couldn't tell her the truth yet. But in order to protect her, he needed her to understand what was happening. Stopping, he turned to face her. As he saw the apprehension on her face, he cursed at himself. He was making her more afraid. Stepping close to her, he spoke softly, "I'm sorry. I should explain first." Seeing the tension leave her face a little, he couldn't help reaching up and brushing the back of his fingers against her soft cheeks in the pretext of brushing away a lock of her hair. "Please, do. I'm getting quite lost in this sea of magic and supernatural quite fast. No one really told me I'd be having visions and strangers made of darkness will be pursuing me relentlessly when I first joined La Lumiere." She acidly mumbled. Sighing, he ran his fingers through his hair, "Yeah, well, not many of them are aware that this is happening to you, and frankly, I'd like to see any of them trying to explain this to you." He took a few steps back to lean his back against a desk, and gestured to a chair in front of him, "Sit." "I'm fine standing here." She replied, crossing her arms in front of her. Lifting an eyebrow at her, he shrugged, then continued, "You are quite powerful in many aspects." As he saw her opening her mouth to say something, he raised his hand to momentarily stop her from saying anything, "For one, you are a creature who brings four very powerful magical beings together. You are an exceptional fighter; you were promoted from a trainee to a full - fledged operative in a matter of weeks while it takes most werewolves to be trained for at least a year to achieve that place. You also harbor a great amount of the energy that we call 'magic', and even in that aspect you are progressing exceptionally fast. I'm not a humble man, so I will note the role of an exceptionally good trainer in that progress, but it is mostly you. You have great potential." He lifted his eyes to her, "Great potential that can still be directed in one way or the other. People like you hold the balance in this war, Rayn. The side you choose, you empower greatly." He saw a flicker of understanding dawn on her face. "If a demon can sway your allegiance to their side, he ensures growth of their empire. It is my understanding that is exactly what is happening in those visions. Some powerful demon is trying to influence you through them." "A...A demon?" She stared open mouthed at him. As he nodded, she gulped, "But, how? How is that possible?" Then something more horrible occurred to her, "What if... what if I am being possessed? What if they succeed and they make me harm you people? What if they start controlling me? And, and if they can get into my head, may be they can read my thoughts and memories too, like you did. And then they will know everything about HQ and Kiel and you..." She gasped, tears falling freely as she imagined horrible things being done by her under the control of some demon, her eyes stared unseeingly as vivid images of torturing her loved ones floated in front of her eyes. Her body started shaking as her knees seemed to grow weaker every passing moment. "Damn it!" Rogers cursed loudly, "I wasn't trying to scare you." He was trying to explain things to her, hoping if she understood it, she would be able to cope with it. But now, seeing her cry, he felt he had just made it all the more worse for her. Adjusting into this magical world after being brought up in the human world was taking its toll on her, she was becoming more and more emotionally fragile as grief and danger seemed to follow her every step. He quickly stepped forward to take her in his arms. Seeing her breaking down, promptly triggered a primitive urge to protect her, sooth her, to pull her to himself and hold her in the security of his arms, to tell her he wouldn't let anything happen to her. He didn't try to deny that urge. He pulled her in his arms, her head coming to rest on his chest. As her body shook with the force of her sobs, he lowered his head to softly murmur into her ears, "It's okay, Rayn. You are alright. No one can harm you, not like that." At his soothing murmur, her sobs seem to recede slowly; still, he didn't let her go. "They can't do those things. Possessing you, reading your memories, they can't do those things like that. You are safe here, everyone is safe." She lifted her head from his chest to look up at him, "Promise?" She whispered worriedly. He would have laughed at the childish trepidation with which she said that word but seeing the insecurity in her eyes, he nodded, giving her a small smile, "Promise." As he saw relief creep back on her face, he gently muttered, "I won't let anything happen to you." "I know that." She nodded, "Thank you, Kai." He shook his head, his eyes still locked to her. No one had called him by his real name for a long time. But that wasn't the only reason why it sounded so sweet when she called him that. He reached up with a hand to cup her cheek. He could still see the trail the tears had left behind. Wishing very much to make them disappear forever from her life, he gently ran a thumb down that trail. He had no idea how to do that. How to ensure no pain ever touched her, how to protect her from her destiny. But he had promised her