Hounds of Winter

Author’s notes:

1) This fic is part of my “Golden Dawn Arc” and follows “One Night”. Please be aware that after “One Night” the arc will split into two distinct and separate stories. “Right Kind of Wrong” is the second fic and it and its sequels will involve me messing around with the truths of Shido’s life. This fic and its sequels will be more true to vampire lore. At no time will “Right Kind of Wrong” and “Hounds of Winter” intersect with each other. Think of them as separate arcs that share the same first two stories.

2) I have created (not fully, I don’t have THAT much time on my hands) a “common” language among the vampires since they must have a way to speak with each other without having to learn a hundred different languages. I will not get into that language but occasionally I will use terms when I lack a better word for it. I will always post the meanings at the beginning of each chapter

3) This fic, like its predecessors is rated NC-17 and contains graphic sex and blood sharing

4)Melmae – a term used by the dominant member of a mated pair of vampires to refer to his or her subordinate mate.
Avraire – a term used by the submissive vampire to refer to his or her dominant mate.

**
The Hounds of Winter
Chapter 1
By: Delilah deSora

**

The vampire gasped, fangs snapping at air as he awoke to strong hands holding him to the ground. Violet hair fanned against the grey concrete as he thrashed, trying to dislodge the stronger creature above him. The other vampire hissed, the sound of grease on water, and the weaker vampire cringed in fear.

“Leave me be, Cain!”

The blonde laughed, resting easily above his prey’s trapped wrists. “Such insolence. Only you dare make demands of me, Shido.” He dipped his head to lick at the wounds on the slighter vampire’s chest.

He had felt his mate\'s pain and come running only to find the vampire gasping to force uneeded breath through his torn chest. And this was how his mate repaid him? With orders and harsh words? He felt a sliver of annoyance and drove his tongue into the wounds harder than he needed to but that small bit of punishment helped make him feel better.

Shido gasped and squirmed, straining his muscles but unable to slip free. “Stop it!” He whispered, collapsing back to the ground and crying out as Cain’s tongue delved into the deepest of the claw marks.

Cain chuckled and pressed their lips together. Shido tasted his blood in the mouth of the other and shuddered as the urge to bite at the invading tongue surged through him. He resisted and the other vampire pulled back, smiling slightly. “Good boy.” Cain said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Shido flushed and turned his head to stare at the crumbling safety wall that blocked his view of the city lights. Lips touched his throat and he trembled but though sharp teeth scraped lightly over his skin they did not break it.

“Why do you fear this? You loved it once.”

Shido closed his eyes against the tears. “I d lik like it . . . I never liked it.”

Cain hissed in his ear and his jaws clamped over the exposed neck of the other, exerting a painful pressure but still not drawing blood. Shido whimpered despite himself. “Do not lie to me, child!” Cain snarled against his skin.

“S . . . sorry.” He whispered, turning his head so that he could rub his cheek against the elder’s in supplication.

Cain pulled away, frowning but the animal instinct that came with the blood of the vampire satisfied that the other had acknowledged his dominance over him. “Come back with me.”

Shido shook his head. “I can’t.”

Cain tsked in irritation. “You won’t.”

“I have others who need me.”

A very slight smile crossed his maker’s face. “Oh yes, I nearly forgot about them.” Cain sat back, releasing Shido’s wrists but still keeping the man trapped beneath him. He caught a long violet strand and twirled it about his fingers.

Shido’s golden eyes narrowed. “Don’t you touch them.” He hissed softly.

Cain laughed and tugged on the trapped strand. “It appears I won’t have to bother.”

Shido peered up at him in confusion and Cain smiled secretly. “What do you mean?” His childe demanded.

“It seems your darling daughter is missing, does it not? Or am I mistaken in recognizing the nauseating smell of her?”

Cain hissed in surprise as he was flung off his normally docile mate’s form and onto the ground in Shido’s haste to climb to his feet and peer about.

“Riho?” He called, his suddenly green eyes peering around frantically. After a fruitless search his eyes came to rest on the damage left behind in the breeds’ wake. “Riho.” He whispered.

