Right Kind of Wrong
By: Delilah deSora

Chapter 1

“Master?”

The golden haired vampire turned slightly from the window to glance at the vampire behind him. “Yes?” He asked in irritation.

“Reiner wishes to know if you’ll be returning to court for the solstice, master.”

Cain snorted. “No. Let him lord over the pack a little longer.”

“Are you sure that is wise?”

Cain growled and turned to fully face the other. “Are you questioning me, Werner?”

Werner inclined his head but didn’t retract his words. “You have long been gone from Romania. There are some in the court who are easily swayed. There are some who did not know your sire Alexandru nor were they present when you took the court from Dorin."

A hiss escaped him. “Let them forget Dorin! I would have his taint wiped from the earth! "

Werner stood silently, waiting for the rage to pass. With another growl Cain dragged his fingers through his hair, forcing himself to calm. “I can not return just yet,” He murmured, returning his gaze to rapidly darkening night, “I am so close.”

He heard the other vampire shift. “Forgive me, master, but why do you not just take him back? He is of your blood and he is of your court. It is within your rights and no one would challenge it.”

Cain shook his head. “It would not work. He would just run again.”

“Then kill him.”

“I cannot. I need him. He has an important part to play in my golden dawn.” Cain whispered. 

Her heard Werner sigh and bow. “As you say. What shall I tell your wyrlardi?”

Cain frowned considering his message carefully. He understood his companion’s worry, he had been too long from his court and missing another winter solstice would cause unease among the masters of his court. Master vampires disliked being controlled and his inner court was composed of the oldest and most powerful master vampires in the world. His wyrlardi were bound to wonder what their lord was up to. Cain couldn’t afford to let them discover the source of his absence.

When Shido had fled he had covered it up, claiming that he thought it was time his childe learn to spread his wings. Even now the vampires of his court didn’t suspect the truth. Only Werner, an old companion of his sire, and Adrian, his sire’s mate, knew the truth. If anyone else was to discover it Cain knew he would find himself in a compromising position.

Allowing Shido to fly in the face of his authority unpunished made him weak. It meant that others were likely to try it and Cain had no wish to go up against one of the masters of his wyrlardi. Nor did he wish to have one them decide to use his lover against him.

“Tell them that the breed here require more of my attention then I had originally expected. Tell them that I cannot leave until I am sure that everything is progressing correctly. And tell them that I count the days until I am back among the properly civilized. That should appease them for a time.”

Werner bowed and turned on his heel.

“When you return to Romania be sure to visit my sire’s mate and invite him to spend the season at court. I’m sure Adrian will be more than willing to curb any mutinous thoughts the head of my wyrlardi might be harboring.”

The dark haired vampire chuckled, nodding. “A very good idea, master. I will be sure to accompany him from the estate.”

Cain watched his confidant slip away, feeling a sudden sense of nostalgia well within him. He longed to be back among the familiar forests and mountains of his homeland. He missed the ancient tongue of his people whispering in his halls. He missed spending the longest night of the year mingling with those who shared his thoughts and desires. He missed hearing Adrian’s soft voice as he moved through the halls of his private castle in Romania. He missed the gentle touch of his hands and the bittersweet smiles that he could occasionally bring to his sire’s mate.

Cain sighed, wondering how the last three years had been for the older vampire. His sire’s death had weighed heavily upon the black haired man’s heart and Cain had spent many years fearing that one day he would awaken to find Adrian gone from the world. For nearly fifty years the man hadn’t uttered a single sound. He hadn’t even gone from the castle in Germany that he and Alexandru had shared to feed himself. He’d simply sat in a corner, staring out across the land, as though waiting for his mate to come home.

The members of the court had frowned upon the creature Adrian had become and when the whispers that he should be left to die became too loud Cain had forcibly moved his sire’s mate to his private estate in Romania. Gradually the dark haired vampire had begun to pull himself back together but he had never fully come back. Gone was the eternally cheerful sly creature that had ensnared one of the most powerful vampires in the world. Gone was the laughter that Cain could remember echoing through the halls even during his earliest memories. Gone was the sociable creature that could take even the shyest vampire and turn them into an overnight sensation.

The memory of his sire’s mate drew Cain’s mind back to a similar man not so far away. The pain of having his own mate abandon him had torn something deep within him. He feared what he would have done if Adrian hadn’t been there to calm him. Adrian had advised him to give his mate time. He had gone through a difficult experience and the auburn haired vampire had explained to him that perhaps his mate only needed some space to discover who he was.

