Feral Bonds

Chapter 50

A snarl from one of the wolves had Natania sprinting out of her house in the middle of the night. She leaped into the driveway, shifting as she moved, then froze.

"Hey! Relax! I'm not gonna hurt you!"

Natania frowned at the woman pinned underneath Hayley's snarling form and shifted back. "Lily?" Natania asked, barely believing her own eyes. Lily's hair was a shimmering turquoise, instead of the pink it had been last time Natania had seen her.

"Hey, Wolfie! Little help here?" Lily waved at her from the ground, earning another snarl from Hayley.

"Hayley, let her up," Natania ordered.

"That is a vampire," Hayley snarled. "Sneaking around our homes in the middle of the night."

"Because if it was daytime, she would be dead. Let her up." Hayley flattened her ears and snarled at Natania again. Natania raised an eyebrow. "Don't make me repeat myself."

Reluctantly, the black wolf took a step back. Lily was on her feet again before they could blink and Hayley growled deep in her chest. "Relax, wolf, I'm a friend."

"Vampires aren't our friends," Hayley spat, returning to her human form. She was still wearing her pajamas and Natania was impressed she had heard Lily at all, Natania hadn't.

"This one is," Natania said. "Sorry for my wolf." She glanced over Lily. "Are you hurt?"

"Fine." Lily stretched and Natania could hear the crack of her bones as she did so. "I could have broken her pretty neck, but the master said you probably wouldn't like that."

"I appreciate that," Natania said warily, not doubting for a second that the vampire would have broken her neck, had Natania not arrived. "What are you doing here, Lily?" She had already told Vincent to keep her away. It wasn't safe.

Gretchen came out of their house and Natania's heart ached at having both the women she loved in the same place. She subtly moved so she was between them.

Lily stepped forward and slapped her with enough force that her head snapped sideways. Hayley growled as Natania flexed her jaw, but before she could otherwise react, Lily had her pinned against the garage door. The vampire held her gaze for half a second, then ducked down and kissed her with desperate urgency, locking one hand around the nape of her neck.

Shock held Natania paralysed until Lily pulled back.

Natania rubbed her face and shook off Lily's grip. "First of all, ow. Second of all, what did I do to deserve that? And third of all, I'm not yours, Lily. Not anymore. Don't kiss me like that." Natania shot Gretchen a look, the witch was scowling at the vampire, but raised an eyebrow when she caught Natania's gaze.

"First of all, good. Second of all, for not saying goodbye," Lily's voice went quiet and rageful before turning into a sultry purr, "and third, only like that, huh?" The vampire dragged one finger down Natania's chest.

Natania pulled back with a growl. "Don't kiss me at all," she clarified, then asked again, "What are you doing here?"

Lily's gaze turned unreadable for half a second before she answered, "Checking on you."

Natania tilted her head. "Regardless of what he thinks, Vincent doesn't owe me anything and I'm not his to protect anymore. He doesn't need to worry about me." She swallowed thickly. "You don't need to worry about me."

Lily smiled, showing her fangs. "You will always be one of his children, little wolf. One of us. And from what I've seen of your future, you've got your fingers in all sorts of new dangerous pies."