Captured Hearts

Chapter Eighteen: The Humiliated

Hibari led Mammon up the stairs, and coaxed him up to the fence, before whistling loudly. Immediately, the centaur Takeshi trotted up to them both, and smiled at the werewolf's curious eyes. "Hello there, Hibarin," he greeted. "Who's this?"

"Mammon, a new werewolf," Hibari introduced. "Mammon, this is Takeshi, one of the centaurs."

"Nice to meet you, Mammon," Takeshi greeted, holding out his hand. The indigo-haired werewolf's ears lied flat, and he shook his head, for his hands were still bound behind his back.

"I... I'm sorry, I..."

"Oh, no, it's okay," Takeshi said, looking at the creature with pity. "I should be the one apologizing. Y'know, a lot of you guys are brought in like that..."

"Ah...," Mammon sighed, trying to force a smile. "Humans... they... they have no sense of shame when it comes to humiliating us..."

Hibari stared, suprised, for the werewolf suddenly looked like he could cry at any moment. "You okay, Mammon?" he whispered.

"No," the other answered plainly, shutting his eyes. "I'm not. Those freaking monsters stripped me of everything but the clothes on my back! They don't understand!" he cried. "And to think... it wasn't just me! ... I'll get them for this," he gasped, tears hanging in his eyes. Hibari's gaze softened, and he placed his hand on the other's back, rubbing soothingly. He remembered what it felt like to be captured by the humans, and he could recall the pain of knowing he was no longer an equal... had been devistating. "Not to mention... everything I've worked for... gone...," Mammon whimpered, his tail tucked between his legs in the universal werewolf sign of depression and anxiety.

"Hey, it's all right, Mammon... you'll adapt," Hibari told the werewolf. "Trust me... I've... been here a while, and I felt the same way... but I got used to it, and I'm sure one day, you will too."

"I damn hope so...," Mammon muttered bitterly. "That's not the end of it, either. That Mukuro guy... just before he bound me and pulled me here... he said that he was going to kill my family the second I was in the hands of you, vampire. I... I don't get it. What did we do? Why is he killing my family?"

"Shh," Hibari tried to soothe the roped creature, "Mukuro... killed my family, too. It's just part of his job."

Mammon shook his head in disbelief, and glanced at the vampire with his broken, purple eyes. "You know the stereotype that all werewolves prefer to be barely clothed? It's not true. But the hunter thought that I was wearing a cloak and hat because I was hiding stolen money in it, so he took them. I got that cloak from my father when I was a child!"

"I'll talk to him," Hibari assured. "I'll get it back for you, okay?"

Mammon nodded sadly, and sighed, "Please... let's get on with this tour..."

"I'll see you later, Mammon," Takeshi said. "Good luck..."

The werewolf was led away by Hibari, who took him up to the merpeople enclosure then. "I'll introduce you to a friend of mine," he suggested. "Maybe that'll help you warm up to this place."

"Maybe," Mammon said.

Hibari brought the newcomer up to the top of the tank, and flicked a pebble into the water, which would create a tap just loud enough for Fran to hear it. Soon enough, the merman surfaced, and grinned at the two. "'Sup, Hibarin?" he asked. Hibari indicated to Mammon.

"We have a new werewolf. His name's Mammon," he said. "Mammon, this is Fran, a good friend of mine."

Fran was about to extend a hand when he saw that the werewolf's wrists were probably bound, and he threw himself out of the water, grabbing onto a hand behind Mammon's back and shaking heartily. "Nice to meet'ya," he said. "Do me a favor and mate with Hayato so that he keeps his paws off of my Belphegor."

Mammon paused, blushing lightly, then nodded, and Hibari smiled, for it looked like perhaps Mammon and Fran could be friends now, too. "Hey, Fran... where's Squalo?"

"Uh... long story short, he got shot, and he's being cared for in a special tank right now, but lucky him, they were kind enough to place said tank in the cave that Xanxus is in. The water has some pegasus feathers or something, I dunno, but it's got healing capabilities."

"Ah...," Hibari trailed. "Poor guy."

"Shot?" Mammon repeated. "They... shoot the creatures that are captive?"

"Only if they've gone completely berserk," Fran explained. "They were gonna shoot Xanxus- a rogue vampire, but Squalo, my tankmate, defended Xanxus, and now he's healing."

"Did they still shoot the vampire?" Mammon asked.

