Under Her Skin [+18]
Chapter 2

"Remove your hand from my wife."

A deep voice floated across to her and Nik who instantly pushed her behind himself, turning and facing the stairs that led up the castle. Katara looked at the male who had called her his wife. He was new. Someone she had never seen.

Her heart started pounding in her chest as she peeked over Nik's arm, tilting her body a little to see him walk down the stairs. He was beautiful in all the wrong ways. He was not as lean as the vampire Sire, but he walked like the Alpha of all wolves had. Power. She ran her eyes over his body slowly. The male wore clothes not of this land. He wore a black coat with grey fur covered collars. She could not see anything else except the black boots laced up his feet. Nobody wore a coat in Eridaya. Every step the male took down the stairs radiated power.

His black hair was the darkest shade she had ever seen, tightly wrapped with a leather strap above his hair in a small bun, but those golden eyes shone in the sun. He was taller, taller than every soul she had ever met. He overpowered the Wolf King and the Vampire Queen. They walked behind him, in a beautiful black gown and a handsome blue suit, the colours of Eridaya.

None of that mattered as Nik pressed her against his back. Elder immediately walked closer to Nik, sandwiching Katara in between them as if they could make her disappear.

"She is not your wife." Nik said, his voice holding power than made any other Vampire crawl. Except for the Sire.

Gods-damn right she was not his wife. She didn't even know the male.

Those golden eyes zoned in on her peeking from his shoulder and instantly she moved away, hiding behind Nik and staring up at Eldar who didn't look at him. His eyes were focused on the male in front of them. She could feel her heart racing in her chest. Was this male from the mortal lands? Was he the reason the hunters were getting stronger?

Was he a wolf or a vampire?

"Nikos." The Queen called to him, making him stand a little straighter. Nobody would notice the flinch if they didn't pay any attention to him, but she did. She could feel him flinch. "Let him see her." No. Nikos, forced to move by the sound of the Vampire Queen, took a step to the side. He moved an inch, showing only her arm to the male who claimed her to be his wife.

"Nikos." The voice of the queen floated over to him, making her shudder. Katara knew Nik could no longer disobey the Queen. He stepped to the side, letting her come into view to the male who was walking towards her. He staggered to a stop, the only show of emotion from his body.

Katara looked at him. She watched as his golden eyes moved across her body, goosebumps rising every look. Her magic stirred inside of her but she held down on the thread, pushing it to the back of her mind.

"The blood?"

His voice was deep and low, a promise of violence to the owner of the blood on her nightgown.

The nightgown.

The lace barely covered anything and a part of her had never minded because females were allowed to show their bodies as much as any male could, but not to a strange male. To a male who looked like he would devour her body and soul and would not have a care in the world that she was covered in blood.

Katara ignored him, turning her gaze to the Wolf King and the Vampire Queen. She heard a snarl escape the male's lips, turning her body rigid along with Nik and Eldar. They froze, anticipating any movements he made.

"The Alpha is dead." Those words that flowed from her mouth was nothing to the pain she felt every time she allowed her mind to think.

The Alpha had never bowed, not even to the Royals who never demanded it. He had bowed to the hunters, his head lowered, begging for the life of his pack to be shown mercy to.

He had bowed for nothing. The hunters did not care. They did not care about anything other than taking over Eridaya and its kingdom. She couldn't even remember the words they said, couldn't even remember the kingdoms they whispered about.

The Wolf King froze, taking a step back. In a blink of an eye, a bright light shining, he shifted into a black wolf. Identical to the Alpha. They were brothers. Everyone knew that.

The Wolf King howled in pain and agony. Katara couldn't breathe. She pressed a hand against her chest, trying to push the images out of her mind. Her chest was rising, her heartbeat an echo in the silence in her mind. They had all screamed and begged for help, but no help had come. The hunters had killed the children, giving them a swift death, the only thing they could show as mercy. Then the others had gone. Until it was her mother.

Who had not cried. Not for the lost Children. Not for anyone. She had not shed a single tear, whispering a prayer to the Gods and staring at Katara, with a small smile on her face. I am proud to call you my daughter. Katara had screamed in anger and pain and every other emotion she couldn't describe. She had clawed at the male sitting on her back. He had pressed a knee against the back of her neck and held her arms behind her back.

But her mother was dying. She was having her head sliced off and there was nothing she could do, nothing at all other than scream like a pathetic female. They had fought. Every single one of the females and males had fought until the Hunters had killed the Alpha. Until the bond between them all had snapped. Until everything had gone silent and there was nothing anyone could do as their Alpha went down, begging for the life of the others but the yellow flower liquid had flown through his body, poisoning him to the point of no return.

There was nothing they could do.

Nothing she could do as her mother was the last of them all to be killed. Katara had only burned. She didn't know how her magic had let loose on the man behind her but she had burned and turned into a literal flame, terrifying herself.

Her magic was barely there in her life, because nobody knew how to use magic and so nobody knew how to help her. She had pushed it down the black hole in her mind, only using it to set fire sometimes on the rarely cold nights or showing the children some tricks. But she had never turned into a flame, she had never pressed her hands onto the ground, screaming and sobbing as her body burned. As every ounce of magic she thought she had had flown out of her, burning the family she had loved.

The Wolf King stopped howling.

She stopped breathing as the strange male strided towards her, his golden eyes staring at her. She staggered backwards, into Eldar who placed both of his hands on her arms, holding her up. The strange male snarled at him but Eldar didn't let go.

There he was.

Standing in front of her, the body of a warrior under those clothes. He was tall, so much taller than she had ever seen. He was a gods-damn giant. Katara saw the couple of daggers on the belt under his coat, she saw the sword hanging at his hip. She lifted her gaze up to his face, tilting her head back a little into Eldar to look at the male.

