Page 7 of Blood Loss (The Obscura Saga #2)

KYL O

Living on the outskirts of the city meant that, growing up, he’d take the bus to school—biking on occasion if the weather was nice and he felt up to the long trip. The rural neighbourhood had a few families in it, so Kylo had friends to play with until they either moved away or grew apart. While none of those friendships stuck, they were an integral part of his youth.

His parents put all their love into this home. Fixing things when they broke, adding space for him—the youngest child they didn’t expect—updating the decor to fit their personal tastes along the years, and repurposing empty rooms in retirement once their children moved away. Even the guest house held its merit. Growing up, it was always a highly regarded location on the property, offering extra space to luxuriously accommodate visiting pack elders—now often used by Kianna’s little family when they stay over.

Kylo never had the pleasure of staying under the small home’s roof. But now, sleeping here by Lathan’s side, he feels like he’s earned it.

His bedroom inside the main house, though nostalgic, felt cold and empty without his other half. And with the trials and tribulations that led them here, staying in the guest house is like reclaiming a sliver of dignity that was taken from him long ago.

So many memories fill this plot of land, both good and bad, but all of them important. And Kylo feels honoured to share this part of his life with Lathan.

◆◆◆

The next four days glide by with an odd but welcomed sense of normalcy. Kylo hasn’t slept in his own room since their first night here—which was more of a short-lived attempt than an actual restful night sleep until he snuck out like a lovestruck teenager into Lathan’s bed—and no one has batted an eye about it. Though, that’s probably due to their mated status—the conversation of which Kylo has been putting off, now that Lathan has started to recover some of his hearing, even if only a small percentage. Turns out Lathan did hear Kylo close the front door a bit too hard that night.

Both his parents have fully accepted the vampire into their home and into their lives as if he belongs here. David even went to the trouble of outsourcing packets of blood from the community vampire blood drive, stocking up the guest house fridge with a variety of blood types, unsure if vampires have a preference—though how he managed to get them as a werewolf, Kylo still doesn’t know. Maria, on the other hand, is itching at a chance to take the two clothes shopping—especially Lathan, in hopes to get him to try a colour, any colour. Red is her favourite, though, and she’s convinced it would look dashing on him—Kylo doesn’t disagree.

Classes start up again, via the online Obscura Academy servers, on Monday. The week off was woefully needed respite for both staff and students due to the traumatic experience, and the aftermath that follows such an event. Since Obscura already offered online classes, transitioning to a fully virtual system should hopefully be smooth, and if not, there’s only another month and a half until summer.

The sun is soft, peeking between cracks in the clouds Sunday afternoon. Kylo peers out the patio windows, watching Lathan on the swinging bench under the large oak tree, one leg folded under him, the other gently rocking the seat back and forth as he reads from a textbook in preparation for classes resuming. The birds tittering away in the branches can be heard even from behind the glass. It’s a beautiful scene. Peaceful in comparison to the whirling vortex of nerves balling in Kylo’s gut. He knows it’s time. It’s been time for a few days, but he’s been ignoring his mother’s prods to finally come clean about what they are now. What Lathan is.

What will I actually do if he rejects me? If he doesn’t want to be a part of my pack? If he feels trapped… He shoves the thought down, not wanting to deal with this unknown, when so many others are already hanging over his head.

Stepping into a pair of slides, he pushes open the sliding patio door. He walks halfway to Lathan before calling out, “Hey,” and forces a smile on his face. “You busy, or can I steal you away from your riveting literature?”

It takes Lathan a few seconds to look up—either he’s finishing the paragraph he’s reading, or he’s barely heard Kylo and it’s registering in his head that he’s standing a distance away. “Hm?” He lifts his gaze. “Oh, yeah, please. I learned this shit two years ago, but Dr. Hawthorne is doing a whole unit on it.” He rolls his eyes. “What’s up?”

“Could we actually go inside?” He gestures his extended thumb toward the guest house. “It’s kinda private.” Nosy neighbours don’t need to know pack business—especially when the pack itself doesn’t know. Besides, if he is rejected, at least his humiliation won’t be on broadcast for their whole community.

“Sure.” Lathan nods once and stands from the bench, which knocks against the back of his legs as he holds his textbook against his hip.

Inside, Lathan slides his book onto the counter and grabs himself a glass of water, which Kylo’s relieved to see, now that he knows the sun dehydrates vampires quicker than others. He grips the edge of the countertop as he brings the cup to his mouth, the muscles in his arm flexing. “Did your parents change their mind? I gotta go?”

“What? No!” Kylo chuckles off his surprised expression. “I just—I need to fill you in on something I found out when we got here… It wouldn’t have been right to tell you over text.” Scratching the back of his head, he looks behind them, then makes his way to the couch in the small home’s living room.

