Chapter Two
Max
Iheld him in my arms, feeling the trembling that had a different cause then before. When I’d first felt him close like this, it had been after a brutal bout of coughing. Now, he was literally shaken to his core by what he’d become.
I glanced over at Ben, who gave me a quick thumbs up.
He did look a tiny bit spooked which wasn’t something I saw in my brother often.
It was scary how much effort we’d had to put in to get Luca to stop drinking from him, and while it would’ve taken a lot more to be dangerous for Ben, I was pretty sure he was woozy and hiding it.
Besides, very few things were dangerous to wolves. Vampires could be one of those things.
After waiting for a minute or so, I moved to make myself comfortable. Luca whined and crawled up with me, never letting go of my T-shirt. It was awkward and endearing and just… everything. My chest felt tight.
It was so damn strange being in this situation, still. I’d had a weird, parasocial relationship with this man for years. His music had kept me alive when everything else was going to shit. I’d loved Luca for a long time for that.
Except the newly turned vampire clinging onto me wasn’t Luca, the songwriter and lead singer of Kaiju. No, this was Luca, the broken soul that had chosen to live, even if it came with a cost.
“It’s okay,” I murmured against his shorn hair. “We’ve got you.”
I smiled at Rian over Luca’s head and saw the emotions swirling in his eyes. Rian was a marvel. Someone older than I could comprehend, and definitely wealthier, too. He was almost completely selfless and would give up his money in a heartbeat if it helped someone.
He’d done that for me and my brother before he’d ever met us, just because his best friend, our cousin and Alpha, Brodie, had told him about us.
To be sent into rehab that specialized in treating wolves and vampires was a gift in itself.
There were rehab centers around the country that did their best, but addiction wasn’t the same for non-humans.
Besides, it wasn’t necessarily safe to have humans and non-humans in the same facility anyway, as much as many places tried to downplay that.
It had helped immensely that neither my nor Ben’s addiction had been severe.
We’d been careful with the amounts we’d used unlike our dad and his betas who practically bathed in whatever they could get their hands on and then later what they cooked themselves.
It took a lot for a wolf to get truly addicted with our metabolism, and something had held us back.
It had still been something we needed to deal with to start over, and with Rian’s gracious assistance that was what we’d done.
Luca started to calm down a little with both Rian and me petting him and murmuring things at him. Eventually, Luca took a deep breath, then let it out. Then he chuckled. It turned into a laugh. He pulled away from me to flop on his back between us as he chortled like he’d lost his mind.
Rian seemed less puzzled than I was. “Now that you can, breathe.”
That only set Luca off more. I watched as tears rolled from his eyes, his body twitching with the all-encompassing glee he was feeling.
I smiled and shook my head. I’d had my own brushes with death, but as a wolf I couldn’t understand living with a disease like cancer for as long as he had, just to know he was going to die in the end.
After a minute or two, Luca’s giggles died down into an occasional hiccup. Ben handed a tissue box over me and Luca took a couple, smiling at him gratefully.
“Thank you,” he said, his voice somehow more melodic than before. He seemed to realize that himself, because his eyes widened, and he clearly mulled it over as he blew his nose and mopped his face.
Ben put the box on the bedside table and then got on the bed, sitting by our feet.
He wrapped his fingers around my ankle in silent support.
It was how we were; endlessly there for each other, because for most of our life we’d only had each other to count on.
We were closer than most brothers, wolves or not, and some people didn’t like that.
Our pack simply loved us just as we were.
Luca looked at Ben. “You okay? I didn’t take too much, right?” His voice got a bit panicked at the end.
Ben immediately smiled at him and grabbed his ankle, too, connecting our little circuit. “No. I’m all good.”
“Okay, okay… good.” As if the thought of him drinking from Ben had reminded him of the hunger, he swallowed hard and looked at us all in turn. “I… how should I be feeling right now, I mean—” His eyes widened and he frowned, then licked his lips as his fangs dropped, summoned by his thoughts.
It promptly led into him poking his tongue against the sharp tip of his fang. He hissed, adorably confused and annoyed at the same time.
“Watch the fangs,” Rian murmured, sounding amused.
Luca brought a finger up and touched his own sharp canine teeth one by one. “This is so trippy….”
“It was trippier to have them in my neck,” Ben deadpanned.
Luca grinned and promptly pierced his fingertip with his fang.
“Okay, enough of that,” I scolded them and pulled Luca’s hand away from his mouth.
