The Vampire's Last Omega

Animal Blood

[Day 3]

Teru hated the taste of vomit. Really hated it. He leaned his hand against the tree, silently apologizing to it for making a mess on its exposed roots.

BLECH.

It just never seemed to end. Kieran patted his back and tucked Teru's hair behind his ears so the strands wouldn't get caught in the stream of nasty gunk.

Moments earlier, the group had to stop until the Jeep's engine cooled down. Black smoke started to spew from under the hood, with Blaise pleading, 'Keep going, baby, you got this.' They were so close to their next destination, to begin 'phase three' of Blaise's plan. Despite the delay, the youngest prince was confident they could make it to Fort Wayne and switch out vehicles. It only needed to hang in there for another hour and a half.

While sitting along the side of the road, the sickness came again when he spotted a sprouting mushroom next to his foot.

Mushrooms...

Teru had suddenly ran into the forest with a hand over his mouth, Kieran closely on his heels after growling at Blaise and Lucas not to follow. So, now here he was, puking his guts out.

Once done, Teru stood straight and stared at the evidence of his pregnancy nausea.

I wish I had a toilet to flush it away. He swallowed bitter aftertaste. A toothbrush, too-

A yellow toothbrush magically appeared in front of his face. Kieran must've grabbed it from his duffel bag, assuming Teru was going to be sick. In his other hand was a small tube of toothpaste.

Taking both, he felt so grateful that his eyes blurred with happy tears. Everything had been so stressful. This made it a little easier to cope.

"Thank you," Teru said, unscrewing the cap. He wanted to get rid of the taste as soon as possible before it triggered another round of throwing up.

As he brushed thoroughly, Kieran wiped a handkerchief under his eyes. "I don't like to see you cry."

"Ah ot rying," he mumbled. (I'm not crying.)

Finished, Teru glanced at the water slowly rippling in the muddy ditch behind the tree. Before he could use it to gurgle, Kieran grabbed his hand and placed a metal bottle in it. "Don't drink anything without boiling it. Who knows what bacteria it could have?"

Teru spat out the minty foam with filtered water. "Because I could get super sick, right? Sometimes the entire pack would get ill after using the water in the caves. The usual cause was a dead animal that had entered the system and got stuck, then died in our reservoir. After removing the carcass, we'd use another creek until the bad water flushed out."

"The 'entire' pack?" Kieran was shocked. "Did that include you?"

"I mean, yeah. I drank from it like everyone else. The first time I remember it happening was when I was four, maybe? Another pup and I were affected the most. I almost died, actually."

"You...almost died...," Kieran repeated through clenched teeth. His eyes gleamed angrily.

Teru stopped talking. He realized mentioning the old story had made his protective alpha upset. It was so long ago, but it was the possibility that Teru could have been dead by something so preventable had the adults been more careful.

"And the other pup?"

Should Teru say it? Should he lie? No, he shouldn't lie. "I woke up for a second during my high fever and saw them carrying her body from the healer's den. No one thought I'd live, either. She was an alpha and healthier than me. How could a small, weak omega survive? I had help, though. My guardian angel was there."