Reeve and I set out early the morning after the full moon, heading toward the Diamond Pack. Most of the pack is still in their wolf form, either wandering the woods and coast or huddled somewhere recovering. My ears have finally stopped ringing from the high, uncomfortable pitches of their incessant howls.
Reeve leads us along a rugged delta track while I trail a few steps behind. The northern edge of pack territory is a dense wall of thin trees and sheer rock face. We pause at the pack line and wait for our guard escort. The changing landscape is a fresh reminder of how big Satu's world is and how small we all are. I wonder how deep this pack is hidden within the towering mountains, cloaked by the scent of evergreens and muted by the fading calls of the thrushes.
Within minutes of our arrival, a broad male with dark skin and long hair pulled into a high bun, pushes through thick foliage to greet us. The pack guard bows to Reeve in greeting. "Young Alpha." Then to me. "I am Delta Kassel. We welcome you to the land of the Diamond Pack, and May Satu bless your stay."
"Thank you, Delta. We're grateful for your safe passage."
I want to reach out and squeeze Reeve's arm or hand, acknowledge the kindling of pride at the cool confidence in his voice. Instead, I remain upright and aloof, unsure that Reeve would want to appear so chummy with a vampyre in front of a foreign pack.
Kassel waves for us to follow his lead, crooking his chin over his shoulder to say, "We'll hike until dinner and then set up camp for the night. After the full moon last night and a long trip today, I'm sure you all would welcome some rest."
I defer to Reeve, as is my role in these situations. It thrills me to be acting in this manner as an alpha's warder. I can see it; a future beside him, and the image is tempting, but I'm not confident I could be content living so disconnected from my coven for the rest of my life. Warders choose that life, and it's admirable, but they aren't princes with the same sense of duty to our coven. I've always thought of the coven as partly mine, one to day to be wholly so, and to lose that, to lose all the hopes and prayers I clung to as a child, a vision of what my coven could be if I could just survive my uncle, feels like I'd be letting my younger self down. I owe it to myself and to my coven to be there. And though there is more to the story than me simply defeating Frederick and claiming rule, one day, if I kill him, I will have my time as king.
"Sounds good, Delta." Reeve says, his deep bass snapping me back into the present. He grins at me and winks, more relaxed than I've seen him in weeks.
Kassel smiles, gap-toothed. "I've never met a master warder before," he says to me. "Always hoped I would. It's an honor."
I smirk and puff out my chest, mostly to annoy Reeve. "It is all my pleasure, Delta."
Reeve rolls his eyes as I say, "I'm honored you let us come visit. Reeve here has never ventured this far north. Isn't that right, Young Alpha?"
He cuts me a sharp look like I'm up to no good. "That's right. I've mostly stuck to my pack's lands and some of the communal grounds, like Serpent Valley."
"I've never been to Serpent Valley," Kassel says. "We get our goods ferried in from there, but our alpha gets squirrely about anyone trekking that far. Though, that's mostly because we have so many elders in our pack and they'd have a hard time physically making the trip."
His point is soon made as we traverse extreme inclines until coming upon an open, grass-swept field that rolls toward a nearby mountain. He cocks his head toward me, splaying his hands out over the open land. "You can set your tent up anywhere near here. I'll stay in my wolf form for the night and patrol while you both sleep. And while you're getting situated, I'll start the fire and prepare dinner."
"Thank you, Kassel." Reeve reaches over and unstraps the tent bag from the bottom of my hiking pack.
"Let's set it up there." I point to a spot nearer to the rush of stream water and a better view of the yellow wildflowers and verdant mountain vista, though I suppose the scenery hardly matters when I know I'll spend most of my time looking at him.
After dinner, we lay side by side on top of my opened sleeping bag with the door flap flipped open listening to the faint rustling of the cool wind outside. I stretch on my back and Reeve does the same, though he's restless, rolling his head from one side to the other.
"Is it your shift that's bothering you?"
"No."
"What is it? You haven't stopped fidgeting since we got in here."
The gray of his eyes lights with something I can only describe as trouble. "You haven't had any blood since you've come to our pack, have you?"