Well, Cain mused, he had given his mate as much time as he could and he didn’t like what he had found. He had liked the idea of his violet haired lover finding himself for in truth he understood Adrian’s worries. Shido had been thrust into a court he had not been ready for. Cain had been forced to overshadow him to keep his love from being dragged into fights for dominance that he had no hope of winning. Shido had been given a sink or swim existence from the moment Cain had brought him into his court. He had to admit he had been more than a little interested in discovering who his mate would turn into without the pressures of a court to force him.

However the humans had stolen even that from him!

Cain snarled, whirling on his heel and storming through the house he had taken for his own. They had taken his sire from him, nearly taken Adrian, and twice they had tried to steal his own mate from him. And now, now they had twisted his vibrant self-confident lover into a dangerously confused base creature that didn’t even remember what it was like to walk among his peers. They had taken even his basic survival needs and made them taboo in his minds.  These creatures that tore the very flesh from animals they raised to slaughter to feed themselves had taken him and dared to convince him that taking blood was wrong. They had taught him that his own people were demons and that to walk in their halls was wrong.

They had torn him away from his very self.

Cain swore he would take his mate back and protect him from these hypocritical creatures that dared turn their noses up at them. He swore that he would protect the others of his race so that there would never be another Alexandru, torn from his position of power by a few self-righteous men. There would never be another Adrian, an innocent bystander torn from his mate. There would never be any of a hundred, of a thousand vampires struck down by these humans.

Never ever again.

Shido was starving.

He couldn’t understand it but every time Yayoi leaned over him to flip to a new picture or just to tease him he would find himself drawn to the pale throat and the pair of teeth marks that were so new they hadn’t even faded yet. It just didn’t make sense. He’d taken more than normal the night before yet still he hungered.

Even Riho wasn’t safe from his need. Twice he’d had to pull away from her at the realization that he had drifted closer and his fangs were tingling as they grew. Since the second attempt he’d returned to the safety of his desk and tried not to think about the younger woman. No matter how he tried, though, he couldn’t push her from his thoughts.

He didn’t like what those thoughts were telling him. Her movements seemed overly clumsy to him and her very scent screamed sensations that he’d thought he’d escaped nearly a century ago when he’d left the dark halls of vampire society. His mind whispered to him that she was weak. That she was prey. Prey that could satisfy his hunger.

With a mental growl he stood, ignoring the inquiring glances of the two women. Riho moved to intercept him and he stepped sideways, resisting the urge to hiss at her. He must not have hidden it well enough for she shrank back.

“Shido-san?”

He reached up to touch his temple as the sound of her voice caused a sliver of irritation to raise within him. “Its alright, I just need to get some air.”

She nodded and watched him with wide eyes as he slipped away into the night. The air was cold but there were still throngs of people crowding the streets. They made him uncomfortable and their incessant chatter irritated him. He took to the roof tops, trusting the clouded night to hide him from view.

He watched as the world moved on, happily oblivious to his presence. A sudden sense of hopelessness washed over him and for a terrible moment it felt as though he were a ghost, forced to passively watch as life went on without him. The feeling faded, leaving only a nagging loneliness behind.

Snarling in anger at his own self-pity he whirled and stormed away from the edge of the building. Anger welled up to replace the black emptiness and his hands twitched. Closing his eyes he forced himself to relax.

What was wrong with him?

For months now his emotions had been riding high as well as his hunger. It was becoming increasingly more difficult to force himself to go out and hunt the breed the plagued the humans of the city but when he had finally tracked them down the urge to kill overrode all of his previous reservations.

It was so powerful that it seemed as though he took a second seat to what his body was doing. He didn’t blank out or anything but he lost all of the barriers he had built against the vampire side of him. When he was finally calm and back in control it was to meet the startled gazes of his companions as blood dripped from his fingers.

Shido covered his face in remembered embarrassment. He never wanted them to see him that way. He’d expected to see surprised horror on their faces and they hadn’t disappointed him. No words were spoken about his loss of control but he could feel them distancing themselves from him when it occurred. He couldn’t blame them, though, for all creatures of the world would react in such a way when faced with another who was obviously stronger than they but still it hurt.

Which led him full circle back to the loneliness that had plagued him the last month. Shido flushed slightly as his memory forced him to admit that it hadn’t been just in the last month. He longed to forget the wild rush of All Souls night but no matter how he tried he couldn’t. Even though he told himself he should be ashamed at his loss of control the memory of it brought wistful feelings and satisfaction.

There was a faint scent on the wind and he cocked his head, turning towards it. When he concentrated on it he found he could no longer sense it but as soon as he had give it up as a fancy of the mind it returned. Shido stared off into the distance and allowed his body carry him where it willed.