Astrea

I glare down at the boy angrily, flashes of his memories flickering through my head as I stare into his frightened eyes. Thane stands motionless beside me, his mind a jumbled mess as what I'm seeing flickers through his head at the same time, not a single word is spoken or thought between us...and I honestly can't blame him. I know what it's like to be betrayed by a family member.

"Thane...big bro, you gotta believe me! This bloodsucker is crazy! I would never betray you!" The boy, named Tripp if I recall, tries to plead as he squirms beneath my grasp.

Thane seems to snap out of his trance, staring down at his brother with a mixture of anger and disappointment.

"That 'bloodsucker' is my mate, and considering her ability to see through people's bullshit, she certainly isn't a liar...unlike you." He growls.

"What's going on here?!" An authoritative voice calls out, and I glance up to see Thanes father, as well as his mother, Nes, and Danté coming towards us, shocked looks on their faces.

"I'm sorry Chief, but your son Tripp is a traitor. He's the one who helped set up Thane for murder." I answer stiffly, and they all gasp.

"What?!" The Chief responds first, and he looks down at his youngest son in disbelief.

"Dad! It's not true! I would never, you gotta believe me!" He pleads, and I hiss as his lie practically slaps me in the face.

"Thane...is this true?" He asks in an abnormally calm voice.

"I don't want to believe it myself dad, but it is...Astrea has the ability to see people's greatest sins and lies, and the memories associated with them. And I can see what she's seeing through our mind link..." He answers softly, glancing down to see his brother's defeated expression, and the sadness in my Beloveds eyes twists at my heart painfully.

"Tripp..." His mother murmurs, a pained look on her face as she turns away from him.

"Why would you do this?" The Chief asks, still not quite recovered from the shock...well, more like the betrayal. Seeming to realize that his lies aren't helping him in the slightest, he looks back up at Thane with what looks like contempt burning in his eyes.

"Why do you think? I heard you talking to mom about how if Thane came back now, you'd be willing to give him back his 'rightful' position as Chief. I was so close to becoming Chief, and you were willing to give it to him after he squandered his chances and made our Unit look like a bunch of delinquents! I couldn't let that happen! I'm the one who worked for it! He did nothing but cause problems and get arrested!" He growled, and my grip tightens on him as he struggles against me.

"Tripp...if this is the extent you would go to keep power, then you are the one who doesn't deserve it. No Chief would frame an innocent person for crimes they didn't commit, especially not their own brother. I thought I raised you better than that..."

It gets quiet for a moment, and in the silence I remember an important detail from the memories I saw.

"Who are you working for? You couldn't have done this alone." I question, and he turns his cold eyes towards me with a snarl.

"Like I'd tell you, you're already picking around in my head. Freak."

Thane growls, but I ignore it as I dig deeper into what I can see...then it finally clicks.

"You don't know who they are, just where they work...it's how they framed Thane. They work in ICE don't they? Only an insider can get that close to the case details, you just provided personal intel on Thane and his potential whereabouts." I deduce, his body stiffening beneath me. "Whoever it is in ICE must be the person who killed all those people...and the other agents. More than likely they got too close to discovering the truth."

I pull him up off the ground with me, and I look to see two warriors coming towards us, no doubt contacted by the Chief. I let go of him after they put the shift blocking cuffs on him, glaring at him as he glares at me. Before they can haul him off though, I grab his cell phone from his pocket, looking to be a cheap flip phone. A disposable one.

"We need to leave." I murmur, staring at the device in my hand. "More than likely he already told his partner where we are, so we aren't safe here any more."

"I'll get our things ready." Nes says, returning to the house quickly.

"But, you just got here..." Danté murmurs, and I sigh.

"I know...but I won't risk bringing the agency down on you guys, not when you didn't do anything wrong." I reply. "I promise, once this is all over...I'll come back."

"I'm going to hold you to that ReRe."

He goes back into the house too, followed by Thane's parents, once the door closes behind them, I turn to my beloved, frowning at the hurt expression on his face. I walk towards him and place a hand on his cheek, bringing his gaze from the ground to me.

"I'm so sorry beloved...I had no idea it would turn out like this." I whisper, running my thumb across his cheek bone. He sighs, leaning into my touch as he inhales my scent.

"Don't apologize Snowdrop, it's not your fault. Nobody saw this coming, certainly not me."

