Bloodbound: Chapter 4

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This is a work of fiction involving sex between a vampire and a human. It contains blood, vampire biting, injuries, and hypnosis. If any of these things bother you, please do not read further. Thank you.

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Nate's world was in slow motion. He heard the sound of shattering glass behind him. His neck swiveled just in time to see the streaking rocket fly through the kitchen window and slam into a cabinet - before exploding into a brilliant fireball.

The back wall of the kitchen cracked apart in a rain of wood spiraling outwards into the inky night. On the other side, wooden shards ripped away from the inner walls and lanced through the air towards Nate alongside the blossoming flames. It would've almost been beautiful, if it didn't signal his eminent death.

Before the flames could reach him, Nate's world went dark again. Not so much black this time as a deep, fuzzy brown. A different warmth engulfed Nate as a pair of strong arms pulled him inwards and a pair of massive wings enfolded him in a solid dome.

Time returned to normal. Nate's entire world rocked wildly inside the shelter. Outside the membrane of the wings, the glow of fire rushed past him with a hellacious roar. His ears rang, barely able to make out the sound of several wet crunching noises over the din.

It took a moment for Nate's senses to return to him. When they did, he realized that Edmund had released him and was speaking to him.

"You ok, Nate?"

The vampire's voice sounded raspy. Almost hollow.

"I'm ok." Nate replied tiredly. "Barely."

"That's good..." The vampire's snout broke into a tired smile. Nate did his best to return a smile, then got to his feet again.

"Thank you... For shielding me, that is. I'm glad we made it through it."

Nate looked out past the vampire's unfolding wings. He might've been spared from the brunt of the explosion, but the fire was still catching pretty rapidly on the walls and furniture. He wasn't sure how long the house would have any structural integrity at this rate.

"But what do we do now? Do you have some way to put out the fire?"

Silence. Apparently not.

"Alright, let's just get out of here. It's just a house..." Nate continued, taking a deep breath to steady himself.

He moved to leave Edmund's wings, and then realized... his bat-like friend hadn't moved at all.

"Edmund?"

Nate looked back at his companion, still slumped over in the same position. He realized three things at the same time:

One, the vampire's eyes were closed.

Two, there were several large, bloody spears of wood sticking just out the front of the vampire's chest.

Three, the rest of him was very, very badly burned.

"Oh shit, oh fuck!" Nate cursed.

The panicked man grabbed Ed and shook the vampire wildly.

"C'mon, wake up! You can't die here! NOT AFTER EVERYTHING I'VE BEEN THROUGH!"

Nate's frantic shaking had little effect besides causing the comatose creature to slump forward.

Bile rose up in Nate's throat when he saw his master's friend's back. The wooden splinters were the least of the man's problems. The lupine's back was completely scoured by flame, blackened and burned to a degree Nate had never seen before. His wings were burned away in many places, leaving little more than tatters and frame.

"Oh shit, oh fuck, oh shit, oh fuck."

Tears started to streak down Nate's cheeks as he sank down to his knees next to the still beast. Here he was, stuck in a burning house, with who knows what the fuck outside who had done this, his master best friend was dead, and he had no idea what to fucking do what was he even going to-

"HEY. Pull it together."

This new voice wasn't Edmund's, but it was familiar. In his addled state, Nate couldn't immediately place it, but started frantically looking around the burning room for the source.

The shadowy figure that had spoken was right in the middle of the room, even though Nate was quite certain no one had been there moments ago. In the dancing fire light Nate couldn't make out everything about the figure, but it seemed as though it was wearing a suit, and its head was distinctly inhuman. Its face tapered into a long snout, and a massive, majestic rack of antlers sprouted from the top of its head.

Antlers.

In an instant, Nate remembered where the voice was from. He remembered the hellish glowing eyes of the deer skull. The demon that had set this whole day in motion.

"YOU! This is all YOUR FAULT!" Nate shouted, pointing a finger accusingly at the shadowy figure.

Nate swore he heard a snort of derision, though it was certainly hard to hear such a quiet noise over the crackling of burning wood.

"It's not my fault that mortals are so easily panicked. I just wanted to have a little fun with you."

Though he wanted to chew the creature out, when Nate inhaled, he felt smoke already starting to sting his lungs.

"Look, as fun as it would be to argue with you about who did what, I assume you'd like to not die here," the shadowy figure chided. "And I would be terribly off put if you were to let my herald die. You need to move him."

Nate's ears perked up a little.

