The Count of Wolf Blood Castle

by Laurelle Lewis

  ‘I’m sorry, darling!’ she sobbed. ‘It’s just that awful ex-head mistress of yours! I can’t believe the nerve of that woman!’ Briette gave her mother a prompt shove, and she almost fell the other way onto a party guest.

  ‘It’s okay,’ Briette comforted her mother, desperate it was all forgotten, least suspicion fall on her.

  ‘I should have her fired!’ her mother cried, then suddenly grabbing her forehead, as the alcohol had gotten to her.

  ‘All is good, Mother,’ Briette assured her, leading her to a nearby couch. Briette sat her down, scooping up the train of her expensive gown and placing it next to her on the couch. ‘Your dress, Mother, you’ve been out in the garden again, haven’t you?’

  Her mother laughed. ‘Yes, I snuck out there with Daddy, we had a bit of a nice time, while no one was looking.’ She smiled, placing her face down on the arm of the couch. Briette tried to get away, fearing Bastien would be growing impatient with her. Her mother reached out to her, placing her hand upon her face. ‘Look at you, all grown up. When did it happen?’

  Briette smiled, her mother really did love her, and she knew that when she saw that special glint in her eyes, but long ago, her parents had shown her that prestige and reputation were more important than how she felt. Suddenly, she felt a rage burning through her.

  ‘I have to go, Mother!’ she snapped, pushing her feelings of betrayal deep into her being. She loved her parents, but she couldn’t forgive them for what they had done to her all those years ago. She stormed off as her mother sunk into the comfort of the couch, dead to the world.

  Briette was feeling annoyed now, agitated, as if something was wrong or off. She wasn’t feeling particularly amorous anymore and hoped Bastien had fallen asleep on her bed.

  She began making her way up the stairs, but just as she got to her bedroom door, the hairs on her arms stood on end, and she felt a strange fear.

  ‘Turn back,’, she heard the words in her brain. She shook her head, why was she feeling anxious? She was going to make love to her betrothed. She shook the feeling away.

  Briette entered her room, as a hand reached out to grab her, closing in around her throat. ‘You betrayed me!’ he hissed into her ear.

  Briette was stunned, what on Earth was going on?

  ‘No…I…’ she choked.

  ‘Don’t bother lying…I know everything!’

  Briette was struggling to breathe. ‘What…?’

  ‘Theodore Baertschi. Your lover!’ he blared, throwing her against the wall.

  ‘Briette’s eyes went wide, ‘How…?’

  He let go of her, and she took a deep breath before stabilising herself against the door. She looked around and scattered everywhere on the floor were the pink letters Theodore had written to her months before. Bastien had ripped some of them to shreds, and Briette immediately knew this was Florina’s doing. She had asked her to destroy them when they were still friends, as Bastien was getting suspicious that she had less and less time for him.

  Briette went to run down the hallway, but Bastien was too fast and too big for her, he grabbed her by the back of her hair and pulling her to her knees, before he slammed the door shut. Briette cried out, ‘Please Bastien, I love you.’

  ‘You whore! You disgusting, cheating little wretch!’

  Briette’s heart began to flutter madly, would Bastien seriously hurt her? She had to confess to herself that she wasn’t sure. He let go of Briette’s hair, as he pushed her to the ground. ‘Let me read out one of these letters, shall I?’

  ‘No, please don’t,’ Briette sobbed.

  ‘Dearest Love,

  Your skin is like some sweet silk to me and I must confess I miss kissing it. I long to kiss you, to adore you, to make love to you. It has been three weeks since I have seen you, and I must see you again soon!

  I have felt alive again after years of guilt and misery. Your smile and your laughter have enlivened this old heart and I need to be in your beautiful presence.

  Yours forever and always

  Theodore Baertschi’

  Bastien’s eyes were wild, and his face was a shade of red Briette had never seen before. ‘What in the name of the demons of the Fire Realms is the meaning of this? You were sleeping with Theodore Baertschi? How and when?’ Briette was sobbing. ‘Bastien I love you, only you….’ He reached down and slapped her hard across the face. Recoiling from the slap, she was shocked that he could hurt her.

