Bonded By Blood & Claws.

‘Run…’ The gust of wind seeped through the numerous windows’ frames, and it sent chills down the spines of the seated populace. But to her, a warning — a warning that struck her as a thunderbolt and stiffened every bone in her body. She stood frozen with body adored in a floor sweeping pitch-black gown. Such a stunning piece of clothing was meant specifically for the wedding of a bride. Not just any bride but that of the Alpha of the Scarlett Heart Pack. ‘Run!’ Another aggressive howl of air rushed into the ancient church's window. It caused a major disruption — lips parted a bit to release grumbles, skins crawled with excess goosebumps but her… Those pair of glass shoes, shrouded by the gown encasing her feet, remained rooted to the carpet. The red mulberry fabric beneath her stretched from the altar, and ended at her feet. Motionless, she allowed the atmosphere's chilliness to prickle her skin, but that word… That intention… That instinct it conveyed clouded her mind. The wind served as a clear, blaring, desperate warning which only occurred to a prey, walking straight into the trap of a predator. ‘Run for your life! Run!’ This time, a ferocious burst of breeze blew into every opening the windows bore. It swept past the now confused populace and earned their undivided attention but also his… Slight irritation. “Heads shall roll instead of turn if s**t isn't done right now” Those words coated by a baritone voice bounced off the walls. Its effortless authority tangled by lethality urged the lower subordinates of the Pack to leap straight from their seats and to the windows. Sounds of rustles… Audible noises of the night creatures…and even scents of fear… All were non-existent to the incoming bride at that moment. Her unmoving body, scrambled mind, and trembling soul, now free from the warnings in forms of wind, shifted a pair of chartreuse orbs upward. Her gaze fell on him. A living embodiment of wrath stood resplendent under the moonlight, and their undesired eye contact commenced. Unintentionally, she hiccuped, but it caused the disruption of her motionlessness. Soon, a step was taken. Then another, and another until she began a stroll, fueled their locked eyes. . She dared not look away. Not even a mere head tilt could be afforded unless her shoulders might become void of it. The fixation of several eyes, lustrous from different emotions, gawked intently at the carefully moving bride. Their ogles were capable of filling the sane minded with nervousness. But she wasn't sane — no mental being would amble so into their death. Beads of sweats formed plentifully on her forehead, her skin turned so pale it might've turned transparent, and her heart… The poor organ almost barged out of her rib cage due to how hard it pounded yet her feet refused to stop moving. Her heels kissed, and kissed, the marble floor continuously until it ceased beneath the first step of the short staircase. “Ha…” A low breath fled from her reddish lips, and so did any hope of life from her eyes, which persistently stared into his droopy ones. Silence hung as a dagger in the air, threatening to stab any who dared to make a sound, while the Alpha gazed down at his soon-to-be blood-haven. Yes, blood-haven — not Luna, not mate, not life partner, but a freaking sustainer. A blood-haven. “Proceed” Once more, he spoke, yet the soundlessness was incessant for some seconds until light footsteps broke it. “Very well, Your Majesty” Accompanied by a voice reeking of spirituality that echoed throughout the church, was a priest. The lanky, aged white robe cladded figure advanced closer to the bride. He didn't walk on the altar — no, Alpha Kieran solely occupied it. And it surely was better. Most would fall on their knees because of his unsettling, tyrannical aura. “The matrimonial bond of the ruler of the Scarlett Moon Pack — the half of the Kingdom of Nyktoria - Alpha Kieran ‘King Of The Red Hour’ Blackwood and his blood-haven, Viella Clawford begins now!” The priest uttered yet more raucously, with the aim each individual would hear him. Truly, they did. Some, especially the females, gulped trying to swallow the painful fact that the Alpha would never make them his, while some released hushed sighs of relief. The Alpha was binding his blood-haven eternally to himself, and eradicating any chances of…a rampage. Yes, The Eclipse encompassed the unpredictable happenstance of a red moon which led to the deduction of self-control in the Alpha, resulting in the