Feral Fangs

Natania wrenched out of the grip that held her and sprinted across the room until her back was against a wall. Lowering her head, she bared her teeth and snarled, trying to ignore the pain that ravaged her joints.

The room was pitch black and, even in her wolf form, she couldn’t see a thing. Something scuffed on the floor to her left and she increased the volume of her snarl.

“Nat,” said a soft voice.

Natania sidestepped until she felt another wall against her skin, her chest rumbling as panic set in. She was trapped, she couldn’t see, there was nowhere to go-

The light blinked on, and she froze, blinking rapidly as she tried to adjust to the sudden brightness.

Hands cupped her face and she panted with fear, shrinking back into the corner. “It’s okay, Nat. It’s me.”

A forehead pressed against hers, filling her nose with their scent and she eased slightly as reality came back to her.

“Nat,” Lily said again, then kissed the bridge of her nose. “It’s okay.”

Natania closed her eyes, a soft whine escaping her.

“You had another nightmare,” Lily continued softly. “It’s okay. You’re safe. I’m here.”

Slowly, the tension left her body. As her heartbeat settled, Natania stepped forward and buried her nose in Lily’s stomach. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, forging a bond between their minds so she could speak to her from that shape. She inhaled the scent of her mate, letting it banish the rest of the dream.

The phantom pain that still haunted her, months after she had recovered from the torture she’d experienced, faded away again as she re-settled into reality.

Guilt sparked in Lily’s scent as her mate curled tightly around her. “You have nothing to apologize for,” Lily murmured. “This is-”

Natania ripped out of her grasp and snarled, “Not your fault.” Narrowing her eyes, she held Lily’s gaze, tail flicking stiffly. It had been her choice that had resulted in her torture, Lily hadn’t been in a position to stop her. And Natania would have made it again, and again, to keep her safe.

Lily rolled her eyes. It was an argument they had had often, but her mate was determined to carry the blame for it.

Shifting back into her human form, Natania cupped Lily’s face in her hands and kissed her forehead. She didn’t want to argue again. Not now. Not with the pain so fresh in her mind. Lily stood up straight again, pulling Natania to her feet before crushing her in a hug.

As Natania pulled away, she caught the red glow in Lily’s eyes. “I’m okay,” she muttered. “You should eat.”

Lily growled and took hold of her again, tightening her grip. She wasn’t going anywhere until Nat’s breathing eased. The hunger nagged in her throat, but she was an old vampire, she could control it. For now.

Natania cleared her throat and wiped her eyes, then gently untangled herself. “Really. I’m okay.”

Lily let her go without resistance, even as her instincts screamed to keep hold of her. Nat was hers and they had almost lost her. But her wolf was traumatized, and trapping her would only make it worse. Lily clenched her teeth and fought for her own control. Being surrounded by her fear scent wasn’t helping.

Natania caught her gaze and cupped her face, the warmth of her touch so contrasting to the cold of a vampire. “Lily love, I’m okay. I know you can hear my truths.” Natania kissed her softly. “Come back to me,” she whispered.

Lily snapped back to herself with a jolt, growling in her throat.

Natania smiled softly, her eyes sparking with amusement. “There you are.”

“Sorry,” Lily murmured, sliding out of her grip. Her wolf wasn’t supposed to be taking care of her. She was here so they could take care of her.

“If I’m not allowed to apologize, neither are you,” Natania scolded, putting a hand on her shoulder. “We anchor each other. I’m okay with that.”

Anchor. That was exactly what she was. Before they had met Lily had been drifting but after… Lily shook her head. She had wasted so much time, when she could have had her wolf here. If she had just been willing to admit it. Before Nat had been taken. Before anything else had ever sunk its fangs into her.

Natania’s fear scent had faded and that helped. Lily ducked down to kiss her, enjoying the warmth of her touch. “Mine,” she whispered.

“Yours,” Natania rumbled appreciatively and Lily smiled. Then her wolf softened and took her hand. “You can feed on me if you’d rather, but you need to eat something, darlin’.”

Lily wrinkled her nose. She had no problem biting her for pleasure, if she was actively biting someone she had access to their mind and could make them feel whatever she wanted them to, but she hadn’t brought Natania here to be a personal food source. Beast bound blood was addicting, ripe with magic that vampires needed to grow stronger, though humans could sate their hunger. And Lily didn’t want that to become a habit. “Just this once” could easily turn into, “what’s the harm in one more?” until it became an everyday thing. She didn’t want that. Didn’t want to look at her wolf and see prey.

“I’ll be back,” Lily muttered.

Natania gave her a soft smile. “I know.”

Walking away from her was too difficult, so Lily used her teleporting, ignoring the frightened jump of their feeders. They were new, the old ones getting, well, old, so they weren’t quite used to the vampires’ abilities yet.

Lily gave them an awkward wave. She hated getting used to new feeders. They were so easily startled. One of them tilted their head, offering their neck, and she walked over and sank her fangs in. She fed him a calm, happy feeling as she drank and he hummed under her hands.

“How is she doing?”

Lily pulled away from the feeder, trying to suppress the flash of rage she felt at her master’s voice. “Surviving,” she answered stiffly. She knew it had been the only way to save them all, but there was still a part of her that despised him for leaving their wolf behind. For making the decision to trade Natania for her. It might’ve killed them, but they should have fought for her.

