The night was upon them, thick and delicious in its density. This was the time of night after the day had turned in and settled, leaving nothing but pitch black in the sky. On nights such as these, those that the Dark Lord was said to be out and hunting, his essence covered the stars and moon themselves, leaving the sky an endless expanse of dark. Indeed the god had gone out hunting, leaving behind him a trail of bloodless bodies for the beasts of the shadows to consume. When he had finished with that, he went onto more important tasks, those that could not wait.

And, as usual, such a task led him to the Shrine of Water. Though he had not visited in awhile, as she had humiliated him, he rather missed coming here. Rei could be unstable and overly emotional at times but she had pleased him and the feeling he got from having her when she did not truly have him had been amazing. But now that he stood in her shrine, surrounded by the darkness, scents came to him and anger flared. He understood why Gabriel was so upset now. The shrine was wrought with a pungent odor.

Kiba and Rei were consummating already... apparently giving Gabriel time to adjust to the fact she had hurt him mattered little to her. Or letting her own heart mend from finally realizing that Dimitre could not be what she wanted to her. It brought an angry scowl to his lips for, in his mind, he felt that Rei was being foolish. Either she had lied to him, which he doubted, or she was now lying to bother herself and Kiba.

But that was not why he was here.

He was here because Gabriel was on the edge of being lost finally to him, the weight of his grief over this past year getting the best of him. He did not want Dimitre's words of comfort, or Skylania's- he wanted someone to mend his heart. He wanted a sense of worth where he knew there was perhaps nothing. If it had been any other faithful besides the priest, Dimitre would not have bothered. However, Gabriel knew the secrets of the faith, was an excellent diplomat, and the father of the children that Rei cherished. Not only that but he was mortal.

In Dimitre's mind, all the chemistry was actually there for Rei to play with. She simply needed to fully see the greater good that could become of it.

"Rei, my dear, I know I said I would not return but, alas, I fear that I need your assistance. Come and speak to me as we did in the beginning and I will explain what it is that I need of you." His tone was soft and unassuming, knowing that she could simply tell him to leave... but yet, he wondered if she wished to see his face the way he wished to see hers. At one time, her eyes lit at the sight of him and he enjoyed the look of desire in her eyes. But how did it turn ugly when no others were really there to disapprove of their actions?

It puzzled him for in all his years he imagined that it would be a wife or a husband that grew displeased. Instead, it was simply the bitterness of knowing she could never have him. Oh he wondered what she would think if she knew that even Skylania did not fully have and know him, that the only one capable of such a feat was himself.

He waited, patiently, dressed for dreams they used to share together... though his face was unreadable and his expression obscure.

He was almost unsure as to what he was to say.

Rei would have been foolish to ever assume that her feelings for Dimitre would completely vanish. He had been the first one to ever gain her mature love, a love so intense that she would have moved the oceans and mountains to make him happy. It could not last, though. It was a horrible dysfunctional relationship. Her heart, mind, and body had craved to have him entirely but it never could be. He would always love Skylania, and he would never think of her as anything more than a trophy prize meant to please him when he wished it. There were many nights she wished it was different but it would never be. Though her heart still had not fully healed, her mind had accepted that fact.

The Avatar had put Rowan to bed, tucking the girl in with one of her cherished stuffed animals. The girl never needed much urging to go to bed. Rowan always drifted off shortly after her head hit the pillow. Larren was a bit more difficult. Rei often read him a story from a bard’s book of adventures at night. Sometimes he fell asleep before the story was over and other nights, he had a rougher time sleeping. Tonight, thankfully, he was asleep. Now she was sitting in the rocking chair, Aunrae cradled against her chest.

Often times when she was rocking her young daughter to sleep, her mind drifted to Gabriel. Rei had not meant to harm him as severely as she had. Truthfully she did not expect the reaction to be so violent. It had been a mistake on her part. The idea had seemed perfect at the time but only after did she realize how incompatible they would be. It would have been a very rough fit. It would have been very difficult to deal with Gabriel’s mood swings among raising three children.

Rei stood up, her movements fluid towards the crib to lie her child there. She brought a blanket to cover Aunrae, only to be interrupted by Larren waking from night terrors. She went into the room and went to cradle him, letting him rest against her until he calmed. After nearly an hour, she eased out from beneath him and shut the door behind her. She had barely made it to the door of her room when a presence nudged at her. Darkness was sweeping through her Shrine.

The Avatar’s breath caught in her chest, feeling her pulse pounding in her throat. Why was he here? She sensed no ill intentions from him. He had claimed he would never return here after that night she had abused her power over him. Rei was clothed in her thin cotton nightdress, her hair tousled messily. She reached into the wardrobe and pulled out a silver silk robe and wrapped it tightly around her, her bare feet still resting on the cold floor.

