Eternal Love

In the darkest part of the wide forbidden forest there was a noise the ancient trees were able to hear since they were little sprouts. A sound so loud and inhuman, it even left the wildest animals hiding in their caves shaking in fear. It wouldn't end soon, it never had and most probably never will. A blurr of black and grey passed the dense green of mother nature and once again this bonerattling sound echoed of the mountains stone.

Some might think it was a beast, a mixture between bear and wolf. Other didn't believe it could be anything other than the legend of the woods. The old, powerful and majestic reincarnation of the holy forest god. The fairytales about the source for noises and sights that couldn't be explained with any logic were endless. They were all wrong.

It was indeed an ancient legend, but it was very much alive. Even if not explainable. Another piercing sound stabbed the silence and suddenly a tree was chopped right in the middle. The reason for such a large giant to fall over like a toothpick was a quite simple one. Claws. Razor sharp claws had sliced the hard wood like a thin sheet of paper and made it give way without return. The owner of these claws was ready to attack once again.

It looked like a human, at the same time he was far away from being one. His eyes were blood red, he had black long claws instead of fingernails and his full upper lip still couldn't hide sharp white fangs. Saint Suppapong Udomkaewkanjana was a born vampire. Just like his opponent Perth Tanapon Sukhumpantanasan who just had managed to escape his lethal strike. Their malicious growls and snarls were still vibrating through the air and frightened the humans miles away to the core.

It was the reason nobody dared to go into this forest. The humans living in far distance believed the woods were cursed and inhabited beasts and dark spirits. They didn't even knew how close they were with their suspicion. Once again the deadly attack of the enemy went into a tree and chopped it off. It wasn't something new to this environment. It was a fight between monsters since forever. Not for some mere years, but for many centuries.

None of them even knew when this rivalry started or for what reason they were fighting for anymore. It didn't mattered anyway. The head of an enemys Clan had to be eliminated to establish respect and loyalty between the Vampires. Simple as that. Each and every single day they clashed and started fighting to their blood. Precise, deadly, merciless. Up to this day obliviously none of them succeeded to kill the other.

They were just injuring the rival Vampire badly until their right hands would come and drag them away. So they could heal fully and start the same thing the next day. It was a useless action and they both knew it. Their powers and speed were equal. Still they didn't gave up the hope to some day land the killer punch and continued. They had gone down in the Vampires history for their endurance and passion as warriors and leaders for this, but the actual truth was they just hated each others guts way too much to stop.

Too stubborn to admit it, the pointless battle of minds and strength prolonged without outsight of an end. Both of their Clans were well known, acknowledged all over the world already, there was no reason to fight for dominance since each could stand their ground all alone. Yet the primal need to be the best and to show who had the ultimate power urged them to try to break the others neck. Today was one of the days, they once more met and instantly wanted to pull each others throats out.

Saint POV

This arrogant nuisance of bloodsucker just didn't wanted to die. For mutiple decades already. Perth had the grace of a wildcat and slipped out of my reach every time I wanted to slice him open. I hated this son of a bitch for being so skilled in hand to hand combat. But even with weapons he was still able to get out of my grip. I tried to stab him with a knife, shot him with a gun, even to poison him repeatedly but he never jumped the bucket like I wanted him to. Not that he was any better. He had tried to hang me, drown me or behead me mutiple times, but I wouldn't do him the favour.

My Clan was my everything in this world, I wouldn't get myself killed easily so he could happily take it over when I was six feet under. Dream on. I would fight him even if there wouldn't be a single drop of blood left in my body. Even if he somehow would manage to kill me, I would make sure my lost soul would haunt him to his last day. Though I would never admit, I was getting tired of all of this. We both knew this wouldn't have an end if not one of us would be the smarter one and retreat. But fact was the both of us were dumb stubborn idiots.

" Hey Saint! Getting tired already? We just started! Or are you finally giving up?"

This arrogant piece of dead meat...

With a growl loud enough to be heard as thunder I sprinted over to him, taking the far distance in mere seconds with my supernatural power. And I almost had reached him to attack if my hawkeyes wouldn't have noticed a motion near by. Focusing on it, I couldn't tell what it was until I was close enough to jump on the other Vampire. It suddenly was in the radius of his claws and mine when we flew to cut each others throat open. It was moving first but then realized the danger and froze on the spot. Every inch of my body went numb when I recognized what it was.

What in the...

" PERTH! STOP! A CHILD!" I could hear him curse utterly shocked too.

