Author: hey everyone! Sorry that this new chapter took so long to get uploaded. My new job has been running me ragged and then my computer wouldn't start for several days so I had to get it repaired. So here's the new one and hope you all enjoy
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Ace looked down at the blunette sleeping against him, Selene curled up in a small tight ball, sleeping just as soundly as he woman holding her. A smile crept across his face as he watched them both.
The had talked well into the night about nothing in particular. He had learned that she loved to read, all types of genres but her favorites were those that held a bit of history and action to them.
She wasn't like most girls her age, who's heads were filled with romance and fantasy. She wanted adventure and freedom.
She was wild and untamable, like the very wind itself. Wrapping an arm securely around her, he lifted her gently into his arms and carried her to her room. Since her first day there, Ai had been given her own room. It had given her her space when he aggravated her or when she became home sick.
As he walked, her scent filled his senses, eating away at his willpower. He wanted her badly…but he couldn't hurt her. He didn't want to see fear in her eyes.
Fear that he had caused.
" What happened to her?"
Cursing Ace turned to see Thatch glaring over at him. " Nothing happened to her, she's just sleeping."
" Where were the both of you?"
" In my room."
" Why?"
Ace proceeded to wiggle his eyebrows at Ai's brother, enjoy the glint of anger that flashed through the man's eyes. " Would this be a good time to inform you that you will be an uncle now?"
Thatch took a quick step forward, hand darting to his machetes. " Relax, Mother Hen. I just gave her a gift."
" And that would be?"
" MEEEEW!"
Thatch looked down at his feet to see a small black kitten rubbing itself against his leg. " She named her Selene."
" She always wanted a cat." Thatch said as he lifted the kitten, cradling her gently in his arms.
" Why hadn't she?"
" Much like here small animals tend to avoid our castle as much as possible. It's the aura of Pops and the King, it is so intense that I act as a ward to others weaker then themselves. They man manipulate their energies so that it doesn't affect their allies but if something or someone hasn't been invited they could be killed or rendered unconscious."
" Haki essentially." Ace said turning to leave.
" Where are you going?" Thatch demanded angrily.
" To her room so she can rest more easily." Ace said in an unimpressed and rather bored tone. " She may not weigh much but what she does weigh will eventually tire my arms out." And his resolve to not claim her as his Bride and Change her would disappear as well. Looking over his shoulder at the small little ball of flack fuzz in Thatch's arms and said. " Coming, fluff ball?"
Selene fuzzed out in excitement before jumping out of Thatch's arms and rushed to Ace's side, tail raised eagerly as she hopped. With that Ace began walking away, all the while the temptation of Ai's carotid artery pulsed tauntingly.
Swearing to himself angrily, Ace realized he hadn't fed within a fortnight. He had done this before and it had never bothered him before…he had never felt this kind of hunger tug at him before. But then…he had never had an evilly innocent brunette temptress around him before.
Opening the door to her room, her scent blasted him straight in the face, making his mouth water and his Companion stir. The bastard was demanding he claim her right then and there…and it was all he could do to not. " Damn it!" He growled angrily, fighting back his primal urges. " Stupid woman…why are you doing this to me?"
" MEEEEW!"
Ace looked down at the small feline, who glared up at him angrily. " Yeah, yeah, yeah." Ace grumbled as he set Ai gently down in her bed, fixing the blankets securely around her before tracing his finger lightly down her cheek and tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. " You just met her a few hours ago and you're already protective."
Not that he blamed the kitten though, when he had first met her he had wanted to stash her away somewhere safe and not let any harm come to her.
It was why he had wanted to Change her so soon; to keep her safe. She looked so delicate and fragile, so easily damaged that he didn't want to chance his enemies catching and hurting her.
He had heard the stories of what had happened to the She-Vamp Elia and her Groom, Alduin. The Order had hunted them both down and forced them to watch as each of them were tortured.
He refused to let that happen to her. She was to kind for that kind of threat to occur. The moment he had Marked her as his Bride a target had been placed to her…well a bigger target then just being Whitebeard's daughter. He and his brothers had spies in the Order and in rival vampire seethes and knew that they were planning on trying to capture her.
They didn't like the fact that the Vampire Prince had found his Bride. They didn't like the fact that he could now potentially produce an heir. They really didn't like it that Ai was Whitebeard's daughter…their enemies saw it as Whitebeard and Roger were forming an alliance through their children.
When Ace had heard the rumors he had laughed in disgust. He may not have gotten along with his father but he knew he was above using Ace as a means to an end. But that didn't change the fact that he needed to Change Ai. The only problem was getting her to allow him to.
She was very adamant that she wouldn't let anyone bite her. Not that he blamed her. From the look of her neck she had been bitten in the past viciously and it was no wonder why she was so anti-being bitten.
Yet there was no other way about it. Once she was turned she would be able to protect herself better. She would also live longer as well. She would be with him longer as well. It had only been a few weeks since he had met her but he was already accustomed to her presence…it was relaxing having her around…even when she was aggravating him to no end.
Looking down at her in the bed right now, he could feel his anxiety levels drop. Reaching over he brushed another stray strand of hair away from her face, lightly stroking her cheek, reveling in the softness of her skin.
