Page 23 of Midlife Vampire Unexpected

“Have you actually killed any animals with your teeth?” I asked.

“What happens in wolf form stays in wolf form.” Bianca smiled and shook her head. “But we do need to teach you how to hunt if you don’t want to eat off Antonio and you won’t eat off any of us.”

“I most certainly won’t. I’m not going to eat off any humans and I can’t eat off you. I’m not going to eat off anyone in the Coven and I’m certainly not going to eat a random stranger.” The thought of sucking some random person’s blood was disgusting to me.

“Great so you’re going to be a vegetarian vampire.”

“Last time I checked, a chipmunk wasn’t vegetarian,”

“You’re going to eat a chipmunk?”

“I need blood,” I said.

“Ew,” Bianca made a face.

I shook my head. “At least I don’t shed.”

“Touché.” Bianca smiled good-naturedly. I looked over and smiled at her. It felt good to have camaraderie. I’d been in the forces, and I’d had camaraderie to a certain extent, but there came a point where I was the career police office. Everybody would go home to their families and have gatherings on the weekends and be with their spouses and their kids. Then there was me, kind of an extra attaché to all of those events. Never quite fitting in.

But here I was with this mismatched group of women, who were all single with most of the kids moved out and having their first meaningful relationships. It made me feel warm and comfortable inside knowing there was a place in the world that made sense. Now we had to find a way to protect it.

“I don’t think you’re going to be able to eat a chipmunk,” Bianca said. “That’s one drop of blood for you. You need to eat a lot more, I guess. I mean, I’m not vampire, but a Chipmunk’s going to be an appetizer for you. We need to think about something more sustainable.”

“Is there a hospital around here? Maybe she can get blood from the blood bank.” Jane suggested.

“That sounds so disgusting to me.” I cringed. “I don’t want random human blood.”

Bianca stood up. “Well, if you don’t want human blood and you can’t eat a chipmunk, we’re going to need to find you something bigger and better to sustain you.”

“It’s raining,” I said.

“Doesn’t change the fact you’re hungry,” Bianca said. “Here’s what we’re going to do. You move really fast as a vampire, even as a new vampire. I’m going to go out there and somehow, I’m going to sniff out an animal for you to feed on. Then you go and do what you did to Antonio.”

“Can you have it not be a bear?” I asked.

“Yeah, I don’t think a bear is in our future,” Bianca grinned. “I’m not going after any predators. There’s deer and elk out here, you will be fine.”

It was amazing to step outside in the rainy night and feel its crisp droplets on my skin. I could see in the dark without any problem whatsoever. It was a marvel; as if I had on night vision goggles. “Why can I see in the dark?”

Bianca shrugged. “Must be a vampire thing,”

“Do you know how much it sucks not knowing what to do as a vampire?” I said. “I mean, the vamp who turned me was a creepy old motherfucker, but at least he could’ve taught me something about being one

“I was turned into a werewolf by a witch,” Bianca said. “I get it.”

“Antonio is the first wolf I’ve ever met and based on the way he is-” I pressed my lips together. Antonio was protective of Bianca. He was protective of me too, but not quite the same way.

“He definitely has a thing for you,” I said, feeling a knot in my stomach I didn’t like.

Bianca whipped her head around and looked at me, laughing. “Are you kidding me? He’s here to do a job for me. Fulfill some sort of honor code he has in his head. He’s smitten over you, my dear. I thought you would’ve seen it by now.”

“He came here to protect you. It’s all he ever talks about,” I said.

“Yeah, but it’s not a romance thing. It’s some sort of a weird pack thing he’s got going. I don’t exactly get it, but he’s taking some sort of protective stance. He doesn’t like the idea werewolves were told to stay out of Southern Oregon. He thinks we should be able to go where we want. I could be a three-legged, five eyed wolf and he would still want to protect me. It’s instinctual. I don’t get it, but I bet if there were other wolves here, they would want to protect us as well.”

“If you say so,” I said.

Bianca grinned. “You’re jealous,” she said. “You’ve got a crush on the boy werewolf.”

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