Forgotten Passion

Promitto

 "I need to talk to a human," he demanded. The very fact that he needed to ask boiled his blood. Damn bloodsuckers and their passive aggressive bullshit. He'd rather one of them come straight at him fangs bared then deal with this posturing political purgamentum. For his pack though he would keep his teeth hidden and wait for the translator so he could greet the sanctimonious Sanguisuge.

Just then a rattling came echoing down a small side passage and even before the human could be seen the stench wafted into the room almost causing him to gag. Dear great mother, he thought, how could they stand it. Granted humans were little more than slaves since the Great Eradication, but with the enhanced senses of Venator and Sanguisuge alike you would think that a hose down would be considered occasionally.

She appeared in the opening and the smell no longer seemed bothered him as he studied the skeletal figure. A threadbare shift barely covered the girl and heavy chains hung off her wrist to trail down to matching cuffs around each ankle. She kept her gaze trained on the floor and ropes of hair coated with dirt and grease obscured her face. What about this wretch kept his attention?

A sound slithered across the room to his ears as the leech finally spoke with a combination of hisses and whisperers. Finally the grating noise ceased scratching across his eardrum and after a few blissful seconds of silence the human began to translate. The soothing growls reached him and he felt like curling up at her feet. The low soothing tone of her voice covered him like sweet honey and he knew it would stick to his heart for eternity. The words didn't even register in his brain because he finally began to wonder if it was possible that he had found her, his Semper Amare.

Trapped in his own thoughts he had yet to respond and the woman muttered beneath her breath, barely audible even to his ears, "Stupid mutt, doesn't even have the sense to growl a greeting." The words likely meant nothing to anyone else in the room for few bothered to learn the language of the slaves, but he had not lived this long by overlooking details.

"Pardon, but your voice simply stunned me." Those seven words physically rocked the girl as if a strong wind had blown through the room. Her head tilted up just enough for for warm chestnut eyes to peek at him between the strands of hair and suddenly the world shifted. Impossible. A human. For hundreds of years he had scoured the earth for his beloved and now in the house of his enemy she appears. His Semper Amare. A moment came and went when he imagined igniting a war by carving the heart from every parasite in the room and leaving this sterile kingdom behind with his Semper Amare in his arms. Unfortunately he had travelled with but a few of his kinsman to the Clans seat of power and they would be overtaken before they even reached the borderlands.

Diplomacy it is. He had come to claim restitution for the damage done to Venator property by the group of young Sanguisuge. Originally the price was to be money and goods, but now he knew she would be his payment. Now he simply needed to outmaneuver this leech in subterfuge. For if anyone suspected what she now meant to him they would deny him outright simply because they could.

Growling low in his chest he responded to Clan leader, "I have come a long way to receive restitution for the impertinence of your younglings. May we please skip the pleasantries so I may leave your borders before evening meal. I have no desire to drink my meals."

The leader stiffened slightly on the raised dais before responding, "As you wish. What do you ask for to compensate for the damage."

"Two female slaves and the human translator with us today." The last statement caused the chains on her to quiver.

The Sanguisuge leader leaned forward in interest before speaking, "Slaves? Why do you ask for three slaves?"

With forced casualness he shrugged before responding. "The last generation of breeding generated to many males and I feel that the pool would be strengthened by new blood. Besides it seems a fair trade. Seeing as we did not paint the forest floor with the blood of your three younglings for trespassing"

The bloodsucker steepled his fingers together before tapping them on his chin, "But what possesses you to demand the human in this room?"

His eyebrow raised then he blatantly spoke, "I was made aware that one of the boys was of your line. For that reason alone I wish to have a girl who can do more than simply lay upon her back and bear a brood. She seems competent which increase her worth. I will not need to waste time and resources training a successor for our current translator now."

"And if I refuse?"

"Over slaves? Well I fear I would take great offense seeing as how I could ask for more gold than the girls are worth, but I saw this as practical. My thought was to show leniency for youth, but if you wish I could ask for payment in blood as is my right. Although I doubt I will be so complaisant with the next transgression." Here is where a fine line is walked in between being tenacious and threatening.

With a great heaving sigh the Sanguisuge acquiesces, "Fine take her and begone. I shall have the other two delivered to your transport, but you shall have to escort this one yourself."

"If I must." Stepping forward swiftly causes the woman to curl into herself. Biting off a curse he gestures for the woman to step forward. A deliberate breath steels her spine and a shuffling pace is set. The moments that follow are agonizing to both creatures as one waits to loosen his tongue and the other fears what fate awaits her in a strange new land.

When they reach the armored transport his kinsman display no surprise showing the fortitude required of the Alpha Guard. The girl's confusion is easily seen when he escorts her into his compartment instead of having her sent to the cargo hold with a guard. The confusion quickly morphs into terror once they are enclosed together. Her mind filled with visions of forced debauchery and defilement. He is upon her in a blink of an eye but unexpectedly pulls apart her bindings with a surprising amount of care. Stunned immobile she allows him to raise her head until their eyes meet and he vows, "You shall not be harmed. Promitto." The power sunk into that one word caused her to visibly shudder as her eyes rolled back into her head. He was there to catch her weight and carry her to the lounge where he settled into the cushions caressing her face with passion that had long been forgotten.