"What do you mean, we need to increase the feedings?" Vladimir questioned after being called away from Theo's side. The vampire felt especially grumpy, being roused from sleep after having dozed off with Theo's gentle warmth beside him.

Normally it would've been absolute heaven, waking with the feeling of your Beloved laying against you. To slowly become aware of the warmth of their body, listen to their steady breathing as you woke.

Instead, Vladimir was roughly awakened with a few taps on his shoulder from Alaric. The grim look on the man's face along with the lead surgeon standing at the doorway had Vladimir waking up quickly.

He had quickly but gently moved out of the bed, making sure that Theo was properly covered before walking over.

Now, he looked between his brother and the doctor with a barely contained snarl. Fighting back the less humane, sensible part of himself that desperately wanted to go to Russia and start his revenge.

Because the way both of them were sharing looks, Vladimir knew this had to do with Theo.

"Theo is responding well to your blood. Better than we had hoped for." Samuels murmured softly, keeping his voice low as he flipped through his findings. "But..."

Alaric sighed before explaining, "Because Theo can't actively drink from you, the blood isn't as fresh, for a lack of better word."

Vlad's brows furrowed, slowly understanding what they meant while Samuels continued "Plus, we've noticed a significant improvement in Theo's brain activity after he was fed. But also a worrying decrease after his body processed the blood."

"Meaning?"

The werewolf nervously licked his lips, speaking slowly while keeping his eyes on Vlad at all times. "It means that your blood is managing to stave off Theo's imminent death. To put it bluntly, he's slowly dying between feedings."

The mere thought had Vlad's heart race in his chest, nearly staggering at the news. Even physically, as he had to grab a firm hold of his brother's arm to prevent himself from falling on his ass.

"If the Bond had been mutually confirmed, the effects would've been far more potent. Especially so if Theo were conscious enough to at least drink on his own." Alaric swallowed thickly, looking over the data that Samuels presented both vampires with.

"At this rate...at this rate, we'll lose him."

An eerie calm sank in Vladimir's bones. Mechanically, he turned on his heels, walking back to the room before baring his arm. A silent motion commanding the nurse to collect blood for Theo.

He would give as much as he could spare. They would figure out a way to keep Vladimir on his legs, sustain him as much as possible.

Donating blood occasionally wasn't an issue for a well-fed vampire. However, the fact remained that Vladimir couldn't feed.

He was going to have to try and force blood down his throat. Even if the blood tasted like toxic sewage compared to Theo's blood. Vladimir just couldn't risk taking away blood from his Beloved, especially not in his current state.

Vladimir needed to be in top notch condition, all simply so he could provide for Theo.

Beside him, the machines beeped and Theo's face strained. Breathing in short, stifled gasps, as if slowly choking. Vladimir grabbed Theo's hand, rubbing his thumb over Theo's knuckles.

Without even thinking about it, Vlad softly started singing an old Romanian lullaby. Instinctively wanting to soothe the distress that wafted to his nose while nurses rushed to feed his blood to Theo.

A stifled whine slipped from Theo's throat as his heartrate skyrocketed to dangerous heights. Vladimir kept his voice as calm as possible, eyes on the blood that was quickly being fed through the nasogastric tube.

The effect was almost instantaneous. Theo's heart slowed to a regular pace, chest no longer straining to get a breath. Vladimir continued the lullaby, eyes flitting to the heartrate monitor before letting out a sigh of relief.

Where the heartrate number had been a flashing red 195, it now dropped to a normal rate. Allowing everyone in the room to breathe calmly as the dangerous situation had been averted.

Vladimir's gaze flitted back towards Theo before freezing where he stood. It was blank, empty, void of recognition. But for the first time, he could see the most gorgeous blue eyes blinking sleepily.

"Theo?" He questioned, hoping to at least get some form of reaction. Instead, Theo blinked slowly, eyes drooping mid motion before they closed once again.

He could feel a weight drop from his shoulders. It may seem stupid, but the fact that Theo had opened his eyes, was a sign.

There was at least some progress. Vlad wasn't going to latch onto it blindly, but there was hope.

Especially so because they had locked eyes. There was a chance, however small it may be, that their bond had grown stronger.

"Does this mean that Theo's wolf found his...spirit, for lack of better terms?" Vladimir questioned, not once taking his eyes off Theo.

Behind him, doctor Samuels nodded before replying, "While we can't be certain, it would seem to be the case. If this was the wolf surfacing, then he would've been able to speak and react to us."

A grateful sigh slipped from Vladimir as he nodded, not even wincing when more blood was drained from his system. "Let's start with feedings every four hours and see how Theo reacts to that."

Alaric patted him on the shoulder. "If things take a turn for the worst, at least you know that Theo has enough of your blood into his system to potentially survive the Change."

Vlad snorted at that, knowing that he would only resort to that particular change if Theo was dying.

Vampires could be created by multiple means. What Alaric was referring to, was the Change by Death. A change that was known to be excruciating on the victim, as their body would go through death and then be reanimated to the point where they were healthy.

Which would force Theo to relive the pain and agony of his Smothering.

Alaric and Vladimir had seen this change first hand. After all, it was the Change that Dracula was forced to apply to his wife. The man had slashed his own wrist, spilling blood directly from his arteries into his Beloved's mouth.

Trying to get as much of his blood in her system before her heartbeat stopped. He even applied a dose of his venom, in the hopes that the two would cancel each other out, allowing his Beloved to change without pain.

Both brothers had watched as Dracula's intentions had failed, and their aunt died in his arms, only to be reversed, brought back as a vampire by reliving the torment she went through.

Screaming in his arms, howling in absolute agony as she trashed, kicked and clawed to escape the horrific pain while Dracula could do nothing but watch.