"He's alive?" he asked, kneeling down a little to avoid the smoke.

"In a matter of speaking. He's in a deep sleep due to the trauma. Fire is about the worst thing his kind can endure, besides the sun. Now, if you give a shit about him, you need to get moving."

The aggressive tone the demon was using made Nate's fur bristle. He wanted to do something, he wanted to argue, but... The deer thing was right, he needed to act if he didn't want himself or his new friend to burn to death.

"What do I do?"

"First off, you need to get that couch moved and get the carpet up. Then get you and your lover boy down the hole. I imagine the goons aren't going to come in until the fire is out, so you've got a little time at least. Assuming the ceiling doesn't collapse."

Thankfully, the blast had already thrown the couch back some, so it was easy enough for Nate to slide it the rest of the way. He tossed the massive heavy rug aside, revealing a heavy looking metal door built into the floor.

"It should only be locked from this side, so it should just open."

Nate almost jumped out of skin. The voice had come as a whisper from right next to his ear. He spun to look at the deer-thing right behind him, shooting a glare.

"YOU COULD HELP, YOU KNOW!" Nate coughed out. The smoke was starting to get to him. He wasn't sure how much longer he could take this...

"Unfortunately, I'm not actually here. Can't really interact with physical objects."

"What?! You..."

Nate was too exhausted already to argue. He reached down and grabbed the slot on the door. It took most of his strength just to lift the heavy wooden and steel panel and prop it open with the attached brace. Behind the trap door, a simple steel ladder vanished ominously into the darkness.

It wasn't exactly where Nate wanted to go, but it wasn't like he had another choice. The smoke was already getting thick enough to make breathing difficult.

Crawling on his knees to avoid the worst of the smoke, Nate made his way back to the still form of the fuzzy vampire, still in the same kneeling position where they had been when the bomb went off. He slipped one arm around the bat's chest, careful of the wooden shards, hefted... And almost fell forward on his face with the vampire atop him.

"Fuck Ed, I think you need to lose some weight... Can you give me any help here?"

There was no answer from the comatose bat, and certainly no help. The widespread shredded wings didn't make lifting him any easier either.

Nate gave another mighty shove, this time moving the vampire maybe another two feet. The exertion, combined with the smoke, sent him into a coughing fit. Nate could feel his vision starting to blur, his body starting to slow down. His lungs were on fire.

"I... I can't..."

"You mortals are far too fragile, you know that?"

As tired as he was, Nate could feel his annoyance at the arrogant shadowy cervine watching him.

"You're not *cough* even *cough* HELPING!" Nate sputtered.

"Well. You did make an oath with my herald, so I suppose that means you've got something of a deal with me. Fine, I'll help."

The dazed and winded Nate was expecting the stag to lift the body or perform some sort of magic. What he was not expecting, was for the cervine to grab him by the head, tilt his face toward it, and suddenly press its shadowy snout directly to his mouth.

Before Nate's addled brain could even work up the neurons to protest the bizarre kiss, he felt the smoke being drawn up out of his lungs. Replacing it was a rush of fresh air like a sweet warm summer's breeze, a breeze Nate felt also tickling his hair and face. His nose filled with the scent of flowers and roses in bloom. Warmth and energy flooded his tired body as the wind caressed him, just as the stag's lips caressed his.

It was caressing some other places as well. Nate was suddenly aware the surge through him had stirred more than his muscles. He was hard as a rock, straining against his shorts, and it made the feeling of air sliding over the silky fabric immediately apparent.

"Pfft, mortals are so easy to work up."

Nate had hardly even realized the stag's lips had pulled away from his own, lost as he was in the brief reverie and strange sensation.

"W... what the fuck?!" Nate snapped. "What even ARE you?"

"I am simply me. I've gone by more names than you've had years. The Prince of Sweetest Grasses, Warlord of High Summer. In older years your kind of called me Cernunnos. Though, as much as I'd love to talk about me, you should probably get moving."

Nate had almost forgotten what he was doing. With his renewed vigor, he hefted Ed up again, finding the job much easier this time. With a shaky foot he made his way onto the hidden ladder and...

_Swip _

_Thudda-thudda-thudda-thunk _

"FUCK! Ow..."

Nate untangled himself from the bottom of the stairs, and the form of the unconscious vampire on top of him. His elbows and knees hurt, but nothing felt broken at least. Ahead of him, the tunnel descended down and away into the darkness.

"I'm just going to need to close this, so they don't follow us quickly, watch your head."

