Page 1 of Blood Loss (The Obscura Saga #2)

KYL O

‘You’re my everything.’

Kylo can barely take his eyes off the silver band hugging his finger—hasn’t been able to even as he settled back into classes. That wouldn’t be a problem, except while his prof was delving into the first lecture of the term, Kylo was off in La La Land, daydreaming about the hottest vampire on campus. His beautiful burnt cedar eyes that make me melt like ice cream on a hot day. His kind, gentle demeanour that makes me feel safe, feel home. His strong, rippling muscles I wanna drag my tongue down until I—

Bloop, bloop, bloop.

A chime rings out from Kylo’s computer, and a small call bubble pops up in the top right corner of his screen, pulling his attention from Obscura’s online student hub—where he’s currently reviewing the material he so effortlessly dismissed the first time around. Clicking the ACCEPT button, the video call expands over his entire screen, revealing Maria sitting a bit too close to the camera in the Garcia’s dining room.

“Hola, Mamá!” He chuckles. “How was México?”

“Kylo!” Maria beams fully at her screen. Her naturally tanned skin has been refreshed from her retirement trip. “Oh, it was great. But I missed being with family this year. So, no more vacations over the holidays for me!” She shifts on the dining room stool at the kitchen island. “How are you? How was Yule on campus?”

“Well, it was certainly different .” He chuckles again, scratching the right side of his head and rustling his wavy curls, choosing to omit the tiny detail that he fucked Lathan under the full moon. “But, it was good— I’m good. And I miss you guys,” he adds with a soft smile.

“Oh, we miss you too, Ky.” She tilts her head in heartfelt adoration. “How’s Lathan? Did he like your gift?”

As she finishes her sentence, the door opens. Lathan walks in and kicks up a foot to close the door behind him, his arms full of legal textbooks. “My books finally arrived. Now Dr. Martin can stop bitching at us in class.” He looks back at Kylo, who’s smiling at him warmly, as he sets the stack down on his desk and notices the video call open on his laptop. “Oh, sorry,” he says, hushed.

“Is that Lathan?” Maria says, moving her head as if it’ll help her see into the room. “Lathan!”

Kylo whips his head back to the screen as his mom starts to yell. “Yes, Mamá!” he shouts back, “Lathan liked the book.” He laughs under his breath and looks back at his partner, shaking his head.

Lathan smiles softly and sweeps across the room, leaning down to the screen, his face next to Kylo. “Hi, Maria. I loved the book,” he corrects. “Thank you for helping with it. It’s beautiful.”

“Ay, dioses mío!” Maria breathes, becoming flustered by Lathan’s niceties. “Of course! I’m so glad you loved it. We had it printed at a local shop near us, then shipped it over before we left. And, I know I promised not to read it”—she tips her head sheepishly with her hands out—“but I did take a peek or two, and it was just so sweet!” she gushes as Kylo brings a hand over his face.

“ Mamá ,” he complains.

Lathan glances sideways at Kylo’s cute embarrassment. “How could you not?” he hums to Maria. “His work is amazing.” Lathan kisses Kylo’s cheek and then drifts back to his desk, out of shot of the camera, to organize his new books.

Kylo watches Lathan with a smile, then returns his gaze to Maria with a cheeky grin. “Well, his gift was a pretty good one too—can’t leave the dorm without it.” He lifts his left hand to the camera, showcasing the delicate band around his fourth finger. “A promise ring.”

Maria’s eyes bulge as she fixates on the small ring of silver pixels. Her hands fly up to her face as she shimmies excitedly. “Oh, Kylo! Lathan ! DAVID,” she shrieks, and the speakers on Kylo’s computer crackle, causing Lathan to wince over by his desk.

“What?” David’s distant voice can be heard calling back to her.

Maria shouts something in Spanish, a longer sentence Kylo can’t understand—he’s never been fluent like his parents. She’s bouncing and squealing in between her words.

“Gods, what did I unleash?” Kylo laughs over his shoulder to Lathan behind him. Lathan turns to shake his head at Kylo, but before he can say anything in return, Maria’s yelling at him too. “Lathan! I know you’re back there!”

