"Stop doing that! It's unsanitary," Kieran scolded, grabbing Teru's wrist to make him let go of the dirty rag. He forced him to stand.

The omega was not in the mood right now.

It's been days since being used like the wolf in heat he was. At first, Teru wanted to avoid this person just from sheer humiliation. Who wouldn't be after giving their body away to someone of such caliber as Kieran?

He wallowed in how naïve he was growing up, thinking his virginity would always be intact and wanting to go against everyone's wishes for him to settle down as soon as possible when he became of age; prove them wrong that he was strong enough to overcome his gender.

Yet, feeling Kieran's seed spread in his belly the second time made him realize he wasn't strong at all – his inner omega loved it when the alpha released inside his womb.

Today, that oh-so-familiar sense of wanting to nest again made him antsy – he felt the need to clean this place spotless and find anything new to add to his vault of comfort items.

In other words, he was in bitch-mode.

"Someone has to do it," Teru retorted back. "It's disgusting."

They were referring to the dark, congealed blood he was wiping off the floor where the beta's eyes were gouged out. The maid who let that guy in hasn't returned - she was probably scared she'd be killed. Since they were too paranoid when his next heat wave would hit, no one has been cleaning the penthouse. The alpha followed him everywhere, clinging onto him when possible.

And then when his spicy pheromones completely disappeared this morning, Kieran finally left him alone to see Dr. Charles.

"I'll find a new servant by tomorrow to do this." Kieran dragged him to the kitchen to wash his crimson-stained hands. "Tell me anything that bothers you and I'll do it instead."

"You could let me go back to my pack. Not being free bothers me."

Kieran frowned. "Watch your words. You know that's the one thing I can't do."

Teru watched the old blood flow into the drain before scrubbing underneath his nails with the soap bar. "Do you feel guilty for hurting him? He's blind forever..."

"I don't. Not one bit. It was justified. Besides, I showed him more mercy than most vampires would've."

Teru wanted to mock at his words but he stopped himself as he patted his hands with a towel.

Move on. Don't get yourself riled up.

"Did you ask about my cycle?"

"I did." Kieran explained how it could be malnutrition or stress, so they needed to be more vigilant about his surroundings before it became a permanent condition.

That was it? Just those two reasons?

"I see," Teru said, disappointed that he was basically a ticking time bomb.

He went over to the wall of books, picked out a random one, and sat on the couch to 'read' it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kieran wondered if this was a side effect of not finishing his heat from the unstable hormones. Teru was being snippy, a stark contrast to his skittishness as of late. With the cleaning, it was almost like he was on the verge of nesting.

Plus, the skeptical vampire couldn't help but notice the topics of every book Teru chose since the start of their reading sessions. Economics? Computer science? CEO biographies? He thought his tastes were just practical...until now. In his hands was a thick, French dictionary with razor-thin pages and a hundred words per side.

Something wasn't right here.

"That's a good romance book," Kieran lied, wanting to test him.

"Er, I agree." Teru's gaze shifted to avoid looking at him, a sign of lying.

Kieran narrowed his eyes. "How do you feel about the scene on page 3000?" There weren't that many pages.

"Um, it was good."

He leaned over him and pointed to a random, bolded word. "What does this say?"

Teru's shoulders slumped like the secret was finally out.

As I thought.

"This is a non-English dictionary. Are you going to tell me you find this interesting, too?"

"..." He focused on the ground, hanging his head in shame.

Kieran took the book away and raised his arm in the air, causing Teru to stiffen up. The alpha was a little offended that he thought he was going to be struck.

Instead, Kieran wrapped his arm around him to bring Teru closer for a hug, who squirmed trying to get away. This only made his embrace tighten. "You should've said something. We've spent hours doing this because I thought you liked it."

Teru scoffed. "Humans in hiding can't read. It's not exactly the top of our priority list. You live in this extravagant place, free to do what you want, whenever you want. You don't know what it's like. Half the time, we don't know if we'll have a warm meal or fresh water tomorrow. I've seen people freeze to death in winter and die of thirst in the summer. Like, I know I should be grateful that I ended up here with you, but it's really hard..."

Kieran almost interrupted him to correct his statement about not knowing what it was like to survive in harsh conditions. After all, vampires suffered much longer when society was dominated by humans. There were dozens of times he was chased cross country by angry mobs with pitchforks and fire. When the Irish monarchy discovered Kieran was secretly a vampire, he was stripped of all his titles and his name was wiped from history, as if his valiant efforts to help Ireland become a sovereign nation never existed.

Either way, he was glad to see Teru release his pent-up frustrations. Caging in such feelings can ruin a person, something Kieran was immune to - he wasn't easy to break by mere emotions.

This made the little rant refreshing to watch, to see a human actually be human.

Teru succeeded in breaking free from Kieran's hold and huffed over to the balcony. When the doors slid open, the breeze ruffled the dust that had settled on the furniture over the past week from lack of maintenance.

Kieran sighed and stared at the abandoned dictionary that was flipped open to the 'H' section, not knowing what to do next...

...until an idea popped in his head.

It would take a day or two to prepare. For now, there was something he could do. He went to his small library and slid out a delicate, red novel with a horse on the cover from the top shelf, signed by the author when it was published in the 19th century. It was one of his personal favorites since he was fond of sad stories and animals with black fur.

Come to think of it, his omega had black hair...

He joined him on the balcony and sat on one of the metal chairs. Kieran opened the first edition copy of Black Beauty and read out loud, "Chapter 1: My Early Home. The first place that I can remember was a pleasant meadow with a pond with clear water in it. Over the hedge on the one side, we looked—"

"What are you doing?" Teru asked with surprise, peering at the hardcover in his hands.

Kieran ignored him. "We looked into a plowed field, and on the other we looked over a gate at our master's house, which stood by the roadside..."

As he told the horse's tale, Teru slowly took a seat on the other chair, listening intently to the words.

Kieran would steal glimpses at him in between pages.

For the first time since being here, Teru was at peace as he looked at the ruins in the distance of what used to be Newark, New Jersey. His body relaxed, the cool wind tousling his hair. The red sun was setting behind him, outlining his soft features and the buildings in the background. He must've been recreating the scenes in his head like a true bookworm, lost in the details.

If only Kieran could take a photo. This would be an image he would never forget. An unknown feeling made his heart full. His species was not supposed to feel...whatever this was for another. It was new, scary, unfamiliar...it shocked his Pride to its core.

The vampire finished half of the heart-wrenching story before bookmarking it to signal the end for today. It was getting dark.

"You're done already?" Teru protested. Curiosity glistened in his eyes, wanting to know the next part.

Kieran purred with contentment. He was happy to have thought of this and was looking forward to what he had planned for tomorrow. "I can read more to you when you're in bed. It's time for dinner."