Blood of the Highland Moon

Chapter 10: Craving Blood

Mathew's P.O.V.

Silently I slipped out of the castle and into the woods. Eric was just inside the dark trees. “Talk.” I demanded as I approached him.

“From what I gather it was the werewolf king himself who took her.”

“Why? He couldn’t possibly have known who she was, we’ve kept the lass a bloody secret since before she was born.”

Eric shrugged. “Catriona had a sharp tongue on her, she wasn't very smart either, its possible she thought to use her position to order him about.”

A low hiss escaped my lips. “You will not call her that, she is the princess and you are not to say her name without permission.”

Eric bowed his head. “Forgive me.”

“What else have you discovered?”

“The werewolf king intends to use her for peace. He has not yet sent a messenger but soon will. You should tell the king, perhaps-“I twisted his neck, breaking it and began drinking his blood and taking his energy. The human had been useful, but he knew too much for me to let him live. Upon taking my fill I ripped his throat out so as to make it look like a wild dog had gotten him. I placed his body so that it would be found not far from the traveling road and made my way back to the castle.

There could be no peace with the werewolves. They were mongrels and their proper place was serving the vampires or dead. Personally, I had no use for the mutts. I would speak with the king and urge him to eradicate the werewolves before anything like this happened again. I would encourage him to see the threat they posed if left unchecked as they had been all this time; and if he refused to listen, I would simply have to take matters into my own hands.

Catriona's P.O.V.

I sat in the library well after Gwen had left. She seamed to know that I wouldn’t go anywhere. Something told me she could sense that I wished to talk to Eallair, and Alex as well. I knew I would have to wait to talk to Alex, but Eallair would surely come looking for me in the place he had left me.

The doors opened and Eallair stepped in. He glared at me before closing the doors. I set my shoulders and stiffened my spine. He was still mad at me, that much was easy to see. I wouldn’t bow to him or whimper in fear just because he had made a seen.

“Do you realize why I am angry with you?” He kept his back to me for a moment as he asked the question, then turned to face me.

“Because I caused you to ruin perfectly good clothing?” I said with just a hint of sarcasm.

I watched as his jaw tightened and the ghost of a smile quickly passed over his face. “No, Catriona. I am angry with you because you could have been hurt or killed. I am angry with you because you caused me to lose control and because you caused a fight between Alex and I.”

“I didn’t cause that! You are the one who challenged him the second he walked in!”

He held up his hand for silence and I bit my tongue. “Had I not been angry and he angry because of your wee display of defiance we would not have fought. Do you realize how serious it could have been? When a werewolf feels threatened we can kill without thought.”

“So you are telling me that if Alex had killed you it would have been my fault.” I crossed my arms, knowing he would notice that I had said Alex would have won, even when I knew better.

“Yes, if either one of us had been killed it would have been your fault.”

“But neither of you killed the other, and I don’t have a scratch on me, so everything is fine.” I turned and walked around the sofa, just to be moving.

“Do you know what else angers me?”

I glanced at him. “That you realize I won’t listen to you?”

“Yes, that, and that you seem to care more for everyone but me.”

“You kidnapped me, you are the one who orders me about, and you are the one who treats me like a child!” I snapped.

He sighed. “I don’t mean to treat you like a child, I only mean to make you understand that you can’t run about getting yourself hurt, and that you can’t ignore my authority. Like it or not lass, you are in my kingdom, my castle, and you are to obey me.”

“You know that will never happen.” I told him flatly.

He was across the room in seconds, his hands locked around my upper arms. “Why do you still try to anger me?” His eyes searched my face.

“Because I’ll not be afraid of anyone or anything.” I said defiantly.

“Lass, you must see that its dangerous, I’ll not ask you to cower, but I’ll ask you to use your head, its not wise to try to anger me.”

“Yes, and its not wise to kidnap the vampire kings’ only daughter.” I tossed back.

He sighed and let go of me. “I have work to do.” He walked to his desk and sat down, not looking up even once.

I walked back to the couch and picked up the book I had been thumbing through. There was no more to be said between us. He wouldn't give up the silly notion that I was to obey him, and he knew I wouldn't back down. As I turned through the pages the words I read were lost to me. I couldn’t seem to focus on them. Instead I thought about how quickly they had changed, and how odd they had looked.

Sighing, Igot up, and began pacing as I read the book. My mind would not stop. There must be something that I could do to ease the constant flow going through my head. As I read yet another chapter and remembered none of it, I closed the book and sat it on one of the end tables. I began walking around the library, reading the various titles in the stacks. Nothing caught my eye. My curiosity at why werewolves looked so strange began to build. I circled around the library until I was behind Eallair, who I knew at this point was smiling; the b*****d.