There was a surge of magic in the room, the water of the altar glimmering and shifting. There was a gentle burst and Rei appeared before the God, her icy blue eyes watching him very curiously and cautiously. “And what is it that you need?” His face was expressionless like it always seemed to be. As always, she could never read his aura of emotions as she did everyone else. While others showed bright colors that corresponded to certain emotions, his was all a haze of undistinguishable grays. It made her nervous to not know the reason for his presence.

Deep in the shrine, he could hear the sounds of the children's slow breathing, the effect of sleep. Larren's thoughts, as always, were wrought with fear and anguish, nightmares that would never stop plaguing him. But Rowan's mind was innocent and simple, enjoying her life here with her mother. Unlike Larren, she was none the wiser. The peacefulness of the children, for once, brought peace of mind to him. Gabriel's troubled thoughts and life had yet to affect them too much.

It was only when Rei came to him, not casually as she used to, but magically, almost a show of dignity and power. Dimitre turned to her and was slightly surprised that the anger was gone from her eyes, only curiosity and bewilderment as to why he was coming to see her. And as his eyes settled on her, he couldn't help but feel a tinge of an emotion only described as regret come to him. He loved Skylania but he never lingered in one place too long. Rei had entertained him for a long time and if he had deluded himself of her feelings for him, not made them such a problem, then perhaps this situation would be different.

Maybe she would have never attacked him in Talistari and forced him to hurt her. Maybe, just maybe, she would have found it worth straying from the weak wolf Kiba and keeping him at arm's length. None of this would have happened.

He sighed, his hands coming together before him, fingertips brushing against one another.

"I think you may know why I am here... but not the true nature of what I want from you." He brushed some of his dark hair back, an almost mortal gesture. His hair was tied back at the nape of his neck, with only a few dark strands contrasting to the stark white of his skin. But unlike most of the nights he had come to visit her, he donned his robes, leaving him bare from the waist up. The cold could not bother him now and with the added divine power of his shadows, his robes were much more magically comforting. It reminded him of the first time he had come to her.

"There has been some... intriguing buzzing going on around my faith regarding Gabriel, my dear," he said. Of course she knew he would bring up Gabriel. "Being that the man has been through many ordeals and trials this past year, it does not surprise me that he has fallen so far..." He began to approach her, slowly, for the last time he had done so he had hurt her. "I never imagined that he would fall, even if for a night, into your bed." He held up a hand. "If this were any other random man, this would not be my concern. However, Gabriel is my priest and is very important to me. You have broken his heart, my love, but more importantly, you have broken his spirit."

He came close to her, his expression finally changing, becoming one that even he did not understand- exasperation and unknowing. He truly did not know what to do with the priest but the solution did not lie with him- it lay with her.

"I fear he may do something drastic, Rei. This isn't just about you or about me or any other problems you pointed out to him after your... intimacy. This goes far beyond that." His nostrils flared, able to smell the scent of that wolf on her even through the soaps of her bath. He could almost see the two entwined in passion. He wasn't sure if he was angry or disgusted. Rei deserved a stronger wolf.

"And I am also surprised you did not contact me about Kiba. Him becoming a father to these children was not a part of our arrangement."

For a brief moment, there was a flicker of color across Dimitre’s aura. What Rei thought she perceived was the faint hint of the dingy blue of regret. It faded quickly back into the gray. Rei had so convinced herself of Dimitre’s outlook on her person that she was sure what she had seen was only a deceitful trick he or her eyes were playing on her. As she grew closer to him, the Avatar could feel the surge of tingling across the large scar marring her back. She hadn’t been in Dimitre’s presence since then and wondered if his divine power seeping around her caused the sensation or if it was entirely mental.

Dimitre sighed then, his slender and practiced hands coming together before him as he pondered. Rei never thought Dimitre would venture here over Gabriel, but perhaps the hurt she had caused the priest had done much more damage than she thought. She could smell him better now and smell how diluted his wolf now was. He had taken back his vampiric blood. She could no longer hear the beat of his heart that had gone still. His skin, she could tell without touching it, was back to its frigid state.

“I imagine there is some chatter going around your faith. That is something quite common in your churches. Gossip.” She didn’t intend it to be rude at all, it was just a statement. Rei knew that Dimitre would have to agree. The women of his faith was horrible notorious for running their pretty mouths about everything that they heard. “It was not my intention to break his heart or his spirit, Dimitre. I have enjoyed his company and it seemed like a decent enough idea at the time.” She paused and shook her head. “But we have too many differences. It would never be ok.”

The God came closer still, the look in his eyes mirroring that of confusion. He didn’t know what to do. It was a frightening concept. Dimitre rarely didn’t have a solution for something. “Dimitre, Gabriel won’t listen to a thing I say. He can be a good man. He could care for those sweet children if he truly wanted to, if it was what was first in his heart. I don’t know what else I can tell him. He takes everything I say as insult.” She remembered that moment in the kitchen. Rei could hardly say anything with Gabriel construing it to be some sort of insult towards him personally.

