Chapter 16: The Hunting Party
The night wrapped around them like a velvet glove as Nancy led the coven out of the den, her bare feet silent against the cool earth. Behind her came Carol with her blonde hair loose and wild, Jenna adjusting her glasses out of habit even though her crimson eyes cut through the darkness like embers, Denise moving with the fluid grace of a predator twice her age, Emily and Ivy flanking their mothers like obedient shadows, and Rachel bringing up the rear, her new fangs catching the moonlight as she smiled.
Ten minutes of silent walking brought them to a suburban street lined with ancient oaks, their branches knitting together overhead to form a cathedral of shadows. Streetlights cast pools of amber light along the cracked sidewalk, and somewhere in the distance, a car door slammed.
Nancy breathed in deep, tasting the night air. There. The rhythmic thump-thump-thump of a heartbeat. A woman's, by the scent of expensive lavender shampoo and the light sweat of exertion. A jogger, her Nikes striking the pavement in a steady rhythm.
"Your prey, daughter," Nancy murmured, gesturing with a tilt of her chin.
Samantha stepped forward, her new eyes drinking in the scene. The cropped red hair gleamed under the streetlight, and her freckles stood out in stark contrast against her suddenly pale skin. Her fangs had already descended, and her slitted pupils dilated as she locked onto the jogger approaching from a hundred yards away.
"Just one," Nancy continued, her voice barely above a whisper. "No one else. Feed until you're satisfied, but don't kill her. We leave no corpses."
Samantha nodded, a predator's grin spreading across her face. She moved, and it was like watching water flow downhill. Effortless. Inevitable.
The coven fanned out behind her, melting into the shadows of the oak trees. Carol slipped her hand into Nancy's, squeezing once. Denise positioned herself at the mouth of a driveway, ready to intercept any late-night walker. Jenna pressed her back against a tree trunk, her crimson eyes tracking Samantha's every move. Emily and Ivy crouched together in a bush, their shared excitement palpable in the air. Rachel pressed herself flat against the brick wall of a house, watching with hunger in her eyes.
The jogger, a woman in her forties with a blonde ponytail and an expensive-looking running jacket, continued her steady pace. Her earbuds were in, a faint tinny beat bleeding from them as she hummed along. She had no idea.
Samantha crept forward, low to the ground, her pale fingers brushing the grass with each step. She circled around behind the woman, timing her approach with the jogger's footsteps. One. Two. Three. The woman's shadow stretched long across the pavement, and Samantha moved into it, becoming part of it.
Nancy felt the coven's collective breath catch.
Samantha pounced.
Her body slammed into the jogger's back, driving them both to the ground with a muffled grunt. The woman's earbuds flew out, and she opened her mouth to scream, but Samantha's hand clamped over it, and her fangs sank into the exposed column of the woman's neck.
The jogger bucked, her legs kicking, but Samantha's grip was iron, her body pressed flush against her prey's back as she drank. And the moment the first mouthful of warm blood hit her tongue, Samantha's orgasm ripped through her like a live wire.
A choked moan escaped her throat, and her grip loosened. The jogger almost tore free, but Samantha dug her nails into the woman's shoulders and held on, her hips grinding instinctively against the struggling body beneath her. The pleasure was blinding, a white-hot pulse that started in her fangs and radiated outward until every nerve in her new body was on fire. Her thighs trembled, and she tasted copper and life and something else, something primal and addictive.
From the shadows, Nancy watched, a proud smile curving her lips. "That's it," she whispered. "Ride it. Take everything you need."
The jogger's struggling slowed, her body going slack as the blood loss took hold. Her heartbeat, once a steady drum, now fluttered like a dying bird. Samantha kept drinking, her orgasm cresting again and again until her whole body shuddered and she finally pulled back, her fangs dripping crimson.
She knelt over the unconscious woman, panting, her cheeks flushed with more color than they'd had since the transformation. Her eyes were wild, drunk with pleasure and power.
"Fuck," she breathed, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "Fuck, that was..."
"Better than anything that mattered," Carol finished, stepping out of the shadows, her own eyes gleaming with knowing satisfaction.
Samantha nodded, swaying slightly as she rose to her feet. The jogger lay motionless on the pavement, a small trickle of blood still seeping from the twin punctures in her neck. Samantha bent down and pressed her palm against the wounds, watching as the flesh knitted together under her touch, leaving only faint marks that would fade by morning.
