A/N: Thank you to those of you that have started following this story and put me on alerts. Don't get your lighters out to burn me, but that little cliffie I left you with last time? Yeah, we're not there yet. This would be my smoking hot husband's POV of the events taking place. I promise, we'll get to the cliffie and find out if I rip his arm off straight away.
This was wrong on so many levels, but it felt so right that I just had to do it. My eyes flickered down to the curvy blond in my arms as I heard Jasper approaching and I eased her body to the ground and stood over her to wait on him to hand me my ass again.
"What the fuck Peter?" his quickly darkening eyes took in the woman at my feet and he just shook his head. "How in the ever lovin'…I swear you are worse than a newborn half the time."
I wasn't really but the fucker was annoyed with me and I really had fucked up this time so I didn't goad him. We both turned in the direction of the farmhouse when we heard a man's voice calling a name, Charlotte. I looked down at the woman once again, taking in her appearance once more. She looked like a Charlotte.
"I," I started, running my hand along the back of my neck as I looked into Jasper's eyes, but they were drawn back to the woman, "I had to."
Major Jasper Whitlock, king of the glare, didn't disappoint me. I could feel his eyes boring into me, could see him in the corner of my eye. This time was no different than any other time; there was something in my head telling me that I had to do this. The man's voice at the farmhouse called for her again and I heard Jasper's frustrated growl.
"Had to, my ass," he said. "I GAVE YOU AN ORDER. Get her back now. It's too late for anything else. I'll deal with you when I get back."
With that final bit of cheer, the Major was gone. And as much as I hated to admit it, he was technically right. I was supposed to be grabbing snacks for the newborns not making more. But I'd come this way and I had to stop.
I leaned down and gently picked up Charlotte, holding her close to me as I ran away from her home. I could feel the curves of her body and slowed down because as soon as I got back I would have to put her down and I wanted to savor the way she felt pressed against me. I hadn't meant for this to happen.
I stopped running altogether and looked down at her, brushing a stray lock of hair from her face. She was…beautiful. How the fuck could I have done this? I stopped running towards the small town for the newborn's snacks just as she'd come out of the small farmhouse and I stayed in the shadow of the barn to watch. She looked madder than hell, stomping around the yard and practically pelting the poor chickens with their food. I had to suppress a laugh. Until she ran into the barn and I could smell her tears.
I don't know why I went to her. I shouldn't have. I should have just gone on about my business but I couldn't make my feet do more than go in that barn. She didn't scream and yell, but I didn't give her much of a chance to either. As soon as she turned and saw me, her eyes widened and I was there with my teeth at her neck.
Fuck knows why I didn't just drain her. I couldn't do it. I've never been unable to feed but wrong didn't even begin to cover how this had felt. I just knew that she was mine and I had to take care of her, not have her for dinner. Well, not yet. Fuck, I was a sick man, fantasizing about an unconscious woman. I leapt over a ditch, pulling her curves a little more into my body and realized that I might be a sick man, but I had damn good taste.
We were close to the camp now, but I didn't want to let her go. I didn't know what other option I had though, not with her burning. I walked over to the nursery, a shed where we kept all of the fresh ones, the ones that were still burning, and I hesitated. Why did it feel so off to dump her in here? That's how we handled this sort of thing. Jasper or I would go out, scout the potentials then bite them and dump them here until their heartbeats sped up. Then, they'd get moved to wake up. It was an easy system, and it worked.
I walked over to the far wall, still cradling her in my arms as I looked for someplace to put her. There was very little space, so I kicked a changing body out of the way so that she would be as comfortable as I could make her and lay her softly down next to the wall. Only this time it really didn't seem like the right thing to do. I didn't have a choice though; this is how things were done. I smoothed her wind ruffled hair from her face as I squatted beside her. Charlotte. I hoped this didn't kill her. I really hoped she'd survive what my venom was doing to her human body.
I could hear the bitch outside barking out orders and bellowing for Jasper. I gave my girl a last glance and left the building to head off Maria before she got really worked up. Jasper and I approached her at the same time, just from different directions and he raised a brow at me. I gave him the slightest nod and moved to stand beside him while Maria let us know what she was all riled up about. It really didn't take a genius to figure out Maria. She wanted to go over strategy for tomorrow night's fight, so the two of us followed her and indulged her last minute questions about what we had planned.