"It's fine." I wave it off. "I got some blood when I was in Serpent Valley the other day. I can continue doing that."
"You got blood in the valley? How?"
"Bought a bag of it."
Reeve rolls onto his side and props himself on an elbow, head resting in his large palm. I can see him wrestling with whatever it is he's about to say. "And that satisfied your need?"
I shrug. "Enough. Though, there's nothing that can compare to a live vein," I say, mostly to shock him.
His eyes shrink into piercing slits and his breathing thickens.
Not the response I expected. "What is it?"
His focus drifts from my mouth to my bare chest. "I was wondering if you'd like to drink from me."
My eyes blow wide in surprise and my fangs throb as breaths shudder out of me, and I scramble for an answer, any coherent answer, but words are too hard right now. I want it so badly and dread it just as much. I shouldn't. I really shouldn't.
My very interested cock demands attention as I rub a hand over my face, stalling. "I'm not sure that's a good idea." My throat is dry, too dry to sound very convincing. This is what I've wanted since even before meeting him and now I fear one taste won't be nearly enough.
"Consider it my own offer of peace." He grips my hand and squeezes it.
"No, Reeve, it can't be because you think you owe me something."
"I want it. I want this with you." He pauses and licks his parted lips before adding, "I want to give it to you."
That statement arouses me in ten different ways—new ways, potent ways that I'm not prepared for. I swallow thickly, searching his face and body for any apprehension. I don't find so much as a muscle twitch.
I lick my lips, quickly calculating the potential fallout from this decision. "We can try it, but if it starts hurting you in any way, you tell me to pull off. That's non-negotiable."
"Deal," he says, eyes flaring with entirely too much desire. "Where do you want to take it from?"
Satu, help me. Somewhere neutral. "Your wrist."
My heart pounds a nearly deafening beat in my ears as he lifts his arm to my mouth, inching in with a gleam of discovery in his eyes. I stroke his hand and place a gentle kiss over the vein. Doing this with him feels sacred, like each touch cements our fate, setting us both firmly on an inescapable course.
He sucks in a breath and my fangs elongate, painfully ready—as ready as they've been since the first time I ever saw him. Every part of me is primed for two things: taking in his blood and getting off. The wildness in his eyes tips me over the edge as my fangs sink into soft, warm flesh causing both of us to elicit core-deep groans of pleasure. Finally, is all I can think.
I suck in the richest blood, letting it sit on my tongue before swallowing it. Savoring it. The power in it hammers through me, and I'm vaguely aware of him reaching down to rub his cock.
With each draw from him, Reeve's pupils blow with fervent lust. He yanks his wrist free, but I have to quickly clutch it back to lick closed the wounds.
He straddles me and I drop my hands to his hips to keep him there so that he knows I'm right here with him, wanting this just as much, basking in the warm air on my skin as he releases a caged breath, yet he might as well be setting off a strip of land mines.
Fingertips trace along my throat until his hand rests over my pulse, a light pressure of ownership, and I squeeze my eyes shut because I don't know what else to do. I've fought so hard to not let anyone have control over me, yet I can't deny that I'm recklessly close to offering him my full submission.
He traces the grooves and curves of my body, drawing lines from freckle to freckle. Goosebumps rise in the wake of his touch, and my grip on him tightens as more of his weight settles on me, anchoring me, and I fight the urge to spout off a million sentimental promises.
His nose presses into the curve of my neck, followed by the lave of his tongue on my skin. There's a moan and a thrust of his hips, tongue and mouth working over my jaw and then my lips.
Satu, help me. His touch is everywhere, igniting me to such a degree I imagine this is what it must feel like to be burned alive, but all I can do is lean my head back further, granting better access for the soft glide of his nose and press of his kisses. With a dry, audible swallow, I toss my head to the side, lost to this fantasy come to life.
He rubs back and forth against my skin, marking me, taking me in. "You smell so fucking good."
Our thrusts become harder, a steadier pace as his large hand drifts over my stomach and down my thigh where he squeezes, digging his nails in and leaving red marks on the pale skin. I lift my hips in response, a building rhythm of give and take, chasing the pleasure, allowing all my hesitancies to snap and crumble.
