by Garnet Hart
Her knowledge of geography was still intact. She knew this country, but she never thought she would actually set a foot on this far away land. Did she spend months in the ship, after all? She must have been hallucinating because she thought it was not a long trip.
“This is very far from Skye. It would take months to sail towards these parts,” she commented.
Nadia smiled. “From London, you can come here in half a day.”
Puzzled, she looked at the Priestess. How could she say that while it would take her days to travel from Dunvegan to London?
Nadia smiled wider. “Many things had changed, young Miss. Ships can now travel the ocean faster, and you can even travel on air by what we call airplanes.”
Asra was getting scared of what she was hearing, but she didn’t want it to get through her. This was another country. The other continents like the one where this country was located were probably much more advanced in civilization than Europe. Maybe those books she’d read saying England was the most prosperous nation in the world were wrong.
“If you’re done sightseeing, let’s go back inside,” Nadia said. “No one must find out about your presence in this temple.”
Without a word, she followed the Priestess inside a private parlor, where she saw Tanya sitting on a settee.
“Tanya will keep you company until Lior arrives. I have to attend to my other chores,” Nadia said and left.
Tanya cleared her throat. “Do you like to talk or play games?”
She settled on the long, adjacent couch. “We can talk.”
“And what do you want to talk about?”
She sighed. She only had one question. “Is it true that this is the twenty-first century?”
Tanya nodded. “Are you still not convinced?”
She did not answer.
“You know what?” Tanya leaned forward. “Your hair is so beautiful. Such golden hue is rare. Do all Elves have that kind of hair?”
Asra brushed her long hair with her fingers. “Who knows? I’ve never seen any other Elf my entire life.” Besides the Dark Elves, as Lior called them, perhaps. But she still refused to believe that those people who made her sleep were really Elves. She wished she had her father around to explain things to her. Oh, how she missed her father. She must see him soon.
“You never saw your mother?”
“No. She died after giving birth to me.”
“Oh, I know how that feels.”
“What made you decide to be a Priestess?” she asked.
“I never had a choice. This temple adopted me so I had to be a Priestess whether I like it or not.”
“Don’t you want to get married?”
“Of course I do, but I haven’t found my prince yet.”
Asra was speechless for a second or two. This Priestess sounded just like her. She had been dreaming of a prince to come for her, too. In the end, she got what she wished for. A handsome knight or prince or whatever, who betrayed her. “That’s just a girlish fantasy.”
Tanya’s jaw fell as if her words offended her. “How could you say that?”
“Princes and knights in shining armors are rubbish. They don’t exist except in the pages of those fairy tales.”
Tanya blinked rapidly in protest. “But… but that man named Lior… he’s as dashing as the gods of Asgard. Don’t you like him?”
“He’s a bastard. He promised to marry me but tried to kill me instead,” she stated flatly.
Tanya was dumbfounded.
“Now he comes back to take me to a place I don’t even know.”
“Alfheim. That’s the world of the Elves.”
“How much do you know about Alfheim?”
Tanya shrugged. “Not much. I didn’t even know such place exists until Priestess Nadia told me.”
“What about the Lycans? Do you know about them?” she could not help asking.
“I heard they’re men who can shift into wolves, or the other way around.”
She inwardly shuddered, recalling what he’d heard in the forest before Roar fell off the cliff. With all that had happened to her recently, she was becoming more and more confused. These things were beyond her understanding. “And did you know that Lior is a Lycan?”
“What?!” Tanya gasped, shocked. “Seriously?”
“Roar told me.”
“Have you seen them shift?”
“How could I? Roar blinded me. But I heard it.”
Tanya looked scared. “Wolves are savage-looking creatures but he looks so handsome I cannot imagine him turning into a wolf. I thought he was a captain from another temple who was tasked to bring you to Alfheim.”
Just hearing the name of the place made Asra want to cry. But she was a daughter of MacLeod. A MacLeod would not cry. “I don’t want to go to Alfheim.”
Tanya stared at her with eyes full of compassion. “But that’s the will of the gods. You cannot say no.”
Asra shook her head. The gods again. All of them were mad for believing in myth. “Tell me what to do to get away from this?”
“I am a Priestess. I cannot help you disobey the gods.”
She clenched her fists in seething frustration, desperate to find means to escape her fate.
“Miss MacLeod,” a guard who just appeared at the door called out, “Lord Lior is here for you.”
Tanya stood up. “We’ll be right there.”
After the guard left, Tanya turned to her. “Will he take you to Alfheim now?”
Asra shook her head. “I begged him to let me see my castle first, and he promised he would.”
Tanya took her hand and they walked out of the parlor. This Priestess was acting beyond her boundaries towards the Miss of MacLeod, but she didn’t mind.
They exited into a vast hall.
She caught sight of a tall man standing in the middle of a group of Priestesses. They stopped and stared.
