Chapter 1:Ahstrux Nohtrum

Wrath, Son of Wrath, sat in his pansy-ass study and tried not to throw everything on his desk into the wall.

The reason for his aggression was obvious. Shailene had gotten herself into trouble. Again.

His little sis was good at that kind of thing; always going against the rules he set and the lines he'd drawn in order to keep her safe. Always needing to prove that she could take care of herself. Always needing to contest him. Always.

Most days he approved of Shai for her assertiveness. She was the only person who didn't hesitate to tell things to him straight, and not pussy-foot around the issues. She stood up to him, put him in his place when he needed it, whether he thought it was necessary at the time or not. She knew how to calm him when he got "pissy" as she liked to call it. They knew each other better than anyone else. She was his sister.

And with that being said, didn't it make sense that he wanted her safe? It did to everyone else in his life. So why the fuck couldn't she see it? He knew the answer: she was just plain old difficult. It wasn't her fault. It ran in their pure blood line. Or so everyone said.

To Wrath, it was if she didn't see the full value of her life, she didn't realize exactly how important she was to those around her. She wasn't just a female vampire. She was a princess, one of the only two pure-blooded vampires alive today. She was a keeper to the Brotherhood, in charge of the races warriors, now that Wrath had ascended to the throne. The powers that she carried, powers different than the ones other vampires possess, marked her as the guarantee that the race would survive. The Promise.

Not to mention that she was one of the two things that kept him tethered to the earth. Other than Beth, Wrath's shellan,Shai was the most important thing Wrath had because for a very long time, she had been allhe'd had. And she knew that. God damn it, she knew. So why was she so reckless with herself? Only God knew. Though Wrath knew her inside and out, there were times when her motivations confused and frustrated the living hell out of him

Again, Wrath had to fight off some very vile, yet strangely pleasant images of him polishing the shit that was on his desk off with one good swipe of his heavy arm.

For maybe the millionth time in his centuries-long life, he asked himself what he was going to do about his beloved, pain-in-the-ass sister.

Vital to his life, he had to find a way to keep her safe. When she'd shown up in his study about two hours ago with fresh cuts and bruises that even he, with his piss-poor eyesight could see, it took a lot of will power not to finish the job that the lessershad tried to do and not take her head off, himself.

She had been put through so much shit when it came to those fucking bastards. She had been kidnapped when she was just a young, maybe eleven years old, centuries ago. It had taken him two nights to find her; two nights of pure, tortuous, panic. Then later when she had been about a year out of her transition, still trying to get the hang of all the special abilities filling her body, she was taken again. And then years close to the same had followed. So he'd finally taught her how to defend herself, just as their father had taught him when he had been nearing his transition and then even after it had passed. Shai was a naturally good fighter to begin with and by the time he had taught her all he possibly could, she was a master at it, as good as any Brother. But it was nights like this when he sometimes thought that might not have been such a hot idea, not with her going behind his back into the field to fight lessers,byherself,a fact that he had only found out about, about a month ago.

At that point he had screamed bloody murder at her.

What was he going to about her?

What she needed was twenty-four hour watch of the best warriors he could find, have them armed at all times when with her, ready to take a bullet for her if it came to that—

And Holy Christ! That was it! That was so fucking it. He knew how he could keep her safe. He also knew that she would fight him on this as if he were the races enemy. Another thing about Shailene that he both approved of and was completely strung out by was that she was just like him when they were talking personality wise. That was half the reason why they bumped heads like mountain goats, though he found himself more reasonable most of the time.

But it didn't matter if she didn't want what Wrath was about to do. She would refuse to take it but in the end she would have no choice. What Wrath was about to do was a royal decree and even the Promise wasn't able to escape.

It would be like a human female trying to move a grand piano all by herself, but eventually Shai would budge. Even if it took all night and day, Shai would give a little.

"C'mon Hollywood, that the best you can do, true?" Vishous taunted.

Rhage let out a nasty snarl and swung at his brother again.

He and the rest of the Brotherhood were in the training centre's gym, using the room for what it was for. They had been sparring for hours now, all of them taking turns, facing off different opponents, while Butch sat in on the benches like a good little human and refereed the matches.

Rhage and V were going at it but by this point it was more for fun than training. The brothers had been pounding each other in for hours now and it was all about the jokes now. Just for kicks and fucking giggles.

Besides, it's not like any of them really need the extra ass-kicking training. They were all masters at the hand-to-hand. Especially Rhage. He was the best. This was just to get his body back into the swing of things. This was the first time his body was starting to feel even remotely normal since three nights ago when his curse had taken over him, and his beast had been released.

As Vishous swung and Rhage blocked it, the other brothers whooped and hollered, having a grand ol' time watching the cage match.

"Alright, alright," Butch called. "You two nancies have been going at it for too long. I declare it is officially a tie."

"That's bullshit, cop," Vishous grunted. "I was planning my winning move. Just about to strike."

"Cry me a river. You two ballerinas looked more like you were about to break out into a Fosse number instead of finish this fight."

"I don't even want to know what how the hell you know what a Fosse number looks like," Rhage said.

"My sisters grew up in the dance world," he explained. "Sue me."

"Wow. Can you say 'pansy'?" Rhage asked.

"Listen here you—" Butch started his comeback, only to be shot down and cut off by the head of household doggen,Fritz.

"Excuse me, sires but I beg a moment of your time," he said, approaching the group of males.

"Sure, Fritz, what's up?" Tohr asked

"Master Wrath would like a word with you, Master Rhage," he informed them.

"Me?" Rhage asked like an idiot. Um duh. Who else here was named Rhage? "Right now?"

"Yes, sire. Now." The old man bowed and departed.

"Rhage, my man," Phury said on a chuckle. "What did you do?"

