The Bite
The room was warm. Quiet. The moonlight filtering in through the gauzy curtains painted silver lines across tangled sheets and bare skin.
Nova lay sprawled against Thea, her head resting on her chest, still flushed and slick with sweat, hair clinging to her temples. Thea's arm was curled tightly around her waist, her fingers splayed low on Nova's stomach, where the muscles still fluttered with aftershocks.
They didn't speak for a long time.
Just breathed.
Hearts slowing in sync.
Then—
"Are you sure?" Nova asked, voice hoarse.
Thea blinked down at her. "Hmm?"
Nova shifted, rising up slightly to rest her chin on Thea's chest. Her eyes, still glassy from release, now held something darker. Heavier.
"The bite," she said softly. "There's no going back from it. You know that, right?"
Thea's gaze sharpened. She didn't pull away.
"I know."
"No, I don't think you do," Nova said. She sat up more fully now, the sheets slipping off her shoulders. Her body glowed in the faint light, scarred and soft and strong. "If I do this—if I bite you—there's a chance your body rejects it. And if that happens..." She hesitated. "You die, Thea. There's no cure. No antidote. No second try."
Thea was quiet.
Nova continued. "And even if your body accepts it, the bite doesn't guarantee you become a werewolf. Sometimes the shape you take... it reflects the person you are. I've seen people bitten who didn't shift. They became something else. Something darker. Some people just break under the pressure."
She looked down, hands clenched in the sheets. "You don't come back the same. You'll hear things you shouldn't. Smell everything. Feel emotions that aren't yours. Your whole world shifts—and the instincts, they get louder. Harder to fight."
She looked up again, and her eyes shimmered red in the dark.
"And the hunters, Thea. You think your life's been complicated? You've never been hunted. I have. And I'll be damned if I let them come for you the way they came for me."
Thea sat up now too, naked and unashamed, face unreadable.
Then she reached out, brushed Nova's cheek with the back of her hand.
"You don't get it," she said, voice low. "I'm not doing this because I think it's cool. I'm doing it because I want to be able to protect you. And our daughter. And this family we've built. I'm tired of being the one that needs guarding. I want to be the one guarding."
Nova's throat worked, emotion rising.
"Did you talk to your mom?" she whispered.
Thea snorted. "You think she'd say yes? Of course not. But this—this is my choice. Mine. Not hers. Not yours. Mine."
Silence settled again. Thick. Final.
Nova reached out, took Thea's hand, and pressed it over her heart.
"Once I do this, everything changes."
"Good," Thea said. "I'm ready."
Nova stared at her for a long moment, searching for even the smallest flicker of hesitation.
There was none.
So she leaned forward, kissed her slow—soft—reverent. Then she slid down her hand, took Thea's forearm, and lifted it to her lips.
Her breath hitched.
"This is going to hurt."
"Do it."
Nova didn't wait.
She opened her mouth, lips brushing warm skin, and then—
Her pupils blew wide. Her irises burned red—Alpha red—bright and wild. Her canines elongated, sharp and gleaming, and her claws slid out with a soft, wet click, anchoring against the bedsheets on either side of Thea's arm.
Thea didn't flinch.
She just watched her. Trusted her.
Nova bit.
Her fangs sank deep. Flesh parted. Blood bloomed hot against her tongue.
Thea gasped—sharp and raw—but didn't move.
Nova's eyes glowed brighter, power flaring through her veins as she held her bite. Her jaw tightened just enough to mark it fully. Her claws trembled, digging into the sheets to keep control.
When she finally pulled back, her lips were smeared with blood, chest rising and falling in ragged breaths.
Thea's forearm pulsed—angry, red, glowing faintly where the bite seared.
– The Waiting Hours
Thea's arm was still bleeding.
Not heavily. Not dangerously. But enough that the bite throbbed angry red against her pale skin — twin punctures with faint bruising already blooming around them, blood smudging the sheets.
Nova sat back on her heels, eyes still glowing Alpha red, lips stained crimson.
Her heart was pounding. Too fast.
She stared at the bite for a second longer, watching Thea breathe — steady, calm, and very much awake.
"Thea?" Nova whispered, voice trembling.
Thea's lashes fluttered, and she gave a soft, tired smile. "Still here, baby. I'm okay."
Nova let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding — a shaky, fractured sound. "You should be passing out. Or screaming. Or—"
"I'm not," Thea cut in gently. "You didn't lose me."
"Not yet," Nova muttered under her breath, but Thea caught it.
Thea's fingers brushed weakly against Nova's arm. "Hey. Breathe."
"I am breathing," Nova snapped — too sharp, too afraid. She winced. "Sorry. I just... I don't know if it's going to work. I don't know if I—"
"You didn't do anything wrong."
Nova looked down at her, jaw clenched. "If this goes bad, it's my fault."
Thea gave her a crooked little smirk, her voice soft but steady. "I literally begged for this, remember?"
Nova didn't answer.
After a beat, Thea whispered, "I'm not scared, Nova. So you don't have to be for both of us."
The words hit her in the chest. Sharp and deep.
And then she moved.
Without another word, she slipped out of bed, bare feet silent against the floor. Her body still tingled with aftershocks — both from the sex and the bite — but she forced her legs to move. Her tongue tasted blood. Thea's blood.
She padded into the bathroom, flipped on the light, and stared at herself in the mirror.
Her eyes were still glowing.
Her fangs were still out.
There was blood on her mouth. Her chin. Her neck.
She turned on the tap and leaned forward, scrubbing her face with trembling fingers. She spit into the sink and rinsed twice, until the water ran clear.
"Please let it take," she whispered to herself. "Please don't let her die."
She found the first aid kit in the bottom drawer.
Wet warm rags. Antiseptic. Gauze.
Her claws retracted with effort — her body still humming with the afterglow of both sex and power — and she grabbed what she needed before returning to the bedroom.
Thea hadn't moved.
But she hadn't gone silent either. Her eyes were half-lidded now, her voice softer but still there when she said, "That was fast."
"I've done this before," Nova murmured, kneeling beside her again. "Not the bite, just... patching people up."
Thea smiled faintly. "How's it look?"
"Angry," Nova admitted. "But clean."
She gently dabbed at the wound, clearing away the drying blood. Then she wrapped it, fingers trembling even as she worked with precision.
"Still scared?" Thea asked, eyes on her face.
"Yes," Nova whispered. "But mostly for you."
"Then stop," Thea said softly. "Because you're the reason I'm not."
Nova's breath stuttered again.
When she was done, Nova climbed back into bed, chest tight, curling carefully around Thea like she was made of glass.
Thea shifted slightly into her, still warm. Still breathing.
Still hers.
But the bite didn't always take.
And when it didn't... there was no saving them.
Nova pressed her forehead to Thea's shoulder.
"I'm right here," she whispered. "Please hold on. Allison and I can't lose you."
"I will," Thea murmured, fingers curling weakly around hers. "I promise. Baby, I am not going to leave either of you."
Nova didn't say anything else.
She just held her tighter, pulling the covers over both of them. The moon wouldn't rise for hours. The change, if it came, wouldn't be subtle.
But the worst part?
Was the waiting.
She listened to Thea's heartbeat — slow and steady, for now.
And then, finally, after what felt like forever, Nova's eyes closed too.
Sleep came — restless and shallow — wrapped in fear and the warmth of the girl she loved.