"No... that tamer Lussuria talked them out of it," Fran assured the werewolf. "It's fine. Anyway, Hibari, we can't chat. It's just about feeding time, and then the centaurs are gonna get led down, and you and I both know that Dino'll freak if you're just hangin' out here all idle. You should go show mister werewolf your enclosure, or take him back to the werewolf place before we're done. Cuz I know how you are about helping Dino with the centaurs."

Hibari nodded, and bid Fran farewell, then took Mammon down and brought him around a corner to the werewolf enclosure, where Bel and Hayato were making out- although Hayato was obviously not in the mood. "Hey, boys!" Hibari called. "New member of the pack!"

Bel got off of the silverette in an instant and pressed himself up into the bars to see his newest potential mate. "Ooh, he's pretty!" he giggled, "So much cuter than Hayato! What's the little guy's name?"

"Mammon," Hibari replied before the bound werewolf could protest about being called 'little guy.' He then reached to untie the ropes on the werewolf's wrists as he unlocked the cage door.

"Ushishi~ No, no, keep the ropes on, the prince likes ropes!" Bel laughed creepily, but Hibari just ignored him, before coaxing Mammon into the enclosure, while simultaneously slipping the rope off from around his throat, and closing the door behind him.

"Enjoy yourself, Mammon, I hope the three of you can get along," he sighed. He tried not to shudder when behind him he could hear the prince's maniacal laughter, and sighed, before heading back to his enclosure.

When he got back, Basil was waiting for him, already half-undressed. He blushed when the older vampire walked in, then smiled an anxious little smile. "O-oh, welcome back, Lord Hibarin...," he murmured. "B-beautiful as always, thou art." (Got that line from you, Supernatural-Demonic!)

"You all right?" Hibari asked, stepping forth and touching the younger's cheek with gentle fingers. Basil nodded, gulped, then sat down on the grass, beckoning the ravenette closer with a finger.

"Lord Hibarin, I invite thee to come closer," he husked. "Please, I believe now is an appropriate time to request that we..."

"Yes, I know," Hibari said, kneeling down on the grass beside Basil and untying his cape, before letting it fall to the ground. His hands moved to his buttons and worked them, opening each one with seductive slowness, before he let that, too, drop from his shoulders. He then leaned in, and kissed his mate with false passion, for he knew that he couldn't take this act seriously for Basil.

Whenever he mated with the smaller vampire, it was truly 'just sex' for him, because his vampiric instincts never chose Basil- they had chosen another. Still, when he looked into Basil's eyes to see such pure feelings within them, he couldn't bring himself to turn the other down. Basil was dreadfully cute, devistatingly loyal, and sorrowfully serious about Hibari, and he felt that he'd never have the strength to crush such a delicate composition of a vampire's 'true love' emotion. He just... couldn't.

"Hah... Lord Hibarin...," Basil mewled, his arms hanging loosely around the vampire's neck as he sat in his lap, more or less teasing both of them in the process. Hibari groaned, and leaned in, before biting into the other's shoulder and savoring the sweetness that seeped into his mouth with delicate sensuality. "Nn... I... hah... I love thee...," the younger vampire panted, weaving his fingers into the older's dark hair and holding him in place on his neck. After taking in a satisfying drink, Hibari backed up, and dragged his tongue up Basil's throat, making the smaller vampire shudder in anticipation. "Please... my Lord... just a little further..."

"Hey!"

Hibari's attention snapped to the entrance, and he and Basil both blushed darkly when they saw Mukuro in the door. In an instant, every ounce of arousal took flight from the vampires, and they shyly reached for their clothes. "What is it, Mukuro?" Hibari asked, starting to button up his shirt again, and trying to hide the complete embarassment he felt.

"It's time for you two to hunt," Mukuro said.

Hibari glanced up at the sun above, and quickly analyzed its position, then glared at the hunter. "No, it's time for the werewolves to hunt!" he snarled. "Do you think I'm stupid?"

Mukuro snorted, and shrugged. "Maybe I DO to an extent, Hibarin."

Hibari growled in anger, and had attacked the hunter without a second of hesitation. "You bastard," he hissed into the other's ear, his hands gripping the other's wrists as he held the other down. "You're just hurting yourself by interrupting us..."

"I hate to see you with that pathetic vampire," Mukuro whispered. "I want you to take another mate."

