EIGHTY-SEVEN | FORGED

The most amazing flavor explodes in my mouth. Blood, *his* blood, so delicate and complex - like fifty of the best things in the world wrapped into one mouthful. Euphoria resounds through me- us. In me, all around me, he's there. Like we're one person, one force, one soul. His emotions are no longer an echo but sea, filling me with his own thoughts and memories and mine into him. Snippets of time flash behind my eyes, as if I were remembering them.

Seconds where I catch sight of younger versions of the Wolven I've come to know, his cousins and family, the people in the town, a life I've never lived - so happy, and myself through his eyes. They're a blur, but leave me feeling so much happier and lighter and more content than I have in my entire life.

A second mouthful of blood fills my mouth - and I shudder against it. Away from the instinct now rolling over the control I was only just holding onto. The instinct of the cruelest part of me, so cold and sharply calculating and predatory in the back of my mind to rip open his throat and drink directly from his heart- The instinct to drain Blue dry. I feel my revulsion to the idea lock my body, smoothing the grip I hadn't even noticed I'd taken on his neck. One hand at the base of his throat, feeling his pulse under my skin, the other firmly planted at the back of his neck.

I relax my hands, letting them fall away before I can physically feel my own fingers. I close my mouth, swallowing the last mouthful of his blood and letting the dizzying thrum flood me again. I shiver again, this time feeling the urge more strongly - *to devour every last drop of blood in Blue's body*- I push at his chest, trying to break away as his scent seizes hold of me again.

Blue doesn't move away, his arms around me as tight as before. I feel his own face buried in my neck, the heat of his breath warming me. And then, I realize I'm warm now. Wholly warm as I had been long before I knew of my other half. So much like the old me - and yet, something *new*.

I blink a few times, a strange throbbing at the base of my neck, at the juncture where muscle stretches to connect the shoulder to the head. I roll my shoulder, freezing as I feel a little flare of pain. He bit me. A tingle of- *is that satisfaction?* - lazily takes over me, a purely Wolven kind of primal satisfaction. He's marked me - and I him.

My whole body tenses, a stunned horror bubbling in me at the prospect of being forever-

"Don't over-think it, Red." Blue mutters, nuzzling the healing spot. I shiver in response, the urge to shift heating my cold bones, chasing away the void and glossing over it. Like a temporary patch or covering. It's only then I realize Blue's no longer dousing me in his power. The pain and change from earlier is over. Only a hint of the chill hangs in me, never really fading out, but able to come and go as it pleases.

"*Ahem*," Mikyle clears his throat somewhere behind me and I feel Blue's demeanor immediately shift. The connection between us hums with his annoyance at being observed. Blue's arms tighten around me, a protective fierceness and mistrust in the vampire flaring up.

"I- um..." I murmur to Blue, trying again to detangle myself from him. This time to make Mikyle feel a little better- after the things he said- Blue growls, low and deep in his chest, the sound reverberates through him. "I'm good, Mica, you should get back to the Coven." I tell the vampire, worrying about his safety now. Blue's growl doesn't let up until the scent of over-ripe strawberries and iron fades from the room. I can sense Blue's jealousy, spiked and barbed and poking at me.

This time, when I cringe away, he lets me go. I scoot off his lap where my whole body had been curled and kneel in front of him, taking careful stock of the situation. Swirling torrents of my own conflicted emotions fray at me. I feel fine now. Every breath calm and deep. My muscles ache a little, but beyond that - and the mark I feel scaring over on my neck, I feel great. My mouth still aches, but it's the kind of ache I'm starting to associate with a vampire's thirst.

And that's another thing. The thirst. It's there, in the back of my throat. An itch I can't scratch, icy and rough. I run my tongue over my teeth. All normal, save for the slightly sharper feel of my canines. The residual flavor of Blue's blood clings to my taste buds and I have to swallow a few times before it clears enough for me to speak.

"I spoke to Cole and the Beta." I mutter to Blue, hesitating to look at him directly. We may not be touching, but the call of his blood is still heavy in the air. I glance at the spot I bit him, the twin pinpricks have scared over, but they're not fading. The slightly visible reflective skin looks like a tattoo. I decide I like the way it looks.

"Mhm," Blue hums softly, and I catch the hint of a smirk on his mouth. My eyes flick up the rest of the way to his eyes. Heat flares through me, strong and intoxicatingly heady- I suck in a breath and tear my eyes from his, digging my nails into my palms in an effort to resist touching him. *God, I want to touch him*. The urge is almost as strong as the thirst. "We'll have to get used to this-" Blue begins hesitantly.

"What is this?" I hiss out, wrapping my arms tightly around myself.

"It's the next step of the bond," Blue says slowly, his words careful, though I can feel how much weight is in that sentence. "Um," A flare of discomfort strums through the connection, his discomfort - *embarrassment?* "I probably should have asked you first..." Blue touches the spot where I bit him - the exact spot he'd bitten me.

I raise my hand to the side of my neck, the left side. It's a little sticky with my coagulating blood, but under is slightly raised and scared flesh in the pattern of a bite mark. A little smirk of contentment and smugness tugs at my mouth despite myself and I have to bite my lip to stop the thing from growing.

"It...feels different than a regulars bite." I tell him, my fingers tracing over the ridges, stroking the skin. Some of the tingling and longing to touch Blue lulls the longer I feel the scar.

"Um," Again, that flash of embarrassment from Blue. I quirk an eyebrow at him, enjoying how uncomfortable talking about this is - though I don't know why. "It's kind of like I claimed you." An ice bucket hits me, dousing the warmth and washing me in reality. I blink, my eyes widening as I take that in. "And you kind of claimed me-" He adds slowly. I spring to my feet, my body uncurling so quickly and easily it almost feels like I was never sitting.

"N-not on purpose-" I stop talking, my mouth clicking shut as I replay what just happened in my head. *Only didn't I? Didn't I secretly want to claim him? Make sure we could be together? Wasn't that the wish in my soul?*

"Maybe not consciously," Blue gets to his feet, reaching for me like it's the most natural thing. His touch sets ever cell in my body on fire, the good kind. Humming with energy and the wish for a much stronger connection. A longing to be touched - *everywhere*- I pull away, my face flushed as I try to reign in my racing thoughts. I breathe deeply, keeping a good two feet between us. "I'm okay with this, Red." He asserts after a second and I let out a little laugh.

"I..." I struggle to voice how okay I am with this too - cause really, I am. But at the same time, it all feels too fast. *Too soon. Too smack-dab in the middle of the rising shit-storm around us*-

"I don't need an answer right now, Red." Blue takes a step closer, not to bridge the gap, but more like he's trying to comfort me. "I know what I want, remember?" He reminds me softly, and I chew my lip. "Don't over-think it." He murmurs gently, his voice soothing me almost as easily as his emotions do, flowing over me like a river of warm honey. I close my eyes, basking in it for a moment. "I'm here. I swear, no matter what happens tomorrow, I'll be here." The added 'for you' echoes in my mind. A silent promise. My eyes flash open and I look at him, my own eyes wide.

His beautiful eyes are just as I saw them the very first time, silvery grey and hypnotic and warm. They give me strength, much in the same way as his power had, promising something beyond tomorrow. Beyond the kind of promise of the flesh. I swallow, an overwhelming gratitude wrapping around me. I give him a little nod, watching the relief in his eyes and feeling the resounding thrum of it in our bond.

And with that, I turn and begin to pack a bag for the upcoming battle.