I am sorry for this chapter being shorter than the others. Next one will be longer, promised.
Slight warning: I tried to impliment my opinion on vampire pack dynamics here without being overly explicit just yet. In my opinion the normal rules of physical contact and relationships don't apply to vampires due to their long lifespan. In my view it doesn't matter so much to them what gender somebody has because if you live that long the charakter of a person is much more important. I know not everbody will agree with that, so if you cannot tolerate that I don't stick with conventional rules of relationships in this chapter and the following: don't read and don't hate.
He landed back up on the bridge next to his brothers. The unconscious girl in his arms. Marko and Paul were laughing and held up an equally unconscious Michael. He hadn't jumped on his own. He fell because he couldn't hold on anymore.
"What a chicken. He screamed louder than our girl." Paul just couldn't stop laughing. David gave him a short look.
"Still. I didn't want it to go down like that. It shouldn't have been like that. She deserved more than that asshole shoving his tongue down her throat.", the eldest of the four vampires growled. His brothers nodded in silent agreement.
"So why do we have to deal with him?" Marko complained and let go off the motionless boy.
"You know why." Dwayne answered dryly and looked down at the girls' peaceful face.
"Yeah… Because Max now wants to play house with this dimwits' mother. And where are we in all this?" His brothers could tell Marko was getting frustrated. It wasn't the first time a change in the family dynamic seemed to leave him on the outside.
"It is only until he makes his first kill. Until Max has changed his mother and brother. After that it will be like always. The occasional awkward family meeting and apart from that we do what we want. It won't change anything for our family!" David had taken a hold of Markos' face and leaned his head against the younger vampires'. Marko closed his eyes and sighed deeply.
"I can't lose our family. I can't lose you! And I can't let Max take her from us." His eyes were determined. He felt Pauls' arms tighten around his chest.
"You won't lose us, idiot. And we won't let him take Amy. She belongs with us. Same as you do." Marko let out a deep growl when Pauls' fangs graced over his jugular. A smack to the back of his head made him laugh and retreat from his brothers' throat.
"You know, she was right. You are an animal." Dwayne's voice was a low purr.
"Yeah, you know how much of an animal I can be.", was Paul's answer.
"Okay boys. Cut the flirting, we're heading home. Paul, drop off Michael." David cut in before his brothers could go further. Normally he wouldn't stop them but they needed to get rid of the boy.
"We're taking her back with us?" Dwayne asked, still carrying their soon to be sister. David thought about it for a while.
"Yes. I would feel better to have her close by when she wakes up. Since you were the one to take care of her, it would be best if you stay with her in one of the spare rooms." A sharp glare at Marko had him bite back the comment he was to give about Dwayne staying with the girl.
Paul and Dwayne both jumped up to fly to their destination. David and Marko would take care of the bikes and meet up at the cave later on.
I felt dizzy when I slowly woke up. I didn't know how much time had passed since jumping off the bridge. I opened my eyes. I didn't recognize the room. There were stony walls and candles all over, some lit and some already burned down. I let my face fall down into the pillow again.
I knew the scent hanging in the fabric. Hot sand and pine needles. Dwayne… It was Dwayne's scent. Slowly memories came drifting back. Wait a second. How did I get here? Last thing I remembered was hanging from the bridge and me clinging to Dwayne while we were falling down.
I tried to sit up, but something heavy around my waist kept me down. I shifted a little bit, only now realizing there was someone pressed up against my back.
"Where are you going, princess?" Dwayne's voice was drowsy as he pulled me further into his body. I looked at him over my shoulder, unable to turn around due to our closeness. His eyes were closed and his long hair a bit dishevelled. I had to smile, he was cute when he was half asleep. He opened one eye when I didn't answer his question.
"I didn't plan on going anywhere." I whispered back.
"Good. Because I won't let you anyways." He shifted a bit so he could roll me onto my back. He had his head propped up on one arm and was now looking down on me. After a few seconds he pushed some of my hair out of the way and leaned down to capture my lips with his.
I closed my eyes and couldn't help the low moan that escaped my throat. The kiss started slow, he gave me time to stop him, not that I would have wanted that. Willingly I opened up for him when he dragged his tongue along my bottom lip.
When he pulled away I was breathing heavily. He smiled down at me and gave me another quick kiss.
"I could get used to waking up next to you.", he confessed.
"Me too." I shrieked and jumped up into Dwayne as out of nowhere a heavy body fell onto the bed next to us.
"You weren't going to start anything without me, were you?" With my heart still pounding violently I tried to slap Paul.
"Are you insane? You can't just jump into somebody's bed when they just woke up. You really are an animal!" Paul started laughing loudly and gave me a mischievous smile.
"Oh you will like it so much when you find out how much of an animal I can be." He pressed his lips against mine, cutting off any answer I had to that. I gently brushed through his wild hair when our lips parted.
I shook my head. I didn't get it. How could something feel so wrong and so right at the same time?
"What is it, princess?" Dwayne had pulled me back into him and Paul was now resting his head on my chest.
"I just don't understand what is happening… I've had relationships before. But I don't get how I can feel so comfortable with being close to all of you when my head tells me that only a whore…" A glare from both men had me shut up in the middle of the sentence.
"Don't you dare for just one second to talk like that ever again. You are no whore. You don't get to choose who you fall for or for how many." I looked at Paul, still confused.
"I don't understand what is happening to me…" I could feel hot tears in my eyes.
"Then we should explain it to you. Let's take this to the main cave." I hadn't noticed that David was leaning in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. He pushed away from the frame and came towards the bed.
"You're coming, sweetheart?" He held his hand out to me. When I took it and he pulled me off the bed, both Paul and Dwayne let out a low growl in disapproval.
Back in the cave I saw Marko lying draped over one of the couches. When we entered he instantly jumped up and slid in front of me. Taking my face in gloved hands he tilted my head back a bit and gently brushed his lips against mine.
"Well, good morning to you too." I smiled into the kiss before David pulled me away. He sat down in his wheelchair, pulling me in his lap as he had yesterday. Paul and Dwayne sat down on one of the couches and Marko crouched down on the fountain.
"So what did you want to talk to me about?" I rested my head against Davids' shoulder and looked at all four of them while Davids' hand casually stroked my neck.
"What is the last thing you remember of yesterday?"
"Ahem… The last thing I remember is hanging from that bridge. When the train passed over us Dwayne told me to hold on tight to him and then we fell…" I locked eyes with the dark-haired man.
"In that bottle Michael drank from wasn't wine. And it was no lie that I didn't want you to drink that. At least not yet. Not until you trusted us more." Davids' voice was low and he stared off into the vast cave.
"Then what was in there?" I was confused. But something inside me screamed that I already knew it. Star had told Michael.
"Blood. In there was blood. And hadn't Michael forced it down your throat we wouldn't need to have this conversation." Paul answered with a sour expression on his face. I looked at him. I knew I should be freaking out right now. That I should tell them to fuck off, to make their jokes with someone else. But deep down I knew it was the truth.
"Okay. I think I already know the answer, but why would you have a bottle of blood standing around?" I had my eyes fixed on Davids'. He seemed to search for something in my gaze and I felt as if he was penetrating my skull.
'Say it. You know what we are. What you will be.' I gasped. Davids' voice was loud in my head, even when his lips didn't move. I knew it was him. I felt three other presences tapping at my mind, begging to be allowed in and I knew it was Marko, Paul and Dwayne.
"You're vampires. But how is this even possible?"
