Lucian’s POV
Rafe closed his eyes, frustration and helplessness etched across his face, his head lowering as though the weight of his own body had grown too heavy to bear. "I thought I could endure it for a long time," he murmured, voice rough and fraying at the edges. "But I was wrong. If I stay now, after getting the taste of her true scent, I might end up harming not just her, but everyone. Today, her scent..."
"You won’t," I cut him off coldly, my grip on his shoulders tightening. "Look at me."
His crimson eyes lifted, struggling to focus on mine.
"Do you even know how long I’ve been working on drugs for you?" My voice cracked with restrained fury. "I’ve been fucking working day and night for your sake, carving time out no matter how busy I am. And you..." I forced myself to breathe, to steady my tone. "Trust me. I’m close to creating one. I won’t disappoint you. Give me more time. Alright?"
"I know..." he said, his voice taut with restraint. "...but I’m afraid it’s too late now. I told you, I don’t want to be like my father. If you truly want to do something for me, if you really want to help, then let me go—or kill me with your own hands. You don’t know what’s happening inside me. You don’t..."
"Bastard," I spat, my hands sliding up from his shoulders to the sides of his head, fingers threading into his hair and gripping hard, forcing him to face me, our heights were the same, so it wasn’t a difficult task for him. Every muscle in my body quivered with the restraint I was holding onto from strangling him out of the frustration I was feeling.
"You won’t be your father. You have to trust me." My eyes burned into his, my jaw clenching tight as this stubborn, broken vampire kept fighting me. "You can’t leave me... leave us..."
The thought of him walking away was tearing me apart. The harder I tried to convince him, the more I failed to convince myself that he wouldn’t leave. The fear was real, gnawing through me like claws under my skin.
"I don’t want to leave either," he said hoarsely. "It hurts me more than anything. I want to stay with all of you, with her now that she’s with us. But I might ruin everything. Just like my father. I’m cursed to be kept from the one I love. I wish I wasn’t a vampire... but I can’t change it. If I harm any of you, it’ll destroy me. So don’t stop me. Please..."
I inhaled deeply, forcing air into my lungs, and said quietly, "For now, drink from me. Try to calm down."
"It won’t help," he muttered, though his eyes betrayed him, burning with hunger the moment the offer left my lips.
"I know you want it." My fingers softened, caressing his scalp. "Go ahead."
He hesitated only a heartbeat before surrendering. Closing the distance between us, he sank his teeth into the throbbing vein at my neck. His hands circled around my torso in firm grip like I was his prey.
I didn’t flinch. I was used to it. Pain had never been part of it—not with Rafe. My hands move almost instinctively, one cupping the back of his head, the other one sliding over his hair and down to his back to caressing to comfort him.
A silent promise that it was alright. That I was always there for him.
We always fought with each other, taunted and threatened each other, but the truth was far from it. We never meant it. It was just how we went by. If the day came when we stopped doing that, things would feel foreign between us, and our brotherhood would feel incomplete.
I could feel Roman and Jason’s gazes on us, but both of them chose to turn away, leaving it to me.
My vision blurred slightly as Rafe drank for longer than I expected, yet I didn’t stop him. He seemed to realise on his own and pulled back, though he did not release me. Instead, he lowered his head to my shoulder and rested there.
I stayed still, letting him be. Then I felt something warm dampening my shirt. His tears.
"Rafe..." I whispered softly, worry threading through my voice.
"It’s not helping..." His voice was muffled against my shoulder. Under my hands I could feel his tense body, the strain of him fighting the beast stirring violently inside.
I closed my eyes and exhaled slowly, trying to steady my emotions. I let him hold on for a while before gently separating him from me.
He turned his face away, unwilling to let me see his tears. But I caught his jaw firmly and forced him to look at me. Our gazes locked.
"Luke..."
Before he could say more, I crushed my mouth against his, swallowing the words I dreaded to hear. I didn’t want him to speak of leaving, or dying, or begging me to end him. I would rather silence him for good.
His body stiffened at first, shock flashing through him—but almost as quickly, he relaxed.
To my surprise, he didn’t push me away.
And I wasn’t even sure what I was doing. In that moment, reason slipped away. All I knew was that I wanted to do anything—anything—to stop him from breaking, from leaving. Whatever it took.
When he didn’t reject me, my hand slid behind his head, pressing him deeper into the kiss. I pushed him back until his body met the cold steel of the car behind him.
My lips moved against his, a kiss both soft and demanding, sucking and nipping at him with a need I couldn’t deny.
And then he kissed me back. His hands gripped my waist, tugging me closer as he returned it with equal hunger.
Damn it. What the fuck am I doing?
Yet it didn’t feel wrong. Not at all.
My gaze flicked ahead, over the car, even as my lips stayed locked to his. Roman and Jason were watching us, but I didn’t care. Their expressions didn’t hold surprise. They turned away as though this was nothing new—or something they had already expected.
Fuck it.
In that moment, nothing mattered except the bloodthirsty vampire I was kissing.