Chapter Two

Requiem landed smoothly just in front of the porch of the house Mikhail had lent him for the time being. It was a small hunter's lodge deep within the mountains; which suited him just fine. It was secluded so he would not be bothered and had plenty of open space for shifting. His heart was torn; the heart he had only recently discovered he had. The pain was so excruciating he could scarcely stumble blindly through the front door. He knew what was best for his lifemate; he knew! She was better off without him. She deserve better. If this was what was right then why the hell did it have to hurt so much?

He bellowed angrily as he over turned the furniture picturing Mikhail's concerned features and Vikirnoff's stark disapproval to channel his frustration. Here was a man who would not accept defeat and yet he had left her, he had left his lifemate screaming for him. The pain written all over her face had been too much to bear. He should have gone to her, held her, sheltered her from ever being hurt again and yet here he was, alone and without her. Without his lifemate when she should be in the shelter of his arms for all time.

He shouldn't have left and he knew it but he was still divided. The other males had planted the seeds of doubt in his heart. He could never be the gentle lover Sakura deserved. He was a killer, a monster and one as gentle as she should never have to accept that as her lifemate. He shook with rage as he pictured his lifemate in the arms of another male. NO! He couldn't let that happen. He couldn't give her up; he was far too selfish.

He had to go back for her.

"Requiem!" Her voice so sweet and pure pierced his heart and drove away any doubt that she wasn't for him. Just the sound of her voice was enough to send the darkness away. "Where are you? Why did you leave me?"

Sakura pleaded in Requiem's mind. She could feel him pacing and tearing at his hair and her heart broke. She needed to get to him, to comfort him. Why had he walked away? Why hadn't he taken her with him?

She could feel the anger welled up inside, the violence and the need for blood. The animal inside him was rising and it felt trapped. He was dangerous this she knew but the need to comfort this man and take away his pain was overwhelming. She didn't know what it was about him or understand the feelings but she knew she had to see him again. She felt his self-hatred emulating like heat from the sun. He felt inadequate which he was anything but to her. She had never before seen such a beautiful man. One look upon his face was enough to bring her to tears. Something inside of him called to her and her heart could do nothing else but answer.

"Requiem, come to me please."

He could feel the need in her voice, the heartache their separation was causing her. Her happiness was all that matter. Without hesitation he took to the skies once more, speeding towards the Dubrinksy household, and his lifemate.

XxX

Raven watched helplessly as the teenage girl entrusted to her care sobbed uncontrollably in her kitchen chair. Who could blame the child really? She had been heatedly in the thrall of finding her lifemate and the men had inferred, forcing Requiem to back down and flee.

"Mikhail, she's feeling the pains of separation way too strongly and early. I'm worried."

"My love we did what was right for her. She is too young and inexperienced to cope with Requiem. This will be very hard on her."

"What will be hard is if you make them both wait another year and he turns before he can claim her."

"I am well aware of the status of Requiem's darkness my lifemate. But I am the prince of our people and we are to protect our women and children at all costs."

"This isn't protecting them it's hurting them!" Raven sighed in frustration, fighting a hopeless battle in the efforts to make her lifemate see how dire Sakura's situation was.

"Don't worry sweetheart. Everything is gonna be just fine. Requiem's not going anywhere, he's just going to wait a little while to claim you because you're too young."

"Requiem needs me now I can feel it and you people won't let him!" Sakura hissed. "I'm going after him. My lifemate needs me."

"Sakura no! You don't know what you're getting yourself into."

"Well, it's about time I find out since no one is going to tell me what the hell is going on here. I was just a normal teenager when vampires rained from the sky and took away everything I held dear to me. I saw a dark hunter rip the heart from the creature's body; he put his hand through bare flesh Raven. I saw it. I know what you people are. I know what happens when you don't find your lifemate and by god I'm not going to let that happen to Requiem."

Sakura stormed out of the kitchen before any other Carpathian could attack her and try to make her stand in the kitchen. She didn't want to calm down. She wanted answers. But above that, she wanted Requiem. The man she'd just met but now her entire world was centered around. She'd been running for far too long, waiting for someone to reach out and catch her, to stopped all the madness and he had. At the same time he had also brought more insanity and chaos.

