Epilogue
Max - Two Months Later
In the months following Vlad’s well-deserved demise, I couldn’t help noticing how content I felt.
It might have had something to do with no longer looking over my shoulder, perpetually expecting our old nemesis to appear, or how satisfying it was to watch the werewolves burn his body in Chaz’s garden.
Pissing on the ashes also helped.
There was more to it than that, however. I’d fully expected to regret not torturing the information about my maker out of Vlad before finishing him off, but as time passed, I couldn't find it in myself to care.
Aside from suspecting the ancient vampire was simply lying to save his own skin, I’d meant what I’d said. Killing my maker wouldn’t bring back my family or my old life, but focusing on my mates gave me a new one.
Damon and Star effortlessly filled the gaping hole of emptiness left by my trauma, and despite my terror at letting them see my darkness, they bravely faced it by my side—before leading me back to the light.
Figuratively speaking.
My inner peace may have also had something to do with me finally attending a few therapy sessions with Dr. Sylvie. Star came to the first one with me—holding my hand in silent support as I haltingly talked—but after that, I felt confident enough to handle it on my own.
Although I’m never truly alone.
Even when I was wandering this earth after losing everything, something kept me going. At first it was revenge, then it became the desire to learn more about the creature I now was. After that, it was a stubborn determination to not only survive but thrive, despite what had happened to me.
Which is its own sort of revenge, I suppose.
Then, I felt the pull toward Opalite, and the rest was history. Not a night went by since then that I wasn’t grateful I’d continued on my journey long enough to meet my mates. To fully embrace the new life that had been waiting for me on the other side of what seemed like the end.
It was only the beginning.
“Did your session go late tonight?” Damon asked as I reached the front porch.
He rose from the rattan rocker he’d been lounging in and leaned against a post at the top of the stairs, gazing down at me with that soft smile of his that still took my breath away.
The most beautiful man I’ve ever seen.
For a moment, I was transported back in time, to when I used to wait at the back door of the House of Eternal Moonlight after sunset, eager to collect my mate for an evening of debauchery.
Back before he knew all my secrets.
Most of them…
“No…” I replied, oddly hesitant about telling him where I’d been before recalling Dr. Sylvie had explicitly instructed me to recognize when I was being evasive for no goddamn reason. “I took a detour on the way home.”
Hopefully that’s good enough.
Damon raised an eyebrow. “Anywhere exciting?”
Deep breaths, Max.
“Well, it depends on what your idea of exciting is.” I cleared my throat, knowing I needed to “cut the shit,” as Star would say, and get to the point. “I decided to stop and meet with the local coven leader, to see if… perhaps… the group might be a good fit for us.”
Now both Damon’s eyebrows were raised, his shock so apparent, my stomach dropped.
Did I fuck this up as well?
“I-I know I should have brought you or Star with me for introductions,” I stuttered, realizing I’d fallen back into old habits of overprotectiveness, despite my intentions. “Or even told you I was thinking of going. I… I simply needed to be sure another Vlad wasn’t in charge.”
“And were they?” A smile twitched Damon’s lip. “Like Vlad?”
I hummed and rubbed the back of my neck. “No, actually. They had a surprisingly modern outlook, despite being several hundred years older than me. The coven here is… Well, its main purpose seems to be offering community resources and support.”
“Like a village,” Damon quietly added.
Like what we’ve been missing.
“Yes,” I replied, momentarily overcome as recognition bubbled to the surface.
What I’ve been missing…
An odd sense of guilt washed over me, for denying my mates the very thing that had formed the foundation of who I was, all in the name of “protection.”
Who was I protecting most—them or me?
Forever attuned to my moods, Damon quickly stepped in. “Well, it sounds lovely.” When I raised my eyebrows at that, he laughed and clarified. “I may not join you and Star at every meeting or event, but I think it will be good for you.”
I swallowed thickly. “I think it will too…”
“And for us,” he added graciously, before I crumbled. “Including Pearl.”
My steadiness returned at the thought of the newest, most vulnerable member of our family.