Meetings with Maria always lasted too long, no matter how brief they were. That woman was pure evil and I hated her nearly beyond reason. She'd toyed with me when I was a newborn, just like she did all the others. I'd not complained because, well, frankly I knew I'd be killed for it. This life was not what I would have chosen in a million years, but dead is dead and I wasn't ready to be there yet so I'd gone along with the sick bitch until she was bored with me.
I'd been here for 31 years. Longer than I'd been human and at times it seemed like there was nothing to do but fight and fuck and wait on the sun to go down and do it all over again. This wasn't one of those times. There was the slightest shimmer of hope that just maybe there could be more than the monotony of this never ending war and my girl's screams reaching me from the nursery. I caught myself heading back in the direction of the nursery instead of where I should have been going twice and cursed the woman lying in there. All this questioning bullshit was because of her.
When Jasper finally finished up with the queen of cunts, he came and found me. I already knew that he would be pissed. Not about bringing back a burning body, but about it being that particular burning body. She wasn't quite what we normally brought back. He grabbed my throat and slammed me into the ground in greeting. I lightly sniffed the air and he reeked of sex and Maria so I knew that the bad mood that he'd had in the field outside of Charlotte's human home was nothing compared to what was going to be coming at me now.
"She better have a gift Peter," he snarled in my face.
"I don't know, Major," I told him honestly, "you know I don't know."
Jasper released his hold on my neck and looked to be only marginally calmer. I sat up as his eyes surveyed the camp.
"You know what will happen if she doesn't," he said.
I think we were both shocked at the quiet growl that was my initial response to him. Jasper wasn't being a bastard on purpose, it was just this place and the rules and he wanted to make sure that I remembered them. I didn't care if she was gifted or not, the rules just would not apply here. She wouldn't become a camp whore, for the newborns to use until they'd ripped her apart in an argument.
"Major," I said to him with a grin and a wink as I tapped my finger to the side of the head.
Jasper gave me another of his camp-famous death glares and left without another word. I sighed unnecessarily and my head turned back towards the nursery. God, I hope she's gifted, or one hell of a fighter. Maybe it would just be better if she died during the change. My chest actually ached at that thought, but I would rather she die than be subjected to this camp if she couldn't fight or didn't have a gift. I decided right then that I would make damn sure that if she couldn't fight when she woke up, she would be able to soon after and I didn't really give two shits what it took to make that happen.
The rest of my night and the following day passed much like all of the others had in this life. I took five nearly rabid newborns and tried to teach them how to kill whatever we pointed them at. Once I was satisfied with their progress, I would take them to the feed house and give each of them just enough blood to not use their newly refined skills on each other for a while. Then, I repeated the process with five more. On and on it went. It had been like this since I'd passed my year mark, almost. I grew more and more brutal with my training methods as the night passed. Visions of Charlotte taunted me as I worked with the newborns, her bent over as I took her from behind, her tits bouncing as she rode me, her covered in the blood of her first kill and every time one of the scenes featuring her blond curves played, I'd rip something off of one of the newborns.
I should have died after my first year, but I was really good in a fight. I always had been. Hell, Jasper had found me outside of a saloon in 1882 wailing the shit out of some drunken asshole that was being out of line. Knowing what I know now, I'm sure my ability to pummel another human like that is what drew Jasper to me. I never could remember too much about the circumstances around my change. I remembered my Ma and Pa from before, and the simple life that we'd all led out in our small German community in the hill country. I remembered all of the hopes and dreams that I used to have. I remembered my first name. And I remembered everything since Jasper changed me. Every damn detail.
We had a fight tonight, and me being all sentimental about my lost human life wouldn't help with what was ahead; it was time to fuck shit up and I planned on channeling my rage at the upheaval that Charlotte had wrought to my previously simple existence. I stood at Jasper's right and stared out into the darkness. The newborns behind us were starving and getting restless already. I was just ready for this shit to be over with so I could get back to the camp and hopefully purge myself of these damn bipolar thoughts that I was having. Fuckin' Charlotte.
