Zayne's Jasmine

🩸He comes home with far more than what you asked for. Pads, tampons, Midol, chocolate bars, chocolate ice cream, fuzzy socks, your favorite tea, a plug-in heating pad, and two beautiful steaks because, in his words, “you’re losing blood. Some iron-rich red meat will help.”

🩸Valko immediately reorganizes the cabinet under the bathroom sink so you have your own dedicated shelf. After neatly lining everything up, he proudly steps back and announces, “the menstruation station is officially operational.” He’s absurdly pleased with himself.

🩸When you settle back onto the couch, Valko plugs in the heating pad before you even sit down. He tucks it against your stomach, wraps both arms around you from behind, and spends the rest of the movie gently rubbing your side whenever he feels you tense up.

🩸The first time you quietly ask if you smell bad, Valko looks genuinely offended on your behalf. He leans in, presses a kiss to your temple, and says, “you smell like you. You’re still my pretty little jelly-filled doughnut.” You groan at the nickname while he shamelessly peppers your cheeks with kisses anyway.

🩸Dinner that night is steak, roasted vegetables, and whatever potato side sounds good to you. Valko happily explains the importance of iron while cooking, looking far too excited that he gets to apply something he learned during his Target research expedition.

🩸He hands you a Midol and a full water bottle. “Preventative maintenance,” he says with a grin, “I’d rather stay ahead of the cramps than chase ‘em”

🩸He gets the two of you settled into your favorite little gaming corner with his blankets piled everywhere. While he plays, you curl up on his lap with your bowl of chocolate ice cream, occasionally stealing bites from his. Every few minutes, one of his hands leaves the controller long enough to squeeze your knee or absentmindedly rub your shoulder.

🩸Watching him care for you so naturally melts away your embarrassment. By the end of the weekend, your period has somehow become just another thing the two of you tackle together, and Valko treats it with the same easy affection he brings to everything else in your relationship.

“Luna Lake?“

“Yeah,“ Valko answered, kissing your temple as he peeked at the voucher he’d gifted you. “That’s what the pack calls it anyway. A whole weekend, just you and me, to make up for the fact that I was gone for so long. The campsite will be closed for renovations over at the huts, but we won’t need those. I got a tent, sleeping bags, lots of chocolate and marshmallows, and I’ll make a campfire.”

“That…that sounds great,” you choked out. Except for the fact that it was by the lake, and Valko surely expected you to go for a swim with him at some point. You hadn’t told him yet that you didn’t know how to swim. This irrational fear of deep waters had been weighing on you ever since you were a kid—but didn’t exactly look good on a grown Hunter who killed Wanderers and tracked down werewolves for a living.

“You don’t sound very happy about it, bunny. Would you rather do something else? We can.”

“No, no. It’s… a sweet idea. I like it. Let’s do it.” You’d just have to make sure not to wade too deep into the lake, right? Easy peasy.

Not easy peasy. At all. After you’d helped Valko set up your tent and inflate the air mattresses, you were soaked through. Today was a particularly hot day, and the sun was shining down like hellfire. Valko didn’t waste any time. Deliciously shirtless already and skin all shiny from sweat, he made a run for the little dock, skipping the ladder and diving into the water headfirst like a professional swimmer.

You chuckled when he re-emerged, and slowly waded in at the rocky shore. The gravel and sand pricked at your feet as the water level rose. You stopped when it enveloped your waist.

“What are you waiting for, bunny?” He swam over to you, circling you like a hungry shark.

“You look so damn beautiful in that bikini, you know that?”

Heat crept up your cheeks. You bent down, letting the water rise up to your chest without letting your feet lose the ground.

“It’s lovely here. Thank you for bringing me.”

“You’re welcome. We can come here as often as you like. I, uh… actually bought the lake and the land surrounding it.”

Your jaw dropped. “Huh? You said it was closed for renovations.”

“It is. Because I bought it. I just wanted a private patch of land for the cubs to hunt safely. And for you and me, of course. Come on. Let’s swim towards the middle. The view is amazing. When it gets dark, you can see the moon over the trees and the light reflecting in the water. But even now, it’s breathtaking.”

“Oh… we can do that later then. I’ll stay here for a while; the view is nice from the shore too.”

Valko chuckled, oblivious to your uncertainty. “How about a race? Or… a chase?” A wolfish grin spread on his lips.

“V-Valko, I‘d rather not, I—” You yelped when he jumped at you and threw you over his shoulder as if you weighed nothing. He carried you deeper into the lake, not immediately noticing your rising panic. Under normal circumstances, his carefree laugh would have warmed your heart, but right now, you were too busy freaking out.

Banging on his back with your fists, you struggled in his tight grip.

“V-Valko, let me down, please! Let me down, let me down right now!”

