Before I could bite my tongue, I spoke. Catching them both off guard.

“Who or what is James?” I asked. 

William turned to look at the other Alpha, who spoke openly. 

“James is my husband, my life partner, and a vampire like yourself. He lived very much like you do now. But he is far older than you. I believe your kind call those of his age ancients.”

If he was an ancient, that meant he was older than six hundred years old. Those vampires of his age had gifts. Now, you didn’t see gifts unless they were in the older vampires. 

“Henry, tell your husband to stay out of my affairs. He killed his captures slowly. He has no right to judge my actions.” William said, breaking the silence. 

“When this doesn’t go your way, you have a lot to atone for, William. Keep that in mind with every action you make.” Henry said, looking at me, twisting the ring on his finger. 

“James shared something with you. Tell me.” William demanded. 

“You, better than anyone. Know that I will not and can not tell you.” He said. 

William looked annoyed but didn’t press on with the issue. I looked at Henry in the fire’s light. He looked young, but I couldn’t see the vampire he was with, wanting to be with someone of William’s age. 

“Pardon me for asking, but how old are you?”

“Old. Far older than William.”

“Werewolves live long lives too?” I asked. I knew the basics of werewolves, and that was it.

“We can, most of us, choose not to, or live violent lives and attack others and pay the price for it.”

I didn’t need to ask if that was a stab at William. I felt it. William did too, because he frowned. Thinking about his age, I spoke. 

“I found a necklace at the bottom of the hot water bath here. It burned terribly. William has it on. Perhaps you can read the language on it.”

William seemed to remember about it then, too. He took it off and passed it to Henry. He ran his fingers over the writing and hummed. 

“This is far older than even I, but I know some words, the last four, roughly mean, ‘Proof in the suffering’.”

“Hmm. I wonder what it was used for.”

“I can see if James is aware of it. He was with wolves for so long he might know something about this.” Henry said. His attention was on William at that moment, as he passed it back to him. 

“Do try to keep that away from the king, Elias. I believe you said. It will burn worse the longer it touches your skin. Don’t forget you have it on, William.”

William stood up and wiped his hands on his pants. 

“Come, we should all go get dinner in the hall. Do join us, Henry.”

“I will accept the invite.”

Walking towards the door, William spoke.

“Elias, wait.” I stopped, and before I could turn back around, he was fixing my hair, and I groaned. 

“Leave it.” 

“No. It’s bothersome, and if you leave it down, it will tangle.”

Henry watched William’s interactions with me, and a smile tugged at his lips that he hid when William looked his way. We walked through the snow to the hall, and William let me go sit with my people while he entertained the older wolf. Once I sat down, I took in the looks of my people. They looked healthy. I think the most shocking thing about all this was that my people now had tables like the wolves had. 

“When did you get tables?”

“At lunch. They presented them to us.” My aunt said, 

“I am glad. Perhaps you might have good lives here.”

“Elias, what of you? You need a good life, too.”

“If I get life at all, I will be more than thankful.”

I told her all about Henry and his partner James, the ancient. She was just as wrapped up in it as I was when he told me. I left out the part about the metal necklace and the accident in the hot bath. 

“When was the last time you fed Elias?”

“A few days, it’s why I’m passing on dinner—-”

“You need to feed.”

She rolled up her sleeve and stuck her arm out. Remembering the last time I tried to refuse, but she was still adamant about me feeding. Looking at William, who was busy, I prepared to bite her. As I went to bite down, I became all too aware of William in my personal space. In fact, the scent of him was clouding the area I was feeding. The second the blood touched my arm, I knew it wasn’t my aunts. My aunt’s eyes were wide with terror. The growl vibrating out of William was terrifying. But I couldn’t stop feeding. I was starving. 

His blood had a spice to it, and I liked it. But I had never fed on a wolf before. I had no clue what would happen to me. I could sense all the other wolves on edge and how close one was to William and I.

Henry, still sat on the floor watching the whole deal play out. Amusement on his face. 

The wolf coming to assist William took one more step closer, and I started growling, locking my teeth deeply into William’s forearm and he snarled. 

“Go sit down.” William snarled. I retracted my teeth, pulling only one mouthful of his blood more, and then I let him go. The full realization of my actions settling in. He had his free hand set on my hip, holding me there. Trying to step away from him, he growled low, and my aunt still looked terrified. 

