Chapter Nine
Ben
I’d come home to a room that smelled like sex, and two men who looked half mischievous, half embarrassed. It was kind of cute.
Maybe I should’ve felt some type of way about it, but I didn’t. I was happy for them and didn’t have an ounce of jealousy. We’d agreed to let things develop organically, which is what had happened.
Then, the full moon weekend hit the next day, and I had three whole days off work to spend any way I wanted.
On the full moon night, the humans cooked a feast as usual.
“Sure you don’t want to run with us?” Luca was asking Rian when I stepped out of the utility room, shaking out my fur.
“Honey, I adore you, but there’s still snow and slush everywhere, and I’m not about that life.”
Holden kissed Rian’s cheek as he walked past first his man then me on his way to shift. The utility room was nice for shifting, because it was conveniently located and it contained any mess that came from wet paws and fur.
I knew that as soon as the snow melted, Brodie and Lina were going to start on the sunroom renovations and they’d also fix up the small back porch.
Brodie had said he’d see if there was a way to expand the utility room and maybe add a door to the outside so we wouldn’t have to come in through the front door.
I went to sit by Luca, who was chatting with the humans and Rian.
His hand found my head and he absently gave me scratches that satisfied some odd need.
I’d always liked loving touch, but being a born wolf was weird in that my whole system could feel indignant if someone treated me like they might a dog.
It was odd. I wasn’t proud of it. But getting scratches from the pack? I could get behind that.
Max jogged down the stairs and went to shift next, then finally, Brodie made sure we were all okay and shifted last.
I nudged Luca’s hip with my nose, and he smiled.
“I’m ready.” He had hiking boots on. They wouldn’t be the greatest for running, but with his thick sweats and a hoodie under a winter jacket, he’d be golden.
“Everyone stay safe, and don’t break the vampire!” Carys called out as we started to file out the front door. As usual, we rounded the house and the frolicking began. It was funny, watching two really big wolves, Brodie and Holden, wrestle like pups. Then Max pounced on me and it was on.
Luca stood to the side, laughing at that. We had agreed not to get his clothes wet the first thing.
“Okay, before even I start to get cold…,” he called out after a few minutes.
With the cooler body temperature, he wouldn’t feel the chill easily, but we still had to be more conscious about his needs.
I licked Max’s face, then jumped off him, just to hip-check Brodie to get him to chase me toward the path leading away from the yard. He snapped at me playfully and took off after me.
Luca’s delighted giggle was everything, and soon, as I ran from my Alpha cousin, I heard two more sets of paws and hiking boots behind me.
I let out a happy yip, and continued running.
Iate my weight in burgers and pasta salad, because carb loading and protein were the best after a good full moon run.
I don’t know how long we’d been out there; time moved differently in wolf form somehow, but when we got back, Luca took off his wet clothes, handed them to Rian who was waiting, and then ran upstairs in his underwear to go take a hot shower.
Now he was sitting on the window seat, watching as we finally wound down from our feeding frenzy.
We were chatting as a pack. As a family.
I could hear the fire in the fireplace in the living room and smelled the traces of woodsmoke that came with it.
Kye got up and went to start on the dishwasher.
There was something so incredibly domestic and perfect about the moment I felt settled in a whole new way.
Max, having eaten his fill, leaned to my shoulder. “I need the bathroom. Be right back,” he murmured, as he pushed to his feet and left the room.
All the wolves’ energy was waning. It was like a food coma on crack on nights like these.
Carys and Lina were talking about going to the movies soon. Brodie, Rian, and Holden chatted about… something or other.
I felt happier than I remembered being in a long time.
“Oh, what about that new Avatar?” Kye asked the girls.
“Hey, you’re the only one who likes those!” his sister objected.
Kye laughed, giving her the finger.
Suddenly there was the crash of a falling plate or glass, and Kye jumped, then hissed.
Brodie almost got out of his chair, but then he took a breath and asked, “Babe, you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah I’m fine. Just cut my finger a bit. Nobody move. I have my slippers on.”
I heard the sharp inhale first. By the time I realized it came from Luca, he was already moving toward Kye with a horrifying purpose.
“Kye, duck!” I yelled as I went after Luca, my chair clattering to the ground behind me.
The scent of blood wasn’t that obvious to me. It was just a small cut. But to a vampire?