Asra frowned as she scrutinized him. She remembered a bearded man with smoldering gray eyes and brown hair that he never bothered to brush except with his fingers, but this man looked very neat. His face was freshly shaved and his hair was swept back from his forehead down to his nape.
Her heart beat faster. It was like the first time she had seen him locked in a cell and without any clothes on. He did look like a god, a very handsome god that all girls would die for.
He was wearing a pair of elegant black suit that fit his physique perfectly. She’d never seen such kind of clothing before, but it looked great on him, making him look like a gentleman, eventhough she knew he was a devious, black-hearted bastard. No wonder he managed to deceive a clever woman such as her.
“If he’s a Lycan,” Tanya whispered again, “then the odds are in your favor. He could protect you. You just have to convince him to make you stay. He’ll keep you under his protection, and you don’t have to go to Alfheim.”
“Tanya.”
Tanya squeaked, covering her mouth. They both did not notice that Nadia was standing right behind them.
“What foolishness were you telling the young Miss this time?” Nadia asked.
Tanya shook her head. “We were just talking about how handsome Lior is. Is it not, Asra?”
Asra nodded but Nadia continued to ask Tanya questions beyond her interest so she turned her attention back to Lior.
He was still surrounded with women, and he was smiling while talking to them. Some were even flirting with him. She could see one gliding her fingers on his arm.
She was tempted to tell Nadia about that Priestess flirting with Lior, but she held back her tongue. If she’d do that, it would only mean that she was jealous.
She was not jealous. A deceiver such as him was not worthy of someone like her.
To her surprise, Lior suddenly turned in her direction and their eyes met. She held her breath until a smile broke on his face.
Her pulse raced. Her chest felt too small to contain the rapid and violent beating of her heart. When he started walking towards her, her legs turned to jelly a
nd felt like she was going to collapse.
Before she even knew it, he was standing in front of her, his height towering that she had to bend her neck backward to look at his face.
“Shall we go, Dear Miss of MacLeod?”
That voice again… that same melodic baritone voice that had once captured her heart in an instant. She couldn’t believe it still had that same effect on her, regardless of the fact that he had betrayed her beyond forgiveness.
She was unable to say anything and just placed her hand over his waiting palm. As if she was in a trance, she just stood there while Lior bade farewell to Nadia and Tanya. Then she was walking with him across the hall, and all the other Priestesses were enviously watching them.
She could not suppress a smug smile. It was as if she was back to the Miss of MacLeod whom all other women envied, and she liked it.
But when she was about to step out of the main door of the temple, her knees weakened. The world outside was too different from what she had known, and it scared her to set a foot on it.
Chapter 6
Lior glanced at Asra who was quietly sitting beside him. He’d been driving for about an hour now but she never uttered a word since she saw her beloved castle.
Early this morning, when she rode in a van on their way to the airport, she was silent, too. When they boarded Lysander’s private jet, he’d expected her to ask him many questions, but she did not. Although she looked horrified as she stared through the window as the plane took off, she remained silent and still in her seat.
At that time, it looked like she was trying to ignore everything that she was witnessing, probably convincing herself that all of these were just a dream. But when they landed in Scotland and she finally saw her precious Dunvegan Castle, now old and vacant aside from the presence of a few staffs and scores of tourists roaming about, she broke down.
She did not shed tears, but he knew how her heart was crying. It was only her pride that kept her standing there for a few minutes, staring at the castle that had once belonged to her.
As it was already night time, they were not allowed to enter. It took a while before he managed to convince her to leave.
Now, they were on their way to his house in Wolverton Ranch, located a few miles from the castle, and just beside the Dunvegan estate. He would keep her there until he received his orders from Asgard.
The Wolverton Ranch was originally located in Portree, but the growing number of his pack and the deal he had entered with the Vampires had forced him to expand. He had bought parts of Dunvegan, which were once properties of the clan MacLeod, and recently he had expanded at the Northern part of Skye.
He only hoped the need for expansion would stop soon. If someday the whole Isle of Skye could no longer accommodate his people, then that would be a problem.
This was probably what compelled Garr to leave his pack at the North, in Uig. Someday soon, the Lycans would not have much space here in Midgar, and Garr wanted to take matters into his hands.
He had plans for his people, as well, and with the help of this Elf, he could see hope.
“Now, you’ve seen your castle,” he said, breaking the long silence between them. “I did my part of the deal. You’ll have to make good of yours.”
She did not say a word and looked away through the window.
“For your own protection, your presence must be kept a secret. If anyone asks who you are, dunna tell them the truth.”
It was past midnight when they reached his mansion made of stone, mortar, and hardwood. Unlike Dunvegan, his house was smaller but built with the technology of the eighteenth century. It was still huge, with two dozens of spacious rooms and all the amenities of luxury his money could buy in those times. After two hundred years, it still stood majestic on a hill. He wanted to do renovations in some parts of the house, but opted to preserve the old beauty of the mansion and just modernized the sanitary system to this decade’s technology.
His pack had built their homes all over the ranch, turning it into a thriving, modern community. But it was a very private enclave which he guarded with tight security.