"I want you to bite my neck," he says, urgent, without any beat of fear or consequence.
My eyes spring open and I'm shocked my heart doesn't give out.
"I want you to bite my neck and then I want to taste you," he pants.
Goddess, Reeve.
He exposes his carotid and stretches out so he's lying on top of me, stroking his steel dick against mine with so much need I'm practically choking on it. And I'm gone, bending, wanting to give him everything. And wanting to take just as much.
I tangle my hands in his hair and pull his neck to me, piercing his vein. Our hips grind harder against each other, and I stick two fingers into his mouth, wetting them with his spit.
Grunts and gutteral moans punctuate each desperate slide and deepen as I take the fingers from his mouth and reach in his pants to circle his hole.
His breathing turns to harsh rasps as he pushes back to chase my finger, the pressure, but I keep it out of reach, teasing, not quite penetrating. I want him begging for it, unraveling until I affect even his wolf, no part of him left unshaken.
He drops more of his weight on me, bringing us closer, and I can't touch enough of his body or taste enough of him in my mouth. I want to meld him inside my skin until our vitals fuse, joining us in ways I've never considered with another. But I know that what's between us can't last, so I aim to wreck him while I can.
Pressure builds inside me, a drugging pleasure. We're moving wildly, frantic, rushing toward the climax. His breaths end on a low growl and then he tears back, pulls himself out of his pants and works his thick shaft over me.
Yes, Reeve, own me—the words beat through me. I dig my fingers into his hair as he dips his nose into the crook of my neck, where he sucks in my scent then shoots over my stomach, striping my pale skin with his seed.
Blood trickles down his neck as he puts his mouth to mine, shoving his tongue inside and tasting a lingering hint of himself, his blood, his essence in my mouth. He moans and nips my neck, kissing down to my hardened nipples where he licks and sucks, making me harder than I've ever been in my life.
"Come here, I need to close the wound." I pull him up to me and lick his neck, and as soon as he begins healing, he makes his way back down my body and takes my entire cock into his mouth, pulling my hips up and forcing my length into the back of his throat. He pulls off and sucks on the head, licking at my slit and stroking his hand down while his mouth plays with the swollen tip.
"Reeve," I shout, jerking up with a burst of pleasure.
He sucks me sloppily, beautifully, perfectly, his tongue working me until I explode in his mouth. As I shoot down his throat, he reaches up to where his cum is sprayed across my skin, swipes a finger through it, then presses it past my parted lips.
I open for him, taking him inside me at the same time he takes me inside him.
When he pulls off and swallows, he licks his red, swollen lips and catches his breath while smearing the remaining cum into my skin. "You can get blood from me from now on," he says.
My grin bubbles into quiet laughter and I wipe a smudge of blood from his neck. "Glad you approve. I might need to up my intake if that's the case."
He leans forward, lips pausing over mine. Slowly, he inches forward and kisses me, so lightly as to almost not feel it, testing the difference of intimacy. The pressure remains a delicate brush as he takes my mouth in lazy strokes and languorous pulls with deceptively soft lips and sweeps of his tongue. His hand cups the side of my face, and it's the first time I think anyone has made me feel precious.
With one final press of our lips, he rolls off of me and settles against my side, studying the puncture marks on his wrist and poking at the raw flesh. "I've never felt like that before," he confesses. "I didn't know your bite would feel so good. It's like I was drugged. I thought I was going to have a heart attack; my chest was pounding so hard."
The wonder on his face makes me light and floaty—a tired, satiated tingle spreading from my head downward.
"Same," I say with a contented grin. "You know, we can do that other stuff even when I don't need blood."
The young alpha's body shakes with laughter, eyes crinkling with a new depth of affection. "Not to worry, Daire. I plan on it."
His humor dies as he presses his lips to my shoulder and places his palm on my chest. "Will I see you again after you leave our pack?"
I don't answer right away, but when I do, it's with a tender kiss to the top of his head. It's all I can offer for now, because if he learns the truth of who I am, I'm not sure that he'd still want me.