Rian chuckled. “Are you guys okay here if I go to the kitchen and order in some more food for the boys?”
We’d had dinner with Holden earlier, but we’d all feel better if there was more for after Luca had his fill of blood for tonight. Since Holden lived at the pack house with the rest of us most of the time, there was very little food in the kitchen here.
“I think we’re good.” Luca raised a brow at us. “Right?”
Ben smiled. “You tell us.”
To his credit, Luca closed his eyes and thought about it for a moment. “I mean you’re a vampire. You’ll be here in three seconds flat if needed.”
“That’s true.” Rian rolled off the bed. “Any preferences?”
“Comfort food,” I said, knowing that I would also let Luca take a sip soon enough. The food needed to be something that was heavy on carbs and protein.
“Comfort food it is.” He smiled as he left the room, leaving the door wide open.
Ben crawled to his spot so that we had wolfy Luca-sandwich going on.
Luca turned onto his back and began to really look at things.
“Are things different?” Ben asked as he realized what Luca was doing.
Humming thoughtfully, Luca considered for a moment.
“Yeah. Colors are a bit more vibrant. Everything is sharper, too. I guess my eyesight wasn’t perfect as a human.
” Then he took a deep breath and let it out, as if he couldn’t get enough of being able to do that.
“Scents are different, too. I know this is a wolf’s bed.
I know it’s Holden. I know Rian has slept here, too. ”
Ben and I nodded. Seemed right.
“How do we smell to you?” I asked, wondering if that was different now, too.
“Like the woods. Like something piney and maybe earthy?” He looked at me, inhaling again, this time clearly taking in the scent. “Familiar and safe,” he whispered, then he swallowed hard before wincing. “Also pretty tasty.”
I laughed. “Okay.”
“Try to hold off for a while,” Rian called from the kitchen. “You’ll need more blood tonight, but learn how the hunger feels, okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, Papa Rian,” Luca snarked.
“I’m too young to have children!”
We cracked up, and it felt good as hell being able to do that without having to fear for Luca’s life. He’d had so much trouble breathing just yesterday, that making him laugh had felt like a hazard every time.
Ben and I had dinner with a bunch of water. Technically, if it came to that, Ben could already donate again if needed. Wolves replenished fast, with the faster healing factor and all.
Around four hours after the turning, Luca’s movements became a little jerky.
Something about it reminded me of our dad and his betas when they’d been jonesing for a hit.
I liked to think Ben and I had never gotten that bad, but I also didn’t feel like examining that part of my memories too carefully.
“Okay, I think it’s time,” Rian stated and got off the couch to intercept Luca where he was pacing between windows. “You’re not fascinated by the outdoors.”
Luca’s gaze snapped to Rian’s and he looked confused. “What? I’m kind of amazed by how much better I can see colors in the dark now.”
“You’re hungry,” Rian stated, lifting a hand to stroke his fingers over where Luca had pierced his bottom lip again.
“Oh.” Luca seemed to take stock of how he felt, and then his head whipped toward where I was sitting on Holden’s couch. Ben had curled into an armchair with one of Holden’s books, and now observed the situation.
Rian looked at me. “Do you mind if we do this a bit differently with you? I feel like it would be good for him to try drinking from the wrist, too.”
I cleared my throat and sat up a bit. “Uh, yeah. Sure.” Some part of me was disappointed that I wouldn’t get to feel Luca’s lips on my neck, but I squashed it down.
Ben moved to sit on my other side, his book abandoned on the chair. Rian rounded the couch to stand behind me. Luca approached us hesitantly.
His gaze flicked to my eyes and away, and he looked surprisingly conflicted.
“What is it?” I asked quietly, none of us needed me to be loud.
“I just… I don’t want to hurt you accidentally.”
I held out a hand, which was kind of funny given where he’d bite me, and smiled. “We won’t let you.”
He took in a deep breath and then grabbed my hand, joining me on the couch.
Ben wrapped his fingers around my left forearm and squeezed in support. On my other side, Luca was listening to Rian’s advice for finding the right spot to bite through.
“Does it matter which side it is?” Luca asked, stroking the delicate skin of my wrist almost absently as he looked at Rian.
The cool fingers sent a little shiver through me, and I could sense my brother’s amusement beside me. I wanted to nudge him to stop it, but we weren’t children or even teenagers, and I didn’t need more attention to be brought to—