Cain shook his head as he stood, both annoyed and distraught at the emotion his mate’s voice. “She is gone, melmae.” He said softly, reaching out to take one pale hand.

Shido whirled upon him and he shrank back warily at the anger he saw in his mate’s eyes.

“This is your fault!” Shido snarled, stalking towards him, “The breed are your creatures! Return her to me!”

Cain stood his ground, glaring at the younger vampire until his outward anger turned into seething annoyance. “The breed are not solely my creatures, Shido. Many obey me, that is true, but not all. Do you think one that I controlled would be allowed to harm you thus? Do you think I would let any but myself draw your sweet blood?” He reached out to touch one of the still weeping wounds.

Shido shuddered under his intense gaze, one hand going to rub his wrist where only a month before they had shared blood. “No.” he whispered dejectedly.

Cain took the final step between them and cupped the pointed chin, urging his mate to look up at him. “Do not let it bother you,” he whispered, “these things happen. You must admit your foolishness in creating her, though I fear I must take some responsibility for it as well. I was angry and did not think you would take it so far.”

Shido pulled away from him, turning to stare at the clawed concrete. “I must find her.”

The older vampire cocked his head. “She is gone Shido.”

“No.” His mate murmured, circling the area, his sharp green eyes searching. “I can still feel her. She lives, though I know not why. I must find her. It is my duty.”

Cain crossed his arms, frowning. “And now you choose to do what is required of you.”

Shido gave him a sharp glare as he knelt, gathering something from the ground. He held it up, staring at it closely before opening his fingers and letting the hair blow free into the wind. “The Hounds of Winter.” He whispered to himself.

Cain stiffened and stalked towards where his mate knelt. “What of them?” He demanded.

“That is what they seemed to me,” Shido said, “Two breed in a canine form. White.”

His maker shook his head. “The Hounds of Winter are black, melmae. You should remember that at least.”

Shido shrugged. “Because you sent them after me when I left you? Did your court not wonder at that? Did the Wild Hunt not balk at being sent out after a single vampire?”

Cain growled in anger. “It is not for them to wonder what I do and the Hunt does not care as long as they are given a worthy prey.”

“And did they find me a worthy prey?” Shido asked angrily.

Cain smiled darkly. “Oh yes. Herne himself carried you back, did he not? A rare honor.”

Shido shook his head, standing. “An honor I could have done without.”

Cain shrugged gracefully, watching his mate walk to the edge of the roof. “And what will you do now, melmae?” He asked, “Have a hunt of your own? Track down these creatures that two of you together could not defeat? Leave it be, Shido. You will not find them. Indeed it would be best that you did not for you are weak. They will finish what they could not tonight.”

“It doesn’t matter. I am responsible for her, Cain. I must follow them until she is either back home or I have avenged her death. They took her. Like hunting dogs trained to return a prize to their master.”

“And where will you look for this master?” Cain inquired.

Shido hesitated. “I do not know.” He admitted.

He sighed. “There is no turning you from this course?”

Shido shook his head.

“I will help you on this foolish quest but you know what it will mean,” Cain said, his golden eyes carefully trained on his mate’s back, “The breed only listen to power and there is only one place to find a vampire with such power,” He threw back his head and laughed as Shido’s hands tightened into fists, “How delicious! They have taken your precious childe to the very place you can not go!”

“I can go there.” Shido hissed, turning to glare at him.

“True, but you will never survive it. You wouldn’t survive in a private court and you certainly wouldn’t survive in the public one. You have lost too much of yourself, Shido. You have forgotten what it is to be vampire. Have you even forgotten our rules? Our etiquette? How much have you lost? If you misstep in that complicated dance you know they will descend on you in your moment of weakness.”

Shido was silent.

Cain moved towards him slowly. “I could take you there,” he murmured, “I could re-teach you those lessons that you have forgotten. Protect you when you stumble. But you know what that will mean, melmae,” he lowered his face to the bared neck, pausing a breath from the pale skin, “You know what you would have to do.”

“Why?” Shido asked, his voice barely a whisper, “Why would you help me to retrieve someone you would rather see dead? What are you planning, Cain?”

