Archive of Our Own

Artwork by VeretianViper

Buck is used to disappointing people.

Not that that’s something to be proud of, but by this point in his 27 years he’s long since accepted it as fact.

The earth is round, the sky is blue, Evan Buckley is a capital D Disappointment and has been since birth.

Apparently, a succubus born to a long line of vampires is something of a black spot in the lineage. Never mind the fact that most vampires takes years to get a handle on their thirst and usually end up killing a few people, and as a succubus Buck’s never even gotten close to that line, but well.

In a coven of bloodsuckers, a lust-sucker is something akin to mud on your brand new, expensive shoes. And the Buckley’s are part of a long, long, long line of bloodsuckers.

Buck’s never been sure how he even came to be, since vamps can only bring about more vamps, but he’s also never tried looking too closely. That’s an entire can of worms he’s happy to keep hidden in the dark corners of his mind; he’s got enough worms to deal with at the moment.

Yet, even with his entire childhood being the entire case in point, his parents ignoring any and all signs of his “condition” as they called it; he doesn’t think he’s ever been quite so affected by that disappointment as the moment when Bobby catches him hooking up with a girl on the roof and fires him on the spot.

Buck had called himself a self-diagnosed sex addict, which, was definitely true in a sense. But he’d said it because no matter how much he wanted to, he could never bring himself to tell anyone about what he actually was. His parents had beaten the instinct to hide into him early on, and he’d had a hard time shedding that kind of lesson. But Bobby was human, so he’d tried to rationalize his behaviour in a way a human could understand. And, okay, so maybe he’d been going a little overboard in his feedings since officially joining the ranks of the LAFD, but he constantly feels like he’s starving.

It’s like each time he tries to feed it’s nothing but a tiny sip of water when he’s been stranded in a desert. So, not only did he disappoint Bobby, whom he’d been starting to look up to as a positive figure in his life (or the potential to be), but it hadn’t even helped his hunger.

He remembers his entire body awash with panic, a whisper of lust stuck to the back of his tongue, while Bobby gave him this look. It was the same kind of look Buck has only ever seen on his parent’s faces, and his heart had plummeted to his feet.

He remembers being in a sort of daze as he’d walked to his locker, having no memory of climbing back down the ladder, and started packing his things. The only job he’d ever felt had fit, like he could have made a place for himself, the only job he’d ever actually loved. Some small part of him had joined up because it just felt like something had snapped into place.

Why wouldn’t he find purpose in helping keep people alive when his family has been doing the opposite for generations?

Then there had been a phone call.

A lifeline.

Hen’s voice a careful, calm constant on the other end of the line and it had felt like for a moment the sun had poked through the clouds again.

He hadn’t thought it’d make much of a difference to him being fired, Bobby didn’t seem like the type to go back on his word like that, but one last chance to maybe prove to himself that he could be meant for more? He’d jumped on it. He didn’t know how to not.

The look of ‘Jesus Christ, this kid again​​?’ he’d received from Sergeant Grant just helped fuel him further. He remembered the last time the two of them had been on a call together; how he and the lion-shifter had butted heads. Perfect, he’d thought. Maybe this was his chance to redeem himself with Athena as well. His last shot.

And it had worked out.

By the grace of some sort of god, he’d helped Athena get that kid to her mom and keep them all safe from the gunman. In doing so, he’d shown Athena that, okay, maybe he was an impulsive kid, but he could help and he could think up solutions in a pinch.

If it had felt like he’d also been proving to himself that he’d figure things out, well... That’s for him to hold onto. But, in helping Athena he’d gained a second chance with Bobby.

And like he said, he’s used to disappointing people. So he’s been trying to be on his best behaviour, but well... He’s only Buck.

So, when Bobby invites him over to his apartment and tells him not to bring anything, his first thought is that he’s gone and fucked things up. Again.

Especially when it’s not Bobby who answers the door, but Athena Grant.

Oh no, Buck thinks, the big guns.

He manages to keep his thoughts to himself until he’s settled at Bobby’s tiny dining table. Bobby’s got the entire thing set up with what looks to be a delicious lunch spread, but Buck’s too busy tasting his own heart in his throat to feel anything but nausea looking at it all. He doesn’t reach out to grab anything, not even a glass of water. His eyes flicker from Bobby to Athena and then back again, which is easy to do considering they’re sitting side by side on the other end of the table to him. They’re also conveniently blocking him in, Bobby’s door sitting illuminated behind them like some unreachable goal.

His mind is racing, going over anything he could have possibly done to fuck up this time. Things were going so well! He thought they were all getting along and actually getting closer. He was even considering letting Bobby in on the entire Succubus thing, which, he hadn’t even gotten to tell Abby about before she’d skipped the country and Buck had been actively sleeping with her.

Not that he needs to be sleeping with someone to tell them what he is but.

Wait.

Buck’s brows furrow. His eyes flicker between Athena and Bobby again.

Are they... Are they holding hands under the table​​?

There’s no way. Except, there’s hints of lust in the air, faint enough that they’re not fresh and actively being pumped out but it’s there all the same. The way that there’s a faint misting of lust whenever anyone Buck knows who’s in a relationship will have when they’re thinking of their partner.

Mostly he gets whiffs of it from Hen. Or Chimney when he’s got a partner, but—

Buck doesn’t think he’s ever gotten anything like that from Bobby before.

Actually, now that he’s focusing on it, he doesn’t think it’s Bobby lust he’s tasting anyways. It’s a bit more wild in the way shifter’s emotions tend to taste. If a human’s lust tasted like a store bought peach, then a shifter’s would taste like a fresh, perfectly ripe and sun-warm peach you just plucked with your bare hands. The same peach but there was always something a little more to it.

His eyes flicker to Athena this time and stay. She raises an eyebrow at him, her eyes flashing a bright shifter-yellow.

“You not hungry, Buck?” She asks, her voice calm, and the hairs on the back of Buck’s neck stand up.

Instinctively, he flicks his eyes down and away, tilting his head a little to show her some of his neck. He doesn’t meet her eye again.

“I-ah. I’m not actually all that hungry?” He tries, and finally Bobby seems to let go of Athena’s hand and he reaches forward with both hands to start dishing Buck up.

“Come on, Buck, usually you’re the first at the table and the last to leave at the firehouse. I made enough for you to take leftovers, too.” Bobby says, but Buck makes no move to actually start eating.

“Buck?” Bobby tries again, pushing a glass of water closer to Buck’s plate.

“What-what’s this about?” Buck finally manages, reaching out to take the glass when Bobby gives it a pointed look. He slowly brings it to his mouth. He’s mid-sip when Athena springs it on him.

“I told him you’re an incubus.”

Buck chokes on the water, feeling it burn as it kicks up into his sinuses, but he manages to not spit it across the table or the two people sitting across from him so... Small victories?

“Jesus, kid.” Bobby had jumped up when Buck had first started coughing, patting Buck’s back in an attempt to help.

“What,” Buck croaks. It’s not even a question. Athena tilts her head, her gaze considering. Buck feels a little like a very small mouse caught by a very big cat with very big claws.

“I told him you’re an incubus.” Athena says again, her voice even. Buck’s mouth probably resembles that of a fish with how it’s wordlessly opening and closing, but he genuinely doesn’t know what to say.

“I-I,” He starts, clearing his throat, “I’m not.” He’s gotta try, right?

Bobby sits back down in his seat but instead of leaning forward like he’d been sitting earlier, this time he settles back into the chair. Like he’s settling in for the long haul. Oh god, Buck thinks wildly. His eyes flicker to the door.

He’s sure if Athena had a tail right now it’d be swishing swiftly through the air.

“You called yourself a sex addict earlier this year.” Bobby points out and Buck sputters.

“I said self-diagnosed—”

“But I bet you said that cause I’m human.” Bobby interrupts and well. Buck has nothing to say to that. He starts biting the inside of his cheek. “We’re not trying to corner you, Buck.”

He watches as Bobby brings his hands up and clasps them together above his empty plate. Which, that feels like a lie, but sure. Buck would roll his eyes if he wasn’t so intimidated by Athena. Speaking of, he looks over at her just in time to see her tilt her head back up.

“I wasn’t aware that Bobby didn’t know. I knew the day I met you.” She confesses and that genuinely gives Buck pause.

She knew?

“You-” Buck cuts himself off. But well, the cat’s out of the bag now, no point in trying to keep denying things, he thinks. “I-I don’t really call myself that.” Buck can’t help but wring his hands together under the table. “My-My parents always just said succubus and I’ve never met another one so I don’t—How did you know what I was?”

“You’ve never met another one?”

“I could smell it.”

Bobby and Athena speak at the same time, but Buck’s brain is used to jumping around and it picks both sentences out easy enough.

“We-I... My parents are vampires. So’s my sister.”

There’s a beat of silence.

“I didn’t know you had a sister.” Bobby says, his voice quiet. When Buck chances a glance at him it’s to see Bobby’s face has softened. Buck has seen that expression sometimes, especially when he says something everyone else finds kind of sad.

“I-I haven’t talked to her in a few years. Not since I ran away from home.” Buck mumbles, trying not to look too closely at how Athena reacts to that information. He finds it hard to get a read on her. He’s not sure if that would get any easier if he was around her more often or not. Buck is vaguely aware that Hen and her are friends, and Hen doesn’t seem to have that issue but, well. He bets Hen didn’t immediately try and start a fight with Athena when she met her.

“H-How could you smell it?” Buck finally asks, but he keeps his eyes on his hands in his lap when he does. “Smell me?”

“I’ve met a succubus before. Just the one. You are rather rare to meet, but there’s a certain twist in your scent that’s not in anyone else’s. I’m a lion-shifter, as you know,” Buck nods at this so she continues, “And most supernatural creatures have a specific scent to them. But Buck, I really didn’t know that Bobby didn’t know.” These last words are said so softly that Buck can’t help but look up at her.

“I-I didn’t know how to tell anyone. My family’s coven never really liked what I was, so I just... got used to hiding it, I guess. Coming up with human excuses.”

“That day, on the rooftop... Were you starving?” Bobby asks quietly. He doesn’t even get all the way through the question before Buck is shaking his head.

“I-I mean. No. Not-not technically.” Buck stutters “I’m just always hungry Cap, it doesn’t go away.”

He watches Athena’s brow furrow for a second before it smooths out. Bobby’s giving him a considering look.

“And Abby?”

“I-I never told Abby. About any of it. We weren’t together long enough, and how do you tell your girlfriend that you need to sleep with other people to keep from dying?” Buck mutters the last part of the sentence, but it doesn’t stop either of the people on the other end of the table from hearing him. He imagines even if he whispered it that Athena’s keen senses would pick up on it.

There’s a moment of silence that Buck can’t bring himself to break. His chest feels sharp in that way it does when you’ve had to show your vulnerable underbelly and had someone poked it right in all the soft spots.

Truth be told, he doesn’t know if he’d have ever told Bobby what he was.

He knows Hen’s a mage, and that Chimney is a dragon-shifter of sorts, and that Bobby knows about literally all the other shifters and magical creatures in the firehouse: A, B, and C shifts all included. But Buck wasn’t lying when he said he’s never seen another succubus.

He knows his parents were part of a fairly established vampire coven, and that no one in the coven liked Buck. The few times he remembers a coven member visiting they’d all given Buck a wide berth, like they were scared he was contagious. ‘There goes that Buckley boy, the freak of nature’ muttered from fanged mouths and muted behind pale hands. ‘Those poor parents.’ Like there was something out there that could twist a vampire into something else and his parents are now left with this deformed thing to care for. Growing up had been a lot of his parents hiding him away, brushing him out of conversations, dismissive of him in the way someone might be of a stray cat or dog begging for scraps.

And sure supernatural creatures are known, but they’re rarely talked about unless you’re surrounded by other creatures. Some humans are good about accepting the differences—others not so much. But when you find yourself in a job that lends itself so well to having extra powers of any variety it’s kind of hard to avoid. Firefighters, paramedics, police, doctors and nurses. Lots of creatures have better hearing, sight, and smell than humans—all useful things when it’s your job to have amazing instincts to help you save lives.

So, it’s unsurprising that Athena is a well known lion-shifter, alongside being a Sergeant with the LA police department. And it’s not surprising that Bobby is in the know when he’s been a firefighter for a long time, even before he became a Captain.

However, Buck still can’t help but feel he’s got to keep himself a secret, even if it might not be fair when everyone else isn’t afraid to share what they are. So, the fact that Athena knew? Instantly? He’s not sure he knows how to feel about it.

“You-you said that you didn’t know that Bobby didn’t know. But when did you tell him?” Buck finally asks when the quiet has become too loud for him to stand.

Athena and Bobby share a loaded glance.

“About that...” Athena starts.

“I know you’ve been feeling off since Abby broke up with you—” Bobby adds and Buck sputters.

He imagines this is what it feels like to be sat down across from your parents and given an intervention or something. Not that he’d know, given that his parents never sat him down for anything, but still.

“Sh-She didn’t break up with me.” He can’t help but try and defend himself. Sure, it’s been four months since he stood outside those airport doors, watching the only real relationship he’d ever been in walk away without a backward glance. He’s not sure if he’s been trying to hold onto the relationship or the way he grew while he was in it, but Buck would know if he’d been broken up with.

Wouldn’t he?

Besides, feeding had even been different with Abby. He and Abby hadn’t loved each other—they hadn’t been together long enough for that—but feeding off someone who actually kind of gave a shit about him versus feeding off a one night stand? It was like eating bland, boring oatmeal every day for breakfast and then one morning someone pours you a bowl of sugary cereal. Sure, they both fill you up, but the cereal is fun and exciting and crunchy and sweet. It tastes like such a treat that when you go back to oatmeal you’re now disappointed it’s only oatmeal, no matter what you try and sweeten it with.

“I had a suggestion.” Athena interrupts and Buck turns to her, eyes wide and mouth open ready to defend himself some more. Redundant as it may be. “Only I didn’t know that Bobby didn’t know you weren’t human. So everything came out when I told him about it.”

And apparently his Captain has been talking about his failure of a relationship behind his back.

“Hold on, the two of you have been talking about me?” Buck squeaks and Bobby gives him one of his patented looks. One that suggests he’ll let Buck talk himself in circles til he’s quiet, and then Bobby will swoop in and deliver some devastating line that’ll blue-screen Buck’s brain.

Buck kind of wants to petulantly whine and put his face down on the table like an angsty teenager, but he knows Athena already thinks of him as a kid and he doesn’t want to give her any more ammo.

“Like I said. You’ve been dealing with the entire Abby thing, and that was before I knew you needed to feed as regularly as you do.” Buck frowns but doesn’t say anything. “So, Athena had a suggestion, and honestly I think it’s got some merit where you’re involved.”

“A suggestion.” Buck knows he sounds dubious. It’s just this entire thing is already so crazy. Surprise! Athena is at Bobby’s apartment. Surprise! Both Athena and Bobby know he’s a succubus. Surprise! They commiserate about Buck’s sad, sad, love life betwixt themselves and corner Buck with the lure of a home made lunch and hold him hostage to talk about it.

Buck doesn’t know if he can take anymore surprises.

“Think of it as more an opportunity.” Athena starts, her voice even, and Buck tries to pretend his stomach doesn’t fall through his ass at the tone. (At the same time, she and Bobby are totally holding hands beneath the table, Buck can’t help but note, which. Does Hen know? There’s no way she does. Oh my god, does Buck know something before Hen does? He’s going to lord this over her for at least a week).

“An opportunity.” He echoes, voice faint.

“Abby’s not coming back,” Athena says bluntly. When she says it like that, in her no-nonsense tone and with that sharpness to her eyes, Buck doesn’t really know what he can say. Athena says it like it’s fact. Like it’s set in stone. Like everyone else has known this and has just been impatiently waiting for Buck to catch up. Ouch.

Buck opens his mouth. Athena raises a single eyebrow. Buck closes his mouth.

“Buck,” Bobby sighs, “when was the last time you talked to Abby?”

And well. Damn.

“It-It’s been a few weeks. But I mean, cell service isn’t that great in some of the more remote towns she’s been in and...” His eyes flick between Athena’s still raised eyebrow and Bobby empathetic, brown eyes. “Okay. So-so maybe she’s not coming back,” he finishes, speaking mostly to the table when he looks down at his hands twisted together in his lap.

“You’ve been single for four months, Buck. And Bobby’s told me that you’ve been looking worse than you had before you got together with Abby. Like you haven’t been eating as much as you should be, so it’s making you more tired. More exhausted.”

Buck’s head whips up, turning accusingly to Bobby. He knows the betrayal is written easily across his face.

“I’ve been fine! I haven’t fucked up on the job this entire time!” Now he really sounds like an angsty teenager, but he can’t seem to stop himself. Bobby holds up his free hand, palm-out towards Buck placatingly.

“I never said you weren’t doing your job, Buck. I can just tell things are weighing on you a bit more. And when Athena said you were a succubus, well... You haven’t been eating as much as you were before Abby.” Bobby points out carefully. Like he’s been cataloguing Buck and keeping an eye on him. Less like he’s been waiting for Buck to fuck up and more like he’s been worried. Buck bristles a little less.

He remembers being in this apartment with Hen, back when Bobby had asked for help. Maybe Bobby’s just trying to return the favour.

“It doesn’t taste right.” Buck finally admits. “I wasn’t feeding properly when I was with Abby either, even though I didn’t see Abby all that often. Everything else tasted bland, like a mouthful of sand when you’d been expecting water. I couldn’t bring myself to do it.” He whispers and Bobby reaches forward, moving Buck’s glass out of the way so he can hold his hand out expectantly.

Buck’s gaze flickers from Bobby’s hand to his face and then back down. Reluctantly he lifts a hand from his own lap and puts it in Bobby’s. Immediately, Bobby’s thumb curls up to rub soothingly along the back of his hand. Buck struggles to hold back the tears that want to spring up by the unexpectedly soft motion. He doesn’t remember anyone but Maddie ever holding his hand like this, purely for comfort.

“Athena’s idea, it’s a little unorthodox, especially if you don’t hang out in supernatural circles. But I want you to listen. Just listen. You don’t have to decide anything either way. It’s just... an option, kid. Okay?”

Buck takes a moment for himself, it’s true he hasn’t been eating. And he has been feeling more out of it at work; like everything is more taxing than it should be. And even if it wasn’t clear that Bobby and Hen both trust Athena implicitly, Buck is well aware that the lion-shifter isn’t one to try and make Buck the butt of a weird practical joke.