he would protect her, and so he would. He just wanted to let her know that in no uncertain terms. Lowering his head, he softly brushed his lips against hers. Startled, Rayn tried to step back, but failed as he gently pulled her back to him with an arm around her waist. His lips claimed hers again with a soft yet firm grip. Still cupping her face, he gently tilted her head back. Then without delay, he caught her lips in a hard kiss, crushing his lips to hers, suckling hard on her lower lip. To his surprise, she didn't try to pull back, instead, she clung to him, her fingers clamping on to his shoulder. He tasted the sweetness of her mouth that had always intrigued him, always felt so inviting to him. Her lips undulated against his, and then smoothly glided over his lips before he captured them again, unwilling to let her go yet. His breathing grew ragged; his fingers left her cheek and crept around her to pull her even closer. Then, tightening his hold on her, he picked her up, bringing her face up to his so that he didn't have to keep his head lowered to reach her mouth. He felt each curve of her soft body against the hard planes of his; he felt each tremor that ran through her body as her breathing grew heavy. She softly whimpered as Kai kissed her unrelentingly. The desperate need to never let her go drove him on, yet, as a small corner of his mind noted the inevitability of the separation, his kiss grew even more desperate. He poured all his heart in that one kiss, he tried to tell her every untold word of love and cherishement he had for her with that kiss. Gentling the kiss, he softly pulled her lower lip into his mouth, tracing the smooth softness with the tip of his tongue, then gently grazing it with his teeth. Gasping, she arched against him, opening her mouth to him. Instantly pleased, his tongue darted into her mouth, gently rubbing up against her tongue, coaxing it to come out and play. At his first nudge her tongue had retreated further back and then suddenly, it shot forth to stab at his with the tip. He promptly suckled on it, not letting her pull back. As she tried to take control over the kiss, he again covered her lips with his, this time gently nipping her lip before he suckled on the spot. He felt her arms creeping up his and then coming to rest around his neck. As he kept her off her feet, her knees found purchase on his waist as she clung to him. As she inhaled deeply, his darkly masculine scent assailed her nostrils, instantly making her crave more of his touch. She felt arousal coil inside her, her nipples hardening into pebbles. She wanted to control it, she wanted her body to not respond this way to his kiss, but it betrayed her. She couldn't even form coherent thoughts. As she felt the need build inside her just from that one kiss, she felt the anticipation rise within her for the reaction that more of Kai's touch can bring her. As his tongue again penetrated her mouth, she stopped resisting him. Feeling her relax against him his lips left hers momentarily to travel down her throat covering every inch of the skin with fiery kisses. As a moan escaped her lips, he returned his attention to them. He teased her lips mercilessly with soft, gentle caresses of his lips, brushing against them fleetingly, then licking along the seam of her lips with the tip of his tongue. Her lips followed each movement of his, trying to capture them with hers. He felt the limits of his restraint waver. He knew if he went any further, he would not be able to stop himself. And although every fiber of his body protested to withdraw from her, he knew he couldn't do that to her. She won't be able to ever forgive him, if he didn't stop himself. Slowly, unwillingly, he lowered her to the ground; his lips grew frantic on hers as he felt the separation approach. Brushing his lips on hers for the last time, he set her down on her feet, resting his head against her forehead. As she continued to cling to him, he kept his hold on her, unwilling to end it. As they calmed down, she opened her eyes to look up at him. As her green gaze met his black ones, she slowly pulled back from him. Understanding what she wanted, he withdrew his arms from around her, letting her step away from him. "Wow!" She swayed, losing her balance. Rogers' arms shot forth to steady her. Once he was sure she was stable on her feet, he let her go again, then stared at her, unsure of her reaction. She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm her racing heart. She didn't know whether to feel relieved or feel disappointed. If he had continued on with the kiss and more, she knew she couldn't have resisted. From the very first day she had went out with him, every little touch of his, even as simple as brushing the back of his hand against hers accidentally, had made her heart flutter. Even the casual kisses he had stolen in the private moments in his apartment, they had set her heart racing. But never before had she experienced this breath taking kiss. She had never found the enthusiasm to stop him from kissing before; it was only when her wolf had pulled her back had she stopped him, but this time, she didn't even feel her wolf inside her. All she had felt was the raw need flowing