Just in the last millisecond we managed to pull our arms back and slide over the wet ground like comets in the opposite direction. Missing it by only one inch. A deep shocked gasp could be heard and the little figure collapsed right where it was.

What in the fucking burning fires of hell was a little human child doing here in the middle of nowhere?

As soon as I stopped my slide and turned around I could see Perth doing the same. Slowly and carefully I tiptoed to the little something in the middle of the deep furrows. It wasn't moving.

" Saint! If this is a trick of you to..." I lifted my hands to show I wasn't armored.

" I swear I would never pull someone innocent into this. I'm not that low." Skeptical eyebrows scrunched together when we both slowly got closer to each other.

" Truce?" I had to admit it was more surprising that it came from him first, but whatever would solve this major problem right in front of us faster, I was for it.

" Truce until this is taken care of." This had never happend before. We never had spoken to each other so calm and never were so close to each other without going for the kill.

" Just what the hell?" His voice was as confused as mine.

I reached it first and could finally pull the cloth to the side that had mummed this little thing up from head to toe. It was a tiny girl with curly blond locks, most probably not even five years old. She was breathing steadily thank the gods, but she fainted out of shock to see such scary creatures flying through the air.

" She must have gotten lost, there is no other explanation. But how did she came so far alone?" I more felt Perth reluctantly crouching down beside me than I saw it. Oddly my skin started pricking on the side he was close to.

" I have seen humans going hiking in the mountains not long ago. Across the bridge. Maybe she comes from there?" I didn't knew any of that.

This must have been on their side of the forest. But it didn't mattered one bit. She needed to get away instantly.

" You know we have to kill her, Saint. She will expose us." Instinctively I tensed up.

" Are you out of your mind? She is a little kid, nobody will believe her. If we can get her near other humans, she will forget what she saw." To my shock he looked honestly sad while shaking his head.

" Even the smallest risk is still too high. You know the reason why the king is this strict with this matter. No witnesses, Saint." My head turned from the angelic little face to the stern one beside me.

Wow...

I never noticed how good looking my enemy actually was...

Black hair, sharp features, if he would stand up he might even have the same hight as me, maybe even be an inch taller. It were his eyes though that really captured my attention. In calm state the color of his irises wasn't glowing insane fire red like coals but swirling almost leisurely like burgundy in a curvy glass. Pretty. He also was staring at me as if he had seen a ghost. Bloody hell, I almost let my guard down because of the deep intense trance I had fallen into. Shaking my head I once again tried to knock some sense back into my brain.

" Over my rotten corpse, Perth. This child is innocent and not a threat for any of us. I will take her to the next village and drop her off close to other humans. Look at her, she must be frightened to the core and starving after so many days alone. She isn't a risk, she needs help." He sighed deeply while looking down to the tiny body.

" The closest village is on our side. You think I'm going to let you trespass our land to spy on us? Dream on. I will get her there." All warning bells inside my head were ringing at once. No way in hell...

" You made your opinion clear. I don't trust you with a helpless human. She would most likely be your next snack and nothing else. Fuck you. Even if it takes longer, I will get her to the other village on our land." Two thick eyebrows rose up at once.

" And why should I believe you that you're not going to drink from her? She will soon wake up, think fast. Or else I will take it in my own way more capable hands. Your fucking sympathy for humans is going to be dangerous for all of us." As ugly as it was, I had to admit that this asshole was somewhat partially right.

My clan never shared the same opinion as me about humans. They were food for them point blank. But I couldn't show my fucking enemy what a soft spot I ever had for those weak creatures from the very beginning. A thought crossed my mind and it was so absurd, it made my stomach lift up. But it was the best and safest solution for the girl without a doubt. Hesitantly I said to the other Vampire.

" I feel like throwing up saying this, but if we don't want to stir a rebellion within our clans, we will have to do it... together." Now I had really shocked him. He blinked a few times while his jaw fell to the ground.

" You're not suggesting we take her back over my land together looking like humans ourselves. Are you fucking kidding me? It would take days to walk on foot to not to let her see our powers and keep this cover up. It would go much faster if I take the human and run in full speed to the border before she even wakes up." Again I shook my head vigorously, slowly his dense mind started to seriously piss me off.

Was he really that dumb or didn't he wanted to understand?

" Either let me go myself and deal with it like a man or deal with the consequence that we have to go together if you don't trust me. I said, I won't leave her alone with someone as uncontrolled as you. Are you a fucking animal? At least pull your fangs out of your ass when your stupid head is shoved this far into it already. Think rational, you poor excuse of a Vampire." His expression was hilarious.

