He wished he knew why his kin were acting so strangely lately. Orion especially.
Ever since moving in with these odd vampires, Kraft had been itching to belong. His old clan had been happy enough to be rid of him, not comfortable with his ability to destroy. Weak, pathetic. They hadn’t been admirable. He and the wolf he called self knew this.
Here, in this mortal city, he’d found pack. The vampires from all different tribes each had their own strengths. But together, they were a true power. Their patriarch had become a master at just a little over a thousand years of living. Duncan could move through time and space, circumventing supreme spells, though he didn’t think anyone but he and his mate knew it. And Orion could move through water as if born a creature of the sea. No other vryko that Kraft had ever seen or heard about was so fast and powerful in any element other than air. He had no idea what Rolf and Khent had buried beneath the respective veneers of annoying draugr and snippy reaper. But for Hecate and Mormo to bring them, specifically, here, meant they were no mere death-bringers. But something more.
He found Macy kissing her mate in front of their bedroom doorway. She was dressed. Duncan wasn’t.
“I’m seeing a lot of white skin,” Kraft complained. “Too much.”
Macy blushed, but Duncan only grinned and shut the door behind his mate, forcing her to deal with Kraft while Duncan went back to bed, from the sound of it.
“Hey, Kraft.” Macy smiled.
He nearly tripped over the kitten meowing at his feet. The feline refused to believe himself in danger from Kraft and continued to sneak into his room when Orion wasn’t around. He lifted the gray menace and tucked it in his arm so it would stay out of his way. He also ignored its abominable purring, though the furry part of him kind of liked it.
“Macy, your sister is beguiling our vryko.”
“What?”
He told her what had happened.
“You’re telling me Orion raced after my sister because he was worried about her?” She goggled.
“I know.” He didn’t like it either. Then he told her about Orion’s room smelling odd. “And he had a dream. But our kind don’t dream, Macy. What does it mean?”
They walked together to Orion’s room so she could look it over.
“Kraft, I know you don’t want to hear this, but I don’t think the spell Sabine placed on him has anything to do with Orion’s connection with Kaia.”
“What connection?”
She just looked at him.
He scowled. “What?”
She put a hand on his arm that felt... nice. Like kin-pack. “I think they might be mating.”
“No way.”
She paused and turned around in the room. Then she closed her eyes and murmured under her breath, her impressive magic lighting up the room in a soft, red glow. “Morpheus,” she muttered. “Ha. I know it’s you.”
“Who?”
“I need to talk to Hecate.” She left Orion’s room, Kraft trailing behind her.
“But what about Orion?”
She turned. “If he’s smart enough to grab my sister and hang onto her with both hands, he’ll be the luckiest vampire alive. Well, next to Duncan of course.”
While she went in search of the goddess, Kraft went downstairs to confront their lycan prisoner. But when he reached the living space, he realized he still had a content kitten in his arms and held the creature up to show his fangs.
It hissed back at him, then blinked, yawned, and just hung from its ruff, watching him.
“You have no sense to be afraid,” he growled.
It growled back. He hated to admit he found it adorable.
“Go wait for Orion upstairs. He’s gone to flirt with a sea nymph.” Kraft snorted. “Maybe you’ll get lucky and play familiar to a witch, like your brother, because the sea nymph cast some kind of spell on my kin.”
He put Shadow down, unprepared for the kitten to laugh at him and dart away, as if the little thing understood what he’d said and approved.
Then the battle cat—who didn’t belong in this house filled with vampires—stalked past him, snapping and roaring, clearly annoyed with the owl hovering too close to the giant beast and hooting.
“This place is fucking weird.” That said, Kraft stomped down the hall to play checkers with a lycan. With any luck he’d get the fucker to finally play Apex Legends.
He was sick of losing to some asshole middle schoolers who kept stealing his loot.
Kaia didn’t understand why Orion was looking at her like that, or why he stayed in the water several feet from her while she sat on the dock. Without thinking about it, she cast a light obfuscation spell to keep them hidden from any passersby.
She had an odd revelation that she no longer needed that borrowed camouflage charm to protect her and chalked up her new power to Becoming. Excited yet nervous, she hoped she got more of her dad’s powers than her mother’s.
It wasn’t uncommon for young magir to “level up,” as Macy called it, when a second puberty of sorts hit. A magical growth spurt in mages happened anywhere from twenty-five to thirty years after birth. Her father’s aging had slowed and he’d risen from novice to exceptional mage, way before most mages grew in power. He’d also had an affinity for demonkind, which explained his close friendship with her Uncle Anton—a full demon very unlike his evil relations. Personally, she’d thought her father partially responsible for Uncle Anton’s kind side. But no one had ever believed her when she’d mentioned it. Just something she’d always sensed.
Kaia didn’t mind being lesser in power than her contemporaries. She had a great life, wonderful friends, and if she hungered for a romantic partner, well, she could always turn to books or movies until that special someone came into her life.
Yet here he was, floating while staring at her as if annoyed with her very existence.
But beneath the irritation, she sensed worry, fear, and... relief?
“Orion, are you okay?”
He nodded to the spot beside him. “Come in with me. I want to talk to you.”
Giving orders rather than asking, she noticed. The old Orion would have gently requested her company or moved to the dock to join her. But the real vampire, she supposed, was used to giving commands.
She shrugged. “Okay.” Not that she needed an excuse to swim, or even better, to swim with Orion. Sliding through the water, she drew abreast of him and let herself sink.
He sank with her, and they watched each other, the light of her special vision kicking in so she could see the handsome vampire scowling at her.
In a deep voice, he said, “You look all right.”
“I’m fine.”
“Good, good.” He continued to watch her, and his attention caught on her hair waving in the water around her. “You look pretty.”
She’d swear she felt him cussing in his head, acting stupid for a female of all things. Confused, because it felt like his thoughts, she nevertheless ignored her imagination and smiled at him. “Thank you.”
They continued to float, staring at each other, and she gasped when she looked down his body, her vision clearing the darkness, to see a naked Orion in all his glory. As she stared, his dick grew hard, pointing at her.
“It does that around you.” He gave her a hint of a grin.