Bound by Blood and Fang

Chapter 5

Alora

I grit my teeth as I watch the vampire remove his cloak and let it drop to the ground at his feet.

“I said—don’t f*cking touch her,” the wolf’s voice cut through the clearing.

My body is now well past the point of reacting to the sound the way it should have. I should have been scared of the threat that was evident in his tone, but every nerve in my body is now screaming far too loudly for anything else to matter. Desire tore through me in relentless waves, one right after another—over and over again until I was drowning in it. My arms and legs trembled violently as the red threads burned beneath my skin. Breathing hurts. Thinking hurt. Existing f*cking hurts.

The vampire straightened slowly before taking a step towards me again. I should be repulsed by the blood that is still smeared across his mouth, but the way my core clenches as he draws closer is a far cry from the response I should have had. His red gaze never left me, even as he spoke to the wolf.

“There isn’t time for this,” he said coldly. “Not anymore.”

I lay on the forest floor in front of them, my dress torn, and my skin slick with sweat despite the freezing temperature. My vision swam, the moonlight fracturing and blurring as another wave hit me sharp enough to rip a cry from my throat.

I watched as the vampire shuddered in response to my cry. "The heat is in full effect," he continued, his voice turning razor-sharp. “The bond has already taken hold.” His jaw tightened like it pained him to finish his statement. “Both of them.”

The wolf snarled, a sound of pure refusal ripping from his throat. “Then break it.”

The vampire threw his head back and laughed — the sound short and humorless. My mouth watered as my eyes raked down the column of his throat. Uhh, why does it have to be like this?

“Now, if that were possible, she wouldn’t be dying now, would she?”

That word landed like a blade being shoved into the center of my chest.

Dying.

Something inside me lurches violently, and my lapses in judgment are soon forgotten as panic manages to cut through the haze just enough. I tried to push myself up to my feet, but failed, my arms collapsing beneath me as another tremor wracked my body. The Heat roaring so hot that it stole my breath completely.

“She’ll die if the connection isn’t completed,” the vampire added flatly. This wasn't a threat or an argument. He said it as if he were merely stating a fact, one that the werewolf should have also been aware of, and the fact that he didn't annoyed him. "And if she dies, the bonds will tear us apart with her. You know this," he continued.

A silence crashed down around us, thick and suffocating. I turned my head upward, my gaze dragging toward the wolf. His chest heaved with every breath he took, his fists were clenched so tightly that his claws bit into his palms as rage rolled off him in waves.

My mother never told me this. That realization cut deeper than the heat, and was sharper than the pain burning through my veins. She had warned me about the hunt. About the desire that would torment my body, and the cost of blood. My blood.

But not this.

Not that the bond itself could kill me.

And the truth landed with brutal clarity—this wouldn’t be happening to me at all if they hadn’t chosen me in the first place. If they hadn’t hunted me. I hadn’t summoned this. I hadn’t asked to be claimed. And yet here we were. Another wave of need curled mercilessly in my belly, and I cried out, my body arching helplessly off the ground.

I was being ripped in two by a force that I never wanted, and now it's the only way I can survive. I felt like the longer this went on, the more my body was coming apart from the inside.

Well, isn't that just perfect?

I was dying because they picked me.

Because the fates decided that they wanted to have a little fun at my expense.

A broken laugh clawed its way up my throat, half-sob, half-hysteria. Of course, it was. Of course, my survival would come wrapped in something I had never chosen. I had run. I had fought. I had bled. And still, this was where I ended up. On the ground, withering in need and pain. Bonded to two monsters.

If I didn’t let them do this—whatever this would become—I would die. Slowly. Painfully, probably. My body would burn itself out like a star collapsing inward on itself. Would that be so terrible? The thought slipped in quietly, dangerously calm. An end. No more running. No more fear. No more being hunted, claimed, or torn open by forces that are far larger than myself. Just… silence.

My mother’s face flickered through my mind—tight with worry, her hands always shaking just slightly when she thought I wasn’t looking. All the things she had tried to prepare me for before this dreadful night. She hoped I would never be bonded, so she never prepared me to choose between dying untouched or living claimed. Another swell pulled through me, stealing the air from my lungs.

I didn’t want to die.

Not like this, not tonight.

Not without even having the chance to decide who I was beyond survival.

The Fates really are cruel.

I dragged my head up, vision swimming, teeth clenched against the pain, and fixed my gaze on them. Monsters or not, fate-bound or not, they were standing here while I was the one breaking. The thought didn’t weaken me—it lit something savage in my chest. A bright, furious refusal that burned hotter than the Heat that was tearing me apart.

“Make it stop,” I ordered again—finding my voice again, only for it to break just a little, but not yielding. “NOW!”