Cain laughed, his breath raising small bumps on his childe’s throat. “You would go without my help. I know you. I know how foolish your emotions can cause you to be. I do not want you destroyed, melmae. Not over such a trivial being as that girl-child.”

“I don’t trust you.” Shido stated.

Cain shrugged. “You don’t have a choice.”

“Damn you.”

He laughed and kissed the curve of his childe’s neck. “Now, now. Is that any way to speak to your master, to your mate?”

Shido shuddered and unconsciously leaned back against him, his breath picking up ever so slightly.

Cain refrained from pointing it out, knowing it would only serve to annoy the stubborn creature. Instead he amused himself by wrapping his longs fingers around his mate’s and crossing Shido’s arms across his chest, effectively trapped him in the gentle hold.

“You understand what this entails, melmae?” Cain asked, “You understand that you must be the perfect consort if you are to save your wayward childe?”

The violet haired vampire nodded his understand.

“And you understand that you must be my consort, not play at it? You know what goes on in courts. You know that there will be times when your loyalties will be tested. You must not hesitate. If you do . . .”

“They will challenge me, I know.” Shido finished. “I will play . . . no I will be my part, Cain. This is my fault and it is for me to right it.”

Cain pushed back his annoyance at the reminder of the female as he skimmed his teeth over his mate’s neck. Shido groaned, tilting his head to bare more of his neck. Cain sank his teeth into his mate’s most vulnerable spot, holding tight when Shido moved to escape. He held on, drinking slowly but refusing to relent until the violet haired vampire shuddered and submitted, hanging limply in his arms. When he felt his childe’s complete surrender he relented, pulling back to lick the wound closed.

“That will get you killed, Shido.” Cain murmured softly.

Shido sighed. “I know.”

Cain frowned and gave the man a slight shake. “I know, what, melmae?”

His mate sighed softly. “I know . . . avraire.”

Cain bit back the smile that the honorary brought to his face. “It would be best to return to my court before traveling on to the popular one. There you may make your mistakes but I can be sure they are . . . overlooked.”

He felt Shido shudder in his arms at the mention of returning to Romania but he did not care. His mind was wandering far into the future and building a grand plan. A plan to remind his mate of all that he had left behind when he had turned his back on his people.

His mate’s voice drew him out of his reverie.

“What about blood?” Shido asked softly, “I can’t kill.”

“I know a way around that, do not fear.”

Shido fell silent in his arms, unresisting as Cain lifted him up and carried him away into the night. Already weak from the attack his childe fell asleep in his arms and Cain allowed the smile he had resisted slip free. How delicious to have his mate forced into the very role Cain had spent long nights trying to urge him in to. And for it to be a simple twist of fate! Shido could not blame this on him. His mate could not turn from him and claim that he had been tricked. If the breed in question hadn’t dared to draw his mate’s blood he’d be tempted to grant them a boon.

Shido showed no signs of waking as their long journey ended and Cain was not inclined to disturb the sleeping creature. The sun was painting the horizon as he strode through the silent halls of his castle and he was glad for the lack of servants. He did not wish Shido’s return to be known by his own court just yet. They knew Shido had been away but that would only forgive him the smallest of slips. Cain had no wish to have to wade through the members of his court just to drag his mate to safe

Vampires were creatures of habit. They were outside of time and longed for things to cling to in the world of change that marched on without them. So they ordered their lives around a complicated web of rules and niceties. They clung to honoraries and rituals that had long ago ceased to exist in the world. The young vampires of this new world found them tedious and boring. Cain, like so many of the old ones, found it soothing.

Once secure in his own set of rooms he reverent placed his sleeping mate on the bed, pausing for long minutes to just stare at a sight he had not seen for far too long. Unable to resist the urge he reached out to fan the long hair across the pillows, creating a violet halo around his mate’s face. He felt the sun weighing down on him but there were things he must do. Orders he must give. With a sigh of regret he forced himself away from the sleeping vampire and out the door.

There was much to do and he had a most complicated dance to construct.

-End Chapter 1-