Lovers' Oath

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.

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*****

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The Den, OuterWorld. 1 week after the rescue.

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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."