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Series: Kinn and Clan
Title: Paternal Instincts
Pairing: Kurt/Finn
Warnings: violence, blood
Word Count: 9840
Summary: Future fic for earlier parts of the series. A surprise pregnancy turns dangerous for Kurt and Finn.
First parts:
Forget that Twilight Nonsense
Gibbous Moon
Finn felt sharp teeth nibbling along his shoulder, and with a yawn, he smiled widely. It would be pretty stupid to let a pregnant vampire snack on him in the middle of the night, but it was cute. And a little romantic that he could be the sustenance for both Kurt and their baby.
He rubbed his eyes and flipped around, rolling Kurt over onto his back and then straddling his legs. Kurt looked up at him, eyes blinking over and over.
“Hungry?” Finn swooped down and kissed Kurt’s lips. Fangs and all. He stroked his hands down Kurt’s shoulders, over his arms. Then he cupped the back of Kurt’s head and moved one hand down Kurt’s chest and over the gentle swell just below his navel.
“Sorry,” Kurt murmured. “Wasn’t awake.”
Finn kissed his lips again and nuzzled his nose against Kurt’s. “That’s okay. I’ll get you a mug.”
“You’re the best.”
“Nah.” Finn rose and scratched his naked stomach as he walked down the stairs of their loft bedroom into the main area where the kitchen was located. His night vision was just slightly activated so he didn’t have to turn on any lights and disturb Kurt, who he could hear breathing deeply, asleep already. He seemed so tired lately.
The pregnancy had been a surprise. Moreso for Finn. Lycans had clearly defined genders… as clearly defined as humans, anyway. It hadn’t occurred to him that Kurt could get pregnant. In Kurt’s case, Kinn were generally androgynous to a degree, and internally hermaphroditic. They adhered to the concepts of gender loosely, treating it mostly as optional, or as drag, since their ‘males’ were just as capable as their ‘females’ of bearing young. One dressed the body in accordance with what felt right or looked good.
Kurt just hadn’t figured that werewolves and vampires could mate. The wars between the two groups suggested a shared history, one that Finn had over the years pried out of his family members little by little. While, of course, being very, very careful not to let any of his Lycan family know that his partner was one of the hated Kinn. Except his mother, who just adored Kurt like he was her own son. Years of family prejudice hadn’t been able to make her hate Kurt, after she’d recovered from the shock that one had been hanging around her house (not literally) for almost three years without trying to destroy her family.
Finn thought now that their different breeds must share more than a history. Genetic codes. They were expressions of something similar. That was why Kurt could weather a bite without going through the Change. That was why there were stories that Kinn could change at will, when they got old enough. That was why Kurt’s belly was now swelling with Finn’s child.
Yawning again, Finn put the cold mug of blood in the microwave. Sometimes they went to hunt together, for a change of pace or to exorcise the energy that pent up when one lived among the humans. But often they just used the butcher for convenience. Finn took the mug out, pierced his thumb with a nail, and let his own blood drip into the midnight snack. He found drinking blood sort of gross, and the pig’s blood was even grosser than most. But Kurt had to do it to live, and he wouldn’t feed on humans without their consent.
He grabbed some cheese and crackers and put them on a plate before he shuffled back up to their bedroom area. Sure enough, Kurt was curled over, a hand protecting his abdomen. Finn smiled.
Unexpected, but definitely not unwanted. Finn didn’t even care whether the kid was a boy or a girl, or otherwise. Or if the baby end up more wolfy or vampy. He felt lucky to be partnering with Kurt in this crazy unplanned adventure. Sure, it would probably get more stressful. He remembered how it had been when he’d thought he’d gotten a girl pregnant in high school, but Kurt was nothing ordinary. They would manage. And it wasn’t like Kurt would be going for doctors’ visits.
Finn set the plate on the nightstand and slipped back into bed. His fingers trailed over Kurt’s temple.
“Wake up, sweets. Don’t want everyone at work to see your nibble marks all over me.” Finn shrugged his head to the side and chuckled. “Or maybe we do. Show ‘em I’m owned.”
Kurt wrinkled up his nose, yawned, and lifted his head. Finn put an arm around him and cuddled him close as he waved the mug under Kurt’s nose.
“Oh. Finn.” Kurt wrapped his fingers around the mug and took a sip.