For a moment only the wind in the tree crowns could be heard as he stared at me as if I had cursed his ancestors. I actually did countless times but this was a different situation. In a battle you were allowed to say whatever provoked the best reaction, there were no rules. But in a somewhat civilized conversation... fuck it. This idiot wouldn't understand the urge anyway, so I gave up trying. Exact this moment the small figure slowly started moving.

" Shit... Ok, I don't have another choice since your stubborn ass won't budge. We will take her back together. But we need a reasonable excuse why we're here in the middle of nowhere looking like going to a formal banquet soon and got torn apart beforehand by some animals." Gritting my teeth I again had to give him right.

It almost hurt physically though. We both were clothed in black pants and button downs that got ripped in several places and were dirty from the previous fight. This wouldn't do. Fuck, I really had to expose my secret powers in front of the rival vampire to not to blow up the entire species cover. Quickly standing up on my feet I waved him over with an annoyed exhale to come beside me. He didn't came closer like expected so I took some steps myself with a growl.

" I need to touch your head for a bulletproof cover, stop resisting." Only the Udomkaewkanjana Clan had this ability, it wasn't surprising he didn't knew about this secret special gift.

I had the ability to create and model objects out of totally different things. It was a sort of magic only my Clan inherited by the old pure bloodline of the ancient times. It came more than handy in certain situations. Didn't had a knife? Just make one out of a wooden stick from a tree. Didn't had a bag? Just make one out of some rotten leafes from the ground. In mere seconds. And this was what I wanted to do this very moment. I placed my palm on his head with unbelievable silky hair to envelope him in my radius of power and closed my eyes.

Then the leafes around us started moving and forming into a new shape. They stretched out and patched themselves together layer over layer to a strong smooth material. Biological crumbling substance changed to artificial flexible fabric. In only a few moments we both were covered in decent brown greenish wide pants, hiking boots, thick sweater and long rough coats. It was so plain decent, we immediately camouflaged with the forest background perfectly. This would keep us safe for the time being.

Then I crouched down a step away and held my hands over the earthy wet ground. Only some seconds later, I had made two thick blankets, two big bags and some weapons out of wood, dirt and leafes. Like a crossbow with arrows, various kinds of knifes and some slingshots. Everything that would make us looks like normal citizens on a hunt. I heard a deep shocked inhale in my back just when I was done to pull everything around me together for a small rolled up tent and two sleeping bags.

" Oh fuck... This is incredible..." He patted his new clothes still in total awe while oggling me like an owl.

Taking one bag from the ground I casually threw the other to him to catch and gave him a smug snort. Of course I was the stronger Vampire out of us both. Did he really thought I was a weak bloodsucker without any skills? My powers were way above his. This was not even half of the things I could do, but I would be careful to not to let him see any of them. This temporary truce wouldn't change anything between us. He was still a nuisance and needed to be evaporated for my inner peace. Once the child was out of danger I would try and rip his throat out. The same second she would leave, I would be after his blood again.

" We are hunters from the same village and went for deers when we found her. I will ask where she is from and how she got here once she is fully awake. Just play along and don't say anything, you will scare the shit out of her and make her faint again. Keep your trap shut at all costs. Not a single word about anything regarding our nature, homes or similar. And if you should even dare to try to bite her I will snap your neck the same heartbeat. Understood?" I just waited long enough to see him nodding perplexed before I turned around to look after the child. But he held me back with his hand on my arm.

" Wait a second... what's with our eyes? She will notice the red color and know we're not human."

That I really didn't considered. And couldn't change. I was only able to form outer things, not any attribute of a living creature. Shit! I saw him fighting an internal battle but then he pulled a grimace and sighed deeply.

" Come here." I couldn't even move before he placed one of his palms on my forehead.

Closing his eyes I felt a burst of magic suddenly pulling on my insides. The vibrations of pure energy crawled from his hand into my skin and made me grew hot. I felt my eyes, hands and mouth burning for a second before this weird feeling disappeared as fast as it came. When he opened his eyelids with impressive long lashes again, I saw his irises had changed color to a dark chocolate brown. Confused I touched my face until I felt the biggest transformation on my mouth. He made them disappear. This fucking son of a bitch made my long razor sharp fangs disappear.

I would die without them...

I couldn't drink blood if they weren't there...

Just when I wanted to wrap my hands around his neck and squeeze his eyeballs out of their sockets, he lifted his upper lip and showed me that his had vanished too. Made me successfully stop in my track and freeze me on the spot. It finally downed on me what really had happend. What he had done for real. He manipulated our bodys to look more human. He could shape living creatures and transform them like he pleased! Oh fucking hell...