And Buck’s never been afraid to take a leap into the unknown, why should he start now?

Buck meets Athena’s eyes and she tilts her head down in a faint nod, acknowledging.

“What-what did you have in mind?”

Eddie’s life has been a series of set goals.

And he’d love to say that most of them are goals he himself has created, but really, it’s been his parents goals over and over and over.

Usually when you make a goal and then reach it there’s a moment of celebration. A moment of relief, of congratulations. But never with Eddie’s parents. With Eddie’s parents it’s like life is one long stretch of goals, and Eddie is constantly falling short.

When he’d had his first accidental shift as a kid, his parents had been ecstatic. His father especially—or so he’d been told. Eddie was too young to really remember much of the moment, but he’s had it told to him many times, as if he should be looking to that moment and using it as the measuring-stick of his life. Look! The one moment your dad was proud of you! When you were three years old and sneezed a set of fangs and claws into existence! Don’t get too comfy, cause you’re never gonna make him proud like that again!

He’s carried that weight for as long as he can remember. Being the eldest child, and the only son, of the Alpha of the El Paso Diaz Clan he was constantly reminded of his ‘duties’. Told as a ten year old it was time to step up and be the man of the house, since one day he was going to be alpha of the clan. But then punished for stepping in to take care of his sisters and look out for his mom.

Told as a preteen that he could keep doing his foolish dance classes, but only if he made them worth something. Trophy after useless trophy, and all it left Eddie with was the taste of ash in his mouth and a heartbeat that would panic every time a Paso Doble beat would start up.

Told as a teenager, when Shannon got pregnant on accident, that it was time to step up and marry her; it was the only thing a good catholic boy could do. They’d done it, to get Eddie’s parents off his back, but also because Eddie knew that a baby meant you needed money, more money than he and Shan were making at their part-time jobs. And sure, he’d been looking into medical school, nursing specifically. But there was one job he could take that was guaranteed to give him enough money and a decent enough insurance to help take care of a child. So to the military he’d gone.

Maybe part of him had wondered, in the dark recesses of his mind, if service would make his parents proud of him. Instead, he’d been lectured at length about the recklessness of his decision. But it paid the bills, and it helped keep Shannon and the baby healthy, and so he kept at it. And when they decided he should be a medic he’d thought, okay, close enough.

And then Christopher was born.

Christopher was born and that weight didn’t get any lighter, it changed it’s shape.

He looked down at the little boy in his arms, his cub, and his cat had rumbled with pleasure leaning down so he could rub his scent into the soft skin of the baby’s arm.

Then his parents found out he was shipping back out. That he’d only been given a few days off to be there. And the weight had changed shape again.

This time, instead of the weight of his parents disapproval and disappointment settling heavy on his shoulders, it more firmly wrapped around his ankles. Dragging behind him with every step. While the weight of new fatherhood settled around him like a well-loved blanket.

He’d finished his first tour and tried to settle into himself, step up to help Shannon, let Christopher relearn who he was, evade his parents and their near constant nagging. And he’d watched the bills pile up and up and up and that was where Shannon found him.

Two AM, sitting at their tiny dining room table in their small flat, flicking through medical bill after medical bill, the weight of Christopher’s condition reduced to a few pale sheets of paper.

“I have to go again,” he’d said into the silence. Shannon knew him better than anyone, and she knew that if she sat in the silence with him eventually he’d find the words he wanted to say.

She sat down across from him, putting her hand over his and he flipped his own to meet hers. He looked up, eyes catching on the deep bags beneath her eyes and her hair more greasy than she’d ever have let it get in high school, pulled back into a bun.

“We could figure something else out,” she whispered.

Eddie looked back down at the bills and then up at her.

“What else is there?”

She had nothing to say to that. Neither did he.

So he’d signed up for another tour, now feeling like the weight was pulling not only him, but Shannon and Christopher down as well. Like he was dragging them down with him.

Another goal come and gone.

Then Shannon’s mom had gotten sick, and he’d told her to go. Of course he’d told her to go, wishing that he could be there for his best friend but stuck trying to provide for his son.

Then he’d been shot down, managed to save most of his team, and given that god-awful award.

His parents celebrated that more than they’d celebrated anything he’d done in a long time. Eddie tasted only blood and sand in his mouth every time he thought about it. And even within the celebration they were taking pot-shots at Shannon; calling her a bad mom, a bad person, for needing to be with her mom, for leaving Eddie, for leaving Christopher.

Eddie was glad she wasn’t dealing this anymore. That she’d been able to shed the weight.

And then his mom had said his worst fear out loud.

“Don’t drag him down with you.”

And something inside Eddie snapped. Became the kind of feral animal that would chew it’s own leg off to escape a bear trap. He’d finished most of his firefighter training in El Paso, but that didn’t mean he had to do his probationary year here.

He’d sat down with Christopher on his parents porch and he’d cuddled his kid close, picking up hints of the deep, wolfy scent that Shannon herself has, and he’d chewed off his leg. Finally, leaving the weight behind.

“Daaaaad,” Christopher whined, his voice grumbly in the way that meant he’d probably shifted his teeth without meaning to. He sounded exactly like Shannon when she was annoyed with something. Eddie huffed a quiet laugh under his breath, not willing to risk Christopher hearing and becoming closer to a tantrum.

“Chriiiiiis,” he pretends to whine back, hearing Chris giggle before he puts the last mug up into the cupboard and turns around. There are boxes everywhere, and all of them are in different states of unpacking. Shannon is supposed to stop by later today, when visiting hours at the hospital are over, to help them get some stuff sorted. Or to help keep Christopher occupied while Eddie gets things sorted. Either way, help is on the way.

Currently, Chris is sitting at their wobbly, new dining room table. Eddie says ‘new’ because technically it’s ‘new’ to them. But really Pepa had reached out to a few cousins and managed to get Eddie’s place mostly furnished with whatever the Clan could scrounge up. It’s definitely all mismatched, and in varying states of well-worn, but it works and it means Eddie doesn’t have to try and come up with the money to buy his own furniture any time soon. He’s been trying to fold up different things and shove them under the one shorter leg of the table, but nothing’s helped so far.

The only things they’d brought from the house in El Paso were Christopher’s things. And Christopher’s room had been the first thing they’d set up this morning, after having spent the night crashing at abuela’s. Eddie’s sisters were helping to take care of selling everything left at the house, and the house itself. Which Eddie was grateful for, because he wasn’t sure what he’d do if he saw his parents again anytime soon. Not after how they left things.

“Is mom going to be living with us?” Chris asks in that slow, considering way of his and Eddie weaves his way through boxes so he can kneel in front of Chris.

“No, mijo. When your mom came out here she got her own place,” Eddie says.

Chris mulls the words over, running his hands back and forth over the table. His claws are out and they make a ‘shhhht’ ‘shhhhht’ sound as he does it, running them over the wooden texture of the table top. Chris is at the age that Shannon had told him most werewolf kids go through, where they’ll have pieces of a partial shift that come and go seemingly at random. Apparently, she’d been stuck with one hand of claws and one hand without for almost a month at the same age. Eddie’s glad his abuela and Pepa had known of a few shifter-friendly schools in the area.

“Are you to not together anymore?” He asks, voice soft and Eddie reaches a hand out to put it reassuringly over one of Chris’s.

“Me and your mom... We’re best friends. We always have been,” Eddie starts and Chris nods

“I reb-I rebember,” he says.

“Rem-em-ber,” Eddie sounds out.

“Rem-em-ber,” Chris echoes back.

“Good job, buddy. It’s a harder word to get.” Eddie watches Chris sit a little taller with the praise, a small grin sliding into place.

“So your mom and I will always be friends, but do you remember how we told you we’re not like some of your friend’s parents?” He continues and Chris nods.

“You don’t kiss like Sam’s mom and dad. Or hold hands like Brie’s,” Chris murmurs and this time it’s Eddie who nods.

“Me and your mom love each other very much, and we’ll always love you, but we don’t like each other in that way. Romantically. So your mom has her own place and we have this one.” Eddie watches Chris chew on his cheek a little anxiously.

“So do you want to like someone rom-romatically?”

“Rom-an-tic-ally,” Eddie sounds out and listens as Chris mutters the word back.

“I don’t know that I have the time to like someone romantically at the moment. I gotta get everything sorted with your new school, and we gotta unpack, and then I have to talk to the fire academy out here. But maybe later,” Eddie tries and now Chris is wiggling excitedly.

“Because you’re going to be a fire-fighter!” He nearly shouts and Eddie jumps on the distraction.

“That’s right!” He stands up, pulling Christopher up into his arms as he goes and making the boy shriek with laughter.

“Now come on. I think we deserve a break, how about we go out and get something to eat?” Eddie suggests and then struggles to hold onto Chris as he practically vibrates with excitement.

“Yes!”

Buck would like it noted that this time the insane thing he’s doing was not his idea, thank you very much.

The rest of the 118 and company all seem to be under the impression that he’s the craziest one, but he’d like to point out that they’re all just as crazy as he is. So... Pot meet kettle.

Like, sure, Buck’s always up for the adrenaline-fuelled rescues and schemes but this doesn’t quite seem to be on the same level as swinging from a high-rise to knock a suicidal man from his perch on the balcony. Or hitting a guy on a motorcycle with a blast of water from the engine while he’s actively shooting near you.

He’d just like it noted.

Buck casts a glance around himself for what feels like the fifth time in what’s likely half as many minutes, his eyes catching on small details he feels like he’s already examined over and over and over again in the last half hour. He still can’t believe he’s been talked into this.

The things he knows? He knows they’re outside the city of Los Angeles because there’s nowhere in town with the rows and rows of tall trees he can see over the carefully constructed cage he’s in right now. Although, cage is probably more of a loose interpretation because Buck doesn’t think he was actually paying attention when the peppy werewolf who led him here told him what it was actually called.

He knows it’s an enclosed space, roughly the size of one of the smaller corrals Buck had seen in Montana when he’d been working on the dude ranch out there. It’s too small to do any sort of decent warm-ups for a horse but the other people in here with him seem to have no problem doing their own form of warm-ups. Perhaps corral is more accurate than cage.

It’s late summer, which in town means drop-dead heat and scorching sun. But out here surrounded by the trees and the shelter they provide it’s actually a little chilly.

The corral they’re in is built of thick, sturdy logs laid stacked in neat rows, intricate runes carved along the length of them. The walls are easily a few feet taller than Buck, like someone had been building a really big log cabin but had forgotten to partition any rooms. Or add on a roof. Buck wishes he’d looked a little more into runes, because his curiosity is burning to know what they might mean. He’d not been allowed to take his phone with him into the corral, so he’s hoping maybe he can come back after everything is done and take some pictures when he’s reunited with Google.

He doesn’t think they’re that far out of LA though, because they didn’t spend long driving this way. Even though he couldn’t know for sure, since the van he’d been transported in had had it’s windows blacked out and none of them were allowed to look out the front to see where they were going.

Part of the “magic” of it all, apparently.

No phones, no maps, no fore-knowledge of where they’re going. Just like they used to do it.

What else does Buck know?

Buck knows he’s in the middle of nowhere, forest-ville California and he’s about to be let loose in the woods with thirty other people. Wherein they’ll be left to their own devices for an hour before the second set of people will be released into the woods. And this second set of people will be hunting the first people down.

Not for sport, like Chimney had joked when Buck had debriefed with him and Hen a few days after the weird lunch with Bobby and Athena, but for something that gets Buck’s blood pumping a bit more than that.

For mating.

Buck’s standing in the middle of a pen of thirty other twenty-to-thirty somethings who’re all here for one reason. To take part in a good, ole fashioned Mating Run.

Christ.

It seems crazy to Buck, but Hen hadn’t even batted an eye at it.

Apparently, it was more popular among shifters, werewolves especially, but anyone could reasonably join in. Especially in the LA one, which was organized every few years by the Diaz Pack. According the little bit of information Buck was able to find out, there was another section of the Diaz Pack out in Texas that was a little more discerning with who ran in their Runs, but out here in LA it was more of an open-door policy. You still needed to be ‘vetted’ by the supernatural community, which meant Buck couldn’t apply to it himself, but because Athena knew some of the Pack she recommended him and they had no issues accepting him then.

And because he’s not a shifter, he’s being sent out in the first wave of people. Shifters are sent out in the second wave, since they’re better at tracking and scenting. To even the playing field a little bit the shifters are even going to be blindfolded. Buck remembers the werewolf saying, but who knows how long they’ll keep those blindfolds on once they’re out of view of anyone else helping run this thing.

Bobby had shared that he’d heard of them before, that Marcy had apparently taken part in one before she’d gotten together with Bobby. Which is part of what Buck is trying to avoid thinking about.

Even though he’s being sent out and hunted down, there’s no guarantee that he’ll actually have anyone who wants to catch him.

Traditionally, a mating run was a way for two packs to mingle, bring in fresh blood. One pack has five, of-age single shifters and the other pack brings the same amount. But just because you’re participating doesn’t mean your scent will entice someone to choose you. Back then it had been something of a snub, to be chosen to take part and come home empty handed. Especially if you’d taken part in more than one run. Now, it’s more commonplace to not get a match. Maybe that’s why Athena had suggested it.

Here Buck is; single and a succubus, unable to really stomach feeding the way he used to. If he manages to entice a mate today he’s guaranteed a mate for life. And because they’d be mates and not just a regular couple, it should boost the energy Buck feeds off of. However, if Buck doesn’t entice someone then it’s back to the drawing board (and the clubs and one night stands). There’s not much he really stands to lose.

Though, he can admit to himself that he’s also a little worried that someone would choose him.

He notes that there’s not a single vampire amongst the corral crowd. There’s a handful of humans, which is interesting. There’s also a few fae, a few witches, a mage or two that have that easy energy about them, same as Hen, so they’re likely white mage’s too. There’s someone who smells vaguely of seaweed, which could be a mermaid, a selkie, or something else ocean related.

Buck is the only succubus, and sure Athena knew what he was, but she said that’s because she’s met one before and therefore knew what he smelled like. Hen doesn’t know. Chimney is a dragon-shifter and he’s never said or hinted at anything.

What if someone does choose him, and then discovers pretty quickly that Buck is some sort of creature of the night that preys on people? That he’s a creature than can build your lust up until it’s all you can think about? That he’s a creature that can sometimes even get into your dreams and fuck you there, like there’s no escaping him. What then? Especially because this is a mating run. Meant for, well, mating. It’s going to be near instant that someone would notice something is off with Buck.

He’s not sure what could be worse; him being chosen for a moment and then quickly rejected, him being chosen and going through with everything, or not being chosen at all.

Apparently, he’s supposed to stay out in the woods until at least midnight, wherein a smaller team of already mated shifters will head out to hunt down anyone who hasn’t been chosen. He’s not sure his already bruised heart can handle being left alone in the dark woods, feeling any happy couples nearby taking part in the tradition. He’s not sure his hunger can handle tasting so much intense lust with nothing to feed on itself. He also isn’t sure if his hunger could potentially affect any people around him, let alone a potential mate. He’s inadvertently caused a few small orgies when he’s been too hungry.

Buck watches the sun slowly set behind the tops of the trees, the shadows lengthening and the chill setting in a little more around them.

“First time?” It’s a chipper voice to his left that finally brings him out of his musing (catastrophizing).

When Buck turns to look it’s to see a younger man, his skin warm and his smile bright. He’s dressed in easy athleisure, like most of the people here, with a hoodie tied loosely around his waist. He’s one of the few with a beanie on too, tucked down tight over his dark curls.

“I’m Ravi, this is my second run.” Ravi holds a hand out and Buck takes it easily, he can taste Ravi’s energy on the back of his tongue. It tastes a lot like Athena’s, which means that Ravi’s some form of shifter.

“Buck. And uh, yeah. First time.” Buck manages, letting go of Ravi’s hand after a quick shake.

“Buck,” Ravi echoes, mostly to himself like he’s trying to remember Buck’s name. “Nervous?”

“No, I have been nervous before,” Buck jokes and Ravi flashes him an easy grin. “My, uh. Well, I suppose she’s my Captain’s girlfriend?” Buck can’t help the way his voice goes up at the end of that statement. “She suggested this to me. I’d never heard of it.”

“And now you’re here.”

“And now I’m here.” Buck echoes.

“What do you do, if you don’t mind me asking?” Ravi asks, keeping the conversation while he pulls his arms around to stretch them. Buck just watches. He can hear someone behind him doing actual jumping-jacks and push-ups.

“I’m a firefighter, LAFD.” Buck answers and Ravi stops stretching.

“No way. That’s so cool! I kinda always wanted to be a firefighter.” Ravi admits in that awed way people do sometimes, which Buck can understand. He thinks every little kid wants to be a firefighter at some point. He vaguely remembers being more interested in the dalmatians when he was four or five, but still.

“We’re always looking for good people.” Buck offers, grinning down at the kid. Realistically Ravi doesn’t look that much younger than Buck but since taking this job Buck knows he’s definitely grown more both physically and as a person, even taking into account his brief stint trying to be a Navy SEAL. It makes him feel older than his twenty seven years, and makes other twenty-somethings seem like kids to him. Maybe that’s why Bobby keeps calling him kid, now that he thinks about it...

Ravi huffs a laugh. “I’ll uh-I’ll keep that in mind.” He says, untying his hoodie and pulling it on.

“You know something I don’t?” Buck asks, pointing to Ravi’s hat and his freshly donned hoodie and Ravi just grins.

“I run a bit cold, but even then it gets a bit colder than people expect, the trees keep things pretty cool and we might be here all night, so...”

Buck can’t hide his surprise. Usually, shifters run warmer than everyone else, something to do with their enhanced metabolisms to keep up with their extra abilities.

“Oh! I didn’t know there were shifters that could run colder.” He can’t help but add and Ravi quirks a grin to him just as movement on the end of the corral catches both of their attention. It’s the peppy werewolf from before, she’s brought a small step-stool that she puts down and immediately stands atop so she’s a few heads taller than everyone around.

“People can’t usually tell that I’m a shifter,” He mutters quietly as they both turn towards the werewolf, “but my extended family lives were it’s a lot warmer than here, so it’s always an adjustment when we get back from visiting.”

