Chapter 64 64
AIDAN
All I knew was that Emmanuel should never have run away with Lois. He never should have exposed her to retaliation or dragged her into an escape like that. He knew the rules, he knew the consequences, and as the heir to his pack, his father would never let him disappear. In the end… he exposed Lois to all of this. If she was injured now, it was because of Emmanuel’s decisions.
I took her hand. It was covered in blood, cold to the touch, which wasn’t good. Seconds ago, she’d been burning up, and now she was freezing.
I had to do something. I couldn’t let Lois die in front of me. I wanted to treat her, but… there was nothing. Just a damned cave where we were hiding like rats.
I removed the collar, fully aware that within seconds the wolves would know a vampire was nearby or that my true nature would be exposed. But to do what I needed to do, I had to be entirely myself. It was the only way to make sure it worked. I had never done it for anyone before.
It was a risk, but it was the only option. Lois wasn’t going to die here, not while I stood and did nothing.
So I cut my hand and brought it to Lois’s mouth. That way, she could heal faster.
“Come on, Lois… please,” I whispered, squeezing my hand so the blood flowed into her mouth.
When my blood flooded her lips, Lois began to cough. Her hand shifted, and I saw her fingers reach for the collar on the ground. It didn’t seem to hurt her.
Her lips and tongue stayed on the blood running from my hand. She started moving, and it looked like it was enough.
I pulled my hand back, but Lois grabbed it again, forcefully. I felt her teeth sink into my skin, like she was tearing a piece from me.
“Lois…” I groaned as she drank from me. I tried to move my hand, but she didn’t let go, gripping me with strength nothing like the dying girl from seconds ago.
“Aidan, it’s you,” she said clearly when her lips finally pulled away.
“Could you…?” I asked, trying to pull my wrist back, but Lois grabbed it again.
“Just a little more,” she asked.
“Just a little more,” I repeated, watching her drink from me.
Lois… was drinking my blood.
This wasn’t medical anymore.
She liked it.
And having her drink from me felt strange—intense, arousing.
“Lois… stop,” I whispered. I was the one feeling intoxicated, her mouth on me, drinking from me.
“The wolves!” I said suddenly, almost forgetting how close they were. “We have to go. They’re tracking us.”
I took the collar from her hand and put it back on, watching my appearance shift again, masking me like a wolf.
“Can you walk?” I asked.
“Yes, I feel fine. But don’t worry. Ezequiel is coming too, behind them. I think he’ll arrive at the same time. It’s better if we stay here,” she advised.
“Are you sure? Lois, if they trap us in this cave, there’s no way out,” I warned.
“I’m sure!” she snapped.
“All right,” I said slowly.
“I’m sorry, Aidan, it’s just… everything is moving inside me and it feels strange. Emmanuel, Ezequiel, both of them in my head, your blood…”
She stood up, only then realizing she was naked. She grabbed the blood-soaked shirt and put it on anyway. I took off my pants and handed them to her, turning my back so she could dress.
“Your blood, Aidan. You’re a vampire. And the collar… I felt it speak to me,” Lois said, touching my shoulder.
I didn’t answer. This was as confusing to her as it was to me.
“Please, you can’t tell anyone about this,” I said.
I knew the collar had some connection to Lois, but I didn’t know what.
If it could shift my perceived nature… what else could it do?
“And how are you… a wolf again?” she asked, touching my face.
“I’m not. I never have been. It’s the collar—it allows others to perceive me that way,” I explained.
“That’s incredible,” she whispered. Her fingers moved across my face, through my hair, down my neck and arms. Lois stepped closer, the scent of her blood soaked into her skin and shirt filling the cave, intoxicating me. My mouth watered. A deep thirst surged, too strong to contain.
“Stay back,” I told her, turning away.
“I don’t want to, Aidan.”
“What do you mean you don’t want to? I need space. I can’t breathe in here, there are wolves coming who want to hurt you, and we’re trapped inside a cave. Now that you can walk, we have to leave. Anywhere, but we need to leave. You should consider returning to your pack.”
“Aidan, I feel strange too since I drank from you. Earlier I felt Ezequiel mark me. I thought it was a dream, thought it wasn’t real, but my connection to him is alive. Just like with Emmanuel. I know he’s coming to help us. I know he’s close. I know nothing will happen to us. And I also know you’re nervous.”
“No, you don’t.”
“You keep licking your lips and swallowing. I’ll tell you… you’re thirsty. And I can give you my blood, just like you gave me yours.”
“No! That’s insane,” I said. I had never fed from anyone and wasn’t planning to.
“You’re swallowing again, wetting your lips again. The scent is burning through your nose. And for some reason, you already know my blood will taste good to you. That’s what scares you—not what you are, but the fact that my blood will please you. And that I won’t be afraid.”
“You don’t understand.”
“That you’re attracted to me, and it’s inexplicable?”
Exactly that. But I didn’t know how she knew. It was exactly how I felt.
Lois was strange now.
Lois had woken up… different.