Work Text:
Their fingers splayed out over Sam's chest, happy to notice that he was still asleep, giving them the chance to process all that had just transpired: the key Sam'd given them - currently nestled in a pocket of their pants; saying Mate to Sam - admitting how much of a part of their life the vampire truly was; feeling the difference in their own body now that they'd ... now that they'd been able to make Sam happy.
Really happy.
David was right. No matter how they'd have felt about pack-mates being in harm's way - and they'd been clear that staying away had been meant to keep the pack safe - that having Sam exposed left a pinch in their heart and a weight on their chest. Now here they lay, head on his shoulder, that single word thrumming through their body like a living pulse.
Mate, mate, mate ...
"Mate," they breathed, running their fingers through his hair, and watching as he leaned into the touch like a cat stretching out toward a patch of sunlight, eyes opening and fully meeting theirs.
"Hey there, Darlin," he drawled sleepily, a hand moving up to cover the one on his cheek, "doin' ok?"
Were they ok?
Not even a year ago they would have simply barked a yes and literally run away from anyone who tried to show that they cared. All that mattered was going after Quin - finding the viper of a vampire - and keeping Quinn away from the rest of the pack. It was part of why they had barely replied to David's text messages... why they had out and out lied about where they even were.
It was why they'd barely replied to Sam's earlier messages. Everything in them had become used to sending out the message Don't pay attention to us ... we don't deserve the attention... we're dead already. They ignored, or at least tried to ignore, the care and worry sent their way by others.
And then the Inversion came, with all the horror and fear it could give, showing them what meant most to them: Sam. Sam wasn't just an information resource anymore. Sam had become a friend in time, and then something more: Mate. That new thrill of dancing magical energy ran through them at the word, just before Darlin remembered being trapped outside that bubble of a ward ... of being separated from Sam and how much of a physical clamp had tightened around their heart as they waited.
Mate.
Waiting outside his house, Sam's scent all around them, they had thought (again) about how it'd felt to see him once the ward fell. Alive. He'd been alive when they feared they'd lost him. He was alive and, Darlin realized, so were they.
But what if they'd lost him ...?
What if Sam had been there, but hadn't been turned yet? What if he'd still been simply a healer in his own right?
Darlin whined and Sam twisted to support his weight up on an elbow, leaning over his bedmate slightly. "Darlin, what's wrong," the vampire asked softly, confusion thick as his sweet southern accent. Gently he rubbed a thumb over the shifter's cheek. "Darlin?"
Their eyes locked with his, and Darlin took a breath or two to get back their voice. "Guilty."
Sam blinked. "Guilty," he repeated, confused. "What could you possibly have to feel guilty about?"
"You being turned."
His brows furrowed. "You didn't do that to me, Darlin... you've got nothin' to feel guilty about there."
They shook their head a bit too violently at that, eyes unable to look any higher than Sam's collarbone. "But we're happy it happened," the shifter replied, curling closer and sliding their nails against the vampire's thigh. "We're - we're grateful it happened!"
"You're ... Darlin'?" He gasped when their nails dented into his leg, body shaking. "Darlin'?"
"So afraid when the ward reappeared," Darlin burst out, lunging up to butt their head up against Sam's shoulder, sucking in lung-fulls of his scent.
"You're ok, Darlin," the vampire murmured, hugging his mate tight, "I'm ok," he followed it up with, just before Darlin hit him up with a near painful bear hug, knocking the wind out of him. "Ok, now I'm ... Darlin', I ... I can't breath!"
The shifter let go, backing up an inch or two as if burned, hands shoved down onto the bed between their knees, eyes glued there until Sam forced their gaze back up. Again they had to work on their breathing, and they had the idea that Sam watched the entire time, making sure nothing went wrong. Of course he would. "Sorry," they breathed softly.
"It's alright," he responded, even as he made the move to get rid of the gap between them, sliding Darlin back into a hug. "We're here now, safe and sound."
"We're still sorry," Darlin breathed, settling into the hug, again enjoying how Sam's living scent enveloped them. "Still sorry that something painful to you is something we're grateful for ... because we ended up meeting you."
"Good things really can come from pain," Sam utttered softly, "it's one of the nice things Life occasionally gives us." Settling their foreheads against each other, he gave the shifter an eskimo kiss. "You're right that I've hated my turning ... but I do not, and never shall, regret meeting you, Darlin."
"You really don't mind our stubborn ass?"
"I prefer it."
Darlin smiled, kissing Sam's face almost like an excited puppy; for a moment the pair simply chuckled and kissed ... until a knock on the door startled them, Darlin in particular, and the shifter found themselves falling back on the bed as their body bent and expanded.
Sam blinked, finding himself on the high end of a now broken mattress and bed frame, a wolf the size of a well-fed quarter horse whining near the floor. "Darlin?"
"Tank!! You there, buddy!?"
Sam sighed, recognizing Asher's voice, "Well, I guess you better get the door before he taps his way through it, right?"
Darlin whined once again, looking at the bed even as Asher once more called out to them, stretching their pack name out for over thirty seconds as the wolf struggled to its feet.
"I knew we'd break the bed sometime," Sam said with a chuckle, "I just didn't expect it to be this quickly!" The vampire went for his boxers as he heard the crack of magic nearby that told him Darlin had shifted and was grabbing clothes off the floor.
"Taaaannnk!"
"Well, get along little doggy," Sam chuckled, motioning toward the front door with his chin.
"Not little," Darlin barked, slugging Sam in the shoulder as they moved towards the door, only to yelp as a strong pair of arms wrapped around them and pressed them against the vampire's chest.
"No, you're right," Sam replied, "but am I going to have to get a wolf-proof bed now?"
Darlin snarled a final time, even as they gave Sam a peck on the cheek and wriggled out of his hold. "Be right back."
Sam nodded, and then chuckled at the growl that erupted from his mate's throat as Asher called one more time.
If he'd thought life as a vampire was 'interesting' enough, life with a werewolf mate was obviously going to be even more interesting! With one last chuckle, he began to pull his pants on and followed in his mate's wake.