Author's Note: I'm so procrastinating. I need to get back to work on Nikolai damn it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji or any of it characters. I only claim Serena, as well as the demons and descendants that I introduce.

A Demon's Mate

Chapter Thirteen

Sebastian heard a sigh from the carriage when his Master noticed the familiar setting of the Phantomhive lands. With everything that had happened last night between his little Master and Lady Elizabeth, he had actually felt a little sorry for the human and hoped that being home could perk up the young man's spirit. Unhappy souls never tasted as good as those that were content.

This morning the invitations and requests to call had come pouring in. Truly, his Master's face had been priceless when he had seen the two stacks of envelopes his butler had brought with his breakfast. That hunted look had come over the Earl again and Sebastian wondered why he had never brought that particular expression to his Master's face. He was the one that was going to consume the young man's soul after all.

'Prepare the carriage as soon as possible, Sebastian. We're getting the hell out of here.'

He allowed himself a laugh at his little Earl's expense. The memory alone still made him smile.

"Elder?"

"Come Lucien."

In the blink of an eye, a human eye, the blond was seated next to Sebastian.

"Well?"

"There were no attacks on Phantomhive lands last night. However, your mate seemed to know that I was there."

The Elder's head snapped around. "What do you mean she knew that you were there? I told you to stay out of sight."

"And I did, but she knew that there was someone in the forest. She kept looking directly at my hiding place." Lucien snorted. "Even had the servants check the boundaries before she went to bed. The cook and the gardener took turns walking the grounds all night. Them, I would have expected to feel off as they have battle experience, but not her."

"Serena knew that you were in the woods but she didn't feel anything strange about Marcus. She even trusted him far enough to let him get her alone." Sebastian turned his attention back to the horses as they were nearing the drive.

"Could she be growing more perceptive the longer she is around you, Elder? It's been known to happen before. Or perhaps she was on edge without your presence. Emily has said, that even with yourself at the tower, she is always uneasy until I return."

"I didn't know that Emily felt she wasn't safe in my home."

"It's not that." The blond struggled with how to describe it. "She said it was a heightened awareness or restlessness that happens every time I leave her. I believe it is defense mechanism that a demon's mate develops, although I am not certain."

"Perhaps." Sebastian turned the team of two horses between the stone pillars marking the drive to the Phantomhive home.

"Elder, there was something else that I feel I should warn you about. Your mate has done something that I do not think your Master will appreciate. But it leaves me eagerly awaiting her presence in the tower."

"What are you going on about now, Lucien."

The younger laughed. "Oh, you'll see. I wonder who will really 'rule the roost,' if you catch my meaning? If you have nothing else for me to do, I must be going now. I told Emily that I would've been back by now and I'm sure that she's worried."

Sebastian waved the other demon off as they pulled in front of the entrance. Bard appeared to take the horses and the butler admitted that he looked exhausted. Helping his Master from the carriage, the demon approached the front doors with a sense of apprehension after Lucien's warning. The door was opened before they reached it by Snake who bowed as the Earl entered the house...and stopped dead.

"Welcome back, Ciel." Serena spoke softly as she walked down the main staircase. Back in the green silk, the red head was perfectly at home among the festive décor that was spread throughout the entrance hall. Once again, the Earl and his demon were struck by the beauty and grace that slowly came across the marble floor to stop before them.

"Serena." Ciel shook his head to clear it. "What exactly happened to my manor?"

"Oh, with the first snowfall last night, I thought that we should decorate for the season." She smiled while gently taking his arm. "Come in. Do you not like it?"

"It's not that." A little confused, Ciel allowed himself to be divested of his coat and pulled further into the house.

Sebastian watched as his Master was led to the salon by his mate. With her soft smile looking up at him and holding onto his arm, he could swear that she was flirting with the younger man and his Master seemed to be flustered by it. The demon himself didn't know what to do. Snake leaned over, still holding the Master's greatcoat.

"Is she...flirting?"

"It would appear so." He felt his anger rise.

"Does this mean that we're not going to have to take all of this back down?" Bard spoke from behind the butler, leaning between the two other men.

Sebastian pushed the chef's head back from his shoulder. "It would appear so."

All three stood straight when Serena looked back.

"Sebastian, would you bring tea to the salon?" She smiled at him before turning her full attention back to the Earl. "I'm sure that you are tired from the trip."

"Yes, yes I am." Ciel allowed himself to be led into the room off the main hall.

He was confused by the warm welcome home, but certainly not adverse to it. It was nice to have someone waiting for him with his home tastefully decorated for the season and the air smelling of cinnamon. He could almost forget everything that happened in London, to forget the last five years and bask in the light that Serena offered.