My heart was racing, and I was being even more aware of how close William was to me. 

“You smell spicy, like you taste.” I said without thinking. 

“Is that so?” William said, his voice still having that rough tone, like when he was growling. 

William spoke, loudly. 

“Those who are done or not eating, get out of the hall.” 

Vampires and werewolves alike bolted. My aunt was one of them. William pulled me back to the table where Henry was sitting. 

“Sit.”

I didn’t need to be told twice, mostly because my blood was buzzing. This was the first time I had experienced this. I looked at William, and at the spot where two healing punctures were. 

“Sorry about that.” 

“I could have killed him. Whatever you did, I—--”

“Don’t speak about this here. Wait until you return to your cabin.” Henry said, reminding both of us there were ears here. 

William and Henry ate, and I watched every bite that William took out of the corner of my eye. He yanked a chunk of the cooked meat off the plate he had and passed it to me. 

“I don’t know why, but I know you’re starving.” He said, hushed. Henry smiled that smile again, as if he was well aware of what he was watching. He hid the smile again when William looked at him. 

Devouring the chunk of meat that he gave me, I wanted more. He put more meat on his plate and slid it over in front of me. 

“This is the most I’ve seen you eat.”

“That is because of your blood, William.” Henry said.

“Hmm, how so? The last time he fed—--The fact that I am werewolf?”

“Precisely. That is not the only thing that you will notice, either, but for the rest of the time, your blood courses through him. Get a good handle on your anger. You could harm someone you don’t mean to.”

I was full, but I said nothing to William, instead he turned and looked at me. 

“You’re finally satisfied now.”

“I don’t like that, you know that. How and why? I can’t feel that from you. The only thing I can feel is how close you are to me. I am beyond hyper aware of your every movement. Right down to the very way that your heart is beating.” I muttered. 

“We can talk about this back at William’s cabin. Definitely not something we should get into details right here about.” Henry said again. William nodded and yanked me up with him as he stood up. I groaned, filled with food and the few mouthfuls of William’s blood. I could still taste the spicy flavour of his blood lingering on my tongue, and I was craving more of it. 

“Stop whatever the hell you are doing.” William hissed. 

William pulled me behind him the entire way back to his cabin before letting me go and slamming the door. Henry didn’t seem at all bothered by William’s temper. 

“Spill it. What the hell do you know about this whole thing?” William demanded, looking at Henry. 

“Welcome to a blood bond, my friend. It temporarily linked you and Elias for as long as even a drop of your blood remains in his body. It’s like a wolf mating bond, but it’s the closet thing that a vampire and werewolf can get in that regard. That bond can grow or fade. It just depends on personal choices.”

“Why? I can feel—-”

“I can’t feel anything, I feel normal, I just have become hyper aware of William, His heartbeat, his warmth, the sound of his voice, breathing.” I hissed. His scent, spicy and deep, seemed to take my breath away, but I left that out. 

“Before you cut me off, I was going to say that I can feel some of your emotions and other things. I feel invaded.”

“I didn’t ask you to feed me!” I snapped. 

“Enough, the both of you. Now Elias, you can’t feel anything because the biggest part of the bond is on William’s end. You are only hyper aware of him because his own blood, inside of you, calls out to him.” Henry said. 

“That’s hardly fair. I get invaded, and he gets to know how close to him I am.” William bitched. 

“William, enough.” Henry said firmly. 

William sighed, sitting by the fireplace, Henry joining him by his side in the other chair. 

“James could have joined us. I have no hard feelings with him, you know this.”

“He isn’t far. He had prior arrangements, but will join us in the early morning.” Henry said with a longing look in his eyes. 

I crept closer to William, unaware of how much I was hovering around him. When I did, I put space between us and spoke. 

“If this is mostly one sided, how does your relationship with your partner James work?” 

Henry looked almost amused that I asked him. 

“We have a blood bond, but far deeper than yours, with William. Ours is not easily broken either. James is aware of more than what you are with William. James can sense some, if not all, of my emotions. I can pick up even the slightest need in him, like if he is slightly hungry, or in need of other things.”

“Odd. To be so deeply linked to another person.” I mumbled. 

“Just another day for bonded wolves.” William said, brushing the whole deal off. 

“Says the one who has done nothing but complain since the blood bond started. If this is just another day for bonded wolves, then you will be just fine, William.” Henry said, a smirk on his face.