Pack's bloodbath. The bride, being towered by the ever so imposing Alpha failed to conceal her fright, and witnessing it first hand and up close, he smirked. In a word, she was afraid of never finding love, since this bondage would terminate such. This wasn't a marriage — it was a bondage between the cursed, and his sustainer. The blood seeking beast, and his blood haven. Kieran Blackwood and Viella Clawford. Her job, in a matter of seconds, would be to forever indulge in s****l acts that consisted of getting her blood sucked by the alpha to prevent a feral killing spree during the surprise-loving Eclipse. A chance of being loved genuinely in her life would be replaced by an endless duty of being a… Blood-haven. While some females would do anything to be suitable for the position, she'd do everything and anything to get out of it. “Viella Clawford!” The priest snapped, his words breaking her thoughts. “As from today, and henceforth, you're tasked — mandated — required, and MUST always be there for His Majesty, The King Of The Red Hour, Kieran Blackwood. The Eclipse's unpredictability will not be a threat if you are perpetually by His Majesty's side. You are his sustainer — his blood haven, understood?” A voice of dissent and opposition like hers, frail and mild, would easily get drowned in a bottomless, raging river of the Pack's populace. So Viella, with eyes shining from unshed tears and still locked on the Alpha's nodded, prompting demure claps from behind. The priest gazed at the towering Alpha, who already took a step forward. Then another, and on the last stair, his hands stretched for her heart-shaped face before cupping it. “My lunarheart is supposed to be the cure to my curse but… She's non-existent, and so will your freedom, Viella. You. Are. Mine”. Each word morphed into a thousand poisoned needles, perforating into every spore her flesh bore, and his breath, fanning against her, sucked out air from Viella's lungs. He stated the truth — the bitter, unwanting but sincere truth. Those plump lips of hers, parted but were unable to release any word as they trembled before a lone tear dropped from her eye. “Y-yes, Your Majesty. I… I am yours” Subsequently, Kieran began to lean in, and the lessening distance of his lips to hers shortened her freedom yet Viella remained glued. Her eyelids fluttered, going shut as she expected the kiss to happen in a second. Some seconds… Half a minute… A full minute but… Mutters, entailing perplexity, ultimately urged Viella to open her eyes, and once she did, her contact with the Alpha continued yet this time… She saw unbridled rage burning in his eyes. Those balls of lemon yellow turned blazing red instantly, and his palms still cupping her face heated. “Y-your-” “Viella..” His slender fingers slid slowly from her glass like face to the crooks of her neck before they tightened on it. A wince surprisingly failed to evoke from her lips, regardless of the pain. “Viella..” “Your Majesty-” “You are not Viella!” Flames of unparalleled apprehension flared up within her veins, burning away any ounce of strength in her being as she shook feverishly. Her collapse on the floor was prevented by the Alpha's overly firm hands flattened on her flesh and those eyes… The fire in Kieran's eyes burnt away everything aside from disquietude as their gawk continued. “Why the f**k are you here instead of her? Where is my blood haven? Answer me, Verena Clawford!” Kieran thundered, evoking the rise of every backside on the chair, wideness of eyes and untamed fret from his blood haven's twin sister. ★~★ As the moon floated in a starless sky, its beams seemed to be centered only on the Alpha of the Scarlett Heart Pack. They bestowed unto him a demeanor of radiating terror, but in her eyes, Kieran Blackwood towered over her as an enshrinement of rage. The ancient church, an aged establishment that lived through The Days Of Hell, served as a sacred altar to the Pack's populace. It was used for special occasions — the Alpha's wedding easily matched such requirements. A wedding… It was an event which thrill a cursed Kieran assumed he'd never get a taste of. The moment his reign began, the Eclipse's most drastic effect got laid on him. On that day, everywhere turned red. Metallic smells of blood blocked many's nostrils, leaving them suffocated, but only the living could experience that. Kieran was the cause of all. During every Eclipse, others had lust coursing through their veins as blood, except for the Alpha. His being jointly filled