'I remember when my father came back from London it was like this. I used to watch through the railing when Mother welcomed him back and Tanaka took his coat and they had tea in the salon. Just like this.' Ciel sat down on the couch slowly as Sebastian came back into the room with a cart. He took the cup and saucer that she offered, still lost in his memories. 'Would this really be so bad? Serena knows about my work for the queen and she stays out of the way when she needs too. Maybe marriage wouldn't have to be a just an inconvenience?'

The angry aura next to the couch reminded the Earl that the scene in his mind starred a woman who already belonged to someone else.

'But, can I see this scenario with Elizabeth?'

"How was your trip?" The question, even spoken in that soft voice, shattered whatever was left of the illusion.

"Completely awful." He set the cup down of the low table in front of the couch but didn't say anything more.

"Well, you can't just leave me in suspense. Maybe I can help."

"Edward spread a rumor that my engagement to Lizzy had been canceled. So I was mobbed as soon as I reached the ballroom. I didn't even get all the way down the stairs. I spent the vast majority of the night dancing and fending off marriage offers from everywhere. Finally, I went outside to try to get a minute to myself and ran into Elizabeth. Who preceded to question me about whether I wanted to marry her at all and why couldn't I go back to the Ciel that I was as a child. Then she started crying because I completely destroyed the illusion she had that she could make me back into that person once we were married. Her brother took her home and I was stuck having to explain to the Ardens why Edward and Elizabeth left out the back door. This morning, I didn't even get to have breakfast before the cards and invitations started pouring in and I had to skulk out of London before a decent hour to avoid the mamas invited themselves to my home to throw their daughters in my face."

He waved to the room. "And then I come home and you've completely redecorated my mansion."

"It's not completely redecorated. I only touched the hall and the salon." She smiled in what she hoped was a cute way when he looked at her suspicious. "I promise."

Ciel sighed and tried to fend off the impending headache.

"I was just trying to make the house a little warmer. And it did keep everyone busy so they didn't have time to reduce your home to rubble."

"That's a good point."

"I'll have them take it down." Serena lowered her head, her voice quiet and slightly depressed.

"No, it's fine." The Earl looked around the room. "It does look nice."

She smiled brightly. "Thank you."

"Master," Sebastian interrupted the moment. "The papers from Vienna have arrived."

"Go. We can discuss your current girl predicament at lunch." The red head took the hand he offered to help her from the couch and then gave him a little push out the door.

As soon as the door closed behind Ciel, Sebastian stepped in front of her.

"Would you mind explaining what that was about?"

"What was what about?"

"You were flirting with my Master." He accused and crossed his arms over his chest as she waved him off.

"Oh, that. I got to redecorate the manor and didn't get yelled at." Serena decided to have a little fun at the demon's expense and put a finger to her lips with a sly smile. "Although, if he really does break his engagement to Lady Elizabeth, I have a leg up on the competition as I live in his house. Isn't every girl supposed to dream of marrying a handsome and rich lord?"

A hand like a vise closed around her upper arm and pulled her into a rigid body. Darkness engulfed the room and her breath came out in white clouds in the frigid air. Her head snapped up to stare into the swirling red eyes of an enraged demon.

"Sebas..."

"Silence!" He shook her roughly. "If you think for one moment that I will stand by and watch you throw yourself at that human boy you are sorely mistaken. I may have a contract with him, but you are my mate. And I do not share what is mine, with anyone. Do I make myself clear?"

Her mouth moved but nothing came out. The demon shook her again.

"Answer me."

"Yes." Her voice was breathless, ragged with fear.

"You have no use for that boy, or any other male for that matter. Only me." In an instant, the cold in the room disappeared, the fire and candles roaring back to life. "Now, go to your room. I will explain to the Master that you will not be attending lunch or dinner. I will bring both meals to you and you will spend this time thinking about your little jokes and their consequences."

The minute he released her, Serena tore out of the room and up the stairs. She closed the door behind her and locked it. Her breath ripped from her throat in gasps as she stumbled to the chair by the window. Wrapping her arms around herself, the terror and relief came out in sobs.

'What did I ever do to deserve this?'

*****************************A Demon's Mate******************************

Serena looked down at the drawing that she was currently occupied with. Throughout the day, Sebastian had turned up at her door twice, with the promised meals, but was turned away by the silence he had ordered earlier. She wouldn't open the door to him for the world. As time passed, fear turned into anger and now she waited with a screaming argument ready in her head.