Pearl and Chaz had recently moved back into his cottage—thanks to his brothers sticking around to help rebuild before they left—but I wanted to be sure the decidedly sheltered vampire was getting everything she needed.
That she was no doubt denied for the past 150 years.
“Yes.” I nodded resolutely. “It will benefit Pearl to have the support of a larger community as well.”
On top of the undivided attention of a werewolf who thinks she’s his mate…
Damon’s smile grew as he descended the stairs and pulled me into his arms. “She will appreciate being included, even if Star and Magdalena have already been dragging her to endless ‘girl’s night’ activities lately. Even Billie joined them last night for dancing at Zootz.”
I chuckled. It had been “ladies and enby night” at our favorite club—which Star always referred to as “boy dinner time,” since Damon and I always took the opportunity to reconnect with each other at home.
Just like old times.
“Where is our perfect third?” I gazed up at the stained glass windows glowing warmly above. “Please tell me she’s waiting for us in the coffin, preferably tied up and wearing nothing but one of your creations?”
I deserve a treat.
“Better,” he replied, fangs lengthening. “Our girl is in the forest, waiting for us to hunt her down while wearing nothing but one of your robes.”
My fangs snapped to full-length so fast, Damon flinched backward in surprise. Then, the full weight of what he was saying hit me.
“You… want to hunt together?” I hesitantly asked, searching his gorgeous face for any sign of trepidation.
Unlike Star, who’d taken to her predatory instincts right away, Damon had never been what I would call a natural at hunting. Over the years, we’d learned he did better when accompanying me on the hunt—more to serve as a distraction to our prey before I gladly handled the dirty work.
Every once in a blue moon he hunted by my side, and even though I was fine with simply providing for him, those instances gave me a particular thrill.
Especially when our girl is the prey…
Damon’s smile reappeared, decidedly more sinister than before. “Yes. I want to pin Star to the forest floor so you can fuck her while we feed.”
Oh?
“Well then.” I removed my jacket and slung it over the porch railing. “Let us hunt.”
We moved as one, down the hill and into the familiar quiet of our forest. Star’s arousal was scenting the air, sharp and tempting from the moment we crossed the treeline, and after only a few minutes of stalking, I was salivating.
A soft sound—the slightest intake of breath—had us both freezing in place, but before I could recalibrate, Damon was leaping over a fallen tree with a predatory growl.
The squeak of surprise had me quickly following him through the underbrush, groaning in anticipation as the sweet music of struggle filled my ears.
One of my favorite sounds.
“Stop!” Star screamed, clawing at her captor, playing the part of terrified prey. “Let me go! Please…”
Begging.
Another favorite.
“I don’t think we will…” I murmured, slowly unbuckling my belt as I admired the way her blood-red robe—my robe—had fallen open, exposing her perfect breasts and noticeably glistening cunt. “Not until we’re done with you.”
“No!” she sobbed, thrashing in Damon’s hold as if she had no hope of escape. “Please, don’t…”
“Keep her quiet, pet,” I instructed, gesturing at her tear-streaked face, impressed, as always, with Star’s dedication to the role. “Fill that pretty mouth with your cock.”
Our third involuntarily moaned at the thought, making me smirk, but I could relate. I felt equally ravenous as Damon straddled her chest, trapping her arms beneath his knees before wrestling himself free.
“Gladly…” he murmured, carefully feeding our “helpless” prey his cock until she was gagging on it. “Fuck, that feels good.”
“It’s because she’s a whore,” I replied, settling myself between her legs and plunging my fingers inside her, greedily breathing in her scent. “She loves to be stuffed full of cock—just like you do.”
My two perfect sluts.
Damon could only nod in agreement, planting his hands on the ground near her head and leaning forward, going as deep as possible. I watched his muscles flex as he found a rhythm, listened to the way Star moaned in pleasure, before coating my full length in her cream and sliding home.
My home.
Vampires didn’t need to breathe the way humans did, but old reflexes sometimes remained. Star tightened around me as she gagged again, and it was all I could do not to explode at the sensation.
