Catherine's POV
Mey-Rin let out a yell of excitement from the carriage behind us. She rode with Finney and Bard while Tanaka drove.
"It was kind of you to bring them with us young master" Sebastian told Ciel.
"I didn't want the manor in ruins" Ciel responded.
My brother received a message from the queen to investigate a village called Houndsworth. Apparently there was a problem of animal cruelty in the village where the dogs in the village were made to kill bait dogs basically you'd call it dog fighting. The queen wanted it to be put to an end and under the idea Houndsworth was going to be a resort we managed to bring the others along.
Also coming with us was Levi. He rode with me and Ciel and at the moment was annoyed. My cousin loved animals and despised anyone who would hurt them. I loved animals too but Levi was more passionate about them. Persephone would look after the manor and was perfectly capable of fending for herself since she was a demon cat.
"This would seem to be the entrance to the village" Sebastian said making the carriage come to a stop.
By the sign was a tree with chains and what appeared to be dog collars. Mey-Rin, Bard, and Finney paled and Ciel told them the resort hadn't begun construction yet.
"So you finally asked my cousin to marry you eh?" Levi asked Sebastian.
My mate was driving the carriage once more. I wore my engagement ring proudly on my left hand while my Phantomhive ring was on my right.
"Well we have been courting for two years" Sebastian confirmed.
"Correct term would be mate" Levi pointed out. "Anyway you're a lucky bloke Sebastian"
Sebastian chucked and I felt my face go red. As we got closer to the village we saw the beach however the sight of a villager pushing a stroller that seemed to be stuck caught Finney's attention. Tanaka stopped the carriage and Finney jumped out of it to help the woman. Sebastian sighed before stopping our own carriage.
Be patient demon I scolded Sebastian through the mate bond.
Those three are such idiots my mate growled.
Oh quit whining I reprimanded him.
It turned out there wasn't a baby in the actual stroller but a simple animal skull which freaked Mey-Rin, Finney, and Bard out. The old woman began to sing an eerie lullaby before pushing the stroller into the fog. We eventually continued on our way through the village of Houndsworth.
"The population here has lowered due to violence or those who are missing" Ciel explained. As we rode through the small town various dogs barked and we even passed a man giving one of his dog's affection.
"Despite having a gloomy setting this village is peaceful" Sebastian added.
"You just don't like dogs" Levi pointed out.
"That is true I love cats but dogs are another matter"
Levi growled at the tone of amusement in Sebastian's voice.
"What about wolves? Their canines but are not tamed by people" I inquired.
"I don't mind wolves in fact I find them quite intriguing"
Levi snorted before rolling his eyes. We finally reached our destination which was Barrymore Castle and outside waiting for us was a maid. Sebastian pulled the carriage to a stop before he helped me down first and Levi followed with Ciel. The maid introduced herself as Angela and she welcomed us to Barrymore Castle.
Nearby I saw Finney get hearts in his eyes. Angela escorted us inside and led us to Lord Henry's study. Levi and I tensed seeing the many stuffed animals heads on the walls due to hunting. Suddenly Angela yelped which got our attention.
"Who's this Chihuahua?! I told you to bring me the Queen's guard dog!" Lord Henry was whipping Angela and that pissed me, Levi, and Ciel off. On Ciel's orders my mate grabbed hold of Lord Henry's wrist ceasing the whipping.
Eventually Lord Henry had tea prepared for us and informed he couldn't sell his manor due to a curse that supposedly affected outsiders. Ciel found this interesting and stated we would stay until he witnessed the curse in question.
I was given a room close to Levi which I would share with Sebastian. Lord Henry saw my engagement ring and told Sebastian he was lucky. I had just finished putting my nightgown on when I heard a howl and I was quick to grab my robe and slippers. I joined everyone else outside and they were looking at shiny blue-green paw prints in the ground.
The villagers suddenly came over and stated someone in the village had died supposedly killed by a demon hound which was the curse Lord Henry referred to earlier. Sure enough we found the dead villager and it turned out to be the same man who was showing his dog affection earlier. He apparently broke the rules by keeping a sixth dog in secret.