He then brought up Kiba and her face fell, looking as if she was half expecting him to start an argument with her. Things were cordial now and she didn’t wish it to be changed. She felt the tinge of the scar on her back again and the images of his face and the feel of his lips pressing against her as she bled out flashed through her mind. For a moment her eyes closed before reopening. “Kiba has not met the children. For there benefit I want to assure everything is completely stable before that happens. They have been through too much.”

Rei let her eyes drift to his face, once again trying to read his emotions. “I don’t know what you want of me. I can’t fix someone who doesn’t want to be fixed.”

He smiled though it was fleeting. Rei was so very young and she had yet to realize the sway she could hold over others. She did not know the hurt she had caused the affection starved priest or even how Dimitre longed for her company once more. But the god could hardly see himself coming over and sharing wine with her, only to know that another filthy wolf lay in her bed. He had already taken and mated with her... so he would have all or nothing.

"The path to hell is paved with good intentions, my love," he replied, the statement far over used but so often true. "Interesting. A 'decent enough idea'. I had not thought you so cold and dismissive as such, Rei. You often spoke to me of your feelings towards my actions with you... and yet you play the same tune with his heart that you tell yourself I played with yours. I can see where he feels that this may have been some sort of revenge against me." But the god truly did not believe it as such. Rei had a slip of mind and conscience, needing to spend a night alone with a man who would truly worship her.

She may not believe that was what she wanted, but all women did. They lived to be pleased and those that were reverent were either rewarded or burned.

"Not so many as you think," he said, smiling again though it was almost sad. "You cannot imagine how far he has come from the mess that I brought him out of. You do not need to spell out your distaste for my teachings and my church, Rei, for that has been spoken to me as well. Perhaps Gabriel is a good man in his heart, he is a much better man than I am after all, but your ideas of good and bad seem to be very narrow. He kills, he drinks, he fornicates... but he is also loyal and reverent." Was he trying to convince her to accept hs priest as her mate? Not truly. However, he had not appreciated what she had implied about his church. Gabriel was a great man, had always been, and Rei had destroyed the bard's faith in himself. He believed himself as nothing now.

"Be rest assured that he cares for his children greatly. However, I know well the work that he must do to keep being what he is and my church cannot support him while he finds himself with those two children in his wake. I gave him a choice, Rei, and he chose the one where his chidlren would be stable. He visits them, brings them things and he loves them. Do you wish him to lose his station and be forced to sell what few, disgraceful talents he has on the streets in front of them?" He laughed bitterly then as he had never wanted that for Gabriel. The priest's body had been long worn and rough from the sated lusts of men and women alike in his youth. "if I may be blunt, do you wish him to sell his body and his talents to people much more evil than he is? I don't think so."

He was silent for long moments regarding Kiba and the ache he felt at knowing that Rei would so easily abandon the love and mating she had with him to go to the wolf. It made him angry and it also humiliated him. Perhaps Dimitre had not been able to give her marriage and a child she so wanted but he had brought her warmth and pleasure. He had taught her to control her urges and her magic. In the end, he felt almost as used as she did. Perhaps he should have disposed of the wolf while he still graced her sheets.

"But he will." His voice was soft and he finally approached her, slowly raising a hand to cup her chin, making her look up at him. "And he will either accept them and they will come to love him in a way they may not love Gabriel or he will resent them. I do not think him the type of man to show the latter outwardly but Larren is smart. I do not believe I have to tell you that this course, at this period of time, is not wise, my dear."

He stroked his thumb over her cheek. "He does want his heart to be mended and that is the only part of him that needs fixed. I only fear that if it is not mended soon that we wil lose him. A loss, my love, that I do not believe you will mourn."

He had called her actions cold and dismissive, though they weren’t at all. Rei had truly felt a sense of a connection with Gabriel that night. It had been such an overwhelming factor in her decision that she had ignored everything else. They were vastly different in a way that would never work. The Avatar shook her head. “It wasn’t cold and dismissive. The spark of emotion I felt with him caused me to ignore everything else. You know why it would never work.” Dimitre would know well enough to know her actions weren’t revenge. “Perhaps he or you view it that way but it wasn’t my intention. And revenge was certainly not the reason.”

Dimitre seemed somewhat insulted by Rei’s opinions of his teachings but it wasn’t something that bothered her. If she had never wanted him to know it, she certainly wouldn’t have told such things to Gabriel. He was practically Dimitre’s parrot. “Perhaps you both see him giving up his children as some act of martyrdom but I don’t. I know what it feels like to have your father unwillingly abandon you. I can only imagine what they must feel.” She had never truthfully confronted how hurt and lost she had been without her father in her life. It was something she knew could be the worst feeling in the world.

“No, I do not wish that life for him but it is not his only option.” A sigh escaped Rei. She felt as if she couldn’t do anything right in this situation. Dimitre obviously didn’t feel she understood Gabriel and his situation yet he expected her to fix this problem. She didn’t know what to do. There seemed to be no solution to the problem that would suit Gabriel that didn’t involve them being together. That wasn’t an option and Dimitre should know that.