“If I can have your attention please!” The werewolf calls, waiting while everyone murmurs and turns towards her.

“I thought the shifters were going to be in the second half of this?” Buck murmurs back, leaning his head a little closer so Ravi can hear him.

“That’s what I did last year, didn’t have much luck, figured I might try it from this side. Good luck!” He whispers back, giving Buck a wink before he ducks away and disappears into the crowd of neon-spandex and dark cotton.

Huh.

Maybe there’s a few other shifters in this group too and Buck just hasn’t been paying attention.

“We’re about to start the ceremony, I hope you’re all ready for a good run!”

There’s an encouraging murmur of ascent from everyone gathered, and just as the noise dies down there’s a flare of light to their left. Buck turns with everyone else to watch as a large torch is lit atop the wall and he can’t help but take in a shocked breath when the runes that were carefully carved into the log walls all begin lighting up as if they’re full of the same fire as the torch. The wall around them glows, almost too bright to stand, and Buck can feel the warmth of the magic now humming from the runes. He’s so coming back to take some pictures of these runes later.

“We want a good, clean run this year. Most of you should know the rules but I’ll refresh them anyways!” The werewolf calls, sounding like every camp counsellor Buck has ever known. “You have an hour from when the gate opens to get as far into the forest as possible! You cannot trip, hit, or harm in anyway, any other runners or you will be instantly disqualified! We do have ways of checking up on you if such a thing were to happen!” Here she gives them all a very unimpressed look. There’s a bit of murmuring from the back of the small crowd, but Buck just grins. He didn’t figure a mating run could be cut-throat but perhaps he underestimates how much some people really want to find a mate.

“After that first hour we release the second runners, those who are shifters will be blindfolded to even the playing field a little. It will also slow things down, give you more time to evade them, a short run isn’t a very fun run.” Here she gives an exaggerated frown before her grin is back, this time with a wink. Some people chuckle.

“The runes are imbuing each of you with a bit of magic that will help us be able to track you if anything goes wrong! You don’t have to worry about activating it, it can do that on it’s own. We have a shifter prayer to bless each of you with, the matriarch of the Diaz clan is here to do that and you will show her the respect she deserves while she does! Anyone who doesn’t get matched within 5 hours should stop moving and stay where you are, our scouts will come find you and bring you back to the lodge where you can get warm and a ride will take you back to the city! If you do get matched we will be leaving you alone until the morning, unless otherwise prompted by the rune magic! Is everyone ready to get started?” She calls and there are a few rowdy cheers and wolf whistles. She grins with probably more fang than is warranted, but Buck’s not going to fault her her enthusiasm.

He watches as an older woman comes walking into the corral through a small side door, likely the one they’d also walked through not long ago to get in here. There’s a massive set of double doors to Buck’s far right that he’s pretty sure is the gate that they’ll be let loose through in a moment.

The werewolf steps down from her stool but the older woman doesn’t step up onto it. Instead she stands firm and tall, all five-foot-and-next-to-nothing of her, her eyes sweeping across the gathered people.

“¡Hola! The Diaz Clan wants to give thanks to those of you who are here today to keep the tradition of the mating run alive.” She says, her voice strong and clear.

“It has not always been an easy thing for others to accept, and we have had to fight long and hard to keep our traditions alive. Every time we have a successful run, we are further strengthening those ties that bind all supernatural creatures to each other. I met my husband at a mating run many, many moons ago, and it was a gift that neither of us took for granted. This run is not something to take lightly, a mate is a precious thing to have and to be. It is not reversible, you cannot trade one mate for someone else. Most never mate again even if they lose their mate to a tragedy. Many shifters can’t mate again, and only have one for life. If this is something you find you have doubts about, or something you’ve changed your mind about you are free to leave. We will not judge you for it.”

Here she motions towards the door she just came from. For a moment it’s silence, not even the sound of polyester clothing rubbing against itself. Then one person steps forward, a smaller woman Buck had noticed who’d been pacing back and forth in short lines earlier. She steps up to the older woman, who simply tips her head to her gently, acceptingly. The woman steps off to the side, the werewolf stepping forward to walk with her to the door, her shoulders tucked up to her ears and her hands shoved into her pockets.

For a second, Buck considers walking out as well, but the thought of really and truly finding someone who could be with him for life is too tempting. Even outside of his hunger.

Finding someone who would stay.

“Some are not ready for such a commitment, and that is okay. You are all here voluntarily, and we would never want to make you go through with something you had changed your mind about. Is there anyone else who does not wish to partake in the run tonight?” The older woman asks and Buck watches as a few people shake their heads. A slow grin spreads across her face, her eyes glowing green as fangs drop delicately into view.

“Then let us begin.”

“I’m just saying!” Shannon laughs and Eddie huffs, rolling his eyes and taking another sip of the beer he’s been nursing the past hour. It’s warm, but he paid for it already so he’s going to drink it.

“You’re always just saying,” Eddie bitches back and Shannon swipes out at him with a clawed hand, her eyes flashing yellow in the dim pub light.

“Watch it!” Eddie yelps, leaning as far out of the way as he can. “This is a new shirt!”

“Mm, because you had that interview today,” she teases, “Edmundo Diaz can’t get new clothes for himself, but he can for someone else.”

Eddie swipes back at her, though he keeps his claws to himself because he wasn’t raised by wolves, thank you.

“It was with the fire captain of a possible station! I’m supposed to be making a good impression,” he says, and she snorts, rolling her eyes.

“Please. I remember seeing those papers of your scores. One of your classmates told me you were top of every class. I don’t think you need to make any more of a good impression, Mr. Perfectionist.”

“It can’t hurt! And I’m not a perfectionist, I’m just not as ‘go with the flow’ as you are.”

“You’re too uptight all the time! You know what happens when you listen to me and my ‘go with the flow’ ideas,” she suggests, winking and taking a sip of her own beer. Unlike Eddie, she’s on her third one—werewolf metabolism—and it’s cold enough that Eddie can watch the condensation make rings on the table every time she sets it down.

“Yeah. The last time I went along with one of your plans I got detention for three weeks and you were off scot-free,” he scoffs.

She shoves him again, claws retracted this time, so Eddie lets the push tilt him a little. Then when he tilts back into an upright position he makes sure to swing a little wider, shoving his shoulders obnoxiously into Shannon’s. This makes her spill some of her beer down herself, since she’d been in the middle of another sip.

“Shit!” She hisses, slapping his hands when he tries to hand her a napkin in the middle of his own giggles. “Asshole,” she spits and Eddie just grins, flashing a bit of fang at her for fun.

“Anyways. As I was saying,” she pauses to give him a significant look, the smell of her amusement thick in his nose, “what could it hurt? I know you’ve been a little lonely, and there’s no reason not to give it a shot now! The house is entirely unpacked, and decorated even, because I’ve never seen anyone nest as much as you do. And you’re done with the academy and your parents still haven’t reached out. Come ooooon, Eddie,” she finishes with a whine.

“No.”

“Eddie.”

“No!”

“Edmundo,” She pushes, purposefully over pronouncing the syllables of his name and he glares at her.

“I’m not taking part in a fucking mating run, Shan! Drop it.”

She rolls her eyes, finishing off her beer and then snatching his up and chugging that one as well.

“I’ll convince you,” she mutters, pretending to gag at the warm beer.

“No you won’t,” he laughs.

Buck has been running for a good half-hour by this point. Though technically, running is a bit more rigorous than what he’s doing. It’s quickly getting dark out in the forest and even though his night vision is better than a human’s it’s no match for a vampire’s, or even a wolf’s, so he’s been more jogging on and off. At the beginning of the run, he’d actually taken off like a shot, trying to put as much distance between himself and the other runners as possible, just in case.

He’s not sure what his powers might do, since he’s been chronically underfed for a while. He’s also never fed on a shifter before, not properly. He’s gotten hints here and there, but he’s never taken the chance that a shifter could note something off about him. He’s slept with plenty of magic-users though; they’re essentially humans who can access magic, so their senses are still only as sharp as a human’s.

It’s been more than an hour since he was first let loose, and about forty five minutes since he’s last seen hide or hair of a single other person. The last person he saw was one of the fae girls climbing into the canopy of leaves above them then jumping from tree to tree, and while it was an impressive tactic he’s stayed down on solid ground. He doesn’t need to have some sort of accident that’ll take him off work. Bobby’s already given him a week and a half off in case he does find a mate tonight, since most shifters spend a week solidifying their bonds. The thought is a daunting one.

Buck slows to a stop, taking a moment to catch his breath and see if he can get a peek at the moon through the tree tops. It’s a full one tonight, and back where the trees had been a little thinner he’d even gotten to see a glint or two of a star. It’s been a while since he’s been able to see the stars; city life isn’t conducive to that sort of view.

Buck keeps walking, flicking his eyes down to his feet to make sure he doesn’t trip, then flicking up to try and see the moon. He doesn’t even notice he’s stumbled into a small clearing until he looks down to step over a thicker set of roots, and when he next looks up, the sky is completely bare of leaves and branches.

He lets himself slow to a stop, admiring the stars. He’d love to lay down to get a good look at them; try and see if he recognized any constellations, but he isn’t sure he’s far enough away from everyone. He’ll just... look—for a minute or two—and then be on his way again. Perfect plan.

Except, there’s the crack of a twig to his left and his head snaps towards the sound. His eyes take a second to adjust; the moon is bright out in the open, and he watches as two glowing green eyes appear in the darkness. They’re remarkably similar to the older woman’s eyes when she’d partially shifted to say the prayer over them. He knows Athena’s eyes flash yellow, and that most shifters have yellow eyes. He’s seen one or two creatures with glowing red or white eyes too, but before today, he’d never seen green.

He fights to stand still, something in his instincts telling him to run. He hadn’t been expecting that. Especially, because he knows he’s out here to be hunted, but there’s something different between knowing that and having it happen. He holds himself back from shifting.

His shift isn’t much, it’s closer to a partial shift. He gets horns, claws, small fangs, a whipcord tail. His skin turns irresistibly, silky-smooth, his hands and feet look like they’ve been dipped in charcoal. He looks like a demon.

His parents had even called him one, once or twice, when he’d been learning to control the shift. They’d been horrified—imagine if anyone else had seen him. They’d locked him away in his room for almost a month while he cried, and cried, and tried to turn himself back. He’s never been able to bring himself to shift since, but the hairs on the back of his neck are standing on edge and he actively has to fight the instinct now.

The eyes blink slowly, languidly, at him, like a contented house cat. It does nothing to make him feel less hunted.

“I thought you were supposed to be blindfolded?” Buck says, the words let loose before he can think of anything better to say. He doesn’t bother raising his voice; this shifter can hear him quite easily, could even if Buck was further away.

The eyes blink slowly, just once, and Buck finally notes that they’re closer to the ground than they should be, just in time to watch a giant, pitch black cat slink out from between the trees it was hiding in.

It’s gorgeous.

Artwork by VeretianViper

It had blended easily into the shadow; looking like the shadows themselves had been poured into the shape of a giant cat. Buck’s only been to the LA Zoo once, right when he first got here, but he’s certain he’s looking at a jaguar. In the daylight, there might be rosette’s visible, but in the moonlight it looks pure black.

It stalks forward slowly, body flowing over roots and rocks through the grass towards him. He can’t stop himself from taking a few steps back, and when he does, the jaguar stops. They cock their head to the side, tipping it slowly and smoothly. Like they’re allergic to sudden movements. Every time it moves, it’s with the grace of a dancer, one position flowing beautifully to the next.

Buck’s seen a few werewolves when they’re fully shifted, and they’re just as spastic and sporadic as any dog you’d seen. But this shifter moves in such a self-assured way, like he knows that he could catch Buck without breaking a sweat. Like it’s inevitable.

That feeling isn’t helped by the careful, deep rumble that the jaguar let’s loose. Buck swears he can almost feel it rattling in his own chest. The shifter takes another careful step forward and now he’s close enough for Buck to taste it.

His lust.

Buck’s legs almost buckle, his mouth falling open while he breathes in, trying to get a deeper taste even though it doesn’t work that way. Sure, Buck tastes lust on the back of his tongue, but breathing has never been how he feeds. It’s instinct though, to try to breathe the taste in, like he can pull more towards himself by sheer force of will.

He’s never tasted anything like he’s tasting a hint of right now. It feels like it’s warming his throat like a shot of alcohol, burning the entire way down and settling deep in his gut. And they haven’t even started. If feeding before was like oatmeal, and feeding off Abby was sugary cereal, this is more like someone has cooked him pancakes and slathered them in thick syrup. He wants to glut himself on it.

It’s so smooth he almost misses it, but between one step and the next, the shifter transforms from fluid shadow to man.

Miles of warm, tan, skin are suddenly on display and Buck can’t stop himself from dragging his eyes all along the man’s form. His eyes catch on moles, tattoos, distinct scars. The shifter keeps stalking forward, echoes of the cat’s fluidity making his steps near silent in the grass. His shoulders and hips shift in a reflection of the way they did when he was a jaguar. He’s also completely bare beneath the moon, like the cool night air doesn’t even affect him.

Buck stops himself before he can take a peak at what he really, really wants to. Trying to keep his eyes places they won’t get in trouble for. If this is the first time he’s seeing his possible mate, he’d like to try and make a good impression.

The cat slows his steps but doesn’t stop, not until he’s close enough for Buck to make out the teasing moue of his lips.

“I was,” he says, voice deep and easy. There’s a hint of power in it, authority, like he’s used to speaking and having everyone listen. If his green shifter eyes mean he’s related to that older woman from before, that likely means he’s part of the Diaz Pack, which would make that make sense. She’d talked much the same; like you had no choice but to listen, no matter her volume.

“Hmm?” Buck has already forgotten the question he must have asked, whatever it was that got the man to speak to him, and can tell he’s probably looking a little starstruck. Or, well, he hopes it comes across as more starstruck and less complete fucking idiot.

The man’s lips twist into a slanted grin, a hint of a fang glinting temptingly in the moon light. He starts a slow, meandering walk around behind Buck, circling his prey, and Buck fights the instinct to turn and keep him in his eyeline. He likes the feeling of this man’s eyes on him—really likes it.

The taste of lust is thicker, the closer the man is, and Buck’s just about ready to beg for a real, proper taste. The man glides closer, coming to a stop behind Buck’s left shoulder. Buck turns his head to see the shifter watching him, eyes glittering with a bit of mischief. They look black in the moonlight, and Buck feels half desperate to see them in the day. What colour might they be? Brown? Green? A beautiful mix of both? His eyes flick down and notice the smallest of moles, just beneath the shifter’s left eye. He wants to put his finger to it, his lips, his tongue.

“I was wearing a blindfold,” the man says, stepping in close enough for his chest to touch Buck’s back. Buck can feel the heat of him along his shoulder blade, even through the thick shirt Buck’s wearing.

“It’s tradition. We’re meant to let our senses guide us,” he continues in a murmur, forming himself perfectly to Buck’s body. Buck’s entire being lights up, like he’s been walking around tinder-dry and the shifter behind him set him alight. The shifter turns his head in towards Buck, tucking his nose beneath Buck’s jaw and pushing upwards. Buck goes easy enough, tilting his head to the side to bare more of his neck. The shifter breathes deeply against his skin and goosebumps break out at the feeling of warm air puffing against his pulse. Buck can feel the brush of his lips against his pulse as he talks.

“And I did,” he whispers, “for a while.”

Here he places a feather-light kiss to Buck’s racing pulse and Buck can’t help the shiver that runs through him. His mouth falls open, his breathing picking up. They haven’t even done anything.

They’re standing here barely touching, and Buck is fully clothed. The only skin touching between them is the shifter’s face buried in his neck, and yet already Buck is overcome.

It’s never felt like this.

Nothing has ever felt like this.

Every taste of lust he’s gotten before this. Every kiss, every hook-up. Even Abby. It all pales in comparison to the fire building in him now.

He’s not sure if it’s the shifter’s lust, or his own, or a combination of both, but Buck feels himself easily sliding towards full hardness. Even leaking a little in his underwear while the shifter keeps whispering against his skin.

“But the moment I got your scent?” Here he moans, under his breath, mouth closed, Buck can feel the vibrations from the man’s chest as if the noise came from his own chest. He wants the man to moan again; open mouthed, right in his ear. He wants to hear every sound this man could possibly give up.

“I knew you were mine. I followed your trail until it got thick enough, fresh enough, that I knew you were close. I couldn’t help it, I shifted to be able to get to you faster. The thought of you, out here all alone. That maybe someone else had caught your trail, could get to you before I did?” He bites at Buck’s jaw and it stings enough for Buck to know the man’s fangs are still out. Buck wonders what it’d feel like if the man really sunk his teeth in—made a mark. If things keep going the way they are then that should definitely be in the cards for tonight. Maybe more than once.

Buck knows most shifters only need to bite once for a mating bite to take. But Buck is willing to do anything to keep this man’s mouth on him, his teeth in him. He can almost feel his own shift bullying its way to the surface, his gums stinging where his fangs would drop almost as if in answer.

“You’re mine, tesoro.”

A hot, heavy hand slides around Buck’s right side, slipping easily underneath his shirt and rucking it up. The hand slides up, up, up, until it’s splayed over his thundering heart. The night air is chilly enough to have Buck’s nipples pebbling up from the sudden exposure, while heat pools deep in his gut. Buck’s hand instinctively comes up to wrap his fingers around the shifter’s wrist, not to pull his hand away, but to keep him in place. His palm feels like a brand against Buck’s skin.

The shifter takes another deep breath against his neck, his nose pressing so close it must be on the verge of painful.

“Dios mío, what are you? You smell...” he takes another deep breath in, the hand he has splayed across Buck’s chest pulling him tighter into the shifter’s embrace. “You smell...” he trails off again, taking another few heavy breaths, like he can’t get enough. Like he’s just as addicted to the scent of Buck as Buck is to the taste of him.

“I’ve never smelled anything like you.”

The shifter licks a broad stripe up the side of Buck’s neck, like smelling isn’t enough; he has to taste him too. Taste Buck like Buck is tasting him, even if he doesn’t know it yet. Buck can’t stop his hips from twitching at the feeling. The man goes back to breathing him in, placing open mouthed kisses anywhere he can reach but still staying tucked into Buck’s neck.

“I—I...” Buck breathes, struggling with himself. He mentally shakes his head, trying to clear his thoughts from the lust-filled cloud that surrounds them.