Rian, who was fully in control, moved two seconds behind me. Kye jumped over the open dishwasher door in the narrow space, which gave me just enough time to get my arms around Luca.
I didn’t recognize him. His eyes were too dark. His fangs were out as he snarled, and I could even see his fingertips elongating into those primal vampire claw points that I’d only seen once before when Rian was defending the pack house against some rednecks the previous summer.
Max burst out of the bathroom and chaos ensued behind me as I pushed Luca into the pantry.
“Snap out of it!” I growled at him, terrified of the situation. Not of him, but the lack of control I was witnessing.
I’d pressed his front against the only empty wall inside the walk-in pantry. Holding one of his arms behind his back and pressing with all my weight, I could still feel the struggle in him. He turned his head and his eyes were still almost black.
Rian reached between us and put his hand on Luca’s back. “Come on, Luca. You can fight it,” he said calmly, but I could tell he was shaken, too.
We barely fit there, especially when Max got there, putting his hand on Luca from my other side.
My brother calmly said, “Close your eyes, darling.”
Somehow, Luca did that. Then Max started to scratch his scalp, like he did when we laid in our room, watching TV most nights.
“It’s okay,” I murmured to all of us.
There were a few more small jerks of Luca’s muscles as we stood there.
Then Rian stepped back and gave us a bit more space.
I let go of Luca’s arm and moved it to his side.
He wasn’t breathing hard anymore. His fingers looked human again.
All I could hear were two fast and two sluggish heartbeats, our breathing, and the scrape of Max’s nails on Luca’s shaved head.
I pressed my forehead against the back of Luca’s neck. “You’re okay.”
He made a choked sound and I had just enough time to catch him before he slid down the wall as he collapsed.
“Hey, hey….” Max joined the weird hug we had going on.
“You can go upstairs now,” Rian said from the doorway. I hadn’t even noticed he stepped out.
Luca shook his head. “I-I c-can’t—"
“Yes you can,” Max said firmly.
“Come on.” I took Luca’s hand and Max took the other one.
We walked out of the pantry. The kitchen was quiet, but I could hear the others in the living room.
Brodie appeared in the kitchen doorway. “Luca,” he said firmly in his Alpha voice.
Luca’s arm jerked and his nostrils flared. He lifted his gaze slowly to Brodie. “Yes?”
Brodie’s voice was calm, even warm. “It’s okay.”
“N-No—”
Brodie cut him off. “Luca, it was an accident. He dropped a plate. We forgot to feed you first thing after the run. It should’ve been our first priority, given how Rian said you had a reaction to the working out—which we’re going to continue tomorrow.”
“B-But—”
“Luca. We all fucked up.” He closed the few steps of distance and pulled Luca from us, hugging him to his muscular body.
“You’re okay. Kye is okay. We’re a family here.
” Before Luca could say anything else, he added, “Yes, it could’ve gone really wrong, but now we know, right?
Human blood around a very hungry young vampire is not a great idea, huh? ”
Luca sobbed, then let out a wet chuckle against his shoulder. “Yeah, okay.”
“Now take your blood bags upstairs and get fed. We’ll be downstairs for a while. The others want to watch a movie.”
“Kye’s really okay?” Luca asked in a small voice, which didn’t surprise me in the least.
“I’m fine,” Kye said calmly from the doorway and lifted his hand. There was a Bluey-themed Band-Aid on his finger.
Brodie wasn’t able to help it, he took a step to the side, leaving Kye behind him. Luca jerked like he’d been slapped, while Kye let out a frustrated groan.
“Brodie, he’s not going to maul me,” he said firmly. “Get out of my way.”
Huffing with annoyance and worry, Brodie stepped aside again, but we could all tell he tensed up, just in case he needed to move fast.
“Come here,” Kye told Luca, smiling at him sadly.
Luca glanced at Max and me, his expression helpless and conflicted.
“Come on, chop-chop. I don’t have all night. I also refuse to wear a suit of armor in our home, so you better get used to us again.”
With a death grip on both of our hands, Luca took the steps between him and Kye.
He glanced at Max and me, as if to say don’t let go. Then he let out a shuddering breath and gave Kye a shaky little smile.
“That’s better. Let me just….” Kye promptly hugged him. He wrapped his arms around Luca’s lean body and held on as Luca sobbed.
“I didn’t mean to—”