through her veins, the incessant need to feel his warmth. She had felt the desperation in his kiss; she had felt his need for her, his love for her. And she was confused by her own reaction to him. There was a time when she had thought he was the one for her, but then her beast had gone and chosen another as her mate. Today, she didn't know any more whether what she felt for Kai was love or lust. All she understood was that he was hurting inside, the apprehension in his eyes bore proof to that, and she didn't want him to hurt. Instinctively she reached for him. As she laid her hand on his forearm, he didn't move. As seconds passed in silence, his eyes grew wary. She opened her mouth to say something, anything to sooth him, but nothing came to her mind. She tried again, and again failed. Lost in her own confusion, she couldn't understand what to say. Closing her eyes, she shook her head. Then looking up at him, she mumbled, "I should go." Turning around she made to go away, when one of his arms snaked around her waist. "Rayn, wait." He softly called. "I know what you feel for me...and what you feel for Kiel." He paused to draw in a deep breath, "I just wanted to let you know what I feel for you." He turned her towards himself, and saw a single tear escape her eyes. He frowned, "No matter what I do, I seem to end up making you cry." He grumbled. Lovers' Oath Ch. 09 "I...you are hurting Kai, and I hate that I am causing you that pain." She said with agitation. "I'm not hurting." Rogers stated, then as he saw the morose look on her face, he averted his gaze, "May be I am hurting, but that doesn't matter. I just wanted to let you know that... I am here. You don't have to be afraid of anything." "You have a hell of a way to show someone your support. You do that to everyone you want to reassure?" She retorted, as she saw him flinch slightly, her tone softened, "That wasn't the only thing you wanted to say, Kai." "No." He agreed, "I wanted to let you know you will always have me by your side, no matter what." He paused, then decided to continue, "Also, you should know your options before you make a decision." He said quietly. As she understood what he was saying, her eyes widened, "Options?" Her eyes roamed his face, "I understand you love me, but I don't know what I feel for you. You said it yourself, Kai, my wolf recognizes another as my mate, and that isn't you. Does it look like I get to make choices?" She bit out bitterly, stepping back from him agitatedly. Rogers' eyes fully opened as he surveyed her, "But you do! It isn't decided for you. The wolf picks someone who is best suited to you. It is still you, as the whole being, who makes the decision." He hoped he didn't sound too pathetic and needy. "It doesn't matter either way, Kai." She shook her head, "I... I don't know what to feel anymore. There is a part of me that wants Kiel; and that part is quite uninhibited about getting him. Yet, I don't understand what he wants from me. And then, there's you. I've always felt a connection with you; you were the one I felt something for when I first came here. Yet, now, I don't know what I feel for you." She hugged herself tightly, "Your kisses always make my heart race, and it has been so from the first day we kissed. But..." She had to stop speaking as Rogers placed a finger on her lips. Looking down at her, he gently smiled, "I wanted to let you know about your options, so you can make an informed decision. That doesn't mean you have to make a decision right now." He ducked his head and placed a gentle peck on her forehead, "take your time. I'm kind of an immortal, so time isn't much of an issue for me." As he saw her lips form a slow smile, he chuckled. Then, more seriously, he added, "No matter what you decide, Rayn, know that I'll always respect that decision. I've told you before, and I'll tell you again, I can always be a friend." "Well, it will suck to lose a friend like you, but I can't ever ask you to do that when I know it will only hurt you." "That is not your choice to make." Rogers calmly stated. "But..." She wanted to argue, despite knowing there wasn't any point in arguing with him, except, perhaps, that it would take her mind off of the disconcerting confusion that her heart was in right now. However, she was silenced as a familiarly horrible sensation washed over her, the world fading into black around her, she could hear Rogers speaking, but it seemed very distant. She gasped as she was again thrust into the eerie darkness, the sound of some fast indistinguishable chanting flooding her senses. A scene flashed before her eyes of a woman kneeling in front of man, her head bowed in subservience. The scene faded as soon as it came, to be followed by another. The woman was naked, and this time, she was embracing a man from behind him, her palm enclosing his swollen member. Rayn couldn't see either of their faces, but had the distinct feeling she knew them. Before she could think, another scene flashed before her eyes, this time it was so vivid that she could almost take it for real. She was standing on the highway of an ancient city. As she turned her head, she could see the glamour and beauty that adorned every wall of every house. She could