"HEY WAI-"

KA-CHUNK

The heavy iron door swung down just above Nate's head, briefly bouncing off of the brackets that held it up. The sheer clatter made him jump.

"I thought you said you couldn't move anything!" Nate yelled.

"A rod is a little easier than the whole door," The strange stag answered coolly. "Besides, I thought you wanted me to help. Now then, bar the door and head down the path..."

Nathan squinted.

"I can't see shit down here. It's pitch black!"

Though he couldn't see anything, Nate could certainly here the exasperated sound of the stag-man snorting again.

"What do you mean you can't see anything?! You've got the dead dog's blood in you, don't you?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I can see!" Nate huffed indignantly.

Suddenly, Nate was aware of a warm breath directly in front of his face and recoiled back.

"I see... It hasn't really changed your eyes... Or your muscles... Or..." There was a brief tongue clicking sound. "Did he really only change your nose, dick, and ass? What a degenerate." The stag signed wistfully. "I've taught him well."

"...Look as much as I'm sure you're enjoying this, can you help? Light up the tunnel with magic or something?" Nate growled.

"Me? No. But you can. Here, give me your hand and put it here..."

Nate felt a vague warmth touch his hand and guide it across Edmund's fuzzy chest. He felt his fingers brush up against wood, and something wet.

"Fantastic, now just stick your fingers in your mouth," the stag cooed.

"I'm fucking sorry, WHAT?!" Nate snapped back.

"You haven't tasted enough of his blood to see in the dark. That's his fault for not preparing you, and it's not like he's using his blood at the moment."

"I'm NOT drinking his blood!" Nate snapped, stomping his foot.

"Sorry to break it to you and your high horse, but you already did. How do you think he healed you? Why did you think you were changing in the first place?"

Nate... hadn't really pondered it before. He did vaguely remember drinking something the night of the attack.

"Now... you want to see in the dark, or not?" the stag chided.

Hesitantly, Nate raised his fingers to his mouth and suckled the liquid off of them. It was tangy, sweet, and pleasant. Almost like his favorite barbecue sauce. Not as bad as he thought it was going to-

_THUMP-THUMP

THUMP-THUMP

THUMP-THUMP _

Nate's entire body felt like it was on fire all of a sudden. Heat raced through his limbs and his fur stood on end. He could feel his pulse hammering away in his head, his hands, and his heart.

Suddenly, the cave exploded into light. No, not light exactly - everything was a sort of monochrome grey that faded off to darkness in the distance. It reminded Nate of what night vision goggles looked like, but without the green hue. He could see the ladder he came down, a large bar used to lock it, and next to him... the smirking demon.

"Given you're starring directly at me, I'm guessing it worked."

"I... Guess it did," Nate muttered, pulse still hammering in his temples. "Now what?"

"Slide the bar lock in place, once the fire dies down they'll come looking, and I don't doubt they'll find this door. The bar should at least take them a while to cut through. Beyond that... get my herald out of here, somewhere safe."

The grumbly half-wolf did as he was told, sliding the heavy metal bar into place with a loud clonk. He could still almost feel the heat radiating through from the other side still.

"Oh, and get rid of that card in your pocket. That thing reeks of magic, it's probably how they tracked you here."

Nate's heart sank. He fished in his pocket and pulled out the crinkled-looking bus pass. Even in the weird black and white twilight of the cave, he could still see the bizarre red smudge on it. A smudge, which, he was realizing, wasn't a food stain.

"FUCK!" Nate screamed, throwing the card to the ground and stomping on it. He could feel his vision blurring, tears forming at the corners of his eyes as reality sank in. "FUCK FUCK FUCK! This whole thing was my fault... I.... I just..."

_-SMAAACCKK- _

One of Nate's hands went up to his cheek, touching the stinging skin there as he looked at the shadowy stag-man that had slapped him.

"Pull yourself together boy. As much as I love a good tantrum, there's still time to salvage this, and you need to move. Be angry at yourself if he dies. Or if you do."

"Y-yeah. You... you're right. He's saved my life. Now it's my turn to return the favor."

With a determined grunt, Nate leaned down, looped one of Ed's arms over his shoulders, and hefted the vampire up. He felt... a little lighter than before. That was good. The tunnel looked long enough, and it seemed like Nate had a hell of a night ahead of him.