  ‘You, you’ve had plenty of lovers, I’m not a fool,’ she choked.

  Bastien spat, ‘Your nothing but a little harlot. You’re not a future leader. You don’t deserve to reign as my Queen.’

  Bastien was furious, not only had Theodore Baertschi stolen the relic from his vault, he had stolen his betrothed right out from under his nose!

  As Bastien read hurriedly through the pile of pink letters, he could feel the anger becoming more intense with every proclamation of love and desire. Bastien picked up another letter, ripping it into tiny, little pieces. Briette sat sobbing in the corner, there was no point trying to escape Bastien, he was too strong for her. She prayed silently to the Moon Goddesses, that he would calm down.

  He bent down, seeing another letter on the floor beside him, he picked it up. He sat now, near Briette, breathing heavily, she was pressed up against the door, her heart dancing wildly, in a thumping rhythm, that was making her dizzy.

  ‘Dearest Briette,

  I will never forget the night we made passionate love in your bed at the party. You are so much younger than me, yet it is your youth and your vibrance that have reignited my spark for life. I was dead inside and nothing until I found you. You taught me there is always love and passion to go on in this world. You are my everything. I need to be with you. I must see you again. Write back soon.

  Your lover

  Theo xx

  ‘I ought to kill you!’ Bastien roared, as he did so, his mouth opened wide, his teeth began to grow, and his eyes became a strange hue of yellow. He was transforming, he was so enraged, and Briette could feel her heart trying to escape her chest cavity now. She had seen Bastien transform before, but not in a rage, he had done it a few times to impress her. His body began to grow as grey hairs began to sprout from his limbs and torso, and his face began to grow a snout. It only took a minute, as his clothes ripped from his body, torn shreds fell upon the floor, along with the torn paper.

  His teeth were sharp, as he lunged at Briette, diving his paws into her arms. He pressed her up against the wall, so that she couldn’t escape. ‘Please,’ she begged. ‘You’re hurting me!’

  His claws were digging in so deep that he had drawn blood. Little trickles began to roll down onto the carpet, as he pressed his teeth into her soft neck, and dragging his teeth over her chest and down into her cleavage.

  Briette cried, ‘Please! I love you!’

  ‘I could rip your heart out right now!’ he growled. ‘Or I could rip your jugular...’

  Bastien stepped back, letting go of her, she fell to the floor, shaking violently. He suddenly leapt on top of her pushing her to the ground, his eyes wild, like a predator about to destroy its prey.

  Briette realised she had one chance, she began to concentrate hard, despite her mind whirling—convinced Bastien would kill her—as he glared at her with such intense hatred burning inside him. Briette’s eyes began to change to a strange kaleidoscope of colours and Bastien could feel his rage subsiding. Briette began to whisper in a soft, enchanting voice, ‘You love me, only me, you could never be angry with me…’

  Briette kept chanting the words as she harnessed her powers. She had never had to use them to save her life before, but they seemed to be working. ‘You love me, we are happy together, you would never hurt me…’

  After a minute or two, Bastien slumped beside her, pulling her into his embrace. Briette sighed a breath of relief, thankful she had the ancient powers she had, and realising they were becoming stronger, after the incident at school a little while back, and he
r mind control just now of Bastien. She was shaking, uncontrollably now. She really believed Bastien would have killed her. He lay now in her arms now naked, back in human form and asleep, and she hoped in the morning he would remember nothing, or at least think it was a bad dream. But now, wondering what she was in for with a lifetime of Bastien Von Croy. She nearly would have been ecstatic of her control over Bastien, but all she could do was let her mind drift to a time when she was happy and in love with Theodore Baertschi. As her body drifted into a troubled sleep, she couldn’t help but feel the pain of her past love sink into her soul…

  Chapter Seventeen: The Man Who Taught Her How to Love

  Briette remembered the first time she had seen him. He was tall, dark and handsome-a cliché, but he had stolen her heart in that very moment. He had been meeting with her father over business deals behind the back of the Von Croys, of course. His name was Theodore Baertschi, and he was twenty-six years old. She was only eighteen, but she was no shy flower; she knew the ways of the world and what motivated men.

