“Luca. We all fucked up.” He closed the few steps of distance and pulled Luca from us, hugging him to his muscular body. “You’re okay. Kye is okay. We’re a family here.” Before Luca could say anything else, he added, “Yes, it could’ve gone really wrong, but now we know, right? Human blood around a very hungry young vampire is not a great idea, huh?”
Luca sobbed, then let out a wet chuckle against his shoulder. “Yeah, okay.”
“Now take your blood bags upstairs and get fed. We’ll be downstairs for a while. The others want to watch a movie.”
“Kye’s really okay?” Luca asked in a small voice, which didn’t surprise me in the least.
“I’m fine,” Kye said calmly from the doorway and lifted his hand. There was a Bluey-themed Band-Aid on his finger.
Brodie wasn’t able to help it, he took a step to the side, leaving Kye behind him. Luca jerked like he’d been slapped, while Kye let out a frustrated groan.
“Brodie, he’s not going to maul me,” he said firmly. “Get out of my way.”
Huffing with annoyance and worry, Brodie stepped aside again, but we could all tell he tensed up, just in case he needed to move fast.
“Come here,” Kye told Luca, smiling at him sadly.
Luca glanced at Max and me, his expression helpless and conflicted.
“Come on, chop-chop. I don’t have all night. I also refuse to wear a suit of armor in our home, so you better get used to us again.”
With a death grip on both of our hands, Luca took the steps between him and Kye.
He glanced at Max and me, as if to saydon’t let go. Then he let out a shuddering breath and gave Kye a shaky little smile.
“That’s better. Let me just….” Kye promptly hugged him. He wrapped his arms around Luca’s lean body and held on as Luca sobbed.
“I didn’t mean to—”
“I know. It was an accident. Nobody’s fault.” He loosened the hug enough to be able to look Luca in the eye. “I know how it can be for vampires. I did a fuckton of research when I first got here. Mostly on werewolves, but also on vampires. Eventually, you can curb the urge if something like this happens again, but I can say with absolute certainty, Luca, that if a really bad accident happened in this house with us humans, none of us would be against being turned to save us.” He tightened his grip again when Luca tried to pull away. “No. You need to listen to me right now.” Kye waited for Luca to look at him again and firmly added, “I’m speaking as the mate of your Alpha, Luca. We’re more scared of losing you than becoming non-human. You’ll get yourself under control with practice. But we’re. Not. Scared. Of. You.”
The tears streaming down Luca’s face made my eyes brim over, too. I could sense his indecision, his doubt, but I knew Kye was right.
Brodie cleared his throat. “That said, I would like to keep my mate human, as well the others, so…,” he deadpanned.
We all chuckled a bit wetly, wiping our faces. Except Luca who didn’t have a hand free. Max moved to run his thumb under Luca’s eyes.
“Now go,” Kye said, leaning even closer to Luca to kiss his temple.
Swallowing hard, Luca nodded and pulled us out of the kitchen, then up the stairs. He didn’t let go until we were safely in our room. He turned around to look at us, giving Max a smallsmile. Then he looked at me and something in his expression changed.
“Hey, Ben… hey, it’s okay,” Luca said and stepped into me, pulling me into his arms. “Nothing bad happened. It’s going to be okay.”
It wasn’t until he spoke that I realized I was spiraling. Suddenly I couldn’t breathe, and only with the help of both of them could I get to the bed. I’d concentrated on Luca so fully, that nothing else had mattered, and now the after effects were swamping me. On the flip side, it was as if he’d recovered in an instant when he could concentrate on me instead.
Luca and Max pulled me onto the bed, and sandwiched me between them as I did my best to get my system back on track. Luca murmured about breathing with him, my face smushed against his chest. Max behind me kept petting me and murmuring about how everything was fine. Nobody got hurt. Nobody was leaving.
When he said that one word, “leaving,” I realized that was what had triggered me. If Luca was too dangerous here—whether actually or if he thought so himself—he’d leave and I couldn’t lose him.Wecouldn’t lose him.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Luca said firmly. “I’m not leaving either of you.” The conviction in his melodic voice was enough to bring my faculties together a little.
I still sobbed in their arms for a while before I felt my body relaxing.
“Oh, shit. You need blood,” I blurted out.
Luca chuckled, and I heard Max snort softly.
“I do, yes. Do you volunteer as a tribute?” he asked, something almost mischievous in his tone.