---

Timothy had been having a terrible night. First his date had walked out on him. Then the bartender had cut him off early - after only 7 drinks! And now, now this stupid red light just wouldn't change!Ahead of Timothy, a red traffic light blinked placidly on and off, uncaring whether the driver ahead of it could interpret its mysterious message. For the 12th time that trip, Tim glanced up into the back seat. He didn't know why, but he felt sure someone had followed him from the bar. Like they were just waiting in the back seat... waiting to... HWUMP

A loud thump against the driver's side window made Tim jump and spin to face it... Then immediately begin yelling.

"M-M-M-MONSTER!"

In a blind panic, the drunken Tim scrambled across the seats, frantically tugging open the passenger side door, unceremoniously spilling into the street, and scrambling off into the night.

---

Nate sighed heavily as he pulled Ed's face away from the window of the (now empty) car by the antlers. He hadn't exactly felt thrilled about the idea of using his unconscious friend as a prop, or really, about the idea of performing a carjacking in general. But, what else was he supposed to do? He couldn't drag the heavy vampire across the whole city, especially not without being spotted.

Now a newly christened criminal, there was only one thing left to do... Figure out how to get an unconscious vampire with a 15-foot wingspan in the back of a car.

---

Clack

_Thunk. _

_Rustle. _

"I hope this works... I'm never going to be able to use that shop again. Asking for this once was weird enough, but TWICE? Guy's going to think I'm summoning demons or something..."

Nate glanced over at his silent companion for the last few days. Though the vampire's form was still comatose and unresponsive, it gave him comfort to talk to him still. Plus, he looked kind of cute all tucked into the bed like that. At least, so long as the covers obscured any of his remaining injuries.

"I guess that's not too far off what we're doing though, huh?"

The frazzled, exhausted Nate took both containers out of the shopping bag and plopped them onto the kitchen counter. The contents were dark red, almost black. Blood. Not human blood, thankfully. He'd procured it from a local butcher that performed traditional preparations on site. The man had looked at him like he was absolutely crazy, but he'd eventually been able to persuade him to sell it by claiming it was for an indie horror movie they'd been making.

The whole week had been wild. He'd been looking over his shoulder the whole time, expecting the weird creep from the police station to show up any moment. That and his shadowy cervine "companion" had been popping in from time to time to offer advice - such as "Humans are made of blood; you could just kill someone."

Even with all that going on, he'd managed to go back to work. His boss was pissed and had brought in temp work to replace him, but Nate had managed to get his job back. He almost wished he hadn't.

Compared to the intense, unbelievable days he had had been having, work was monotonous. How was he supposed to take food orders after surviving his own murder, fleeing a demon, loving a vampire, and rescuing said vampire from a burning building? The pace of mundane work felt glacial, banal, almost soul draining.

At least going to work still got him the one all important thing - a paycheck. A way for him to fund this entire insane enterprise.

Nate opened the cupboard and got his equipment, then walked over to where the comatose vampire was propped up.

"Sorry Ed, wish there was a more dignified way to do this."

He tipped the vampire's head back and stuck the large oil funnel he'd gotten from the gas station into his snout, making sure it was relatively secure. Very carefully, he poured the contents of the first tub of cow's blood into his maw, making sure none of it spilled. Movies had taught him blood was a bitch to get out of sheets.

Any hope Nate had of getting out of the situation with blood-free sheets was quickly ruined as a sputtering cough launched the funnel, and a splatter of crimson, across the bed. At that point, however, Nate couldn't care less.

"YOU'RE AWAKE!" Nate yelled, throwing his arms around the fuzzy creature's neck and hugging up against him. The tail he'd barely gotten used to over the past week thwapped wildly back and forth against the sheets.

The vampire blinked in confusion a few times, looking around the room blearily. He wrapped one arm around Nate, squeezing him back against him and then nuzzling at the top of his head, drinking in his smell. To Nate, it almost sounded like he was huffing. Growling, even.

"So I am," Edmund muttered, pushing Nate away with surprising force. "Just uh... One small question. What uh... What happened?"

Nate adjusted his position to kneel on the bed, coughing awkwardly.

"I um... Apparently, someone followed me to your house when I came back... And then they blew it up... With a rocket launcher."

He scratched the back of his head. It still sounded crazy, even if he lived through it.

"You uh, you protected me, but... you had these like... huge gnarly wooden spikes through you." He really didn't want to imagine it again. "But it's ok! I pulled them out, and I got this cow's blood to heal you. This is the second batch, and it seems to have helped..."

Nate pulled back the cover to show where the wounds had been. Though the vampire's chest wasn't perfect, the wounds looked more like fresh, pink scars than the terrible battle wounds they were when he'd brought him in.