with desires would be overflowing with feral thirst. A thirst only blood could quench. Such an occurrence, far from uncommon but undesired, led to the establishment of The Fold; an enclosure built with unbreakable metals for walls. Kieran, yet to lose his sanity to The Eclipse's effect, usually got locked in there. When each individual of the Pack dove into their beloved to release their heightened s****l wants, the Alpha's sanity temporarily fell into an ocean of madness. Was there someone — a being capable of sustaining the beast during The Eclipse? Yes. Kieran's lunarheart; not a Luna or mate, but someone who literally stands as his heart, and she… She's non-existent. Decades have flown by yet his lunarheart remains relatively hidden but not his blood-haven. His lunarheart would bask in the glory of his unbridled love and affection, yet his blood-haven's… A tool. Across Nyktoria, and the Scarlett Heart Pack, Viella Clawford was the chosen tool. She'd be used by the Alpha to control his lust turned fury, but now… Kieran's tool is missing. Precisely, It got replaced. Currently, the distinguished members once again settled in their seats. Each gaze laced with emotions ranging from worry to rage was fixed on the kneeling white haired. Like a cascading waterfall, her creamy white hair veiled her back and the piercing glares prickling it seemed irrelevant as her orbs locked with the Alpha. “I never sought for a replacement” Finally, Kieran uttered, his words hot enough to burn any ounce of courage she'd possess. “Verena, tell me why you're here instead of Viella” A question? — no. It was more like a soul crunching demand. “I…” a pair of chapped lips parted to respond, but his eyes.. The intensity those balls of scorching yellow held drained out moisture from her entity, and her mouth felt void of a tongue. “I don't have a reason, Your Majesty. I'm…” Verena, pressed by the weight of everything, whispered and her head dropped to the floor. So did Kieran's level of patience, and tolerance. A growl instantly erupted from him alongside spirals of irritation as he swiftly stretched his arm, caught her right wrist, then effortlessly hijacked Verena off the ground. “Ah!” That earned a low, pained yelp from her. “I do not have time for this nonsense, Verena! Where is my blood-haven?” With words bearing blazing hotness similar to hell's, Kieran spat once their bodies slammed. She helplessly trembled yet failed to look away — she just couldn't. “I… don't have a reason. I don't!” Defiance certainly retained its roots in her bloodstream, and Kieran grimaced angrily, his fangs peeking out like daggers. He was losing his mind, and this woman still wasn't budging. The Eclipse was a devil — it could show up any moment from now, and if it does in Viella's absence then… “Your Majesty, please” A deep voice swiped most attention, and their heads swerved to behold the Pack's beta, Thane Blackwood. The figure, almost as tall as his younger brother, emerged from the shadow. He had one of his calculative blue eyes shielded behind a monocle and dark full beard shimmering subtly. “This isn't the time to lose your temper. Asides, we have more pressing issues” Trails of uncontrolled scents flooded the church immediately, and the excessiveness of it could knock out breath out of one's lungs. Scents doubled and Kieran, still gripping onto Verena's wrist, slowly scanned around — the seated populace were… Agitated. It wasn't due to the fear of his scorn but that of losing composure, and bursting into sensual madness. “No…” The creeping, unwanting realization dawned on him, and together with Verena, they gaped upward. Dangling majestically but deadly above them was a ball tainted in red — in blood — The Eclipse had befallen them. Again, time refused to move, but its stubbornness was broken by the surges of anguish running through Verena's hands from her wrist. “Y-your Majesty, please!” Snapping her attention back to Kieran, his grip on her wrist had tightened drastically. He could easily crush her bones, and the prominent veins crawling on his arms showed how much he was controlling himself. “Your Majesty!” Desperate, Verena cried and that earned her an abrupt pull, leading to the collision of her body with his. Again, their eyes met, and whilst hers trembled, his — presently occupying pupils, bright yellow but slitted glimmered with primal instincts. “You want to take over your sister's place in my bed so badly? I'll grant you that wish. Tonight, I'll gladly devour you, Verena!”