“Who else would bring you bloody goodness in the middle of the night?”
“No. Well, yes.” Kurt licked his lips. “But I meant I smelled your blood in here. Thanks.”
Finn shrugged. “The cut’ll heal before tomorrow night.”
Kurt leaned into him as he sipped the warm, thick liquid. Finn reached over and grabbed some crackers to munch on. He offered a little cracker sandwich for Kurt, and surprisingly, he took a bite. He let Finn feed him the whole thing, hungrily, and washed it down with the blood. Experimentally, when Finn finished a cracker sandwich, he’d offer one to Kurt, and he took it without complaint.
It was a little unnerving to watch Kurt’s dietary needs changing so drastically. Before, he took very little human food, and he only needed blood once or twice a day. Finn wanted to be able take care of Kurt. He just wasn’t sure how. And he just hoped they could do this without much guidance.
“Stop.” Kurt caught him in a tangy kiss. He tasted like blood and cheddar. Then he met Finn’s eyes, and petted his cheek.
“No more crackers?”
“Stop worrying. I can’t be killed. I’m sure my progeny will be just as tenacious.”
Finn frowned. It wasn’t true that Kurt couldn’t be killed. It was just really friggin’ difficult. “I can’t believe you just used the word progeny to talk about our baby. You think she’ll be a super villain?”
“I’ll get to work bedazzling some little booties and a cape in the morning,” Kurt said cheerfully.
“Also, stop reading my mind.” Finn kissed Kurt’s temple. “You’re getting too good at that.”
“I thought I’d be older when the mind reading really kicked in,” Kurt mused. “I wonder if it’s a self-defense thing. Because I’m the only one now, or…” He shrugged. “Maybe because of the baby.”
“That makes sense. Vamps are kinda solitary. They’d have to defend themselves. No relying on the pack.” Finn grabbed some more cheese. “It just doesn’t make sense to me, though, for vamps to be alone all the time. Wouldn’t it be easier for them to band together?”
“I think a territory thing.” Kurt knocked back the rest of the blood.
“Territory? Like cats? Pissing on your front porch?” Finn was skating on thin ice with that last comparison, but Kurt didn’t seem to take offense this time.
“More like, this flock of humans is mine. Get your own.”
Finn raised his brows. He didn’t usually think of Kurt as a predatory animal, but technically, that applied to both of them.
“I’m not going to start feasting on our neighbors,” Kurt said.
“I know that,” Finn scoffed. He took the mug from Kurt and set it aside. Then he looked over Kurt curiously.
As far as creatures of the night were concerned, Kurt was probably the most dangerous thing out there. The fastest, most lethal, and the best at hiding in the shadows. And Finn liked that because it meant he had to worry less. More people would kill Kurt if they knew what he was, from humans, to Hunters, to Lycans, and pretty much anything else. They all recognized Kinn as the top of the food chain, and something that had to be wiped out for the good of whatever-kind. So Finn wanted to know that, unless magic was concerned, Kurt could take down pretty much anything that came after him.
The pregnancy put that into question… Unless vampires were traditionally solitary during pregnancy. But still, who would make sure Kurt got enough food, and was properly taken care of if he had to be alone?
“Stop.” Kurt combed Finn’s hair with his fingers and kissed along his neck.
Finn wrapped his arms around him. Kurt’s long, lean body ground against his. Their eyes met, and Finn grinned at the familiar, dark hue in Kurt’s eyes and the wicked curve of his lips.
Yet another craving Finn was happy to satisfy.
***
It had only been a few weeks ago when Kurt had begun to feel strange. The headaches came first, and he’d attributed that to his recent inability to get humans’ vapid thoughts out of his damn head. Kurt didn’t dislike humans. He’d been raised by one, and all of his friends were humans, save a wolf from high school and of course, Finn. But their heads were noisy, full of blabbering words, and it was extremely annoying.
Next came a general sense of exhaustion and dizziness. He would get lightheaded more often, could fall asleep anywhere. It had been years since Kurt and Finn had been forced to face down a Hunter, but the idea of getting weak like that still brought him back to that time a group of them had been trying to find Kurt at McKinley and used magic to weaken him to the point of uselessness.