"I don't know how you even lived through it."

"I didn't. That's kind of the whole point of being undead."

Though Ed's voice was playful, there was an undertone of growl to it, and Nate only realized now that the vampire had been keeping his gaze tightly focused on him the entire time. The predatory stare was almost starting to get unsettling.

"You... you know what I meant," Nate chided.

"Organs are rather optional for me," Edmund said, a bit of a wheeze creeping into his voice. "Except when you need them, like to speak. My lungs could use some work. And my chest muscles... a lot of things, frankly."

Nate couldn't help but feel more than a bit responsible for what happened, still staring at the pink scars on his friend's chest.

"Do you have more?" Ed asked in a quiet, wheezing growl.

"Uh, What?" Nate muttered, snapping out of his starring trance.

"DO YOU HAVE MORE BLOOD?!" Edmund snapped a bit, taking a deep breath. "Sorry, I'm just... I'm very hungry. My body is taking everything I have to patch itself up. ...Also, preferably like, in a cup or a big soda container or something instead of a car funnel."

Nate jumped back a little from the snap, then made his way to the kitchen. He retrieved the other container of cow's blood he'd obtained and poured it into a large novelty cup, bringing it back over to the vampire. It was bizarre watching the bat-like creature slurp down the cow's blood like he was drinking a Mountain Dew without a care in the world. To his credit, he didn't spill any.

"So... You'll heal back up, then? Given time?" Nate asked quietly while the vampire drank.

"Not like this," Edmund muttered, wiping his muzzle with an arm.

"What do you mean?" Nate cocked his head to the side.

Ed propped himself up a bit more, stretched out his tattered wings and rolled his head around. No doubt he had more than a bit of soreness to work out.

"The blood you gave me woke me up. It patched a little bit of the injury. But most of it actually came from the blood I already had in my system when we got attacked," the vampire explained.

Once again, Nate couldn't help but feel a little bit bad.

"It was enough to get me conscious. But... It's not enough to really heal me. The blood isn't high enough quality."

"What do you mean?" Nate asked in confusion. "I got it from the best butcher in town, his family's been doing it for generations. If there's somewhere with better cows, I could-"

Another low growl came from Edmund's throat. A subtle, almost instinctive annoyance. "Not. Cows." After taking a moment he continued. "Blood has a quality to it. Animal blood doesn't hold a candle to human blood... It can sustain us, weakly... But it won't heal me... I'd need a whole herd of cows just to repair my wings."

"A herd of cows or... just one human." Nate finished uncomfortably.

Edmund nodded solemnly, then cracked into a grin that was half-silly and half-fiendish. "I don't suppose you've just got a spare one lying around?"

Nate snorted a bit. "Really? Even half dead, you're still cracking jokes?"

As he finished and silence settled, Nate's mind wandered. He desperately wanted to help his friend, but could he really bring a person here? Even if he could physically get someone here, could he bring them knowing that they might not leave? He'd seen Edmund leave the delivery driver alive when he fed on him, but he'd also seen (or at least, heard) what had happened to the mugger that had tried to kill him...

"Nate?"

The vampire's voice snapped the daydreamer out of his reverie.

"Yeah, uh... I uh... I'm not sure I can really do that... But there is maybe something I can offer."

Nate grabbed the bottom of his shirt and pulled it up over his head, revealing the trail of fur on his lower belly. He tossed the shirt off to the side and scooted up toward the reclining vampire.

"Myself."

The bestial vampire leaned in, taking a deep whiff of Nate's chest. He huffed, working his way up towards the man's neck. The vampire was absolutely drooling, sticky stands landing on Nate's exposed skin...

"NO!" Ed shouted suddenly.

One of Edmund's paws shot out, sending Nate tumbling back against the sheets even as the vampire recoiled back. The dazed man leaned up and rubbed his chest, glancing at his friend. Edmund looked practically horrified.

"Ow... Hey, what did I do?!" Nate grumped.

"Nate, I can't..." Ed gulped down his pooling drool. "I don't have control of myself right now."

"You didn't have a problem biting me before," Nate pouted.

"That was different. I was full, I was in good health... That was a love bite. More for you than for me." A low growl escaped the vampire's throat. "Now I'm starving, Nate. I need a lot of blood... More than a mortal can easily give. And there's no guarantee I could stop myself before..."

A heavy silence settled over the pair for a moment, before the demi-human finally spoke again.

"I trust you."

