BEEP BEEP.

Teru scrunched his face at hearing the annoying city noises. Once it was quiet again, he allowed sleep to transport him back to his dreams of the forest. Just when the vision of green leaves began to reappear in his head...

HONK HONK.

His heavy eyes fluttered open, groggily rolling over onto his back after breaking free from the swaddling blanket. Teru's body felt sluggish but the familiar smells from his nest helped him come-to. He extended his muscles into a satisfying stretch, shuddering the stiffness away. Next, he popped his neck and spine.

What a pleasant sleep. He wasn't sore at all which was unusual after mating so intensely.

Kieran...

Teru gritted his teeth with cringe as he recalled almost every detail of how they spent their heat and rut together. Supposedly, it was rare for alpha-omega partners to have their cycles aligned at the same time, something that would occur once every year or even two years. Of course, Teru was oh-so-lucky enough for that to happen within months of being a prisoner.

Also, how did he manage to get to his nest? Or change into these clean pajamas? The last thing Teru remembered was laying on his bed, dirty and immobile, trying to fend off a feral Kieran. Teru rubbed his nape which was clear of any bonding scars. That was disappointing—

Hold on. Did Teru almost admit his regret to not being marked?

Good to know that I'm secretly a whore that pants for the nearest alpha like a dog in heat, Teru ridiculed himself. His family would hate to see the innocent person he became when under the influence of his inner gender.

Scratch that, more like Teru was secretly a whore that pants for Kieran. Was there really a point in denying the attraction anymore? Where was that guy anyway?

Teru's core temperature increased. There was a very faint scent of spice.

No. Not again.

His heat should definitely be over. This wasn't normal. Why did he have to be like this?

Teru rolled into a ball and thought of everything else but Kieran, his rut, his seed.

Think of...Mom, hunting for food, the caves, the Valley Pack with betas and alphas—

Well, that did the trick. The idea of giving his heat to a different alpha caused Teru's stomach to flip. Repulsive. What if he dared to think of doing that stuff with Lucas? He formed a scenario in his head of them going further than just kissing. Lucas would strip off their shirts before taking Teru's nipple into his warm mouth...

...Teru stopped the scene when he almost threw up, covering his mouth with his pillow to prevent the stomach bile from rising further inside him. He put his head between his arms to make the queasiness go away. Any trace of spicy pheromones evaporated.

Breathe in, breathe out.

A hand touched his back, making him jump from fright. "Are you alright?" a husky voice asked beside him.

Teru let Kieran's calming pheromones hug his body, soothing him instantly. Based on the scent, the rutting season was finished. Before looking at Kieran, Teru examined his nesting corner designated for his personal possessions – clothes, ring...something was missing. He moved the hand-stitched shirt aside, but the item wasn't there.

"Is this what you're looking for?" Kieran asked, dangling the toy his father had given him so many years prior in the air.

Teru snatched it away and stared at the stuffed wolf in his hands. There wasn't an ounce of matted dirt. Its fur was now soft, fluffy, and lighter in color. Although the yellow eyes were still scratched from years of being heavily loved, the plastic was transparent enough to see the painted details underneath. Was this even the same toy? It had to be since it smelled like home.

"What did you do to it?" Teru asked with suspicion.

Kieran knelt so he was at eye level with Teru's. "Because of me, your body was stressed enough to enter hibernation and you slept for three days straight. I tried my best to wash you. Make you comfortable. Dr. Charles was here a few times to examine your progress. So, you could say deep cleaning...this...is my way of apologizing."

It was a nice gesture but...THREE DAYS?! He was out for three days?! "You almost marked me, too," Teru pointed out. He placed the wolf plush next to his ring. The nest felt more complete now.

"You're right. But I didn't." Kieran reached out with his bandaged hand to pet the top of Teru's black hair. "Did you wish I had claimed you?"

The static energy between them was unreal. They remained that way for a while, not feeling awkward about the silence.

"No," he finally answered, attempting to be as convincing as possible.

Please mark me, was what his inner omega wanted to scream. Teru hushed it. For one, he wasn't ready to make such a commitment to someone he barely knew despite the obvious physical chemistry. He supposed it was his fault for putting himself in the dark. On his first day here, he denied Kieran's offer to get to know him; that should change.

There was also the fact that Teru did not plan to stay, at least not forever. He couldn't imagine himself becoming a city boy, and he definitely could not see this high-class vampire leaving everything for rocks and trees for a simple human.

Right?

Teru wasn't worth it. Their worlds were just too different.