Lord Henry explained he had hoped the demon hound would came after us due to our group being outsiders. The body of the owner was taken to be buried and all of us had no choice but to return to Barrymore Castle for the night.
"You are troubled my love" Sebastian purred taking my robe off.
"Something isn't right here" I said. "Just because some man wanted to keep another dog from being killed and he ends up being murdered is bullshit"
Sensing my temper rise Sebastian turned me around so I could face him. He pulled off his gloves using his teeth and threw them onto the floor. He then lifted my body upwards and instinctively my arms went around his neck and my legs were wrapped around his waist.
The demon pressed my back into a wall and his lips seized mine. Sebastian snaked his tongue into my mouth and I moaned when our tongues began their usual dance for dominance. But Sebastian wasn't finished after he tired of kissing me. His lips continued downwards until he reached the tops of my breasts. My mate kissed the top of each one before looking back up to me.
"Did I calm you down Little Dhampir?" he asked.
"Hell yes" I confirmed.
"Good" the demon then resumed by kissing my neck.
Next Day.
Ciel and I watched as Bard, Tanaka, Levi, and Finney were having fun in the water. Bard called for Mey-Rin to come into the water and after a moment of hesitation did she do so. Levi got hearts in his eyes and he rushed over to the maid's side. Mey-Rin went blood red when he picked her up bridal style and soon they were having fun goofing off in the water.
"Perhaps Mey-Rin is Levi's mate" Ciel suggested looking at me.
"I think you could be right" I agreed with my brother. Sebastian went to take care of something and when my stomach growled did Ciel and I eat lunch with the others. When we finished we saw a group of villagers saying they found the murdered man's dog. Everyone hurriedly got dressed and by the time we found the mob of villagers they had five dogs attacking the murdered victim's dog.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Levi yelled and he was quick to get through the crowd and he skillfully kicked the fighting dogs away from the wounded German Shepherd. Levi bent down and stroked the suffering canine who whimpered.
"Is he alright?" I asked coming up to my cousin's side.
"He's in bad shape but I think he'll live" Levi answered.
"You interfered with the punishment!" one of the villagers yelled.
"Piss off you call torturing a defenseless animal punishment?!" Levi roared now angry. My cousin's eyes flashed gold and I was quick to grab a hold of his wrist. Werewolves sometimes lost control of themselves when angered and Levi was close.
The villagers began to call us "bad dogs" and one by one we were chained up. I was chained up next to Ciel while everyone else was chained together.
"Lord Henry let them go!" Angela begged her master.
"I will if the Queen doesn't interfere again" Barrymore stated.
"You're a coward" Ciel mocked Lord Henry.
Barrymore took insult to that and he ordered the dogs from before to be set on my brother. At the same time the dogs were released Sebastian got in front of Ciel.
"Your late" Ciel and I scolded the demon.
"My apologies master" Sebastian apologized. The dogs barked at my mate and Sebastian shot them glares and a minute later the dogs went into submission.
"There is no demon hound" Ciel began.
"Correct all of you have seen a demon hound shadow due to a projection" Sebastian agreed. Close by a projector was lit up and it showed the silhouette of said demon hound in question. "Also Lord Barrymore poured a phosphorus powder onto an ordinary dog to create a phantom hound that would run around the village"
Sebastian poured the powder in question onto the ground and then went over to the wound German Shepherd. He removed something from the canine's mouth and Sebastian held it out to the crowd. It was a scrap of Lord Henry's pants.
"You were bitten by this dog because he was protecting his master while you killed James"
"You can't prove a thing!" Barrymore protested.
"Your scheme ends here asshole!" I yelled.
The villagers were angered by this revelation and it wasn't long they carried off Barrymore to be locked up. Sebastian freed us and once he was able to move again Levi went over to the German Shepherd and hugged it.
"I really hate dogs" Sebastian muttered and I smacked my mate's arm to shut him up.
The German Shepherd opened its eyes and it's tail wagged. The canine then gave Levi an affectionate lick.
"I'm going to keep this fella" Levi announced.
"Will your parents allow it?" Ciel asked.
"I can persuade them" Levi answered with a smirk.