“I always thought werewolves looked different than you do.” I said as I looked at his papers over his shoulder.

“How so?”

“Well, I always thought you would be on all fours, sort of like a giant dog.”

Eallair chuckled. “Actually, some of us are like that, it depends on if you’re changed or born werewolf. It’s easier to run on all fours but fighting and walking is easier on two.”

“So if you’re born werewolf you are on two legs?”

“More or less, yes. If someone has been changed they are more comfortable on all four and they look a wee more like wolves.”

“I would think it to be the other way around.”

"You see, when you’re born werewolf your human side tends to become more dominant. When you are bitten, its the wolf who tends to take over.” He explained.

“I guess I can understand that.”

He put his quill down and looked at me. “You are not very sneaky at looking over my shoulder.”

I glared at him. “What are you even doing? It’s not like you have expenses.”

“What makes you think I haven't any expenses?”

“Because human’s can’t know about us.”

“I am working on changing that. It’s past time we become involved, lass. I don’t plan to tell the humans what we are, I plan to find a way to interact with them more than we do. We have money and we do travel, we need to become a part of Scotland now.”

“We are a part of Scotland, we are the part that stays hidden for everyone’s safety.” I told him the same thing my father had told me.

“If we become more involved just think of the possibilities!” He said excitedly.

“We don’t need possibilities, we’re doing fine on our own, getting involved is dangerous.” I said this cautiously, remembering my fathers’ anger when I’d brought the subject up a few years ago.

Eallair gave me an amused look. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you unsure of what you say before.”

I glared at him. “My father talked to me of this before; he is nay pleasant when he is mad. He knows what happens when we try to make ourselves known. People die, Eallair. Vampires and humans.”

“Only if it's approached wrong. We must keep what we are secret when we interact with them. We do this when we need to already, but we are needing to more and more often than ever before. My mother told me it’s what my father had said.”

“My father remembers too. He is much older than you think. He has told me that we have interacted less and more than we do now and he’s learned that the less we interact the safer it is for everyone.”

“That’s more like you lass, you’re getting angry. The only thing about your anger is that you stop listening.”

“You’re the one that is not listening! You can’t let humans find out about you! If you do they will find out about us!” I snapped.

“That is why you hide what you are.” He said calmly with a smile and shrug.

I put my hands on my hips and glared at him. “How are we supposed to explain that we can’t go in the sunlight? How are you going to explain why you all turn into a bunch of dogs?”

“Simple, the vampire castle is set in a nearly sunless place, you can claim the sun hurts your eyes because it’s so rarely seen. We will handle ourselves, don’t worry about that.”

“It will never work.” I said crossing my arms.

“It will. I do not mean right now, but we can’t stay hidden forever, the day will come when the world grows too small for us to hide.” He continued.

“For the sake of my people, I pray that day never comes.”

“That is why we must form a peace between us. We could help each other more than you know.” He continued.

“My father will never agree with it.”

“He will have to. Things always change. We have been lucky enough to make it this far, we can’t wait for that luck to run out, we must be intelligent.”

“Inelegant? You want to talk about inelegance? You are the i***t king who knapped the vampire king’s only child. You expect peace to come from what will cause war.” I leaned down to get in his face so that he wouldn’t mistake what I was saying. “You are not as intelligent as you think. My father will want your head hung from the castle walls for this. He is not a forgiving or understanding man. He only understands control and dominance. You are a dead king. All you ‘inelegance’ is for naught.”

Before I could say anything else or step away he had pulled me close and was kissing me. His tongue brushed against my lips and his hand held the back of my neck possessively. I braced myself on his shoulders for support. The next think I knew he was on his feet, holding me to him. He broke the kiss and pushed me away. “I understand dominance too, lass.” He stepped close again. “Remember that.”

I didn’t think twice about what I did next; I just did it. I grabbed his shirt and pulled him to me. I locked my lips with his for only a second before drawing his bottom lip into my mouth and nipping it. I then broke the kiss, looked him in the eye and said, “I understand it too, and I’ll not be dominated by you.”

He looked at me in shock for a moment as I stepped away and smiled smugly at him. “Bloody hell, lass, you have some nerve to do that to me. I’ll let it go only because you don’t understand werewolves. Biting like that is a show of ownership and dominance.”

“I know perfectly well that it shows dominance and as far as ownership, I wouldn’t want you as a pet.”

“And you call me stupid. You just knowingly broke werewolf code; you could be hanged for that.”

“I’m too valuable alive and unharmed. You harm me and your insane plan is ruined.”

“That does nay mean I can’t make you miserable or even punish you.” He smiled a smile that spoke of plotting.