The wolf’s head snapped up, something fractured and wild flashing across his face before he shoved it away. The vampire inhaled slowly, his eyes darkening to a deep, blood-burnished red as the threads binding us flared, pulsing like they were answering me.

There was no other choice, apparently.

The air itself seemed to bow inward, a pressure building until the Vampire moved. His movements were smooth and controlled, like he had spent countless centuries perfecting them so that he gave nothing away. He knelt beside me, one hand bracing against the frozen ground near my shoulder, the other hovering at my face —hesitating—like he was fighting the instinct to touch me at all.

“Love,” he said, sharply enough to cut through the haze. “Look at me.”

I forced my eyes to focus, which was far more difficult than it should have been, and the effort it took to do so was nearly unbearable. His red eyes met mine.

“Once we do this, it cannot be undone,” his tone is short. “Do you understand what it means?”

It means I am theirs whether I like it or not, but those consequences are a problem for another day. The only problem to solve at the moment is making sure that I stay alive.

I laughed—the sound coming out short, broken, and ugly. “You think this is confusion?” My jaw clenched as another wave tore through me. “I understand perfectly.”

“Say it again,” he demanded.

“YES,” I snarled, my voice rising, sharp as broken glass as another wave tore through me. “I understand! Now DO IT! FIX THIS! MAKE IT F*CKING STOP!”

A snarl rips from his chest. It was feral and almost like the connection had dragged the sound from him against his will. The moment his hand finally closed around the back of my neck, the world tilted violently on its axis. Bands of electricity exploded across my skin and made their way through every fiber of my being.

My cry broke apart as sensation flooded every nerve at once—too much, too fast, too everywhere.

The pain didn't vanish, but it did ease slightly, making it a bit more bearable when he touched me. My body sagged against the ground as a harsh breath tore from me at the small mercy of it. Even as my body revealed in the feel of his hands on my body, my mind still fought against it. Behind us, the wolf roared. I wasn't sure if it was due to the way my body reacted to the vampire’s touch or if it had anything to do with the way the magic pulsing between us seemed to drag him forward like gravity, too.

“Damn it,” the wolf growled, his voice shredded raw. Whatever restraints that had been holding him back were falling away. “It’s burning her alive,” he says as he drops to one knee on my other side.

“And you think standing back will save her?” The vampire shot back, his own control fraying at the edges.

“Shut up, leech,” the wolf snapped as his hand closed around my thigh. "This wouldn't be happening in the first place had you stayed out of my f*cking way." His hand that I had admired from afar was large, and his grip was rough against my thigh. His warmth burned hot against my flesh even through the chill of the night.

"Take your grievances up with the Fates when this is over." The vampire muttered under his breath as he inhaled sharply.

His hand traced the side of my neck before he lifted me up and to my knees with ease. His body is solid and unyielding behind me. One hand slid to my waist, his fingers biting into my skin through the torn fabric. His grip on my waist is the only thing keeping me upright as another wave of need rolled through me, strong enough to make me fall forward just a little.

“F*ck,” the wolf muttered, his fingers digging into my hips as he pressed in front of me now.

“I know,” the vampire groans. “I can smell it too.”

I was only slightly mortified by their implication that they could smell me. That they could smell the way, against my better judgment, my body reacted to both of them. I let my head loll back against the vampire's shoulder, and even through the haze, I managed a rasped, “Fantastic. Glad my suffering is such a sensory delight for you both.”

The wolf huffs — a half growl, half startled laugh — while the vampire’s grip tightened like he was trying not to react at all.

“Stay still,” he growled, his lips brushing against my ear.

A warm set of hands worked their way up under the ruins of my dress, and I sucked in a ragged breath. The sound of fabric shredding fills the air around the three of us just before I feel a rough finger sliding over my core, before slowly dipping into me. My body arches at the feel of the wolf's hand between my legs, touching me, stroking me.

I moan embarrassingly loudly, my hips rolling forward on their own, while clutching the vampire's arm. My nails bite into his cool skin as the need coils even tighter in my belly. The feeling is brutal and relentless, and driving me out of my mind. My hand moved on its own, sliding up into soft strands before curling, gripping them harder.

“Stop that,” I snarled at myself, even as my fingers tightened around the strands, bringing the vampire's face closer to my neck.

The vampire let out a low, fractured groan against the base of my throat. I lift my gaze just in time to watch as the wolf’s eyes flash in the darkness.

“She’s fighting it,” he growled. “Even now, when she knows it could be the death of her,” the wolf says as he removes his hand from between my legs.

I whimper at the loss of his touch, which only amuses them more and annoys me. “Well, I wouldn’t be on the verge of death if it weren't for this ridiculous ritual,” I snapped back weakly, even as my body leaned against them like a starving animal.

The vampire’s breath kissed my ear. “You say one thing, love, and yet your body says something completely different.”