see statues of crystal and precious metals set on the sides of the road, ornate designs on the outer walls of the houses, the people wore jewelries that she had only ever heard tales of. As she looked around, history seemed to come alive. She knew if she turned and looked behind, she would see the proud peaks of the Koter Mountains pierce the heavens as they sprawled across the horizon. She knew if she climbed the highest tower of the castle that rose up at least a kilometer further ahead reaching for the skies, she will be able to see the mighty waves of the Perlin Ocean crash soundlessly on the foot of the deep jungles lining the shores. She was standing on a road of one of lost cities. She gaped in wonder at her surroundings. Her brain had stopped working. As she turned to look for the mountains, she suddenly found herself looking into the eyes of the stranger from her dreams -- visions, she corrected herself. As soon as she had found him staring down at her, all the glories of the beautiful city faded into the bleak corroded surrounding of jagged rocks, broken statues and the dreary silence of a necropolis. She couldn't move. As he stared down at her, his gaze trying to pull her in, she simply stared at him. All the glory can come back. He didn't speak, but his whispered words made their way into her head. You have to just wish for it. He held her face in his hands, so she couldn't turn her head. You and I can again restore what has been taken from us. You will be restored to your rightful place beside me, as the Queen. And we shall correct the misdeed of our ancestors. The pressure of his hands increased on her cheeks. She shook her head, trying to pull back. He drew her closer to him, his face hovering inches above her. It is our destiny. You can't escape it. No matter where you go, I'll always find you. Who are you? She asked. As she saw the glint in his eyes, she felt a sudden urge to run, as fast as she can. She struggled against his hold futilely. Your destiny, He grinned. Just say yes, and all this will be yours, all this and more. You will be the Empress of the mightiest Empire Cardaera has ever seen. You will have all the powers of my army at your beck and call. You will have me, by your side. The black eyes widened, swirling with the multitude of promises, but she didn't feel the compelling pull of those eyes anymore. No. She struggled, and then whimpered as he tightened his hold on her, almost breaking her jaw. As she heard the growl close to her ear, she stilled herself waiting for the blow to come. But it never came. Instead, she was suddenly enclosed in a very familiar embrace. As she opened her eyes, she found herself under the scrutinizing gaze of Rogers. "Welcome back." He quietly greeted. "I wasn't here?" Her eyes widened in shock. "You were here alright, but your mind was somewhere else." He paused, "What did you see?" at her startled blink, he shook his head, "Yes, I know you had a vision. What was it?" "Umm. I'm not entirely sure. First I kept seeing a woman and a man, they seemed familiar, but I wasn't sure who they were. Then I saw one of the lost cities -- I think it was Barator, you know the one that was famous for their crystal statues. I saw the road lined with their statues. Then, I, uh, saw him again, and he said I could rule all of that, if I accepted his proposal." She finished wonderingly, "He again tried that hypnotizing thing, but it didn't work this time." She shook her head, trying to understand what it all meant. "Do you think this man who keeps appearing in my visions; he is the one trying to get into my head?" "It's possible." Rogers looked a little lost in thoughts, "Or it is someone else helping him to get into your head." He straightened, "Good thing you can resist now. So don't worry. We'll find a way to stop it altogether." He smiled reassuringly. "I'm... confused." I seem to say that a lot more, recently, she thought to herself. "I couldn't resist even yesterday. How did I do it today?" she arched one brow at him. He put his hands up in the air, "Beats me. Must be something you did." She narrowed her eyes, "Or something you did." He shrugged, "May be I'm a good influence. But..." He checked his watch, "I have something to take care of, and I do believe you have to report to Rohan in about 10 minutes." "Hmm. We'll talk about your influence later, then." She tilted her head and observed him through narrowed eyes for a few moments while he stared innocently back at her, then shaking her head, she left. ***** As each hour passed, Kiel steadily grew impatient waiting for Rayn to come out of Rogers' office. Granted, Rogers was only training her to use her magic, but knowing it still didn't do anything to subdue his suspicion that training wasn't the only thing Rogers wanted to do. It also didn't help that Rayn had dated Rogers for quite a while before she even got friendly with Kiel. All in all, Kiel decided, he will be immensely happy if she simply stayed as far from that man as possible. Or, his wolf dryly suggested with vivid imagination, if you simply stopped being an ass and mated with her. It growled in frustration as the human seemed hell bent on losing their mate. Kiel shook his head. After being able