A VAMPIRE'S WOLF

01

Kieran Caddel.

Vampires were often seen as sad creatures. Statistics –I don't know who saw the need for this– had ranked them second, after sirens.

I'd never seen a sad vampire, for the thousand years since I was born. Then again, we were never emotional creatures.

I could only think of a few things that would make a vampire sad. The grandest –according to me– of them all was being mateless, something I was too familiar with now.

There wasn't a specific time when a vampire was supposed to be mated. But after spending a thousand years waiting for the one person Lilith was to send me, I'd given up all hope.

I had resorted to simply focus on clan matters. At least something I was good  at.

__

A typical Kieran-day consisted of reviewing records, visiting merchants in the market, patrolling the boarder and then more paperwork because Lilith knew a five thousand vampire clan needed that much.

I honestly did not have a routine― as they called it these days. On the days when I slept, I woke up before sunrise, freshened up and then started my day with paperwork.

It was one of the things I dreaded, but after a few hundred years, I had learnt to get through.

After the paperwork was done, I had breakfast with my father and a few other close family members. Then it was time to visit the town.

It was one of my favourite part of the day. Interacting with my clan made my day.

Then came the afternoon meetings and Lilith knows how long those took. And on nights when I needed some fresh air, I took to patrolling around the castle.

A big clan like ours faced potential threats and though we hadn't seen one in a couple of years, it didn't mean that it couldn't happen. So we took measures and that paid off.

Except today.

There was a commotion at the front of the castle gates. Two vampires were at the front and several others seemed to form a barricade behind them.

I moved from where I was leaning against a wall and made my way over.

"....need to leave before we make you!" One vampire, Declan, was saying.

Declan was the head of the group patrolling today.

I was almost to him when violent cries tore through the quiet night.

With hurried steps, I reached the front. The others acknowledged my presence with a nod but didn't move.

"Declan?"

"Sire....he was just leaving." He answered as he stepped away.

Infront of him was a wolf. Well, that was the first thing I could tell about the man. He was scrawny and had worn out clothes, a baby in his arms.

He shushed the baby who refused to let up its cries. Frustrated, the man turned towards Declan and then as he noticed me, trained his eyes to me.

Several things happened then and if I had a pulse, it would have quickened by now.

His wide eyes mirrored my own, the frustration that was there earlier being replaced with several emotions.

I took his face in. He had black eyes, a well defined nose. His features were soft.

My gaze moved further to his body. His clothes looked thin, especially with the cold night. The bundle in his arms, the crying child, was however warm, a large coat covering it.

My eyes were back to his face but before I could utter any words, the man- my mate - collapsed.