Is he really...?

There’s nothing else he can really do is there. Just rip the band-aid off.

Here goes. Fuck does Buck hope that this guy doesn’t go running for the hills.

“I’m a succubus,” he whispers, unable to say the words any louder.

There’s a pause between them. The shifter stays where he is, like he’d been trying to crawl into Buck’s skin, the only change being that his hand tightens it’s hold over his heart – fingers pointing into five sharp points of contact; possessive.

“Hmm... That why you’re letting me do whatever I want to you, pretty boy?” The shifter nudges his nose up from Buck’s neck until it’s resting against Buck’s cheekbone instead. He shifts until his lips are brushing Buck’s cheek with each word, his breath hot against Buck’s ear and the wet skin of his neck. “You’re built to take everything I give you?”

Buck can’t help the desperate whine from escaping. The moment of uncertainty, of fear that he’d be rejected, quickly being eclipsed by heat. The shifter isn’t running. The shifter isn’t even attempting to create a bit of space between them. If anything he’s trying to pull Buck impossibly closer. And his words? Buck feels like he’s burning up. The shifter’s possessive hand against his chest, his nose taking deep, drugging breaths of his scent, the heat of the shifter plastered to his back.

“You wanna be mine, tesoro?”

The shifter’s other hand finally makes an appearance, splaying itself across his lower abdomen, pinky finger dipping teasingly under the waistband of his sweatpants in a move that shoots right to Buck’s cock.

“You smell like mine,” the shifter confirms, voice low, his chest rumbling against Buck’s back with a hint of that jaguar growl from earlier.

“Y-Yes,” Buck stutters out, his head nodding dumbly too many times with enthusiasm. He let’s a little more of his weight lean back against the man behind him. He doesn’t budge, a solid strong line of support helping hold Buck up.

The shifter hums. “You gonna let me mark you up, pretty thing?” His hand releases its hold of Buck’s chest, sliding up to cup easily against his throat. Claiming. “Gonna let me bite you? Make you mine?”

Buck’s hips hitch forward, desperate for contact with something—anything—and he whines again.

Oh god, is he really doing this? Buck takes a breath and the situation slowly slides back into focus.

He’s not all that sure that a shifter’s mating bite would take, him not being a shifter and all, but he’s seen it take with humans and a witch or two. Is he really going to let a stranger—an otherworldly, gorgeous, smoking-hot stranger—permanently bond them for life?

The shifter’s left hand slides lower, into his sweatpants, confidently wrapping around his aching cock and stroking it from root to tip once, twice, thrice.

“You’re so wet for me, baby.”

Yeah. Yep.

Absolutely.

Buck is absolutely going to let a beautiful stranger possibly bond him for life. Fuck. Especially if he keeps touching Buck like that.

Buck doesn’t even realize he’s been talking until he hears the man behind him chuckle. It’s sounds a little mean, like he’s above Buck enough to be amused by him. Buck doesn’t mind, he’s kind of into people being a little mean to him in bed. He’s built to be able to take almost anything from people in bed.

“-pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease-” Buck couldn’t stop his mouth if he tried. His hips keep rolling forward, fucking into the man’s hot fist, his precum slicking the way. The man hasn’t even pulled Buck’s cock out, his furtive ministrations kept tucked inside Buck’s sweats. When Buck looks down at the hand moving beneath his sweats, he feels hot all over, jolted like he’d stuck his finger in an electrical socket.

The taste of the shifter’s lust is indescribable; it’s like a living thing on the back of Buck’s tongue. It’s coating everything, Buck can’t taste anything else. It’s wild, stronger than any shifter’s lust Buck’s ever tasted, even in passing.

He doesn’t know if that’s because the man is focused on him, or if it’s that the man is a powerful shifter. He’ll try to remember when he’s got more wherewithal to ask.

“I’ve got you, you wanna come?” There’s a hint of something to the man’s words, slightly patronizing Buck would say, if his brain was capable of any thought except more. The man shifts behind him and Buck can feel the hot line of his erection against the back of his thigh. And Buck—Buck needs that in him now.

He pulls back into himself, taking more initiative than he’s shown so far, and twists in the shifter’s hold. As soon as they’re chest to chest, Buck’s hands are on his face, pulling him into a hot, wet, kiss. He lets the man lick into his mouth, chasing the taste of him back and forth between them. He whimpers when the man’s fangs bite on his bottom lip and tug, before his tongue flashes out to soothe the sting. One of the shifter’s hands slides back into place at the bottom of his throat, not putting any pressure, just holding. As if waiting for Buck to pull away so he can reel him back in, but Buck’s not going anywhere.

“Please...” Buck murmurs into their kiss, just as the shifter shoves his other hand back down into Buck’s pants. This time he roughly shoves the front of Buck’s sweats down enough to free his cock and balls from the fabric. He shivers at the slight breeze that blows against his slick cock before that hot, hot hand returns to it’s previous actions.

Buck let’s the man strip his cock for a few tantalizing moments before he knocks his hands away. He makes an affronted noise, reaching for Buck again. Buck distracts him by sliding a hand around the back of his head, cradling his neck, and then tugging him down till they’re both laying on the ground, the shifter between his spread thighs.

The man braces himself above Buck easily, grinning a sharp-toothed thing before ducking back down to connect their lips again. This time, his hands go to Buck’s shirt, tugging it in a clear indication he wants Buck to take it off. Buck reluctantly let’s them separate just long enough to pull it off, except instead of throwing it off into the distance somewhere, the shifter bundles it up to be a rough sort-of pillow and shoves it beneath Buck’s head.

There’s no way Buck’s not going to have grass stains on his skin, and rocks digging into soft places, but he doesn’t even care. He feels himself relax a little more, touched by the thought. At least with his shirt as a pillow, he won’t slam the back of his head into anything uncomfortable when he’s arching his back. And he knows he will be arching into this man’s touch, because there’s no way this man isn’t going to give him everything he wants. Not with the way he tastes.

He reaches out to pull Buck’s sweats off next and Buck wiggles his legs to help out. He watches with wide eyes as instead of tossing the pants away, the shifter brings them up to his face, taking a deep breath of Buck’s sweat and precum that had made a pretty significant wet spot across the crotch.

Buck isn’t wearing any underwear. He figured, well, easier access in case he really was lucky enough to find someone who wanted him. And here he is.

His cock twitches, watching the man breathe him in.

Fuck, is that fucking hot.

The shifter curses under his breath, settled on his knees between Buck’s thighs, leaning back to take Buck in after he drops Buck’s sweats to the side. Buck can’t help but preen a little, he shoves his chest forward putting his nipples on display. He let’s the movement roll down his body, tightening the muscles of his stomach to show them in a roll of motion. His hips hitch up and his cock smears a line of precum in the crease of his thigh and up his hip.

“You gonna put your cock in me...?” Buck trails off. Shit, he hasn’t even gotten this mans name.

The shifters eyes flash that stunning green as he looks down at Buck from under hooded eyes. His mouth quirks up at one side.

“Edmundo.”

“Edmundo,” Buck repeats, trying for the slight roll of the name in his mouth. He did learn a bit of Spanish during his time in Peru, but it really didn’t help his pronunciation. The man’s smirk blows wide into a grin, so Buck knows he’s likely missed the mark a little.

The shifter leans forward, Buck automatically leaning back until he’s settled completely against the dirt. One hand lands silently beside Buck’s ear, thumb brushing it on the way down and making Buck shiver. The other settles delicately against his chest, right over his heart again, feather-light.

“Eddie,” the shifter murmurs in that low, teasing voice.

“Eddie,” Buck breathes, watching Eddie’s eyes flash that brilliant green again. Like hearing Buck say his name gets him going. Like it brings the cat closer to the surface. Like it makes a bit of Eddie’s control slip, just a little. Like he can’t help it.

Eddie quirks his head smoothly to the side, the motion reminding him a little of Athena when she wordlessly is asking Buck a question. Which—

Oh! Right.

“Buck.”

He watches amusement flash across Eddie’s face. There and gone in but a moment.

“Buck?”

“E-Evan Buckley. B-But I go by Buck. Only my parents call me Evan,” he mumbles and watches Eddie’s face soften. He leans down, humming, and whispers against Buck’s lips.

“Buck.”

Then he pulls Buck back into a kiss again, but this time he takes control of it, licking into Buck’s mouth in a way that has his gums itching. Or at least Buck thinks it’s just itching, until he suddenly tastes the sharp tang of blood mixed into their kiss.

He gasps as he pulls away, horrified, he’s only ever shifted the one time without thinking about it – that first time, and he’s about to apologize but Eddie’s eyes are lazer focused on his mouth.

“Got your own little fangs, huh, gatito?” He leans down to press a chaste kiss to Buck’s lips. “Gonna give me a mating bite back?” And Buck flashes hot with the thought of it. His own permanent mark; someone who’s his in every way. A way for everyone to know. He doesn’t even know if it would take, but the thought is stuck in his head now.

“Fucking—I need you in me now,” he groans.

He adds a whine to the tail-end of that groan when Eddie pushes himself up and away from Buck, back to kneeling between Buck’s legs. He hums, and it’s then that Buck really let’s himself get a full look at what’s between Eddie’s legs. Especially when Eddie brings a hand down to idly touch himself while he considers Buck beneath him.

“I don’t have anything to open you up, gatito, we could figure something else out...” He trails off and Buck hitches his hips impatiently. Eddie’s big, bigger than Buck’s ever seen in real life and, listen, it’s not always size. Buck has definitely had fun with men and women with smaller cocks. He’s also had fun with a multitude of different sized dildos. He’s a sex demon. He knows sex. But from this angle Eddie looks like he’s even longer than Buck is, by at least an inch.

The firehose moniker Buck gave himself on his dating profile was less for size and more for... production, but that doesn’t mean Buck’s small either. He’s proportionate, he should say.

And Eddie seems to be proportionate. At least to his massive hands as they wrap around himself.

Buck watches as Eddie’s hand comes up to his tip, pushing his foreskin forward before dipping his thumb in to brush across his slit like he’s spreading the bit of precum there. He definitely doesn’t get as wet as Buck does, but Buck’s also pretty sure he gets wet as a way of making sex more comfortable for his partners.

“You don’t need anything to open me up, I’m good. I’m so good. Please.”

Buck hitches his hips again, biting his lip to hold back the whine he wants to let loose. He focuses enough to bring a less familiar sense of wetness between his legs.

He’s never slicked himself up when fucking someone else, but at home? Well, it’s convenient to not have to worry about finding lube or stretching himself out. He can just get right to it, altering his body with his mild shape-shifting abilities. So, that’s what he does here. He keeps his anatomy as is, because well, Eddie can clearly see that he’s a man with a penis, and from the angle he’s sitting at he can likely see Buck’s asshole. He didn’t run screaming when Buck said he was a succubus but he might back out of this if Buck suddenly sprouts a pussy where there wasn’t one before.

He’s glad he’d already used his focus to slick himself up, to loosen the muscles there, because he watches as Eddie groans to himself at the sight. Eddie’s hand slipping down to cup and squeeze at his balls for a second, his cock twitching, before he brings that hand back up to tug at his cock, pulling the foreskin back to reveal the pretty, dusky pink head and...

Wait.

“What—” Buck sits up, almost crashing into Eddie. Their hands to bump against each other as Buck reaches out, flicking Eddie’s hand out of the way to put his hand on Eddie’s cock himself.

One: Eddie’s cock is longer than Buck’s, and he’s fucking girthy too, so Buck knows he’s going to feel amazing.

Two: when Buck slicks Eddie’s foreskin back he finds it slides back further than any other cock Buck’s seen. And it slides further back because it’s hiding rows and rows of small barbs; barbs that are hooked back towards Eddie. Barbs that look like they’re meant to stop someone from pulling off Eddie’s cock when he’s got them where he wants them.

Eddie’s hand latches onto Buck’s forearm, wrapping around the two stripes Buck has tattooed near his elbow, as Buck keeps working Eddie’s cock in his hand. He finds he can’t look away, and Eddie’s not trying to stop him. No, instead he’s fucking his hips forward in a fluid motion into Buck’s hold. Sometimes, Buck can feel the barbs; he feels the silky smooth skin laying over top of them, feeling more like small, harder bumps.

Buck doesn’t even feel like he’s breathing, his vision has tunnelled down to watch his hand on Eddie’s cock. What would those feel like? He’s never heard of barbs on a shifter’s cock. He figured, maybe, that there’d be a knot. But is a knot only a wolf thing? Do regular cats have barbs? Fuck, his Google search history is going to look so weird later.

No but seriously what will those feel like.

Buck’s not leaving this forest without knowing.

“Fuck,” Eddie breathes, whining low in his throat while he watches Buck’s hand furiously work his cock. Finally, Eddie’s hand slides down Buck’s forearm, catching his wrist in an iron grip and stopping his hand from moving. Buck whines back as he keeps his hand holding tight to the tip of Eddie’s cock. He can’t stop himself from copying Eddie’s move from earlier, dipping his thumb under the bunched foreskin so he can brush against Eddie’s slit. Eddie’s hips thrust into the touch just the once, with a muttered curse in Spanish, before he pulls himself together.

He looks up from their hands to meet Buck’s gaze, his pupils blown wide.

The back of Buck’s throat feels like it’s on fire.

“You—You gotta stop touching me like that or I’m gonna come before we even get started,” Eddie finally breathes and Buck huffs.

“I could make you go again.”

Eddie blinks at him. His mouth opens, his fangs barely peeking out, his mouth closes. His mouth opens again.

“You—”

“I could make you go again,” Buck repeats, ducking his head down and looking off to the side. The sight of his hand wrapped around Eddie’s cock is a tempting one.

What would those barbs feel like in Buck’s mouth—

“And you can make yourself ready,” Eddie says. It’s not a question and Buck nods, looking up at Eddie from under his lashes.

“I’m built for it. The ready thing, I-I can make myself wet. I-I have a-a venom of sorts? I guess you could call it? That I can add to my spit so that when I kiss you it, it’s like an aphrodisiac. You can go multiple times. I-I can...” Here he trails off, and Eddie pulls Buck’s hand off his cock so he can thread their fingers together. “I can shape shift, A little. Change... things.”

“Change things?” Eddie asks, and before he’s even done Buck takes a deep breath and focuses enough to transform all of himself. In for a penny and all that.

He’s only ever done it the once before, just to see if he could, after he’d spent a fruitless night at twenty years old trying to find any information on succubi he could find. It’s easy enough, as easy as making himself wet and ready. As easy as breathing.

He transforms into the form of a woman. His pecs becoming breasts, his cock becoming a pussy, his features evening out and becoming a little softer, a little more supple.

He feels a bit like a bird when he does it, like he’s peacocking to try and attract a mate. He watches Eddie’s brows furrow.

“Not that you don’t look beautiful like this, but I think I prefer you the other way,” he says slowly, like he’s not sure if it’s the thing he should be saying. Buck laughs, the change back a fluid one. He shrugs in answer to Eddie’s silent question.

“I’m built for sex. With anyone, really. Built to attract people, at least for a moment.” He can’t help the darker tone of his words. Eddie squeezes their linked hands.

“I’m built to ensure pregnancy, essentially,” he says back, in a purposefully light tone, and Buck can’t help but snort and give him a ‘really?’ look. Eddie grins, unrepentant.

“It’s what the spines are for. I don’t have them all the time. Sometimes on full moon nights but always during my heat.”

“Do they hurt?” Buck whispers, his eyes drawn back down just in time to watch Eddie’s cock twitch as if at his words.

“They-They might. They harden when I’m close, to help lock me inside. They soften when I do.”

“Like a knot,” Buck says, his eyes flicking back up to Eddie’s, “how long do they lock you for?”

Here Eddie shrugs, cheeks darkening as he looks down and away from Buck.

“I’ve never—”

Buck blinks.

“I’d be the first?” Eddie’s eyes snap back to his, wide.

“You want to. Still?”

“Eddie,” Buck breathes, reaching back down to grab Eddie’s cock and keeping that hold as he lays back down, tugging Eddie back over him. Eddie goes easily enough. “I need you in me yesterday.”

Eddie looks down at him, waiting possibly for a sign that Buck might be lying. Might be blustering up some confidence from nowhere. But Buck isn’t. Buck is so fucking hungry and he needs to feed off Eddie now.

He uses his hold on Eddie cock to direct it, brushing the head of it across his hole once, twice, and again. Letting Eddie feel just how wet he is there. How ready. How easy it would be to just... slip inside.

Eddie lets out a punched out moan, one hand coming down to fuck two fingers down to the knuckle into Buck. Buck’s back arches, a shocked breath leaving him.

Eddie’s fingers are longer than his own. They easily curl up inside of him, pressing directly to his prostate like there’s some kind of homing beacon pulling them in, and Buck can’t stop himself from cumming. He’s been on edge this entire time, Eddie’s lust pulling him there by taste alone. His head slams back, his hips twitching back to fuck himself on Eddie’s fingers while his cock erupts across his stomach and chest.

“Fuck.” He distantly hears Eddie curse and he whines, can’t stop it from coming out incredibly breathy.

“Please! Please, Eddie. Please!” He almost cries, begging. He remembers he still has a hand on Eddie’s cock and he tries to guide it into himself but Eddie’s fingers are still in the way.

“Easy, Buck. I got you,” Eddie murmurs, curling his fingers to pet against Buck’s prostate one more time before pulling them out and helping Buck guide his cock until the head is pushing in. He grabs Buck’s hand, bringing it up and holding it down with his own above Buck’s head. This move pushes his chest up and out, his cum covered chest reaching for the sky as his back bows. Eddie keeps pushing in, and in, and in, and it doesn’t take Buck long to feel those barbs.

On the way in, it feels like a textured dildo, like it’s hitting all the right spots and lighting Buck’s brain up like a Christmas tree. On the way out? Buck whines, his body shaking as he comes again.

Eddie hisses above him as Buck’s body clenches around him, which makes the barbs drag more. It’s a low murmur of pain, the barbs catching on the smooth walls of him, but fuck does it burn unlike anything else Buck’s felt before. It feels like the pain is a direct line to Buck’s cock, heat pooling in his gut and his cock twitching.