Valko was still laughing, not realising how much your voice was trembling, right until he attempted to throw you in. You clung to him like a monkey, shaking like a leaf in the autumn wind. That must have been when he started to smell your fear. He froze.

His arms tightened around you, holding you close.

“Hey, hey, hey, are you alright? Shit… Hey… Bunny… what’s going on? Talk to me.”

You didn’t realise you were crying until he carried you out of the water, still holding you tightly against his chest.

He put you down inside the tent, reaching for a towel to gently dry you off.

“I’m sorry, I’m making a scene…”

“Hey… no, you’re not. Talk to me about this. If anything, I’m the one who should be sorry for not realising you were uncomfortable earlier. Please, bunny, tell me what’s wrong so I can make it better.”

Heaven, he was so cute. You nuzzled into him, clinging to the towel he’d draped over his shoulders.

“I can’t swim,” you muttered.

“You… you can’t swim?”

You shook your head. “I don’t even know why. It’s silly, really. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve had this irrational fear of deep water, and I was never able to overcome it, so I secretly skipped the swimming lessons and hid in the changing rooms until Grandma came to pick me up again. I almost didn’t pass my Hunter’s exam because of it.”

“You should have told me earlier, cub.” Cub. He usually used that nickname with you when he sensed how vulnerable you were being with him. “I never would have scared you like that if I had known. I should have pried more when you hesitated about the trip.”

“It’s okay, Valko. You couldn’t have known.”

“No, but I still should have asked.” He stroked your cheek.         

“I didn’t want to tell you. I’m supposed to be the strong and fierce Hunter, remember?”

“You are a strong and fierce Hunter. Nothing changes about that. Having weaknesses is not a bad thing. It makes you human. And you’re allowed to be scared. Don’t you think I’m afraid of things too?”

You sniffed. “Maybe… I… I don’t want to ruin the mood. Let’s… let’s eat something and enjoy the weekend. We can still cool down and all, I just… I just don’t want to go in too far.”

Valko rubbed your back, warming you up. Each stroke calmed you further and dried your tears. “Hey… how about… I teach you how to swim?”

You leaned back, reddened eyes meeting his innocent and soft smile.

“You… you want to teach me?”

“Yeah, why not? Tell you what, bunny. Let’s have a nice dinner and eat those barbecue chicken skewers we brought, and then we’ll try together, alright?”

You nodded. “But aren’t you supposed to wait an hour to go swimming after a meal?”

Valko chuckled. “Sure, we could wait. I can think of something else to do in the meantime.”

“Valko!” He cuddled you in his arms as you both laughed.

“It’s alright…slowly. I’ve got you, bunny. I won’t let you go under.”

Clinging to Valko like a little monkey once more, you allowed him to glide deeper into the water with you, away from the safe ladder attached to the dock.

“Just like we practised earlier, alright?” Earlier, when you couldn’t decide between focusing on the swimming motions he was teaching you or his hands on your waist steadying you in the water so you wouldn’t flop about helplessly like a fish out of water.

“I’ve got you, I’ve got you. Just try. I’m right here with you, I won’t let anything happen to you.” His words were like a balm, healing years of childhood trauma when the other kids laughed at you for staying in the shallow pools during school trips. Caleb had once pushed one of your bullies so hard he slipped on the wet tiles and ended up with a broken nose.

“And if you were to go under, what do we do?”

“Don’t flail, get my feet on the ground and push off to break the surface.”

“Good girl.”

Oh. Heat pooled in your lower regions, distracting you from the swimming motions you were supposed to be doing.

Valko gently pushed you an arms-length away from him and positioned you belly-down in the water, his long fingers gliding over your wet skin. You took a shaky breath in.

“Swim,” he ordered gently, as if it was merely a suggestion. You did as you were told, mimicking the motions he had demonstrated to you earlier. And… it worked. Your practice earlier paid off, and you’d argue you were a fast learner. “I’m doing it! Valko, I’m doing it!”

“I can see it, bunny. Keep going. You’re doing great.” His praise fuelled you like a power reactor. “Just keep going,” he said again. “I’m right here. I won’t leave you.” His hands moved away from under your belly… and all of a sudden, you were swimming all by yourself.

Valko followed suit. For him, the water was still shallow enough to stand.

“I’m going it! I’m actually doing it, I’m doing—” Your last words got muffled by a swell of water when your head dipped under because you might have gotten a little too excited, but your panic didn’t last long. Your wolf was by your side within a second.

You wrapped your arms around his neck and kissed him. “Did you see that? Heavens, I’ve never been this deep in the water by myself without a life jacket!”

“You did so well, cub. I’m proud of you.” He nudged your nose with his. “Keep at it, and you’ll soon be a pro. Then we can actually race each other.”

You bit your lower lip. The taste of his mouth lingered on it still. “How about we race back to our tent for now, and I’ll show you just how grateful I am for you?”