He’d checked all his clothes for strange marks, but the next symptom made it too clear for him that it wasn’t magic. That was hunger. It was his body demanding more blood. More than he’d ever taken, even when injured. He’d walk down the streets, hearing the sounds of blood rushing through people’s bodies, their hearts wantonly beating away, begging to be plucked from their chests.
Realizing that he was pregnant had been a relief. Since he’d been starting to wonder if he was losing his flipping mind. He’d been visiting his father when it occurred to him. He was sucking back his third bag of blood for the day, and dropped down onto the couch with his dad to watch a car show. It was a nice to be able to come see him or Carole. Kurt loved the city, but he (perhaps traitorously for a vampire) found comfort in being surrounded by family. He’d always felt cut off, since the only vampire he’d ever known besides himself was his mother. There was no sprawling Clan that he was connected to.
“You shouldn’t skip breakfast,” Burt had scolded. “You know that’s dangerous.”
“I didn’t. And I’m not going to hurt anyone.” Kurt lifted his head and smelled something that made his fangs peek out a little.
“Huh. Okay then.” Burt reached over and felt Kurt’s head.
“I’m not sick. I don’t get sick,” Kurt said, though he dutifully allowed his father to check for a fever.
“You’re warm, though. Not hot. Just not cold.”
“I’ve felt a little strange lately. Not bad. Just tired.” Kurt set his mug aside and rose to look out the window. The neighbor across the street was grilling hotdogs. To Kurt’s horror. Hotdogs were disgusting. Why would he want one?
“What’s going on out there?”
“Mr. Jenkins is grilling.” Kurt walked back into the kitchen, poked around in the fridge for a moment, then returned with some smoked turkey.
His father eyed him.
“What?”
“Nothin’.” He patted Kurt’s leg. “Just weird to see you eat. Don’t stop on my account. You and your mother always seemed to be the be gauge of what you needed. Which is good, because I would never have been able to guess what you needed during a growth spurt. Or when she was pregnant.”
Kurt munched on his turkey. A few seconds later he set down the plate and touched his flat stomach lightly. He remained quiet, eyes on the screen, then slipped his fingers under his shirt to feel over the warm spot below his belly button.
Oh.
He didn’t say anything to his father right away. He wanted to be sure, and he needed to talk to Finn about it. But Kurt needn’t have worried. When he told Finn his suspicions, his partner’s eyes lit up, and he started sniffing Kurt all over, excitedly.
“You’re definitely pregnant. You smell pregnant.”
Kurt wasn’t sure what pregnant smelled like, but he wasn’t terribly aware of his own scent. Finn was very concerned with that, it seemed. A wolf thing. He knew his mate. And he had been right.
Telling their parents had been fun, although Carole had determined she would have to move closer to them. It wasn’t right in her mind for Finn to be so cut off from the pack, even if that was for good reason. They couldn’t share their happy news with the rest of the Clan, because there was no telling how they might react. Kurt could take care of himself. He hoped he could take care of a little one, too. But he wouldn’t let them hurt his child, even if they were Finn’s family.
Kurt stood in front of the mirror, trying to make his cardigan close, but it was a fruitless battle. His increased appetite was serving its function, and his tummy poked out proudly. He wasn’t sure if he looked “pregnant” per se, to the average passerby, but he definitely needed to work something out in the area of clothing. He settled for a long sweater pulled over his regular jeans and a band that covered their failure to button. He’d remained slender most everywhere else, so he thought he might be able to slip through most of the pregnancy without straining their finances on clothing.
Funny that he would be the person wanting to avoid buying clothes. Kurt just didn’t want to leave the apartment much these days, not even to hunt. Rachel had called complaining that Finn was denying her prime gay bff time with Kurt, and he’d had to start emailing his other friends more, so they wouldn’t feel neglected.
As Kurt reached for his bag, something flickered in his mind. At first he thought that he was picking up one of his neighbor’s thoughts, but this was different. Not words. Not pictures, either. Just… muffled sounds, dark and light. All this little mind had ever known.
Kurt heart fluttered. He dropped his bag and brushed his fingers over his belly. “Oh. Hello.”
Everyone else’s thoughts disappeared, leaving those of his little baby, who was dreaming. Yes. He was.
Moving slowly, Kurt made his way into the living room area and curled up in a chair, petting his hand over his belly as he listened to the amorphous prenatal thoughts of his baby. Contentment that he hadn’t know since he was a child filled his heart, and though he’d been nervous about this pregnancy, suddenly all he wanted was to hold his child in his arms.