The barbs aren’t yet hard enough to keep Eddie from pulling out. So he keeps moving, his chest meeting Buck’s and smearing Buck’s spend between them. Eddie’s hand comes up, bracing beside Buck’s head while his other keeps a tight hold on Buck’s outstretched arm.

Buck doesn’t even know when he did it but his arm is up wrapped around Eddie and digging his nails into Eddie’s back, while Eddie keeps fucking in and out of the him. The barbs drag against him on every pull out, the head of Eddie’s cock is a relentless wave across his prostate. Buck drags his nails down Eddie’s back on a particularly hard thrust, and suddenly Buck can smell blood.

When he manages to open his eyes, which had slammed shut at the onslaught of sudden desperate pleasure, it’s to see short, sharp, claws on the end of each finger and his hand the dark soot-stained appearance it gets when he’s dropped his human looking skin. He’s about to apologize to Eddie but Eddie shudders and pushes his back into Buck’s hand, a lot like a cat demanding pets.

“Do it again,” Eddie’s voice is breathless, he doesn’t stop the rhythm of his thrusts—long fluid things that slam his hips into Buck’s harder than Buck’s ever been fucked by a human. Hard in a way only a shifter could manage.

“Huh?” Buck manages and Eddie groans, his head falling down so he can watch his cock disappearing into the tight heat of Buck’s body.

His barbs feel sharper, less like they’re hinting at scratching, more like they are scratching at Buck on their way out. Like they’re desperate to stay inside of him, keep Eddie’s cock inside him. He feels desperate for the same.

“Do it again. Scratch me. Mark me up, gatito. Want everyone to know what we’re doing,” Eddie pants. His eyes are bright, solid green when they meet Buck’s except this time they don’t fade back. Buck swears under his breath, bringing his hand back up and then dragging it down Eddie’s back again, making sure he digs in deep.

He’s not worried about genuinely injuring Eddie, he knows shifters have an advanced healing factor that’s insane, and some smaller, darker part of him is desperate for the marks to stick around.

Eddie groans, “I’m close, baby.”

“Mmhmm,” Buck hums back, tilting his hips to keep meeting Eddie, thrust for thrust.

“Gonna give you my bite when I do, huh?” Eddie pants and Buck nods. His eyes slamming shut again and his head falling back as his mouth falls open. He can’t stop making noise, little ‘ah, ah, ah’s escaping him with each one of Eddie’s thrusts. He can’t help it. It’s never felt like this. Nothing has ever felt like this. He feels addicted. He’s going to need Eddie fucking that barbed cock of his into him all day, everyday.

The moon has started making its way behind the tips of the trees, slowly sending everything back into total darkness and making Eddie’s green eyes the only point of light he can see besides the stars.

“’m close.”

“Please,” Buck nearly sobs, having no choice but to feel as Eddie pulls his cock back one more time, the barbs now stinging something fierce inside Buck, making his cock shoot off for the third time. He’s lost to the feeling, his ears ringing and his breathing caught and he misses Eddie thrusting in for the last time.

There’s a sharp point of pain at the base of his neck, and then Eddie’s lust is pouring down Buck’s throat as Eddie comes. Buck drinks and drinks and drinks, and as the white behind his closed eyes fades out, pitch black comes pouring in.

Buck feels a hot, wet mouth breathing against his neck.

Soft lips placing feather-light kisses to his pulse point, the hinge of his jaw, lower down his neck where a throbbing, scabbing bond mark now proudly sits. He hums at the feel of two pointy canines fitting themselves into place over the bite. Not putting any pressure, just holding the space. He can feel a fluttering of elation-tinged disbelief under his ribs in a flavour only freshly familiar. Eddie.

He’s feeling Eddie’s happiness and disbelief.

He tilts his head, giving Eddie more access to his neck and immediately whines at the loss of his teeth on his neck. There’s a chuff of laughter against the side of his face and a nose that buries itself behind his ear and snuffles around at the short hair there.

“Mornin’,” Eddie mutters, a hint of an accent settled in his voice. Buck hums back in reply, his brain still booting up. He can feel strips of early morning sunlight shining sporadically across his skin as it slips through the leaves of the trees. They’re no longer in the center of the clearing, like they had been when Buck had passed out last night. Clearly, Eddie had moved him over to have a bit of protection among the trees.

A hot, large hand skims its way up his ribs and Buck finds himself stretching into the touch like a contented house cat, trying to ignore the chuckles from the man tucked up behind him. Then the hand slides forward and grabs a possessive handful of his pec, a calloused thumb tweaking his nipple and he can’t help the way his hips twitch and his breath catches in his throat.

His next breath in is filled with the sparkling energy of Eddie’s lust as he hooks his chin over Buck’s shoulder and his fingers give a quick, mean pinch to Buck’s nipple before slipping down, down, down and grabbing a hold of Buck’s rapidly hardening cock.

“Fuck,” Buck breathes, “Eddie!”

“Mmm, I love when you say my name like that, gatito,” Eddie murmurs in his ear, his breath tickling the hairs at the nape of Buck’s neck. He pulls his hand up and down Buck’s cock in slow, slow pulls and it takes no time at all until Buck is fully hard and completely awake. He tries to push his hips back into the man behind him but Eddie keeps his own his far enough back that Buck can’t make any contact.

He huffs in annoyance. He can still remember the new heights of pleasure they’d reached last night. He wants that again.

“You better not be starting something you don’t intend to finish,” he threatens, though his voice is void of any actual malice.

Fuck.

He’s still so full from last night. Feeding off a cat shifter is unlike anything else he’s ever fed from. Especially when that cat shifter has claimed him as his mate and made him come multiple times with that insane cock of his.

Eddie nips at his jaw, his canines catching Buck’s cheek just enough to leave a lovely, little sting. He’s clearly got his actual fangs out, because his human teeth aren’t sharp enough to do that with such little pressure.

“I’m hungry,” Eddie murmurs into his ear and Buck groans, hips hitching into Eddie’s hold. Eddie shuffles behind him, planting kisses in a line from Buck’s jaw, to his neck, to his shoulder, and then down his arm. Buck moves his arm, trying to reach back and pull Eddie closer, but Eddie grabs his wrist and pins it to the ground, forcing Buck to turn fully onto his back. He sure seems to like holding Buck down—not that Buck is complaining.

Buck can now get his first full look of his mate without the pale blue wash of moonlight to dull things down into shades of grey.

His skin is warmer, a nice toasty tan that speaks of easy days out in the sun. Buck tends to favor his vampire roots and just burns when left in the sun, so he’s a little jealous of the color but it’s also mouth watering; Buck wants to put his mouth everywhere, see how hot that skin is against his lips. His eyes are an enticing, bright brown, when they’re not flashing preternatural green, and framed by long, dark lashes that brush his cheeks as he looks down at his hand wrapped around Buck’s cock.

Eddie swipes his thumb slowly and purposefully beneath the head, before popping the claw out on just his thumb and letting the sharp point of it tickle along the slit in a way that has Buck’s back arching and a loud moan escaping his mouth. Like he said, he’s into it when his partners are a little mean. When there are pointy edges and pain.

Eddie’s got bits of leaves and twigs tangled in his chestnut hair, the entire right side of him is a line of dirt and moss and grass from where he’d been laying spooned behind Buck most of the night. His brown eyes flicker and then stay that vibrant green that comes out when he’s letting the cat out to play. His mouth is open, fangs on display while he takes big, deep breaths of Buck’s scent, even though he has to smell fairly Buck-y himself. Buck can see flecks of his dried come flaking off Eddie’s chest and stomach from where they’d smeared Buck’s mess between them last night.

Buck winces, just thinking about the way that’s got to be tugging on Eddie’s sparse chest hair, but Eddie doesn’t seem to mind. Or he’s too focused on something else to pay it any mind. There’s a few more moles spattered about, dark points that Buck will soon put his mouth to in a slow game of connect-the-dots. There’s a slightly faded, angry looking scar in the center of his left shoulder, a matching one on his left wrist. Buck hasn’t seen many bullet wounds, but he’s seen one or two. Enough to identify them for what they are.

He keeps up his distracted study of the man before him, his hips hitching into Eddie’s hold.

Eddie’s thighs are thick, corded with muscle and splayed so they push up against the back of Buck’s own thighs, his leg hair brushing teasingly against Buck’s own. It’s the second time he’s had Eddie between his legs in less than 24 hours, he’s a little addicted to the sight of the man where he is.

He’s the most beautiful thing Buck’s ever seen.

And he’s not just saying that because Eddie’s big, beautiful hands are wrapped around his cock.

Well...

Maybe, kinda, a little...

It’s kind of hard to think at this moment, maybe Buck will have to consider it later.

“Why don’t you give me something to eat, pretty boy?”

Buck whines, his head falling back into the dirt, his throat is full of the taste of Eddie’s lust and his body is burning with the second-hand feeling of it sparking along their bond. Buck tries to move his left hand and finds it still pinned down by Eddie’s tight grip. Eddie sinuously rocks his body forward, showing off each rippling muscle to Buck while putting more weight onto Buck’s wrist.

“Eddie,” he breathes, voice soft.

Eddie grins around his fangs. The fucker knows exactly how he looks, and what’s he’s doing. He ducks down to rub their noses together, still taking deep breaths himself as if he really can’t get enough of Buck’s scent. Still leant into Buck, he pulls Buck’s bottom lip between his teeth and Buck can’t help but lift his head, trying to join their lips more fully. Eddie let’s his lip go only to immediately start licking into Buck’s mouth and Buck is very much on board, holy shit.

Kissing Eddie is like nothing Buck has ever done.

Partially because Eddie keeps kissing him like he owns Buck’s mouth, but also because he feels he could kiss Eddie for ages. Chase the taste of him for a lifetime. He doesn’t know how he’s gone this long without it, how he’s survived. Because kissing Eddie feels like breathing.

Eddie fucks his tongue into Buck’s mouth in time with the hand he still has moving up and down Buck’s cock and Buck’s brain feels a bit like it’s leaking from his ears. Every move Eddie makes is assured, easy, like he knows that anything he does is exactly what Buck wants. What he needs. What he craves. Which is insane to think about considering they’ve known each other less than a day, but Buck will be damned if Eddie isn’t correct in his assumptions.

“Did you feed off me last night, baby?” Eddie croons into his mouth, and Buck nods, trying to pull Eddie back into a full kiss. Eddie keeps pulling his lips just out of reach. Buck tries to tilt his chin up and Eddie let’s go of his wrist, putting that hand to Buck’s jaw and pushing him back into the dirt that way.

Heat flashes through Buck’s body like a live-wire, Eddie’s grip steady and commanding against his jaw.

Usually, being as big as Buck is, when Buck’s had sex with people they assume that he’s in charge, or that he’s the one who’ll be doing the manhandling. But with shifter strength, Eddie easily keeps putting him where he wants him, how he wants him, with a possessive hold. Buck can’t get enough.

“That’s not really fair,” Eddie tsks, making Buck whimper, “you still full?”

Buck nods as much as he can with Eddie holding his jaw in place between the wide spread of his thumb and first two fingers.

“And here I am, hungry. Guess you’ll have to give me something to eat, hmm?” Eddie murmurs, ducking down to brush the tip of his nose to Buck’s. He keeps his hold on Buck’s jaw but he let’s go of Buck’s cock and Buck’s hips try to chase after his hand, bereft without Eddie’s warm hold around him.

Instead, he watches as Eddie brings that hand up, his claws out and shining in the morning sun, Buck’s precum glinting off his fingers. Buck watches as Eddie slowly licks the precum off his fingers, his eyes half-lidded as he stares down unblinkingly at Buck. Buck doesn’t even try to squirm, he feels like a moth locked in the heat of a flame. Eddie’s eyes flutter shut, his nostrils flaring as he breathes in the scent of Buck. He closes his mouth but clearly rolls his tongue around his mouth.

“Open.”

It’s a command, not a suggestion, and said in that low tone Buck has no choice but to obey. He opens his mouth, Eddie’s thumb slipping from his jaw to hook behind his bottom teeth and hold Buck’s mouth wide. Eddie leans over Buck again, his eyes a steady green and dark with heat as he looks from Buck’s open mouth up to his eyes and then down again. He spits, slowly, letting Buck watch as it falls from his mouth, and then Buck can taste himself mixed with the taste of Eddie, and his eyes roll back in his head as he closes his mouth to swallow.

Eddie’s thumb is still pressed behind his teeth and he can’t help but lathe his tongue along it, easily coaxing Eddie into pressing down on his tongue and letting Buck suck on it for a moment.

“Good boy,” he hums. Buck’s body flashes again, the words sinking deep into his core and making his cock twitch where it’s laying up in the crease of his thigh and stomach. He can tell he’s already making quite the mess, again, adding to whatever is left from last night. Eddie pulls his thumb out of Buck’s mouth, smearing Buck’s spit along his cheek and Buck swallows thickly, waiting.

Eddie gives him a fanged grin before he ducks down again, but this time he doesn’t kiss Buck’s mouth. Instead, he kisses the center of Buck’s throat, his nose nudging his own hand where it’s still holding Buck in place by the teeth. He mouths wetly at Buck’s Adam’s apple for a moment before biting, hard enough to draw a few sharp drops of blood to the surface. Then he moves further down Buck’s chest, mouthing wetly and then biting in turn across Buck’s pecs, his nipples, then down his ribs and across his taut stomach. He rubs his cheek slowly along Buck’s cock, the hints of his stubble an almost painful friction on the hot, sensitive skin, yet Buck’s cock twitches anyway.

Buck doesn’t think he’s ever been this turned on during sex before, the feedback loop of feeling Eddie’s lust along the bond is an extra boost to his own lust. Tasting Eddie’s lust on the back of his tongue, sharp like blood every time he breathes in. Succubi can’t smell emotions like some shifters can, but if he could, he’s pretty sure he’d be smelling Eddie’s lust just as clearly as he’s seeing it. Eddie has taken over every one of his senses.

Eddie turns his head, nosing at Buck’s cock like he’d nosed at Buck’s neck. Like the scent of him is too much to ignore. Then his mouth opens and Buck can feel the heat of his breath as it fans across where Buck is aching the most. Buck shivers.

“Ah!” Buck gasps, Eddie’s thumb slipping free of his mouth. Eddie’s tongue licks another hot stripe up his cock and Buck’s hips cant up before Eddie puts his forearm across the top of Buck’s hips and holds him down. He keeps up his kitten licks along Buck’s cock, his eyes hooded as he watches Buck while he does it. Buck’s already breathing fast, Eddie’s lust raging through his system and crashing into his own.

Eddie leans forward to suckle on the head, swiping his tongue underneath, making Buck slam his eyes shut, lost in the sensation. Eddie keeps holding him down, bringing his other hand up to fondle Buck’s balls while he keeps switching between kitten licks and sucking on the head.

“Eddie. Eddieeddieeddie-I’m gonna—” Buck cuts himself off and Eddie hums around the head of his cock, his tongue curled around it and cradling it in his mouth. The vibration is too much and Buck shoots off, his hands lashing out to grab handfuls of dirt so he doesn’t dig claws into Eddie. Again.

He can feel Eddie’s tongue move as he swallows shot after shot of Buck’s come, moaning the entire time like the taste of Buck is the best thing he’s ever had in his mouth. He keeps swiping his tongue along Buck’s slit even after Buck stops coming, and the sensation is sharp in an almost-but-not-quite-too-much feeling. Finally, Buck shoots a hand forward to put it to Eddie’s face, cupping it but also gently shoving Eddie off his cock. It falls from Eddie’s mouth and lands back against Buck’s stomach, but Buck’s a little distracted watching Eddie lick his lips and wink at Buck.

“Much better. I’m not so hungry now, gatito,” he jokes and Buck groans, splaying out onto his back and bringing an arm up to cover his eyes.

“You did not just—”

“You come so much, baby. It’s basically a meal.” Eddie pokes a finger against Buck’s ribs and Buck skitters to the side, ticklish. He huffs a laugh and pulls his arm away to meet Eddie’s eyes.

“Your turn,” Buck says and Eddie hums again, but this time it sounds more like he’s about to tell Buck no. Which—not allowed. Not after he just made a big show of devouring Buck.

“Please? Want you to fuck me again,” Buck tries, pouting and Eddie’s lips twitch.

“And I want you fuck you again, believe me. But they’re going to send out the searchers any moment now, if they haven’t already. And if it were anyone but my abuela we’d meet with my cum dripping out of you, then maybe I’d do it. But, alas.”

Buck shivers with the mental image of getting redressed, but with the wetness of Eddie leaking out of him, thick enough for any shifter they pass to smell it.

Eddie’s eyebrow twitches up, catching Buck’s reaction.

“I’m gonna remember that for later. You wanna feel me dripping out of you, tesoro?”

Buck nods, his eyes darting down to Eddie’s cock, hanging heavy between his thighs. He can’t see the barbs right now, but he wonders if they’re still there. He reaches a hand out, just to see, but Eddie swats his hand away.

“Buck.”

Buck whines petulantly.

“I wanna suck your cock! If you won’t fuck me, you could fuck my mouth.”

Eddie lets out a punched out noise.

“Wouldn’t leave any mess behind. And I can be fast.” He bats his lashes at Eddie and Eddie gives him a ‘really?’ look.

“You might come in just a few moments, but I generally take a bit longer before I just shoot off,” Eddie teases and Buck shakes his head.

“You’ve never had me suck your cock. Please?”

He sees Eddie hesitate. It’s like blood in the water.

Buck makes his voice all breathy, “please will you fuck my mouth, baby?”

Eddie crumbles. Buck hides his grin. Except, then Eddie leans away from him and Buck makes a noise of protest. Especially when Eddie stands up, his head craning up to keep Eddie’s face in his eye line. Eddie spreads his legs a little, standing with his feet shoulder length apart. He tilts his head to the side in that smooth way he had last night, both as a cat and as a human. He cocks an eyebrow down at where Buck is still spread out on the ground in front of him.

“Well?” Eddie points to the ground just in front of him, and oh! Oh! Yes!

Buck scrambles to sit up and moves forward until he’s kneeling in front of Eddie. If Eddie says someone’s going to be stumbling upon them soon, Buck’s under a bit of a time crunch. But Buck does great under pressure, and he’s pretty great at giving head, if he does say so himself.

He noses at Eddie’s cock, wrapping a hand around him and feels a little sad to feel nothing except the hot, smooth skin of cock under his fingers. He must make some sort of disappointed noise because Eddie chuckles darkly above him.

