The maids helped Danika into her dress, a tight strapless black bodice, the skirt floor length layers of black ruffles. She stood in front of the mirror as the two women moved around her, lowly arguing about the lacing at the back. Danika thought it was far too loose and feared falling out and that was the last thing that she wanted, her oversized chest falling out in front of the entire grand council. She knew it was a rare offer for a human to be included in a council meeting.

'Tighter.' Lucian murmured as he entered the room.

'Yes your highness.'

Danika gasped as the straps went tighter and it nearly left her breathless. When the maids finished, she had time to look at herself without them fussing around her. They had done an amazing job with her hair, sweeping it up off her neck, to a messy bun. She turned to Lucian who had his back to her, doing something at the dresser. He turned and dismissed the maids, Danika gaped as she looked at him, he looked better than he ever had. He wore a red double breasted vest over a black long sleeve cotton shirt, his pants black matching the shirt. The vest was tight to his frame, hugging his fine form.

'Twenty-four hours now.'

She caught the look in his eyes, she knew what he meant.

'You are doing it, really?'

'Yes. Cold turkey.' he sighed as he moved closer 'But I know it's not going to be easy. I have very bad demons.'

'Have you removed temptation?'

'Yes, down the drain.'

'I am proud of you.' she grinned, toying with the buttons on his vest. 'You can do it; I know you can.'

'You have such faith in someone you hardly know. I tried yesterday but failed, how do you know I won't fail again?'

'Because I will be here to hold your hand. I will be here to help you.'

'And when you leave, what then? You are here for such a short time.'

'I believe in you Lucian, why can't you? Maybe you need an incentive of some sort. Name something you want.'

Lucian looked at her as he bit his bottom lip, thinking that there was only one thing that he wanted.

'There are many things I could ask this world for, many things I want. But there is nothing I deserve.'

He sighed as he took the box from the dresser and removed the intricate piece of jewellery. Danika watched as he held out a lace choker, beads and stones hanging from the edges of his fingers. Lucian moved behind her and placed it gently around her neck, the black lace tight against her soft skin. Little diamond drops hung down to the bottom of the loops, a chain linked up to every second drop. The very centre drop was reserved for the most beautiful green stone set around a fine gold weave edge.

'Tourmaline.' he murmured as he pressed it into position against the dip in her neck. 'Reminded me of your eyes. Take care with it, it is older than I am.'

Her fingers traced over the jewels feeling their burden already.

'Lucian you should put it back from where it came, it is far too precious for this clumsy person.'

'Nonsense. I only said it so that you understood it wasn't a bit of junk jewellery. I am sure you will be more than careful with it.'

She closed her eyes, feeling the cool of his words on her neck, his fingers followed a path down her neck along her shoulders. Lucian knew what feelings were coursing through her, they were moving through him too. He had never wanted a woman like this, anything prior was a mere play toy and sadly that included Ariella as well. This was a woman that didn't care he was royalty, who liked to push his buttons and was genuinely interested in his world. His hands left her body as he searched his pocket for the earrings. Danika turned to him, her back against the mirror on the wall. She was in need of his attention, she craved his touch. Lucian moved closer and slipped the earrings on, when they were both firmly in place his hand ran along the edge of her jaw.

'You are a good man Lucian, you can beat the demons and win. Your staff would do anything for you, if you just ask for their help. Find an incentive or a goal, find something that will make you want to be a better person.'

His head lowered as his fingers slipped from her jaw, already they missed the softness of her skin.

'I have barely been here a few days and already I can see improvements. Everywhere I look I see things changing. Not just you but your staff, they look happier. They actually have a smile on their faces, when I arrived everyone looked so glum, it was depressing. You are so generous, you could have said happy birthday to Theodore and nothing more but you didn't, did you?'

His eyes rose to hers, a soft smile crept across her face.

'You let us use areas of the house that I know you wouldn't let anyone else in, we use your grandparent's clothes, you've been inundated by a small horde of what I know you used to think was a pest.'

Lucian grinned slightly.

'There is good in here.' she pressed her hand over his heart 'You just need to destroy the demon and let the light win. What do you want? Find that incentive, find something that gives you reason.'

As the grin dropped away he shrugged. Danika's breathing became ragged and desperate. Give him reason her mind whispered.