"Nate... It's not just a matter of trust. Your body literally wouldn't survive what I would need to heal myself." After a brief pause, the vampire's ears perked, as though an idea had just come to him. "At least, not as you are now..."

The words made Nate perk up. He reached back, grabbed his lupine tail and pulled it to the side to look at it.

"You mean this stuff? I need to become more of a wolf or something? That's no problem, just sign me up for-"

"It's not that simple. And, how eager you were to agree with that? That's part of the problem." Edmund growled with some exasperation.

"I... don't really follow." Nate's head cocked to the side like a confused puppy.

The injured vampire pushed himself up in bed again, wincing slightly at his injuries.

"It's something I wanted to talk to you about, before you ran off and... all this happened." He gestured vaguely around himself at the whole room with a grunt.

"When I saved you, you drank of my blood and swore an oath to me," the injured vampire continued. "That ties the two of us together. Some vampires treat such people as their minions and call them... less than flattering terms. Ghouls. Renfields. Familiars. I personally prefer the term Oathsworn. Much more dignified."

Something rankled in Nate's mind at the term 'minion'. Apparently, it also showed on his face, given Edmund's next reply.

"Not that I consider you a minion. But you may have noticed that, since the oath, your mind has wandered to me. That little things like being called a good boy send a shiver down your spine."

Almost on queue, Nate did get a little shiver and felt his tail start to wag. He felt good, but something about the fact the feeling wasn't really his left an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"The blood binds its drinker to the vampire that donates it. It creates an artificial sense of loyalty and affection. It's something I hoped you would be able to just ignore and move on from eventually, though..."

One of the vampire's hands reached out and stroked along Nate's bushy wolfen tail.

"I think we might have already gone a little overboard on that..."

"So... What does that all MEAN?" Nate asked, folding his arms across his chest. "What does that have to do with me becoming all wolfy, or healing you?"

"I was getting there!" Edmund held up his paws. "The blood also gives you some of our gifts, to a lesser degree. That includes letting you survive and heal from injuries you shouldn't be able to."

"Like how you healed me the first night, right?"

"Exactly. And why you ended up quite so wolfy to begin with. To survive this, you'd need another infusion of it. But, the blood has another effect... The more you imbibe, the stronger the connection between us gets." Edmund met Nate's gaze, the deep black and golden pools holding him steady. "Right now, you can still walk away, and it will fade away. Eventually, at least. If you drink any more of it, you're probably not going to be able to step away from this life."

Another chill ran up Nate's spine. His mind reeled with all sorts of thoughts at once. Images of himself nuzzled up against the vampire intimately, drinking in his scent. Thoughts of himself as a lupine beast leaping between rooftops in the dead of night on some question. Visions of fighting in burning buildings against eldritch foes.

"I'll do it!" Nate replied immediately, practically jumping up.

"Don't just immediately agree!" Edmund practically snapped, annoyance in his voice again. "That's just the blood talking. I want your thoughts. This is a big undertaking, not something to just jump into-"

"That IS my opinion! It might sound like I'm rushing, but it's because I've been thinking about this the last few days. It's been almost all I could think about." Nate took a deep breath and continued. "My life was fucking BORING before. This has been the most exciting time I've ever had."

Edmund tried to speak, but before he could get a word out, Nate put a finger in front of his lips and continued.

"All of my life, I daydreamed about werewolves and monsters. Fantasy worlds, crazy situations. THIS is what I want out of life. I'd rather have died in that alleyway than to have learned all this exists and then have to step away from it."

Edmund's snout spread into a toothy grin behind Nate's finger.

"And you're ok with working for me? Even after the near-death experiences, the binding, all of it?" The vampire quipped.

"You've saved my life twice now, and I've saved yours once. I figure I've got to get at least one more good one in before we're even. Also, you're a pretty good fuck."

Ed's grin turned into full throated laughter at that.

"Well then! I've always avoided taking one, but I think I've finally found someone I actually want as an Oathsworn! Let's do this then."

"How do we get starte- YEEEP!"

The cackling wolf had already lunged forward and wrapped his arms around Nate's torso, dragging him in so the two were almost chest to chest. Nate couldn't help but giggle a bit himself. The wolf's deep, black and gold eyes locked with his and Nate almost immediately felt himself start to fall into them.

"Just relax. Let me take the lead. Be a good boy for me."

A deep shiver ran up Nate's back, making his fur spike up and his tail wag rapidly. The words good boy and relax swarm around in his head. Nate could feel all of the tension he'd been accumulating through the week start to melt away and his limbs relax again. He felt safe here, even in the arms of a deadly predator.