David appears in the camera, squishing in beside Maria as if they both have to be perfectly in frame for the technology to work. “Kylo, why is your mother freaking out?”

“Hi, Dad. It’s my Yule present from Lathan.” He holds his hand up again, this time closer to the camera. “It’s a promise ring.”

The man’s greying eyebrows jump, and he leans back a bit. Maria calls Lathan’s name again, still wrapped with excitement, and the demand of a Latina mother beckons him back to Kylo’s side. Kylo lowers his hand as Lathan approaches, giving him a look that says ‘I’m sorry they’re crazy, but just go with it’ before the vampire cradles an arm across Kylo’s upper chest from behind.

Lathan tilts his head as he leans into Kylo’s body, toward the computer. “You called?” he asks almost slyly.

“You put a ring on my son’s finger?!” Kylo can’t quite tell if it’s a question from Maria or just another expulsion of happy shock.

“I did,” Lathan says carefully, but confidently.

“Without my blessing,” David says, nearly glaring at the vampire. Kylo can feel Lathan stiffen against him before swallowing dryly, seemingly taken aback.

“Dad!” Kylo nearly laughs with wide eyes. His parents haven’t ever been traditional in this sense before, so it comes as a surprise to hear his father’s firm expression.

David commits to the seriousness, ignoring his son, still watching Lathan, who shifts uncomfortably, struggling to articulate the gesture. “Ah, well, it isn’t quite like that ,” he tries to explain. “It’s not an engagement ring. I just—it’s my promise to him. ”

“Yeah, right, as if it’s not like that!” Maria smacks David’s chest with the back of her hand and then grins at the computer. “That’s so romantic! I didn’t know you were a traditionalist, Lathan!” She hums to herself. “Is that a vampire thing?”

“Maria,” David scolds, “you can’t just ask him if it’s a vampire thing .” He looks at the screen and his face softens into a more recognizable smile. “I’m messing with you guys.”

Maria tsks. “I can if he’s going to be our son-in-law.”

The two are getting whiplash, listening to the married couple.

“Wow, thanks for nearly scaring him off,” Kylo says to his dad with a nervous breath, looking up at Lathan to judge his expression, feeling his tensed muscles relaxing. “It was very romantic, and I love it,” he adds as he looks back at the screen, an attempt at tearing his parents away from their squabble. “ Anyway . I should probably go. I have a few new courses this term, and I’m not quite set up yet.” He says in an attempt to make this embarrassing video call end. “Love you guys. ”

Maria begins to protest, rumbling in fast Spanish at Kylo, but David reaches around her and says loudly, “We’ll talk later. Love you, too,” and ends the call before Maria goes off.

Lathan slides off his back as Kylo exhales a sigh, closing the laptop. “I’m so sorry about them,” he starts, turning his chair to face Lathan, who straightens and tucks a fallen strand of his long black hair behind his ear, the rest tied back into a neat bun. “I knew they’d be excited, but that’s not exactly what I was expecting.” He chuckles under his breath, sheepishly avoiding eye contact.

Lathan shoves one of his new textbooks into his backpack for the next day, lining the rest along the back of his desk. “Hey, it’s better than what my parents said.”

He immediately looks up at Lathan with a tinge of shock in his eyes. “You told your parents?” Their relationship is rocky at best, let alone the conversation he overheard last term—and the subsequent slap of skin-on-skin—so he didn’t expect him to confide in them with something that wasn’t as grandiose or binding as an engagement.

Lathan snorts. “No. That’s what I mean. They didn’t say anything, because they don’t know.” He turns to Kylo, leaning against the edge of his desk, hands gripping the tabletop. “I like your parents, though. I didn’t expect that from David, but Maria was pretty on point.” He pushes off his desk and wanders slowly toward his partner. “I didn’t think you were going to tell them like that, though. ”

Kylo relaxes in his seat, relieved. “Yeah, my dad’s sense of humour is usually lost on everyone but himself. And my mom… Should I have waited? We were talking about your gift, so it just felt right in the moment, but hindsight is twenty-twenty…”

“No.” He grips the armrests of Kylo’s desk chair, leaning down and toward him. “I just thought they might think it’s too soon. We’ve hardly been together for four months. I think promise rings are six months to a year.” He leans closer, looking down the bridge of his nose at Kylo. “But you technically marked me first.”

