"Right so this is..." I glanced at the stranger and realised he never gave me his name.

"River," he chimed in and smirked.

"Right, River. He's new in town." I explained, glancing at him. "We'll probably continue to welcome new wolves in the future too. Remember to be kind and open."

"Hey man, I'm Samuel," Samuel said and waved.

River offered a nod and shifted his eyes to Meera. She meekly said her name without looking up from her fidgeting fingers. Tasha made a two-finger salute for her introduction.

Four wolves. I had gotten four wolves to come to this town purely by sending out happy smells. It sounded weird and I still didn't even know what it smelt like myself.

"Guys, can I ask you something?" I said when their small talk had died down a bit. "What does the city smell like?"

"You know when you've been away from home and then you come back and realise your own home has a smell? But it's a really comforting smell and you didn't even know it was there, but you know it immediately. Everything settles in you. It might've been a really good trip, but now you're home. You're safe." Tasha fiddled with one of her newly made braids. This time she had green hair braided into it. It looked really pretty. "That's what this town smells like."

Meera frowned a little. "That's certainly a way to put it."

"What other way would you put it?" I asked.

"Well, it smells like..." She looked up at the ceiling, as if the answer was there. "Freshly baked croissants."

"Nah, blueberry pancakes. You're smelling something sweet and I'm sure it's blueberry pancakes," Samuel interjected.

Meera frowned fully this time. "No, I'm sure it's croissants."

"Dingdongs, it smells different to different people. Whatever you find most comfort in, that's what you're smelling," River said and rolled his eyes. "That's the trick to this. Lure all the wolves here with what they find most comforting."

"It's not a trick," I said in lack of something better to say.

"No, you didn't even know you could do that. Right?" He sent me a look I didn't like much. "How long have you been a wolf?"

I cleared my throat a little. "Four years."

"Yeah, man, it takes time."

"Well, how long have you been one?" Tasha asked, straightening her back and tipping her chin up. Almost as if she was challenging him.

"Seven years."

"When were you turned?" I asked and tipped my head to the side.

"When I was eighteen. You?"

I pressed my lips together and nodded. "Yeah, me too."

"We were young. You still are. You'll learn as you grow. As the wolf grows too." He leaned forward a little, resting his elbows on his thighs. "There are some things, I can teach you. If you want."

"We all learn from each other. And from Mags," I said, feeling like River wanted to somehow... I don't know. Make me seem young and ignorant? Like I knew I didn't have a full grasp of this wolf thing yet. And that wasn't something I was insecure about... Usually. But now I felt insecure. I felt threatened.

And that was ridiculous because River was offering to help me. And Mags had helped me a lot, but she was also an old lady who preferred to share knitting patterns rather than sharing much of anything about being a wolf. I had asked her a lot of questions and it wasn't like she didn't answer them. But I also needed to know which questions to ask in the first place. And I didn't.

"Hey Gael," Abel said as he was in the middle of playing with my hair.

"Hmm?"

"You said, me feeding on you wears you out... Why?"

"Because it does," I murmured, sighing as he ran his fingers over a particularly tender spot on my head.

"In a bad way?" He was drawing something on the side of my head, but I couldn't tell what. He loved doing this after I had gotten a haircut. I got the sides of my head trimmed short and the curls on top of my head toppled over my forehead. Abel loved it when it was freshly trimmed.

"You know after really, really great sex and you're super exhausted?" I asked, struggling to keep my words somewhat coherent.

He didn't reply but his fingers stilled.

"It's like that."

Silence spread in the living room and Abel continued to stroke his fingers over my head. Then he took a deep breath.

"You get off on it?"

"Uhm... Yeah..." I was doubting if it was a good thing now. Did he think I was a freak? What if it was really weird?

"No one I've been with liked it that much."

I pressed my lips together. "Is it weird?"

"Are you kidding? It's hot." He ran all his fingers through my hair, making me sigh more or less against my will. "But it's probably my fault. I'm projecting my feelings onto you through the feeding. Through the bond we create when I drink your blood."

"You can do that?" I turned so I was on my back, rather than my side, looking up at him.

"I can, but I wasn't trying to with you. I think that was a subconscious thing. Because I uh... Enjoy feeding on you. A lot."

I smiled up at him. "I mean, I'm enjoying it a lot too now compared to the first few times. It wasn't like I wasn't enjoying it then but uhm... Now it's just... Different."

"Describe it to me."

I sat up in his lap, my knees on either side of him. "It's like you become a part of my bloodstream. That you crawl inside my body and spread to every inch of it. The way you make me feel. It fills me up with warmth." I gently ran my fingers over his throat first and then his cheeks.

He inhaled sharply and put his hands on my thighs, his fingers creeping up under my shorts. I started kissing his throat and he made that cute sound. I lived to make him sound like that.

"You make me feel so good," I whispered, my lips brushing over his skin.

"Ditto," he kind of gasped. "You're amazing."

I smiled and continued kissing him. He continued caressing my legs until it seemed he got bored of that and grabbed my ass instead. He pushed me down on him and I revelled in feeling him. I let my hands slide from his chest and downwards. He inhaled sharply and leaned back against the backrest of the sofa. He lifted up then so I could pull his trousers down a little, before taking him in my hands. I leaned forward and kissed his throat again, letting my tongue run over his skin. He just sat there, occasionally moving his hands a little, but mostly he just relaxed. The back of his head was resting at the top of the backrest, and he'd let out a content sound ever so often.

He groaned softly, clenching his hands. He was really having a good time, and I revelled in that. He was always so good at taking care of me and my needs, and I wanted to return the favour a little more often. And in other ways than just letting him feed on me. I wanted to be more active and not such a pillow princess.

"I absolutely adore you," I murmured softly.

He moaned back. And then his body tensed. He pressed me down on him, while also pressing me to his chest. I could feel his heart beat wildly as he finished. It even took him a good while to calm down.

"Well shit," Abel murmured hoarsely. Then he lifted his head and looked down at me. I was just relaxing in his lap, resting my head on his shoulder.

I looked up and smiled. "Well shit?"

"I did not know how much I needed that today." He smiled, his eyes only half open. His fangs slipped over his bottom lip, and he looked incredible. I wanted so badly to photograph him. So, I could paint how he looked just now. I'd have to try and do it from memory.