One of the vampire's paws slid up under Nate's chin, cupping it gently and guiding him forwards. His snout met Nate's face, lips touching briefly before the wolf pulled him into a forceful, wild kiss. It wasn't perfect, trying to line up a muzzle with human lips, but Nate was just as eager as his lover to try to make it work.

As the beast's tongue slid into his mouth, Nate noticed a familiar taste - coppery, tangy, and just a little sweet. He recognized the vampire's blood immediately. It seemed like he should be grossed out, but instead he welcomed it, happily and obediently swallowing the gift. Almost the moment the delicious ambrosia hit Nate's stomach he felt heat start to race across his body.

The first place the fiery sensation settled was his face. The kiss between the men broke as shifting flesh and bone made their position untenable. Rather than being painful, it just felt like a pair of hands was gently massaging and shaping Nate's head.

Undetered, Edmund pulled Nate's changing snout back into the kiss. His tongue swept over Nate's changing teeth, calling out the sharpness of his new fangs, and sending a little thrill through the changing man. It also drew another drop of the transformative blood that rolled down Nate's throat.

The second scarlet drop made Nate's limbs spasm. He grasped onto his master's arms for support as he felt them twitch, then swell. Muscle packed onto his thin arms, giving him the sharp, athletic look of a predator. The hair along his forearms grew fine, turning into a beautiful light grey coat as more and more of it spread across the uncovered flesh.

He could feel his feet stretching, pulling popping. Turning from simple, flat and human to arched, clawed paws more fitting for running through the woods or leaping across rooftops. A little giggle built up in his throat as his claws snagged on the sheets.

Edmund pulled away from the kiss with a little flourish and a whistle, grinning at the changing man. "Now THAT is a look. Give me a little flex... and a woof."

Ordinarily, Nate would've been embarrassed by the request, but the little flex of power in the vampire's voice melted it away. It made him feel proud, strong, and above all, desirable. He flexed both arms, grinning at his master and giving a cute little "woof". His tail was wagging a mile a minute with a mind of its own. And it wasn't the only part of Nate that was excited.

The changing wolf-man's shaft had shot up to full size so fast he was surprised it hadn't made him lightheaded. A little dribble of precum was already bubbling from the tip and rolling down the red flesh. His little friend wasn't alone either, as Nate could already feel something grinding up against his rump beneath the sheets.

"Well, I think we can make this experience more comfortable for both of us in another way..." the vampire smirked.

Ed clapped one of his hands on Nate's rump and the other on the small of his back, pulling his familiar forward and adjusting how he was sitting. Now, there was no longer a sheet pressed up between Nate's cheeks but a slick, throbbing canine pole.

"Ready pet? Sink yourself down on it."

The vampire's reverberating voice sunk into Nate's ears and sent a shiver down his back. He felt his body begin complying before he could even think about it, pressing the tapered canine tip against his hole and sinking down. Even with just the pre lubing up his lover's shaft, the entry felt smooth and pleasant - almost effortless.

"Gooooood puppy... Just relax, savor it..." his master crooned.

Even among the changes he was going through, the praise sent Nate's tail into an absolute frenzy and drew a heavy throb from his cock.

"...Because now it's my turn for a treat."

The hungry bat leaned in, tracing his tongue up over Nate's chest. He briefly flicked it up over one of the changing man's sensitive nipples, nuzzling against Nate's growing pecs and up past his collar bone. He licked over the changing man's neck a few times, just teasing him for the moment.

"And one more little element to add some fun..." The vampire crooned. "No cumming until you think you're down changing..."

"WHA-"

The command snapped down on Nate's mind about the same time the bat's teeth clamped down on his neck.

The pain, though sharp, was brief. Within moments of the vampire's fangs piercing his neck, Nate felt a warm, blossoming pleasure spreading out from the point. The gentle bliss from the bite and the sense of power from the new blood flowing through him was a heady combination. Nate almost felt like he was floating.

Of course, he wasn't floating, he was sinking. Sinking down on a canine cock that was now quite insistently pressing up against his prostate. The bat-wolf wasn't even fucking him, just grinding his hips enough to keep his cock nudging up against that spot, but the mix of drug-like euphoria coursing around and the constant assault on his prostate already had his cock starting to throb wildly.

Of course... Nate wasn't done changing, so no matter how much he wanted to be able to cum, that wasn't happening.

