“I’m sorry,” Kern cried. “I didn’t know what I was doing. Please don’t leave me again.”
“I won’t,” Haig soothed. “I should’ve known you’d experience the mating frenzy with
Audric
. I guess I wanted to believe the mating wouldn’t take since he’s not were.”
Decisions would need to be made. It was obvious there would now be three of them in the relationship. Haig knew there wasn’t a possibility of him surviving without Kern, and he doubted Kern would fare much better without
Audric
.
As he ran his hands across Kern’s tattooed back, he was reminded of how long he’d been away. “When’s the last time you ate?”
Kern shrugged. “What day is it?”
Haig sighed and kissed the top of Kern’s head. “Stay here. I’ll go catch you something. It’ll be easier for you to digest and regain your strength in wolf form.”
“Don’t leave.” Kern wrapped himself around Haig. “Please. If you go, I won’t be able to control myself.”
“I’ll go get
Audric
and bring him here before I go hunting.” It would be the hardest thing Haig had ever done, but it was also the right thing to do. Somehow, someway, he’d have to come to terms with what had happened.
* * * *
Audric
sat alone in his darkened room listening to the voices in the hall. It was a typical Saturday night and the residents were restless. He reached for a bottle of blood and took a sip. The stuff was nasty as hell but it was the only option he had.
It’s not the only option
.
Audric
shook his head, ridding himself of the internal voice that had seemed to follow him since he’d arrived at the vineyard.
Ramiro had been by several times to offer
Audric
a ride into town. A human donor bar called Il
Donatore
di
Sangue
, or The Blood Donor, had opened to service the vineyard’s new staff of vampire guards, but
Audric
couldn’t bring himself to leave the comfort and safety of Le
uve
del
Regno
.
He finished off the bottle and tossed it towards the trashcan. Like always, feeding made him horny. It didn’t seem to matter whether or not the blood he drank was straight from the source or not—once consumed,
Audric
needed to fuck.
He got up and went in search of his well-used bottle of lube. He’d jerked off more in the last month than he had in his entire existence. After grabbing the lube from the kitchenette,
Audric
stripped out of his jeans and lifted one foot to rest on a straight-backed chair.
He slicked his hands and wrapped one around his cock while the other buried itself two fingers deep in his asshole. He was a dozen pumps in when a loud knock sounded at the door. The noise made
Audric’s
cock immediately deflate as he looked around the room for somewhere to hide.
“It’s Haig. I need to talk to you.”
Audric’s
eyes rounded as he scrambled to wipe his hands and find his jeans. Was Kern’s mate finally here to kill him? He backed into the corner of his small studio apartment as he fumbled with his zipper. Maybe if he stayed quiet, Haig would go away.
“I can smell you. I know you’re in there, and I know what you were doing. Now open this fucking door before I break it down!” Haig bellowed.
Quickly pulling on his jeans,
Audric
knew he had to answer. “I didn’t do anything. Please don’t hurt me.”
Haig was silent for several moments before finally speaking. “I’m not going to hurt you,
Audric
. Kern’s in bad shape, real bad. He needs your help.”
Audric
took several steps towards the door. “What’s wrong with him?”
“Please open the door so I don’t have to broadcast our private business to everyone on this fucking floor.”
Unsure what to do,
Audric
began to chew on his fingernail. There was no doubt in his mind Haig could easily break the door down if he wanted, so what would be the point of making him angry enough to do so?
Audric
eventually crossed the room and turned on a small lamp. Just because he could move about easily in the dark, didn’t mean
a were
could. It was yet another reminder of how little he knew about the species he’d been mated to.
After unlocking the door,
Audric
backed into a corner. “It’s open.”
He watched as the doorknob turned and Haig stepped into the room. He’d only been around the mountainous blond man once, and he was being guarded at the time.
Haig closed the door and looked around until his eyes settled on
Audric
. “You look like shit, too. What the hell is wrong with the two of you?”
