The Heartwood A Lover's Blight

So, this was their new land to roam? Tokala quite liked it here already. The snow, the air, the cool breeze. She very much liked it. And she was going to enjoy scoutng it out. She wondered if perhaps Sanuye, or Memdi were going to have as much fun as she was. She smiled lightly to herself at the thought of that. 

She stalked through the woods, her hips swaying behind her. The season was upon them, she knew that and it was only a matter of time she would undertake it. With whom, that was her choice, or her mother's choice. Tokala wasn't fussed over it though, as long as they were good looking, and strong. She sighed just thinking about it.

The strigoi had glutted himself yet again, a young lupine who was close to finally succumbing to cold and hunger. Athan had given the child the gift of mercy. It had not been out of hunger that he made this particular kill, but he did not let the spurts go to waste either. He did not drink as much as he usually would, but found his mouth and chest stained nonetheless. Athan sat near the quickly cooling corpse, cleaning off his mouth and chest in a familiar rhythm.

Tokala caught the scent of blood. A lot of blood. It intrigued her, but in case of danger, she got down low, using shrubbery and bushes as cover as she crawled through them. She was not the best at stealth, and her fur coat did not at all disguise her against the snow. She peeked through a bush, toward a wolf, eating another wolf. Such a thing, well she'd done it before. She remained silent as she watched.

Athan cleans himself to the best of his ability, but it does little to remove the crimson stain from his chest. He rises, observing the little body resting in the snow contemplatively for a moment, but a rustle in the brush nearby distracts him. The strigoi is instantly alert for anything nearby, amethyst eyes scanning the nearby area.

Tokala watched them as they began to clean themselves off. They certainly looked strong...powerful. When they went alert, she flinched back. Before she took a step forward enough for her eyes and a bit of her face to come out. "Hello there" she whispered with a sing-song voice.

Athan's eyes settled on the form of a wolf in the brush before it peeked out. His eyes narrowed, silently beckoning it to step forward into view. He found himself annoyed that barely pieces of its head had been revealed to him, the hunter clearly desiring a better view of the woman hidden, watching him. Athan moved closer to the creature, his wariness preventing him from entering the brush with the woman. Hello, He murmured, settled a few lengths away from her, but closer than before. How long have you been watching me?

She grew a smile as she watched the male take notice of her. "Long enough to know you're strong...and have quite the appetite" she answered, glancing to  the body the other wolf had been feasting on, unfazed by it. Then she glanced back to the male, a look in her eyes.

Athan chuckled, the act letting out clouds of air around his face, framing his pale face in an even paler, nearly transparent gauze of heated water vapor and exhaled air. It does not take much strength to down a starving child alone in the woods, He gazes intently at her face, trying to discern the meaning hinted in her eyes. Why are you hiding? The creature's voice softens. Come out, His voice takes on a more demanding tone now, harsh, but spoken in a soft whisper. It could be mistaken for a lustful whisper, or a coy, teasing request. Athan feels ambiguous to himself at this point, unsure of what he exactly wants from the woman. But he knows he wants to see her.

After taking another look, she realized it was indeed a child wolf. Still she was unfazed, as he had also said they were starving. A kindness compared to the suffering of starvation. "I was merely observing."

She smirked as she came out from the bushes, revealing her petite brown form to the male wolf. "I'm out...do you like?" she asked coyly, licking along her muzzle. Her tail swayed gently behind as she moved so her side was to him, giving him a full view.

Her lack of fear or disgust in her tone, the fact that she remained for so long, talking to him idly as if this wolf had been any other piece of prey...Athan had a sense of what he was dealing with now. Whether she actually partook in feasting on blood herself, or was merely intrigued and amused by the sight of it, he would not know for certain; perhaps she wasn't hungry enough to steal the child's body from him. And I suppose you liked what you observed, then?

His gem-like eyes observe the woman's body lustfully now, fully throwing himself into that one emotion. The blood he consumed only serves to fuel it, his heart pounding the newly acquired liquid through his veins at an steadily increasing tempo. Athan approaches, cautiously at first, his head growing closer to the woman's. I think so, He whispers in her ear. He does not move yet, waiting for some cue from her — verbal or physical — to continue or back away.

She thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. "I have observed better things, before...but they were of a different sense" she said. Tokala remained still until he began to move closer, and that's when she turned only slightly, taking a step back. She moved her head down shly, but had a teasing smile that she purposefully made visible. 

"Aren't you the charmer" she whispered back. "Want to know a secret?" she asked, looking up only a bit slightly now.

He only chuckles softly at her words, interpreting her meaning in a sultry way. She starts moving her body coyly, and he follows her head's little dance, gently breathing on her ear.

He is brought out of the headiness of the moment by her five final words. He had been in enough similar situations to be wary of any such 'secrets'. Athan pulls his head away. He wants her, sure, but he shows that he is not completely enthralled by her. Tell me, He purrs, his head a bit farther away from her own now.

She looks up fully, with a smile. "I like how you look, too" she whispered, batting her eyelids at him. It may have sounded cheesy, but she wanted to keep this game going a little bit longer. She liked games.

And she had to admit, seeing a wolf with blood enticed her, cause it made them look like they had just been in a fight. And she pictured him like that. It gave her a light chill. But, she knew that nothing could come of this, as she had been trained to wait.

He can't take it anymore. While he would have loved to remain there teasing her, he felt an strong urge to be close to her and touch her rather than be detached and away from her body. Athan stepped forward, experimenting with her reactions. His muzzle lingered by her mouth, pressing his mouth to hers before moving away. He then pressed his lips to her neck, feeling the warm pulse against his mouth. He licked there across her neck down to her chest, a sudden lust unrelated to the one in his loins surging through his body.

While she felt like giving into her own feelings, she had to hold it together. She did however have a pleasured smile cross her features. As he got to her chest, she took a step away. "Uh-uh, not yet. I have a promise to keep...but if we ever meet again" Tokala went to give him a quick lick to his cheek. If there was one thing she loved, it was teasing.

He is about to fully give in and extend his fangs, only for her to step away. His expression as he looks up at her is cold, but still mingled with lust. She explains something,  how she had a promise to make, to keep herself from men. He smirks, then laughs. Dărăcire, He says chuckling as she steps forward to lick his cheek. It is then that he makes his move, his fangs aimed to sink into her throat.

Tokala had no idea what he said, but the chuckle made her think it was the type of reaction she wanted as he followed her with a step...then made a move to grab at her neck. "H-Hey! What are you doing?!" She didn't make a move away, afraid if she did try to move away that it would only lead to more injury. This, she had not expected.

Just to check, he isn't trying to kill her, right?

No he isn't!

He tears her flesh with his fangs, but the wound is not deep. Any other prey he would have attempted to bite right to the jugular and tear through. That attack might have seriously wounded or killed another. But he only cut deep enough for her blood to well and for him to drink contently, being as sensual as he could while drinking her blood.

Ok!

Tokala remained still as she cut through her flesh on her neck, as she panicked with fear for perhaps the first time. She felt something warm pooling from the wound, then...something else wet. Realization hit her, and it was a cold feeling. "What...what are you..." She stopped, shaking slightly. It was an odd feeling she had, she didn't like it...At least, she thought she didn't. It was a stinging pain.

Athan is lost in the taste of her blood, draining the crimson liquid from her body. He moans against her throat, wanting to drain her completely. But he stops himself. He wants her alive. She is too interesting for him to simply end her life now. But he doesn't cut into his flesh and feed her his blood like he had with pink-eyed girl and the small deer-like boy. She doesn't have the same submissive tendency in her that he had seen in the deer boy, and thought he had in the pink-eyed coywolf. At least, not that he had seen. 

He pulls away, his mouth stained with blood. Athan licks the crimson liquid from his muzzle as best as he can, smirking down at her.

Tokala couldn't even find anymore words in her. As he pulled away, she caught a glance of his blood stained smirk, and she would have found that hot as well...in fact, she did a little. Even though it was her blood, but she still made no comment. She just remained there, still.

Want to finish it up a bit soon?