“We’re practically at five months, so close enough.” Kylo shrugs, and then smirks. “But you’re right: I did .” He snakes his hands around Lathan’s hips, arching his back to look up at him. “I marked you, you marked me. Guess we’re meant to be.”

Kylo can see a shiver spider up Lathan’s spine at his touch—that has never changed, together they’re electric . “You should have told them that ,” he purrs, cocking his head, his eyes falling to the werewolf’s lips. “How you fucked me and marked me as yours.”

Kylo’s lips twist into a cheeky down-turned smile, tonguing his cheek as they burn with warmth and colour. “If that’s how they reacted to my ring, I’m not so sure I’d wanna see their reaction to your mark. Let’s keep that as our little secret.”

A dark grin grows on Lathan’s lips and he exhales a laugh. “With the looks I’m getting already, I don’t think it’s much of a secret on campus.”

“Seriously?” Kylo looks surprised, not having noticed people staring more than usual, but takes a second to think about it. “Shit. You think Jake talked?”

Lathan pulls back from the chair and crosses his arms. “Why wouldn’t he? He’s mad at you. Of course he ran his mouth. It’s kind of what he does.”

“What the fuck,” Kylo breathes, brows knitting together as he looks down in thought. “Mad at me ? He was being a dick! I wasn’t gonna let him keep treating you like shit.”

“Kylo.” Lathan’s voice is like silk. “That’s not why he’s mad.”

He looks up at him, confused. “Why? ‘Cause I marked you?”

Lathan stares at him silently, a brow tugging up.

“ Seriously ? Why would he be mad that I marked you? Jake and I were done months before I met you—not that he was ever interested in the long-term to begin with.”

“That doesn’t mean he isn’t jealous. Tell me, how many guys have you marked?”

“One. You.”

Lathan holds out his hands, palms up, with wider eyes. “Yeah. Me. Not him .”

Kylo huffs once in disbelief, looking to the side as he shakes his head again. “Screw him,” he says before returning his gaze to the man before him. “I love you .” Pushing out of the chair, he takes Lathan’s hands gently in his. “If he—or whoever else—gives you a hard time about it, tell me .” He scans his eyes. “‘Cause you’re mine now, so they’ll have to get through me first.”

Lathan shifts one of his hands within Kylo’s and brings it up to his face. “Mm. You’re going to protect me now?” He kisses Kylo’s palm. “And how will you do that?” The hand he holds to his lips is the same hand that harbours the silver ring declaring the vampire’s love.

Kylo’s face flushes, this time more than before. “I—uh,” he stumbles. Lathan’s slick flirtation never fails to turn him to putty. “With strong words, determination, and threats of legal action?” he offers, knowing he’s much weaker without a full moon.

Lathan smiles widely against the skin of Kylo’s palm as he chuckles delicately with closed eyes—it’s obvious he loves the way he can make Kylo fold, make him blush like the stain of cherry juice.

◆◆◆

In the afternoon, the warm sun trickles through the clouds like rays of gold, lighting the concrete path in patches as Kylo and Lathan walk across campus to their classes. Lathan’s building is on the way, so Kylo is happy to see him off.

Clutched to his hip with one arm, Lathan holds a shiny new—and very expensive—law textbook, and with the other, his hand is in Kylo’s; the cool spring breeze tickles their interlocked fingers.

“You should write your name and contact info in that thing,” Kylo mentions, glancing at the glossy cover which reflects light every time they pass through a sun spot .

Lathan glances over, his long black trench coat swaying as they walk. “What, like, ‘turn to page one-twenty-eight,’ and leave my phone number and a heart?”

“Obviously not.” He rolls his eyes with a laugh. “If anything happens to it, then someone can get it back to you.”

