Chapter 31 #3
Harkin chuckled, his topaz gaze lifting to mine. “Definitely not. You are without a doubt my mate, sugar.”
My stomach growled, an agonizing twist forming in my gut. It wasn’t anything like blood hunger, and it startled me. Was I hungry again? For food?
“You hungry?”
I pressed a hand to my abdomen. “I guess I worked up an appetite, but it’s not for blood.”
Harkin immediately leapt to his feet and kissed the top of my head. “Be right back.” Once shifted into wolf form, he disappeared into the woods, leaving me alone with only the moon and stars for company.
With my knees drawn to my chest, I preened at the sky and took a deep breath. “I would love to believe you’re a goddess,” I said to the moon. “If you are, thank you. I don’t know what I did to deserve this life. To find Harkin. The chance to be myself again, but thank you.”
Rustling leaves caught my attention. Instinct had me swiveling in the dirt, ready to shift and run away.
While I had missed my shifter form, not being a vampiric predator also felt a bit jarring.
Harkin’s grey wolf emerged from the brush, carrying two dead rabbits between his teeth.
He shifted back to human, taking both animals in his hands and holding one out to me.
We sat naked, side by side, eating our rabbits raw with nothing but our teeth.
The meat was delicious again. My deer form could even be content with berries and clovers.
Me and Harkin could enjoy an actual meal together.
I wouldn’t have to stop for anything to drink blood.
The moon still hung heavy and bright in the sky, the clouds not daring to cover its brilliance.
The sun’s embrace tugged at my skin like needle pricks before I wanted to think about it.
This would be the hardest part of my gift.
I wasn’t a shifter indefinitely. I’d return to being a vampire when the full moon left.
Still, I had no grounds to complain. I wouldn’t.
Ever. Each facet of me had its benefits, an outlook I’d always keep.
“We need to go back, Harkin,” I whispered through a deep sigh.
My wolf hugged me to his side, coasting feathered touches up and down my arm. He rested his head on top of mine. “I know.”
“Do me a favor, though.”
“Anything.”
“The sun. I want to see if I can withstand it, Kins. I need to see it. Pull me inside as soon as it rises, yeah?”
Something gleamed in Harkin’s eyes at my asking of him, but he slowly nodded.
When we gathered up to leave, we didn’t bother finding our clothes. Additional shifters reveled in the extra full moon, their howls, play, and roughhousing continuing.
Kaida waved at us from far away, sticking her fingers in her mouth to give a shrill whistle. When we looked at her, she cupped her hands over her mouth and yelled, “Pretty fucking cool, Aurora.”
Waving at her, I hugged Harkin’s arm and buried my face into his bicep. I didn’t want it to end. Yet, I realized I’d get to do it again next month and the month after that, and the month after that.
When we got to Harkin’s place, the sun was just kissing the horizon, spilling dark purples and a peachy glow.
We stood on the porch, Harkin behind me with his arms enveloping me tightly.
I sucked in a breath as the actual sun peeked out, painting the sky in vibrant yellow, pink, and red.
My skin didn’t sizzle, my eyes didn’t bleed.
The warmth of it coated my skin and when it fully rose, I gasped, real watery tears flowing down my cheeks and I burst out in a sob.
It had been so long since I’d felt the heat of the sun on my face, witnessed its glowing halo and the rainbows it created with daytime rain. With a full moon, I’d see it all again.
Harkin whispered into my ear, “Happy Re-Birth, Rory.”
I’d become a vampiric phoenix rising from the ashes to the impossible, the chance to return to my old life.
With my eyes pinched shut, Harkin picked me up, cradling me in his sturdy arms and carried me inside.
The heat disappeared from my blood, the tingle at my spine fluttering away, and last, my chest became a silent hollow shell again.
I wouldn’t cry. I didn’t want to see the blood tears.
There wasn’t anything to be upset about.
My vampiric side was fierce. There was nothing to be ashamed of.
After snuggling my face against Waffles’ head and kissing him goodnight, my mate took me to the cellar.
Harkin was a wondrous man, denouncing the days to spend the nights with me.
I’d have to repay him when I could. For now, I’d show my appreciation through kisses, longing touches, whispers, and giving him all of me.
After we settled under the covers, facing each other with our hands entwined and hugged to our chests, I smiled. “You’re surprising, wolf.”
Harkin traced his mark on my neck. He trailed it through the dried blood on my chin and chest from our impromptu shifter meal. “And you always looked good in red, vamp.”
He was everything I never knew I needed, and now all I ever wanted.