There was the slightest of movements in the darkness and Jasper gave me a slight nod. I turned towards the newborns and nodded in the direction we were heading. I knew they'd follow me; I was Poppa Peter, their big daddy, the one that fed them. It should have made me sick, but it was true and it wouldn't stop me from helping Jasper rip them apart and burn them when they weren't useful anymore. I took one step forward and they all surged past Jasper and I. I turned to look back at Jasper and gave him a half ass salute before joining the newborns on the battlefield.
The thing about this sort of battle is it doesn't really matter who you're fighting or why, you just rip and shred until there's no one left coming at you. That's exactly what I did. As soon as I met the edge of the fray, I felt the sting of a bite on my forearm and quickly turned into the newborn that had given it to me. It was automatic to wrap myself around them and sink my teeth into their neck while giving their hair a little tug. No more newborn. I dropped the head and kicked it away from its body before moving on to the next. I wasted no time removing arms and legs, unless the target was more advanced. That was a waste of movement and a waste of time. I wanted this shit done, burned and over with as soon as fucking possible.
It was an easy and familiar rhythm to fall into; sting, bite, remove, easy shit. The whole thing took thirty minutes from start to finish and when nothing else was coming at me, I straightened my stance and surveyed the field. I'd lost a few of mine, but I still had a good dozen so I was counting it a success.
"Alright cock suckers," I said to my remaining dozen, "fall in, you're not finished yet."
They knew this. There were only a couple that had never been out before and though the newborns spent most of their time nearly feral I knew that they talked among each other enough to know that they still have clean-up and disposal duty to handle.
"Get this shit cleared," I told them, "Two fires. Let me see you fucking around and I'll let you pick which one you want to go in. Now get to work."
Jasper approached me as I finished giving the newborns their instructions, and unwilling to question me yet, he just sent me a little taste of curiosity. I didn't know what he had to be curious about. This was all bog standard war mongering for us. I hadn't done anything different than normal.
"You didn't lose many," he said to me as we stood there watching them all work.
"Nope," I answered as the scent of burning vampire flesh began to reach us, "I think that extra session this afternoon helped. Plus, I gave them a little something after it so they weren't quite as wild as normal."
"Head back and clean up," he replied with a hand on my shoulder that meant I wasn't released from my duties here just yet. "I'll get them home and fed and then me and you are going to have a little chat."
I gave him a firm nod and he took his hand off of my shoulder, freeing me to run back to the camp. I ran fast, away from Jasper and his curiosity or towards the camp and that woman that I couldn't seem to get out of my mind, I didn't know. I went straight to my tent cursing the both of them in my mind. It wasn't much, but I had a bucket of water to clean off all of the dirt and venom of a fight and a change of clothes that were clean. I didn't need too much else. Cleaning up wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, every time I ran the cool rag over my skin there she was. Fuckin' Charlotte. I had a raging hard on now thanks to my perfect recall of those curves of hers pressed up against mine and I debated if it would be quicker to jerk off or will the thing away. This damn woman was gonna be the death of me.
I quickly cleaned up and changed then found myself wandering through the camp. I was headed towards the nursery again, and I didn't stop myself this time. One of the older newborns sat just outside of the door, monitoring the heartbeats of every person in the nursery and with strict orders to get Jasper as soon as one sped up. I didn't spare him a glance as I strode into the building. My eyes immediately went to Charlotte's curvaceous form. My ears immediately isolated her heartbeat. I didn't go over to her. I just stood there and watched her until I heard the sounds of the group returning from the fight. I turned on my heel and left the nursery as soon as the sound reached me.
I crossed the camp and stood outside of Jasper's tent knowing that he would call me in when he was ready for our little talk. He didn't keep me waiting long and I couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing. With the Major, you never really knew until it was too late.
"What the ever lovin' fuck was that out there?" his voice was quiet so that we wouldn't be overheard, but I could still hear the tension in it. Jasper didn't like quiet unless it meant he was fucking with someone's emotions. Otherwise, he was more of the raging bellowing sort.
"That was good trainin' Major," I replied with a slight grin. "You're welcome."
"Bullshit Peter and you know it," he growled at me. "I don't know what your problem is but you need to sort it out. Fast."