Lathan clicks his tongue. “No one’s gonna take this,” he says, lifting the book slightly. “No one wants to read it. I don’t want to read it. If I forget it somewhere and someone finds it, they’d be doing me a favour by not giving it back.”

As he finishes speaking, they walk by a trio of wolves, and each one looks up at them. One of them even points, no subtlety in the action, as they whisper to each other, continuing to stalk the men with their eyes.

Lathan nudges his head in their direction and then looks forward again. “See what I mean?”

Kylo’s lip pulls up in a snarl, looking over his shoulder at them. The moment he does, the three look away. “Yep. Sure do now,” he says with disdain toward the rude gawkers. “Whatever. It’s none of their business.”

The faintest smirk tugs at Lathan’s lips, and he squeezes his hand—pleased with Kylo’s small instinctive display. Until his phone vibrates in his pocket. At first, Lathan ignores it, but then it buzzes again, and again. So reluctantly, he untangles his hand from Kylo’s and reaches for it. When he sees the dimmed screen, his face falls.

“Everything okay?” Kylo asks, concerned at the sudden change in his body language.

Lathan opens the message without looking at Kylo. “It’s just my father.”

“Mm,” Kylo hums in acknowledgement, not wanting to pry. He just keeps looking ahead, people-watching, and he’s now very aware of those around them and their potential prying eyes.

Lathan shoves his phone away and finds Kylo’s hand again. “It’s just internship stuff. They expect me to do everything they did.”

“You do what you want to do. It’s your career, not theirs.”

Lathan nods absentmindedly, finding more werewolves watching them as they approach the building where his law classes are held. He narrows his eyes at the wolves leering at them across the grass and leans toward Kylo. “I’ll see you this evening,” he says, and gives him a quick kiss.

“Have a good day. Love you,” Kylo quickly wishes, soaking up the lingering warmth left on his lips. Watching Lathan disappear through the building doors, he sighs into the cold air, his breath fogging in front of him.

“Your parents know what you did yet?”

A chill runs down Kylo’s spine hearing the familiar voice behind him, echoed by footsteps that draw nearer.

Fucking Jake.

His face sours, brows falling heavy over his normally happy eyes. “What? Haven’t spread the news far enough? Planning to tell my parents, too?” He crosses his arms, turning to face his ex .

“I wouldn’t have had to tell anyone if you didn’t mate a fuckin’ vampire ,” Jake sneers, but then lets his face softens a bit as he straightens and looks around them. “Look, I don’t think you realize what this means, Ky.”

The emphasis on ‘vampire’ twists Kylo’s face into a scowl and raises his shoulders along with every hair on his body. “ Fuck you , Jake. It means I chose him. I love him.” He growls softly under his breath. “Don’t be a prick just ‘cause you’re jealous I didn’t mark you .”

Jake takes a cautious step back, seeing the instant change in Kylo’s body, the agitation. He scoffs regardless, though. “You haven’t been with the asshole long enough to make that mark. And he’s not a wolf , Kylo. You can’t just bring him into this like he is.”

“You’re right, he’s not. And I love him all the same—like you would understand what that feels like.” Kylo looks down, his anger turning into sadness. Their relationship was many things—complicated, lustful, messy—but loving wasn’t one of them. Jake never mistreated him, he was usually respectful, kind in his own way, but they wanted different things from a partner.

“This isn’t the you I remember,” he says under his breath, holding his arms tighter. “Just…shut your mouth about it. Please.”

Jake looks away from Kylo with something similar to defeat. “Fine,” he huffs, beginning to walk away. “Good luck with your pack.” He saunters off, back to wherever he came from, not bothering to look back over his shoulder.

Once he leaves, Kylo wipes his face dryly with his hands, exhaling another steam cloud before setting off to his class. He doesn’t regret the choice he made—not in the slightest—he just wishes Lathan didn’t have the backlash. He feels guilty, like he should’ve talked to Jake about this that night, avoiding their intimacy from being leaked across campus. But there’s no turning back now.

Now, I defend my mate.