Rei’s breath caught in her throat when his hand came to her, cradling her chin and lifting her gaze to meet his. “Dimitre, I know it’s not a good time for them. It’s why they have never seen him and don’t know of him being around.” She nearly shuddered at the feel of his thumb running across her smooth cheek. Of course Gabriel wanted his heart to be mended as everyone did whose heart was broken. “I mourn the loss of most everything that perishes. If not for the loss of him, I would at least mourn for the loss his children suffered.”

Mostly right now she wished the God would stop being cryptic. Though she greatly wished that he would stop touching her, she knew he never would. It was his way. Suddenly she felt very defeated, though the brief hint of a smile touched her lips. “I wish would stop being so cryptic. Please, just tell me what you want me to do. I can try to talk to him again but I don’t know how much that will help. He had been pretty adamant against listening to anything I say.” She wondered why Dimitre was asking at all, as she wasn’t sure she could do anything to help him feel better.

"And he is mortal, Rei, as you seem to so forget that. A mortal whose life is built around the wills and needs of the gods," he gave as a reply. "When you accepted him into your bed after speaking to him so sweetly, he thought you were accepting him into your life and heart. You two are raising children together. Even as a god, I understand where he may have gotten the wrong impression."

He chuckled darkly at her idea that perhaps he thought of losing children as an act of martyrdom. "I do not see it that way. I want those children to grow in my faith and find their niche there. A father is important for many men." He thought of his own father and how when he had been young, he had been seen as a threat and not as a son. If Rei had bothered to get to know him, she might have known that. It was part of why Gabriel was still here to see his children. Why, in a way, he wished that Rei did have feelings for Gabriel. Rei could be a stable, calming force for the priest. A woman he would be too afraid of to stray from.

"It is, Rei. The world is not as forgiving as you seem to think it is. He will not wake up tomorrow and indoctrinate himself in believing that he can save the world. Like most mortals, he is looking to our answers to live his life. You cannot hate him for that or hold it against him." As he touched her face, once more feeling that soft, warm skin, he remembered what it was like to taste her blood. Dimitre could recall nestling his face against her neck and sinking his teeth in. She tasted marvelous. But her words scared him because he wished she had said some of these things to Gabriel. Instead, she talked them in circles because she didn't want to hurt him.

"I wish you would tell him that. You can be sweet to him and continue to confuse him or you can bluntly tell him he truly isn't worthy of you. Because though it would not hurt or bother me if you two made some sort of coupling work, he is not worthy of you." He let his hands drop from her face. "I want you to tell him that. That is what you can do for him, dearheart. Let him let go. Maybe he will dislike you for a week, a month or a year but in the end, he will move on." He swallowed hard, a frightfully human gesture. In his mind, all he could think was every memory with her that should not have been rising to the surface. Sometimes, even with his arms around Skylania, he thought about her, feeling disgusted with himself that he did.

"I'm sorry. I do not wish to upset you. This visit could have turned confrontational so easily and the last thing I want is for you to be angry at me." That was the truth and he let her see and feel it in his voice. He was tired of the fighting, of the misunderstanding. Perhaps it had taken this time, knowing that she was prepared to move away from him to know that he did care about her. Maybe not as much as she fully deserved... but as much as he was able. "I fear he will hurt himself, Rei. I see it in his eyes, in the lackluster of his prayers. Maybe you believe I do not care what happens to anyone but Gabriel is important to me. He does not deserve the fate that may lay before him if he takes the darker road."

He quieted because he was gazing at her now, his brows coming together. She looked tired but there was something else. Sadness clouded her vision along with need that had yet to be satiated. Kiba was not here and he would not be with her every night because of what they were. Was that why she was sad? Did she miss her new mate? Or did she long for Dimitre this night as he did her? He could have sent Euphoxia for this task. He did not have to come personally.

I miss you, Rei, purred the soft voice from his consciousness to her. You have come to haunt my thoughts.

“Mortals should not always look to the Gods for every aspect of their life. I certainly never did. They can make their own choices and carve their own fate if they so wish it.” It often disappointed her to see how many mortals cowered before the Gods like children. Some believed only the Gods could dictate the fate of their existence but it was not true. A person had just as much control over their life as they wanted. Rei had never allowed her life to be steered by a God any more than simply having a God as a tutor for her magical prowess.

A father was important and Dimitre’s faith would never be able to replace that. Rei could remember all the times growing up she had often resented her father for his absence, despite the fact it was nothing he could control. There were times around Larren’s age that she remembered being with her mother in a time when she needed a father and telling her mother how she hated him for not being there. Of course all her mother could do was say that her father loved her and didn’t want to be gone from her. In the end it had taken many years of maturity to reach peace with it. “They will resent him. My father left me because of his death and even then I resented him at Larren’s age for not being there.”

