Lover Untamed

Chapter One

Cupping his hands together, Adam blew into them in hopes of warming his frozen finger. Seeing a single blow of air wouldn't do it, he stuffed them back in his pockets and began hopping from one foot to the other. Then he shook his hair full of snow. For thirty minutes he stood across a street full of wenches looking for a good time. Since the day he became a man he had sworn a life of celibacy. There were things to his upbringing that made him weary if he tupped. There was also the thought of his grandfather's ghost haunting him which always terrified him.

The door to the brothel flew wide open and Ahnger came out. Adjusting his jacket and sniffing, he crossed the road and walked right up to Adam. Tonight was one of those nights where the male needed to feed and tup. So if they stuck to their usual routine, the two would walk the streets for any excitement and head back home if they found nothing. Or Adman would go home by himself while Ahnger found another woman to tup.

"You do know you can come in anytime," teased Ahnger.

"Nay. If I wish to tup a wench then I will choose when to."

Ahnger shook his head in disappointment and clasped his friend on the shoulder. "Nay? Tup? Wench? We seriously need to expand your vocabulary to the twenty-first century."

"I too have adjusted to this century's sayings!" defended Adam.

"But you still look over your shoulder when you think about cursing."

Hastily pushing up his shades to cover his eyes, Adman stomped away with Ahnger laughing at the top of his lungs. Strange how the two first met led to them being friends. But since they were close, Adam basically traveled with Ahnger and had seen more of America than he ever thought he would. There was the dark fact that Ahnger's father, the now reinstated Brother Mehrcy, would be out on the hunt for him. It was only a few months ago did Adam meet Mehrcy. He still wondered why Ahnger said it was a thrill whenever he fought his father. Perhaps it had to do with the curse in their family.

Adam hated curses.

Adjusting his jacket which hid his bow, Adam touched his quiver through his pocket and started counting his arrows. Ahnger quickly caught up and scanned the streets with adrenaline running over his black gaze. Strapped to his waist were two twin blades hiding in their sheaths. The male wore a long coat just like Adam to conceal his weapons from the human authorities or from any civilians who might report the two to the Brotherhood.

Not once had Adam ever seen Ahnger with his real eyes. He knew they were supposed to gold like his brothers who they fought that night at the construction site. Instead, Ahnger's eyes were black from the darkness inside him. Because he was a twin, the curse in his family was aimed towards the twins. Both would be born to be the hosts of light and darkness. Ahnger's twin, Sohrrow, was the host of light and Ahnger was the host of darkness. It was clear the male had succumbed to the darkness long before he met Adam but still held a shred of himself somewhere. If the darkness had truly taken over, Ahnger wouldn't be eying a woman who walked right past them.

Surely Ahnger wouldn't be bumping into Adam for the fun of it in his attempt of lightening his friend's attitude if the darkness had complete control over him.

Winter had arrived in Caldwell and tonight was one of its coldest. Everyone walked around bundled in warm clothes and so did Adam. Under his thick wool jacket he wore a cashmere sweater and a scarf tied nicely around his neck. His boots crunched over the snow beneath his feet and he had his jeans tucked firmly in his boots. Besides his legs from semi-freezing, the only part of him he was worried about were his fingers. Unable to wear gloves in case he needed to use his bow, the only warmth he could find was rubbing his hands inside his pockets. As for Ahnger, it seemed he had finally tapped into the darkness to where he didn't need much clothes to wear for the winter.

Only wearing a jacket meant for the fall, the male wore a simple black shirt, dark jeans and leather boots. Not once had he shuddered from the cold or complained. It seemed as if he fancied the cold more than ever.

Adam would've continued walking straight if it wasn't for Ahnger stopping him. He watched as the male took in a freezing breath and smiled. He looked at Adam for a second to see. Bowing his head for a second, he gave his friend the nod. The two then dematerialized and appeared on a building. Well, Ahnger did. Adam accidently ended up in the back alley next to the building. Muttering to himself, he tried again and appeared next to Ahnger.

Chuckling to himself, Ahnger led the way and looked back to make sure Adam was following. There were times where he found his friend shaking his fists in the air and running along the sidewalk before he could dematerialize and end up on the wrong buildings. It was no secret to the two that Adam was terrible at the transportation vampires took. There were days where he could do it and days he couldn't. This was one of those days where he couldn't exactly predict where he was going to end up in.