to contain his wolf for so long, he now found it somewhat disconcerting that his wolf wasn't as under his control as he would like it to be. Looking for something to distract him, he slowly walked down the main hall towards the communication center. As he came closer to his destination, several of the operatives stopped in their tracks to either watch him with anticipation or to simply greet him. Only one of them stepped towards him, and started to walk with him. "Hey, Kiel." As Kiel heard the husky voice, he almost groaned, almost. "I'd much prefer to be called 'Chief'." He dryly informed the woman. "Um, sorry. Chief, then. It was just, you know, on the mission, I called you by your first name, and it stuck to me, I guess." She giggled, one of her hands brushing up against his arm as she casually raised one hand to reach his face. Before he could step aside, she brushed her fingers against his cheek as if dusting off something sticking to his face, and then she smiled up at him. "Dina..." He started in a warning tone, but she cut him off. "I was looking forward to seeing you again." He stared down at her, trying very hard to calm down. "Dina, that was a mission, this is the base. The roles we played on the mission do not apply here." "Roles?" She laughed, "But for me it was all true." She stepped closer to him. He took two steps diagonally away from her. "I'm sorry if I gave you any false impressions, but it was just a mission, nothing more." He sternly informed her in a low voice. Then, before she could say anymore, he turned and walked away. Before he could go any further, however, his eyes found what he has been waiting for. Changing his direction, he took long strides to meet up with Rayn as she emerged from a corridor entrance and started to make her way across the hall towards the armory. "Hi." He greeted her. Her eyes intent upon someone else, she was suddenly startled as he gently placed his hand on her arm to get her attention. "Huh?" she stared wildly at him for a second before she regained composure. "Oh, hey. Um, Good morning." "Good morning." He nodded and stepped closer to her, then seeing her eyes on something behind him, he half turned to see what it was. He found Dina staring at them. Moving slightly to place himself between them, he trained his steely gaze on Dina, who suddenly flinched and looked away. As he started to turn his head back to Rayn, the scent that reached his nose surprised him. ***** Trying very hard not to give into the urge to step around Kiel and beat the girl staring at her black and blue, Rayn fidgeted slightly. Kiel seemed to intimidate the girl as she caught a glimpse of the girl turning away from them when Kiel moved to turn towards her. Then Rayn saw his nostrils flare, and he jerked back his face to stare at her. As she stared up at him incomprehensively, she saw his gaze drift past her and fix on to someone behind her. Understanding dawned on her as she saw the furious flash in his eyes. Crap. She wanted to step back from him. She could actually feel the waves of anger rolling off of him. Kiel had smelled Rogers on her. She knew she should do something, say something, she just had no idea what. Hell, she didn't understand why Kiel was so angry in the first place, it wasn't like they were seeing each other or anything. As that thought struck her, she felt irritated at Kiel. What the hell did he think he was? Whoever gave him any right to be angry if she kissed someone else? Why the fuck should he be angry? If he wanted her for himself, he should work towards that, instead of simply giving her ideas with actions like this and then acting like she meant nothing. With every thought, she felt more incensed and roused. She had her retort ready for him if he asked her about it. She straightened her back, and crossed her arms in front of her, her lips pursed. ***** Kiel wished he could burn people with just his stare. Then it would be very convenient for him to kill Rogers the instant he stepped into the hall behind Rayn. Kiel liked the way Rayn smelled, and he would be ready to kill anyone for marring the deliciousness of her scent with theirs. And he wanted to tear Rogers limb from limb for kissing her. That bastard! His insides roared with the anger he felt coursing through his body. He was plenty sure that rage was not only that of his human part but also of the wolf. He dares to touch her! The taunt Rogers had thrown at him came to mind. Kiel hadn't claimed Rayn for himself yet, and Rogers was not going to wait for him to do it. He had given Kiel warning, and he was not going to stop trying to win her heart. I'll kill him! He furiously thought as he followed Rogers walk across the hall and then come to a halt to talk to another operative. However, despite his fury, a small, logical part of his mind questioned that decision. What was Rogers fault exactly? To court a beautiful woman who Kiel had not claimed? In fact, even if he killed Rogers, would Rayn let him claim her? Now that was the question, wasn't it? That thought brought Kiel up short. He had to woo her before he claimed her. And killing off a man who was already wooing her wouldn't help. Throwing a last enraged glance at Rogers who seemed to be in deep