In his eyes, she could swear that she saw the flickers of memories passing through, those that would not be appropriate to be shared between them now. It was hard to ignore the look in his eyes, but she did the best she could and compensated by avoiding direct eye contact for too long. “I don’t hold it against him, I just think it’s foolish. You shouldn’t give a God every single part of your being.” Rei had always been a devout believer in this school of thought and didn’t foresee that it would ever change any time in the near future.

He asked her to tell Gabriel that he wasn’t worthy of her, but she knew she couldn’t. It wasn’t true to her. Her issue was not that he was unworthy but rather that it would not be a workable fit with their vast differences. “I can’t tell him that. I don’t believe it. I only believe that it will never work because of how different we are. That is all I can say. I won’t lie to him.” Though really she didn’t see how saying any of it would make him feel better. On the contrary she thought it would make him feel worse.

“I hardly have the energy to fight with you even if I wanted to. As you know, I have my hands full here.” It was a taxing job to raise three children of such young ages with no aid from another parent. At the very least, though, some of the more trusted clergy helped with Rowan and Larren. “I can try getting him to let go, I just worry it will only hurt him worse. But you know him better than I do.”

The press of his eyes on her made her insides squirm. She didn’t like the way he was looking at her. If it had been at any other previous point in her life, she would have loved to see his eyes upon her in such a way. Now, though, Rei could only feel awkward and confused. Her form stiffened as his soft voice caressed at her mind. He said he missed her and thought of her, though she didn’t believe it for a moment. He needed her to handle this issue with Gabriel and thus it required that he win her over once more. For a moment she stayed quiet with a guarded disbelief painted across her face. “I doubt that.” It had taken months upon months to finally allow herself to accept that she would never have his heart. She wasn’t going to let one short visit ruin that which she had to suffer to obtain.

"Of course they will resent him," he said. "Larren already does. He will always blame his father for his mother's death. He will blame him for making his life so unstable." He shrugged. What else could he say or do? Larren was a broken thing already. The look in the boy's eyes was more than enough for the god to know he was going to cause problems later on. "But the important thing is for him to not resent you, Rei. He loves you, you soothe him, and a mother is instrumental in a child's upbringing."

He smiled lightly. "Oh, if only he had your strength but he does not. You can not fault him for that. I know that I do not. He is one of the least free willed faithful of mine but he needs that dependence. He knows that I love him and my power loves him. It is all he has right now- I expect him to cling to it." But he should his head again as Rei said she could not do the one thing that might perhaps push Gabriel far enough way to mend himself. Did she enjoy watching the priest crumble into pieces? Long for the sight of the otherworld as he wanted to see Auumn once more? He was beginning to think so.

"Sometimes, my love, a lie is more comforting and more needed than the truth." Oh he knew that more than any other. He should have shut his own mouth to her those months ago and let her form her fantasies. He might have been here with her tonight. "Your vast differences with each other are all moral differences. I mean, in my opinion, I think he would make a very appropriate mate for you. He would be pleasing and loyal to you but I know that you care for him very little." He held up his hand. "That much is true. You have been spending far too much trying to justify using him but it happens, Rei. We want and we need and when it becomes too unbearable..." His dark eyes lingered over her, tracing the form of her body, a body he had once possessed. "We slip."

Once more, his face contorted in a look of bewilderment, wondering why she had to lay voice to what he wished to keep quiet. It became more real when she spoke and he swallowed hard, his thirst rising almost as if he had not left a trail of bodies in his wake tonight. It always did when it felt even the slightest need. I know that you do, my darling. But it did not change the fact that he needed her, not simply for the sake of Gabriel but simply because it had grown so deep that he had taken the steps here before he had even decided what he would say or do. He was the reason for her distrust not only of him but of Gabriel.

"You don't believe a word I say... you think that I can formulate lies with my feelings," he said. "But I think you know by now that if I am going to try to deceive you, I choose to show nothing at all. It's easier. At this moment, I wouldn't see the point of spending so much energy to lie to you when it would accomplish me nothing." He couldn't hold back to the need to touch her, the way he had so long ago, especially when he knew in the depths of his mind that. had Skylania not been in his heart, he knew that Rei would have found herself there and accomplished what few women had. Hell, just by the fact that he stood before her now, needing and wanting as he had not felt for such a long time. And it was ironic, was it not? That if he had not been trying to lie to himself so, he would have never lied to her.

He cradled her face once more in his hands, such an innocent touch but the warmth that permeated his cold skin was intoxicating. "You are right, however. I did lie to you." He let the corner of his lips tug up in a light smile. "But not, I believe, in the way you think. I tried to convince myself that whatever I felt about you was due to my wolf's more dominant nature in my being. You must understand that I have never had him so strong in myself since I was but a boy, Rei, and it has been centuries since I have even bedded another so close to my own kind." He shook his head slowly. "So then why do I think of you so often when I lay my head down to rest? Why do you come to my thoughts at the most... unrelated times of the night?"