After a few more tries and finally catching up to Ahnger, the two went down a fire escape and knelt down to watch a building across the street. Rows of stores resided in the same building but it was the one on the far left that caught their attention. All the stores had their doors locked an all lights were turned off. Except for the left one. The door was still open and the lights were on above the store.

A gust of wind blew in their direction and Adam gagged. The scent of baby powder filled his nose. It was the most disgusting thing he had ever smelt in his lifetime. But Ahnger's smile only widened now that he knew there was prey in the area. And just like that, a few cars came down the road and parked behind the building. Men with pale skin and white hair walked around the front and went inside.

"How many?" Ahnger asked.

Besides having trouble dematerializing, Adam made up for his ability to feel people's feelings. It helped him a lot when he first met Ahnger and it continued to help him when his friend was having a bad day. So as he closed his eyes, he focused his mind on the building and began counting how many lessers were there. It was impossible to tell if Adam opened his eyes since he never took off his shades. The only way how Ahnger knew his friend was done was when he looked at him.

"There are ten on the first floor and twelve on the second. The bottom ten are making their way to the top so there will be twenty two if we go in."

"Twenty two, huh? These bastards multiply faster than roaches."

To Adam's surprise, he felt a hint of worry coming from Ahnger. Not hear but feel. He was in the middle of suppressing his ability when Ahnger's emotion spiked. Adam locked his jaw over the fact he accidently listened in to Ahnger's feelings. He only did it when the time was needed. However, he was curious as to why Ahnger was worried.

He would have to worry about it later since Ahnger stood and began unsheathing his blades. Adam stayed put while Ahnger dematerialized and appeared at the front door. Shucking off his jacket and kneeling, Adam took one arrow and loaded the bow. Bringing it up to aim and focusing his gaze at the window, he took a steady breath as he aimed for the small light in the room. Looking down at Ahnger who had just kicked in the door, Adam released the arrow which went straight through the window and took out the light.

That's when all hell broke loose.

Once the lessers panicked over the loss of light, Ahnger went to work.

Running up the stairs, the first lesser came running down the stairs like a fool and Ahnger stabbed it with both of his blades. Slicing through the rib cage and going right through the spot where the heart should be, the body exploded into a bright light and Ahnger pushed through when another lesser came at him with a box cutter. With a flick of his wrist, Ahnger only used one blade to cut the lesser's head off and kicked the body aside.

Jumping over the steps and arriving on the second floor, twenty armed lessers loaded their guns and would've shot if arrows hadn't started shooting them from behind. With the enemy unprepared, Ahnger flipped his blades in his hands and ran right up to the group.

Spinning on his heel and attacking in wide circles, Ahnger made quick work of the first three lessers. Taking out one's leg and the other's right side of the face, the other fell backwards and was sliced across the stomach. One lesser tried to shoot but had an arrow lodged in the back of its head with the tip sticking from its eye. The others tried to take cover from the attack but were forced closer to the male.

The lessers began panicking and shooting in random directions when Ahnger roared out loud and came barreling in their direction. Only getting nicked in a couple of places, the lessers tried to scatter when Ahnger started hacking away at them. One managed to stubble forward but Ahnger sent on of his blades sailing and it hit the lesser in the center of its spine. Flipping the other blade and catching it at the hilt, Ahnger caught a lesser and stabbed it right through the chest. Barely missing the center and having shoved the blade all the way into the wall, there was no way it was getting loose.

With arrows shooting the enemy who made a fatal attempt for the stairs, the darkness inside Ahnger reacted to the scent of blood. It was so overwhelmed by the smell it basically threw everything it had in Ahnger so he could continue.

Jerking a lesser backwards and watching it fall to the floor, Ahnger opened his mouth the same time his teeth grew into sharp fangs and sliced away at the body with his claws. When a lesser jumped him from behind, all Ahnger did was turn around and rip the idiot's throat out with his fangs. Looking back down at the one below him, he sliced the throat with one of his claws and went back to work on the others clogging up the staircase.