"Basil is not pathetic," Hibari snarled, before biting down harshly on the illusionist's neck, purposely biting into the largest nerve he could find. Immediately, Mukuro cried out in pain, but then forced Hibari up and kissed him. The vampire gasped, shocked at Mukuro for giving away their biggest secret right in front of Basil, then tried futily to break away. Their mouths parted, but now it was Mukuro who held Hibari's wrists. He was about to force the vampire into another kiss, when suddenly, Hibari noticed something on Mukuro's shirt, and, in an attempt to distract the hunter, Hibari asked, "Who's blood is that?"

Mukuro's face became enraged, and he quickly flipped their positions, and hissed, "It's my blood."

"No it's not! It doesn't smell like you!" Hibari cried, turning his face away so that Mukuro couldn't kiss him. "Who's blood is it?"

"The blood of a werewolf, all right? I killed Mammon's family, big deal! The only thing you need to care about is how I feel about you, Hibarin!"

Hibari stared at Mukuro, too disgusted for words, even when Mukuro leaned in and kissed him again, he couldn't do anything in protest. He was so stunned that the same man who spoke of murder could speak of love in such an easy manner. It was dispicable. Then, in a flash, Mukuro had been knocked over, and Basil was standing over him, a dagger carved from stone placed at the hunter's throat. "Thou will not take what belongs to me," he said in a clear voice. "Lord Hibarin dost not love thee! No, he loves me, hunter!"

"YOU didn't take his first time!" Mukuro snarled, grabbing the younger vampire's wrist and twisting it. Basil whimpered in pain, but then, Hibari threw himself back into the fray.

"Don't touch him!" he yelled at Mukuro. "He's my mate, you idiot!"

"I won't accept it!" Mukuro shouted. "Don't you understand, Hibarin? You belong to me! I own you! I have your full name!"

Hibari paused. "You wouldn't."

"Hibari Natsu Kyoya II, I order you to take the dagger from Basil!" Mukuro commanded. Hibari stared, completely stunned, then shook his head.

"I won't!" he cried. An electric shock couldn't compare to the pain he felt when he was roughly slapped across the face.

"Do it!"

Hibari closed his eyes. "I won't!" he announced again. The shock this time made him gasp, but it wasn't enough to make him snap.

"Go, you freaking idiot! You don't love him!"

Hibari clenched his teeth, then looked at Basil. The younger vampire forfeited his dagger without any persuasion, and Hibari immediately touched the tip to Mukuro's throat. "I'll kill you," he hissed. "Because every ounce of hate in my body is now focused to the tip of this blade..."

CRACK.

Hibari gasped at the sting on his shoulder, and looked up, to see Dino, whip in hand. "Hibari Natsu Kyoya II, get off of him or perish!" he shouted, indicating to the vampire gun on his belt. Hibari thought for a moment, then decided it wasn't worth it anymore. He submitted, and walked to the back of the enclosure, Basil close behind him. "Well, I suppose it worked," Dino sighed, helping the vampire hunter up. "You all right, Mukuro?"

"I'm fine...," Mukuro sighed, rubbing his arm sorely. "Just a little jostled up..."

"Heh, you sure do pose as a real threat to those two...," Dino sighed, looking over at the two vampires who had now cuddled up close to one another in a sort of defensive manner. "I'm going to go explain, so you should head back and calm yourself." Dino walked over to the couple of vampires, and sat down in the grass before him, then bowed. When he came back up, Hibari nodded, giving him permit to speak. "I'm so sorry to have disturbed the both of you while you were about to mate, but you see, Reborn thought that we're not going to learn much more about you two unless we create a real-life scenario in which you're threatened by an intruding human. So, I'm really sorry, because I know that we've more than likely lost a lot of your trust by doing this, but we had no choice. The big question, you see, is if a vampire would deny his instincts for his mate."

"A vampire would do much more than just that!" Basil protested. "A vampire would readily die for his mate!"

That said, Basil buried himself in Hibari's chest, and the older vampire rubbed Basil's back, knowing that his mate had thought that Mukuro would take him away, and pitying him for having to experience the 'mate's paranoia,' as it was referred to in most vampire societies. "I'm sorry," Dino apologized once more, standing. "But that's just how it is."

Hibari glanced at the gently crying vampire, and closed his eyes.

He pitied Basil, but that was all it was.

No 'true' love.

-End Chapter

Phew! I did it~