Mei-Rin had left long ago but Serena wasn't going to bed yet. He was coming. She knew it.

There was no knock this time. She looked over as a little screech came from the door and saw the key turning by itself. Sebastian stepped in carrying a covered tray and shut the door behind him. Serena quickly put the sketch away before he set the tray down in front of her. Next to the plate, she noticed a bouquet of hibiscus and other flowers she couldn't name from the greenhouse that had been tastefully arranged in a small vase and figured this was going to be an apology. The girl went back to staring straight ahead.

"I don't want it."

"You have done nothing since you arrived but ignore me, tease me, or insult me. The scene in the salon was a consequence of your own actions." He pushed her back into her chair when she stood, ready to scream at him. "You forget that the being you are bonded to is not human and I will not react like a human. You would do well to remember that from now on. There are consequences for your childish behavior that you cannot even begin to imagine at this point. You are lucky that I have a contract with the Earl of Phantomhive or I would have ripped him to pieces the minute that you smiled at him."

She opened her mouth but he cut her off again.

"Now, you will eat what I have prepared for you."

The demon unfolded her napkin and placed the starched fabric in her lap before uncovering the plate. Steam rose from the freshly cooked beef and vegetables. She knew that he had made it special before he came up. A memory of the angry being in the salon stopped her from melting at the gesture.

'Still, no one's ever gone out of their way to make me something.'

"Would you like me to cut it for you?"

Serena glared at him as the demon pulled the other chair over and sat down.

"You're sitting down? Doesn't that ruin your perfect butler image?"

"I thought that you liked eating with the servants?" She jerked back as if hit while he crossed his legs and leaned forward in the chair, steepling his fingers. Sebastian waited for her to cut a piece of the beef before he started talking. "Good, now that you have stopped acting like a child perhaps we can have a rational discussion."

The glare returned as Serena tightened her hand on her knife. "I don't think that I was acting like a child."

"Really, you don't think the silent treatment that you have subjected me to all day is reminiscent of childhood?" The demon shook his head and decided to continue. "When we spoke before, I may have given you the impression that being bound to a demon is like being married to a human. You acted on that and I apologize for that completely wrong comparison. Thinking about it now, I am willing to take responsibility for the scene in the salon this morning and admit that I had perhaps over-reacted. I frightened you. It is never my intention for my mate to feel uncomfortable with me and I will take steps to ensure that it doesn't happen again."

He sat and watched as she silently ate a decent portion of what was on the tray. Even with his apology, Serena refused to look at him. There was coldness in her movements, in her eyes that had not been there before and he figured that it would take some time to win back her trust.

When his mate pushed the plate away, the demon stood fluidly and pulled her chair back. She flinched back from his hand when Sebastian tried to help her stand. Walking to the bed that had already been turned down, the red head kept staring forward as she slid between the sheets and turned away from him.

Serena heard cloth rustling and turned back around. The demon stood from removing his shoes and slid the tailcoat from his shoulders.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" She yelled as she sat up quickly.

"Ah, so you can speak." He smirked as he took off his tie and waistcoat. Hanging the garments over the back of the chair he had occupied, Sebastian turned back to the bed. "I told you that I would take precautions so that this morning does not happen again and I do not lie."

"What does that mean? What does it have to do with you taking off your clothes?" Serena backed up to the furthest point of the mattress away from him.

Red eyes swirled and pupils turned to slits as he put a knee on the bed and leaned over her. One arm pushed into the mattress on the other side of the girl's body, effectively caging her in.

"To help quell the jealousy that I feel, you will sleep with me from now on."

"Are you out of your mind?!" Serena slammed her hand into his chest to knock him off but he didn't budge. A cry of pain filled the room as she pulled her hand back with tears forming in her eyes.

"What are you made of? It's like hitting solid stone."

"Done that a lot have you? Fighting will get you nowhere. You cannot hurt me physically, Serena." He took her wrist to examine her injury. Taking off his glove, black tipped fingers smoothed over her skin and the pain eased. Sebastian brought his lips to her wrist and Serena's breath hitched at the contact.

"Will you just leave me alone?" She whispered in the dark.

"No. I have tried doing things your way, I have tried to be charming, now we'll try my way." The demon rolled over and stretched out beside her. "You need to sleep."

"I'm supposed to sleep with you in my bed?"

"If you would prefer to do something else..." He leered at her legs that had been exposed during her attempt at self-defense with a smile.

"Don't you even think about it."

"Too late for that." Sebastian sighed. "Lay down, Serena. I'm not going anywhere and you cannot move me yourself. You are out of options. Now, go to sleep."