When Kurt heard a noise, he was up and at the door in less than a second, pinning the person to the ground and baring his fangs with a hiss.
“Is this a game?”
Kurt’s ears were filled with the sound of his prey’s blood rushing, pumping. Invading his space, but ready to make a meal for his little one. Kurt licked his lips and started to sniff along the creature’s neck. It wiggled ineffectively, trying to free itself.
“Kurt…? This isn’t funny. Kurt? Kurt!”
Kurt blinked. His eyes refocused. Finn. He had pinned Finn to the ground. He’d been about to suck Finn dry.
Kurt flitted to the other side of their loft, hugging one arm over himself as he tried to make sense of what had just happened. He’d never been a murderer. Never fed on anyone against their will. He considered it rape, and murder, and it was simply unacceptable.
God, he really was a monster. He’d just been a baby monster waiting to grow up into something terrible. No wonder every other species out there wanted to kill him.
“Hey!” Finn jogged across the room. “Kurt, don’t-”
“Stay away from me!” Kurt shrieked.
Finn stopped and stared at him. “Sweets, it’s okay. I’m okay. Did you get startled, or…?”
“I…” Kurt shook his head. He trembled and slid to the floor.
***
Finn stood there ineffectively, trying to figure out what to do. Kurt had attacked him. Finn had never seen Kurt go after anyone like that before, aside from Hunters, and that had really been a kill-or-be-killed situation. He’d spared the Hunter who’d been kind to them. The ones who had magic were damn dangerous, an they could, and would, take out wolves, vamps, and humans alike. Adults or children. They’d both seen it.
Taking in a deep breath, Finn scratched his head. He had to do something. Kurt had been baring his fangs, so…
He was hungry. Finn went to the kitchen and started to make up a big bowl of blood. He’d have to get a double batch when he went to the butcher’s next. It might look suspicious, but what could he do? Kurt was feeding for two, as funny as that sounded.
He paused as he was about to add some of his blood for flavor. Was that making it harder for Kurt to keep control? Finn sighed. This was something that he couldn’t understand. No one could. Who in the world know what vampires did when they were pregnant?
“Oh, stupid,” Finn muttered. He pulled out his cell phone as he started to microwave the bowl.
“What’s up?” Burt asked.
“Hey. I needed to ask you some questions… I know this is weird, but… I have to. So um-”
“Ask, Finn. Do you guys need money?”
“No. Well. Yeah, but this isn’t about that. I wanted to ask you about Kurt’s mom when she was pregnant. Did she ever feed on you?”
“No, not really.”
Finn grimaced. “Did you ever put your blood in her supply? Not a lot, but like a little for taste? Would that be a bad idea?”
“You’re right, that is a weird question. No, Lizzie tried not to taste my blood ever. She was afraid she’d get used to it.”
“Oh. Was that when she was pregnant?”
“Nope. Pretty much all the time. I’d only give her some if she was hurt.”
“Oh.”
“Do you?”
“Um.” Finn took the bowl of blood out and looked over to the corner. Kurt was still there, curled up and distraught. “Well, we’ve always kind of done it. Not regularly, or anything, but Kurt knows my taste pretty well. He’s never attacked me before.”
“Wait. He attacked you?”
“Yeah.” Finn lowered his voice. Kurt would hear it anyway. He’d have to leave the building for Kurt not to hear. “He jumped me when I came home. Not in a good way.”
Burt sighed.
“It was like he didn’t know me.” Finn watched Kurt and came over slowly with the blood. Maybe he could give him some food with that. He’d be less dangerous for sure, if they could keep him well-fed.
Kurt looked up. His eyes were swollen from crying, and the irises had gone almost the color of water. Finn wanted to reach over and console him, but he could sense that Kurt didn’t want to be touched.
“Sorry. I needed to think on that one.”
“It’s okay.” Finn set down the bowl, then whispered. “Eat, sweet stuff. It’ll be okay.”
“She never attacked me, but we were living in Jersey at the time she was pregnant. Had to move around a lot then, y’know. There was this guy who worked with me, and she landed him on the floor. She was eight months, too, and I thought she was going to rip his head off and drink from it. I’d never seen her like that before. Turned out he was a Lycan, and she smelled it on him.”
