Chapter 7
BPOV
I woke up to sunshine streaming through the glass wall in my room, alone. I knew Caius wouldn't be with me this morning, he explained he had to go before sunrise to get to the mountains. I was having a hard time understanding why he felt I wasn't ready to witness him change. I pondered the situation for a few minutes and decided it was best to get up and not wallow about it.
I took a hot shower and dressed in jeans and a button down blouse before searching out Marcus or Aro. I decided that Marcus would be the better choice and walked to his office. I could only hope that Caius was alright. I hated waking without him near and the tightening in my chest and abdomen was a telltale sign he was gone for the next few days. I wondered how my new family was planning on distracting me from this painful emptiness I felt.
Caius POV
"Well," Jasper drawled, his expression mockingly ominous, "there it is. My lord, we've reached your destination: Hell."
I didn't bother to glance at him, my cheek pressed up against the car window as I looked up at the Victorian styled castle. It was in a remote location in the Carpathian Mountains, Romania. We had just reached it, and the sun was setting low in the sky. Dangerously low. And I didn't know if Jasper meant to go far on his mocking or was simply stating the truth I was thinking. If the former, than he had no idea how much the looming caste looking exactly like that to me.
"It's funny, I think," I began, and Jasper tensed ever so slightly. "Whenever the full moon came about, I would really be wanting to come here. It was a nice getaway from...everything...and now... Now, I feel as if I'm being dragged into purgatory. To be away from Isabella at all—" My words stuck in my throat, so I made as if I was pausing thoughtfully as I swallowed. "But to be away from my Isabella for this long..."
"Relax," he more or less commanded. "Tonight, the moon will be at its fullest. Suffer the change tonight, and then just relax. On the third night, you will have Isabella back in your arms."
I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed my fingers to my temples. I didn't want to wait, three days at that! I was seeing red at the idea. "Can vampires get migraines?"
Jasper looked at me as he turned the car off, and smiled. "No. But you, my darlin', are not a vampire tonight. Now get out of the car so I can chain you up."
I glared at him.
He hopped out of the car, shutting his door and opening the one on my side. He bowed slightly at the waist, sweeping out a hand. "Excuse me, I meant, 'Get your royal highness out of the car now before I have to freaking hunt you down!' I won't do that again, just so you now. So I want your ass in the castle before you change, if you please."
Under normal circumstances, I would have throttled him. But this was Jasper, and I was so lethargic that I could have been asleep on my feet. I rose from the car with grace and dignity—Jasper laughing at my effort of it—and swept past him. "You're so-o lucky you can control emotions," I threw over my shoulder.
"Ain't I just?" he replied cheekily.
He was right, of course. One time the flight had been delayed, and we reached the castle just at nightfall. I transformed right in the courtyard. Jasper had to chase me down before I reached the town below the mountains and reign me back to the castle. It was a hell of a lot of work, so he informed me. For the safety of the people living in the area, I agreed with him that I had to be in the castle.
We walked through the castle, passing several caretakers who gave polite greetings to us as we offered them even less than that. They were use to our curtness by then, and didn't question anything or why we came and went the way we did. Nor did they breathe a word about the oddness of the two of them breeding wild wolves on the property.
Time wasn't on our side, so we wasted none. We went straight downstairs, to the castle's dungeon of sorts. There was a cell we had built, made of thick iron bars. There was enough room for me to stalk around in it. That cell was caged by several more layers of bars—seeing as once I managed to break out of the cell—the last of the bars being made of silver. There was no electricity in the dungeon, so we went about lighting the torches on the walls. It looked positively medieval, but I found that I didn't mind it at all.
Jasper had a comfy armchair a few feet away from my cage, where he usually sat and read a book and kept me under control. I loathed him for it. Whenever he would relax in his chair and catch me glaring his way, he would smirk in his usual infuriating fashion. Even now, as I cast my gaze upon the chair, his expression turned smug.
"Ready for the night, mutt?" he asked.
I glowered at him, but a wave of extreme calm fell over me. "You're pushing your luck, Major. When I return to normal—"
He waved a hand dismissively as he put his other hand on my back and began to steer my towards the cage. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. You've been threatening me for decades. We all know ya don't have it in ya, darlin'. Now—" He pulled the creaky doors of the cage open and gestured to the inside. "If you would."
Stepping into the cage and having Jasper chain the doors shut behind me always came with an odd mix of apprehension and content. It was familiar, but still felt strange. Surreal almost.
He tapped on the bars lightly to gain my attention. "Hold yourself together," he said. "I'll be right back. Alright?"
I nodded.
As soon as his presence left me, I felt it. A slipping control. An extreme anger. Anger at anything and everything. Anger that Isabella and I were apart, anger that I wouldn't be with her for another few days, and anger at the iron bars surrounding me. My fingers began to twitch; I had to clench my hands. My skin started to itch; I wanted to rip my clothes off. I was shaking from restraint, shaking form head to toe, as I stalked back and forth, growls erupting from between my clenched teeth.
You can break these bars. You're far stronger than that. You know you are. Break them...