"Still...I understand how you feel, to be betrayed by someone you hold dear...someone you thought you could trust with your life...it hurts."

He pulls me in for a hug, his warmth nearly swallowing me whole. I return his embrace, resting my cheek against his chest as I listen to his pounding heart.

"What are we going to do now?" He questions, and my gaze flickers towards the phone in my hand.

"We're going to end this."

~~~~~~~

We packed up and hauled out within forty five minutes, which would've been thirty if not for the difficult goodbyes. Thane had a difficult time convincing his distraught mother that he would be okay, that he would come back after everything was over. She had a vice like grip on him for at least ten minutes if not more, but I can't blame her...

I had a difficult time myself saying goodbye to my brother after seeing him for the first time in years. But I knew that I couldn't stay, not with all the shit going on.

We drove a long time before we stopped, deciding to stop at a small motel at the edge of the city we were in when night came. We decided to take shifts in keeping watch, Nes taking the first shift...which leaves me and Thane alone in the room. I clean my guns as he takes a shower, my mind trying to figure out the best plan to end this without either Nes or Thane getting hurt. All this thinking is starting to give me a headache, as well as the fact that I need to feed again...my healing shoulder and recovery from silver poisoning burned off most of what I consumed during my last feeding.

Just as I finish cleaning my gun, the bathroom door opens, and I look up to see Thane coming out, black sweatpants hanging low on his hips as he scrubs the water from his hair with the towel...water dripping down his chest distractingly.

Not the time Astrea.

I place both of my berettas on the nightstand beside the bed, trying to distract myself from him. This is not the time for me to be thinking about stuff like that, not with everything happening around us.

"You good Snowdrop?" He asks, the bed dipping beneath his weight as he sits next to me, that familiar warmth from his body raising my body temperature just from the proximity.

"Yeah, just thinking." I reply turning towards him to see him still drying his hair, his eyes slightly glowing as towel casts a shadow over them...shit, get a hold of yourself.

"How's your shoulder?" He asks, letting the towel drop so that it hangs around his neck.

"Fine, glad I finally can ditch that stupid sling."

He brings a hand up to touch my cheek, my thirst making his scent smell even more intoxicating. I stifle a growl as my fangs flick out, not wanting to cave into my more carnal desires right now.

"You sure? You seem a little stiff with it still."

I don't answer, knowing my fangs will show if I do. He chuckles, and I watch as he drops his towel to the floor.

"If you're thirsty Snowdrop, all you had to do was say something. I have no problem feeding you, especially when it accelerates your healing." I stiffen, a shiver rolling through me as he moves closer to me, the growl I've been suppressing breaking loose as I inhale his sweet scent.

"Come on, I don't bite...at least not right now." He teases, and I immediately go to his neck, pressing chaste kisses against the skin as well as run my fangs gently over the spot I fed from last time, his body shuddering at the sensation.

"Fuck, you smell so good Beloved..." I growl, licking over the spot, and he groans as his hands tighten on my hips, his bucking upwards instinctively.

"Then what are you waiting for baby?"

At that, I sink my fangs into him, groaning as his sweet blood fills my mouth. He lets out a moan along with a string of curses, trying his best to pull me into his lap, but I hold him still, not wanting to move yet.

"Fuck Astrea...how does this feel so damn good?" He groans, his body shivering as I let one of my hands wander down his chest.

~Perks of being mated to a vampire, feeding will always feel good if its consented.~

I teasingly play with the waistband of his sweatpants, and any attempts of his to talk fail, his questions coming out as growls instead.

As I take my last pull and close the wound, our eyes lock, his dark with lust and desire, glowing gold underneath as his canines appear from his parted lips with an audible flick. He inhales sharply, a deep growl resonating from his chest as I lick his blood from my lips. I don't have to be sitting in his lap to tell he's aroused, I can smell it...and it only makes his scent a hundred times more potent.

Fuck it.

Our lips collide as we attack each other at the same time, our tongues fighting for dominance as my back hits the bed, the sounds of our growls fill the room as well as the sound of him ripping off my shirt, the fabric shredding like paper in his hands. His hands are exploring my chest before the remnants hit the ground, sliding underneath my bra briefly before it joins the shirt in destruction.

At least it was a cheap one...

He breaks our kiss to attach his mouth to my now exposed chest, and my back arches as he moves over every bit of skin he can, paying extra care to the most sensitive places on my breasts.

"Thane~"

He growls again, moving on to kiss, nip, and lick over my stomach, his hands pulling at my pants impatiently. Desperate to at least keep them intact, I unbutton and unzip them, allowing him to slide them off with little effort before tossing them somewhere across the room.

"Goddess...you're so beautiful..." He murmurs as he sits up a little, gazing at me with a mixture of awe and lust. I can't help but shudder under his eyes, my body feeling warmer. He moves back down, a little slower this time as his fingers trail up the inside of my legs.

I can't help but feel a little nervous as he continues, my inexperience not helping me.

"It's okay baby, this is my first time too...I'm mostly just following instinct at this point." He admits, and I feel a little more at ease. "Just tell me if I do something you don't like, and I'll stop, okay?"

"Okay..." I answer, and I watch as he studies me closely, a curious look in his eyes.

"Would it...would it be alright if I taste you?"

My face burns as I realize what he means, and I close my eyes and nod. My body shivering as I feel his hands slowly push my legs open, his warm breath getting closer to my-

"Oh Goddess!!" I cry out as his tongue slips inside of me, my back arching off the bed as his pace quickens from experimentation to full out attacks.

This is his first time?!

My hands tighten around the bed sheets as he continues, moaning as he sits up and pulls my legs over his shoulders, his growls now making my body quiver in an entirely different way.

I begin to lose track of time as my mind clouds over, spiraling deeper as Thane continues his magic. When he suddenly stops and pulls away, a soft whine escapes me...but I'm to far gone to feel embarrassed about it.

"Don't worry baby, I'm going to make you feel even better before the night is over..."