  Although, she was betrothed to the future King of Thraxia, he was rarely there, always busy, either planning the future or at some sort of secret meeting. Briette could not help but be intrigued by this stranger.

  He was a widow, left with two children, a sad and tragic man until she had come into his life. He had said that he hadn’t smiled in years until she made him laugh, and although he had turned her away time and time again, telling her she was merely a child, she had pursued him relentlessly, until finally he had given in and taken her for his lover.

  Theodore leant down and kissed Briette, softly at first, her soft, wet lips felt so good upon his own. It had been so long since he had felt the touch of another. Images of Eleanora came rushing back to him, the first time he’d kissed her, the first time he had taken her to his bed, and then the morning he had seen her desecrated body laying lifeless on the garden floor.

  He suddenly pushed Briette aside.

  ‘I have to go,’ he coughed, jumping up suddenly; he couldn’t get away fast enough. ‘I’m dangerous!’ he cried.

  Briette caressed his neck. ‘It’s alright—I know what you are…I’ve grown up in this world—do you think I don’t know what my future husband is?’

  Theo had baulked when she had said this—not only was he yearning for the body of a young girl—she was also betrothed to his enemy! Briette jumped to her knees and began to render sweet and gentle kisses down Theo’s neck. ‘I don’t care what you are—it’s who you are that I want!’

  Theo couldn’t control his desires any longer as he grabbed Briette and threw her to the bed, he ripped the sleeve of her dress down to expose her breast. As his hands massaged her tender flesh and his lips explored her crevices, she moaned as his lips made her explode with a passion she had only read about in books. Her breath came faster and faster until she couldn’t breathe, sinking her nails into his back, as his tongue made sweet circles in the secret parts of her body that even Bastien had not dared to venture too.

  Soon, he was holding her closely as they moved together, lost in the passion only lust and true love can create. They had longed for each other for months and now, in his embrace, Briette felt a completeness she had never felt before.

  ***

  The next time Briette had seen him had been at a party held by her parents. The Von Croys were there, but Theo had mainly stayed in the shadows, he had been drinking heavily, and as Briette had walked past, suddenly his hand had grabbed hers. He had pulled her into the shadows and kissed her passionately. She had led him to her room as the party continued on downstairs. He kissed her again, and again until where his body began and hers ended, they could not tell and they were lost to the world around them, engulfed in the new found excitement of each other.

  For months this continued, with no one the wiser, and Briette was falling fast and hard for Theo. If it had not been for her desire and aspirations to become Bastien’s wife for her entire life, she could have very well run off into the proverbial sunset with him.

  One night, the two lovers lay in Briette’s pink bed together—Theo had been able to sneak into her room, dressed as a worker of the family—Briette had stolen him a uniform and he would leave a single rose out the front of her parent’s mansion, lying near the loose stones by the road. It was always made to look haphazard, as if it had fallen off a nearby bush, so no one would notice. Every afternoon, Briette would go for a stroll by the winding dirt road in front of her home, longing to see that red rose lying patiently for her. She would skip back up the driveway when she saw that rose, and she would go to one of the many back doors and she would let him in. He always came at nine. Her parents were either asleep or busy, and no one had ever been none the wiser.

  Theo rolled over to look into Briette’s eyes. Those eyes! They were a brilliant blue, and with her curls, Theo thought she looked like a porcelain doll.

  ‘Do you love me?’ he questioned, almost afraid of the answer. Briette froze, yes! she had wanted to cry. Yes, from the bottom of her heart, but she also loved Bastien.

  But her love for Bastien was a different kind of love, an obsession, an unhealthy love she couldn’t control, nor could she give up. With Theo, it was always so easy, so honest, genuine.

  Theo leant over and kissed her on the check. ‘There is something I want to ask of you, but it is…it is a huge ask, to say the least.’