Audric
glanced down at himself. Although he’d always been thin, the bottled blood had diminished what muscle mass he had.
Audric
ran a hand over the raised ridge of his rib cage. “I’m not used to the blood here.”
With a loud sigh, Haig opened the closet beside
Audric’s
small bed. “Where’re the rest of your clothes?”
Audric
pointed towards the laundry basket on the floor. Because he only had three changes, he was forced to do laundry every other day. It was something he did just before dawn when the wolves and cats had settled in for the night. “Michael loaned them to me.”
“You don’t have any of your own?” Haig asked, throwing the clean T-shirt and pair of jeans into the laundry basket.
“No. They took me before I could gather them.” It was yet another reminder he had nothing. His life with
LeMont’s
coven might have been torturous, but at least he’d had the finest things money could buy.
Haig pulled the basket out of the closet and placed it on the bed. He looked around the room before turning to meet
Audric’s
gaze. “You’re coming home with me. What else do you want to take?”
Audric
immediately lowered his eyes. “Kern doesn’t want me there.”
With a soft growl, Haig crossed the room and towered over
Audric
. “Want has nothing to do with it. Kern
needs
you there. I should’ve realised it, but I tried to tell myself a real mating couldn’t take place between a wolf and a vampire. I was wrong.”
Haig put his large hands on
Audric’s
shoulders. “We’ll have to work it out between the three of us, but for now, I only want what’s best for Kern.
And
, if that means having you in the ways of a mate, so be it.”
“Why are you doing this?”
Audric
asked, still looking at his feet.
“Because he could easily die if I don’t.” Haig released
Audric
and returned to the bed. Tucking the small laundry basket under his arm, he gestured around the room. “Now, get what you want and let’s go. Kern needs to eat and fuck, and I can’t take care of both those things at once.”
Audric’s
eyes rounded. “What’re you saying? You expect me to just waltz over there and let him fuck me?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.
Unless of course you can bring down a deer for him to eat?”
Haig opened the door. “Ready?”
Audric
scrambled to gather his toiletries as well as the few bottles of blood he had left in the refrigerator. He found a sack and tossed everything inside. On his way out, he spied the bottle of lube peeking out from under the chair and bent to grab that as well.
He didn’t care for Haig’s no-nonsense attitude regarding sex, and he really didn’t like being ordered around. Unfortunately, he was used to it. With any luck his new master wouldn’t beat him as harshly as his last.
* * * *
Haig silently cursed himself as he led
Audric
down the path towards the small cottage the three of them would share. Although
Audric
hadn’t chained himself, his physical condition appeared as bad as Kern’s.
“What did you mean when you said you weren’t used to the blood here?” Haig asked.
Walking several steps behind,
Audric’s
soft response was barely heard. “Bottled blood isn’t the same.”
Haig slowed and turned to address
Audric
. “I’ve seen a number of strong, healthy vampires since I’ve been back. Why aren’t they affected by the difference in blood?”
“Because they’re going to The Blood Donor in town to feed.”
Haig’s eyebrows drew together in confusion. “Who’s the blood donor?”
“Not who, what.
The Blood Donor is a new bar. Vampires pay to get in. There are humans who allow vampires to feed from them. From what Ramiro tells me, it’s a pretty nice place as long as you make it clear to the humans you aren’t looking for anything more permanent than feeding.”
Haig couldn’t imagine such a place. “What do the humans get out of it?”
“Evidently it’s become quite the kink for bored singles and married couples looking for something more. For some unknown reason they don’t feel like it’s cheating since we’re not human.”
Audric
shrugged. “I haven’t been able to get myself to try it.”
“Why?” It was obvious
Audric
needed what the bar had to offer. What would make him starve himself?
“I feel safer here at the vineyard. Ramiro said he’d take me with him, but I know what it’s like when a vampire feeds, and I can’t count on him to watch my back if he’s engaged in his own feeding.”
