Chapter 7 #3
Whoever he had gone to for information about vampires knew what they were talking about. One pint of blood from the vein was enough to keep a vampire feeling decent for a week, but bagged blood was different.
No one had figured out why, but we needed twice as much if it wasn’t from the vein.
Which was why the Guild rarely agreed to give out bagged blood.
The unmated vampire population was small, but the Guild was barely big enough to sustain it.
Harper pulled a folded sheet of paper out of an interior pocket next to the blood, and opened it.
“Don’t bite anyone,” she read aloud.
“Who signed it?”
“Who do you think?”
I snagged the paper from her and read it again. His handwriting was messy, and he’d signed it, Mav.
If that was his nickname, I hadn’t heard anyone use it.
My hand automatically lifted the paper to my nose to see if it smelled as sweet as he did.
“Are you sniffing the paper?” Harper asked, her voice incredulous.
Yes.
“No.” I lowered it from my nose and forced myself to set it down.
Yeah, it smelled great. So did he. That didn’t mean anything.
“Was he walking when you saw him? That’s a shit ton of blood to donate in a week,” Harper said.
“He looked a little tired, but otherwise fine. Maybe werewolves regenerate blood as fast as they heal?” I pulled out the bags one at a time. They were frozen, and I assumed they’d been frozen properly.
I couldn’t imagine that an immortal Alpha werewolf would let someone draw a fuck ton of his blood just to store it incorrectly.
“Maybe.” Harper didn’t sound sure.
“This is actually perfect.”
“How is this perfect, Bloom? The Alpha of all Alphas sent you home with a massive quantity of his blood and told you not to bite anyone but him.” She gestured to the sheet of paper I was still gripping in one hand. “That’s insanely possessive. You’re a vampire, for fuck’s sake.”
I forced myself to set it down.
The scent was making it difficult. That was all.
“He can’t enforce that,” I said.
“He could have someone follow you.”
I waved it off. “I’ll notice if he has someone follow me. It’s perfect, because we need blood for you.”
Her eyes widened. “Are you insane? I can’t drink the blood your Alpha sent to prevent you from biting someone else. He’ll kill me!”
“It’s this or turning yourself into the Guild,” I said bluntly. “And we both know what that would mean.”
Death.
Absolutely, and immediately.
Her mother was the Guild’s leader. Neve. No one believed in the rules more passionately than Neve did. Their ancestors were the ones who created them with the founding vampire families, and Harper had been dragged into all of it because of that too.
“I can’t believe we’re even considering this,” she said.
“Believe it, because it’s our only option.”
“Maybe Neve will give you blood bags?” she suggested weakly.
“Even if she does, you’re going to need more blood than she’ll give me. She won’t send me home with six bags.” I gestured to the stack on the counter.
“I don’t need six bags.”
“You’re going to go through a lot more than a born vampire, Harper. That’s part of what makes being turned so dangerous. The bloodlust will be so much worse for you. Mine’s just an obnoxious nag when I get really hungry—yours will be a violent demand.”
Harper closed her eyes. “This isn’t a permanent solution.”
“No, but it buys us time to come up with one.”
She nodded grudgingly. “If we can’t, I’m turning myself in.”
I put four of the bags in the freezer, then showed her how to properly thaw two of them. We didn’t use bagged blood often, but learning the correct thawing method was a crucial part of being a vampire
When I cut a hole in the top corner, my eyes watered and my fangs throbbed at the intensity of Maverick’s scent.
I wanted to bathe in it.
Live in it.
Drown in it.
I had never experienced hunger like this before. Definitely wouldn’t recommend it.
“You should drink it,” Harper said, guilt written all over her face.
Her fangs were already descended to the point of muffling her voice, and she wasn’t going to have access to other blood soon like I was. I would be at the gathering in an hour, so my bloodlust would be sated soon.
Plus, I was pretty sure a sip of Maverick’s blood would ruin me for anyone else’s. Which would obviously be bad.
So no, I couldn’t drink it.
I stuck a straw in the bag and passed it over. “I’m not letting that asshole tell me what to do.”
She managed a small smile. “Thanks.” She knew I was just saving the blood for her.
“Thank me by staying alive. You know I wouldn’t survive without you. Who would force me to wash my endless laundry?”
She grimaced as she looked down at the blood bag.
I caught her hand and squeezed it. “I have to get ready for the gathering. Bottoms’ up.”
Harper nodded, and I forced myself to walk away.
I was pretty sure I’d end up tackling her to try to take the bag out of her hand if I was standing there while she ingested Maverick’s blood. It just smelled like… well, like it was meant to be mine.
Which was ridiculous, but maybe kind of true if the fated mate thing was accurate.