MOONLIT FANGS

What He Saw

⚠️ WARNING: MATURE CONTENT (R-18) This chapter contains explicit, highly detailed s****l content, rough language, and intense themes. It is intended strictly for mature readers aged 18 and older. If you are uncomfortable with explicit descriptions, please skip this chapter.

Sebastian showed up at Rhys's door twenty minutes after the text. He looked like he'd run the entire way across campus.

For a vampire who could move way faster than that, he'd probably forced himself to walk the whole time to clear his head.

"Hey," Rhys said, opening the door before Sebastian even knocked, his phone still in his hand. "You got my text."

"I did. Sorry it took me this long to answer. I needed to figure out how to say this without sounding like an i***t, and I'm pretty sure I failed, so you'll just have to deal with the i***t version."

"I've been dating you for months, Sebastian. I'm used to the i***t version."

That got a small, tired huff of laughter out of him, and his shoulders dropped a little. Rhys stepped aside to let him in.

Once the door shut, Sebastian just stood there, looking completely lost. Rhys rarely saw him like that."I saw you with Grier," Sebastian finally admitted.

"Yesterday, in the courtyard. I didn't hear anything you said. I just saw the two of you sitting close together, and his face looked—soft, in a way I'd never seen before. Something in me just panicked. I walked away before I let myself find out what was actually happening, because I was terrified of what I'd find out."

Rhys stared at him, everything clicking into place. "You thought I was—what, considering him? After everything?"

"I know how it sounds."

"It sounds insane, Sebastian."

"I know. I've had a full day to feel insane about it." Sebastian dragged a hand down his face. "He tried to kill me. He nearly killed you. And watching the two of you sit there looking calm and normal together, all I could think about was that he's loved you for years. I only just found out about it, and I don't know how to compete with years."

"You're not competing with anything," Rhys said, his voice softening as he closed the distance between them. "Grier told me he admired how I handled everything. I told him he was stronger than he gave himself credit for, Omega or not. That was the whole conversation. It wasn't romantic, Sebastian. Not even close. It was just—decent. That's all it was."

"I know that now. I think I knew it then, too. I just let the fear get louder than my common sense."

"You could have just asked me."

"I know," Sebastian said, quiet and completely miserable. "I let Isla's voice get in my head instead of just talking to you. That's on me, not you. She's been saying things since she got back—about wolves, about how this bond won't last, about how I should protect myself from getting hurt. I didn't realize how much I'd swallowed it until I panicked over nothing."

Rhys studied him, the lingering hurt in his chest giving way to something softer. "Is that actually what she thinks? That we're doomed just because you're a vampire and I'm a wolf?"

"I think," Sebastian said slowly, like he was figuring it out as he spoke, "she believes a lot of things I never questioned before. She said them with enough confidence that I assumed they were just facts. I told her yesterday I was done listening to it. I meant it. I should have told you the same thing about my own fear instead of going quiet and letting you think you'd screwed up."

"You really scared me," Rhys admitted quietly. "I had this whole weekend planned, and then suddenly you couldn't even look at me. I had no idea why. I spent the whole week thinking I'd ruined everything."

"You didn't ruin anything. I did, by not talking to you the second I felt scared instead of letting it rot into something ugly." Sebastian reached out, hesitant, and Rhys let him pull him close. He rested his forehead against Sebastian's, letting out a long, relieved breath. "I love you. Not Isla's version of what this bond is supposed to be. Not some ancient prediction about wolves and vampires. You. This. I'm sorry I let fear make me forget that, even for a day."

"I love you too," Rhys murmured. "Even when you're being an idiot."

"Especially then, apparently."

"Especially then," Rhys agreed, finally smiling as the week's tension drained out of him. "Don't do that again, though. The going-quiet thing. It's way worse than just telling me you're scared."

"Noted," Sebastian said. "I'll work on it."

Isla found Sebastian in the library two days later. The second she sat down, he could tell she’d been practicing what she came to say."I owe you an apology," she said, cutting straight to the point.

It was so unlike her that Sebastian actually shut his book to look at her.

"For what I said. About Rhys. And wolves."

"I appreciate that."

"I don't think I meant it the way it came out," she said, twisting her hands in her lap. She looked nervous. "This is hard to admit, but part of me always hoped you and I would end up together. Not romantically, maybe, but just... close. The way we’ve always been. Watching you build a life with someone else—someone so completely different from us—made me feel like I was losing the only person who ever really got me."

Sebastian let that sit between them for a second. "I never thought of us like that, Isla. I hope I never gave you a reason to."