“I told you. It’s only sometimes there for the full moon. Or I need to be in heat.”

Buck pulls back to give him an exaggerated frown.

“You’re going to be fucking my mouth the next time you’ve got those barbs back,” Buck threatens, before he angles Eddie’s cock and takes it down in one go. He can feel it as the head slides along the back of his tongue and through the ring of his throat. He swallows and Eddie swears above him, a hand coming down to tangle in Buck’s hair. Buck pulls off only halfway before fucking his face forward and forcing Eddie’s cock down his throat again. He swallows again before pulling off completely, licking at the line of spit that hangs between his lips and Eddie’s cock.

“Or you could fuck my cunt with it, if you wanted,” Buck mummers.

Buck winks up at him and watches a dark blush spread up Eddie’s chest. Eddie’s pupils are blown wide as he stares down at Buck. Buck pushes his foreskin back and then pulls it forward, leaning in to swirl his tongue inside of the fold and along Eddie’s slit. Eddie’s hips fuck forward and Buck moans, opening his mouth to take Eddie back in. He uses his free hand to grab at Eddie’s ass; he hasn’t seen it yet, but by feel alone Buck can tell that it’s an incredible ass. He’s going to have to see if Eddie is into switching, because there’s no way an ass like that can go without being fucked by both Buck’s tongue and his cock.

He uses his hold on Eddie’s ass to urge him to fuck his hips forward again, moaning around Eddie’s cock when he does. He looks up to meet Eddie’s eyes and nod as much as he can without dislodging the thick cock laying along his tongue.

Eddie starts out slow, with softer thrusts, but quickly builds to the pace he’d kept last night—hard, punishing. Buck can barely manage to catch a breath around the cock as is slides in and out of his throat. He keeps swallowing around it, letting go of his hold on the base of it to bring that hand down and press up just behind Eddie’s balls.

Eddie swears, his hips fucking forward once, twice, his hand tugging on Buck’s hair as he pulls Buck in until his nose is buried in the thick hair at the base of his cock. Buck moans, his own cock twitching between his legs, as he finally feels Eddie’s cock kick in his mouth, hot cum sliding down his throat as he keeps swallowing.

Buck let’s go of Eddie’s ass to wrap that hand around himself, tugging a handful of times before cumming in the dirt between his knees. He moans around Eddie’s cock again and Eddie hisses above him, using his hold on Buck’s hair to slowly pull Buck off his cock.

He stops when just the head is resting on Buck’s tongue, Buck’s mouth open and dripping spit and cum. He reaches down to grab his cock, slapping the head of it to Buck’s tongue once, twice.

Buck’s going to be thinking about Eddie slapping his cock there and any other hole Buck can get him to fuck for a long time. Infinite spank bank material. Fuck, this man is the hottest thing Buck’s ever seen.

Eddie finally lets himself go, his cock falling from Buck’s mouth, but he uses his hold on Buck’s hair to tug Buck up until he’s standing. He pulls Buck into another messy kiss, licking the taste of himself from Buck’s mouth.

They get lost in the kiss.

Buck figures they’re going to get lost in it every time it happens. He can’t imagine not.

Someone clears their throat a little to Buck’s left and he flinches, reluctantly pulling his mouth away from Eddie’s. Eddie huffs, ducking his face into Buck’s neck. Like he’s hiding. Cute.

Buck turns to see the peppy werewolf from yesterday, a wide grin stretched across her face.

“Congratulations!” She lifts a backpack off her shoulder and tosses it to them. Eddie catches it without looking. “There are wet wipes and a few energy bars in there. Maybe a juice box or two. Enough to tide y’all over before we get back to the lodge. I’ll give you a moment to clean up, get dressed, Eddie you know the way?” She asks and Eddie nods in Buck’s neck, only pulling away when the werewolf disappears into the trees again.

“You know her?” Buck asks, watching as Eddie immediately begins rooting around in the bag. He pulls out a juice box, piercing the straw into it and then shoving it in Buck’s direction. Buck gladly takes it and finishes it in two long pulls, just in time for Eddie to hand him an open energy bar and trade it for Buck’s empty juice box.

“She’s part of the Clan. She’s a cousin of a cousin, I think.” Eddie shrugs, pulling the wet wipes out and wiping his chest down. He takes a fresh one and brushes it along Buck’s face and down his neck. He takes another and quickly wipes both of their cocks down, which, they’re definitely a little chilly. He leaves the old mess on their chests but throws Buck’s shirt his way.

“And you know the way back?” Buck asks and Eddie laughs under his breath.

“I’m a shifter, Buck. Even if I didn’t, I could smell which way we need to go.”

Buck rummages around and manages to find his sweatpants nearby. Grimacing at the thought of putting them on when they’re a bit crusty inside, but he’s been in worse situations, like that sewage pipe, so he puts them on anyways and tries to ignore it. He’d brought a change of clothes and left it with his phone.

Eddie hands Buck the backpack after swallowing an energy bar whole like a python, following it with a juice box that he pierces with his claws and then shotguns like it’s a beer.

Buck blinks.

Why is that hot?

Eddie comes back into his space easily, like he owns it. Like he’s sure his place is wherever Buck is. Buck could get used to that.

“Ready to go back to the land of the living, gatito?” He asks, grinning up at Buck with one eye squinted against a stray ray of sun.

“Uh, sure,” Buck says, hesitant again. How’s this whole thing going to work when they’re back in the real world. Where they have to think about all the logistics of this. When they get to actually know each other? When they can’t just spend all day and night fucking?

Eddie starts walking away, brushing a hand against Buck’s skin on his way past like he can’t help it.

Buck watches him walk for a moment, finally getting a proper view of the back of his mate and he was so right. That is an amazing ass.

“Eddie?”

“Yeah?”

“Shouldn’t you be putting some clothes on?”

Eddie turns to grin at him over his shoulder, his eyes flashing green.

“We gotta go find them first.”

He shifts between one moment and the next. His skin darkening and gaining spots, fur sprouting, his bones cracking and lengthening until Buck is watching a jaguar prowl through the woods in the early morning. Eddie’s tail flicks side to side and he doesn’t look back.

Buck watches him for a moment before realizing he’s probably meant to follow and then scrambling after the man.

Find Eddie’s clothes.

Get back to the lodge.

Get back to real life.

Buck feels a little nauseous just thinking about it.

It takes them a while to get back to the lodge.

Buck hadn’t realized just how far out he’d managed to jog last night, locked in his own head as he’d been, and Eddie refuses to run back. He’d shifted back into human form when they’d found his clothes, and Buck had watched him scoop up the discarded blindfold and tie it neatly around his wrist.

It still sits there and Buck’s eyes are constantly drawn back to it, looking down at where Eddie has laced their hands together, so that the rough loop of a bow keeps brushing Buck’s arm hair.

Buck can’t help but think, a little wildly, that Eddie’s hands seem to fit perfectly in his.

Is that insane to think about someone you don’t really know? Maybe.

Does it also sorta, kinda, make Buck feel like a teenage girl with a crush? Also maybe.

Eddie keeps rubbing his thumb along the back of Buck’s hand as they meander their way back. He tugs Buck along, pausing here and there to show him different small but beautiful things. A squirrel darting around, a hawk with its head tilted down to observe them, a small patch of colourful flowers.

The entire time that they walk they talk.

Buck haltingly explains that his family are vampires, that he was born a succubus. That so far he’s never met another. Eddie patiently listens, attentive in a way that flusters Buck, as he talks about how he feeds. What if feels like, how he’s unsure on the proper ways of most succubus things because he’s been stumbling along in his discoveries without the help of his family.

Buck can’t help but talk about the 118, how he finally feels like he’s found a place he can settle. He can belong. He tells Eddie quietly about Abby. About how things had and hadn’t been between them. He talks about Athena convincing him to do the run, vouching for him with Eddie’s pack.

In return Eddie tells him a little about himself.

He doesn’t use the winding, long winded paths like Buck does. It’s usually shorter, too the point, with quiet stretches where he tries to think of the words to use. Buck hangs off of each one.

“Originally I was supposed to take over at home. That’s what my dad had been raising me to do. Become the Alpha of the Clan out in El Paso. Surrounded by desert and I just felt like I was drowning.”

“Me and Shan, we were best friends in high school. Always each others confidant. And, well, you know what high school was like then. Boys and girls couldn’t be just friends. All our friends were constantly asking us when we were gonna take the next step, how weird it was that we were so close and hadn’t slept together yet. They always though we were dating, and at one point it was just... easier to go along with it. Shan had come to me one night, laying out in the back of my truck and hiding away from the world for a bit, and asked me why we didn’t. If we could trust anyone enough to try, it should be with each other, right?

Only it was after we’d finally slept together that we both realized we really weren’t into each other like that. But once is all it takes, y’know? Even if you are careful. And we were teenagers! What else were we gonna do?”

Buck learns about Christopher, Eddie standing tall and his expression determined but he looks up at Buck from under nervous lashes and Buck can’t help but pull Eddie in until he can tuck Eddie under his arm. They’re close to the same height, so it’s actually quite an awkward position to hold when they’re both walking, but the heat of him is addicting against Buck’s side.

Christopher.

A kid. I... I could have a mate, and a kid, and a family.

It feels like a dream. Buck is hardly able to believe it. He’s scared that he’s gonna wake up and everything will vanish from beneath him. He wonders how long it’ll take for him to meet Eddie’s kid. Hopefully Eddie won’t make him wait ages; he loves kids.

He learns about Eddie’s two tours. How he and Shannon had gotten married so Shannon could take advantage of the benefits, for herself and Christopher. About how it briefly got Eddie’s parents off their backs. He also talked about how they furtively planned between themselves, roping Eddie’s sisters in, on a plan to get away.

Originally, it hadn’t been their plan to join the LA branch of the pack. Their plan was just to get as far from Eddie’s parents and their influence as possible. And somehow Eddie’s abuela had had a feeling and had reached out on her own to offer Eddie and his family sanctuary. How other things had fallen into place leading them to LA.

“She... She want’s me to take over. Like my Dad did, but the LA Clan is so different from the one back home. That one is older, steeped in old tradition, and this one is more embracing. Like a big, extended family. The door is always open.”

“Are you going to do it?” Buck asks, watching the lodge start to appear between the trees, the tall wooden walls of the waiting corral off to the side.

Eddie pulls them to a stop, looking in the direction of the lodge before turning to consider Buck properly. Face to face. He keeps looking between Buck’s eyes, searching his expression for something. Buck tries to keep his face as open as possible.

“I want to. More than I wanted to at home. It doesn’t feel like the burden it did when it was my dad’s expectation. But it’d change things, in a way that I think it a little too overwhelming to put on you today. I’ll think about it. Talk to you about it. It would affect you too, now.”

Buck gives him a sheepish look and Eddie shakes his head, reaching up to cup Buck’s cheek and running his thumb along his cheekbone how he’d been rubbing it along Buck’s hand. The touch sparks heat down Buck’s body, but not the focused heat of lust, it’s lighter, more comforting.

“I didn’t think I’d be lucky enough to actually find someone. A match. It’s a gamble now, the run’s being as big as they are. My parents wanted me to take part in some back home, before everything happened with Shannon. My abuela met my abuelo at one, and while he died when I was quite young, I remember how strong their bond was. How in love they were. I always wished for a bond like that of my own.”

Buck can’t help put turn, placing a kiss to Eddie’s palm and breathing in the scent of him. Even now, he can taste what must be the edges of Eddie’s lust, but it’s tempered. Calmer. More like a sip of a hot chocolate on a cold day than a shot of straight whisky.

They stand like that for a moment, just taking a breather before they get back to everyone else. It’s Eddie who makes the move to turn around, taking Buck’s hand in his again, and close the space between them and the lodge.

It’s a rather unassuming building. It looks like a homey community center, though quite old and well loved. It’s like the walls are breathing stories into the air, things you can see out of the corner of your eye but when you turn to look they’re gone. Echoes of bonded couples passed.

Eddie marches them right up and into the open doors and Buck recognizes some of the people he’d seen before the run yesterday. There’s only four couples inside, five including him and Eddie. It really is a gamble, like Eddie had said before. Buck’s a little sad he doesn’t see the shifter he’d been talking to yesterday, Ravi. He hopes the kid doesn’t give up on finding a mate.

Eddie shepherds him over to a corner, where the older woman from yesterday is standing and talking to a young, brunette woman. Eddie hesitates for a second, just barely a moment, but Buck catches it anyways. Ultimately, he keeps marching forward.

The brunette catches sight of them first and Buck watches her face light up, smile wide and eyes crinkling in the corners.

“Oh Eddie!” It’s said in a rush, holding both disbelief and joy. The words also make the older woman, Eddie’s abuela, turn around. Her face lights up much the same when she catches sight of them. She spreads her arms wide before they’re even close enough to touch, and Eddie easily slides into her hold.

Buck watches on as she kisses his cheeks, grabbing his face between hers and holding it to bring him down far enough for her to kiss his forehead as well. She does a quick little hand movement, crossing him Buck belatedly realizes, before releasing him.

“Oh mijo, I knew it would happen,” she murmurs quietly, but Buck can hear her all the same. Eddie huffs a small disbelieving laugh.

“Gracias, Abuela,” he says with that tone of voice kids use when they’re humouring a parent or family member. His abuela waves her hand at him as if to swat him for the cheek and he ducks out of her reach with an actual laugh.

Buck is struck by how beautiful he is, his cheeks round with joy and his longer canines spiking into his grin. Eddie turns to the brunette and she opens her arms for a hug as well, her hands curling behind Eddie’s shoulders to help pull him close. She whispers to something to him which makes the backs of his ears turn a little red.

“Shut. Up. Shan,” he hisses and she throws her head back with a cackle.

Ah. Shannon. The ‘ex-wife’. The best friend.

His stomach swoops. He’s about to meet two people who are important to Eddie. Two more people are going to learn what he is. More will after that, there’s no way Buck could hide that sort of thing for long around a whole pack of shifters with their sharp noses.

He watches Eddie and Shannon playfully scuffle, poking at each other, and he blinks in a moment of surprise to see Shannon’s eyes flash shifter yellow. She’s not a cat like Eddie and his abuela are. He’s distracted from trying to figure it out when abuela huffs, amused, in front of him.

She’d walked over while he was watching the play-fighting. She looks away from them to give Buck a knowing grin.

“How was your run?” She asks, leaning in conspiratorially. Buck can’t help but lean down into it, charmed.

“It went better than I expected.”

Here she hums at him, reaching up with no hesitation to put her hands on Buck’s face like she’d done with Eddie. She turns his face side to side, inspecting. She hums again. Brushing a thumb over his birthmark.

“I’m Isabel, but you can call me Abuela, sí? I don’t recognize you. And I never forget a face, especially not a muy atractivo one.” She winks up at him, leaning in to kiss one cheek and then the other in the same greeting she’d given Eddie. Buck immediately feels his cheeks heat.

Eddie squawks, having been listening in to their short conversation even while he’d been protecting his ribs from Shannon’s sharp fingers. Buck laughs, ducking his head. He’s rescued from any sort of retort by Shannon shoving Eddie out of the way so she can hold a hand out to Buck. Buck takes it easily, shaking hands with her. This close it snaps into place. She’s a werewolf. Interesting.

Buck knows lots of supernatural creatures end up with other supernatural creatures for the most part, but the inherent ‘enemies’ of cats and dogs is definitely not on overstatement when it comes to shifters. Most werewolves tend to stick to themselves. He’s less sure about were-jaguars.

“Shannon Kelley,” she introduces herself and Buck nods his head, a short, quick, bow. He hopes his hands aren’t sweaty.

“Evan Buckley, ma’am, but I go by Buck.”

“Buck,” she repeats, amused, before shooting Eddie a teasing look. She mouths the word ‘ma’am?’ and he watches Eddie shove her shoulder. She easily lets herself go with the force of it, pretending to stagger to the side while snickering.

Eddie coughs and when Buck focuses back on him he can see Eddie’s cheeks are red and he’s glaring at the two women. Cute. Buck wonders if he’ll be able to get Eddie as flustered as he seems to be right now, or if this is a rare moment.

“Alright. Enough bothering me,” Eddie tries, though there’s no actual weight to his words. Especially not when Shannon makes a big production of rolling her eyes. Abuela hooks her arm through Buck’s, walking him over to where it looks like there is coffee and food. Eddie and Shannon follow after them, whispering amongst themselves. It seems like Shannon is pressing for details and Eddie is trying to give her the runaround.

“I met my Edmundo on a run. Very...” Abuela seems to search for a word before winking up at him, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “Informative.”

He can’t help the laugh that escapes.

He’d never really known his grandparents, on either side, they’d long since passed by the time Buck was old enough to have remembered meeting one. So, to have this woman seemingly ready to accept him, take him in, and tease him and Eddie like it’s the easiest thing in the world, is a novelty he’s not ready to let go of.

“But you are happy, sí?” She presses, her expression becoming a little more serious. He nods.

“I-Yeah,” he breathes, “I didn’t even know a mating run was a thing? But I’ve spent the last ten years travelling the world searching for something I couldn’t even put a name to, and I think Eddie might be part of that.”

Buck doesn’t even notice that he’s touching his mating bite, running his fingers over it. It’s mostly healed since Buck heals better than a human, but not quite as well as a shifter does. It’s a little sore when he presses on it, but it’s nice to feel. A reminder that it’s actually happened. Even though he can feel hints of Eddie’s embarrassment and louder waves of his happiness.

He catches abuela watching him touch it and his hand stutters in its movement. He reluctantly pulls his hand away, not quite sure of the etiquette that comes with a mating bite, but the elderly woman doesn’t seem shocked or like she’d thought him rude or anything. Instead, she reaches out to take his hovering hand, patting the back of it with her soft, weathered hands.

“It’s a good bite. It took well. It wouldn’t have if you weren’t totally sure in your decision,” she says easily.

“It wouldn’t have?” He asks, brows furrowed.

She lets go of his hand to grab a mug and start doctoring a cup of coffee. After a moment, he copies her. As soon as he smells the fresh coffee in his hands, he’s hard pressed to not just chug the entire thing down.

He is full, in the succubus sense, but feeding off lust doesn’t actually fill his stomach, and his year and a half of being a firefighter has given him one hell of a caffeine addiction. Even if it doesn’t seem to give him the energy it does the others, it still helps him be able to focus a little bit better.