Bursting out the front door at top speed she raced right into a warm body sending them both toppling into the snow.

Sakura's eyes widened as she looked down to see who'd taken impact of their collision and cushioned her fall. Black-brown eyes bore into her own with an intensity that could melt away every inch of her soul. His angular face was that of a warrior's, trained to show no emotion yet she could see passed the strong will to the care worn features. Deep chestnut hair fell long and free to below his defined shoulders, spilling across his defined chest. The body lying beneath her was strong and sure with arms that clutched her protectively in place over his body where he could protect her.

"Requiem." she whispered. Her body had recognized him even before her eyes had time to focus. He caught her in midair, reacting with lightning speed before she even had the change to realize that she'd hit someone. "You came back."

"Yes little one I came back." He looked slightly taken aback and confused that she was beaming down at him. His body was on fire with need; she was so close touching him. His beat screamed to life demanding that he take her now that they were alone but he held his ground with every ounce of honour he had left. He had done wrong by her when he walked out without her and he never made the same mistake twice.

Sakura nuzzled snugly into Requiem's chest. A rush of security coursed through her blood now that she was touching him once more. A peace settled in her heart for the first time she could ever remember. She'd never wanted anything for herself but she wanted this strange man. She knew she could overcome the fear he instilled in her. Somehow she just knew and she didn't know why. He was a compulsion and she was so strongly drawn to him.

"Why did you leave?"

"I thought I had to." Requiem sighed more ashamed then he'd have liked to admit.

"I kept calling you and you walked out on me!" Sakura accused, suddenly very angry. She tried to pull away but his strong arms held her in place. "I thought you didn't want me."

"Oh no my love. No little one, I could never not want you. Never! Do you understand that?" His demons flared to life in an outburst that caused Sakura to shrink away once more. He was yelling at her. She hated yelling. "My lifemate." he murmured softly, regaining composed as he watched the angel in his arms turn pale and try to get away from him. "I will always want you, always need you. You must believe me. My prince was right in thinking that you are not safe with me. I am a demon and am not worthy of the attentions of an angel such as you. I am a killer, a monster. I was fooling myself into ever thinking I could be the gentle man you want and deserve.

You are better off without my Sakura. You will be able to heal without this monster making matters worse then they already are. I frighten you when that is not my intent at all. I broke your heart when all I ever wanted to do was heal it. You are my lifemate, I am supposed to take care of you but instead I can only cause you pain."

Sakura could see the pain in his dark eyes and the torrent of angry emotions. He hated who he was and all that he had become. He saw himself as a broken man instead of the man who could save her from the pain she'd carried with her for far too long. Beneath all the callus layers of anger she could see he had dreamed of a woman he could call his own. She could see he wanted to love her, wanted to be everything for her and that meant the world to her. That fact alone was enough for her to stand her ground and not run when she saw a glimpse of his darkness.

Raising her palm to his cheek she cupped his face so that he was looking her in the eyes.

"You hurt me when you went away and I felt the pain of not being by your side."

"No Sakura, you don't know what you're doing…"

"Contrary to popular belief I am not a child Requiem. I've been around Carpathians enough to recognize the call of a lifemate and you only get one: only one for the rest of eternity. I've lived with Vikirnoff and Natayla and I know what being a lifemate entails."

"I could not ask this of you Sakura. I could not ask you to be tied to a monster for all times."

"Why did you come back Requiem?"

"I heard your heart cry. It tore me apart. I had to go to you. I have to chase the pain from your eyes little one; it's all I can do. I have to be with you Sakura, to care and protect you and I'm too damn selfish to ever let you go." He felt close to tears at his confession as he tried to turn his gaze away from her imploring eyes. "I love you Sakura." He found himself shaking at all his insecurities and the need to have her with him always. "Please don't hate me."

"I could never hate you."

"But how?" This woman never ceased to amaze him and he had only known her such a short while. Her will was so strong and she had never stray from fighting for him with all that she had.