Nancy approached, her bare feet silent on the cracked concrete, and cupped Samantha's face in her hands. The new vampire's pupils were still blown wide, her lips stained crimson.
"How do you feel, daughter?"
"Like I could fly," Samantha whispered, her voice thick with awe. "Like I've never been alive before."
Nancy kissed her, tasting her own blood on Samantha's tongue, the bond between them flaring with electric warmth. "Then the hunt is complete. Welcome to the family, truly."
Around them, the coven emerged from the shadows, their eyes glowing in the darkness like scattered rubies. Carol slipped an arm around Samantha's waist, and Jenna gave her a shy but genuine smile. Denise nodded her approval, and Emily and Ivy made their way over, their fangs retracted but their hunger satiated.
Rachel stepped forward last, her eyes meeting Samantha's. "It gets even better," she said. "Wait until you hunt with all of us together."
Samantha grinned, blood still drying on her chin. "I'm counting on it."
The jogger stirred on the ground, a low moan escaping her lips as her memory began to fog. Samantha crouched beside her one last time, brushing a stray strand of hair from the woman's forehead before leaning in and whispering. "Rest. You dreamed this. Nothing happened. Go home and sleep."
The woman's body relaxed, her breathing deep and even.
Nancy's satisfaction deepened as she watched her new daughter breathe steady, the jogger's memories already dissolving into a sweet, dreamless haze. The hunt was complete, the coven whole, and the night was still young.
She turned to gather her daughters, ready to lead them home, when her gaze caught on a sight that made her pause.
Emily and Ivy stood apart from the others, wrapped in each other's arms. Emily's dark head rested on Ivy's shoulder, her fingers tracing lazy circles on the small of Ivy's back while Ivy murmured something soft against her ear. Their bodies fit together like puzzle pieces, and their auburn and dark hair tangled in the moonlight. There was a tenderness there, an intimacy that had been flowering in the weeks since Ivy joined the coven.
Nancy watched them, a slow warmth spreading through her chest. She approached, her footsteps silent, and the two younger vampires looked up, their eyes glowing in the dark.
"You two," Nancy said, a smile curving her lips. "You're beautiful together."
Emily's cheeks flushed beneath her pale skin, and Ivy's arm tightened around her lover's waist. "Thank you, Nancy," Ivy murmured, her hazel eyes bright.
Nancy circled them slowly, her gaze assessing. "I've seen how you look at each other," she said. "How you gravitate toward one another in the den, how your hands find each other even in sleep. The bond between you is strong. It's precious." She stopped in front of them, her crimson eyes gleaming. "And I want to make it stronger."
Ivy tilted her head, curiosity lighting her features. "What do you mean?"
Nancy's smile widened, her fangs catching the silver moonlight. "I have a gift. One I've given to Carol and Denise. The ability to grow a cock at will, to take your beloved in a way that transcends the body you were born with." She paused, letting the words sink in. "I will teach one of you. But you must choose which."
Emily's breath caught, her hands stilling on Ivy's back. Ivy's eyes widened, a flicker of hunger passing through them before she schooled her features.
"A cock," Ivy repeated, tasting the word.
"To fuck your lover with, to feel the heat of her cunt wrapped around you while you feed," Nancy said, stepping closer. "To claim her in a way that binds you together in body and blood. It's a gift of power, of intimacy, of devotion."
Emily looked up at Ivy, her crimson eyes full of trust. "Ivy should have it," she said without hesitation. "She takes care of me. She mothers me, protects me, and... I want her to have the power to claim me fully."
Ivy shook her head, turning Emily to face her. "No, sweetling. You've been through so much. You deserve this gift, something that's yours, something that lets you take what you want instead of always yielding."
They were sweet, arguing over the gift like two children over the last piece of cake. Nancy watched with fond amusement, but she had seen enough.
"Ivy," she said, and Ivy's head snapped toward her. "I choose you."
Ivy blinked. "But Emily—"
"Emily will have her turn," Nancy said. "Every daughter in this coven will eventually know the power I'm about to show you. But you asked for her to have it because you thought she deserved it more, and that selflessness tells me you're ready." She stepped closer, her hand coming up to cup Ivy's jaw. "And besides," she added, her voice dropping to a whisper, "I want to see your face the first time Emily's cunt clenches around you."