He pressed his forehead to hers wishing that for just a moment she would touch and look at him how she used to. What we had was so intoxicating that I cannot forget it no matter how hard I try.

Rei could never see Larren becoming resentful of her. Certainly the boy had his nightmares and thoughts that plagued his mind, but he was already so attached to her. Larren clung to her when she sat in his bed to read him a story at night. He wouldn’t fall asleep if he didn’t have physical contact with her. When he woke up screaming from night terrors, the only thing that would calm him was feeling her scoop him up against his chest and shush him until his crying stopped. It wasn’t a point she cared to argue though. She had learned from experience that arguing with Dimitre was very pointless.

“It’s not healthy for him to cling to that so much. It will make him nothing without it.” The Avatar knew Dimitre would disagree but for the time being, it seemed they could disagree without bursting into argument. It had been a rare occurrence as of late. It was nice, though Rei wasn’t sure how long this would last. “Very well, if it will help him move past everything, then I will tell him whatever you wish.” She sighed, wishing there was another option, but it seemed anything else would just make Gabriel cling tighter to the fragile thread that he was dangling from.

He seemed confused that she denied his confession that he had missed her. It was easy for her to. He had been gone so long- and by choice. Why would he have such a sudden change of heart? He whispered into her mind again, and she had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. “I don’t have any reason to believe otherwise.” Shaking her head, she could only think to herself of what a fool she had been to believe that at any time before. He was either simply lonely again or needed something from her. There was no other reason for him to be saying these things to her.

He said he wasn’t lying to her but how would she ever believe him or ever trust him? His hand came to cradle her face delicately in his hand once more. It made her uncomfortable to feel him caressing her in such a way. In the past, Rei would have given anything to have him touching her like this. Now, she was a turmoil of emotions and didn’t know what to think. “How do I know you truly think those things?” The truth was she didn’t and never would.

Rei could not forget many things. She could not forget how it felt to hear that Skylania was carrying his child. She could not forget how it felt to watch a woman have and receive everything from him that she wanted when all she could get from him was his body. How much she wanted to burst into tears right now. The day had not been an easy one. Like anyone experienced with the traumatic loss of a loved one, she had days where the memories caused her intense pain. She took a sharp and deep inhale of breath.

“Dimitre, I loved you. But I had to watch someone else have everything from you that I could only make hollow wishes for. I can’t do that anymore. I wanted to be your wife and I wanted to carry your son.” Rei had to stop and breath again, feeling the shakiness rise within her. She could feel her hands quivering. “I can’t watch that anymore, please.” It sounded almost a plea that her mind would forget him and forget the pain and loss she felt when she thought of him.

He smiled lightly, sadly. "You know how I could show you, Rei, and you know that Blood does not lie, has never been able to lie." But he saw in her the needs that thousands of women before her had. She wanted to be his wife, mother his children when both were mortal formalities that he could have done without. His son was a child that, perhaps, should have never existed and his marriage was a truce and promise for Skylania, his final apology for turning her away when she had needed him.

Oh, it wasn't that he didn't love Skylania, he always had and always would, but his motives were hardly romantic in essence. Marriage was a binding and a contract. Intimacy and companionship were love. Understanding was love.

"Rei, I should have explained more when we had that confrontation," he said. He felt how shaky she was and his hands took hers, entwining their fingers and grounding her, if but for a moment. "Skylania is my companion and I am her reason for living, Rei, and I wronged her in ways you cannot imagine years ago. I have tried to make it up to her through what I have given her." He quieted a moment. "But I do not believe in marriage, Rei, and I have never felt a real need to father children. That is why I said I would never marry you or father a child with you. Because I am not a good husband and I am not a good father." Of course, she would say he could change, make himself better but he knew by now that his soul was far beyond saving. It had been for many centuries.

He pressed his lips to her forehead, kissing her gently. "And with three children to raise and all the little nuances of life, do you really think that this time and place would be appropriate for such?" She was young and he doubted she had thought on that. Was Kiba going to have her birth him sons and daughters while she had young children to deal with? Dimtire did not see that as particularly responsible.

"In another time and place, Rei, it would be you there next to me. You are intelligent and you are accepting. You are beautiful and we please one another," he whispered against her skin. He longed to taste her, feel her and know her as he did some time ago. If he was still in her bed, they would have none of the problems that currently were cropping up. Gabriel would have never been with her... and now, Gabriel would back off if he realized that Rei did love Dimitre and wanted him. "There is nothing other than that. I have mentored you and I have helped you contain the gifts that I could not control when I came into my moments of weakness. I am sorry for that. I grew scared of what was happening."

He didn't know what he wanted from her. But in all his years, he had never had a woman like her in his presence he couldn't say no to.

"And is Kiba going to make you forget?" He asked, not liking to bring the wolf up. He saw how she agonized over what she wanted with him and, in her mind, it couldn't be fair to Kiba to ask him to deal with her need for her former lover. "Love is not so easily ignited... nor extinguished, my darling. If it is, then it is not love."