This couldn't be real, he seriously had similar special skills like my own! This would make it much harder to kill him soon. So many questions were burning on my tongue, but he placed his index finger on his lips to mute me before I could ask them. Pointing to the little stirring bundle on the ground, he mouthed the words she is awake. My attention zeroed downwards and my entire focus was pulled to the little girl whose eyelids slowly fluttered open.

Perth POV

As soon as the little human saw Saint near her she gasped horrified and shifted backwards to escape. Trying to ball herself up for protection. Poor thing. Then I heard the softest velvet voice coming out of a Vampires vocal chords ever. Saint was trying to coo to her with such a silky melodic tone, it almost sounded as if he was singing a lullaby.

" No no no. It's alright, dear. Don't be scared, we won't hurt you. We are good men, we only search for deers here. Who are you and why are you alone here in the deep forest?" It took a good amount of time until she stopped shaking in fear and dared to lift her head, but after more sweet coos from him she did.

" What... what are you?" Oh shit...

She didn't asked who are you but WHAT are you. She remembered everything she saw before she passed out. She was a high danger for our species.

" What do you mean, sweetheart? We are from a village not far from here. Did you hurt your head? Do you see things that aren't real?" Someone should give this guy an Oscar, he really knew how to act and lie without batting an eyelash.

" Y-You... were... f-flying... I'm scared... Where is my Mae?" The small bottom lip started trembling and tears filled up these insane big eyes. Oh no...

She would start sobbing soon. I felt a sharp sting piercing through my mute heart, this poor girl had all of my sympathy. It must feel terrible to be all alone in such a dark place, hungry and surrounded by danger every second.

" Poor little one. You're hallucinating from enduring the cold and thirst for so long. Do you want some water?" She nodded adorably while forcing herself to not to break out in tears.

Wherever the hell Saint got a bottle full of fresh water, I had to begrudgingly admit his skills were superb. My knees almost gave way when I found out he had some supernatural powers like the Sukhumpantanasan Clan. No wonder this skunk had so many weapons with him whenever we started our daily fight. He could make some out of nothing and everything around him. One time he even used a blade made out of ice to stab me with it out of nowhere.

I was so impressed that time he nearly managed to pierce right through me. But I was drifting off from reality again. The girl drank from the bottle as if she hadn't had anything in years. For a little child like her it even might feel this way though. I couldn't help but feel so sorry for this tiny human. Strangely Saints devine voice had a soothing effect on me too. I felt my own eyelids almost droop on halfmast.

" Are you hungry, dear?" Again she nodded shyly, still suckling on the water bottle and holding it tight.

Maybe she was afraid we would take it away from her and she would have to endure this evil thirst once more. I feel you girl... It had been weeks since I drank the last time. And this small creature smelled heavenly. It took me everything to not to accidentially let my fangs slip out. But I held myself back with pure iron will the last moment. It was even forbidden to drink from children. They were too weak and died too easily. Just like it was prohibited to transform kids and freeze them in their development for eternity.

" Don't worry, little one. We will catch something to eat for you." He wanted to stand up and turn to me, but she held him back with a scared whimper.

Great, now he had become mother duck and the little duckling didn't wanted to be left alone for even one second. Meant I had to be the one going hunting. Oh fuck me, why exactly did I agreed to this madness? Oh yeah, because I was a dumb idiot. Exhaling totally frustrated I stepped closer to him and whispered into his ear so she couldn't hear it.

" There are wild boars near by. I will get a small one for her. Pull up the tent and make a fire. Don't forget to wrap her into a blanket." His face said it all.

He didn't expected me to be so thoughtful huh?

With a smug smirk I turned around and took some slow steps into the wall of large trees. Once I was sure to be out of sight, I flew through the forest and straight into the pack of boars. With one clean motion I picked a smaller one out and snapped its neck one handed. They didn't even knew what happend, I was moving too fast for their eyes. Didn't even noticed that one of them was missing. As fast as I came, I disappeared and headed back. Hold on a second. Humans didn't hunted so fast. Fuck, I had to wait a bit longer.

Not knowing what to do I sat down on a fallen tree with my prey and exhaled. The more seconds passed the more tempting the dead animal got. I really was thirsty and if I didn't wanted to endanger the kid I had to drink. Oh fuck it all. My fangs came forward and sank into the carotid artery. Gulping the still warm liquid down made me almost gag. Animal blood tasted so damn disgusting, humans were way better. But I swallowed my pride together with the salty iron taste and took some more gulps. Once the thing was drained I let up and breathed heavily to keep it in me.

