To Love an Incubus

Chapter 30; Taking Vows

Holden and Dorrian stood in front of me, both looking at me expectantly.

"So you want me to actually say that?"

"Yes," Holden says. "Just say the vow and you will connect with us and our pack, thereby becoming a member."

I huff, "I hereby devote my soul and body to the pack before me. I offer my devotion, protection, and love to each and every member of my pack. Should I betray my alpha or pack, death shall be foreseen." It seemed kind of excessive for a vow, but I suppose it's their way of living. Dorrian smiles and a sudden warmth, almost like a small electric shock, runs through my body, starting at my fingers and dispersing throughout my body. I look at Holden. "What was that?" I implored.

"That was a connection forming between you and the pack. We will be able to sense you, track you, etcetera. You have a family with us now, Auric." Holden says, putting a hand on my shoulder and smiling at my softly. It was weird, I felt safe and content. I furrow my eyebrows at the feeling.

"You'll get used to it," Holden informs. "Pack members always feel like that around their alpha. It's a mechanism to form trust between us." I nod and he lets his hand drop from my shoulder and he looks to Dorrian. "Well, I'll leave you to it. I'm sure Auric has questions." With that, Holden gives me one last smile before walking out and closing the door behind him.

I flop down on the bed and sigh, letting unknown emotions flow through my body. The bed dips down next to me and I am surrounded in Dorrian's scent.

"How do you feel?" He asks. I shrug.

"I'm not sure. I feel different, though." Dorrian nods. I feel his fingers slide over my palm and stretch between my own. Tingles spread up my arm and static fills the space between us. "What is it? The... static?" I ask, waving my other hand in the air. Dorrian chuckles and I feel heat rise to my face.

"It's our mate bond. Because we're not mated, it tried to take on a physical form to almost be reassured that it's there, I supposed."

"What does that mean?" I ask, looking over at Dorrian who had already been staring at me. His hands reaches up and his fingers lightly brush a piece of skin above my collar bone on my neck. The touch sends a shiver throughout my whole body.

"It's when I mark you. Right there on your neck. It will claim you as mine so other unmated wolves won't be tempted, so everyone knows you're mine. My wolf wants me to mark you, but I know you need more time," Dorrian says. My stomach twists and my heart clenches. Something about his words seemed to affect my body.

"A mark?" I ask. Still not understanding.

"A bite." He clarifies making me frown.

"You have to bite me? Doesn't that seem a little, I don't know, eccentric?" I ask. Dorrian chuckles.

"I guess I can see where you're coming from, but it's important to us. It will connect us on a deeper level," he says.

"Well, now you just sound like a hippie," I tease. Dorrian rolls over so he hovers over me, making my heart race at the proximity. He smiles, flashing me his teeth as a mischievous glint shines in his eyes. He kisses my jaw line and my head turns without my consent, giving him more access. I feel him smirk against my skin and he moves down to where he had previously touched on my neck, kissing it softly. It makes me squirm under him and I feel his tongue flick over the skin quickly.

When I feel his teeth drag across the skin, my body becomes hot and flushed. I shake my hand from Dorrian's grip and run it through his hair. He pauses at the action and his eyes flicker up to mine. They glowed softly, and I knew his instincts were kicking in so I forcibly push him off of me and pin him on his back. His eyes glow brighter, which wasn't my intention. I think about letting it continue before shaking my head and pulling back. Now wasn't the time. Instead, I put some space between us on the bed and grabbed his hand again. His hand quickly grips my own.

"So, tell me about the pack," I tell him. He takes a few breaths before he tells me about the pack and how it works. He told me about his brothers beta, the warriors, and the healers, and gammas. He told me about a few of the individual members and what it was like in the pack house. I listened for a long time, some information made me weary, but some of it made me more comfortable and relaxed about being in a pack. We didn't talk any more about mates and instead kept the conversation light and more focused on the pack.

"It's getting late, I should head back," I told Dorrian after a while. I didn't feel overwhelmed with information like I normally did. I felt like I knew more about the pack in a comfortable way and I pushed aside the questions of other things so I wouldn't ruin the content feeling. We could come back to them another time.

"Or you could just stay. Spend the night and go back in the morning," Dorrian says with a hopeful expression. His eyes were wide and his lips were curled in a pout.

"Is this your puppy dog face?" I ask with a chuckle. He grins for a second before resuming his pout. I shake my head at his behavior and consider his words. It wouldn't  necessarily hurt anything to stay the night and just go home in the morning. Corrin was probably already in bed so he would see me tonight either way.

"Okay," I say with a shrug. Dorrian's eyes widen even further.

"Wait that actually worked?"

I laugh and shake my head. "Of course not, but I can't think of any reason to ditch you yet." Dorrian frowns but grabs my hand and pulls my back into the bed, wrapping his arms around my torso and pulling me into him. He kisses my nose softly making me scrunch my face up.

"That's weird. Don't do that," I say. Dorrian grins and tries to do it again, making me push his head away, making sure to stay gentle. A random memory of throwing him into the wall when I first became a demon floods my mind. I didn't know why it popped up so suddenly. I sigh and lay my head back. Dorrian looks at me and frowns.

"Are you okay?" I shrug in response and Dorrian turns and lifts his head to look at me directly. "What wrong?" He runs his hand up and down my arm. I turn so I'm on my side, facing Dorrian. I reach my hand up and spread my fingers through his hair, letting my fingers feel the space where his head met the wall. There was nothing implying that I had ever hurt him. Dorrian stares at me with furrowed brows, trying to figure out what I was doing and why. His face softens when he must have caught on to my train of thought. He pulls me into him and rests his forehead against his. The close proximity made it hard for my eyes to focus so I opted for closing them instead.

"You didn't hurt me," Dorrian whispers. I shake my head.

"There was blood," I tell him.

"You were scared," he says. "And I'm fine, it healed." I shake my head again.

"That doesn't mean I had the right to hurt you. I'm sorry about that. It could have been worse." Dorrian sighs.

"It wasn't your fault, Auric. It was instinct. You were a new demon, and I grabbed you so you reacted. It's nothing more than that," Dorrian says. While I should have felt reassured, this just worried me further. Dorrian will never see me for who I am; a demon. I was strong and dangerous and I could seriously injure him at any given time, and he would back me up as I do.

"You're too forgiving. I could seriously hurt you," I tell him.

"And you're too hard on yourself," he says in reply. I don't say anything after that. Instead, I kiss him softly and pull away before he had the chance to deepen it. Then I waited for sleep to come.