I needed to figure out a better way to deal with all of this because his tone said that he wasn't playing around. He kept me around, but I knew that it was entirely at his discretion that I was still alive. I would get in my licks before he would be able to take me out, but there was no doubt that given his gift; he would win any fight between the two of us. It might have been a different story if he couldn't drop you to your knees and paralyze you with fear, but he could and did and I didn't want to see it happen to me.
"I don't know what's going on," I told him as I looked him straight in the eye. "I probably just need to feed again."
I knew it wasn't that, and he knew that it wasn't that, but I needed more time to figure this shit out and this was a way to get that time that wouldn't put either of us in the position of having to fight the other.
"Then go now," he said sternly, "and when you get back start training. We've got a couple that should be up and ready by the time you get back."
I didn't want to leave the camp, but I knew that I had no hope of figuring anything out while I was there. I was careless in my hunt. I didn't go to a town and find a dark alley. I ran far and fast and went to the first house that I came across and killed the man and woman that were peacefully sleeping in their bed before taking a seat at their table. I scrubbed my hands up and down my face in an attempt to jump start the whole getting my shit together thing but it didn't really work. I pounded my fist onto their table in anger and frustration at the disorienting bullshit that was keeping me off balance ever since my teeth sank into Charlotte's neck. The table cracked then shuddered and fell to the floor.
The only purpose being here had served was to make me anxious about taking so much time away from her, though my time wasn't hers to have. Fuckin' Charlotte. My life might not have been a rose garden before she came stomping across my path with fire in her eyes and her amazing tits bouncing with every step, but it was a hell of a lot simpler than this. I had no idea exactly what the draw was that she had over me and even though it was making my non-life a very confusing thing right now the thought of that draw going away filled me with emptiness and made me want to kill someone.
I was attempting to lie to myself and I knew it. I was pretty sure what the draw was that she had over me and it was terrifying so I was just refusing to acknowledge it. It was a tempting thing of beauty in this far too ugly world and I knew that if I acknowledged it, if I let it show that it would end us both. I knew because I'd seen it before but only a couple of times and each time it had come up it had been snuffed out with fire. I wasn't so big a pussy as to keep on denying to myself what had happened, but I would damn sure do everything in my power to make sure that it didn't end in fire this time. I needed a better plan.
I stood from the table and crossed to the stove in the corner where I knew that I would find a box of matches. I started upstairs and walked through the house, striking matches and setting things on fire and I didn't stop until I was out the front door and the entire house was up in blazes. I didn't look back and I didn't regret what I had done to that couple in that house.
Everything that happened tonight was just a part of this life. The violence was all there was for any of us and it was the price that we paid for living forever. I ran back towards the camp wondering why in the hell I had bitten Charlotte when I knew that all that there would be for her was a life of constant battle and most likely a very short life at that.
I was glad that I'd run so far away from the camp for my meal but the run back seemed to take longer and my anxiety over leaving my very helpless girl in the camp kept rising until I could make out the camp on the horizon. I went straight to the nursery. I didn't go to let Jasper know that I was back from my hunt, and I didn't go to do what he'd told me to do when I got back. I couldn't stop myself. I needed to see her again.
I strode into the nursery again, but it wasn't enough this time to just stand there and look at her. I crossed the room and squatted next to Charlotte's still form. I reached out and ran my fingers through her sweat soaked hair. Even though it had sweat and dirt in it, it felt like silk between my fingers. I didn't know if touching her would cause her anymore pain than my venom already was but I couldn't stop. I was so taken by her, by simply touching her and sitting next to her that the heavy footsteps registered only a moment before the voice.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" the Major asked me, not even attempting to disguise the venom in his voice. "You're supposed to be training the new ones and getting them fed."
"I just came to check, Major," It was a stupid answer and I knew that he'd busted me ignoring my duties to him and doing something that I shouldn't have been doing. I knew that Jasper was tasting my emotional climate right now and there was no way for me to hide what I felt while I was sitting next to Charlotte and stroking her hair. "I'm leaving now."
E/N: I'm glad y'all are reading the story and I'd love to know what you're thinking about it. Leave me a review and let me know if you love it or hate it. Next chapter, we'll get that little cliffie issue resolved, I promise. I've already got it written and I think it will shock you. Lord knows it shocked Peter!
