Moonless - The Eternal Night

No Way Out

Orion

Heavy wood closed behind Orion. He hadn't disappeared. Hadn't run. Hadn't even tried. Not among the shifters, with their attention on him. Knowing he wouldn't make it down the stairs before they caught up with him. In his condition, he was already hopelessly outmatched by Kenji alone. But both of them? At dinner, it was evident what his chances were.

If he had a weapon, again, a plan, he might be able to surprise him. Disable him. Kill him.

"You're really not going to help him?" he asked, once they were back in the spacious room, set up like a recreation area.

Turquoise as well as golden eyes were thrown his way.

"No," Viv replied. "Why?"

Did he really ask that?

Orion wanted to snap at him, to yell at him, to let out his frustration. Just because they were slaves didn't mean they couldn't care about each other, did it?

A small, yet far too pretty smile curved the shifter's full lips. "Whatever's happening right now, he deserves it." With those words, Viv turned away and sauntered toward the kitchen corner.

Speechless, Orion watched him go. Was it really okay for him? To leave one of them in the clutches of that creature? With the words that he deserved it? After all, the doctor had helped him.

Him and Archas.

They had seemed so trusting. Almost like friends. Like him and his men. He could never do that to one of his men.

On the other hand, he had seen how that shifter had enjoyed it. Submitted to the monster. The damned vampire. And helped her restrain him on the floor.

So, was it really far-fetched?

No.

No, Orion hadn't expected anything else. From those animals. Those lovers.

His head turned to Kenji, who had stopped next to the door, his eyes on the door - and froze.

The shifter was still naked. A fact that didn't seem to bother him. But that wasn't what made Orion freeze. Wounds, previously hidden by clothing, were visible on the wolf's body. Cuts, further bite marks, scratches, bruises, scrapes adorned his steel muscles. And then there were the rings. Two rings, one piercing through each of his nipples. Simple yet striking, made of the same silver metal as the slave cuffs. Like something else at hip level. Between his legs.

He didn't want to look, knew it wasn't proper, but his gaze was dragged downward.

By the sun.

She had even marked him there.

Another ring. On the shifter's member, who turned away from the door with a jerk, briefly glanced at Orion with a wordless look before striding through the room.

The human's eyes inevitably followed him and once again lingered at the center of the guy's body. His buttocks. While the shifter disappeared into a door, another simple one, like the one Orion had emerged earlier, and closed it behind him. He bore a brand, too. In the same place as Orion.

Because I'm one of them.

Acid ate through his throat again. Nausea. Even though he knew he couldn't afford it, he was on the verge of throwing up the food again. He fought against it. With himself. Dizziness returned. Seemed to have been waiting for him, only to steer him back into the diffuse waves of unconsciousness. Sleep. He didn't want to. Who could say what they would do to him if he closed his eyes for too long?

It was Virion who interrupted his thoughts. "If you keep standing around like that, someone might get the naughty idea that you're thinking of running away again," the shifter remarked, closing the fridge with a kick before turning to Orion. He raised his hands, each holding a bottle of beer, and nodded towards the seating area.