If Vincent noticed her anger, he didn’t comment on it. “She’s still having the dreams?” Lily sank her fangs into her lip and nodded once. “Has she reconsidered bringing some of her family here?”

Other wolves. People that could be awake in the daytime and comfort her while the vampires were killed by the sun. Lily had been trying to persuade her to agree, but her wolf wasn’t willing to expose her vulnerability to anyone else. Even her own family. Lily was the only one she didn’t try to hide it from. They were, both of them, broken in their own ways. “She doesn’t want them here.”

Vincent set his jaw and shook his head. “Stubborn.” He sighed. “But then, she always was.”

Once upon a time, she would have agreed with him without hesitation, they would have shared their frustration. But something was broken between them too, now. He saw it then and turned to leave, grief darkening his gaze.

Her heart twisted, and part of her demanded apology, to reconcile, but she didn’t have it in her. Lily gave a nod to the feeders and returned to her wolf.

Natania had showered and changed and was waiting on the side of their bed. The wolf lit up immediately when she saw her and Lily smiled. She’d never get used to that. Had never expected that her presence alone would ever inspire a reaction like that. The thought that she had almost lost that hit her again and the anger sparked.

Natania tilted her head in confusion. “What’s wrong, love?” She got up and brushed a hand down her cheek.

Lily pushed the anger aside. Emotions had a scent and she didn’t need to worry Nat over nothing. “Nothing,” she murmured, leaning down to kiss her again. “Nothing at all.” As long as she was there, as long as they were together, nothing would ever be wrong.

A knock sounded at the door and Natania let out a growl of warning. Lily’s own irritation was lost at the sound and she laughed quietly. “Go away, Ray,” she called, identifying him by the sound of his footsteps.

“No,” he said, pushing the door open.

“Brave of you to just waltz in here,” Natania said dryly and Lily snickered.

Ray rolled his eyes. “If you were indecent, you would have shifted the moment I opened the door. Otherwise, it’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”

Natania tensed, the volume of her growl increasing, and Lily flinched. The wolf looked at her, squeezed her hand and looked back to Ray. “That doesn’t mean you can’t have some basic respect,” she growled.

“Anyway,” Ray said, ignoring her comment, “got a job.”

“I’ll deal with it later,” Lily replied. “Put it in the office.”

“A now job,” he clarified, then waved a hand. “Don’t worry, you can return to your,” he gave Natania an amused look, “beastiality, later.”

Lily wrinkled her nose with disgust, they didn’t do anything with her in wolf form, and Natania let out a real snarl.

“How much trouble do you think I’ll be in with Vincent if I bite him?” Natania asked.

“After that?” Lily said. “None at all.”

Natania shifted and curled her lip.

Ray laughed and held up his hand in a pacifying gesture. “Peace, Wolf. I’m just fucking with you.” Then he added, “Though, you are just emphasizing my point here with the,” he wiggled his fingers, “fur.”

Quick as a snake, Natania had lunged and snapped her teeth into his wrist. “Ow, fuck, Wolf.” Ray raised his hand and shook her off. “I was just kidding.”

Natania snapped her teeth in his direction, then stalked back to Lily’s side. Lily snorted. “So was she. Or you’d be missing a hand.” The wolf had carefully calculated the damage she was doing, it would be nothing but a flesh wound, albeit, still a painful one.

“You used to have a sense of humour,” Ray grumbled, wrapping a hand around the wound on his wrist. It would heal within minutes.

Lily scoffed. “Dehumanizing her is hardly funny.”

“She’s not human.”

She walked over to him and shoved him towards the door. “Just stop talking before she decides to really hurt you. You fucking idiot.”

“Hey! We do actually have a job.”

“I’ll be there in a minute,” she growled, then slammed the door in his face. “I’m sorry,” she said to Natania.

Natania shifted back and shrugged. “I’m hardly going to lose sleep over something Ray says.” The two of them had never really gotten along, not in the almost thirty years they had known each other.

Ray wasn’t always the most pleasant person to be around, but he might as well have been Lily’s brother, in a non-literal sense considering. Lily glanced at the ground. “Does it bother you that we…” She nodded her head towards the door.

“No,” Natania answered. “Only in the sense that he thinks that gives him the right to anything else.” She looked suddenly uncomfortable and scratched the side of her neck. “Are you still…?”

“No,” Lily said, a little insulted she would ask. “I wouldn’t do that to you.” To say the wolves were territorial was an understatement. Natania might love her enough to tolerate it, but it would hurt her, and Lily wasn’t willing to do that to her.

Natania gave her a sheepish smile. “Sorry, I didn’t think you were. He’s just…” She frowned at the door and shook her head.

“A jackass?” Lily supplied and her wolf laughed.

“Yeah.” Natania snorted, then strode forward and tugged her into a hard kiss.

“Careful,” Lily murmured against her lips. “I have a job to do.” She already wanted nothing more than to curl up beside her. If she kept that up, Lily would take her chances with Vincent being angry.

Natania laughed and pulled back. “Okay. Be safe.”

Lily flicked her under the chin. “Who do you think I am? You?”

“I am not that much of a danger magnet!” Natania protested.

Lily gave her a look. “Nightweaver, fae, skinwalker, mare, wolf packs-” She stopped herself before she could add black witches. Twice.

“Yeah, yeah,” Natania said dismissively. “I survived, didn’t I?”

Barely. “You did,” Lily said, not wanting to shoot her down. “All right, Wolfie, I’ll see you later.”