" So it's true."
Ace tensed at the sound of his father's deep, gravely voice. Turning, he saw him leaning against the doorway, dressed all in black with his blood red over coat tossed lazily over one shoulder, grinning from ear to ear.
" What do you want, Old Man?" Ace snapped as quietly as he could as to not wake the sleeping blunette up.
" Your mother sent a raven to me while I was away, saying that you had found your Bride." Roger said, his grin becoming wider. " Your mother did nothing but rave about how cute she was. So I decided to come and see for myself."
Ace glared at his father, who's amused grin became even more larger. " Go away!"
" But I wanted to meet my new daughter!" Roger grinned. " I want to make sure your mother wasn't just pulling my leg. I know how eager she is for you to find your Bride."
" I said, go away." Ace repeated, the annoyance in his voice growing. " She's sleeping."
" Aw, I just wanted a quick peek." The King said as he walked towards the bed. He smiled kindly down at the sleeping blunette. " So she is Newgate's little girl. She's grown a lot since the last time I saw her."
Ace looked up at his father quickly in surprise. " What do you mean?"
" She's very cute." Roger said, ignoring his son's question. " I'm sure you'll both make your mother and I cute grand babies."
With that, the King turned to leave, his son hot on his heels.
" What did you mean by that, Old Man?"
" Well, it is rather obvious that someone would have grown a lot since they were about four."
" Woah, woah, woah!" Ace said grabbing his father's arm. " Hold up, Old Man! What did you mean by that?"
Roger sighed in defeat, he knew that once his son was on to something he could never be deterred from it. " I met your Bride once when she was very young. You, yourself were maybe about five and from what I remember, she was barely four."
Ace listened eagerly, for once he was curious as to what his father had to say, especially since it involved his Bride.
" Your mother had taken you and your brothers out to the meadow about five miles southeast of here. Shanks and Rayleigh had been your escorts that day." Roger said ushering his son to sit down. " I don't know how you managed it, but by the time I had arrived you boys had given your mother, Shanks and Rayleigh the slip. They were rather panicked about your wellbeing. It had taken us several hours to locate you boys but when we did we found you with a small, blue haired four year old little girl with fresh, still bleeding from the bite marked on her neck and you with blood on your mouth."
" The girl was Ai." Ace stated quietly as fear began to set into him at his father's words. " Are you saying that I was the one who b-"
" No Ace!" Roger said hurriedly. " The marks other neck were to big to have been from you." He placed a comforting hand on his son's shoulder before continuing. " The one who did it seemed to have been scared off by something…and judging by the residual affects in the air, they must have been scared off by your Haokushin Haki."
" I scared them off?"
" Even as a child your ability to use it was incredibly." Roger said. " Your fire ability was very prominent at that age as well. It was also very unstable also."
" But if I wasn't the one who bit her-"
" You were more then likely trying to stop the bleeding but because the both of you were so young and she's your Bride, you were probably tempting into tasting her blood."
" Why don't I remember this?"
" Mainly because you were so young that your mind forgot but your body and instincts remember." Roger said calmly. Ace stared at him in confusion. " I saw the look in your eyes wen I came in. It was the hunger to taste her blood again that was there.
" You haven't been feeding lately, have you?"
Ace looked away at his father's accusation. " I'm fine." He said angrily. " I don't need to feed."
" Yes you do." Roger snapped so angrily that Ace jumped. " Your control is already starting to wain. If you let this go much longer, you may very well loss control and attack your Bride!"
Ace paled at the thought of hurting Ai. That was the last thing he wanted to do. " I-"
" You need to feed." Roger repeated angrily. " The temptation of her blood will overwhelm you and your Companion will be released in a savage way." The King watched as his words made his son go pale.
" Your Companion will likely lose control and Turn her in an extremely traumatic way…and then you risk loosing her forever."
" I-" Ace whispered quietly, his face drained even more.
" It's clear that you care about her, Ace." Roger said sternly. " So I don't want you to ruin your chances at happiness because you are being to stubborn to take care of yourself."
WHAM!
Several large fractures appeared in the wall as Ace slammed his fist into the wall. " I'm not being stubborn! I just…I just-"
" I know." Roger said calmly. " You are trying hard to take care of her and earn her trust but you can't do that if you don't take care of yourself." The King watched as the truth of his words sank into his son, as the teen's shoulder's slumped at the weight of the truth. " Besides, when she finally let's you Change her, you'll need your strength."
Ace raised his head, eyebrow quirked in curiosity. " What do you mean…all I have to bite her and send some of my Haki into her."
Roger burst into laughter making Ace jump.
" WHAT?"
" Boy, you can be so dense at times." Roger laughed. " You mean to tell me you don't know how a vampire Changes his Bride?"
" What are you going on about, Old Man?"
" When a vampire Changes his Bride it's different then when he Changes someone else." Roger said in a cocky tone. " Very different."
" How different?'
Roger cocked an eyebrow at his son and flashed him an evil grin. Reality slammed into Ace like a rampaging bull elephant. An evil grin of his own spread gleefully across his face.
" Oh, this just got even better."