'You don't think that you deserve an incentive?' she whispered with a dirty grin. 'How about a reward then?'

She grabbed his vest and pulled him to her, their lips barely touching as they stared into each other's eyes. His eyes caught her tongue slick her lips, parting her mouth in anticipation. He could no longer hold himself back and kissed her hard. Her hand found the back of his neck, rustling through his soft black hair. The other hand found its way to his lower back, feeling the muscles move as he pushed her hard into the wall. She pressed his back, urging him to her body as the kiss got deeper, more heated. The passion was broken when the clock sounded, it's chimes indicating that it was seven thirty. As Lucian pulled from the kiss he gently tugged on her bottom lip, a sly smile on his face.

'I like your rewards.'

**********************

They stood in the courtyard, the evening was warm an occasional refreshing wind would flow through. The rock face cracked with green lines and Danika wondered why there was a colour change.

'What's with the green?'

'Oh... uh... it changes from time to time, no reason.'

His hesitation made Danika think there was more than he was letting on. Out walked three men, two rather young, the other looking a little older. They all wore military suits with green sashes over their chests. Then a woman followed with a hoard of children varying in ages.

'I didn't know council meetings were child friendly.' Danika murmured.

'They're not.'

'Don't stress.' the young man grinned. 'They just stopped in for a quick hello and then they are going home.'

The children swarmed around Lucian, trying to climb all over him. Danika tried to count them, estimating that there was at least a dozen of them. The older children stood to the side of their mother, watching quietly.

'I'm Finn, my father Lorccán.' he grinned that cute smile again. 'This is my wife Aaliyah and these little lovely ones are our children.'

She remembered what she was told, curtsy. Even though she was human it was still expected of her. As she did it her eyes were cast to the woman beside Finn, her eyes red. All of them except one adult child had red eyes and they all had tiny slits for pupils, she knew they were not vampires. She wasn't stupid, she could see it clear as day. These people in front of her were another type of being. Finn chuckled, her eyes flicked back to him, he was staring at her with a big cheesy grin.

'She's a smart one Lucian.'

Lucian grinned, trying not to be too obvious but he was only fooling himself. The werewolves before him had the two of them figured out in a second.

'Lucian, is there space for Elijah to remain? He wishes to start his career earlier than expected.'

'Of course.'

Danika looked to the young man beside Finn who was watching her quietly. His eyes were similar to Lucian's with the dark ring around the stunning blue eyes. The pupil was narrowed to a long slit, his mouth curled with the smallest of grins. Lucian tensed up, knowing of wolves and their abilities around pretty young women. He looked at Elijah wanting to tell him to back off but he had to remember his pleasantries. Lucian wasn't about to be relaxed around this werewolf. After all it was his father, that Finn had pursued his mother when she was a young woman. He looked at Elijah who grinned at him the same way his father did, it was the kind of grin that told him he was going to give him hell. Now all Lucian had to do was find a moment to warn her, to ensure he didn't lose her to a wolf like his father had all those years ago. He didn't need that kind of torment in his life.

Finn took his wife's hand and beckoned the children that were causing havoc on and around Lucian to the door. All of them ran around, fighting, pushing and shoving, all except the one that managed to climb his way to Lucian's shoulders. With his hands he pushed off his shoulders and howled and then jumped over his shoulders. Danika gasped, she knew what she was facing. Werewolves. What she thought was a nightmarish fairy tale was right before her. They looked human, they dressed like humans, she thought she could be fooled into believing they were human. Never in her wildest imagination did she think that it was possible to look upon a folklore. Her eyes were cast to Lucian who looked like he had been hit by a gale forced wind. Well, a dozen gale force winds actually. She chuckled as looked at him, he squinted a smirk and readjusted his hair and clothes.

'Naughty wo...' he paused.

'Wolves?' she coyly smiled.

'We value anonymity Danika.' Lorccán looked at her with a stern face.

'How do you know my name?'

'Because we can break into even the best of barriers.' Finn said a little too smug.

'And we can see that you have no intentions to reveal the dark beings, however you must understand that we will take appropriate measures if we think that you may reveal what you know.'

Lorccán was a stern figure, she knew he meant business.