Maybe I should prepare it here so the little one didn't had to see us taking out the insides with her own eyes. Good idea. In mere moments I had skinned it with my claws, pulled the guts out entirely and even speared it with a large stick. This would do. Waiting another ten minutes felt like forever but I forced it to not to blow our cover up. The scent of burning wood filled my nostrils and I involuntarily cracked a smile. Saint had followed my orders like an diligent student. I saw a fire flickering in some distance and had to reduce my pace and walk painfully slow like a human. Once I was near, I held up my prey triumphantly.

" I was lucky, there was a colony not all too far away. You can eat soon, little one." Wow, Saint had even prepared some sticks for the food to roast above the fire...

Hastingly I fixed the wild boar on it and carefully made sure it wouldn't burn. Then I watched over the other Vampires work. He sat up the tent near the fireplace, had warmed the blanket up and wrapped the girl up from head to toe. Just the little red face peeked out of the layers, she looked more like a peanut sitting on a tree trunk than a human. But at least a really happy looking one, so adorable. My small smile faded when I looked back to the tent. Then it downed on me.

There was only one...

Fuck!

He didn't expected us all three to spend the night in there or did he?

Was he out of his damn mind?!

" Saint, come with me. We need to inspect the weapons for tomorrows hunting."

His eyebrows furrowed warily but he still stood up and whispered to the girl that we would be right back. We walked away far enough to not to be heard but still to be seen by the human. I sighed deeply.

" We can't sleep with her in one tent, she will notice our lack of warmth! And if you don't trust me to not to bite her, you have to make another one!" His weirdly pretty face frowned suddenly.

" It wouldn't be plausible to have two tents if we are comrades from the same village, stupid. And oh my fucking satan, did you drank wild boar blood? You smell hideous! Plus we have a way bigger problem. Look behind you." Confused I did and felt my jaw touch the ground next thing.

The peanut had wrapped herself out of the blanket and had pulled a leg out of the wild pig. To eat it raw like a little beast. I knew she must be starving but this wasn't normal behavior by all means. Almost as if...

" I asked where she is from and what her name is. She said her name is Maria and that she lives with her parents in a secluded village at the sea. They wanted to visit relatives across the forest and she was separated from them when they were attacked by bears. Her parents got injured and she was dragged away. Then she fell into a crack between large rocks where the bears couldn't reach her since she is so tiny. She crawled for hours between them and then let the river drag her to the other side. After that she was walking for almost two days until she heard the noises our battle created." This wasn't possible...

No weak human child would survive a bears attack, let alone going through a forest with thousand other wild animals for days. There was no reason they would let her stay alive. Apart from one.

They didn't dared to touch even higher ranked animals...

By all hells fires... Utterly shocked I gasped out.

" She is a Werewolf." We were fucked...

Now we had no other choice than to kill her. The off spring of a Werewolves Pack was the biggest danger ever. It was a more lethal enemy than another Vampire Clan. Our nemesis...

" I will snap her neck as soon as she falls asleep." Before I knew these brutal words left my mouth.

" Perth, no. It's more serious than you think. This is our chance for corresponding with the Blood Ruby Pack. The only Pack somewhat in the same area as ours and located near a seacoast. They had killed so many of my Clan members over the years, I'm sure many of yours as well. Just like we reduced their number significantly too for revenge. If we get this pup back to the Pack, it could be an opportunity to make an agreement. The war could be over."

The never ending war between Vampires and Werewolves. It was such a cliché. It was in our nature to hate each other more than anything else. There never had been hope for improvement in this regard. Until now. This little peanut could be the solution for an ancient old dilemma. What were the odds?

" They will kill us the moment they smell us on their land. This is more of a suicide mission than the attempt for a peace contract." He shook his head determined.

" They won't once they smell her with us. If we can get close enough to the village with her to speak with the Alpha, we have a chance. This never happend before, it could be our one in a lifetime opportunity." It almost was as disgusting as the wild boar blood, but I had to acknowledge the intelligence in his words.

Which made me think instantly that he indeed was older than me. By mind and age. I was 500 years old, he was 600. His maturity showed now more than ever. He was way more controlled than me. To think that we were fighting for almost 400 years now was really unbelievable. I couldn't even tell how it started anymore. It just happend that we clashed one day and since then fought for dominance.

I wouldn't back down just because he was the older one and more experienced, just like he wouldn't because he didn't acknowledged me as an equal strong Vampire and leader. It was a pat situation. And to be honest I was tired of it. Every time I saw him my nonexistent heart was hurting and I couldn't tell why. Something told me I should be disappointed or sad at him, but I couldn't figure out the reason.

