Fuck! Does he seriously have to speak like that in public?! Literally, no shame! No shame at all!

Lucas was angry as he carried Lust, holding onto the globes of his ass since he clung to him like a tree. His fingers pressed into the squishy flesh, making him question if this was really an ass of a dominant alpha.

He ignored the forest floor twigs and thorns scratching his ankles. Why the hell am I angry? Why, why, why??

Secretly, Lucas knew the answer, failing to acknowledge it. He hurried away from the Jeep where no one could hear them. Otherwise, Teru would think he was the biggest hypocrite in existence for what he was about to do.

Lust nuzzled into the crook of his neck. "Release your pheromones," he purred.

"No."

"I want to smell it."

"No."

Go further into the woods.

His feet crunched on dead leaves. The warmer weather called to the evening creatures. Crickets chirped their songs. Fireflies speckled the darkening background with their luminescence. Birds flew into their nests. Lucas clenched his teeth when he felt a fiery sensation above his groin. There was something else that piqued his interest, too.

What...is this scent?

It was vanilla, burnt and slightly bitter. It was like an ultra-rare dessert left too long over a bonfire, cooked with expired ingredients found by the pack's scavenging group. Not bad in any way; you either liked it or you didn't. To Lucas, the charred aroma was one that excited him, beckoning him to locate the source-

He made eye contact with Lust, who glared at him with shining red eyes, pupils vertically slit to resemble a snake.

A snake that was going to lash out and kill him.

"Release your pheromones," Lust commanded.

He stopped in front of an old, towering maple tree with fresh grass sprouting around the base. This was a suitable spot. No one would bother them here.

"And if I...say no again?"

"Do it," Lust dared him in a demonic, guttural voice.

Still holding Lust's weight, he pushed the vampire's backside into the tree for support. He found where the burnt vanilla came from. Lucas buried his face where the scent radiated, brushing the flat of his tongue over delicious skin. Is this what Lust smelled like when he was equally pissed off?

His inner alpha stirred with excitement. Rather than give this spoiled brat what he wanted, Lucas taunted him.

"One word. N-O. No-UGH!"

He felt a searing pain in his shoulder, then pressure.

SLURP. SLURP.

Lust had his fangs deep into him, sucking thick droplets of blood. With every suction of his life force repainting Lusts's pale face into a normal peach hue, his legs couldn't help but shake. It wasn't from holding another person's weight or fatigue caused by the nasty infection seeping from his cut.

It was trauma, simple as that.

Vampire fangs piercing him had become a trigger, forcing him to remember events he had subconsciously locked within his mind. Forget them. Don't reminisce. Get through the day as normal.

But that spot where his counterpart had bitten released a cursed memory from its secured box of horrors:

They were on the velvet bed in the basement, toys and other torture devices hanging on the black walls. The heavy chain attached to his collar clanged when the Duchess stomped her heel into his hand. The skin between his first and second knuckles ripped off.

"Do it right. This is the last day of her ovulation."

The beta below him squirmed with arousal, her legs wide open to display her sodden folds, foamy with female wetness. Despite being a beta, she gave off a fragrance. It didn't sit well with his inner alpha, knowing the heat was artificial. Betas didn't have a pheromone gland.

Earlier, after giving him the usual green shot to start another abnormal rut, they vaccinated her with a needle filled with a similar fluid.

Oh? The color was not green, but purple. A new poison had entered the market.

Lucas wasn't stupid. He made the conclusion that it was for betas, somehow putting females into heat and males into ruts. How could a beta entering a heat cycle be possible if Lucas was wrong? All synthetic, no substance. Was this supposed to rile up his alpha?

It didn't. Lucas recoiled, feeling his rutting cock go limp. This was all wrong. This wasn't a real heat. Disgusting. He had enough. Wasn't the past four days of nonstop fucks enough for them? He had his limit and preferences, too, rut or no rut. There were certainly alphas who wouldn't care and stick their pre-cum dripping dicks into any hole.

Not me. I'm tired. So, so tired.

He seethed when Duchess Zhang stuck a second dose of rut inducer into his shoulder. "Wait-"

His body had already absorbed the lime-green liquid, igniting a fever within him that made him dizzy. Lucas growled. His cock sprung instantly to attention and his canines throbbed, feeling as if they were going to fall out by how long they had grown unnaturally. Sweat dripped from every crevice, limbs shaking.