“Your cunt is exquisite, little prey,” I growled, rolling my hips, fucking Star slow and deep as she whimpered around Damon’s cock. “Made to take both of us, like the perfect little toy you are.”
“Fuck!” Damon shouted. “She’s… she’s biting me… Oh, fuuuuu—”
It appears the tables have turned…
Knowing I had seconds to spare, I yanked Damon up by his hair and plunged my fangs into his neck. Star continued to drink from his cock, draining our pet’s veins as he spilled down her throat.
“By Selene…” he groaned once we’d both had our fill, collapsing to the ground next to our third. “I didn’t stand a chance, did I?”
Nope.
Against all odds, he miraculously rallied, rolling onto his side and turning his attention to his favorite toy—Star’s nipple piercings.
“We’re not done with you, pet,” I warned before refocusing on my task of making Star come on my cock. “But first, I need to fill this tight little pussy with my cum.”
Star made a show of trying to shove me off, which I assumed she only did so I would pin her arms to the ground above her head. My suspicions were confirmed as she barely struggled for another moment before going lax, allowing me to pound into her, chasing my release.
“Makisig…” she panted brokenly, turning her head to the side in clear invitation. “Please…”
Always.
I sank my teeth into her neck, groaning as the taste of my mates together hit my tongue.
Like heaven.
Like the only afterlife I want.
Damon joined me, drinking his fill from the curve of her breast while I emptied inside her—claiming her as ours.
Since the moment we saw her.
I barely gave them a moment to rest before I withdrew from Star and snapped my fingers, indicating that it was Damon’s turn to get to work.
Because I’m nowhere near done with either of you.
He immediately obeyed, crawling between her luscious thighs and burying his face in her dripping cunt. I took a moment to admire my mates—Damon with his ass in the air, hungrily lapping at our combined release, while Star buried her long nails in his hair, delivering the pain he’d always craved.
Pain we are happy to provide.
I took advantage of his position to yank his unbuttoned pants down his thighs, exposing him fully. Then, I bit my wrist, allowing the blood I’d taken from him to fill my palm, like an offering to gods I wanted so badly to reclaim.
I’ll get there someday.
Thanks to my mates.
Pressing my blood-soaked fingers to Damon’s hole, I briefly circled the rim before pushing my way inside. He moaned against Star’s cunt, squirming as I worked him open the barest amount, knowing he liked it to hurt.
Spreading blood over my cock, I notched my crown at his opening. Curling my body over his, I gripped Star’s hips, both for leverage and support, reminding her that she was our third in name only.
“Iniibig kita,” I murmured in Damon’s ear, holding Star’s gaze as I said it. “Both of you. Forever.”
“Goddammit, Max…” Star panted, glaring up at me the best she could as her eyes rolled back. “I’m not gonna be able to stop from coming all over Damon’s pretty face if you start sweet talking me!”
“Please!” Damon briefly came up for air. “Soak me in it.”
“You heard him, baby,” I teased, reaching beneath Damon to toy with his piercings as I angled my thrusts toward his prostate. “Mark him as yours, and then you can do the same to me.”
Because I am yours.
“Mine…” she gasped, her back arching off the forest floor, robe pooling around her like blood as she shuddered through another orgasm. “Both of you.”
Damon moaned in agreement, spilling over my hand and tightening around my cock, and I growled, tumbling over the edge alongside them.
Exactly where I want to be.
We spent a few minutes cuddled on the forest floor, coming down from our collective climax before Star shakily rose to her feet.
I reached for her, confused why she was leaving, but she danced away from my grasp.
“Uh-uhhh!” she sang, tightening the robe tie and grinning wide. “If you want more, you need to catch me!”
Little devil.
Before I fully registered that the hunt was on again, she was off, cackling into the night while I shook my head in loving disapproval. Then Damon was somehow dressed and running after her—both predator and prey and equally tempting.
Two devils!
How lucky can one man be?
I stood and slowly took my time securing my clothes, allowing them a head start, always more than happy to chase what belonged to me.
My mates.
My home.
The happiness I deserve.
Thank you for reading Trinity of Blood!