“Shut up,” I snorted. “Both of you.”

The wolf barked a laugh. “If you truly wanted us to stop, princess, you wouldn’t be reaching for us like you are.”

I forced my blurry eyes to work only to realize that I was indeed reaching for them. One hand was still holding the vampire to the side of my neck while the other was trying to pull the wolf in closer.

"I'll make this up to you when this is over," the vampire says, his voice dropping lower. "When we are not in a race against the clock."

I don't have time to ponder what exactly he means by that statement when the sound of buckles snapping free, followed by fabric being dragged aside with impatient, uncoordinated hands. My body is lifted just enough to place my weight where they wanted it, where the bond demanded it is more like it. The air thickened as the pressure rolling through every breath felt shallow. I felt them—felt the weight of their bodies closing in around me, at the inevitability of it all, instinct and necessity guiding them more than choice ever could.

The bond howled.

Then they were both there, pressing against my entrance, their presence overwhelming in a way that I couldn't even begin to describe. My body responded instantly, traitorous and desperate for them. My core tightened as my hips rocked forward, and a fractured sound slipped from me. I shifted and squirmed, a small, futile attempt at resistance. Little good it did me, but to rub my aching core over both of them.

“Listen to me,” the vampire growled in my ear, his voice low and strained, every word scraped raw from his restraint. His hands were locked onto my hips, firm enough to anchor, yet careful enough not to break me in the process. How considerate of him I snarked inside my head.

“Don’t fight it. Don’t think. You let your body do what it’s already trying to do.”

“I—I can’t—” My voice shook, my breath breaking apart before the words could finish. I might not be able to see what was happening from this angle, but I could feel them both, hard and impossibly large. This was supposed to prevent me from dying, not fast-track it by splitting me open.

“I know,” he cut in immediately, softer but no less intense. “It's a lot, but this isn’t about wanting anymore.”

The wolf’s breath brushed hot against my skin, a rough sound tearing from his chest as he pressed closer, barely holding himself back. “She’s shaking.”

A set of hands clamped down on my hips, anchoring me in place as both monsters pressed into me, filling me in a way that I never thought was possible. The space between us collapsed in an instant, their bodies pressing in from both sides, hemming me in until there was nowhere left to exist but here.

Both monsters growled in unison, their bodies going motionless, all while mine shook violently from the intense feeling of having them both inside me.

My breath stuttered in my chest as my body stretched to accommodate both of them. My back bowed while my hips rolled on their own. There was absolutely nothing I could do but let it happen; I was basically helpless to the way my body responded, every nerve ending screaming all at once. I felt them react too—felt the way their control strained, the way the bond dragged at them just as mercilessly as it did to me.

There was no room for pride anymore. No room for hesitation.

There was only room for what our bodies demanded.

Sensation shattered into fragments—pressure, heat, power—all of it stacking and folding over one another until there was no separating what was mine from theirs. Every movement fed the growing bond, every thrust of their hips into me amplified it until my body felt like a live wire pulled too tight, humming on the verge of shattering. I had nowhere to turn, nowhere to escape—not that my body would have let me even if I did.

“If I survive this,” I panted, my voice shaking, “I’m punching both of you in the throat.”

The wolf let out a ragged, disbelieving laugh that collapsed into something closer to a groan, his control fraying audibly. “She threatens us,” he said hoarsely, “while on the verge of dying.”

The vampire’s voice dropped to a dark whisper, his restraint stretched razor-thin. “She is going to be trouble.”

Words slipped away after that, drowned out beneath my shattered breaths and the wet drag of air as it was torn from our lungs. The wolf’s growl rolled low and thunderous from his chest, vibrating through the palms of my hands, while the vampire’s breath cut sharp and uneven at my ear—every inhale betraying how close he was to losing himself, how tightly he was holding the line and one heartbeat away from snapping.

The threads around our wrists blazed.

White. Red. Blinding.

They surged in violent unison, snapping tight when my body began to convulse around them, the bond pulling, demanding, taking me with it. There was nothing I could do to stop it or to slow it. I could only be dragged under—closer to the overwhelming release tearing through all three of us at once.

I screamed as the bond finally locked in—not gently, not kindly, but completely. A sudden power detonated through me in a final, catastrophic wave. It felt like I was being ripped apart and stitched back together all at once. I felt them in it—felt the wolf break with a raw, feral sound torn from his chest, felt the vampire’s restraint finally shatter as the bond claimed him too.

And then—

Pain.

My eyes flew wide as I felt a set of teeth sink into my skin on one side of my neck, the mark burning as it formed. Before I could even cry out, another bite answered it on the other side—equally as savage, equally as final as the first one. Their bites binding me to them.

The bond sealed with a final, blinding surge before the world gave out beneath me. And the darkness taking me whole.