Chapter Text
“I met her in a bar. She was absolutely beautiful, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She told me the same thing. She kept buying me drinks, saying thing like ‘you have GOT to try this, you NEED to taste that.’” He frowned.
“What year?” she whispered, laying a hand on his forearm.
“1983. She took me back to her place and we started messing around, and then she bit me. At first I thought she was just being rough but then I got weak and sleepy.” He shuddered and wrapped his arms around his torso. “Gavin and Ray don’t remember turning and I’m thankful for it, because it was terrible.”
She blew out the breath she was holding slowly. “You don’t have to tell me this.”
“No, no, I want to.” He laughed. “Hell, you’re the first person I’ve ever wanted to tell.”
She smiled. “That’s amazing.”
“She subscribed to the old beliefs, that vampires should stay secret and hunt humans sparingly. I watched the news reports about my missing person case, watched my parents weeping, begging me to come home. She always laughed at me for being so interested.”
“Did she ever say why she picked you?”
“Said she had mate feelings, but they went away when I got turned. Looking back and knowing what I know now, it’s obvious to me that she was mislabeled and wrongly taught - she’s a tease, not a stealth. What she thought were tingles were her instincts.”
“That’s why Gavin got upset over wanting to mate Ray.” She hummed. “He was going off your misinformation.”
“I feel terrible about it.” He met her gaze; his eyes were sad.
“You didn’t know.” She smiled at him. “Your first coven was shitty. Things are better now, aren’t they?”
He nodded. “I never wanted another coven because I thought they were all the same. I especially didn’t want to be an alpha.”
“Did you go back to your family?”
“Yeah. They were upset I’d been turned but they were happy I was alive. They both died in the 90’s.”
“So how’d you hook up with Burnie and Matt?”
“College. I did some exposure rehab and then enrolled. Burnie was more curious than anything, and Matt just didn’t give a shit. It was nice to meet people who weren’t scared. When Matt moved to L.A. I went with him. Burnie met Geoff and Gus and, well, you know the rest.”
“Geoff was the one that told you about marking the humans, right?”
He nodded. “Geoff is more experienced than I am when it comes to integration because of the Army. I’m not sure on all the details but he taught me a lot when it comes to how covens should work, at least when there’s humans involved.”
“And now you have me for the vampire side.” She crawled from her position next to him on the couch into his lap and snuggled into his chest, “You know, you might not have the experience, but I’m glad you’re my alpha.”
He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. “Thanks. I’m glad I’ve got you on my side.”