~~~~~~

I wake up slowly, my eyes blinking lazily as I fully register everything that happened.

So much for self control...

My eyes flicker as I feel Thanes arms wrap tighter around me, and I wiggle in his hold so that I face him, smiling at the sight of his content face and the sound of his soft snores. I run my fingers over his face and down his neck, pausing at a bite mark that I gave him....and as my eyes trail over his torso, I can see that it's one of many, the vampire equivalent of hickeys marking him thoroughly. He has plenty of regular hickeys too.

Dear Goddess...he's turning me into a wild animal.

I shake my head, noticing I have similar marks all over me as well, though not as many bite marks.

Sighing, I kiss his forehead and carefully escape his grip, grabbing one of his long sleeve shirts from his open duffle next to the bed before heading to the bathroom, flicking on the light before quietly closing the door behind me.  

After quickly relieving myself, I wash my hands and splash water over my face. As I dry it off with a towel, something in the mirror catches my eye, and I freeze at the sight.

I drop the towel to the floor, bringing a shaky hand to the mark on my shoulder, the black starkly contrasting against my pale skin.

He...he marked me...

I faintly remember him asking to mark me, and that I had said yes without hesitation. This was what pushed us both over the edge...the sensation of our link becoming complete combined with the immense pleasure was too much for either of us to handle.

My face burns as I trace over the mark, still a little dazed. I still haven't fully adjusted to the fact that I marked him...I never thought I'd be able to have a mate...so this feels like a dream.

Shaking my head, I pull Thane's shirt on, it almost halfway to my knees. I head out of the bathroom, flicking off the light. I'm almost halfway to the bed when the glint of moonlight on the phone I took from Tripp catches my eye...and everything floods back to me.

That's right, we're on the run.

I narrow my eyes, snatching it off the small table and flipping it open, quickly finding the messages...and seeing only one contact. I study the brief messages exchanged, my eyes narrowing at the code name Tripps partner goes by:

X

I need to end this. I'm tired of running, tired of hiding. I'm the tracker here, so it's time I stop behaving like a mouse, and act like the cat.

Following the structure of his messages, I type one out as if I'm Tripp.

-We need to meet. It's urgent.

I wait for what feels like an eternity, wondering if they are even awake. But the phone vibrates a moment later.

-Marco's Diner in Hightown. 12 o'clock. Don't be late.

I smirk, knowing the spot that's an hours drive from here. I close the phone and set it down on the nightstand, taking a deep breath as I sit down on the edge of the bed.

12 o'clock...that's when this ends.

Sighing, I quietly wiggle back into Thanes arms, pulling the covers over us.

I'll end this, but for now, I'll just enjoy being in his arms.