Page 24 of Those That Are Lost (Hidden Vampires #2)

AURORA

W ould I have predicted that I’d like pack life? Not at all. But as another week passes, it feels like we’ve been here months, years even, in a good way.

There are no secrets between this family it seems, the evening meal is always communal, and whilst not every member attends each night, it's a way they all keep connected. There’s been a couple of meals where wider pack members join too, filling three or four of the round tables in the room with chatter and laughter.

Being so open about who we are —what we are —is still astonishing to me.

I think it’s taken Henry some adjusting to as well.

I catch him a couple of times stumbling when certain questions are asked or when we get offered blood.

And I’ve never seen Ty look so relaxed. He’s been smiling more and joining in with the banter that always accompanies these meals.

And the wolves are so attentive to our needs.

Each day at least two of them ask me if I’ve fed, or if I want more.

They really don’t seem to mind. They offer up their wrists like it's no big deal. Not worrying about where your next meal is coming from, or having to determine the intoxicated level of the person, is so freeing I already don’t want to leave.

Not that we’ve discussed leaving. Not at all, but I don’t think we could stay forever. There are still vampires out there chasing us down and I’d hate for the wolves to get tangled up in that.

Nerves kick in my stomach as I approach the site where today’s fitness class is taking place.

I’d taken the walk slowly in the pre-dawn light, up from the town.

Ty would already be there, helping Rune set up.

Most of the time it was held in the gym hall, but today’s class was outside, a couple miles up into the mountains surrounding it.

I’d been to a couple over the past week.

In the hall, we ran through some routines but barely did any contact work.

Today, however, Rune said the weather would be perfect.

I beg to differ. The snow is nearly knee deep in parts as I trudge up through the forest. There are worn trails the wolves have made, making the going somewhat easier, but their four legs are a clear advantage over my two.

Seeing as I’m a little early, I’ve not seen anyone else on my walk. I could’ve had some extra time in bed and run at my vampire speed, but I’d wanted the walk to clear my head.

Ty and I had sex again last night. The nightmares had seemed to have calmed down for the last few nights, but I’d woken to him gently stroking my side in his sleep, and that had been enough for me to get so turned on, I practically mauled him.

We hadn’t spoken this time. Not during, not after.

The only words had been of praise or expletives as we both reached obliterating climaxes.

It almost felt like a fever dream when I woke this morning, except for the delicious soreness I had between my legs, evidence of how hard he’d fucked me.

Various positions flash through my mind.

I’d started on my back, but after I’d come twice, I’d flipped myself over onto my knees and held onto the headboard so he could take me from behind.

It had been cathartic and sweaty and so mind-blowing we’d both collapsed back into sleep as soon as we’d finished.

After the first time, I meant to talk to him about it—especially after I’d talked to Henry.

I was going to bring it up when he showed me the papers from his parents.

It felt like the wrong timing. Then it just became too difficult.

Plus, with the exception of a couple of awkward moments, we were in a good place.

We’ll talk eventually.

“Hey!” I hear a shout coming from behind me. Spinning round, I spot Henry jogging to catch up.

“Morning,” I call back, stopping to wait for him.

“This is too early for exercise,” he complains as he reaches me, his breath puffing out in clouds with the cold air.

“It’s not that early, dawn is nearly midday.” I’m exaggerating, although not by much. This far north and with the shortest day approaching, there are only three to four hours of daylight in total.

“Fine, it’s too cold to exercise,” Henry corrects.

“That, I’ll give you.” I laugh. We continue up the track with me in the lead as the trodden path is too narrow to walk side by side.

“Surely the snow is going to be too thick,” Henry continues to moan.

“You’re really not feeling this are you?”

“Nope,” he replies, popping the ‘p’. “I bitched the entire way through basic training and even more so when we found ourselves in mud-filled trenches.”

“So why are you doing this then? It’s not like we’re being forced too.”

“Ty.” His answer is too short for my liking. When he doesn’t expand on that, I shoot him a look over my shoulder, eyebrows pulled together.

“Ty?” I verbalise the question when he ignores my glare.

“Yeah…” He pauses. “Ty thinks it would be good if I wasn’t rusty. In case his old pack finds us.”