He grabs a second cup, meaning to make one for Eddie, but hesitates when he realizes he doesn’t know how the man takes his coffee.

“No. Otherwise, people could force others into a bond if it took no matter what,” she says.

Buck hums, intrigued. He didn’t know that. He thought if a shifter bit you, that was basically it. Or, well, depending on the bite. He knows werewolves have the ability to create another werewolf with a bite, but he’s not sure if that extends to any other types of shifters.

A stronger wave of amusement and warm affection hit him just a second before the heat of Eddie’s body is along his back, an echo of how they stood last night when Eddie was sizing him up. He can feel the blush rising along the back of his neck but he doesn’t step away, and Eddie reaches around to grab the second cup. He adds a small splash of milk and then adds spoonful after spoonful of sugar until abuela tsks at him and he stops with a grin. He mixes it with a popsicle stick and then puts the stick in the corner of his mouth, grinning around it and winking at Buck.

“Hungry?” Eddie asks and Buck gives him a blank look, which makes Eddie’s grin spread wider. He opens his mouth, likely to keep teasing Buck, but Shannon interrupts.

“Pepa’s got Christopher this morning, and then I’ll have him for most of the days of the upcoming week. We’ve got a schedule worked out, so the two of you don’t need to worry about anything while you... get to know each other.” She says the last part lowly, suggestively, and Eddie’s eye-roll is a thing of pure bitchy dramatics. Buck is in love.

It’s quick work for them to down their coffee’s and a few snacks from the wide table, set up and manned by people who all give Eddie wide grins. Eddie’s exasperated and embarrassed expressions make it easy for Buck to realize these are all members of his pack, and that they’re all graciously holding back on the teasing at least for now.

Even with the suggestive smiles and winks sent his way, Eddie still makes an effort to at least leave a small touch with each pack member. A brush of hands, a hand to a shoulder, a scuff on the back of a head. Scent-marking, most likely, but it shows how much Eddie really does value them all being here for him. Buck hasn’t seen much, but the puzzle pieces he’s gathering are showing that he really is being set up to be the next person in charge. The one all of these people will come to for help, for celebration, for family.

It’s a bit overwhelming, but not in an entirely scary way. Maybe it will be more scary when Buck hears more about what’s expected of a pack alpha (and their mate), but for now he’s going to try focusing on getting to know Eddie first. He can borrow trouble later.

~

It finally becomes a little awkward when they manage to escape the lodge, freshly showered and changed in clean clothes.

Buck has a few texts from Bobby, wishing him luck and asking him to check in when he can. Chim sent him a text that is entirely emojis in what is supposed to be some sort of story, but Buck is too wired to decipher it.

Eddie walks ahead of him a few steps before he abruptly stops and spins around. He’s flipping his keys around in his hand. Swinging them around by a ring until they flip into his hand and then letting them go only to do it again. Buck gets a hint of nervousness along the bond, which is more reassuring than anything. He’s not the only one nervous about what comes next.

“I, ah, I drove here,” he says and Buck nods, slipping his phone into his pocket and then shoving his hands into the pocket of his hoodie.

“I got driven here via kidnapping-lite, essentially,” Buck says back and he watches as a laugh escapes Eddie.

“Right. Right. I knew that,” Eddie says, and then goes quiet again. “Did... Did you want to catch a ride with me back into town?” His voice is hesitant. “You don’t have to, you can ask any of the pack members for a ride. If, if you need space for a second.”

“If I don’t want to be stuck with you in a car for a few hours drive, you mean?” Buck says back and watches Eddie hunch into himself a little.

“I mean...”

“Eddie. You had my cock in your mouth this morning. I had yours in mine. I guarantee you, I’m gonna be fine for a car ride.”

Eddie sputters for a second, shooting a furtive look back at the house and smacking Buck’s bicep. Buck breaks into a grin.

“Besides, it’s really you who should be worried about being stuck in a car with me for any length of time. I’m likely to talk your ear off,” Buck warns.

Eddie’s face softens, his nervousness fading for now.

“Good thing I’ve got two ears, then.”

~

Despite what Buck said, they actually spent most of the car ride in silence. Partially because sleeping outside overnight with no sleeping bags, blankets, or pillows, doesn’t necessarily lend itself to the best night’s sleep, but also because as soon as they’d buckled themselves in Eddie had reached out to put his hand on Buck’s thigh. It had stayed there the entire time, except for when Eddie needed to switch gears, and then it would return to Buck’s thigh. Buck had spent the time petting his fingers over Eddie’s, learning the shape of them.

His hands are bigger than Buck’s. He tries not to squirm too obviously in his seat.

He texted Bobby back, keeping the message short. Yes, it had worked. Yes, he’d be taking that week off. Yes, he’d see Bobby next Wednesday bright and early for his first shift back. He’d texted Chimney back a middle finger emoji, and he’d texted Hen a coffee emoji and the words ‘next week, wednesday before shift?’. She’d hearted the message and left it at that.

What little talking they’d done had been mostly Buck asking about Christopher. He’s curious.

“How old is he?”

“Seven.”

“How’s he like school?”

“Loves it. We’re still trying to find the right school for him here, but it’s proving to be harder than expected.”

“What’s he into?”

Eddie shoots him a crinkle-eyed, closed mouth grin and Buck fights a blush.

“He’s like any other seven year old kid, Buck. What did you like at that age?” He teases.

Buck rolls his eyes, pretending to huff.

“Well I don’t know, I wanna know if he’s as cool as his dad seems to be, Mr. Army Man,” Buck teases back making Eddie chuckle under his breath.

“Nah, he’s way cooler than me. He and Shannon conspired against me, coming up with an entire plan to convince me to join a mating run out here. They’ve spent the last few months wearing me down.”

“And now here you are.”

“And now here I am,” Eddie agrees, though his voice has gone all soft and he rubs his fingers aimlessly along the seam line of Buck’s pants. The bond between them ripples and it’s dizzying to feel both his own happiness and then Eddie’s on top of it. He wonders if Eddie can feel him too.

“Can you feel me?” Buck asks.

Eddie flicks his head over to catch his eyes briefly before looking back at the road, but the smirk spreading across his lips is undeniable. His pinky spreads out, closer and closer to the crotch of Buck’s pants.

“I dunno. Can I?” He teases, laughing when Buck slaps a hand over his to stop it from wandering places that could get him in trouble. He doesn’t have the best impulse control on a good day, and Eddie is very, very tempting. Buck huffs.

“I meant, like, along the bond, asshole. I can feel you,” he puts his free hand up against his chest, rubbing his sternum. “Like, right here. My emotions and then yours on top like a double-vision echo,” he continues. Eddie’s whole body softens, his hand pulling out from under Buck’s hold to hold it up to Buck’s chest.

“Oh cariño.”

It’s barely breathed, but Buck’s superior senses pick it up anyway. Eddie seems to be gathering a mass of nicknames to call Buck, he’s gonna have to start writing them down and looking them up. None of them sound like bad things though, and hearing them makes Buck’s heart start beating in triple time. No one’s ever cared about him enough to give him a nickname like that.

“I can feel you,” Eddie confirms, pulling his hand away from Buck to put it against his own chest, “it’s faint, but it’s also new. With time and attention the bond will strengthen. My abuela and abuelo could feel each other even if they were in different states, different countries sometimes too. And,” here Eddie’s tone becomes less breathless and more solid, suggestive, “when you bring out those fangs of yours and bite me back it’ll strengthen it too, gatito.” He winks but Buck’s brows furrow.

“You think it’d work the same?”

Eddie glances at him, the teasing expression flicking away at the seriousness of Buck’s question.

“Your bite?” He clarifies and Buck nods, humming as well once he remembers Eddie should really be keeping his attention on the road, and might not have seen Buck give him a wordless answer.

“It’ll work,” Eddie says. Buck wants to believe him. It’s just...

“What if it doesn’t?”

“Buck.”

Buck frowns.

“I’m not a shifter! I thought mating bites were like, a shifter specific thing! I don’t know how any of this is supposed to work for a succubus! I’m technically a demon, but technically not at the same time. I’ve met a few demons, when I lived in Peru. They said I wasn’t quite like them, but I wasn’t not like them either. No one knows!”

Eddie sighs, but it’s clear it’s because he’s exasperated with Buck’s disbelief.

“It’ll work. And even if it doesn’t—”

“Eddie—”

“And even if it doesn’t!” Eddie starts again, voice raised to interrupt Buck. Buck huffs, slouching in his seat. Eddie puts his hand back on Buck’s thigh. “Even if it doesn’t, the bond is there Buck. It’s not going to go away. It’s only going to grow stronger. That’s half of why we have this week to ourselves. To help strengthen it.” Eddie winks at him again and Buck rolls his eyes.

“You’ll see, baby,” Eddie says, patting Buck’s thigh and Buck melts at the pet-name. His gums itch in an echo of last night, but this time he has enough presence of mind to stop the partial shift from happening. But they still itch.

Even if it doesn’t work, if Buck’s bite doesn’t make the bond stronger, he’s still itching to sink his teeth into Eddie. More than once, if he has his way. He shifts in the seat, suddenly desperate for a distraction. Eddie gives him a knowing glance and—oh, right. Eddie said he can feel Buck’s emotions like Buck can feel his. So, if Buck gets turned on then Eddie will know.

Buck tries to make his mind blank. It doesn’t work.

Suddenly, he’s got a video of everything he and Eddie got up to last night and this morning playing. Eddie kissing him. Eddie touching him. Eddie sucking his cock. Eddie fucking him.

Eddie’s hand tightens against his thigh.

“That’s cheating,” Eddie breathes, and Buck can see that his breath is picking up speed.

“Sorry,” Buck whispers back, “can’t help it. Tried to empty my brain.”

Eddie glances his way, lips quirked.

“Thinking horny thoughts makes your brain empty?”

“No. But you made my brain empty when you put your cock in me. My mouth or my ass.”

Eddie runs his tongue over his teeth, sucking on them considering before shooting Buck another look.

“You think your brain would empty if I fucked your pussy?”

Buck’s brain blue screens.

Eddie would like to say that when they get back within LA city limits they have an actual adult conversation. What’s going to happen, who lives where right now and where might they want to end up. Etcetera.

But no.

Eddie’s never been one to indulge, most things he buys are for his son. Before that most things he bought would be for his sisters. His abuela. Everyone around him. It felt like a waste, to have a treat or buy a silly little thing for himself. He was ‘supposed to be the man of the house’. Men didn’t indulge themselves in silly little things and treats.

But Buck??

Eddie got a fair taste last night and now he doesn’t want to stop.

He has a mate.

!!!

A mate! Him!

A mate that smells absolutely delectable. A mate that Eddie wants to sink his teeth into in a way he’s never wanted to sink them into anything. And he’s already given the man a bonding mark! But he wants to mark those miles and miles of pale skin until it’s obvious that this man is claimed, very happily so.

So they get within city limits, and Eddie takes every shortcut he knows to avoid LA traffic, because the day is really picking up speed now. Eddie brings Buck to his house, doesn’t ask if that’s okay. Doesn’t ask if Buck needs anything from his.

His cat is pacing back and forth in the corners of his awareness, restless.

He indulges himself.

He drags Buck into the house, unlocking the door with shifter speed, and then slams him against it. Their lips attach as if they never want to be parted again.

Buck gives just as good as he gets; he grabs Eddie’s face in his desperate hands, clinging and pulling Eddie where he wants him. Eddie is all to happy to oblige. Buck whines into the kiss, his brows furrowed, and Eddie reaches up to brush a finger against the birth mark above his eyebrow. Buck’s eyes flutter open, flashing a dark and endless black before fading back to bright sky blue.

Eddie’s not even sure he realizes his eyes change like a shifter’s. He didn’t seem to be aware he was fanged until he’d bitten Eddie’s lip last night. Eddie shivers. He wants those fangs back. He wants to see what other changes there are to the man in front of him when he gets lost in pleasure.

He wants this man beneath him again.

He wants to be beneath this man. The prep work might be a bit more, but fuck—he remembers the hot length of Buck in his mouth and having that in him? And being free to kiss Buck while it is? Eddie wants that.

Eddie’s never been a particularly sexual person. He never seemed to be ruled by his hormones the way his friends and classmates were. But if it had been anything like this? Suddenly, he understands.

He feels like he might cry if his hands aren’t on Buck’s skin. If his mouth isn’t on Buck’s mouth. If their breath isn’t tangling together.

“Bed,” Buck breathes against his mouth. He nods, a frantic thing, before latching their mouths together in another deep, sucking, kiss, but wrapping a hand around the back of Buck’s head so he can tug him along in the general direction of Eddie’s bedroom.

Luckily, Chris doesn’t tend to keep his toys splayed about in common areas, since that makes them worse tripping hazards for himself let alone his dad, but Eddie still manages to trip on the edge of a hallway runner.

Buck catches him, keeping him upright then crowding him against the wall. They get distracted there when Buck pulls away to kiss the side of Eddie’s jaw, then his neck, and then down his neck to where it attaches to his shoulder. Buck licks at the area, mouthing over it wetly before sucking the skin between his teeth.

“Ah!” Eddie arches into it, his claws coming out and tangling in Buck’s hair to hold him in place. “Do it,” Eddie manages to breathe.

Buck hums, questioningly.

“Bite me. Right there, deep as you can,” begs Eddie.

“That’s gonna bleed,” Buck murmurs, voice low. His words are cool against Eddie’s spit wet neck and Eddie shivers.

“That’s kinda the point, gatito. Come on. Give it to me. Mate me.” He breathes and Buck groans, resting his forehead against Eddie’s collarbone for a moment before lifting his head up to meet Eddie’s eyes. His eyes are twin pools of black. The whites of his eyes and the iris’s sucked up into nothingness. His sharp little fangs have dropped, and in the light of the day Eddie’s pretty sure he’s watching two black horns sprout from his curls in sharp backwards points.

Eddie’s entire body rolls with heat.

Something happens, when Buck looks like this. When he lets go of his shift. It’s like his skin becomes clearer, becomes insanely smooth, almost glowing, and his mouth a shiny, tempting thing where his bright pink lips part on an inhale. It’s like a hint of a vampire allure, almost like you’re hypnotized by his beauty so he can get in close.

It’s not close enough for Eddie.

“Please,” he breathes.

Buck nudges his nose up under Eddie’s jaw, just a hint of ‘okay. I’m here’, and then he licks a hot line up Eddie’s neck. Eddie slams his head back, definitely leaving a dent in the drywall, and his hips hitch forward against where Buck has shoved a thick thigh. He rolls his hips into the contact again, moaning under breath. After a few frantic rolls, Buck opens his mouth wide and then bites.

Eddie’s pretty sure he digs his claws in deep enough to make Buck bleed when he comes.

~

He wasn’t sure it would take.

Buck heaves big breaths against Eddie’s neck, the taste of his blood still thick in his mouth, while his brain spins.

He didn’t think it would take.

But, but he can feel Eddie.

More than he could before. Like it had been an open circuit, signal being sent but full of static. And now it feels like they’ve closed it. Static gone, just full colour visuals and feeling. He’s feeling Eddie’s racing heart against his chest and he’s feeling Eddie’s satisfaction like a blanket wrapping around his heart.

Eddie laughs. A quiet, breathless thing in his ear, his hand coming up to cradle the back of Buck’s head. His claws are faint pinpricks against Buck’s scalp and he can’t help leaning his head into them until Eddie gets the hint and starts scratching. Buck instinctively licks out, lapping up the beads of blood as they come to the surface of the perfect bite mark he’s left on Eddie’s shoulder, his t-shirt collar stretched wide to make room.

“You feel me now, gatito?” He asks and Buck nods, nudging his nose against Eddie’s pulse point. Eddie pulls him closer with his other hand, splaying it possessively against Buck’s ass and pulling him in until his still hard cock is fit perfectly against Eddie’s splayed thigh.

“I can feel you,” he says darkly, turning his head to kiss anywhere he can reach on Buck’s face while Buck keeps licking and kissing at the bite. “Being such a good boy, taking care of the bite for me,” he whispers and Buck shivers, his hip hitching forward with Eddie’s urging. “Gonna come for me? Let me feel it through the bond?” He asks and Buck whines.

He starts rolling his hips, his jeans making it a little harder to get any sort of decent friction but the pressure is just right. Eddie slips a hand into the back of his jeans, under his underwear, and grabs his ass with his claws still out.

“Ah!” Buck pushes back into the pain and rolls forward into the pressure, riding Eddie’s thigh for what feels like no time at all before coming between them. Eddie just feels deeply smug and satisfied through the bond. When Buck gathers the wherewithal to lift his head, he can practically see it leaking from Eddie’s pores.

“Alright,” Buck huffs, which makes Eddie grin, “enough of that. We didn’t even make it to a bed.”

Eddie is unrepentant. “At least we’re not on the floor.”

A laugh is startled out of Buck and Eddie quickly joins in, giving Buck’s ass one last squeeze with his clawed hand before pulling it out of his pants. Buck can’t help the needy noise he makes and Eddie keeps laughing, reaching forward to hook a clawed finger into the neck of Buck’s t-shirt collar and tugging him down the hallway by it.

“Come on. I have a theory to test,” Eddie says blithely. “You keep bringing it up, and well... That just gets a guy curious, is all.”

~

It takes nothing at all for Eddie to get Buck into his bedroom, the succubus easily tugged along like an obedient dog on a very short leash. He also easily goes where Eddie puts him, so Eddie puts him on his bed.

He makes quick work of tugging Buck’s ruined pants off, teasingly working a clawed finger along the waistband of his underwear and acting like he’s going to just tear them to shreds to get them off of him. Buck definitely doesn’t seem opposed, if the way his eyes go dark are any indication, but Eddie might save that for later. He doesn’t want to use up all his tricks that might make Buck look at him like that.

Instead, he carefully puts the claws away and pulls Buck’s underwear down his long, long legs. Waiting while Buck wiggles his way out of his shirt and throws it off to the side, his attention focused solely on Eddie.

It’s an addicting picture, this man spread out on his sheets unashamedly. He watches Buck bring a hand to himself, stroking his cock once and then twice before Eddie’s hand snatches out to stop him. He tsks and watches the blush spread up Buck’s chest.