“And just what kind of punishment could you give me? I already have to stay with you all day.”

“I could put you to work.”

“So that I could leave snakes in your bed and poison your food?” I replied with amusement.

“You’ll nay be able to get snakes being inside the castle and you’ll nay be allowed in the kitchen.” He retorted.

“You think I’ll not find ways to get back at you?”

“Gwen would watch you constantly.”

"And what if I simply refused to do what you say?” I countered.

“I’ll keep you hostage forever to insure peace.”

I felt all the color drain from my face, my mouth went dry and I could feel my heart pounding in my head. “You wouldn’t.”

“Maybe I’ll do that anyhow.”

“I would kill myself first.” I said bitterly.

“Easy now, lass, it’s only a joke. You would drive me mad.” He sat back down at his desk and shuffled through some papers. He glanced up at me and smiled. “I thought that would make you happy to know you would drive me mad, do not frown so.”

“Don’t frown? You just threatened to keep me prisoner here for the rest of my life. Do you realize neither of us will ever die? I may live forever. My father said I’ll stop aging soon and be no different than any of my clan.”

“Lass, I was but joking, I would not keep you forever. I would nay have kidnapped you in the first place had I believed there to be another way.”

“You could have requested council with my father, sent a messenger, anything, you didn’t have to kidnap me!” I snapped.

“Lass, I don’t want to explain this to you again.” He said in a tired tone.

“There were other ways!” I insisted.

“Enough! I will not talk about this any longer. Do you understand me, lass?”

I raised my eyebrows. “If you were in my position would you not fight every step of the way?”

He gritted his teeth. “If I were being treated as well as you, no.”

“Just how am I being treated well? I’m not allowed outside, not even for a few moments. I haven't any freedom. You talk badly about my father, you kidnapped me, and you think I am being treated well?”

“I could confine you to your room or lock you in the dungeon. I could even make you walk around in shackles. Yes, I am treating you well.”

“That does not change the fact that I am here against my will.” I said as I glared at him.

“You told me once that I gave you more freedom than your father.” He reminded.

“My father is not a mongrel.”

Eallair stood abruptly. “I’ll ask you to stop calling me that.”

“What are you going to do about it, mongrel?” I challenged.

He grabbed a hold of me and was kissing me before the insult had fully left my lips. The attention was rough and demanding. There was a knock at the door and he abruptly released me. “Yes.” He called out not taking his eyes off of me as I glared at him.

Alex walked in. “I was just coming to apologize to Catriona.”

“No need.” I said as I stepped away from Eallair.

“No, it was not my place to get angry with you, I know Eallair can handle things on his own.” He looked at Eallair. “I also owe you an apology, cousin.”

“Thank you, cousin. I hope you forgive me for our fight as well.”

“Yes, all is forgiven. I apologize for that as well.”

“Touching.” I mumbled. I walked back over to the books and grabbed a random one. I didn’t care what it was as long as I had something in my hands. I desperately wanted to throw it at Eallair, but instead I simply walked to the far end of the rather large room and decided I would stay there.

I could make out the noise of whispered words as they hid their conversation from me. It was like a constant scratching, to hear only the disturbance of air as they talked, but not their words. I gritted my teeth. What could they be talking about? Why must they hide it so openly from me? Could it not wait until I wasn't around?

I watched from the corner of my eye as Alex left the room. Eallair, I noticed, looked brooding. Curious, Alex must have upset him. Perhaps it was that Alex had caused him to see that I was owed an apology for what had happened; and more, I thought irritably.

I couldn’t believe the way the man continued to touch me! Did he think he had some right to do such? I think not! Bloody mongrel! The b*****d was probably sitting over there smiling at himself because he thought he’d won some small battle between us; ha! There was no way I was letting him get the best of me!

“Catriona, I must ask you to not glair at my book so, I fear you’ll throw it.”

I spun around and glared fully at him. “What business is it of yours if I do?”

“It’s my book, I’ll not have you throwing it.” He never even looked up from his papers. I smiled to myself, drew back, and chucked the book right at his head. His hand came up and he caught it easily. He sighed and looked up at me. “Catriona, why must you be so contrary all the time? Why must you do everything in your power to upset me?”

“Because you do it to me, and by the by, you deserve to be hit in the head with a book.” I crossed my arms and glared across the room at him.

I could feel as well as see his eyes rake over my body, taking in every little detail. I had begun to anger him yet again. He stood abruptly and was in front of me before I could blink thanks to his vampiric speed. His hands locked on my upper arms close to my shoulders. “I am beginning to think you like to be punished.” A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he said this.

“You can no more punish me than turn me into a mongrel.” I said defiantly.