'Danika.' Lucian interrupted her thoughts. 'This is King Lorccán, his son Finn and his son Elijah.'

'And they are werewolves.'

All three looked at each other and then murmured agreement.

'So how many types are there?'

'Four.'

It came out of Lucian's mouth before he knew he had said it. Finn raised his eyebrows at him, it was unlike Lucian to be so loose with information.

'Four huh? So vamps and wolves...'

The door cracked with a gold glow and two men stepped through. Both of them had a certain similarity to Lucian. Danika looked upon the youngest and couldn't believe her eyes. She knew him.

'Eris and Phabel.'

'And by the gold I can assume they are...' her eyebrows went high as she waited.

Lucian huffed.

'Shape shifters.'

'I see, and the fourth?'

'Persistent.' Finn chuckled.

'Witches.'

'Aww cool. Are they going to be here tonight?'

'No, they avoid most forms of contact because of their past and now live in another realm.'

'Their past?'

'Long before the humans tried to destroy the earth, they were discovered. It was around the fourteen hundreds they were first hunted mostly through...' he waved his hand as he tried to think of what the humans called their countries.

'Europe.' Finn interrupted.

'Yes.' Lucian groaned. 'Human names... anyway those that could, fled to the Americas which was a mistake. They should have stayed in Europe; it was much safer by comparison. By the sixteen hundreds they were caught up in the witch hunt, predominately in..'

'Salem, Massachusetts.' Finn interrupted again.

Lucian hummed agreement and frowned with his thoughts.

'The humans told all sorts of lies about them, the literature is filled with false accounts, they've fudged the dates and figures. They claimed death figures but it was far worse than what they told. They near on wiped them out as a species, fearful of the lore rather than learning about them. Those that were smart fled from the Americas, heading north and crossing back into Europe. Once the shifter realm was completed they moved there.'

'So the lore is wrong?'

'They don't do half the things they are accused of. Such as the anti-religious tones of their accusations. Witches are very religious and are quite often found within the local religious groups of whatever community they are in as a way of assimilating into their surroundings. They are one with the elements and the land and most witches will only cast spells in order to aid escape if they are caught.'

By this stage Eris and Phabel had joined the group and were listening to Danika's education on the world of dark beings. Danika looked at Phabel, both of them knew what the other was thinking.

'Danika, this is King Eris and his son Phabel.'

'I know.' she whispered a little shocked.

She had never thought that the man who taught her vampire history was a dark being.

'How do you know?' Lucian frowned.

'She is a former student of mine.' Phabel interjected 'A rather brilliant student who wouldn't heed my words and remain to continue her education. Chose fame instead.'

Danika grinned cheekily at him, to her relief he shook his head and smiled.

'Oh right.' Lucian mumbled.

As the door cracked open again and distracted everyone, Lucian took his moment. He grabbed Phabel, pulling him aside.

'Keep junior occupied.'

'Right-o.' he grinned.

Turning back to Danika he took her by the elbow and pulled her out of the group.

'A word please.'

'Uh, sure.'

Lucian pulled her back into the house, closing the door behind them.

'What's wrong? Did I do something?'

'No, you are fine. This is about certain young wolves.'

His fingers trailed over her bare shoulder and down her arm. Danika grinned and pulled him closer.

'You aren't jealous are you?'

'Me? No.' he scoffed.

'Liar.' she grinned 'You needn't fear anything; he can try all he likes he won't get very far.'

'But that's the thing that you don't understand. They are very powerful creatures Danika; they can lure like no other. My mother is a testament to that fact. Finn had an amazing power over her, he had her captivated and she loved him instantly. She was with my father when she fell under his spell, she said they can do things.' Lucian paled, remembering the awkward conversation he had with his mother about werewolves 'They can create feelings of lust without a single touch. In their minds they can give you unbridled pleasure just by thinking it.'

'You know...' she put her fingers on his lips to shut him up 'All you are doing is making me want to get to know him. Pleasure without touch, what girl wouldn't want that? Imagine what he could do when he does touch.' she grinned at him 'Just shut up and listen to me. Not interested in him. Ok?'

Lucian nodded as her fingers slipped away. Then he kissed her, ensuring Elijah saw it. Ensuring he understood. Lucian would be damned for all eternity if he was going to lose a woman to a werewolf like his father had.