The Highlander's Charm

Two

Alpha Bower is exactly the kind of man that I imagined him to be on our way through the twists and turns of the castle his clan calls home as Bridgette led me here to his study, the wolf standing almost as tall as I, his shoulders and chest twice as broad, his hair the color of bright flame streaked through with silvery-white strands, his kilt a different tartan than mine being his own man instead of one that used to belong to His Majesty.

"Emory Black. So are you a deserter, or did your nest leave you to die as you were passing through?" The man cuts no corners as he grunts his words at me, though I am not sure I ever expected him to in the first place looking as stern as he does.

"Deserter is an ugly word, but I suppose that's exactly what I am." I decide to be honest, and if he might tell me to leave because of it so be it, at least I have had time to heal some before continuing my journey to see where I might finally feel as though I belong again... Until I feel as though I can forgive myself for ever walking away from my home and my tenants with the wild imagining that joining the bloodshed might spare their lives so we all might live peacefully again.

"Why'd you walk away?" Another query that gets straight to the point, the man's shining green eyes bore into me with a fierceness that only shines when a man is intent on protecting what is his no matter what the cost is.

"I could'na see the point in all of the bloodshed anymore. I don't care for unnecessary violence and this war... It's more than unnecessary..." As the final words leave my mouth they slow down, an unexpected smile working its way onto the face of the man across the desk from me as he uncrosses his arms from in front of his chest so that his hands might find his hips in a stance of what almost looks like approval, a chuckle leaking from his beard.

"That's what I hoped you'd say. The Bower Clan is abstaining from the war because of its pointlessness... And as long as you share the same views you've got a room here until you figure out what to do and where to go." It's with these words that Alpha Bower sits himself back down at his desk, the shifter seemingly satisfied with the few questions that he's asked as he turns back to the paperwork spread before him.

But there is still one matter at hand that I need to figure out how to take care of, "Alpha Bower... I was wondering if you might have any livestock that it might be alright for me to drink from? I'll kill nothing, and it won't harm the beast more than maybe making it a bit dizzy."

The hardened shifter has to think for a moment before he answers me, the fact that he's actually giving it some thought a decent sign that he might actually approve my request, and that he does by saying, "You may help yourself to the older cows, just as long as you stay away from the ones still give us milk... They should be in the pasture next to the southern barn... And while you're near there you might check the loft for my son Flinn- the pup that found ya. It'll do him good to see you up and around instead of unconscious."

The words have barely left his mouth before I'm nodding to him in thanks and taking my leave, the mention of Flinn enough to spur me into motion as though all of my aches and pains from being so travel-weary forgotten with the promise of seeing his face without the haze of delirium hanging over my eyes.

Between my thirst for him and my actual thirst I am not sure which drives me faster, a quick pause given so that I might locate the southern barn from one of the windows and then sprint after turning myself in the right direction, my feet taking the steps of the flight of stairs that separates me from my first meal in ages and meeting my soulmate two at a time in my haste and not pausing when they finally land on the dusty grass, the barn coming into view just as the wind shifts and I'm hit with a wave of the most delicious smell that has ever graced my nostrils...

I can smell the sweet cherub that saved me and oh how it calls to every fiber of my being... My thirst is renewed just now, but the fire burning in my throat is not for cows blood... But for the lovely red-head that had found me and brought me here to his home... I have no choice but to force myself to stop and stand for a moment while shivers wrack their way through my body, the pain in my eyes and mouth telling me exactly what I must look like as I fight down the craving I have for my slight savior and the divine lifeblood that flows through his veins... I am not sure if it is just because I am half-starved... Or if this truly is the power that soulmates hold over their other halves...

Either way, it is the most delightful torture, the pang of pure wanting that washes through me choking me with how overwhelmingly strong it is...

It takes longer than I would like to admit to gain better control of myself, my course changed from the barn to the pasture beside it milling with the cows Alpha Bower had mentioned, my thirst needing to be quenched before I let myself anywhere near Flinn and his delicate beauty for his own safety... To keep him safe from me and my need of his blood until he can come to know me better and make the decision to feed me of his own volition instead of being taken in a frenzy...

My savior deserves so much more than to just be set upon on our first meeting...

No... Today I need only to express how grateful I am to him for saving my life... And then bow to him in all his beauty as the young man I shall spend the rest of my eternity with.