He could show her by taking her blood- she knew that. Rei wasn’t sure that she wanted him to do it. After all, if what he said was true- and it was a big if- then it would make it even harder for her to walk away. Furthermore, him taking the blood from her was far more intimate than any show of affection he had shown this night. She didn’t want him to feel that intimacy with her again if he was just lying to her. He didn’t deserve it if he was. Frowning, she was silent for long moments to ponder what she truly wanted. Did she want to know or would she rather keep thinking he was lying. “Then show me and take my blood.”

Dimitre said he should have explained and he was right, he should have. He should have explained that very day what he meant by his words that had stabbed at her like knives. He didn’t and it had caused so much strife between the two. Rei felt her hands and arms twitch when his chilling and strong hands grabbed hers and intertwined their fingers. “I know you don’t believe in marriage or have any desire for children, but I want those things and I wanted them from you.”

His lips came near her, and Rei was relieved that they came to rest on her forehead and not her lips. “Right now, no. But I am going to be alive for a very long time.” The God insisted that if it wasn’t for Skylania he would have taken Rei as his mate. It was meant to help settle things, though all it did was turn a knot in her stomach. She couldn’t be second. It wasn’t fair for her to do that to herself and allow herself to simply be his sideline for whenever he had time.

“I can’t be a side woman, Dimitre. I can’t wait for few night visits and sleep in an empty bed at night, grasping for what little of your heart I can get.” It wasn’t fair to expect her to do that. Her head dropped and her silvery white hair fell in a sweeping curtain around her face. It was hard for her to do this. He was the first man she had ever felt that fire for and he would always hold a place in her heart. “No, I will always remember you. But Kiba will put me first and give me the things that are so very important to me. You can’t give me that, Dimitre. You know you can’t.”

Rei could feel the tears brimming at her eyes. Why had this realization not come to him earlier if it was indeed true? Dimitre had been in her heart for so long, but she couldn’t let herself stand there and watch someone else have the things she loved while she denied herself those things. “I can’t watch and hear of your son and wish he was mine. I can’t watch Skylania be with you and hold your heart and wish that I was her.”

He shook his head, saddened by her response. "You can't always get what you want, Rei. If Skylania and Aiden were not even in the picture, you would be forcing such things on me and that wouldn't be fair to me. It doesn't seem like you care how I feel though. It has always been about what you want and what you need and not what I am comfortable with. Don't deny it because for the entire time you and I spent nights together, it has always been me hurting you." his brows came together and he remembered that last visit here and how she had abused her divine power over him and made his wolf rise, forcing him into the need to mate with her.

"If you believed in that you could wait for a child and marriage and everything that you believe you have always wanted, my love, then you would not have so easily accepted Kiba into your bed." He did not begrudge her for that. Skylania, once she had realized it was within Dimitre's power, had wanted those very things and as soon as he could offer them. His voice remained soft and though there was more he wanted to say, he finally slid his arms around her, pulling her close.

Her warmth was intoxicating to him now just as Skylania's was. Mortal warmth against his cold, rather mineral like skin was a pleasure he would never have enough of. His face leaned down and he kissed the pulse in her throat, tasting her skin, feeling the beat against his tongue. But it came and the thirst rose like a tempest, his lips curling back and his fangs pressing into her skin. He gripped her tight, letting her known she would not fall.

Two figures lay in their marriage bed and it was dark, the curtains of a balcony drifting along the wind that came in. Even in the winter, the balcony was open, giving Dimitre a view of the outdoor sky. The woman next to him slept soundly. But he could not slept. There was no biological imperative to sleep. In the night, when Skylania slept, he remembered when he would visit Rei. He missed her, needed her and wanted her. Most of all the desire to see her was more overpowering than even the need to dominate her.

But the image faded and the Blood became a swirling truth of unbidden thoughts and images from the first time they had lain together. Dimitre had never just bedded her- he had made love to her. In the nights where she had fallen asleep in his arms, he had been able to picture her beside him if things were different. She was a queenly woman, much like how his own mother had been, filled with passion and drive for those she loved. There was selfishness but only because she knew what she wanted.

And still, it would have been so selfish and brutish of him to abandon Skylania. It did not matter how much he felt for Rei. He had promised Skylania first.

His fangs left her neck and he kissed the wound affectionately, his tongue running over the small ruptures until they closed. He was closed, hot and alive from her blood. His pupils were small, his chest heaving as her hot, powerful blood ran through his veins. And he kissed her, pressing his lips to her, the metallic tang of her blood still there.

The only time I ever lied to you was saying I felt nothing for you, Rei.

There seemed to be a spark of anger, a hint of resentment in his voice at his first response. It had always been about her? Not really. If it ever had been, it was simply because she had been tired of being everyone’s doormat. It grew tiresome giving everyone everything they wanted or needed and getting nothing in return. “And you would have been forcing me to give up things I have always wanted.” She sighed. Dimitre always acted as if she was selfish when in truth, she was certainly the least selfish of the pair. It was obvious he didn’t view it that way, though.

