The tipof the digital pencil dragged across the tablet screen as I made yetanotherstroke I wasn't happy with.
I was already at the coloring stage, but this single line was bothering me. The curverefusedto lay the way I wanted. And no matter how many times I erased and tried again, I just couldn’t seem to get it right—whether because it was actually wonky or I was being overly precious about it was difficult to say.
Music blared through my headphones and into my ears, loud enough that it drowned out just about everything else, a habit I'd picked up when I moved in with Indigo and the rest of their pack.
My pack, really. But… I wasn’t ready to think about that too hard yet.
It didn’t matter to me if we were already living together; it wasn’t a commitment to Indi that I was worried about. I knew I loved them, that I saw myself with them for the rest of my life. But a bond was something else entirely, and I didn’t know if or when I’d ever be ready to give myself to someone like that again.
Maybe tomorrow I’d wake up, catch that stupid little smile they got on their face when they were having a particularly lovely dream, and sink my teeth into them then and there.
And maybe I’d never be ready. Indi would be my partner, and I’d be a part of his pack, just without the pressure of a bond forcing us to stay together even if our feelings changed.
Besides, it was a lot to adapt to—living in a house with three alphas. I was still learning my place. How I was supposed to contribute beyond awkward attempts at trying to get along with Marcus or being used like an occasional sex toy by Cameo.
Okay, that part I liked. Maybe a littletoomuch. At first, it’d been a lot, but now… I looked forward to the times when he’d appear with that half-feral look in his eye, as if he didn’t have me this instant, the world would end.
It was flattering as hell.
More than that, it wasfucking hot.
Since I’d moved in, things had gotten even better with Indi, too. Sharing a space was doing wonders for helping us build our emotional connection into something that felt strong… comfortable. Like a home I never knew I was looking for, but now that I had it—I’d do anything to protect it. To keep us safe.
Even if that meant trading away a bit of my independence.
I loved solitude, and it was in short supply in this house. It was hard to feel trulyalonewith everyone on mismatched schedules, the sounds of other people a fixture 24/7. But, like this, bundled up in my nest with my music on, I couldalmostpretend that I was the only one around.
This new L-OV album was really good, with the right amount of bright pop melodies and deep bass to keep me engaged. I just wish it were longer. The trend of releases that were basically long EPs was kind of annoying. Like you’d been given the most delicious slice of pumpkin pie in your life without whipped cream.
Unfinished, in a way.
Kinda bullshit.
Didn't anyone want to make twenty-two-track albums anymore?
I zoomed out, the piece becoming clearer with the shift in perspective. It was different than my usual work, mostly because of the subject matter. I tended to gravitate towards the inanimate, like landscapes or still lifes, instead of portraits, but this time I'd decided to mix things up. After a couple of hours, the overly exaggerated zoom in of a woman's face with the real image, a couple kissing where one of the two was a skeletal skull, reflected in her pair of heart-shaped glasses, had taken form out of what felt like thin air. Honestly, I couldn't tell if I liked it or if I thought it was total garbage.
But I wasn’t too worried about it. This was pretty typical for my process,especiallywhen I was doing something new. Sometimes you just needed to play around with a project for a while to figure out if there was anything worth salvaging or if it was destined for the digital trash bin.
My phone vibrated on the cushion next to me, and I picked it up with a swipe of my thumb over the glass to unlock it.
WYA DIVAAAAA?! Settled in at the Haunted Mansion?
Tara
I grinned. Though I'd only seen Tara briefly at the Omega's Lust Halloween Trick or Treat Packtacular a few weeks ago, we’d hit it off right away. And, luckily for both of us, Indi took it on themselves to introduce us more formally the next week when her beta, Jesse, brought the omega along to hang out with them.
Tara was the kind of friend that you always hoped for. Not only was she gorgeous, but she was also funny as hell. Plus, it was nice to have another omega to talk to with all of the changes that'd been going on in my life lately. In only a few weeks, she’d become a sort of unofficial big sister, and thank god for that. Ireallycouldn't imagine talking to my brother Mason about the trials and tribulations of living with three alphas.
Being an alpha himself, andworse, fastidiously tidy to the point of being obsessive—actually, maybe Mason would understand more about this pack than I was giving him credit for. Or, at the very least, he’d understand a fair bit about Cameo.
Of all the complaints that I could have, tidiness wasn’t an issue. I couldn't imagine if I'd ended up with the type of pack that'd leave overflowing trash bins around, or worse, hair in the sink. There was nothing in this life that was grosser to me than pulling a glob of sopping wet strands out of the drain.
Nothing.
drawing! i think i hate it fr.
vamp castle is all good