“Oh. How did you calm her down?”
“I didn’t. He knew what she was, so he fought back and tried to kill her. She won.”
“Shit.”
“They can handle themselves, that’s for damn sure.”
Finn stopped by refrigerator and looked around for what he could give to Kurt. “Well.”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. He recognized me in time. But he’s really upset.” Finn looked back. Kurt had disappeared. “Can I call you back?”
“What’s going on?”
“I just need to find him. I’ll call you back.” Finn set the phone down and started to scour the apartment. Kurt had drunk the blood, but there was no sign of him. He’d just vanished.
Finn dropped down into a chair and struggled to breathe.
***
Looking from one end of the hallway to the other, Kurt kept his eyes out for anyone, or anything that might hurt him or his baby. Because if anything got near him, he would have to get away quickly before his instincts took over and he became a murderer.
He rang the doorbell once again. It was odd to have a doorbell with “Don’t Rain on My Parade” as the tune, but that was Rachel Berry for you.
She appeared at the door, with a big fake smile that faded the moment she saw his blotchy, tear-stained cheeks. “Oh, my God. Kurt!” She grabbed his arm and ushered him inside.
Rachel was one of the few friends Kurt had kept from high school who knew their secrets. Partially because she was nosy, and partially because when Hunters came after him sophomore, and then junior, year, she’d gotten caught up in the mess. She knew about the wolves, and the vamps, and she knew about the baby. He also knew from her surface thoughts that she was trying to think of a way to throw him a baby shower without telling the girls all of his secrets.
“Did you have a fight? Did Finn do something stupid? I know how he can be. He never means it; thoughts and words just don’t go together sometimes for him!” She led him over to her sofa. Rachel’s dads had gotten her some nice things for this small New York apartment. The sofa was as comfy as could be.
“I almost killed him,” Kurt confessed.
When Rachel giggled, Kurt started to cry again and covered his face. She went quiet, then wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
“Tell me what happened?”
So Kurt did, every bit of it came spilling out as he curled his fingers into his sweater and tried not to completely lose it. He’d always been good at compartmentalizing, but this was just too much.
“I can’t lose him. I can’t. I need him. We need him.”
Rachel’s head rested on his shoulder, and she petted his back. “Your dad said it was instinctual though, right? So it won’t last. You just lost control for a second-”
“Honey, you know how fast I am. A second is more than enough.” Kurt’s fingers pressed to his cheek. “I’m a monster.”
“You are not! Stop saying that.”
“What else would you call someone who kills the father of their child?”
“A praying mantis?” Rachel kissed his cheek. “I don’t have any blood in the house. Can I get you anything else?”
“This isn’t funny,” Kurt snapped.
“Well, don’t eat me,” Rachel said as she got up and headed for her kitchen. “I’d taste terrible. I’m on a new diet pill.” Kurt rolled his eyes. “I know you want to be an actress more than anything, but sweetheart, those things are terrible for you.”
“They’re working!”
“FYI, they also make you smell weird.” Kurt rose and followed her to the kitchen.
“All right. You know, I don’t have any meat here, either.”
“I can usually eat whatever protein Finn wants to give me. A few weeks ago, carbs started seeming appetizing.” Kurt sighed and leaned back on the counter. “So I’m not just going to be a monster, I’ll be a fat monster.”
“Well, you are pregnant.” Rachel turned and looked over him. “Besides, you’re just too skinny. Maybe if you just ate more, you wouldn’t get a hankering for your mate’s flesh.”
“My partner’s. We’re not animals.” Kurt stared down at his bump. He’d forgotten to listen to the baby, but checking in, the kid didn’t seem to be doing much but sleep. That made sense, though, and it was a bit of a relief that this new psychic boost served a purpose.
“Oh! I know.” Rachel hugged him and pulled his head down to her shoulder, then petted it. “Okay! I’m going to make you some delicious pineapple cous cous stir-fry. Lots of protein, and I know you like fruit!”
Kurt couldn’t force himself to cheer up, but he followed Rachel around in the kitchen as she went to work, having decided that what he needed was food. Kurt could chop faster than pretty much anyone in the world, anyway.
Everything was sizzling away in Rachel’s wok when Kurt sensed Finn outside the building. Kurt sucked in his cheeks and wiped his hands on a towel.