Lycans were very active beings. They had to work at day like normal humans and would run around at night like the beasts that they were, so majority of Skye were thick forests.
As their leader, he had to keep the Lycans together. One stray Lycan could be a risk to all of them. If the humans would learn of their presence here in Midgar, there would be war as humans would fiercely defend their lands and the Lycans would fight for a place to stay. Half of the human race would be annihilated if the Lycans would turn against them but that would be the beginning of an even bigger war between the Dark Forces. Their common desire to preserve the human race was the only thing standing between the dark creatures from turning against each other.
He put the SUV to a grinding halt in front of the mansion’s vast driveway. He brought his attention back to Asra. “We are here,” he told her.
She acted like she heard nothing.
He sighed and got out of the vehicle. He assisted her out and she followed him like a meek lamb. She never even bothered to look around as they walked in. She looked somewhat dazed, staring in space.
“’You hungry?” he asked.
She shook her head.
“Sit on the couch while I get you something to drink,” he said and headed to the kitchen. When he came back a minute later with a cup of tea, he found her asleep on the sofa.
He sighed and put the cup aside. Carefully, he scooped her in his arms and carried her to the guestroom that she asked Ginny to prepare before their flight this morning.
He tucked her in bed and stared at her for some time, hesitating. He should make her feel comfortable in her sleep.
He slowly sat on the edge of the bed and gently unbuttoned her coat.
The room was shadowy with just a small lamp illuminating it from the night stand, but with his Lycan vision which was even sharper at night, he could see every tiny detail of her body underneath the flimsy garment. Her round breasts with those rosy tips made his mouth water, and her tiny waist and long slim legs made his cock rise instantly as he imagined them wrapped around his waist while he fucked her mercilessly.
When he looked at her face again, he found her eyes had opened. She was staring at him.
He used all his godly power to remain unmoved by such alluring beauty. He remained still on the side of the bed where she lay. When she probably knew he was not going to do anything more, she sat up and moved closer to him.
They were so close now that he could hear every wild beat of her heart and could feel her every breath caressing his neck.
She stared up to him like the way she used to stare at him two centuries ago, her eyes smoldering with passion.
His body burned with yearning to taste her again. His breathing shortened, and his cock swelled harder than ever.
Her hands rose to his chest and started to undo the top buttons of his shirt.
Damn, this very act resulted in him atoning in Midgar for two hundred years, this sin that he’d secretly longed to feel again even if he had to stay in Midgar for eternity.
She popped the rest of the buttons and freely guided both her palms across his chest and abdomen, tracing all the contours of his muscles as she emitted sweet, faint sighs of delight.
Her hands crawled lower, down to the aching bulge between his legs. When she felt how hard he was, she smiled.
Lior was trapped in a battle between his mind and body. This should not be happening, but his body was protesting all dictates of his principles. All it wanted was to feel her hands all around him, to have his hands ravish her delectable breasts, and to have his cock buried as deep as it could go inside her tight pussy.
Slowly, he leaned closer to her and reached for the hem of her dress. “Canna wait to be fucked again, huh?” he taunted.
She undulated against him, her fingers gliding below his aching shaft. Before he realized what she was up to, her fingers tightened arou
nd the pair of his sensitive sacks.
He froze and gasped. Tighter, she gripped his balls, intent on really hurting him.
Fuck, the bitch was trying to castrate him! He could have knocked her out cold with one blow of his fist but he just grabbed her wrist, squeezing it hard until she cried out in pain and let go.
He pushed her hard on the bed, grabbing his hurt groin. “You little whore!”
Quickly, she sat up and pushed him as well. “Take your sore balls somewhere else. I don’t want it!”
Dazed, he just stared at her, until she grabbed a pillow and whacked him in the head.
“Get out of here!” she yelled.
He scampered out of the room like a scared rat and shut the door closed. When he thought he was safe from the termagant, he realized his stupidity.
The fuck! He should not have walked away. He should have shown her who the master of this house was.
Determined to get back at her, he pushed open the door, only to have a pillow shoved hard on his face.
“Bitch!” he snarled.
“Whore pipe!” She slammed the door closed on his face.
He was tempted to break the door and get his hands around her lovely neck.
“Cunt!” he growled and turned away.
Asra woke up with her body on fire, her arousal at its peak. She had been dreaming of that bastard.
Ashamed of herself, she got out of bed.
The room she’d slept in was not as big as her room in Dunvegan, but it was still spacious and designed with a lot of intricate wood carvings on the walls and the ceiling. However, it lacked warmth. There were no heavily embroidered, colorful drapery adorning the four-poster bed and windows and no flowers in vases anywhere.
There was another door inside the room, probably the bathroom. She went there and saw a beautiful tub made of porcelain and another exquisitely made porcelain contraption which Tanya taught her as a combination of a chamber pot and a toilet itself. This was the one thing that truly pleased her in this century. And there was running water.
She could not wait to bathe.