He was not looking at her. He was looking at Eldar, the glare in his eyes promising death. Eldar instantly let go of her but she didn't stumble backwards, pushing her feet into the ground to steady herself.

He lowered his golden eyes to stare at her. Her lips parted in a shock breath as she ran her gaze over his face, freezing when she looked at his ears. Pointed ears.

"We must leave immediately." He reached out to grab her hand but she took a step back, again into Eldar who steadied her but instantly pulled his hands away as if remembering the promised death.

Katara looked at the vampire queen who was consoling her husband, who had shifted back into his human form. She draped the cloak around his body, allowing him to dress himself up again.

They did not stare at her.

"Nik.." She reached out her hand, hoping he would pull her away from the towering male. He did not grab her hand, the queen's command still ringing in his body.

"I'm not going with you." The words escaped her mouth as she ignored his stare. She ignored the fact that he was just like her. A Fae. "Your majesty!" Katara called out to the Vampire Queen who had turned to face them. "Can I have a word please?" She walked past the strange Fae male, having the stupid sense that he would not hurt her.

He simply watched as she shouldered past him and Nik and walked away from the males who could throw a pissing contest on the ground. Katara ran up closer to the stairs but stayed below them. "It was the hunters. There were too many of them and they kept using the yellow flower-" she started rambling, talking about how they were all killed.

Katara let out a deep breath. "Please, just let me go to the mortal lands. I'll burn it all." She needed permission from the Royals just so they knew what her plans were, when to strike to take over the mortal kingdoms. So they were prepared.

The Vampire Queen's eyes softened as she walked down the stairs. She was beautiful, pale skin that did not seem to darken in the bright sun. Her dark black hair was braided above her hair, twisted neatly, but it was the fact she never wore a crown to show power. Everyone knew how beautiful and powerful she was, the oldest vampire alive. She did not need to show her power.

"Katara, my child." The Queen placed her hand on Katara's chin, lifting her head up a little as she stopped on the last step. "This fight is not yours to win." Her smile was soft. "Your kind is waiting for you across the ocean. It was our silly thinking that maybe we were granted your kindness and your trust for the kindness we had shown the mortals."

"What?"

The vampire queen cupped her cheek. "Child, you are to return to your true home. This male has come to collect you."

Collect as if she was some sort of doll or a prize.

"This is my home." This was her place, her home and it was always going to be home even if she was different from them.

She smiled, leaning down and placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. "You have given us, Eridaya, the sort of peace we have always yearned for. We are forever grateful to the Gods that we found you in our time of need."

She was speaking words Katara did not understand.

"I'm not leaving you." Her own voice was soft. The king and Queen had been nothing but kind, had treated her like a princess since they could bear no children of their own. They had allowed her to live in the castle for years, until she was given to her mother who had taken her to the Alpha to ask for permission if she could stay. The Alpha had played with her, saying she was more than welcome to stay with them.

From a life of gowns and jewels, she had gone to the forest to be a wolf. As much as she could be like them.

"You will leave us. We are only an ocean away."

Katara felt a hand against her arm and she turned around to see the Fae Male holding her. "We need to go." He pulled her away from the Vampire Queen, who had tears rolling down her face.

"No." Katara twisted in his hands, the element of surprise flickering through his eyes as he let her go. Twisting away, she wrapped her hand around the hilt of the sword, pulling it swiftly out from its sheath. She held it out to him, his golden eyes blinking once before the left side of his lips tugged up a little.

"You don't want to play with me, princess."

She was not a princess. She was a warrior trained by an Alpha and a Sire.

Her hands tightened on the sword and he glanced at it, something crossing his face before the emotion was gone. "You want to play?" His words were a purr as he held one dagger in his right hand. "Let's go."

"No!" Nik shouted but she didn't care.

Katara attacked. He defended. They danced around the fountain of water. She twisted, her sword flying around with her before she slammed it against him. His small danger seemed to be bigger than the sword she was holding. He blocked, twisting around her left side and holding the dagger to her neck. She lowered the sword, slicing at his leg making him curse.

Katara spun, the sword flying in her hands as she threw it at his head. The Fae Male tilted to his right, dodging the kill but she was on him again. She slammed him across the face, her fisted hand connecting with his jaw making him stagger backwards but it was the other dagger attached to his belt that she pulled at, allowing the dagger to slice open his arm before she pressed it against his heart. She pushed the tip in, but he grabbed her hand, squeezing on it, making her wince as he stared down at her.

"You do not fight like us."

"I'm a wolf." She breathed those words, allowing her foot to wrap around his and she pulled. The man barely moved, looking bored.

"You're a Fae."

Instantly the hand around hers tightening making her wince again and she let go of the dagger that fell in between them. He twisted her hand, making her body turn as he spun her against his chest, pressing her there with her hand twisted. She felt his breath on his neck, as he breathed in her scent. "As violent and challenging as you are, which I would love to explore more of, we need to be going."

"I'm not going anywhere with you."

"You heard her." The male purred in her ear, his breath warm against her body. "This is not your fight to win."

This was her fight to win. For 19 years, she followed every single word anyone had said but this, this was her fight because her mother was dead and she was the only one alive. She could not leave Eridaya. This was her home.

Katara let out a deep breath, closing her eyes slowly as the magic inside of her stirred. Her body and soul, entwined as one, jumped into the black hole of her magic and pulled on the thread. She let the flames inside of her come to l-

"Lovely and warm." His voice was a low drawl, as if bored of the fact she had magic. "Come to my world, princess, and see how easy it could be to use and sense magic. You have no control."

She burned like a flame.

He did not let go.

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