discussion over something with another operative, Kiel turned his attention back to Rayn who was watching him with her own anger burning behind her eyes. "How are you?" He softly asked, his eyes roaming over her face to detect any sign of distress. He wouldn't waste one moment to get rid of Rogers if he found that the man had kissed her against her wish. Disappointingly, he didn't find any such sign. In fact, she just seemed very surprised by his question. "What?" She blandly asked. "How are you?" He sounded genuinely concerned and not in the least bit impatient. She shrugged, "I don't see any reason to be anything but fine." Arrogance and anger laced her words. She would have felt better if they had any impact on Kiel, but it seemed he was determined to overlook all her attempts to pick a fight with him. "I heard there was a problem with Priyal?" He asked with concern. "I... it was nothing. She was getting frustrated with my failures, so she said some things. It doesn't matter." Rayn shook her head. "Besides, things worked out for the best after that. Rogers is a good trainer. He knows how to handle me... my magic." "So... you are...satisfied...with him?" Rayn looked into his eyes, trying to understand the real meaning of his query. She hated these ambiguous questions. "Yes. I am quite satisfied with him." As she saw his jaw clench, she felt a little guilty pleasure at teasing him. He got what he asked for, didn't he? She thought amusedly. She saw his eyes darting towards someone behind her and then his piercing gaze came back to intensely look into her eyes, as if trying to read her mind. Could he do that? Frowning, Rayn felt a little vulnerable at the prospect. As he continued to look at her, she felt her irritation grow. "I don't have time for this." She muttered to herself and tried to brush past him. Before she could have taken two steps, Kiel's finger closed around her arm, pulling her to a stop. "Rayn, wait." She tried to tug her hand free of his and failed. She glared up at him, "Do you mind? I need to be somewhere." "Will you have dinner with me tonight?" although his fingers were gentle on her arm, he didn't let her go. And she might not have noticed even if he had let her go. "Excuse me?" She asked skeptically. He seemed serious, and sincere. In fact, if she didn't know any better, she could have sworn she detected a mild tone of nervousness underlying his question. "Have dinner with me tonight. I'll pick you up at the Den at around 8.30?" She looked at him as though he had grown another set of arms and legs. And then as it sank in, she vehemently shook her head. "No." She said firmly, then, to back it up, she added, "Nope. No way. No, no no, no, no, no." "Why not?" He asked, feeling a little hurt. He thought he saw Rogers' head turn towards them slightly, as if he could hear them, from the corner of his eyes, but Kiel didn't try to see if that was the case. "Ah, because I have something else to do." She gave another tug at her arm in order to free it from his grasp. In reaction, Kiel placed his other hand on her other arm, making it impossible for her to face away from him anymore. "Are you seeing someone else?" Before answering, Rayn just stared at him, unsure how to interpret that question. It seemed that the answer mattered to him, as if the possibility somehow hurt him. But then, when it comes to Kiel, she could never be sure if what she read on his face and in his words were indeed correct. The last time Kiel had asked her out, it had turned out to be a mission. "Not that it's any of your business..." Despite the temptation of teasing him with her answer, she decided it wasn't worth it. "but, no, I'm not seeing someone else." "Then why wouldn't you have dinner with me?" He asked stubbornly. As he ultimately felt her attempts at trying to pull away, he dropped his hand from her arms, sighing with resignation. His wolf snarled at him, 'Don't let her go.' She didn't immediately pull away from him. She looked at him with vague annoyance, then turned away from him half-heartedly, "Because I'm busy." Then she was walking away from him. "I have demons for you to deal with." He had no idea why he blurted it out, but he felt desperate to do anything that will make her say yes. Somewhat to his pleasure, she did stop. Then she turned at him, her expression hardening. "It's a mission?" "Uh, yeah?" He carefully scrutinized her face searching for any sign that may indicate what her reaction would be. "But, you said no missions for me for the next week?" she asked skeptically. The prospect of getting back into the swing of things did make her feel good, but she couldn't help being suspicious. Kiel didn't change his mind so easily. "I changed my mind." Well, may be she was wrong about him, then. Still she couldn't shake off the doubt. "But you said..." She started, but then thought better of it, "Well, never mind. Okay fine. Pick me up at the Den at 8.30." He smiled broadly, his eyes glinting mischievously, "Wonderful. It's a date then." "Whatever." She rolled her eyes. Then before she could turn away, he suddenly stepped up to her and swooped down to place a gentle kiss on her cheek before softly murmuring in her ears, "You do look beautiful with