Dark Hunger

Urhan was sleeping in his bedchamber when his servant rushed in and woke him up. "There is a huge commotion in the palace, m'lord," he said, shaking like a leaf for disturbing his Master while sleeping. He was sure to face his wrath. Lately, his Master was not in the best of his moods. His sister, Laurel, had gone missing. He had overheard him giving instructions to his guards to find her. 

Urhan woke up with a jerk. His eyes were red and expressions severe. "Commotion?" 

The servant nodded. "A soldier's body is found just outside the castle."

Urhan tossed his blanket in one swift motion. He got out of the bed and got dressed in a rush. When he reached the gates of the palace, he found a group of soldiers gathered on the left. The councilors whom Daryn had appointed were all out and there was a buzz. Urhan tore the crowd as he strode towards the center and found a headless body on the ground. His blood became cold when he saw the head of the soldier impaled on the sword that was standing near him. His face paled at the sight. He gulped. The soldier was the same person who had talked to him the previous night. How was he killed? Who killed him? And more importantly why was he killed? Too many questions bounced in his head. 

"Do you know him?" asked one of the councilors, when they saw that Urhan was shivering. 

At first Urhan stared blankly at the man who asked him the question and then nodded weakly. "I know his family." He couldn't understand as to who could have been so brave to have killed this soldier and then brought his headless body in front of the gates of the castle. And then not a single guard in front of the palace knew about it? The incident shook him from the inside. He instructed the guards out there, "What are you all looking at? Take the body and conduct its last rites." 

As soon as the guards came forward, the councilman stepped in. "No, Seize the body. We will be investigating who this soldier was and how he ended up like this?" 

Urhan froze. If they conducted an investigation, it might come to him. He wanted to protest, but that would sound too suspicious. He had to do something secretly. But the fact that his man's body was in front of the gates of the castle meant that someone was trying to send a message to him. He clenched his teeth and stayed put. The body was seized by the guards and Urhan went back to his manor. The councilmen were waiting for him for the latest report. 

--- 

Caleb wanted to mold according to his wife's needs. After he had dealt with the soldiers, he came to her. He lay next to her and she turned to bury her face in his chest. She smelled him and the murmured sweet nothings. "Do you want to drink, love?" he asked. She latched on to his chest and lapped up a little. His wolf was satisfied and he stroked her hair. He knew what was going to happen next. Elize woke up completely. His blood energized her. It kicked up the magic in her. He chuckled seeing her tying up her hair in a messy bun. "Did you miss me so much, darling?" 

She leapt in his arms. "Terribly." 

"I see that you are fully awake." 

"I am!" she said in an excited voice hoping that he would have sex with her. 

He nipped her ear making her squirm over his body. "Get dressed and let us go back to the tents. The weather is perfect for some sparring."

With a suffering sigh, she got up. Though her mood was ruined when he didn't have sex with her, but she was happy that they would spend time in sparring. She had started liking it. Who would have imagined that a woman like her, who was into sports and then had studied to be a Manager at some IT firm, would end up learning sword fights in the Lore? And who would have imagined that she would love this life so much that she would find her previous life mundane as hell. 

As Caleb watched her from a distance, he continued to instruct her. "Thrust, parry, now go back and counterthrust. Block and get back in the striking position." She followed his instruction to the T. 

Even though the night air was cool, Elize was sweating profusely. She had been practicing for an hour. She was so energized that she hadn't stopped even for a minute. Her sparring was improving at a faster rate than Caleb had anticipated. He knew that her magic needed to be channelized. He had to control her magic and for that he had to make her control it. "Would you like to practice with me?" he asked, as he twirled his sword and walked up to her. 

"I would love to!" she said and lunged at him with her naked sword. He smiled and caught her blade in front of his chest. 

"You want to kill your husband?" 

"Nah! I want to teach him a lesson for diverting me." She shoved him and spun. When she brought her sword back to him, she met with his resistance again. 

"You are getting better than some of the best warriors I know," he said with a grin. 

"Are you flattering me, husband?" She charged again. 

"I am always flattering you, love." 

Such a shameless bastard. He was using his guile to defeat her. Well at least she knew that she wasn't that bad now. She used her energy and struck him with force, slicing his shirt and sparing his skin. She laughed as his shirt ripped and hung loose on his body, showing those drool-worthy muscles. She got distracted and the next thing she knew was that his shirt was thrown on her face and he had lunged on her legs and thrown her to the ground. But before hitting the ground, Caleb twisted in the air and took the fall making her fall on his body. When she scrambled out of the shirt, she found him gazing into her eyes lovingly. "Very good, Lizzy," he said. "Sometimes you have to take the hit of the opponent to use it against him or her. You shouldn't have sliced my shirt." 

Elize pushed her hands against his chest as she blushed. She wondered if they had an audience even though it was so dark and only a few light orbs floated above the ground. She smacked her husband. "Let me go, wolf." His arm was wrapped around her waist. 

"Not unless I get the kiss I deserve," he replied with indifference to the place they were. 

Gods. She gave him a chaste kiss. 

"That was the wrong technique. Sometimes you have to give your opponent everything and make them feel overconfident." He cupped her face and pulled her towards him. His lips crashed on hers. He pried her lips open with his fangs and delved his tongue inside. When she heard a moan, she was embarrassed that it was she who moaned in his mouth.. The next moment she found herself inside their tent, and her wolf was ripping off her clothes.