Kieran climbed on top of him, interrupting his conflicted thoughts. Teru was pinned between the alpha's cold body and the floor under his back. "I can hear your fast heartbeat. It betrays your true feelings," Kieran growled.

"Nope."

A little voice in his head yelled with excitement, Yes, yes!

Kieran's eyes were gleaming. "My inner alpha tells me your omega thinks otherwise. You're lying."

"Am not." Rather than fighting back, Teru remained there, allowing himself to be dominated physically. After all, it wasn't always body language that could challenge an alpha – the face was also a strong method to do so.

He went against his instincts to spread his legs open by not breaking eye contact. He scrunched his nose so his upper lip curled into a small snarl, displaying his teeth. The purr in his chest quickened as a warning. Be confident. Don't run away. Don't back down.

Kieran wasn't fazed. Rather, he was amused by the attempt. The corner of his mouth twitched like he wanted to smile. "Are you trying to challenge me? Do you believe you'd win?"

Teru wished he was better at challenging. The room's mood just wasn't there to be taken seriously. "Well? Do you accept?"

Their fingers entwined. Kieran pecked at Teru's neck with his lips, his chilled breath brushing against the skin. Involuntarily, Teru turned his head so his nape was more accessible. So much for being assertive!

"There wouldn't be a point," Kieran whispered before letting his fangs graze on the area. "You've already won."

Kieran accidentally scratched Teru's swirling birthmark on his nape with a sharp canine. A faint line of blood trickled from the small nick but the minuscule drop didn't stand a chance. The vampire immediately wrapped his lips on the incidental cut and let his tongue soothe the stinging away.

Contrasting emotions overpowered Teru as his nape was being fondled with. All of his limbs had pins and needles. His omega complained that it wasn't deep enough to make a forever bond.

He wanted to moan.

To stop.

To come.

To escape.

To be connected.

To run.

Kieran's saliva healed the scratch. He pulled back and stared at the birthmark, contemplating. Teru guessed it was to either stop or just give in and finally make him his.

And with Kieran right above him, Teru couldn't help but look at the alpha's own damaged nape which was plainly visible from this angle. The skin resembled that of a burn victim. This injury was a beautiful disaster.

Teru reached up and lightly touched the rough skin under Kieran's red hair, who tensed in response. He clearly wasn't used to someone touching there. "What happened?" Teru wondered.

But Kieran didn't respond straight away. Just when he thought he wasn't going to answer, Kieran said hesitantly, "Do you know the name Van Helsing?"

"I don't."

"For a millennium, it was vampires who were hunted by a special group of humans. Those individuals had an exceptional talent for finding our true identities. Catch us. Experiment on us. They were affiliated with the church, but the deplorable torture they did to captured vampires was worse than what Lucifer's right-hand demons could do. It didn't matter if the vampire was innocent or not."

"Professor Abraham Van Helsing was the most famous of all hunters. I won't go into much detail about that bastard, but I found myself caught by him under unknown circumstances I still don't understand today."

Teru listened to the vague story. He continued to feel the hard, burn tissue. "So this...Did he...?"

Kieran turned his head to kiss into Teru's palm. "Yeah. But that wasn't even the worst of it. Burns don't make vampires unable to drink blood anymore."

The image of this dominant alpha being tortured enough to leave permanent scars made his inner omega upset. "What else did he do? For how long? How did you escape?"

Kieran looked at the nest around them, not actually looking at the stuff; his mind was somewhere else, reminiscing the past. Suddenly, Kieran sat up, pulling Teru with him onto his lap. His muscles ached in protest since he was in hibernation mode for days.

"Do you want to see the city?" Kieran asked randomly, avoiding the list of questions.

Teru's eyes widened. "Like...go outside?" He'd get back to that topic later.

"There are a few stores I want to take you to. New clothes. Nesting items. Other important things you need to wear," Kieran said, almost whispering that last one. He rubbed his thumb on Teru's exposed throat.

"When can we go?" being completely ignorant. Outside! I can actually leave this building?

"Depending on how you're feeling and if you promise to eat every bite of your meals today, we can go the day after tomorrow."

Teru wanted to be excited, yet, why was Kieran's demeanor so nervous, on edge, and worried? In turn, it made him anxious, too. Weird. It was like Teru could physically feel this alpha's emotions as if they were his own. He found himself inching closer on Kieran's lap so their chests could touch, hoping it would erase the unknown restlessness that didn't belong to him.

Kieran purred a lion's purr, sniffing at Teru's scent gland. "Later, after we return, there's something important I need to discuss with you."