#kharding

        “Jamie said you missed me,” Hastalik pointed out as the pair sat in Bella’s backyard, soccer ball between the pair of them. They’d played until Hastalik had worn himself out, the witch aware Kemper probably could have gone on for a few more hours with his wolf genes so usually said when he was done. Holding his water in hand, ball between his thighs, Has looked down at the open bottle. “Bit worried he didn’t quite miss me the way I thought he would but, what are you going to do?”

       Bella pulled Ben’s jacket closer around herself as she moved past the gate to her townhouse. Kemper’s face said it all, she’d fucked up, but she’d known that in the car. Rereading the texts she’d sent to Kemper from the party she felt her stomach churn with guilt. It wasn’t like she’d said anything that was untrue but the fact was, Kemper was worried about her, she shouldn’t have dismissed that.

          “How mad are you?” she asked, heels clicking as she walked up the footpath to her boyfriend. Kemper was still in his work clothes, not exactly designed for sitting on concrete steps, with Boss whimpering with concern by his side, obviously able to sense both Kemper’s worry and his anger. A horrific combination because it was hard to act on both at once without lashing out - as Bella already had done. Her eyes half avoided his gaze, looking to them and then moving to the ground and back again she tried to find the right words. 

[ TEXT ]: I used my influence on someone... [ TEXT ]: I feel a bit guilty.

[ TEXT ]: Missing me yet, Sugarwolf? [ IMG ]:

[ TEXT ]: Literally so much has happened since you went home. [ TEXT ]: Feel like the only thing that would stop my nerves being on edge is you but Lyn is going to be home soon - hopefully - and I think she still needs me.

[ TEXT ]: Hey, I know you’re probably at work so you might not be able to reply right away but I mean, you always texted Bella while you were at work so you could probably read this. [ TEXT ]: I don’t know. I’m avoiding the topic. [ TEXT ]: I got some news about my family I need to tell you. [ TEXT ]: Basically they’re here and looking for me. I haven’t worked out a plan yet but I have to do some protection stuff to your house and Jamie’s so they can’t sense my magic. [ TEXT ]: If two Turkish guys come to the house you don’t know me.

      Bella felt lips at her neck, teeth nibbling gently, while the air from outside was blown into her home through the front door. The blood dolls gifting her farewell affection had a slowed heart rate, weakened from Bella’s feeding, but seemed energized nonetheless. He was the last of two remaining. Jamie and her had severed their ties for her feeding, besides he had a near limitless supply of her blood now, and she’d said goodbye the Ana, the blood doll who she had been both sleeping with and gifting expensive items too as payment. Bella still needed to feed so she had kept the girl whose rent she paid, and the man she slept with. He would have been an easy tie to sever were he not so large. Bella needed to feed at minimum three times a week, sometimes four. The smaller girl she’d kept was only good for one session a week, where as Danny could handle more.

         “Get out of here, Danny,” Bellamy insisted, pushing him off her. Despite his broad shoulders and masculine form she had the advantage. He was a human who had just lost a lot of blood, and she was a vampire. So he did remove himself, taking a step out the door and looking back at her for a moment. Danny watched Bella as she closed the door, wrapped in a satin black robe. How was her hair still perfectly in place, how had he only smudged her lipstick? It was frequently some of the best nights of his week. No strings.

            With the door closed he checked his phone, a few texts from friends, a call from his Mother he’d missed, he stood there for a few minutes replying, unable to hear the vampire woman inside fixing her make-up and changing into something more practical. Bella didn’t know Kemper was coming over but she always tried to be done with her blood dolls early enough in the evening that if he did come over they’d miss him. Tonight she had not been fast enough.

              Danny looked up, shoving his phone in his pocket, and saw the other male with brown his falling over his brow. It may not have been obvious to the human but he smelled of sex, of her sex. It was on his clothes and on his skin. But more so there was the evident bite on his throat, other’s hidden beneath his clothing that still had enough dried blood that a werewolf aware of Bella’s specific scent could tell it was not his only wound. “Guess she’s really hungry tonight,” Danny said as he walked down the small path to the short gate to her home, patting Kemper on the shoulder. “Good luck, mate.”

              Bella caught none of the interaction, by the time Kemper’s shoulder was being slapped she was zipping up her black jeans and shoving her feet into some pink heels. In her mind Kemper would either arrival in an hour or so and she could show off one of the pairs she had kept, or she would be able to send him some selfies she had taken in the clothing, descending her stairs of her home to do so in better lighting she put back on the necklace Kemper had given her, an indication that the full moon would be there soon.

[ TEXT ]: Morning. 💋🦇 [ TEXT ]: I miss your bed. [ TEXT ]: Waking up in mine was like 😔 [ TEXT ]: But my stove is better so I can make waffles.

       “Dude, you like are killing me right now,” Has said with an exasperated breath, breathing in deeply through his nose and exhaling hard through his mouth. He was sweating like crazy, droplets running down his forehead that he had to keep brushing off with a towel. It felt ridiculous though. Each time he switched out with Kemper the guy needed to practically double what Hastalik was lifting simply because of his species. It felt impossible to keep up with anyone in the gym, which felt crazy because he was physically larger than most of them.

        Throwing the towel to the ground he pushed fingers through his hair, sweat moving into it as he did. Once he caught his breath though, he returned to the conversation at hand. The friends they seemed to have both found themselves caught up in - actually taking the two a few sessions before they realised. “I would freak out if they were sleeping together, man,” Has said of the friends. “He keeps saying he’s not interested in anyone else but like I’m so goddamn paranoid ‘cause I can’t tell if he’s even interested in me. One second it’s like yeah, I can go full force and the next I’m like a fucking baby,” he informed Kemper as he watched the guy perform his set, ready to remove the excess weight when he was done and take his turn. “Literally the last girl I liked dumped me because I was too supportive of her, after yelling at me and crying for being too selfish when I started talking to her, like I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.”