50 - Taste of Death

Fraser

We aren't going slowly through the forest when the suspicious smell hits me like a wall, stunting my motion with its scent. An overwhelming urgency comes along with it, and I freeze momentarily while the realization of what it is slides over me.

The scent of smoke spurs me through the woods, burning my nose and overwhelming my senses; I start moving again with a renewed urgency.

I can feel it in my blood and bones, boiling over. It has to be more than intuition driving me forward now. Something is wrong, deeply wrong.

I move faster than I ever had thought possible. Trees blur, the pink sky looming with the last light of the day.

The pulsing of something way too wrong won't leave me, even as I get closer and closer.

When I burst into the clearing, the stench of burning flames is so concentrated that I immediately know what's going on here. I feel it in my gut like a punch, rushing my breath out of me.

Spotting the stakes surrounded by a crowd of bloodthirsty people, my theory is confirmed.

They're trying to burn my mate.

A roar, a war cry, escapes me at the mere idea, the mere possibility of setting flame to the love of my life. I rush forward to seek my revenge. To seek my life. To save my mate. My Ailsa.

Practically flying, my feet way up the distance as I burst into the crowd of pathetic bystanders. I feel Alec at my flank, angry and ready to tear into these people. He's not as furious as I am, but I'm glad he's thirsty for vengeance, out for blood.

Screams erupt, people trying to flee death even as they waited eagerly for it. Smoke billows as it floats on the breeze. I slice through the horde that is the merciless Sinclair clan. Animals, all of them, standing by as an innocent girl is sentenced to death. And they watch on in glee

A handful of guards rush us. Delicate, human guards that go down easily enough. Blood sprays my face, and a body goes flying past me. I look swiftly over my shoulder to see Nairn and my brother.

I lick my lips, savoring the taste of death.

"Leave the Laird, he's mine to kill."

With that simple instruction, I leap towards the stakes, eyes flicking back and forth between the two. A large woman is also being burned, but I ignore her even as I pass her. She's right by my side when her wide, terrified eyes meet mine. I jump away from her and to my goal.

"Save her." She says to me in passing.

I intend to.

Ailsa's eyes are closed, her head lulling to the side. Flames roar under us, threatening to take us into their heat entirely.

"Mo cuishle." I insist, shaking her slightly. Ailsa's pulse is weak and uneven under her thin skin.

Flames sizzle, I ignore their heat and focus on her. She's unresponsive.

My heart squeezes painfully in my chest. I use my hand to rip the rope away, it snips into ribbons, falling away as her soft body slumps against me. Licked in sweat, her dress clings to her slight frame.

Once I am sure she's secured in my arms, I'm dragging her away from the rumbling fire pit that she was tied to.

I have to shove the anger away that's growing inside of me. I need to focus on her and only her.

My teeth grind together. The screams are still echoing, the clan turned into a scattered chaos. I find a soft patch of grass to lay my mate down on, begging gentle with her head as I pant over her, assessing her state with careful fingers.

Her lungs aren't working correctly, likely due to the smoke and her condition. I tune my ears to everything going on in her delicate body. Ailsa's heart stutters and heaves, trying to work with the little air it's receiving.

Fury rumbles to the surface again when I see her lower half.

The bottom of her dress is black, charred completely. I can hardly stomach to look at her feet and lower legs. There will be scars, no matter what, she will have reminders for life of this horrid event.

After catching a simple glimpse of that wooden pole they tied her to, I know that mercy won't be an option after I'm through fixing her. She was helpless to get away, and they were going to watch as she burned to death.

Her family and clan will pay, one by one.

It's not lost on me that she's dying in my arms for the second time, but this time I can do something about it. My strength has been renewed, and I can do this for her. I can bring her back from the brink.

I hurriedly push her hair from her face, exposing her dirt flecked cheek and her pale neck. I clutch at her, speaking to comfort her and myself.