  ‘Go on...’

  Theo leant in closer, his voice now a whisper, he spoke into Briette’s ear his intentions. She recoiled slapping him across the face. ‘Is that why you are in my bed? You’ve been using me this whole time!’

  ‘No! No, I haven’t! You don’t have to do this for me if you don’t want to, I love you, I would never use you like that.’

  ‘And what if I refuse? Will you move onto someone else who can give you what you want?’

  ‘No! I love you, Briette. If you don’t want any part of this, then I will find a way to do it myself.’

  ‘But you might be killed!’

  ‘That’s the price I’m willing to pay.’

  ‘Why is it so important to you?’

  ‘I can’t tell you, perhaps one day…’

  ‘I need time to think, I mean, how can you ask me to do this? But I can’t let you kill yourself…your insane, that’s what you are.’

  ‘Please, I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t dire.’

  Briette stared at the man in her bed. He was handsome, his face worn and weary, he looked older than twenty-six, the stumble around his face hiding seemed to make him look tired, instead of roughed and desirable. Suddenly, she wondered how well she knew him; had her desire blinded her to his true self? No, she knew he was a good man, a better man than Bastien—a better person than herself. Bastien and herself, they were one and the same—they would do whatever it took to get what they wanted, but here was Theo asking…and if she refused he would get himself killed…she knew it must be for a good reason.

  ‘You want me to steal from Bastien? You say he stole this pendant from your family?’

  ‘Yes, a few months back—I promise you I never had any intention of using you—I had planned to try and steal it back myself—but then you were there at the parties and I fell for you.’

  ‘What is so wonderful about this pendant that you must fight over it?’

  ‘When a person is in the transformation state, they are ravished by the desires of a wolf—but when they wear this pendant around their neck, they remain themselves internally, but not physically, they can control their behaviour. I know because I wore it for many years.’

  Briette was confused. ‘But I have seen Bastien transform, he is in complete control of his actions, his thoughts…’

  Theodore couldn’t understand. Why would Bastien want such a treasure, if he already could control his transformative state? Theo felt a deep sense of dread as he wondered just what powers the owner of the pendant could actually wield.

  ‘How...how does he do it?’

 
‘I don’t know, I think it has something to do with the vile he wears around his neck, he never takes it off. I have seen his army wear them too. You know his loyal followers…’

  ‘He’s an Alpha Werewolf—a pure blooded monster. When Bastien was twenty–one, he was taken to the caves of Mount Abraisias, a ceremony was performed. He was bitten by the Alpha King…an ancient warrior, who now resides in his mountain Cave. Bastien is able to control his thoughts, his feelings, but to do it, he must wear a vile around his neck at all times. As does his army. His powers are limited though...perhaps that’s why he wants the pendant...but…but what for?’

  Briette bite her lip, perhaps she had said too much, ‘Anyway, sounds like Bastien doesn’t even need this pendant.’ Theo looked away, the pendant had not even been able to stop him from killing Eleanora...and yet, it apparently had some mysterious power of use to Bastien Von Croy?

  ‘That’s what I’m afraid of.’ Theo sighed. ‘What could he possibly want with it? Damn it!’ he groaned, punching his thigh. ‘It’s even more important I get it back now. I have two daughters and that pendant is the best thing I have to protect them!’

  ‘I will do what I can,’ Briette promised.

  Theo collapsed his head into his hands.

  ‘What’s wrong, Theo?’ Briette asked, kissing him on the shoulder, and wrapping her arms around him lovingly.

  ‘I never told you how my wife died…’ Theo mumbled.

  ‘I killed her—when the pendant fell off—when the moon was full. I need it back to protect my family-even then, there are no guarantees...but still...it’s my best hope.’

  Briette’s heart skipped a beat—her beloved Theo, a murderer! She instinctively looked to the moon, her eyes darting nervously between it and her lover.

  ‘It’s only a crescent tonight,’ Theo whispered. ‘Or I wouldn’t be here.’