"Nothing. At least nothing comes to mind." Rhage tried to think it over quickly.

"That either means, A, you've done so much stupid shit that you can't call back any one specific thing," V suggested, "or B, you have finally admitted that inside that fat blond head, there really isn't a mind for anything to come to."

As the other brothers and Butch chortled at Vishous' joke, Rhage flipped him off.

"Well you should get your ass up there," Torhment suggested. "It must be important if 'my Lord' wants a private audience with you."

"True that." Rhage pulled on his shirt. "Later my brothers."

They all called their goodbyes as Rhage made his way to the tunnel.

By the time he made it to Wrath's study, he had wracked his brain, searched is head inside and out, and was pretty damned sure that he hadn't done anything to deserve a stern talking to from the king.

"My Lord," Rhage said in greeting as he entered the delicate study.

"Rhage, my brother." Wrath leaned back in his seat, putting his size fourteen shit-kickers on the desk, make it look even more inconsequential. "Took your sweet-ass time getting up here."

"That's because I was trying to figure out what I did to deserve a private talking to." Rhage pulled out the chair across on the other side of the desk and planted his ass down. "Gotta tell ya, I don't think I did anything."

"Oh I'm sure you have, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. I want to talk to you about Shailene."

Rhage's eyes shot to him in surprise. "What about her?"

"She's been out fighting as, you know and I'm sure you also understand how much that—"

"-pisses you off?" It was kinda obvi. When it came to Shai, Wrath was as lethal as if she were his shellan or his own young, which made sense if you thought about it. Wrath had had to raise Shai as his own when their castle had been attacked, pillaged, and then burned to the ground, their parents stuck in the inferno that had changed and ruined their lives all those centuries ago.

Wrath gave a small smile. "So you do get it."

"Of course."

"And would you help if you could?"

"You know I would."

"Good. I'm glad to hear that."

There was a long, slightly tense silence. Rhage was trying to work out what Wrath was saying and what he wanted. When Rhage came up blank, he finally had to ask, "What exactly is it that you want me to do here?"

"Shailene needs protection. She refuses to be careful with herself, and since I can't be the one to follow her around, and I can't tie her to her bed and lock her in her room for another six hundred years, I need another way to keep her safe."

"And I come into this... how?"

Wrath wasn't one to beat around the bush, but it still surprised Rhage when Wrath came out bluntly and said, "I want you to be Shailene's ahstrux nohtrum."

Silence.

Rhage sat there staring at the king, dumb-founded. Wrath wanted Rhage... What the hell? "But Shailene can take care of herself."

Wrath's eyebrows disappeared down behind his wrap-arounds. "Are you denying my request?" he demanded.

That tone of voice had Rhage backtracking fast. "No it's just... Shai is as good as any Brother when it comes to all forms of combat. And even if she wasn't, why would you choose me to do this? Why not Tohr or Phury?" Or anyone else. It seemed strange that Wrath would ask Rhage of all people. Everyone knew that Rhage was the most reckless of the Brothers. No one trusted him with much responsibility. And being Shailene's protector... well you might as well of asked to take responsibility of the continental United States.

"You're the first one that came to mind. And I need the best of the best for my sister, my Promise. That's you."

Rhage sat there, thinking over the implications of what Wrath was asking him to do. Being Shailene's ahstrux nohtrum was something... huge. Something he couldn't even fathom.

Taking this job would mean a lot of time spent with Shai, obviously. And that wasn't exactly a bad thing. In fact, that idea wasn't bad at all. Shai was the most gorgeous thing he had ever set eyes on. She was strength and beauty incarnate, wrapped into a lovely feminine package. And it wasn't like every brother, except maybe Tohrment, wasn't half in love with her to begin with. She wasn't just any female. She was... amazing

But the problem was, what happened if he failed? If Shailene died on Rhage's watch, there were many laws that had to be followed, not to mention what Wrath would do him.

Rhage sat there like an idiot.

This time, Wrath was the one to break the stony silence.

"So... Rhage. What do you think?"

"Do I have a choice?" he asked, still completely head-fucked.

"Of course," Wrath said, sounding sincerely shocked. "The choice is yours. If you refuse, then I will go to someone else. After all, this is a big ass responsibility. A life-long responsibility. But I can't think of anyone else who would be better suited for Shai. And the time you spend with her may even be good for both of your asses." If Rhage didn't know any better he would have thought Wrath was arranging for them to be mated. Like that was ever going to happen. "But if you refuse, I will find someone else, though it'll really grind my gears, you feel me?"

"Shai will hate this," was all Rhage could say.

"It doesn't matter if it was you or a god-damned monkey that I get to protect her, she won't be happy. It just so happens that there're no monkeys available."

"And you really trust me to do this? You trust me with her life?"

"I wouldn't be looking at you right now if I didn't. Like I said, this is a huge as responsibility. I'm trusting you, so don't fuck it up." Wrath removed his feet from the desk, and leaned forward in his seat, forearms on his desk. "So will you do this for me? Will you do this for my sister?"

What choice did he really have? In the old language, he said "It is an honor to be trusted with something so precious to you. I will protect the Promise with my life."

Wrath got to his feet and Rhage followed. He held out his hand to Rhage and grasped it tightly in both of his. With his head bowed over their hands, Wrath said "Thank you, my brother. Thank you."

When Wrath let go of Rhage's hand, he looked at him with a satisfied smile on his face, like everything he wanted was setting into motion flawlessly.

"Now," Wrath said in a low voice, "prepare for your worst nightmare. Because you're the one who has to break the news to her."

"Ah shit. Do you value my life at all? I can't protect her if she kills me first."

Wrath laughed in earnest and rested a hand on Rhage's shoulder. "God's speed, my brother. God's speed."