"I can save you." I murmur fiercely, leaning down to her and brushing my knuckles against her velvet clad body. I take a deep breath of her through my nose, closing my eyes as I face an internal war.

"Change her." I don't look up at Gavin's instruction, feeling his presence behind me as the hills grow silent around us. "You don't have much time."

I know this, but the only thing that holds me back is taking away her choice, and it kills me to have to decide for her.

Can I really tie her to this life without her knowing the whole weight of it? Can I take away her choice simply because I'll go insane if she were to die? What if she wakes up, born to her second life, her immortal life, and she hates me for doing something so heinous?

Without thinking too much about those questions, I force myself to face the way I felt for the few horrific moments when I thought she was dead.

Her heart stutters and stops before thumping a few more times, and I know those precious beats are limited and I'm running out of time. In my panic, I pull my sleeves up, my whole body shaking with raw emotion.

She's not here to make the choice, but I can't lose her again. She loves me, I can only hope she would say yes were I too ask her.

I sink my teeth into my inner wrist, beginning forth a flood of crimson blood and bringing it to Ailsa's lips.

"Drink, my wee Ailsa, drink." I growl, trembling as I hold her head up, tilting my body to hers to allow the life blood to slide down her throat.

For a moment, she stays still, and then her mouth opens further of its own accord, latching onto me.

Her sweet, blonde brows scrunch in unconscious concentration.

My body relaxes momentarily, turning languide at the idea that the time has finally come where I will have my mate made immortal.

She will be by my side always, and her mortality will no longer be something to fear.

The ease is short lived as shuffling arrives around us. I flick my eyes up to see my small group of males watching me fervently. I clutch my precious bundle of warm, battered mate to my chest, wanting to shield her from them.

Alec holds tightly to Laird Sinclair, Ailsa's father is furious as he tries to break free.

"Stop! You are making her into a demon. I won't allow it! Release my daughter." I glare at him, sliding my head to the right when movement catches my attention once more.

The big woman from earlier steps forward, looking crestfallen as she watches us. Someone cut her free before the flames had her.

"What are you doing?" She begs, tears sliding down her face.

"He's saving her." Nairn murmurs, and I look back down to Ailsa, always drawn to her. "But she won't be the same after."

Already the color is coming back into her, cuts healing and dark bruises disappearing.

She won't be the same, and for better or worse I'm not sure. Will immortalizing her take away her sweetness? Her sweet innocence and light that I adore?

"That's it, lass, that's it. Drink." I pet her hair and hold her tighter in my lap, ignoring the eyes on me.

"I've never seen him so damn gentle. It's sickening."

"It's a nice change of pace. Maybe he'll go easier on us now."

"All except you, Alec, you're screwed."

I tune out their conversation, knowing the scoundrels are only trying to lighten the mood with I'll timed banter. I find I'm not enjoying it as my concentration is glued to the workings of Ailsa's throat as she swallows each ounce of offered blood from my vein.

"I am her father, you leave her be!" Ailsa's father curses me until someone silences him with a snap.

"You were never her father." She says it softly, that large woman that almost met a fiery fate, arms folded across her chest.

I silently agree as I finally pull away my arm. I'm a slight bit woozy from the loss of so much blood, but it's nothing I can't handle. I right myself on my knees, watching my human fervently.

She won't be human for much longer. The change is swift.

So much is about to change now. The world shifted when I met Ailsa, and nothing has been the same. Her presence warrants change, demands it.

For so long I despised change, avoided it at all costs. I knew finding a mate would shift my life. I dreaded it in many ways. But now, being faced with this vision of what life could be like with Ailsa in it, I'm giddy at what my future holds.

"I'm so sorry, lass. I'm sorry I couldn't be a better mate." I tell her in a low voice, kissing her brow reversely before slowly releasing her and lifting my eyes to the males congregating around us.

"I have a promise to keep, or don't you remember, Laird Sinclair?"