Because I forgot it after so many decades. It still didn't mattered. Once this mission was over I would cut him into neat cubes. And keep them in a jar in my room to look at them every day with pride. He was the one dragging me into this mess. It would take at least 3 day to get to the Packs land on foot. And I could feel the upcoming headaches now already.

Saint POV

Perth was making me uncomfortable in so many ways. My body was alert the whole time while being around him. He spaced out so often, maybe thinking about possible plots. Then his usual light even kind of pleasant scent changed to a cloud of bitter pungent after sucking the wild boar dry. Disgusting. And on top of that he was so casually saying he would kill this child without batting an eyelash. What the hell was wrong with him? I understood this unknown situation was extremely hard on us both.

But why was he so hostile towards a girl that couldn't even be counted as a threat?

Even if she was Werewolf. Her fangs weren't even big enough to pierce through a Vampires skin. Plus we would heal in a matter of seconds even if something like that would happen. But the thought of being squished together with him, my enemy for decades, and a kid was even making me uneasy. It was a lethal combo and nothing could guarantee he wouldn't lose all sanity and snap out of nowhere. Like so often I had to be the rational part.

Even if nothing regarding the other Vampire could be handled smart...

Perth was wild and passionate, if he wasn't a Vampire I would have said hot blooded. It utterly surprised me he also seem to have a caring side to a certain point. I didn't ever expected it to see this from him. Maybe we really could succeed. If he would get a grip on himself, the chances to get out of this unharmed together were good. Something like a particle of hope bubbled up in my chest and assured me this was the right thing to do. If we wouldn't get to a deal with the Pack, we at least could kill as much as possible until we had to withdraw.

" Open up for a temporary mindlink, we can't risk she hears any of this. I know you can form one too." He rolled his eyes annoyed but still did it after a while.

When I concentrated on his energy in my head I felt the mental blockade give way to connect our streams. Once the flow found it's balance I could hear him loud and clear in my head as if he would talk to me. A personal mindlink usually was a privilege only Clan members had. I really didn't wanted to do that with my rival but had no other choice.

It would make things way easier and faster, on top of that we would be together the next days anyway so we could just as good try to talk civilized. Nodding mutually in silent agreement we stepped back to the fire and I couldn't hold back but snort upon the sight. Actually there was no doubt that she was a werewolf, the way she ripped chunks of meat out of the leg with her teeth spoke for itself.

" Sweetheart, you should have waited until it's fully cooked. I know you're hungry, but you will upset your stomach eating it raw like this." These round Anime eyes widened a bit but then she stopped eating and mumbled almost embarrassed.

" Sorry... I... should have waited... It just tastes better this way..." I presented her an understanding nod while humming.

" Just a little bit longer, dear. Or else you will get sick. And you want to have enough energy to go home, right?" Her face whipped up and the bite in her mouth almost fell out because she opened it so wide in surprise.

" Yes, we will get you back to your village. It will take some days, but we will bring you safely home to your parents." I had to pay this little girl my highest respect.

The huge eyes filled up with tears, but she bravely held them back. It must be a huge relief to be safe after being in constant danger for days. And to have someone giving you hope to see your family in this lifetime again. I saw her shakingly breathing in and out a few times before a soft thank you replied.

" So Maria. I'm Saint and this is my hunting partner Perth. If you need something you just have to say so. We will protect you and care for you every second until we get to your village. You can trust us, ok? Nothing and no one is going to hurt you as long as we're near by. I promise you this." It was important that we gained enough trust so she would listen to us later.

If something happend, she needed to follow orders immediately to not to endanger herself or us. This was the first step and it looked like she had already warmed up a bit to us. She realized we were helping her with food, shelter and protection and that she was safe with us. It made her feel comfortable enough to even give Perth a little smile. Waiting a few more minutes patiently I then cut off some of the now medium rare meat for her and put it into a wooden bowl I made out of dry bark earlier.

Through the whole time she was gobbling everything down I put into her bowl and just stopped to ask if we weren't hungry. After a quick look to Perth he instantly came up with the lie that we ate just before we found her and weren't all too hungry. She bought it this time, but we would soon have to figure something out to explain why we weren't eating. As soon as she was stuffed to the brim, she got sleepy and started to rub her eyes adorably yawning. Perth had an eye on her while I cleaned up everything and put the rest of the meat in my bag for later.