Ivy's breath hitched, and this time, there was no hiding the hungry gleam in her eyes.
"Come," Nancy said, gesturing to the grass beneath the oak trees. "Sit."
Ivy sank to her knees, her auburn braid falling over her shoulder, and Emily settled on the ground beside her, her hand finding Ivy's and holding tight. The rest of the coven gathered around the clearing, forming a loose circle. Samantha settled in the grass with the others, her crimson eyes bright with curiosity as she watched her new sisters.
Nancy knelt in front of Ivy, close enough that their knees touched. "The power lies in the blood," she said. "It was given to me by my maker, and I've passed it to those I see are worthy. It blooms in the heat of shared blood and mutual desire." She brought her own wrist to her mouth, biting down with a practiced flick of her fangs. Dark blood welled up, rich and thick.
"Open your mouth," Nancy commanded.
Ivy obeyed, her lips parting, and Nancy pressed her wrist to her daughter's mouth. Ivy drank, her throat working, and Nancy watched her with hooded eyes. The blood transfer was intimate, charged, and the air grew heavy with the scent of it.
"Now," Nancy murmured, withdrawing her wrist as the wound knitted closed, "feel what I feel. Watch."
She reached down and unfastened the clasp of her silk trousers, letting them pool at her knees, and her cock rose between her thighs. It was thick and proud, glistening with a bead of moisture at the tip. Ivy's eyes went wide, her breath catching, and her own body began to tingle in response.
"Focus," Nancy said. "On the heat between your legs. On the pulse of blood through your veins. Will it to grow."
Ivy closed her eyes, trembling slightly. She could feel something shifting inside her, a warmth building and coalescing, a pressure that was both strange and arousing. She gasped as the sensation intensified, a burning, stretching feeling between her thighs, and when she looked down, her eyes flew wide.
A cock was jutting from the nest of auburn curls between her legs. Smaller than Nancy's, more delicate, but unmistakably present, and it was already hard.
"Oh," Ivy breathed. "Oh, fuck."
Emily's hand flew to her mouth, her crimson eyes fixated on the new addition to her lover's body. "Ivy," she whispered, her voice thick with desire. "You're so beautiful."
Ivy laughed, a heady, disbelieving sound, and reached down to wrap her fingers around herself. The sensation was electric, a feedback loop of pleasure and identity that made her hips buck. "Is this what it feels like?" she asked, looking up at Nancy. "This... this is incredible."
Nancy smiled, kneeling beside them. "It only gets better. Go on," she said, nodding toward Emily. "Claim her."
Ivy turned to Emily, her eyes burning with need. She leaned forward, pressing a kiss to her lover's lips, and then guided her down onto the grass. Emily lay back beneath her, trembling with anticipation, her legs spreading as Ivy settled between them. The head of Ivy's cock pressed against Emily's wet folds, and Emily's breath caught, her eyes locking with Ivy's.
"Please," Emily whispered. "Please, Ivy."
Ivy thrust forward with a desperate groan, burying herself to the hilt in one smooth motion. Emily cried out, her body arching, her fingers digging into Ivy's shoulders. Ivy stilled for a moment, breathing hard, overwhelmed by the sensation of Emily's heat clenching around her. Then she began to move, a slow, deep rhythm that made them both moan.
The coven watched, their eyes gleaming in the moonlight. Nancy knelt beside them, her hand absently stroking her own cock as she watched her daughters discover each other. Carol pressed against her side, her fingers finding Nancy's, while the others formed a ring of hungry, approving faces.
Ivy lowered her head to Emily's throat, her fangs grazing the skin, and when she bit down, Emily came with a scream that echoed through the trees. Ivy drank as she fucked, the taste of Emily's blood mixing with the pleasure of her lover's body, and together they rode the wave until both collapsed, trembling and sated.
When Ivy pulled out, her cock softening, she pressed a kiss to Emily's forehead. "I love you," she whispered.
Emily smiled, her eyes shining. "I love you too."
Nancy rose, pulling her trousers up with a satisfied smile. "And that," she said to the assembled coven, "is the gift of true intimacy."
Samantha looked up at her, her eyes bright. "Teach me," she said. "When I find the one I want to bind myself to."
Nancy's smile was wide and predatory. "In time, daughter. In time." She turned toward the path that led home, the moon high overhead. "Now come. We have much to do."