"I could get Ciel. He can order you to leave me alone."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. Master does not like to be awoken in the middle of the night for trivial things. He would probably tell you that it serves you right for waking him and go back to sleep."

"This isn't happening."

The demon watched his mate mumbling to herself as she tried to decide what to do. 'Such a strange and spirited girl.'

"Enough." He pulled her down beside him and wrapped himself around the red head. "Now, go to sleep."

"Could you not be so close?"

"No. You need to get used to sleeping with me beside you."

"I would not call you wrapped around me like some kind of demon pretzel sleeping 'beside' me."

"I am not the one who is going to be sleeping."

"Whatever! You know what I mean." She huffed and stared at the wall. "Do you ever sleep?"

"Demon's usually sleep for a small period after they feed and return through the gate. It takes a fair amount of power to return home. Other than that, we can relax into what you would call a doze, but it takes a bit of concentration."

"No rest for the wicked and all that?"

He laughed. "I suppose you could say that."

Serena admitted that the deep rumble of his voice behind her and the scent of spices was relaxing. She felt her eyes get heavier.

"Go to sleep, Serena. You have all the time in the world to learn about me."

She decided to close her eyes just for a moment. The adrenaline was wearing off and her head was so heavy.

***************************A Demon's Mate***************************

The next time Serena opened her eyes, she was all alone. Morning's light was streaming through a break in the curtains. There was no man in her bed but a long, black feather next to her hand proved that there had been someone there last night. She was surprised that she had slept at all and wondered if the demon had done something to make her sleep.

'He had to have done something. There is no way that I would have fallen asleep with him, especially not that deeply.' The red head pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. 'There is no way that I would be comfortable with him after all that crap yesterday.'

Mei-Rin opened the door, trying to be as quiet as possible while balancing the tray that Sebastian had given to her in the hallway. She jerked a bit at seeing that Serena was already up. The girl looked to be lost even as she smiled at the maid.

"Good morning, Mei-Rin."

"My lady, you're already awake?"

"I had a lot to think about I guess."

Mei-Rin set the tray down on the bedside table and went to the wardrobe. "Are you feeling better today? Sebastian said that you had a headache yesterday and not to disturb you."

Serena twitched at the excuse he had given after scaring her into her room.

"Yeah, I had a demon of a migraine."

The maid set a winter blue gown on the end of the bed.

"If you're feeling better, I know that the young master was asking about you. I'm sure that he would like to see that you are well."

***************************A Demon's Mate*******************************

Sebastian was setting a plate in front of his Master when Serena came into the dining room. The demon saw the slight hesitation in her steps when she saw him. Ciel stood when she entered and waited for her to sit. He had also noticed her strange behavior.

"Do we need to have another chat?" The Earl stared at Serena while taking a bite of his scone.

"No, I'm fine."

Glass shattered as a figure dressed in white burst into the room. Ciel waved the servants back from their attack positions.

"Oh good, we got here in time for breakfast."

"You know the element of surprise is truly gone." He took a sip of his tea. "Is there a reason that you feel the need to destroy my home every time you arrive?"

"It's a feeling you bring out in me." Earl Grey walked over to the empty chair at Ciel's right.

"So, you will be joining the Master for breakfast then?" Sebastian pulled two more place settings out of his magic cart.

"Of course." Grey took his seat while Phipps waited for Ciel's invitation to take the seat next to his partner.

The servants waited for Sebastian's nod before rushing to clean up the mess that had once been a large, leaded glass window. Clean up was something they actually did well. None of them said anything about the strange occurrence and Serena looked between all of them, her confusion obvious.

'Okay...so no one is going to say anything about the fact that two men just burst through a window and invited themselves to breakfast?' She watched as Ciel simply started eating again. 'I mean, I know that I had seen that is what happened in the manga, but I didn't think that it actually happened.'

Phipps looked over to Serena and started to introduce himself. Grey waved a fork in front of his face.

"There will be time for introductions after we eat. Breakfast before business."

His partner chuckled but nodded. He was fully aware that Grey's stomach had more control over the noble than any amount of manners that may have been drilled into the younger man since childhood.

Ciel waved Serena to finish her meal as Sebastian took up residence behind them. There was obviously an issue between the four of them and Serena concluded that it was merely another fact that the manga's creator had gotten correct. Grey smiled at the red head as he took a bite of the perfectly poached eggs on his plate and she suppressed a shudder at the cold expression.

'Even with yesterday fresh in my mind, I'd still take Sebastian over that one.'