your hair down." Then he stepped away from her, shooting her a boyish grin before turning around and leaving her dazed with one of her hands covering the cheek he had kissed. As she realized he had left, she let out the breath she was holding in unconsciously and walked off towards the armory, trying very hard not to think about the way his lips had felt against her skin. Lovers' Oath -"It doesn't matter." she shouted back, before taking her stance and observing the creatures advance slowly. He chuckled from where he lay helpless, 'I would almost mistake her for the Alpha, except for her being a woman', he thought. Her last sentence was something his alpha frequently used. He watched her in appreciation as she stood her ground firmly, never yielding, never backpedaling. Instead she watched them carefully for a weak point in their armor as she waited, poised to pounce. Part-II Rayn waited for them to come closer. She did not know the range of the gun and neither knew how many bullets each minion of devil would take before going down. So she decided to let them get close enough to get their heads in line with the gun. She saw the heavy armor they were wearing; well, it was either their armor or they had steel like scales. The heavy armor gave her the idea that they were pretty vulnerable beneath it. And the only part that showed of their body was the small part of their forehead and their thick chin. These creatures were slobby, and quite bulky. Their faces seemed to be hugely deformed. They had almost round black void like eyes. Nose was not visible, but she could discern a metal like flap where a nose guard should be. The flap was moving slightly. She assumed they had only a flap for a nose. Everything else was covered in the armor. She secured the dagger in her belt, then lifted the gun to point at that small opening of their forehead, braced her gun-hand with the other and shot. As she waited for the bullet to hit, it seemed to slow down its pace for her to see. As the bullet hit point, she cursed, the bullet had simply ricocheted off the hard skin. She jumped aside seeing the monster lift its gun and shoot. She winced as she saw a part of a construction simply vanish behind the spot where she was standing moments ago. Powdered rumble rained down all around. She ran to the side, distracting them from the injured man. There were now four of them coming towards her. She grasped the hilt of the dagger in her other hand, preparing for a close combat, and again took aim with the gun. This time she pointed it toward the monster that was looking for the man. It was a little distant shot, still she took the chance. She pointed where its neck should be and shot. And what a shot it was! As the bullet hit the thing, the monster roared and faced her, at the same time another monster quacked loudly and simply fell, partly immobilizing another of its kind. This event distracted her from the now roaring and chasing demon, and almost made her incredulous. The second shot, too, had glanced off the brute's hard skin but had hit a lucky point on the other. Rayn was trying to figure out where it had hit the fallen monster as she kept safe distance from the other two. Currently one was stalking her and another was trying to free the third one from below the dead one. She looked at the fallen one to see the point and see she did. The bullet, after glancing off the target, had wedged a path bending the rim of the dead one's head gear and had cut through its brain diagonally. It was a lucky shot. She again spun and shot her pursuer, trying to find the correct angle to repeat the lucky shot. This time, the shot hit the face plated right where its nose should be. Taking the shot full in the face, the monster stopped, then gingerly lifted its hand to touch the hit spot. As its hand touched the spot, its eyes instantly changed color, till now it was all black, it changed to blood red. Then she had nothing else to do but drop to her knees and cover her ears as the bloody minion of devil screamed its rage and hatred for her in a shrill shreak. As she knelt, she opened one eye and looked at the monster, instantly thankful for doing so. Finding the point she was looking for, she rolled towards the monster stopping at her desired spot from where she could see the target and laying down fully on her back, shot right through its chin and rolled out of way as the brute came down crashing on the spot where she was laying a few seconds before. She had taken position to shoot right at its feet. She was almost exhausted. The stress was taking toll on her. As she pulled her protesting body up, she saw the trapped one getting free. She simply shook her head and stalked towards them. The monsters, noticing her, took stance side by side. And she stopped. Wary of her technique. 