My hands were fisted around the bars before I knew anything. I snarled and turned away from it, willing myself to calm.
I spun towards Jasper as he came back down the steps. He carried in his arms a dead wolf. I would always get hungry when I transformed, and Jasper had started hunting wolves for me. Then we started breeding them so he wouldn't need to hunt. Then, he started killing them before giving them to me. He said he hated watching the way I killed them, tearing them apart with my teeth, blood spurting everywhere, usually the wolf staying alive long enough to suffer a bit. This wolf had its neck quickly snapped, too fast for it to notice, too fast for pain.
"What the hell took you so long?" I hissed.
His eyes widened slightly before he sent me calming waves. I exhaled in relief. "Caius, I was only gone for about two minutes. Glad to see you're still in your cage." He smirked. "Good doggie."
I growled, rolling my eyes. "Shut up, Jasper. Just this once, won't you have pity and shut up?"
He gave me a look as if I offended him greatly. "It's like you don't even know me."
I didn't bother to respond as he threw the dead wolf into my cage and chained it shut again. This time, it would not reopen until morning. I eyed my friend with the sickening revelation of knowing this was for my own good and Isabella's safety.
Jasper's POV
From my seat I watched as his body began the horrible transformation. You would figure I would be used to it by now, but truthfully I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. His pacing picked up as the moon began to rise higher in the sky. I watched carefully as the subtle changes began to take place.
His eyes shifted from their brilliant ruby red to the monstrous yellowish-green. His fingers crooking and lengthening, his perfectly manicured nails growing and curving into the tell tail spiked claws of the beast that resides within him. His perfectly aligned vampire teeth and fangs, changing to the interlocking teeth of a wild wolf. I could hear his bones cracking and breaking to remold themselves into their new positions. His growls and snarls sounding more like howls; trails of venom and drool running over his lower jaw as it elongated into the muzzle of the wolf similar, in shape and form, to that of the meal lying at his feet. Last, but not least, the coat of white silver fur that spread over his entire body, unlike his brethren werewolves with their dark matted coats, Caius was a thing of beauty even in this state. I believe it to be the vampire in him; would not allow any flaws.
By the time the full moon stood high in the sky, the transformation was complete. A snarling, growling beast paced back and forth in front of me. Behind several layers of bars mind you, but still pissed as all get out. I'm sure, even in this state, Caius was calling me all things but nice. The waves of rage running off him even set me on edge this time. Before Isabella, he was at least tolerable, but now knowing she is out there, waiting for him to return to her; he seems even more volatile. This was gonna be a long night.
I woke up to sunshine streaming through the glass wall in my room, alone. I knew Caius wouldn't be with me this morning, he explained he had to go before sunrise to get to the mountains. I was having a hard time understanding why he felt I wasn't ready to witness him change. I pondered the situation for a few minutes and decided it was best to get up and not wallow about it.
I took a hot shower and dressed in jeans and a button down blouse before searching out Marcus or Aro. I decided that Marcus would be the better choice and walked to his office. I could only hope that Caius was alright. I hated waking without him near and the tightening in my chest and abdomen was a telltale sign he was gone for the next few days. I wondered how my new family was planning on distracting me from this painful emptiness I felt.
Caius POV
"Well," Jasper drawled, his expression mockingly ominous, "there it is. My lord, we've reached your destination: Hell."
I didn't bother to glance at him, my cheek pressed up against the car window as I looked up at the Victorian styled castle. It was in a remote location in the Carpathian Mountains, Romania. We had just reached it, and the sun was setting low in the sky. Dangerously low. And I didn't know if Jasper meant to go far on his mocking or was simply stating the truth I was thinking. If the former, than he had no idea how much the looming caste looking exactly like that to me.
"It's funny, I think," I began, and Jasper tensed ever so slightly. "Whenever the full moon came about, I would really be wanting to come here. It was a nice getaway from...everything...and now... Now, I feel as if I'm being dragged into purgatory. To be away from Isabella at all—" My words stuck in my throat, so I made as if I was pausing thoughtfully as I swallowed. "But to be away from my Isabella for this long..."
"Relax," he more or less commanded. "Tonight, the moon will be at its fullest. Suffer the change tonight, and then just relax. On the third night, you will have Isabella back in your arms."
I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed my fingers to my temples. I didn't want to wait, three days at that! I was seeing red at the idea. "Can vampires get migraines?"
Jasper looked at me as he turned the car off, and smiled. "No. But you, my darlin', are not a vampire tonight. Now get out of the car so I can chain you up."
I glared at him.
He hopped out of the car, shutting his door and opening the one on my side. He bowed slightly at the waist, sweeping out a hand. "Excuse me, I meant, 'Get your royal highness out of the car now before I have to freaking hunt you down!' I won't do that again, just so you now. So I want your ass in the castle before you change, if you please."
Under normal circumstances, I would have throttled him. But this was Jasper, and I was so lethargic that I could have been asleep on my feet. I rose from the car with grace and dignity—Jasper laughing at my effort of it—and swept past him. "You're so-o lucky you can control emotions," I threw over my shoulder.