Lathan circles around to join him, sitting on the edge of the couch and setting his glass down before turning to face him directly. “What’s going on?”

He breathes deeply in an attempt to calm his mind. “It’s about the mark I gave you.”

Lathan tilts his head. “Okay.”

“When…when it was happening,” he starts, staring at the fidgeting hands in his lap, “I couldn’t think clearly. It was as if I needed to mark you. An urge or an instinct I couldn’t ignore. But I didn’t know what would happen afterward. No one ever told me. And I only found out why recently.” His face scrunches in internal discomfort before he runs his hands over his expression, taking another deep inhale.

“If you’re worried I’m pregnant, I have news for you,” Lathan offers, picking up his drink.

“The mating mark biologically bonds us, Lathan. You’re a part of my pack now,” he blurts out, slamming his hands down onto his lap, looking up as he does so.

“Mm.” Lathan tilts the water down his throat and swallows another gulp. His face is unreadably calm. “Okay. What does that mean?”

“I-I felt something shift between us afterward, but I didn’t know what it meant—despite Jake’s reaction and the rumours— until my parents picked us up from the airport and told me. They could smell it on you. They could smell me in your blood .”

He looks at Kylo for a long time. “The sex was that good, huh?” But his own joke quickly sinks in, boomeranging back at him. He lets out a single-beat laugh. “Wait. So they knew we…?”

Kylo doesn’t laugh, just stares at him as he processes the information. “Yeah,” he says slowly, “they knew. And then they quickly told me what I should’ve known before going to Obscura.” He shakes his head and looks away at the absurdity of it. Still waiting for Lathan’s true response, for the gravity of his actions to cause him to freak out. “You’re my mate because I marked you. Which means you’re a part of our pack, and they’ll all be able to smell it, too. Your bond to me—to us .” He finally looks back up at him, his ears tucking back as his heart sinks; he doesn’t want to say these words, but he has to. “I’m so sorry… You don’t have to stay. It was a violation to force this upon you, and I’ll understand if you want to leave.”

Lathan listens patiently, his eyes never leaving Kylo, but his brows knit together. “If I want to leave? A violation—okay, slow down, Kylo.” He shakes his head, trying to combine all the individual pieces he’s been fed so suddenly. “How is this possible? I’m not a wolf. How can I be in your pack?”

Kylo shuts his eyes, his own brows tightening together before he averts his gaze again, reverting back to looking at his lap. “I’ve looked into it over the past few days to better understand it and, basically, when werewolves shift and become…intimate, a hormone releases in our bodies. It causes a scent marker to release into our saliva, then the hormone urges us to claim our mates…to bite them and mix our saliva—our hormone-fuelled DNA—into their bloodstream. That’s what creates the bond.” He sighs, his fists balling on his legs. “I couldn’t find anything on interspecies packs…but it happened, and it connected us deeply. They can smell it, and I can feel it.”

Lathan gets all his werewolf information from Kylo, so if he didn’t know, Lathan would’ve never known either. That there’s biology to the act. But it’s been months since the mating mark happened, and this is the first Kylo’s admitted to feeling different.

“What is it that you feel?”

Kylo keeps his eyes closed, but they soften as he recollects. “When it happened, it was like every part of you entered into me. Your taste, your voice, your smell, your touch…as if your whole body revealed itself to me.” He swallows, the moment seared into his memory, a rush to even think back on. Licking his lips to wet his drying mouth, he continues. “I didn’t notice much of a difference afterward, except for when Jake caught us the night before Yule—the rising instinct to protect what’s mine. Then, after the football game, when I woke up chained, covered in blood, with you nowhere to be seen…” He takes a deep breath, exhaling out his nose. “Lathan, I’ve never felt rage like that before. It’s like I nearly went feral from the fear of someone hurting you. I was ready to tear the world apart to protect you,” he says, softer, raising his eyes to meet Lathan’s. His entire body was affected after the attack, in ways he’s still trying to uncover—as if there’s an ocean of discovery hiding right under his nose. The sensations, the feelings, the instincts feel foreign yet familiar, new and old, sharp and clouded. And he wonders if he’ll ever get answers to what’s been done to him.

Lathan breaks the still air between them. “If it’s biological…are you my mate?”

“Yes,” he breathes, a heaviness tightening his chest from guilt. “It might not affect you like a werewolf—I honestly don’t know—but we are a mated pair…I took that choice from you, and I can’t express how sorry I am.”

“Kylo,” Lathan exhales softly out of slightly parted lips. “You didn’t hurt me. You don’t need to apologize. I had already decided I wasn’t going anywhere before you marked me.”