Thankfully, Nate was changing. If anything, the vampire's feeding seemed to be speeding things up. Nate could vaguely feel the blood leaving his body, and in its wake, the vampiric vitality that he was gifted flooding in to fill the void. Making him something new, something stronger, something better.

Everywhere it touched, muscles tightened and swelled. Ed's paws stroked across the changing man's chest, circling newly chiseled abdominal muscles. Tracing through new trails of soft white fur pushing their way out of Nate's body... and some new points of pleasure that made him whine and pant.

As Nate glanced down past the vampire's snout, he realized exactly what the other beast was touching. Tiny nubs in his fur, just as sensitive as the two that adorned his pecs. Of course wolves had eight nipples... and that meant six new spots for the devious vampire to tease him and work adorable whimpers from his throat.

Despite the power surging in his limbs, Nate was starting to feel a little lightheaded. The floaty feeling had intensified, matching some of the strongest trips he'd been on. His temples were throbbing with his heartbeat.

Wait, no, not his temples, he realized. The spot was further forward, towards his forehead...

One of his hands, or more accurately now, paws, moved up to feel the spot and bumped into something hard. Nate traced his paw along its length. Tapered, bony, and still growing. He had horns.

"They're gorgeous."

Nate hadn't even realized that Ed had pulled his snout away from his neck until he heard the vampire speak. The bat was looking at him with a wry grin, licking the last remnants of red off of his snout.

"Like the rest of you. Such a good boy. A strong, loyal guard dog..."

Even though they weren't orders, the words had the same sort of weight as the vampire's commands. Nate could feel the sense of pride and loyalty in his chest swelling up as the words settled in within his mind. He thought his tail was going to snap off from how much he was wagging.

"And if you're going to be a guard dog, you should get used to your master's scent," Ed teased.

Before Nate could ask what that meant, Ed grabbed one of Nate's new horns and used it to pull him forward, nestling his darkening nose right up in the vampire's armpit. With how light-headed he felt, Nate was now practically swimming in the male's beautiful virile, musky smell. He found himself nuzzling in eagerly, huffing, tracing his tongue over the fur.

The longer he stayed nestled there, the more potent the scent got. Nate was vaguely of the pops and cracks as his face pushed forwards, of his darkening nose coming into view - before his eyes compensated for his new snout and removed it again. With the lightheaded, surreal trip he was on, he barely felt it though. It just made him happy. Happy he could drink deeper of his master's smell, happy he was becoming what the vampire wanted. Happy he was becoming what he wanted - something new.

Nate wasn't sure how long he huffed and sniffed on the wonderful, enticing pit pressed to his nose, but eventually the paw holding him into it yanked him back. He had the opportunity to look himself over... his new lovely snout, his powerful, fuzzy chest and the treasure tail that led down it, his muscular arms and claw-tipped hands. And, of course, his throbbing, eager, desperately drooling canine cock.

"Am... am I done?" Nate practically whined.

"Almost done, puppy. I just need one more thing."

Nate nodded along eagerly, head swimming. He couldn't even tell if the vampire was using his power anymore. He could tell, however, that the vampire had picked up the pace slamming into his rear, absolutely abusing his prostate.

"Embrace the wolf," the vampire crooned. "Welcome those instincts. Crane back your head and give me a howl."

The changing wolf smiled ear to ear, craning his head back and opening his maw to let loose. For a second, the sound was just a human imitating a wolf. And then, it broke into something new - a deep, beautiful baritone howl that echoed off the walls.

Almost the moment the deeper howl left his maw, Nate felt the locks in his mind (and balls) fall away. His entire body shuddered as the flood of built-up tension hit him, his cock spasming wildly and firing blast after blast of cum all over his master's chest, the bed, and the walls.

His own rump clenching down on the canine shaft buried in him was enough to send the vampire over the edge too, and Nate could feel another deluge of hot, virile seed filling his insides. Something about bringing pleasure to the bat made his own climax so much better, his tongue lolling out in bliss as he rode out the high.

As Nate came down, the dizziness finally caught up with him. He slumped forward against his new master's cum-covered chest, the energy of the change leaving him all at once. A pair of clawed paws gently rested on his back, scritching up and down his spine as the bat-wolf nuzzled between his ears.

"Good boy. You can rest now. I'll take it from here..."

Nate muttered his agreement sleepily, nosing up to the warm fuzzy chest ahead of him. He'd sold himself that night, he knew that. He'd sold his freedom, his old life, maybe even more. But in doing so, he had bought a different sort of freedom... One that he couldn't wait to experience.