“Does he think they’re close to discovering where we are?” I feel my throat close around the words, and my heart rate picks up a little. I know the threat is out there but I guess I’d started to feel safe in this village, and now I wasn’t alone.

“I don’t think he has any intel, but he warned me of the risk.

And I guess the longer we stay in any one place, the chances of us getting tracked down get higher.

” Henry must sense my sudden anxiety because he steps up beside me as the path widens slightly and throws his arm around my shoulders.

“Hey, we haven’t heard a peep from them.

And they won’t be able to set foot within a mile of this town without multiple wolf shifters raising the alarm.

They won’t get near you.” His words reassure me.

He’s correct of course, the wolves were quick to surround us as we entered their valley.

“I don’t want anyone getting hurt. Any vampires from that pack would fight for the chance to drag me back there.” I shiver at the thought. Henry pulls me in closer to his side. I lift my own arm to wrap around his back as we walk.

“Aurora, they won’t get near you. Even if the wolves failed, which they wouldn’t because there are dozens of them, they won’t get through me or Ty.” He looks down at me from his towering height as he says it. I hear the conviction in his voice and know he means it.

“Even if you’re rusty as hell?” I reply, giving him a smirk.

“Oi! I’m about to show you how not rusty I am.” He uses his free hand to gesture ahead of us, meaning the training pitch we’re heading towards .

“I look forward to putting you on your ass,” I continue to tease.

“Oh, it's on.” A smile full of mirth splits his face.

We take a few more steps, the end of the trees visible now.

“Thank you again, Henry,” I say, all humour dropped from my voice.

“Anytime, Rory. We’re friends, of course I’d protect you.”

We step through the final trees and take in the small area in front of us. My jaw drops as I see greenery instead of snow. Henry stops beside me.

“How?” I say in wonderment.

From our right I hear a soft thunk. Turning my head, I see Ty off to the side with a couple of kick pads laying at his feet. He must’ve dropped them as he spotted us. His gaze scans us over and I see his face cloud over in an emotion I don’t quite catch before he shutters his features.

Henry steps quickly away from my side, dropping his arm from my shoulders. His focus is on his friend, a sheepish smile now on his lips.

I look between the two males as something I don’t understand passes between them. It only lasts for a second before Henry is striding over and hauling up the kick pads into his arms.

“Morning. Want help with these?” he asks, even though he’s already picked them up.

“Yeah, sure,” Ty replies, although sounding distant. He shakes his head a couple times before adding, “Rune wants them over that side for the less experienced ones to warm up with.” He points to where I now spot Rune, who is laying out some boundary lines with long pieces of rope.

“How did you manage to clear so much snow?” I ask in wonder at the clearing. It's not huge but an area roughly twenty by forty metres is nothing but grass. It's not even muddy .

“We’ve got a couple of Fae in the village, both of them are pretty powerful earth elementals.

They’ve worked hard the last couple of days to clear this.

As we are not forecasted any more snow for a week, it gives us a good opportunity for some training,” Rune answers as he takes one of the pads from Henry.

“I didn’t know that, about there being Fae in the village,” Henry says.

“We do keep them quiet. They’re mated to a couple of wolves who sought protection from us in the war. They tend to keep to themselves when we have visitors,” Rune elaborates.

“But we’ve been here for a couple of weeks now.” I don’t like that our presence has caused some of the residents to feel like they can’t go about their everyday lives.

“No stress, Rory, they go through periods like this anyway, especially as one of them has a toddler. They know we wouldn’t let anyone that would harm them into the village. They’re simply wary of strangers. Fae being mated to wolves is not exactly legal.”

That reassures me somewhat but I still don’t like feeling that I’ve caused another stress. Maybe I’ll find a way to send them something to thank them for their work and show we mean them no harm.

Our conversation is interrupted by the chorus of wolves howling and yipping as they fly into the clearing.

“Alright then.” Rune claps his hands enthusiastically, a huge smile breaking over his face. “Let's have some fun!”

It turns out the wolves are super entertaining to train with. Even though Rune has us running drills for what feels like days, then some sequence practices before we get to the sparring stage, I’ve not laughed so much in a long time.