“Does that mean…” His voice trails off. Does that mean you want to stay? You’ll join our pack? You’ll be my mate? His eyes flicker between Lathan’s, a search for hope, for their future together.

Lathan’s hand finds Kylo’s leg, and slowly slides up his thigh as he leans closer to him, holding his stare. “Does that mean what, my love?” His choice of words are intentional, teasing.

“Y-you’re okay with this?” He doesn’t mean to stammer, but he can’t help but swoon.

“I’m not thrilled that your parents have known for days— while I couldn’t hear your conversations —that you fucked me as a full werewolf.” He squeezes Kylo’s thigh with his lingering hand. “ And I don’t know how this is going to affect your pack— our pack,” he corrects, his lips curving, clearly entertained by the notion of a vampire joining a pack of wolves. He bends toward Kylo’s pointy ear, whispering against it, “But I’d never leave my mate .”

Kylo’s eyes drift shut, breathing out longingly, as his head rolls toward Lathan’s, colliding gently. His heart skips into a fast rhythm, and he can smell hot desire dripping off Lathan with his words—something he’s never experienced before. He’s surprised he even knows what that would smell like, but his body does and is reacting accordingly, making him feel acknowledged, turned on, electric .

“Fuck,” Kylo curses with a laugh, “ our pack .” He purrs the words as if they taste like the sweetest fruit. “ My mate .” He growls, accepting the term he now fully grasps, feeling it in his bones. Raising his hands to grip Lathan’s jaw, his face brushes his cheek as he moves to press his lips firmly against Lathan’s.

Lathan smirks against Kylo’s lips and hums. “You like how that sounds?” he says between kisses, and shifts his body closer.

“I love how it sounds,” Kylo utters before trailing kisses across his cheeks, his nose, his jaw. Peppering him with affection as he holds him in place. “I loved the way it sounded to say I marked you, but now? Every cell in my body is singing your name.” Kylo’s body screams from the inside to touch him, taste him, fuck him. Mate. Love. Mine. He looks at Lathan with half-lidded eyes and a satisfied, fanged grin. “I’m yours until the day I die, Lathan Park.”

Lathan’s cheeks are softly blushed under Kylo’s hands, his kisses, his words. “And I love the way that sounds,” he husks, admiring Kylo’s displayed canines, the heavy eyes that say he wants him. Lathan pushes into Kylo, their noses touching. “I fucking love when you call me your mate.”

“You’re my mate ,” he breathes onto his lips before pressing them together, guiding Lathan down onto the couch. His hand pulls back the collar of his shirt as far as it will go to reveal the distinct scar of his mated mark. Sliding himself down slightly, he keeps his hand on the side of Lathan’s face, a few fingers tangled with his hair, as he runs his tongue along the scars where his fangs punctured. As he does, it feels like electricity zaps between them, heating their points of connection like a closed circuit of lust and desire.

Lathan’s head presses back into the couch, stretching his neck for Kylo’s tongue, his lips. The more he ravages the mark, the more Kylo senses Lathan’s heartbeat syncing with his own, as if their bodies are falling back into one another, in the way they only ever have during Yule.

Citrus, musk, desire. Salt, sweat, heat. Mine, mine, mine.

Lathan huffs evenly underneath Kylo’s wet kisses, reaching his hands to grip wherever they find his back. In turn, Kylo’s hands snake down Lathan’s torso, finding his waistband before working away at his belt, buttons, and zipper, all annoying obstacles in his way. With his frustration, an unintentional sound escapes his throat—something between a growl and a whimper—as if his body is begging to mark him again.

Lathan shivers against the graze of Kylo’s teeth. “I’d let you bite me again, you know,” he rasps, beginning to harden under the memories and Kylo’s determined hands over his belt.

Trying to yank down the fabric around Lathan’s hips, Kylo’s becoming increasingly irritated at the barriers between them, despite not wanting to leave his body to remove them. After struggling for a few more moments, he begrudgingly leans away, scooting back just enough that when his hands grip Lathan’s jeans, a strong tug pulls them right off. “And I’d mark you again in a heartbeat,” he says with a sexy seriousness he’s never shown before. Throwing Lathan’s pants to the floor, he removes his own shirt and tosses it to the pile, craving that skin-to-skin.

“Then do it,” Lathan taunts. “Bite me.”

Kylo shifts closer before leaning over him, one hand gripping the armrest behind Lathan’s left shoulder. Lowering himself down, he kisses him deeply. Their mouths follow each other in a dance of parting and pushing, like the ebb and flow of the ocean’s tide. Pulling back, he hovers over the mark and opens his jaw as wide as it will go, biting down in the same spot.