He glared at me. “Why must you insist on saying that? You know we are not mongrels.”

“No, you are a mongrel Eallair, the others may not be, but you are.” I gritted out as I glared at him, glancing at his full, firm lips.

“You know as well as I that we could get along if you would but stop insulting me.”

“It’s good for you to be insulted now and again, it keeps you in your place.”

“And just where is my place.” He asked.

“Begging for scraps under the table like the dog you are.” With a growl his lips were on mine yet again, his hands pulling me into him, and then his arms locking around me, holding my body tight to his. Abruptly he had released me and walked back to his desk.

I drug the back of my hand across my mouth and glared daggers into his back. “You always pull away just before I get the chance to really sink my teeth in.” I snapped. “I would love nothing more than to taste your blood in my mouth!”

He turned a dark look upon me and said, “I pull away before I go too far lass. Now find yourself a book and bloody leave me alone.” He sat in his chair and had steadily ignored me for the rest of the evening. I could feel it when he had looked at me, just as I knew he had felt when I had looked at him. The massive spread of his shoulders, the thick strawberry blond hair, the raw strength lurking just beneath the surface, it all called to me, a sort of pull that bothered me in a way I didn’t fully understand. I couldn’t keep myself from looking at him, from wanting to sink my teeth in to the sun darkened skin of his neck and shoulders.

“I need blood.” I said abruptly.

He looked up at me with confusion in his face, but before he could say anything Gwen stuck her head in the door. “It’s time for last meal, now the two of you get to the great hall and stop brooding. I can feel the tension all the way in the bleeding kitchen.” She looked at me then at Eallair. “Might be best if I mix some blood in with the both of your drinks tonight as well.” She left without another word.

Eallair smiled and shook his head. “She sees too much at times. Come Catriona, let go eat.”

He offered his arm to escort me, but I steadily ignored him. We walked together silently to the great hall. Eallair pulled out my seat for me and I glared at him. Did he honestly think it would be so easy for us to move past the angry words? Or his actions for that matter. I sat and then smiled across the table at Madeline.

“How are you this evening?” I asked in my sweetest voice.

“Quite well, thank you. Alex tells me you did something a mite foolish today, running out into the midst of training men. You are lucky naught happened to you.”

I gritted my teeth and told myself to calm down. I liked this woman, even if she was overstepping in my opinion. “It was naught but a bit of fun, and an example to the men. They need to ken how easily they might be bitten.”

She looked directly into my eyes. “Catriona, lass, do you really think they are so simple minded? We all ken it was a vampire’s bite that stopped my husband from healing himself.”

“Mother, please don’t bring that up now.” Eallair said in a soft, yet firm voice.

“I was but making a point to the lass, Eallair.” She said in a soft voice as she looked sadly at him.

“I realize now that what I did was not the best idea, but I don’t regret it. It was best that they be reminded of it.” I took a drink from the goblet in front of me and was relieved to find that, as Gwen had promised, it had blood mixed in with it.

Eallair turned a mocking look in my direction. “So you admit that what you did was stupid.”

“Watch yourself mutt, I didn’t say that.”

“You would do best to apologize for that, lass.” He said in a dark voice.

“You just can’t stand that I got the better of you.” I said triumphantly.

“Oh really, and just how did you do that?” He said with mock curiosity.

“I let you pin me so that I could bite you.” I said pointedly.

He scoffed. “Lass, I captured you in the first place, before you knew who I was and you didn’t even challenge me.”

“Don’t lie, you overbearing mutt.” I snapped.

“I am not lying and I am not a mutt, so watch your tongue.” He shot back.

“What are you going to do if I don’t, you dog headed barbarian.”

“You are just upset because you know I will always best you, just as I will best your father and all his people.”

“Take that back you flea bitten mongrel!” I said in outrage.

“Lass, you had best stop calling me things like that.” He said in another warning voice.

“My father could kill you with one hand.”

“Your father couldn’t even keep you in your place, how is he to kill me? In fact, how is he to rule a kingdom? I think he is probably the worst king ever if he can’t even control you.”

I threw the contents of my goblet into his face. “You have no right to talk about my father that way, dog!”

He stood abruptly, we were nose to nose. “The hell I don’t, you have no respect for me in my own kingdom, so why should I have any respect for your father?”

“I am a captive, why should I have any respect, especially for a bloody mutt! Mutts are lucky to get scraps under the table, you are not even fit for that!”

“That’s it!” He yelled and grabbed my arm and began to drag me out of the great hall. “I’ll nay have you insulting me in front of my pack, do you hear me?”

“You think I care?” I snapped as I stumbled along beside him.

“You had best bloody care!” He said as he drug me roughly down the hall.