"Ain't I just?" he replied cheekily.
He was right, of course. One time the flight had been delayed, and we reached the castle just at nightfall. I transformed right in the courtyard. Jasper had to chase me down before I reached the town below the mountains and reign me back to the castle. It was a hell of a lot of work, so he informed me. For the safety of the people living in the area, I agreed with him that I had to be in the castle.
We walked through the castle, passing several caretakers who gave polite greetings to us as we offered them even less than that. They were use to our curtness by then, and didn't question anything or why we came and went the way we did. Nor did they breathe a word about the oddness of the two of them breeding wild wolves on the property.
Time wasn't on our side, so we wasted none. We went straight downstairs, to the castle's dungeon of sorts. There was a cell we had built, made of thick iron bars. There was enough room for me to stalk around in it. That cell was caged by several more layers of bars—seeing as once I managed to break out of the cell—the last of the bars being made of silver. There was no electricity in the dungeon, so we went about lighting the torches on the walls. It looked positively medieval, but I found that I didn't mind it at all.
Jasper had a comfy armchair a few feet away from my cage, where he usually sat and read a book and kept me under control. I loathed him for it. Whenever he would relax in his chair and catch me glaring his way, he would smirk in his usual infuriating fashion. Even now, as I cast my gaze upon the chair, his expression turned smug.
"Ready for the night, mutt?" he asked.
I glowered at him, but a wave of extreme calm fell over me. "You're pushing your luck, Major. When I return to normal—"
He waved a hand dismissively as he put his other hand on my back and began to steer my towards the cage. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. You've been threatening me for decades. We all know ya don't have it in ya, darlin'. Now—" He pulled the creaky doors of the cage open and gestured to the inside. "If you would."
Stepping into the cage and having Jasper chain the doors shut behind me always came with an odd mix of apprehension and content. It was familiar, but still felt strange. Surreal almost.
He tapped on the bars lightly to gain my attention. "Hold yourself together," he said. "I'll be right back. Alright?"
I nodded.
As soon as his presence left me, I felt it. A slipping control. An extreme anger. Anger at anything and everything. Anger that Isabella and I were apart, anger that I wouldn't be with her for another few days, and anger at the iron bars surrounding me. My fingers began to twitch; I had to clench my hands. My skin started to itch; I wanted to rip my clothes off. I was shaking from restraint, shaking form head to toe, as I stalked back and forth, growls erupting from between my clenched teeth.
You can break these bars. You're far stronger than that. You know you are. Break them...
My hands were fisted around the bars before I knew anything. I snarled and turned away from it, willing myself to calm.
I spun towards Jasper as he came back down the steps. He carried in his arms a dead wolf. I would always get hungry when I transformed, and Jasper had started hunting wolves for me. Then we started breeding them so he wouldn't need to hunt. Then, he started killing them before giving them to me. He said he hated watching the way I killed them, tearing them apart with my teeth, blood spurting everywhere, usually the wolf staying alive long enough to suffer a bit. This wolf had its neck quickly snapped, too fast for it to notice, too fast for pain.
"What the hell took you so long?" I hissed.
His eyes widened slightly before he sent me calming waves. I exhaled in relief. "Caius, I was only gone for about two minutes. Glad to see you're still in your cage." He smirked. "Good doggie."
I growled, rolling my eyes. "Shut up, Jasper. Just this once, won't you have pity and shut up?"
He gave me a look as if I offended him greatly. "It's like you don't even know me."
I didn't bother to respond as he threw the dead wolf into my cage and chained it shut again. This time, it would not reopen until morning. I eyed my friend with the sickening revelation of knowing this was for my own good and Isabella's safety.
Jasper's POV
From my seat I watched as his body began the horrible transformation. You would figure I would be used to it by now, but truthfully I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. His pacing picked up as the moon began to rise higher in the sky. I watched carefully as the subtle changes began to take place.
His eyes shifted from their brilliant ruby red to the monstrous yellowish-green. His fingers crooking and lengthening, his perfectly manicured nails growing and curving into the tell tail spiked claws of the beast that resides within him. His perfectly aligned vampire teeth and fangs, changing to the interlocking teeth of a wild wolf. I could hear his bones cracking and breaking to remold themselves into their new positions. His growls and snarls sounding more like howls; trails of venom and drool running over his lower jaw as it elongated into the muzzle of the wolf similar, in shape and form, to that of the meal lying at his feet. Last, but not least, the coat of white silver fur that spread over his entire body, unlike his brethren werewolves with their dark matted coats, Caius was a thing of beauty even in this state. I believe it to be the vampire in him; would not allow any flaws.
By the time the full moon stood high in the sky, the transformation was complete. A snarling, growling beast paced back and forth in front of me. Behind several layers of bars mind you, but still pissed as all get out. I'm sure, even in this state, Caius was calling me all things but nice. The waves of rage running off him even set me on edge this time. Before Isabella, he was at least tolerable, but now knowing she is out there, waiting for him to return to her; he seems even more volatile. This was gonna be a long night.