Haig turned back around and continued down the path. He didn’t want to show his stupidity by asking what a vampire was like when they fed, but eventually he’d need to know. Shit. He still couldn’t believe he was willingly going to live with a vampire, and not just any vamp, Kern’s mate.
How would he handle the man he loved fucking someone else night and day? It had already become obvious he would either have to leave Kern behind when he went to rescue Galena from Juniper Cavanaugh’s clutches, or take
Audric
with them.
Reaching the cottage, Haig climbed the steps and waited for
Audric
to catch up. Even as thin as he was,
Audric
was still damn sexy. What if Kern enjoyed sex more with the smaller man? Would Haig become obsolete?
Before he had a chance to warn
Audric
about Kern’s current predicament, the door behind him opened. Although Kern was pale and thin, Haig couldn’t deny the look of lust in those dark green eyes he loved more than his own life. “Be careful with him,” he warned Kern. “He’s not as strong as I am.”
Kern’s nostrils flared and his cock went rigid as
Audric
slowly climbed the steps. Instead of acting on his natural instincts, Kern turned his head to look at Haig. “I need him.”
“I know.” Haig set the laundry basket inside the front door and began to strip out of his clothes. “I’m going hunting, but I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
It took every ounce of love and compassion Haig felt for Kern to step back and shift into his wolf form. He knew the moment he was gone, his mate would be all over
Audric
. In the end, Haig decided it would be better not to witness the coupling so soon after his return. He fled towards the woods, away from Kern’s hungry growl as he pulled
Audric
into the cottage.
* * * *
As soon as Haig ran off, Kern lifted
Audric
off his feet and carried him to the couch. He’d become obsessed with the thought of tasting and fucking his new mate. Lowering his head, he took
Audric’s
mouth with all the passion he’d denied himself.
Audric’s
entire body stiffened when Kern pushed his tongue deep into his mouth. Kern tried to gentle his mate with tender touches to the face and back as the kiss continued.
Eventually,
Audric’s
began to relax.
Audric’s
tongue playfully slid across Kern’s, signalling his own desire. Breaking the kiss, Kern repositioned
Audric
to straddle his lap. “I tried to stay away from you.”
Audric
nodded and buried his face against Kern’s neck. “I’m sorry this happened to you.”
Tamping down on his need to fuck his mate, Kern wrapped his arms tighter around
Audric’s
small frame. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“But Haig hates me.”
“No he doesn’t. He’s hurt, but he understands the bond between mates.” Kern moaned at the brush of denim against his bare cock as
Audric
moved. “I need you,” Kern ground out between clenched teeth.
Audric
sat back and stared at Kern. “I need you, too.”
Kern hastily began to rid
Audric
of his jeans. His stomach continued to growl as racking pains of hunger threatened to overwhelm him.
Naked,
Audric
dashed across the room to retrieve a small bag that sat inside the laundry basket. When he bent over, Kern noticed the shine of lube on his mate’s already-stretched hole.
Kern was off the couch in the blink of an eye. He fell to his knees behind
Audric
and buried his nose in his mate’s ass. Although he couldn’t smell another man’s flesh on the
lubed
skin of
Audric’s
hole
, he questioned him. “Who have you been with? Why can’t I smell them?” he growled.
“No one, I swear. I-I was pleasuring myself when Haig came to my room,”
Audric
panted, pushing back against Kern’s face.
Kern swiped his tongue over the stretched skin. “Tell me what you were doing.”
“Fucking myself with my fingers,”
Audric
admitted. “Please fuck me.”
Audric
bent further over the basket and spread his legs.
The position called to Kern’s wolf, but unlike sex with Haig, Kern doubted
Audric
would take kindly to a wolf fucking him raw. He reached over
Audric’s
shoulder and grabbed the bottle of lube from his hand.
Audric
might be slick enough to play with himself, but Kern’s cock was much bigger than a few fingers.