A VAMPIRE'S WOLF

07

Blake Tolvar.

Accepting Kieran's invitation to tour the castle was good. I needed to stretch my legs and I could tell Astra was growing restless.

The keeper–as Kieran had called her– had brought Astra a change of clothes and diapers. She even brought a swaddle.

It hadn't taken me long to figure out how to swaddle Astra to my chest and once I was done and she was comfortable, we were out of Kieran's room.

The hallway we were currently on was long, with a high ceiling and as Kieran spoke, I studied the paintings on the walls and the intricate design of the space.

"This floor houses my room and my father's along with some private offices."

Astra shrieked at that and Kieran leaned down to smile at her. The sight was too cute, butterflies filled my stomach.

Deep breaths Blake. Deep breaths!!!

I think you need them more.–I told my wolf.

Shut up!

Astra kicked her feet at Kieran's smile and gave him one of her own.

Clearing my throat, I turned to Kieran, "The designs seem ancient- no offense."

"None taken and they are. We recently renovated the place but it was built in the 1800s."

"What?"

"It looks ancient but there are some modern designs too."

And he was right, as we continued with the tour, I saw what he was talking about. There were modern designs too, like the staircase and some of the rooms.

Both designs made the place look unique. Everything was beautiful too. Whatever I saw outside, when I first approached the castle, the rusty gates and thick bushes, and what was actually inside, were two different settings and when I asked Kieran about it, his response was;

"Most creatures don't know the meaning of space. Some of them out there are just evil and thieves so that is a facade we put. Plus vampires are solitary creatures. We don't need to announce to everyone that this is where we live."

Which made sense.

Just as Kieran had stated, most vampires were in their chambers resting and as we approached the castle kitchens, I got to see other species.

You sound as if you are in a zoo.

Do you have a better name for them apart from species?

Well...

Thought so.

There were humans, quite a good number of them and I spotted some wolves too. There were some vampires too–those who were currently not resting.

Kieran's response to that was that most of them were mated to vampires while some were just clan members, taken in with nowhere else to go. He said that they were investigated first, to make sure they didn't have malicious intentions on the clan before they were brought in.

There was so much going on in the kitchen and everyone we passed, acknowledged Kieran, some even calling him 'Sire'.

I had heard it with Caspus, the doctor/keeper and the lady keeper too.

Did that mean he had turned all these vampires?

I was about to ask him when a vampire approached us with a huge smile.

"Sire Kieran?"

"Kai good afternoon." Then turning to me, "Blake this is Kai, if you need anything from the kitchen, you can come to him or any other person in here."

I nodded watching as the smile on Kai's face grew.

"Nice to meet you." Kai spoke to me. His brown shiny curls bounced as he spoke.

I gave him a smile of my own.

"I need to head back. It was nice meeting both of you." And with that Kai skipped to the other side of the kitchen, where another vampire was kneading the dough.

"You get used to that. He is always happy, jovial." Kieran stated.

"I noticed." I glanced back at Kai and he was laughing at something the other vampire said.

"Do you need something from in here or can we continue?"

With a head shake no, we continued.

Most rooms in the castle were huge, then again the number of vampires here was large.

After a while, Kieran led us to an outdoor garden. It was filled with so many flowers.

The air there was clean too, the sun shining brightly.

"Wait!" I called out to Kieran who was already a few steps ahead, about to pluck a flower.

"The sun. It doesn't affect you?"

From my knowledge of vampires, they couldn't be out in the sun.

"No it doesn't." He didn't offer any other explanation, his entire attention on the flowers in front of him.

I joined him where he stood, just as he plucked a sunflower. Facing me, he tucked it into my ear, smoothening my hair in the process before muttering a 'perfect'.

I could feel my face flush.

Astra stretched her tiny hands and attempted to pluck the flower but Kieran was quick to give her one of her own and she was soon distracted by it.

My gaze was still on Kieran and when he noticed, he offered me a smile before leading us further into this flower garden.

That was smooth.