She could wait? Wait for what? Rei knew that Dimitre would never leave his wife. Furthermore, she was a vampire. It would be long before she perished if she ever did. “Wait for you to never leave her? Wait for her to never leave this world? I would spend an eternity waiting for something that would never come.” It wasn’t overdramatized because it was the simple truth. It would have never come no matter how long she had patiently and loyally waited for him to finally be completely hers.

But silence overtook as his arms came to wrap around her, pulling her body to his. She felt the chill of his skin that nearly felt alien now. It had been so long since she had felt it. His lips first caressed the vein before she felt the sharpness of his fangs sink in. A half startled and pained gasp came as the blood flowed effortlessly from the wound into his mouth. What Rei saw was memories of the God lying in his chamber, sleepless with his mind roaring. He thought of her those nights. The images shifted to memories of their nights together. He looked down at her sleeping form and she could hear his thoughts. He wasn’t lying.

As his memories passed, her own came to share with him. They were simply of nights where she found herself feeling the most hollow. In various memories, Rei could be seen curled up and weeping with whole bottles of wine lying empty on the table near her. It was then that the Avatar reacted physically, her palms coming to push at his chest, begging him to stop the flow of memories. She didn’t want him to see those things. When his fangs left her, she took in a deep breath of comfort. She could feel the wounds closing.

Though Rei soon found herself still in his arms, feeling his lips stained with her blood coming to press against hers. His voice whispered into her mind. For a moment, she didn’t know what to do in this situation. It was soon answered for her as the combination of the press of his arms and the closeness of his power and his blood sent a jolt of pain down her back. A severely pained gasp came from her, followed by her turning her head from him. Many thoughts ran through her head. Why couldn’t it have ever just been her? And Kiba, she loved him and she would always be his cherished mate that he held first over all others. “Dimitre, what do you want from me? You can’t ask me to wait for something you will never give me.”

What did he want from her? He wasn't sure. His own selfish urges were taking precedent at this period of time and he was paying for mistakes he had made when control had not been his. And still, as he looked at her, he remembered their last meeting and what she had done to him. She still claimed to be hurt but he had never taken advantage of her, Rei should be the one uneasy and ashamed. Dimitre should have said good riddance to her and let Kiba take the girl.

"I was unaware that you were able to see the future, my love," he finally said, unable to keep the sarcasm from his voice. "I will keep that in mind else I require your services to know the outcome of every venture I take." He knew that eventually, things would catch up with him and Skylania would be taken from him. The shadows themselves sometimes spoke that he would get what he deserved and his little bubble of a world would burst. Skylania herself was sure that death lay behind every corner for her and though he comforted her, knew that it was not impossible. Unfortunately, he saw that if Skylania ever did perish, he was not sure even if he could ever give himself to Rei. Skylania was his vampiric companion.

Her jolt from him confused him for a moment until he remembered the long scar he had left down her back. Truly, he saw little alarm for such a thing. Rei had to know what a fool she had been to raise her magic against him that day. It had never been personal but he could not let some weak woman attack him and be able to leave without repercussions. Surely Calyna or Kiba had rushed to her side to "save" her.

"I just wanted to speak to you. But I guess I will leave you to your life, Rei," he said, turning in a flourish. His robes swept around him and he started to walk away until he raised a hand, turning for a moment. "I nearly forgot, my darling. You know I entrusted you with the care of those children while I was your lover and I trusted you then... for through the blood you would never be able to lie and betray me with them. That is no longer a reality, I see. You have taken that option from me to prove your honesty and keep you in my trust." He thought a moment. "After all, you did betray me with another man. I do not doubt that you may, somewhere, wish to usurp me with those children or at least he will." He thought of them, little Larren locked in his dark mind in sleep, Rowan in her dream of dreams and lastly, Aunrae. He could hear their heartbeats as a murmur in his consciousness.

Dimitre held up a hand. "You made your opinion of myself, my faith and my chosen very clear, Rei, and for that I cannot trust you again. You will try to make them 'good' people and so will that mangy wolf you let inside of you. Do not deny it, Rei, because if you truly love them, you won't want them to end up like Gabriel... as you have a rather lowly opinion of my greatest servant." He thought for a moment, his eyes chilling, his body rigid as he thought as what he would do with this situation. He needed more than a single visit to work at her. He knew that.

"I tell you that Kiba is not welcome around them. He has a dislike for me and I cannot trust him. He has already taken my lover from me and I will not allow him to take even more valuable assets from my faith. If he hurts them or even comes near to them, I will know and I will hunt him like the dog he is and destroy him. I care for your happiness, Rei, but he is not where it lies. Do not abandon the family that I have given you because you feel he may be paradise. For now, I will forgive your betrayals towards me."

He smiled, cruelly.

"Do not think that I will do so for further transgressions."