"You didn't. That's the embarrassing part. I built up this huge fear out of absolutely nothing." She let out a dry, bitter laugh.

"It’s easier to blame an entire species than to admit you're just terrified of being replaced by someone who actually makes him happy."

"You're not being replaced," Sebastian said, choosing his words carefully.

"You're still my friend. That doesn't change because I love someone else."

"Logically, I know that. Emotionally, I needed some ancient prejudice to hide behind so I didn't have to admit I was just jealous and scared." Isla gave him a weak, forced smile. "For what it's worth, I don't believe half the crap I said. I've just spent three years around vampires who do, and it rubbed off."

"Rhys isn't going anywhere, Isla. Neither am I. If you want to be in my life, you have to accept him too. I'm not asking you to love him right away. But you have to stop trying to convince me he's a mistake."

"That's fair," she said. "I'll try. Seriously this time. Not just putting up with him for your sake."

"That's all I'm asking."She hesitated, her voice dropping. "I really am sorry, Sebastian. I let my own panic mess with something good for you. It wasn't fair to either of you."

"Apology accepted," Sebastian said. He meant it, but mentally, he decided to watch her closely. Old habits have a nasty way of creeping back in once the loud arguments stop.

The Calloway family cabin was buried in a thick stretch of pine forest two hours north of campus. They had been there for a full week, completely dead to the world. Rhys had thrown their phones in a locked kitchen drawer the hour they arrived, intending for it to be a peaceful retreat to heal from the fight.

It hadn't been peaceful. It had been borderline ruinous. Vampire biology didn’t work like human or wolf biology.

Sebastian didn’t get tired. He didn’t need sleep. And after a week of riding the terrifying adrenaline of almost losing Rhys, the pure, unadulterated need in him had turned into something ravenous, relentless, and completely unhinged.

He was a creature of ancient, static power, and when he decided he wanted to be taken, he demanded it with a terrifying intensity that left no room for negotiation.

By the seventh night, Rhys was absolutely spent. His wolf was sluggish, his muscles standard-issue sore, and his mind was fried from the sheer repetition of burning himself out inside his boyfriend.

It felt taboo—the dark, addictive frequency they'd locked into—and Rhys was genuinely starting to worry. Rhys was sprawled on the heavy leather couch by the hearth, the firelight washing over his exhausted, sweaty chest.

His chest heaved just from breathing. Every part of him wanted to sleep for a month. Then the couch dipped.

Sebastian crawled over the edge, completely naked, his pale skin glowing in the firelight. He didn't look tired at all. His dark eyes were wide, completely blacked out with an obsessive, lingering hunger, his lips parted over his fangs. He didn't ask. He just straddled Rhys’s heavy thighs, pinning the wolf down with a weight that felt like solid marble.

Sebastian took Rhys's thick wrists and locked them above his head, pinning them to the cushion with one hand."Sebastian, look at me," Rhys rasped, his voice completely wrecked, dry as sandpaper. "We have to stop. I'm empty. I've got nothing left to give you tonight, man. Seriously. You're going to break us both."

"You're not empty," Sebastian whispered. The sheer, overwhelming dominance of his submission was dizzying. He was completely open, completely vulnerable, yet he was the one controlling the entire room, forcing Rhys to watch him. He leaned down, pressing his chest hard against Rhys's, his hips grinding down deliberately against Rhys's flaccid length until it began to stir again out of pure reflex.

"You're an Alpha. Fix me, Rhys. Keep fixing me until the fear goes away."

"This is crazy," Rhys choked out, trying to pull his hands free, but Sebastian’s grip was an absolute vice. It was terrifying how strong he was when he refused to let Rhys pull away. "It’s been a week, Seb. You’re acting insane."

"Then make me stop," Sebastian challenged, his voice a dark, velvety purr that vibrated straight into Rhys's bones. He slid down, grabbing Rhys’s c**k, lubricating it with a frantic, slick hand before positioning himself over the head. He arched his back, his expression turning into something feral and demanding. "Take me. Drive it into me until I can't think about Isla, or Grier, or any of it. Right now, Rhys."Sebastian didn't wait for Rhys to push. He sank heavily, swallowing Rhys's length all at once with a loud, messy gasp that echoed off the cedar walls.

Rhys let out a fractured roar, his hips jerking upward against his own exhausted will. The heat inside Sebastian was a tight, crushing furnace, pulsing around him with a desperate, crushing possessiveness.