The mating mark is giant in comparison to what his normal mouth can make, teeth much duller, apart from his upper and lower fanged canines, which are sharp against Lathan’s soft flesh. While biting down, his right hand slips between their bodies to run over his hardening groin.

Lathan sucks in a sharp breath of air and his body tenses, jerks, before he groans, vibrating his throat. Kylo’s eyes flick up to see his lids flutter, pupils shrinking animalistically, like their mated bond itself is being bitten. Ignited. Right at the birthplace of their interlaced DNA.

Kylo can feel his own pupils dilating like black saucers, muscles going rigid as blood pumps faster through his veins, ears raising higher on his head as they stand at attention, teeth feeling as though they’re sharpening as they press harder into Lathan. It’s almost as if his body is begging to shift. The urge to dominate him floods his brain, causing his own hard-on to throb beneath the confines of his jeans.

Not yet , he thinks, blowing out his pent up air slowly through his nostrils. He’s accepted me, our bond, my pack. I want to thank him, to dote on him, to make him feel the love I have for him.

As he loosens his jaw and removes his teeth from his skin, he sucks off the saliva from the spot. Leaning upward, until his face is just below Lathan’s ear, grazing his neck and hair, he inhales his scent again before exhaling a groan that rumbles through his throat.

“Thank you for accepting me, my love .” Pushing himself up, he moves lower down on the couch, nestling his naked torso between Lathan’s bare legs. His hands slide up around his hips and he slowly licks a line up Lathan’s stiff shaft, watching as his lower stomach pulses, muscles tightening, lungs sputtering, the smell of his arousal thick in the air. Kylo grins as he takes in every wordless response Lathan’s body makes.

His gaze glides down to his anatomy, lids closing as his maw slowly opens wide with an extended tongue, lowering to wrap his mouth around him fully. He breathes heavily into the action, gripping Lathan’s hips tightly. His fangs graze the flesh in his mouth as he starts a steady rhythm, devouring him.

The teasing scrape of werewolf canines up and down Lathan’s cock—a sting he’s voiced before that he enjoys—brings a moan to the surface of the vampire’s throat. “ Gods, ” he murmurs, “your teeth.”

Kylo hums pleasantly, enjoying his ability to make his mate moan. He wants nothing more than to make him cum. Removing his grip on his hips, he slides his arms underneath his spread legs, between him and the couch. His hands find the back of Lathan’s pelvis, gripping firmly, lifting him up closer. All the while, he doesn’t stop his rhythm, sinking as far as he can go with each drop down.

You are my everything. Gods, you are perfect.

“What did I do to deserve this today?” Lathan says, and then inhales sharply as the fire spreads through him, building—Kylo can feel it through their bond. His knee bends up in reflex, his thigh bracing against the side of Kylo’s head. He lets his head fall to the cushion below him, eyes closing, breaths beginning to pant.

Kylo twists his head slightly to the side so his tongue can swirl around Lathan’s shaft, continuing to bob up and down, his head colliding with the inside of Kylo’s cheek. After a few moments, he returns forward, quickening his pace, pushing him as far into his throat as he can handle, fighting the gag reflex he wishes he didn’t have. Breathing through the discomfort, he keeps his focus on the erotic sounds escaping his mate.

“Yes… fuck .” Lathan isn’t one to be overly vocal during sex, so any words, any sounds that do come out of him carry extra emphasis, and rush at Kylo like bullets. Lathan’s hips tilt upward, like he’s searching for the back of Kylo’s throat, and a hiss parts its way through his clenched teeth. “You’re going to make me cum,” he exhales roughly, offering it as a warning as his muscles tense further. He clutches the side of the couch, his free hand reaching to nest in Kylo’s overgrown curls.

The warning only excites him further, moans vibrating through his own throat. Gripping tighter around his back, he suctions his mouth to Lathan, causing his fangs to graze him as he continues.

Lathan’s grip on Kylo’s hair tightens and he sucks in air desperately. “Ah—” Then, he releases, shooting his shot down his mate’s throat, huffing harsh breaths through his orgasm.

Kylo stays motionless as Lathan rides out his high. His eyes lift to watch the pleasure ripple through his body, flood his mind. Once he stops throbbing, Kylo removes his mouth and swallows his reward before pushing himself up. Sitting back on his heels, his tongue swipes over his lips before gliding across his teeth in the opposite direction, looking down at Lathan with a drowsy, lovestruck expression.

Lathan lifts his head and rubs the mark on his shoulder again as his body slowly recovers and he catches his breath. “You’re incredible.” He shakes his head in disbelief, sitting up to be closer to Kylo, holding his gaze, his face gently flushed. “I don’t want you to ever think that I’d leave you.”

That worry is long gone, thanks to you.