Arrows whizzed past Ahnger as he jumped in front of the lessers and practically scared them back into the cramped room. A few more took arrows to the heads or chests which sent them to the ground. The others started running around as if thinking Ahnger wouldn't catch them. With a devilish grin, he zigzagged around and used his claws to slice each lesser in the stomach. When he came up to the last one, he grabbed it by the collar and flipped it clean over his head. Slamming the lesser to the ground and brining his hand up, Ahnger tore right through the lesser's chest and ripped through the spot where the heart should be. Clouded in a bright light for a second, the room dimmed and Ahnger saw that the other lessers were now crawling to the stairs since they had so many arrows in them.

Because the same lesser still had one of his twin blades pinned to a lesser, Ahnger picked up the other one and started stabbing the others in the back. He didn't bother with the semi-dead ones. They weren't going anywhere. Ignoring all the cries and begging, Ahnger stabbed the last one and turned around to face the lesser trying to free itself. Cleaning his blade and sheathing it, the male walked over to the window and whistled for Adam to come over. He whistled back and started his way down the fire escape.

Stepping back and pressing one clawed hand into the lesser's shoulder, Ahnger's smile widened when he saw the enemy bite down on its lip from showing any pain. From the way how he smelt and the color of his hair and eyes, this one was perhaps the oldest of the lot. Perfect. An old lesser Ahnger needed.

"Your kind's been busy lately," teased Ahnger.

"Fuck you, vampire."

Ahnger laughed as he dug his claw in deeper. This time the lesser made a low growl as if trying to swallow the pain.

"I need information and I need it now. What exactly is your kind up to?"

This time it didn't bother answering. Jerking its head aside, the lesser wouldn't look the male in the eyes. Even when he twisted his claw in its shoulder. The lesser simply acted as if Ahnger wasn't in the room inflicting pain on it.

Ahnger could hear Adam enter the building. A sense of urgency took over and it wasn't only Ahnger who felt the need. Deep down did the darkness strike out at the enemy with the same need. Hackles raised and teeth bared, the darkness ordered Ahnger to get the information they needed before Adam came up.

Driving his claws deep into the lesser, Ahnger used his other hand to twist the blade which was already close to the center of the chest. When the lesser was about to cry out in pain, Anger moved quick and held a firm grip over its throat.

"What is your kind up to?" he demanded. "For days you assholes have been meeting in large groups. None of the others I've caught would tell me shit. So you can see I'm not in the mood for any bullshit. Why the numbers and what's going on?"

Adam was close. Time was running out.

Releasing its throat and shoving the blade all the way down to the hilt, the lesser finally cracked.

"I don't know," it said. "I swear. The only thing I've heard is that we're meeting again in six days. It's supposed to be a big gathering. That's it. That's all I know."

"Address," growled Ahnger. He latterly growled.

Seconds later after he got his address did he kill the lesser. Another few seconds after the light vanished did Adam join Ahnger. He watched as the male ripped his blade out of the wall and cleaned it with the clothing the lesser had been wearing.

Walking around and pulling out his arrow, Adam casted his gaze on Ahnger who started cleaning up his mess. The two worked in silence until the last body was gone. Placing the last arrow back in his quiver, Adam looked at the wall with the giant hole and back at Ahnger. His teeth and fingers were back to normal and he was making his way to the stairs. Adam stepped between him and his exit. The male stopped and took a deep breath as if to calm himself from doing something stupid.

"What happened?"

"Nothing. Just a lesser being a dick. Now move. We don't want the Brotherhood to find us if they come down this way."

Adam hesitated for a second before moving aside. As Ahnger walked down, he recalled all that happened over the months. Ahnger started acting more aggressive to the lessers they found and wouldn't tell his friend why he would keep one alive longer than the others. And there was the darkness. Adam didn't need to feel that it was acting reckless. Something was driving it to act out of character along with Ahnger. Too bad the male wouldn't tell Adam why he was worked up.

Then there was the fact that they had been in Caldwell since November and next week would be February. Not once had they stayed in one place for so long. After the attack between him and the Brothers, the two would've probably be in their fourth location and preparing to move on to the fifth. But they were still in the Brotherhood's territory and Ahnger wouldn't say why.

Placing his bow back on his back and covering it with his jacket, Adam followed Ahnger outside and the two walked a few blocks until they figured no one found out about the attack. Then Ahnger went back to himself by checking out all the women walking down the street. Adam shook his head in disbelief and pushed his shades up since they slid down his nose. It was almost like the attack never happened.