Lycan's Affection

"His Highness, King Conaan has ordered that any scentless or scented werewolf found within the boundaries of the lycan Kingdom, to be immediately put to death!" The head soldier announced, his hands on his waist, his brows drawn together in a dark expression.

"Yes, Sir!"

"As from today," he continued, "Half of this force will go around the kingdom at odd hours of the day and fish out any suspicious looking man or woman. Bring them before me and of they resist, slay them, is that clear?!"

"Yes, Sir!" Came the unanimous echo and he nodded, obviously pleased.

"Get back to work and no matter what, do mot allow any masked, or scentless caravan in! Tighten security and attack if they refuse to back off. Slay everyone!"

"Yes sir!"

This time, they did not stop in formation and immediately turned away in an organized form, marching back to spread out at the gate. Their formation made It so there were eight people in groups at every section of the gate, and one person dotting till the next group of eight.

Two soldiers who were standing at the extreme end, the most unfrequented and unused part of the gate caught something right in the small bushes.

The younger, light brown haired one turned to the obviously older one, then let his eyes flicker upwards to check the rest of the soldiers.

Whatever he was looking out for was definitely clear, and he turned back to the other.

"Did you see that?"

The older one cleared his throat. "Do not get us in trouble, Jamie. Mind your business."

Jamie's brows furrowed. "What if it is some harmful thing? Seeing how close we are to it, we might just be the first to die."

The other soldier, Shadrach turned to him fully, putting his hands on his waist to enhance his broad form, like he fully meant to intimidate the younger, way less bigger one.

"Look. I am not about to have my pay deducted from because I left my duty post. I need the money."

Jamie rolled his eyes. "You are a coward. You might be big, but it is only air under that."

Shadrach turned to him sharply, but before he could say a word, Jamie had turned away, walking the short distance towards the black thing.

It was wrapped tight and bound in chains, and the black, thick rug looked a little dusty. He moved closer to it and kicked it a little, carefully avoiding pushing it too hard so it wouldn't roll off the small path that led straight to a stream beneath.

When he received no response, he leaned, then grabbing it by the chains, he pushed a bit further out, drawing attention.

"What are you doing?" The head soldier asked, his eyes squinting at the black rug he had just pulled out.

"I found something. I am not sure if it is harmless, so I went to bring it out."

The head soldier nodded, then pointed at the chains. "Remove it and untie it. Let us ssee."

Jamie immediately got to work, removing the chains. Shadrach and two others who obviously were good enough with a deduction of payment stood around, watching in wonder.

Suddenly, just as a sslmall hole came up in the rug, Jamie gave a smalll shriek and fell back, his eyes wide.

"What is it?" The head soldier asked, his voice dark and somewhat disappointed by the fragile nature of his soldier.

"It...it ...is a person! It is a person!"

The head soldier immediately moved forward, the wheels of his mind reeling. He leaned and tore the rug open finally, unveiling the man.

He looked very unkempt, with beards and hair that had somewhat become thin and grey from suffering. He was unhealthily slim too, but the most noticeable thing was that he looked almost void of blood. So deathly white, he did not seem alive.

"I can not scent him," Shadrach pointed out, his eyes thin.

The head soldier leaned forward, putting two fingers to his neck. His eyes squinted as he struggled to get a pulse, and he slowly nodded.

"He is almost dead. The blood is very thin and only the wolf is keeping him alive."

"Is he a werewolf?" One asked, his hand tightening on his sword.

The head soldier nodded, moving back. "Kill him."

"But, Sir!" Jamie said, his eyes wide.

"What? Did you not hear His Highness's orders? This could be a Trojan horse. Take him to a safe place and he turns out to be some great assassin sent to murder his Highness. We are not taking chances."

Shadrach moved forward, his sword unsheathed. "I will do it."

The head soldier nodded, then moved away for him. Jamie's eyes widened as Shadrach let out a big sigh, then raised his sword high, ready to pierce him.

"My love?" Eleanor whispered, her hands coming up to the side of his face.

He opened his eyes as his skin tingled with the slow movement of her fingers pushing his hair away.

"Mhm?"

"I was checking to see if you were awake."

He opened his eyes slowly, meeting hers. He moved a little, his hand reaching for her fingers. Once she felt him nudging, she gave him her hand.

He leaned forward, flipping it just before he got to it, and he placed a small seductive kiss on the inside of her palm.

"I am awake."

She chuckled, moving even closer. "I see. Good morning."

He slowly nodded, feeling a headache slowly come on. With the poison, he felt minor inconveniences that were foreign to him before. Headaches, weakness, fatigue, laziness. They came like subtle reminders of his condition, and he tried so hard to push it away and just live in the moment with Eleanor.

"How was your night?"

"Was it any less than perfect?"

He smiled, then propping himself up, he gently moved her so she had her back to him now. Gently, his hand wrapped around her waist, the thin fabric doing nothing to reduce the gentle pressure of his fingers and he pulled her back to him.

"Do not flatter me," he said, his face nuzzling in the crook of her neck.

She broke into laughter, her eyes turning to try and catch a glimpse of him. "I can promise you, I am not. I just feel really generous with my compliments today."

He smiled, moving so he could hover above her. "Guess what I am feeling generous with today."

Her brows furrowed and her lips pursed as she stared up at his eyes. "I do not know, but..."

She trailed off as he suddenly leaned forward, kissing every inch of her face in a fast, rough, rather playful manner, his hair falling a little to tickle her skin.

She let out a giggle, her hands coming up to his shoulder however.

"Really?" She laughed as he settled behind her again, this time his hand around her tighter.

"Mhm," his voice was slightly muffled by her skin, and she closed her eyes as he left small feathery kisses on her neck.

"You want to stay here?" She asked when he made no move at all, just holding her to him, his lips working around her neck.

"Yes, please." It would kill him to tell her of the dizzying headache or the weakness he felt, and he would rather make one more memory of it.

As painful as he knew it would get.

"Fine, my love. Let us lay here forever."

And it made him wish forever was not such a lie.