" Let's go into the tent, sweetheart. We need to sleep so we can walk long distances tomorrow." She was halfway gone to dreamland already but still nodded.

I gently shoved her inside and asked Perth to put enough firewood on the pile to burn through the whole night. He nodded and I climbed together with the puppy into the tent. Without even hesitating she climbed with me into the sleeping bag and clutched her tiny body onto my stomach. Fuck, she was searching for warmth but she wouldn't find it in me. Soon she would notice. The moment I was making up a good lie in my head the other Vampire climbed into the tent and closed it behind him. Then he slided into his sleeping bag and kept laying on his back with his hands behind his head.

" Ar'Saint, you're so cold..." The soft mumble echoed like an explosion in my ears. Shit!

" I'm sorry, dear. I'm always cold after being outside the whole day." Pretty fast she started even shaking from my icy body. Concerned I shot a thought down the newly formed mindlink.

" Perth, do something. She will freeze to death if she keeps laying with me." He sighed exhausted, but then rolled on his side facing me and whispered softly.

" I'm warmer than this twig without muscles. You want to come into my sleeping bag?" He had her full attention in a second, she turned around and shyly asked.

" Really?" He even opened his sleeping bag and lifted the upper side like a blanket.

" Come here, peanut." She didn't had to be told twice but within a heartbeat crawled over and slipped beside him. He closed the bag until only her little nose was peeking over the top. Then I heard her sighing in deep bliss.

" You stink, Ar'Perth. But you're really much warmer." Her whisper was almost inaudible because she was talking in her sleep already. Nevertheless I had to suppress an evil snort about the mean poke straight into his pride. To not to wake her up I once again used the mindlink.

" Told you. Even she can smell the disgusting odor of wild boar." His voice sounded so fed up when answering, I nearly lost it.

" Shut your fucking trap. I hadn't any blood in weeks. Better this than going after her. Or should I have bitten your smug ass instead?" This remark indeed shut me fully up. Almost...

" Your fangs wouldn't even be able to pierce the flesh of my steel hard buttcheek, bloody fucker." A chuckle came from him.

" Challenge accepted, arrogant bastard. Watch your behind, next chance I will chew on it."

Ok, why did this sounded almost lewd?

" Try it and I rip your spine out to play guitar with it." My voice was annoyed as hell.

We would have fought this mental fight of insults the whole night since Vampires didn't sleep, but the little one interupted us. With an endless adorable mumble. She said 'nice uncles' in her sleep. Then she shifted closer to Perths stomach and burried herself entirely in his sleeping bag until she couldn't be seen anymore. Most probably she even had slung her arms around him because he suddenly froze still. This tiny little creature had the power to force a century old Vampire on his knees.

" Hug her back. She is cold." Biting his lips hard he moved after a long while staring down and enveloped her within his arms and she nestled herself impossible closer like a squirrel. Damn, she really was cute. Although she was a Werewolf pup, she was almost as sweet as a Vampire kid called fledgling.

" Stop fucking nagging, you're even worse than my mother. Hell have mercy."

Now that we're at it, we could just as good dig deeper. It wasn't like I was nosy, but more curious. We had been hating each other for so long, but I actually didn't even knew much about him. Maybe he wasn't such an asshole like he always displayed.

" What is your mother like? Do you have siblings?" An arrogant snort came down the mindlink.

" Don't even try to start a fucking small talk with me, I still hate you to the deepest depths of my existence." Nevermind...

He would forever be a smug piece of shit...

" Entitled much? I'm at least some sort of trying to interact normally with you. Shouldn't have expected someone like you to do the same. Alright, then keep boiling in your self centered arrogant loneliness. Like hell I would care." There was a heavy silence floating through the air for at least two hours. I was so absorbed by my own thoughts I almost didn't heard the husky mumble in my mind.

" You know very well Sukhumpantanasan clan is the dumpster for insane Vampires all around the world, so why are you faking interest?" This had my breath stock in my throat.

What was he talking about?

" I'm not faking, I'm seriously interested. Why are you calling it a dumpster? Your clan is the most prestigious one beside my own. You're basically royals." The explosive laugher booming through my head almost made me flinch.

" Oh my fucking hell, is this what they told you in your bedtime storys when you were little toothpicks? My Clan is the runt of the litter, the gunk of supernatural society, the trash can for useless Vampires. An ensemble of ferrals, rogues and outcasts with nowhere to go. If those crazy motherfuckers are royals, I will for real sink my fangs into my own ass." This... What?! I was so speechless, I couldn't even reply something.

