“Oh please, like you don’t,” I grumbled. I’d seen the way he enjoyed doling out punches. He gripped my mohawk on the back of my head and tugged. His talons buried in a little deeper.
I could feel myself hard against the ground beneath me. The press of his body on my back kept it rubbing against the dirt as I fought to get away from him. The pain kept the hunger from taking over, blanked my mind, and finally made me shudder and relax.
He started to let up some, realizing the fight was leaving me. I bucked under him, encouraging him to keep holding me down. I needed more pain. If it wasn’t there then all I could think about was eating flesh.
“Just do it,” I snapped.
“Do what?” He asked in confusion.
“Beat the shit out of me like you want to,” I growled, digging my fingers into the dirt and leaves.
“Jesus, you seriously are fucked up,” he said.
“Please,” I said, sounding pathetic. “I need it. The hunger… “ He jerked his hands off me in shock.
“I can’t take this,” I said. Pretty sure I was having a breakdown. “I can’t… do anything anymore. A fucking skull face and this fucking hunger gnawing at me every minute. Help me, Cas. Fight me,” I growled. I hated how pathetic I sounded.
His hand slammed on my head again, forcing it roughly into the dirt. That strange growl of his purred up from his gut, loud and archaic sounding. I felt him lunging forward. His body flattened on mine and then the barest brush of teeth scratched at my neck, threatening to sink in. I shuddered and sucked in a breath.
He reared back suddenly, falling on his ass as he got off me as fast as he could. He scrambled backwards across the dirt, his eyes wide in shock. One hand covered his mouth and he looked at me with wide eyes. His attention flashed to Mothman who was sitting on a log, watching with interest. He tilted his head to the side, looking between Caspian and me.
“What’s going on?” I asked, pulling myself up. I swallowed and closed my eyes as their smells just grew and grew. My stomach rumbled. I grabbed at my gut and ground my teeth.
“Nothing,” Caspian said. I looked over at Mothman and he grabbed the collar of his duster and tugged it down. There was a bite mark on his skin.
“Oh, so now you’re just going around biting everyone,” I snapped, getting up and stomping over to him. Caspian shifted back into looking human and removed his hand from his mouth. He clicked his tongue and looked away, refusing to get off the ground.
A hand touched my arm and I jerked in shock. The scent of dirt, smoke, and meat hit me full-on. I reared back, my hands shaking as I held them up. Mothman tipped his head, then he eyed Caspian slightly before he began to sign.
“He was trying to fuck you,” he signed. I nearly fell over and started hacking. Mothman shook his head and started to sign but I was too distracted.
“Fuck me!” I wailed.
“What is he saying?” Caspian snapped. Mothman amended his statement.
“Mateme?” I asked.
“Jesus fucking christ,” Caspian hissed, jumping to his feet. “I was not trying to fuck youoryou,” he said, thrusting a finger at Mothman. Mothman began waving his arms around, making vague charade-like movements that didn’t actually mean anything. Caspian rolled his eyes and I had to assume they were actually communicating.
“I’m not going to bite Brandon. It was an accident,” Caspian said, eyes darting to me, then looking away.
“What’s going on?” I snapped, taking a few more steps back. God, I was hungry.
“Nokkens bite their mates. It seals the connection. That’s why Ava has the bite—
“Why the fuck did you almost bite me!” I yelled in shock, more steps back. He looked at my retreat with a frown and stepped closer.
“Where are you going?” He asked.
“Away from you. Away from everyone,” I said through my teeth. A strong hunger rolled over me and I gripped my stomach and doubled over, groaning. “I’m fucking starving!”
Caspian lunged at me, grabbing my arm before I could take off.
“Get off me,” I snarled. He narrowed his eyes but didn’t let go. “I don’t want your fucking mate bite,” I snapped, trying to get him to back off. It didn’t work.
“Good because it's not happening. That was a fucking fluke.”
“Fuck you,” I snapped. My head was a mess, I could barely keep up with the conversation when I felt like I was starving and all this meat was standing in front of me.