"Everything you've done you did because you thought it was best for me. No one's ever done that for me before. You hurt yourself because you thought it would save me pain. You were wrong mind you, but you meant well. If you're such a bad guy, how could you have wanted to care and protect me? How could you have wanted what's best for me?"

"Sakura..."

She gently raised a finger to his lips. "I'm not done yet. When I first saw you, all I could think about was how much pain you were in. and how I wanted to take that all away from you. I didn't know who you were or what your name was but I wanted to take you into my arms and comfort you. That's not like me. I'm doing things that I wouldn't normally do. I'm thinking things normally think. I yelled at a prince for crying out loud Requiem! Hey, I saw that ghost of a smile. I'm getting somewhere." She laughed softly at her meager attempt to use humour to bring him back to her.

"What I'm trying to say is I've seen you're bad and I don't care because there's something good in you or you wouldn't be trying so damn hard to keep me safe. I don't care what happens to me now, I just want to be with you and make you feel like everything's alright."

"Sakura you do more then make everything alright."

"Then why do I feel like it's my fault that you're all upset and hurt? Why do I feel like it's my fault that I'm too young to be your lifemate?"

"Oh baby, it's not your fault none of the is." Requiem's heart hurt at the fresh tears that were welling in his lifemate's eyes at the thought that everything that had transpired was her fault. "You do more then make everything alright. You make everything perfect. Before you I had no feeling, no drive, no emotion. There was no colour in my life until you. If anything you are a miracle to me."

"You can't claim me though I'm too young."

"They've made that very clear little one." Requiem replied relaxing into her embrace. The restless warrior in his heart had finally found peace and a place to call home. If she needed to wait until she was older he could damn well wait; it would be worth it just to wake up to her shining smile every sundown.

"They say that you'll turn if you do not claim your lifemate soon."

Requiem flinched at the reminder. He was fooling himself if he thought he could wait even another year without claiming his lifemate. He needed her now. He couldn't keep the beast in check much longer: so much for noble intentions. He didn't want to think about that right now. Sakura was with him that's all that mattered. She was staring at with concern written all over her face. She was too young to worry so. How could he ever have been so worthy of such care? It was nothing short of a miracle that she was here, but that she cared so much…

Sakura nuzzled Requiems neck gently, her silky hair run like water over his skin sending electric shocks through his system. Every nerve sprang to life as his body hardened with need for her touch. Gathering her in his arms he pulled her roughly to meet his kiss as the world exploded around them. He could feel her shaking in his arms, riding out every sensation as he drove harder, sitting up in the snow, taking her into his lap so that he could hold her entirely to him. Her mouth moved over his with a will of its own. Never had she been bombarded with such strong emotions nor had a man ever swayed her in any way. She could feel his heart beating widely beneath her fingertips as her hands roamed his body, memorizing every rise and fall of his chest, arms and neck.

Requiem groaned as he felt his little angel push him further and further away from his control. Centuries of need had built and was now eating away at him inside as each demanding kiss called for his claim. She's too young, he thought as he tried to force the thought into actions to protect her but the minute he heard her soft sigh of surrender, he could no longer think straight. She was snuggled into him so tight nothing in the world could have been more perfect. She had wound herself around his heart and woven her essence into his mind so well that he knew he would never break free from her thrall.

The feel of her soft breasts pressed up against his chest made his body ache as never before. She moved herself up against him, rubbing against him like a feline and he was going crazy trying to take more of her. His hands couldn't move over her fast enough, claiming every inch for his own, marking her with his rough fingers. She soft purrs of pleasuring only heated his blood beyond boiling point. He moaned loudly as his palm slid over her back to cup her sweetly rounded ass, hardening him more then he had ever thought possible. Her lips moved over his neck, nibbling, teasing. His control was fraying as his incisors lengthened, his beast demanding him to take what was his.

A quiet disturbance in the atmosphere alerted Requiem's sensed and he looked up suddenly, scanning the area for danger. Something was amiss. Pulling them both to their feet, Requiem forced Sakura behind him, closer to the house as he surveyed their surroundings. A lone wolf limped out of the clearing, whining and obviously in pain. Alarms went off in Requiem's head as he could feel Sakura's pity for this creature. He hesitated for a minute.

That's when the vampire decided to strike.