'How the hell am I supposed to do this? I have to distract one of them,' she thought, getting her weapons ready. As she stepped to her right, a small moan came from the direction where she knew the man she was trying to protect was lying helpless. One monster shifted its attention, sniffing the air. She shivered. If it got to him before she could finish it... She shot at the closer one without losing a second. Then jumped forward. Landing right in front of the target she crouched down, barely ducking under the swing the monster took and pressing the gun to its chin, shot upwards. She didn't stop to see if the shot had taken effect. She sprinted after the last brute. It had succeeded in getting a whiff of where its prey lay and had pursued. As she approached, her panic rose, seeing the monster bent over the man. She let out a scream, feeling a primal rage inside her, triggering her protective side to its fullest. She wanted to tear the monster limb from limb for hurting someone under her protection. Without thinking, she jumped up on its back, raising the dagger hight and plunged right down to where its heart should be. Not stopping at the one blow, she pulled out the dagger and hacked again and again, disregarding where she hit. She felt the brute rising, letting out a shreak similar to her second kill, but this time she did not stop. Simply gripping its sides firmly with her legs, she whacked away, until the brute collapsed under her attack. She slid down from her last kill and knelt down, then ultimately collapsed and lay panting. Then she remembered the man. She gasped. In frantic panic, she looked up and saw him pressed up to the wall. She crawled towards him, having lost almost all her strength. -"Hey... Hey, you o.k?" she asked, her voice breaking. She was almost crying; after all that, he could not be killed. 'Oh please don't be dead don't be dead don't be dead... Please Goddess please please please,' she whispered, still crawling to get close enough to touch him, to check his pulse. As she searched frantically for a beat of his heart, she heard him taking a deep breath. -''Are you o.k? Did I get in time? Did that one hurt you?" she asked with anxious worry. He blinked in confusion at her. Then he remembered something, and a hint of faint smile appeared on his face. -''Yeah, I'm o.k. I was pretending to be dead so the thing would get confused." He replied. -"They can't understand if we are faking it?" she asked, frowning. As he nodded in confirmation, she glared at him, -"And you could not tell me that earlier?" she asked. without answering that, he asked her instead, -"You did not happen to shoot one of them only once, did you?" -"Yeah, the first one. It was a fluke. I was aiming at another, and the bullet glanced off and hit that one instead. Why?" as she supplied, she saw him pointing at something at her back. -"It's coming. And its pissed that you had immobilized it." he answered. She looked, sighed, and stood up to take care of it. -"Stay here." she commanded him. He was startled at her tone, but not losing a beat he replied, -"No probs. Take your time." he answered sarcastically. Shooting him a glare, she also could not help a chuckle. As she looked for her gun, she realized she had dropped it when she had stabbed the last monster. Now she only had the dagger. She groaned. But she had to try. She took a few steps away from her charge, to exclude him from the monster's visual field. As the monster came closer, she simply tried to go around its back and stab it, but it kept its face towards her, making her plan impossible to execute. As it came charging forward, so did she. As she came within its striking distance, she jumped up on its chest and plunged down the dagger. Before the dagger could touch its armor, the monster took a swing at her, effectively dislodging her from its chest and sending her flying backwards. She winced as pain shot through her body. Her hand had broken. She writhed in pain, expecting the brute to tear her any moment. As she did not hear its heavy footfalls, she opened her eyes and squinted to locate it. What she saw froze her to her bone. Her attacker was sniffing and following the man's scent. She groaned and stood up, panting laboriously. She frowned in frustration. Why were these things so intent upon killing that man? And it seemed he was continually distracting them from her. Suddenly she understood. Even last time, when she was facing two of them, he had moaned. She gasped, both in panic and furious rage. That bloody helpless idiot was trying to help her by putting himself in danger. Even at first he had told her to go away, knowing that those things were following him. She broke in a run, she could see the vile creature, stalking towards the man. Hearing her footsteps it turned and shreaked. She did not stop. She simply jumped up, and came down onto the brute plunging in the dagger firmly in its head. As it again made that shreaking sound, she spat in rage and hatred, wising to mix them in with her blow, -" DIE!". She tried to withdraw the dagger to stab again, but didn't get the time. The monster got a chock hold on her middle and threw her towards the wall, trying to squash her. It didn't see her crash into the wall. As her limp body slid down the wall, its carcass was lying lifeless on the rain soaked road. Rayn's body lay on the pavement, a pool of blood slowly collecting under her body. Something flicked in her fast fogging mind. 'I did it! He is safe.' she thought. ' Am I dying?' as she tried to think the answer, her brain gave up on her. 'It doesn't matter', she decided as her last thought flicked through her mind.