Sebastian started moving immediately, setting a brutal, frantic pace, riding Rhys with a violent, rhythmic force that had the heavy leather couch creaking against the floorboards."f**k, Sebastian—" Rhys groaned, his head tossing back, his muscles locking up as the sheer sensation dragged his exhausted body right back into the fire."More," Sebastian commanded, his head thrown back, his throat bared to the firelight. He was shaking, his pale skin flushing pink from the friction, but his movements never slowed, never weakened.

He was a machine of pure, unyielding demand. He looked down at Rhys, his eyes wild and dark. "Don't you dare go soft inside me. Hit me harder."Rhys couldn't help it.

The wolf took over, driven mad by the sheer, imposing willpower of the man underneath him. Rhys broke his hands free from Sebastian's loosening grip, slamming his palms into Sebastian’s hips, locking him in place.

With a guttural, animalistic snarl, Rhys started driving upward, meeting Sebastian’s frantic descents with heavy, punishing thrusts. The bedroom was filled with the loud, dirty sound of flesh slapping flesh, the wet, slick friction of their bodies, and Sebastian’s loud, uninhibited crying out. He wasn't quiet.

He was screaming Rhys's name into the rafters, his fingers clawing deep furrows into Rhys’s chest, drawing beads of wolf blood that he hungrily licked off his own fingers while he took every deep, heavy stroke."Look at what you do to me," Sebastian gasped, his body shivering, his internal walls clamping down so hard Rhys thought he was going to snap.

"Look at it. You own this. You own all of it."Rhys was completely blind with sensation, his vision tunneling into the orange glow of the hearth. He hit Sebastian's sweet spot three times in rapid succession, and the vampire absolutely shattered. Sebastian screamed, a high, wrecked sound as his body seized, his orgasm hitting the air before he collapsed forward against Rhys’s chest, his inside muscles convulsing in violent, tight waves around Rhys's length.

That absolute vice-grip was the final straw. Rhys gave one last, deep, desperate thrust, howling out loud as he came inside him, his body shuddering violently as he poured everything he had left into the vampire. When it was over, Rhys collapsed back onto the cushions, his chest heaving, completely incapacitated. Sebastian lay dead weight on top of him, his face buried in Rhys's neck, breathing heavily but his skin already cooling, looking entirely smug and sated.

Rhys ran a weak, trembling hand through Sebastian’s dark hair, looking at the ceiling, genuinely wondering how the hell he was going to survive the drive back to campus tomorrow. They got back to campus three days later.

Rhys walked with a very stiff, tired look, even though he tried to act normal. Milo and Talia were already waiting outside the dorms, looking very pleased with themselves. They returned," Milo called out dramatically. "The lovebirds survive the sad weeks."

"It wasn't a big deal, Milo. It was just a crappy week," Rhys muttered. His voice was still very deep and rough. It was very dramatic. Talia and I bet on how long it would take you two idiots to actually talk instead of hiding in opposite corners."

"Who won?" Sebastian asked. He was smiling brightly and looked completely fresh, with no scratches or signs of being tired. Talia. She said three days. I said a week because I forgot how crazy Rhys is about you."

"I’m never doubting Talia again," Rhys muttered. He pulled his scarf higher to hide the red marks and bites on his neck. Smart move," Talia said. She looked at how tired Rhys was and smiled knowingly. "Anyway, glad you fixed it.

The pack was miserable with you in charge this week. You were annoying."

"I was not."

"Rhys, you cried at a dog food commercial."

"That dog was lost for six months, Talia! It found its family! You have no heart if you didn't cry."

"See?" Milo said to Sebastian, loving every second of this. "Love broke him. Three years ago, this guy growled at first-year students for walking too close to him. Now he’s crying over puppies because his boyfriend ignored him for a few days."

"I have many sides to me," Rhys said with a straight face, using his own old words. Sebastian laughed, and the sound warmed Rhys inside.

Later that night, after Milo and Talia finally left, they were curled up in Sebastian's room. The stress of the school year felt far away. Rhys lay there thinking about how close they’d come to losing each other over nothing but old fears they hadn't talked about.

You didn't lose anything, Fenn’s voice popped into his head, uninvited as usual. You fixed it. That’s what matters. Rhy didn't say that out loud. Some thoughts were better kept to himself."You're thinking too loud," Sebastian whispered against his shoulder, already half-asleep. Just glad we're good," Rhys said softly, wrapping his sore arms around his incredibly strong boyfriend. "Go to sleep."Outside, the snow kept falling over Wraith Hollow. Across campus, Isla sat alone in her room, staring at the wall. She wondered if she really meant that apology, or if the fear was hiding, waiting for the next chance to cause trouble.