The Vampire's Last Omega

Meeting: Part 1

They pulled apart with heavy breaths.

"Breathe," Kieran told him.

Teru realized the one rasping away was him. He had totally forgotten to breathe during their kiss!

Kieran reached behind him and yanked hard on the door handle. Freeing it from its jammed state made a loud POP noise.

When they waited for the elevator to reach their floor, Teru asked, "What was that for?"

"That?"

"The kiss. The pheromones."

The elevator PINGED, signifying it arrived. The two went in.

"I needed to set a reminder."

A reminder of what?

The doors closed, moving them up the skyscraper.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Teru shuffled closer to Kieran, needing comfort. He had vivid memories of this hallway, where he ended up after running away from Tristan and bumped into Blaise instead. The gruesome sculptures of wolves eating humans or fighting each other to the death were chilling. The paintings were no better, which showed more gory scenes after another. Since he was so full of adrenaline last time, he barely noticed them before.

They passed the familiar canvases with the seven symbols: snake, vulture, cuckoo bird, fox, bear, dog, and a lion. Teru paused in front of the last black-outlined animal. It was a roaring big cat, ferocious yet majestic.

Kieran noticed he had stopped and saw him looking at the lion portrait.

"Is this the same tattoo you had before...," Before Van Helsing permanently burned it off, is what Teru wanted to ask.

"It is. The hunters spent years scraping, cutting, and burning it off, but nothing worked because the symbol always returned hours later. One of them entered my prison late at night, mad in their drunken stupor, and stabbed my lion repeatedly with a red-hot silver knife. At that point, I was so tired. I gave up. I hoped he would be the one to kill me so the pain would finally stop. My tattoo never reappeared again. Do you know what they did next? They held a celebration for the hunter. It wasn't long after that when I finally escaped and-" he didn't finish because Teru grabbed his hand, upset with his words. Learning more and more about Kieran's past helped him realize some humans were the same, if not worse, than vampires.

For Teru, he didn't think he could torture a vampire; just kill them quickly through the heart.

They stared at the lion picture, not needing to say anything between them to understand how the other was feeling. They've both been through hell and back that most couldn't relate to.

Kieran guided him down another hallway. "We're almost there."

They stopped in front of arched, wooden double doors with a stone frame around them. The style was rustic compared to its cold, modern surroundings. Before the guards opened the doors, Kieran let go of his hand.

"Walk behind me."

The loud hinges creaked, making it known to those inside that guests had arrived. A drafty wind reeking of dominant pheromones blew through his hair. His nostrils flared, analyzing the scents. There were a lot of dangerous pheromones! A low whimper escaped his throat, not meaning to do it. The alpha guards were surprised because they weren't used to hearing an omega tone.

Kieran whispered, "We should go back."

"N-no. I'm fine. This is fine."

The prince slowly entered. Teru stayed so close to Kieran's backside that he scuffed his heels a few times. He wasn't sure what to expect inside. A dreary cavern? A cave? A dark hall with fire torches? The throne room was none of those.