Lucas wanted to die. They had never given him more than one dose!

He flinched. A hand slithered around his waist, leaving streaks of bloody scratches with their nails. They gripped his hung balls tightly, helping his member aim for the female's pussy. Lucas fell further into his double-activated season, the alpha becoming more feral by the second. Thanks to the additional hormones attacking his senses, the stench of a fake heat wasn't so vile. He was desperate for a warm hole to milk his penis dry at this point.

Another growl escaped him, more beastly than minutes before.

"There you go, pet. Relish in your true instincts. Though I cannot provide a real omega, treat this cunt as you would if she were." The Duchess mounted him, breasts rubbing on his spine. She helped guide the tip of his cock through the female's pubic hair, touching the hot lubricant.

Lucas's vision spiraled. This was too much stimulation, but too little at the same time. He didn't know what he wanted anymore.

"You can do the rest."

His hips thrust forward, plunging into this stranger's pussy. She convulsed around him, already orgasming. Simultaneously, his master behind him licked where she had injected the inducer and bit the spot. Duchess Zhang's fangs messily tore through tissue and muscle that would leave his shoulder black and blue for weeks. She was seriously the worst biter in existence. Were all vampire bites this unpleasant? They had to be.

Bloodsuckers were the same.

Every. Single. One.

Lucas went into auto-mode, entering the safe space in his mind. Forget. Forget the forced rut. The woman moaning below him. Duchess Zhang sucking his blood. Forget it all. It'll pass.

Ignore everything.

Forget it all.

It'll pass.

Ignore everything.

Forget it all.

It'll pass.

Ignore.

Forget.

Forget.

Forget.

He repeated these thoughts as he swayed his body into a rhythm, robotic and lifeless.

Lucas's heart pounded a million beats per second, his shirt drenched in adrenaline-spiked sweat. Thinking he was back in that basement again, he accidentally dropped Lust, whose fangs made a SCHLUCK noise when they dislodged from his shoulder.

"OOF!" the vampire gasped, landing on the grassy patch.

Lucas couldn't stand anymore either, legs trembling. He was on his knees and elbows, hiding his head between his arms. The grass tickled his nose. The crinkling leaves had a mildew smell that should have reminded him of spring rain. These tiny distractions weren't enough to calm his hyperventilation.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.

A hand gently massaged circles on his spine. Their nails left soothing trails of comfort. They didn't ask if he was fine. Good. Lucas was too distressed to even answer.

In. Out. In. Out.

Time passed. Could've been hours. Could've been seconds. His chest heaved quickly, gasping for air. Duchess. The Zhangs were dead. Vanilla. He smelled vanilla. Eventually, the sporadic inhales slowed into a predictable breathing pattern.

That loving touch glided over his bandaged nape and around his ear, before caressing his jawline to make him look up. The vampire looking down at him still had snake eyes, meaning Lust hadn't retreated yet.

"Who made my virtue this way, to be so terrified?" Ah, but this was Blaise's voice. It wasn't demonic. "Who is responsible? I want to sever each and every finger, toe, arm, and leg until they're merely a bloody stump for the maggots and rats to slowly feast on. Their screams will go unnoticed by their friends and family."

His blonde hair had loosened from the ponytail style, now down and wisping in the breeze. The lowering sun glistened through the strands, highlighting his unblemished skin and pointed ears.

There was an illustrated book in Teru's dad's library. As a child, Lucas liked to gaze at the fairy tale drawings from the Before times, sometimes jealous that kids had these wonderful tales compared to their horrific ones. The immortal creatures in the colored pages were called 'elves,' a term Rei had taught them. It was like this person had come out of those pages.

Lucas swallowed hard.

Pretty.

He leaned forward. Lucas's lips immediately found his, both greedily opening their mouths to entangle tongues. Vanilla returned, but not burned. He was relieved. It was soothing and guided him out of the muck his mentality was stuck in.

This scent is real, not man-made by a drug.

He almost whined when Lust pulled away and pouted. "Release your pheromones for me?"

The ache on his groin grew hotter. A soft whisper encouraged Lucas, Help him. Help him.

Maybe...I can admit it now. I know why I was angry. When Blaise is like this, he says the most provocative things. I don't want others to imagine him doing them. Only I can hear his sin.

I guess...I know what I want.

"Okay."