And apologise with every breath that passed his lips.

It was no wonder that after the change was completed and his wife safe, that Dracula had more than earned his nickname as he went after those who had harmed his Beloved.

What Vladimir hoped for Theo, if he ever chose to change, was through the means of his venom. Every vampire had special components in their saliva.

Numbing agents. Toxins that ate away at their enemies flesh. And a particular set of pheromones that would allow them to change a mortal into a vampire.

A Change by bite was easier for the mortal, but not the vampire in question. They had to have impeccable self-control.

After all, they were literally biting into, what most vampires considered, their prey. They had to keep themselves from draining their target dry and instead, inject them with the venom that would slowly change their target's system.

Throughout that process, the Sire, the one creating the new blood, could not leave their side. The Changing process required the blood of the host, and new, steady supplies.

Which meant that, if Vladimir were to change Theo like that, the Omega would have to feed willingly on his blood as the venom consumed his own.

In doing so, it would make Vladimir weaker, thirstier as the process continued. One of the many reasons why most vampires besides one's Beloved, were created through blood donation and a quick death.

After all, the younger a vampire was, the quicker they burned through their own blood. Their self-control was already pacing on a knife's edge. To then apply the strain of first biting a human without draining them dry, then to provide blood for a Change that could last up to three days...

Well... Several reports had been made through the years of a tried and failed Change, after the Sire lost control and drained their supposed protégé dry.

Seeing how Theo was unconscious and wouldn't be able to willingly feed, let alone be capable of swallowing on his own...

Vladimir shook his head, pushing the idea aside. It was a good idea to have a plan in place in case things went wrong. But he rather not be forced to turn Theo that way.

"Prepare some blood in the meantime. If we're doing this," Vladimir stated while raising his arm connected to the IV drip, "we might as well try and see if I can still stomach blood."

Alaric cocked an eyebrow but said nothing, returning within minutes with a bag of cooled blood. And even the smell of it through the bag made Vlad's stomach churn.

"Fuck me, how can it smell so rank?" Vlad asked rhetorically, nose curling in disgust. It stunk of stale, stagnant blood. As if someone had found roadkill, let the blood pool bared to the elements and gathered it in a bag.

His brother frowned, sniffing at the bag before shaking his head. "Bro, this is fresh blood. Council gave us a supply for this trip, remember?"

"Doesn't smell fucking fresh." Vlad grumbled, making Alaric sigh and roll his eyes. He weighed the bag in his hand, approaching the table to snatch a glass and filled it halfway.

At Vlad's silent look, Alaric shrugged. "I'm not going to fucking waste an entire bag if you're going to gag and spew it back up."

"Fair enough."

Unable to move from the bed due to being hooked up to an IV bag slowly draining his blood, Vlad waited until Alaric handed him the glass with a curious frown.

"Does it really smell off to you?" He asked, watching as Vlad nodded, clearly uncomfortable to have the glass of blood in his vicinity.

"Off doesn't even begin to describe it." The man said, swirling the liquid before bringing it to his mouth. His body froze before he could even finish putting the rim of the glass to his lips.

Alaric snickered as Vlad gagged before muttering a confused "What the fuck is wrong with me." Trying again but getting the same results, the vampire let out a frustrated growl while his brother laughed.

"I mean, there's a lot of things wrong with you. This particular thing? Must be the mating bond making itself known." Alaric stated with a wag of his finger between his brother and Theo. "You know the stories just as well as I do. Our Beloved's blood will be the only thing we can stomach. But since that's out of the question for now..."

With Alaric's gesture to the glass, Vlad sighed before rolling his eyes. Alaric had to fight from bursting out in laughter as he watched his younger brother pinch his nose closed before taking a mouthful of blood.

And then proceeded to pull faces as he tried, failed and tried again to swallow something he used to drink with ease.

Finally the vampire managed to down the mouthful and gagged before shivering. "You're trying to kill me, aren't you?" He drawled slowly, pressing his fist to his mouth at another gag.

Meanwhile his brother once again rolled his eyes. "Yes, I'm trying to kill my only brother by feeding him perfectly normal blood we consume on the regular. Drink up, you big baby." Alaric teased, trying to make light of the situation and not linger on the reason why they were doing this.

He poured himself a glass before sipping from it as unneeded proof. Alaric's brows rose as nothing but the taste of human blood and something slightly sweet filled his mouth. Most likely the human had eaten something sugary close before their donation.

"How bad is it?" Alaric wondered after he saw how badly Vlad was fighting to keep the small mouthful down. "As bad as animal blood?"

Any vampire with working taste buds would avoid animal blood, unless they were desperate. Comparing animal blood to human blood, would be the same as comparing stale versus fresh food.

Even with that knowledge, animal blood vastly differentiated between species. The larger, more predatory animals tasted better in comparison to small herbivores or scavengers.

Vladimir swallowed several times, feeling his stomach burn in protest against the supplied blood. "I'd rather have animal blood. This tastes so much worse." He shivered, a full body shiver that expressed just how much his system was fighting against the offered meal.

"Animal blood is a delicacy compared to this filth. Even vulture blood." Vlad confessed, giving Alaric a pointed look as the man made a sound of shock and disbelief.

After all, vultures consumed rotting, decaying flesh. Hell, those animals could even digest manure without any issue. Their blood resembled their diet and tasted absolutely foul.

Alaric's nose twitched as he hesitantly sniffed at the bag and his glass, only detecting the usual scent of blood, along with the unique spice that lingered in a human's blood. Nothing more.

If Vladimir reacted this badly to a mouthful, they would certainly have issues trying to have him consume several litres to combat his blood loss.

Looking at his queasy brother, Alaric knew that despite all his complaints and bodily reactions, the vampire would try his best. Just to give Theo a better chance at survival.