" This is the first time I hear any of this. I always thought the Clan was formed by an equal ancient bloodline like mine. I... didn't wanted to offend you. Actually I don't know much and the little that I know turns out to be gossip. Sorry." I heard him sighing deeply.

" We were once. But humans and Werewolves decimated our number. From the old bloodline my parents and I are the only one left since I'm an only child. To save the Clan from being eradicated entirely, we one day took some foreigners in need in to join the clan. Over the years more and more came from all around the globe in hope to find shelter and somehow we became the unofficial sanctuary for the unwanted. Since then I call these rough, insane and creepy bloodsuckers my family. I know it sounds reckless, but I love these crazy assholes." What the actual fuck?!

How could something like this even happen?

Clan Udomkaewkanjana counted nearly thousand members and we were constantly increasing. Never could I even imagine in my worst nightmare that an entire Clan could be wiped out like that.

" In regard of purity and class we can never reach your snobbish asses, but we give a flying fuck about it to be honest. We earned the respect of the world with our own hands and nothing can change it. I would give my life for my Clan anytime without thinking twice. So take your stuck up mindset and go fuck yourself with it if you think I'm overreacting with my opinion with this kid. I know the aftermath first hand in contrast to your pampered spoiled ass."

The hate was anchored deeply, the bitterness totally justified. I could understand him so well. Many of my beloved ones were killed by werewolves and ferrals, not from his clan though. And the blinding anger I was feeling about it was not even a particle of his feelings.

" What is your mother like? Are you an only child?" His husky mumble pulled my attention back to the figure beside me.

" Yep, an only child. That's why she is awfully overprotective with me. Like you said, our mothers are quite similar in this regard. Constantly nagging and super nosy. She made it her lifegoal to marry me off and is the worst matchmaker on planet earth." For the first time ever I heard a genuine laugh from the other Vampire. It gave me goosebumps to be honest.

" Sounds exactly like mine. She set up so many blind dates for the same day and time, it looked like an audition for a popular soap opera. It turned into a big speed dating event in the end." Now it was my turn to laugh wholeheartedly.

" And? Found someone?" An annoyed huff rang in my head.

" She can't accept the fact that I like guys and still hopes up to this day to change my mind by inviting some hot super models to reproduce and keep our bloodline alive. Guess what, it didn't worked out. I turned them all down with the simple excuse that they just weren't my type at all. It's not even a lie, I simply prefer cute asses." So straightforward, I almost choked on my spit.

First he didn't wanted to even breath the same air like me and now he was spilling some of the most intimate details as if it was nothing. Far more shocking was the involuntarily reaction of my traitor body. My buttcheeks clenched hard this very moment as if they had been directly spoken to and I could feel my pucker contracting. What the hell?!

" What about you? Already found someone to choose porcelain with?" Surprisingly I slowly relaxed and started to feel comfortable. Talking about such private things really had a soothing effect like it seem.

" Nope, I hate superficiality. Most of these like you call it pampered vampires honestly don't have more than two braincells they can use. They're so fucking boring. I would want to have someone I can equally talk to, someone to share the same hobbys with. A partner whos dick should be even bigger than his brain. But these are rare in my environment." If I would be able blush, I most likely would have done it this very moment.

It was embarrassing to spill something this private, but since he did it too, I felt it was only fair to meet him halfway. It felt like a true bonding moment between guys right there and then. I had the feeling to have come closer to him in these few hours than in the last centuries. It was ridiculous what was happening here, I couldn't believe I was in a tent with my enemy and a Werewolf pup and talking about my sexual preferences. And even thinking it was somewhat nice at the same time.

" So... What are we going to do now? How will you explain your Clan where you are?" A little snort escaped me.

" It's nothing new to them that I vanish for some days or weeks. I had been on explorations before. So I mindlinked my parents and said I'm on the way to investigate something and won't come back soon. What about you?" I could hear an amused huff.

" The members of the clan are free spirits so it's nothing special if someone disappears from one day to the other without a word. For several months or even years or never coming back at all. It's common in our rows so I just said I'm on a mission to find myself. With this statement alone I could go and start a whole new life on another continent and no one would wonder. The perks of being your own boss." It pulled a soft chuckle out of my chest.

It really had advantages to be the leader of a Clan. The members had to accept your decisions even if they sounded crazy or looked weird. On the other side it was a huge responsibility to care for so many Vampires and to keep them safe and healthy. Still I wouldn't change it for even one second. Spacing out while thinking deeply about the next steps I didn't even noticed how intensely Perth was staring at me until I turned my head slowly into his direction again.

His eyes... were almost burning holes into mine...