He thinks Buck might have a bit of a thing for Eddie being a little mean to him, for a little bit of pain, which Eddie finds himself surprisingly into. He’d never really thought about it before, but it settles some part of the cat in him. The part that wants to play with it’s food before devouring it.

“You’ve already come from your cock twice today, baby. I think you told me there was something else we could do for you,” Eddie says, his voice coming out deeper than he meant for it to.

It’d been such a sudden thing to see last night, Buck’s succubus allure pulling him in as he’d turned into a beautiful woman beneath him. But Eddie is also incredibly attracted to the man before him, he’s just... a little curious... He knows probably as much about vaginas as he does dicks, considering he and Shannon had only slept together the once before both deciding it really wasn’t for them (not the sex, but having sex with each other). The thought though? Of fucking Buck where no one else has likely been before? Holding onto Buck’s muscular figure while fucking deep into his pussy?

He already knows Buck can go more than once, quite easily as last night and this morning showed, where Eddie imagines it might be more work if he wasn’t a succubus and therefore a being built for sex-upon-sex-upon-sex. Eddie knows he himself takes a bit of time to recuperate, being closer to thirty than a teenager on a hairpin trigger but there’s something about the energy Buck brings to things that makes Eddie think he might be able to make Eddie go more than once too. Even without the venom Buck mentioned.

And if fucking his ass was earth-shattering for Eddie last night, he wonders what his pussy might be like.

Buck whines, bucking his hips up like he can’t help it before reaching out to tug suggestively at Eddie’s shirt.

“Get naked first,” Buck breathes.

And Eddie is quick to do just that, tossing his clothes in no particular direction before stalking forward and kneeling on the bed between legs Buck’s eagerly spread legs. Fuck. He feels like he’s going insane.

It’s like every thought he has is about how to have Buck under him, or over him. To be in him, and have him inside Eddie as well. How many possible ways could two people have sex? Eddie wants to try them all.

Eddie runs a hand up Buck’s abdomen, smearing the small amount of precum that has already gathered from Buck’s cock. Eventually, his hand reaches a pec, and he grabs it with a bit more force. Buck arches into the touch, so Eddie meanly pinches a nipple making Buck cry out, his cock twitching and breathing erratic.

“Come on, baby. Show me that pussy of yours,” Eddie purrs and Buck slams his head back into the pillows, his brows furrowed. Eddie can see hints of his fangs peeking from his lips. His eyes are black.

“That. Fuck, that is the hottest thing I think anyone’s ever said to me,” Buck mutters before his face twists a little in concentration. The rest of him stays the same, but when Eddie releases his pec and drags his hands down, down, down, he’s no longer met with the velvet, hot feel of his hard cock buried at the end of his trimmed pubes. Instead his fingers meet hot folds and he immediately can’t help but sink one in, in, in. Buck whines, his hands grabbing at Eddie’s shoulders.

And Eddie? Eddie feels like he’s being incredibly normal about the fact that he didn’t know there was anyone out there who could shape shift like this until last night. Here he is with a man who has a pussy beneath him, and he’s feeling incredibly not normal at how turned on he is.

He doesn’t even know how he’d go about asking if that’s normal. Or who he’d ask. Because he knows Shannon would just laugh in his face, and he’s really not close enough to anyone else to ask. So, he’s just gonna accept that he’s into Buck, like, a crazy amount, no matter the form, and leave it at that.

Eddie pushes a second finger into Buck’s tempting heat, feeling Buck tighten around them in a way that he knows will feel incredible around his cock. He says so to Buck, since he’s gathering that Buck likes to be told he’s doing good in any capacity. Eddie’s not the best with words, but this? This is surprisingly easy.

“You’re taking me so well, tesoro. You’re just pulling me in.”

Buck whimpers and it shoots heat directly to Eddie’s cock, which has started to thicken again from their earlier dalliance in the hallway.

“Please,” Buck begs, one arm coming up to wrap around Eddie’s neck and pull him in close so their just breathing against each others mouths. Eddie’s hand keeps working his fingers in and out of Buck in slow, sensual motions, his thumb slipping into the folds until he finds that little bundle of nerves and Buck’s legs start shaking.

“Pleasepleasepleaseplease. Eddie! I’m ready. I’m so ready, stop teasing—”

Eddie slides another finger in, leaning down to bite at Buck’s bottom lip with his fangs. He keeps up his slow assault of Buck’s clit, fucking his fingers in and out in a rehearsal of what he’s going to do with his cock.

They took it fast last night, and then this morning it was quick blowjobs, but right now? Right now, he wants to take his time. He wants to make Buck forget about anyone else who’s ever fucked him. He’s Eddie’s now.

Buck isn’t shy about making noise, which is turning Eddie on to an incredible degree, but they’ll have to figure something else out for when there’s a child in the house. Especially because Eddie is quickly becoming addicted to each sound, desperate to hear Buck make more. Eddie himself has never been particularly vocal, maybe because he’s always been afraid of being caught out in a family of shifters. He has no problem running his mouth for Buck now.

“Feel so good around me, baby,” he sighs into Buck’s mouth, swallowing Buck’s moans.

“Want you to come around my fingers, huh? Then maybe I’ll put my cock in you,” Eddie half-commands, biting at Buck’s mating mark again to shoot that rush of endorphins Buck’s way.

Buck’s internal muscles squeeze him so tightly when he comes that Eddie leaves his fingers where they are, locked inside. He keeps rubbing Buck’s clit, watching as Buck’s body speeds from one orgasm straight into a second one. This time Eddie feels a wet spray against his wrist and his thighs where they sit propping Buck’s legs open between them.

Did he just—

“Oh fuck! Eddie!” Buck’s chest heaves, his hands scrambling for purchase against Eddie’s sweat-slick skin. Eddie finally takes pity on him, pulling his fingers out and releasing Buck’s clit from his onslaught. He can’t help but bring his fingers up to his mouth, desperate for a taste.

He’s definitely going to be putting his mouth to Buck’s pussy, and soon if he can help it. But he’s also burning up from how hard he is about making Buck squirt all over him. Buck’s quite wet in both forms it seems, his cock leaking copiously and him coming in insane amounts whether he has a cock or a pussy.

Eddie might need to invest in a mattress protector, he doesn’t have that many towels.

Eddie waits until Buck’s eyes flutter open, dazed and unfocused. Eddie wraps his hand around his cock, stroking it to try and take the edge off before positioning it against Buck’s pussy. He uses his thumb to help guide his head until it’s resting between warm, wet folds. He pump his hips, leisurely draggging the head of his cock back and forth between them, nudging Buck’s clit on every upward pass.

Buck whimpers again, a desperate thing, his legs twitching and hips hitching again, like he’s not sure if he should be leaning into the contact or away. Likely a little oversensitive from coming twice in quick succession. His body is insane, something from a dream. He’s every one of Eddie’s few wet dreams come to life—Eddie’s own sex-dream.

“Put your fucking cock in me,” Buck breathes, a hint of attitude coming through.

Eddie hums, like he’s not sure. Like he needs convincing. Buck groans beneath him, managing to pull his legs up to wrap them around Eddie’s waist and try to pull him in that way. It just makes Eddie’s cock slip away from his pussy and against his abs. Eddie keeps languidly fucking forward.

“Do I need to put a condom on?” Eddie asks. Because, well, Eddie already learned that lesson. But Buck freezes beneath him and so he stops moving, giving all his attention to the man beneath him.

Buck’s mouth opens and closes, his brows furrowing.

“I don’t... I don’t think so?” He manages, looking up at Eddie all confused.

“I don’t. I don’t hold this form for long. And when I’m a man I don’t keep any of those parts. So I imagine if you fuck me raw and then I switch back there’s no where for it to go...” Buck is now more talking to himself so Eddie leans in to nudge their noses together.

“Do you want me to put a condom on?” He breathes, and Buck takes a second before shaking his head.

“No.”

“And you won’t get pregnant if I breed this pretty little pussy?” He whispers against Buck’s lips making Buck whine.

“Why would you say it like that. Fuck!”

“Buck,” he says, voice dark in warning.

Buck’s eyes stay closed as he thrashes his head from side to side.

“I don’t think so! Please!”

“Please, what?” Eddie teases, because Buck’s cute when he’s desperate for cock. For Eddie’s cock. He was cute this morning when he was begging for Eddie to fuck his mouth too.

“Please fuck my fucking pussy, you dick,” Buck manages, his teeth gritted.

Eddie feels his lips twitch but makes sure to school his face into something a little sad, a little disappointed.

“That’s not what I asked, gatito. What did I ask?”

He must be sick, some sort of pervert. He’s into his mate—his very male mate—having a pussy. He’s so very into the thought of fucking that pussy. Despite knowing what a very real pregnancy scare feels like, here he is desperate to hear Buck beg him to breed his pussy.

He’s incredibly into the thought of playing into it, telling Buck that he’d make sure it takes. Fuck.

“You. Eddie. Please!” Buck is almost crying now, wound tighter and tighter the longer Eddie waits to stick his cock in him.

“I want you to ask me nicely,” Eddie urges, his voice soft. A hint of the kind of tone he uses on Christopher sometimes. His Dad voice, “I want you to beg me to breed your pussy, Buck.”

Buck groans against his mouth, and Eddie can feel the feedback loop of Buck’s lust mixing with his own through the bond. Feel how fast Buck’s heart is beating, as if it’s settled into his own chest.

“Please.”

“Say it,” Eddie growls, reaching up to grab Buck by the jaw like he had last night. Making Buck look at him. “Say it,” he says again and watches Buck’s eyes flash open to pure black pools.

Buck’s hands have gone dark, soot-stained and tipped with sharp claws. His horns are out, glinting like obsidian in the sunlight that’s illuminating the room. Eddie’s pretty sure he see’s a hint of a thin, black tail whipping around in the corner of his eye but he doesn’t look away from Buck’s.

“I-I want,” Buck’s breathing heavy against his hand, his cute little fangs peeking out. Eddie leans down, interrupting Buck to lick at them because he can’t not. They’re so small, smaller than any fangs Eddie has ever seen, and not even an hour ago Buck had sunk those fangs into his neck. Buck marked him back.

“I want you to b-breed my pussy,” Buck stutters, voice a whisper, and Eddie is the one who groans this time. He feels like he’s on fire. He reaches down to grasp himself and then immediately starts pushing into Buck. Buck’s body welcomes him easily, the tight, wet, heat drawing him in and in and in.

They both groan as the head of Eddie’s cock slides in, followed slowly by the rest of him until he’s completely inside. When he looks way from where Buck’s body is swallowing him in it’s to see Buck’s head thrown back, his horns having dug into Eddie’s pillows and torn into them with a sound Eddie must have missed. When Buck lifts his head it sends stuffing flying about. He doesn’t notice. His tail, whipcord thin and slick with sweat like the rest of him, wraps around Eddie’s wrist where he’s still holding Buck’s jaw.

Artwork by VeretianViper

“Fucking, fuck me.” Buck growls, his skin doing that glowy allure thing again, and well. How could Eddie say no?

Buck feels great.

In fact, Buck feels better than great—he feels amazing.

He just had a week off work for what was essentially a sex-cation. A sex-cation with his hot, new, shifter mate. A sex-cation wherein he got off so many times he’s genuinely shocked that there isn’t anything chafing, even taking into account his advanced healing.

He’s also never been this full before.

He hadn’t even had a chance to get a little peckish before Eddie would be on him again. Buck would wonder if his mate isn’t actually the sex-demon if he didn’t know better.

So yeah, Buck feels amazing.

He had coffee this morning with Hen, hanging out for half an hour before they both headed to the station, where he could gossip a little to the woman. He hadn’t told her that he was a succubus, still not quite ready for that, but he’d told her that he was something and that he’d tell her what it was soon. She’d taken it easily, not even blinking, because “Buck I’m a white mage. I knew you were something. It’s just not something I’ve seen before.” She’d shrugged and well, Buck kinda loves her.

She reminds him of his sister, always looking out for him. Somehow always seeming to know something before Buck does.

Although, speaking of knowing something, Buck is pretty sure she isn’t aware of the Athena-Bobby of it all. Buck’s gonna keep that one to himself—for now. He’s also gonna keep an eye out to make sure that his assumption is correct, but like, Buck knows when people are getting some so...

Buck gets into work and changes into the uniform. He bounces up the stairs to say hello to Bobby before bouncing back down when Chimney comes in.

“Alright. It is barely 9am. There is no way that someone has given you an energy drink yet,” the dragon moans, and Buck just grins wider. He doesn’t even notice Bobby trailing down the stairs after him.

“I haven’t had an energy drink!” He says, “Those don’t really do anything for me. But I feel great! Don’t you feel great, Chim? Isn’t today great?”

Chimney groans, his hands coming up to cover his eyes.

“I don’t think I can do this, Cap. Someone’s gonna need to put me down,” he says, voice muffled by his hands.

Bobby laughs, tapping Chimney’s hands until the man brings them down to look forlornly at their Captain. Hen sidles up to them then, to go cup of coffee still in her hand and her duffle bag hanging at her side.

“I thought he was hard to deal with when he was single. A little easier to deal with with Abby. But this​​​? Shoot me. Shoot me now, Cap.”

“No one is gonna be shooting anyone.” Bobby placates, “we wouldn’t wanna scare the new guy with a bloodbath before his shift has even started.”

“New guy?” Buck asks, his stomach sinking a little. They don’t need a new guy. Things are great how they are now. What does Bobby mean? Things were going good! Buck hasn’t done anything to warrant a new guy! Buck hasn’t been leaving any slack anywhere for a new guy to pick up! He swears!

“Yeah. New recruit, graduated top of his class. Guys over at Station Six were dying to have him but I convinced him to join us,” Bobby says. It feels a little like Buck’s underwater and the sound isn’t quite reaching him.

“Y-Yeah okay, but like, what do you need him for?”

That definitely came out more bratty than Buck was intending. He’s gotta show Bobby he’s totally grown up! Totally mature! He he has a mate now and everything! That they don’t need a new guy on the team!

Bobby laughs at him.

Bobby laughs at him.

“He served multiple tours in Afghanistan as an army medic, Buck, guy’s got a silver star. It’s not like he’s wet behind the ears.”

And wait. Waitwaitwait.

“Ooh, silver star!” Hen murmurs, impressed. And even Chimney seems to be excited.

There’s no way. Right?

Eddie served multiple tours as an army medic. But Buck doesn’t think he mentioned anything about a silver star...

Now that he thinks about it, Buck doesn’t remember Eddie mentioning anything about what he does for work. Just that they’d recently moved here and were working to get things sorted out. But Buck had definitely told Eddie what he did for work. And there’s no way he didn’t tell Eddie what house.

“Come on, I’ll introduce you to him.” Bobby reaches out, using the back of his hand to playfully smack Buck’s bicep.

Bobby slips past him, Hen and Chimney moving to follow while muttering between themselves about this ‘silver star’, but Buck takes a second because.

There’s no way.

Buck gets a wave of pure amusement and he slowly turns around.

His eyes start on the ground, black boots, standard issue blue uniform pants, belt, a long uninterrupted line of tan skin stretched over very familiar abs. A standard issue blue uniform t-shirt suddenly falling down and hiding all that skin from view, being moved by very familiar hands. Hands that not even two hours ago were wrapped around his cock in a lazy morning hand-job.

Buck finally brings his eyes up to meet warm, brown eyes, looking between Bobby, Hen, and Chim while his lips move to greet them, then looking back out at Buck. He winks and Buck’s mouth falls open.

Oh you asshole! Buck thinks and watches Eddie’s eyes crinkle up in the corners.

Surprise, gatito.

The words aren’t his, but he hears them crystal clear in his head all the same. What.

“Buck! Come on!” Bobby calls and Buck stutters into a step forward, then another. Then suddenly he’s half jogging forward as Hen and Chim turn to let him get through only he doesn’t slow down. Instead he all but slams into Eddie, who was ready and braced for him, and he wraps his arms around him in a hug.

Eddie clings to him just as tightly, laughing out loud against Buck’s ear.

“Holy shit! You didn’t tell me you were a firefighter!” He manages to exclaim, pulling back just enough to get a good look at Eddie’s face. He’s grinning sheepishly up at Buck, shrugging and tilting his head to the side in a little self-conscious movement.

“I mean, I graduated before I moved out here, just had to update a few certs for LA. And, I mean, I had an interview with Bobby before anything happened but I wasn’t sure if I was gonna say yes. Then, you told me you were a firefighter and what house you worked for. I figured I might try and surprise you,” he says easily, as if that isn’t one of the craziest, sweetest things somebody’s done for Buck. He’s totally sucking Eddie’s cock later. As a thank you... Not because Buck is kind of addicted to Eddie’s cock.

He’d been a little sad this morning, at having to go without Eddie’s company all day, and now he won’t have to worry about that. It’s a bit of whiplash.

“Umm...” He hears from behind him, Hen’s voice loud in that insistent way she gets when you should really be paying attention. Whoops.

““Uh, guys,” Buck starts, pulling away from the hug completely but keeping an arm around the back of Eddie’s shoulders. Eddie’s hand slips into the small of his back like it belongs there a solid, reassuring weight. “So you know how I just took a week off to strengthen my bond,” he continues and Hen’s eyes widen, looking between Buck and Eddie before a grin splits her face.

“No way!”

“I-Um,” Buck swallows, turning to meet Eddie’s eyes and Eddie dips his head in acknowledgement. Taking pity on his mate.

“I’m Buck’s mate,” he says, like the words come to him as easy as breathing. An easy claim. Like it’s been there forever, not just a week. Buck’s stomach warms with little butterflies, his chest puffing out a little in pride.

“Oh!” Bobby’s face is shocked for a moment before he too gives them a smile. “Well, makes it easier for pack meet-ups, I suppose,” Bobby jokes.

Chimney groans from beside them. When Buck looks over it’s to see him with his head tipped back, brows furrowed while he contemplates the ceiling.

“Now there’s gonna be two of them, Cap,” he whines and Hen playfully shoves him. “Ow! I was joking! Sort of. Please, I can only take so much puppy love,” he whines some more and Buck rolls his eyes while Eddie chuffs a laugh.

“As long as they can keep it professional in the firehouse, and the engine,” Bobby stresses, making Buck groan and cover his face, “then I think we should be all good.”

“Welcome to the team, Eddie,” Hen says.

And well, okay, maybe they do need a new guy. Buck’s new guy.

This is gonna be great.