“Where are you going?”
“Um. Bathroom.”
Rachel sighed. “Ah, the joys of pregnancy. I won’t know them for many years.”
“At least you won’t eat your babydaddy,” Kurt muttered.
He took a few steps out of the kitchen and then disappeared, zipping down the hallway and stairs, and stopping on the stoop that led down to the sidewalk. He could see Finn stop mid-step at the corner. He lingered there for quite a while. He looked down, toed the ground, looked up again at Kurt, then down to the ground.
Kurt licked along his lower lip, then sucked it in. He didn’t know if he hoped Finn would come over or not. He could imagine how Finn had found him. Find his scent, track him down. Even if Kurt could travel much faster than him, Finn would always be able to find him.
After what seemed like a painfully long time, Finn started toward Kurt, his eyes fixed on him. He thought Kurt would disappear again.
Kurt hadn’t quite decided whether he should or not.
“Please stop,” Kurt whispered when Finn came close.
“Please don’t run away.”
Finn kept coming. Kurt felt the urge to attack him rising again, the need to defend himself and his child from the enemy. He clenched his fists and turned his head.
Then Finn was there, guiding Kurt’s face toward him with his fingers. Finn pinched his lips to the side as he looked at him.
“We love each other,” Finn muttered. “We…”
He sighed and his lips bowed downward.
“We do.” Kurt breathed in and out, his chest tightening. “But this isn’t about that. This is… biology. Instinct. I’m dangerous. I’m getting more dangerous every day,”
Finn nodded. “But you’ve always been able to control that. You’re better than any wolf I’ve ever met at keeping a lid on the predator side. Right? You just need some time…”
“I think we need to be apart. At least for now, I guess.” Kurt closed his eyes, and tears came again. “Hormones.”
“I don’t think it’s hormones.” Finn wiped Kurt’s cheek with his thumb. Then his lips pressed against the wet skin.
Kurt lifted his head back as he struggled, and failed, to keep his fangs from elongating. His fingers gripped Finn’s arm tight, tight… too tight.
“Ah!” Finn moved back and looked on Kurt with surprise. The hostile greeting from before had been wiped from his memory because it was too hard to understand that Kurt would ever hurt him.
Kurt pressed his palms against the cold wall the the building and tried not to look into Finn’s eyes. He couldn’t risk compelling him to do anything, but maybe… Well. He could send him away. Make him go somewhere safe.
He closed his eyes. “I love you so much. Please go away.”
Finn stood there for another minute. “Look at me.”
Kurt let out a slow breath, then tilted his head a little and looked at Finn.
“Rachel will take care of you tonight? We can… We can figure this out.” Finn’s eyes suddenly overflowed. He was by far not a crier. “We’ll figure it out, and… and um, I can have some blood sent over here…”
Finn shoved both his hands into his hair and looked all around.
“Come over here for a minute?” Kurt reached out for him. “Then you really have to go.”
Finn hesitated for a moment. His heart rate surged. Kurt hated this. He hated for Finn to be afraid of him. But he needed to be.
“I love you,” Kurt whispered, taking Finn to him, holding him close, and kissing his lips. “Say goodbye to your son, and we’ll see you soon, okay, babe?”
Finn stroked his fingers over the side of Kurt’s face, then moved his hand down to his belly and petted it gently. “Goodnight, sweet stuff.” Then he knelt down and kissed his belly. He caressed the side, then pressed his cheek against it.
Kurt petted his hair for a moment, but he could only take Finn being close to his baby for so long.
“Time to go.”
Finn stood and nodded. He lunged in once more for one more kiss, then ran backwards for a minute before he bolted down the sidewalk. Kurt stayed, watching him go. Finn’s thoughts were clear in his mind. He understood, but he was so sad. He wished he could feel his baby move, and he was scared that something would happen to them while he couldn’t be there to protect them.
No wonder the wolves and vamps couldn’t get along. So little chance of intermarriage of Clans.
Kurt made his way back up to Rachel’s apartment slowly, one hand pressed against his forehead. His head ached. His body ached. He was exhausted.
***
Finn had never gone in for that Twilight bullshit, but he seemed to be stalking the one he loved now. And there was no way that Kurt didn’t know he was doing it. He had the sense of smell, the super hearing, and frankly he’d been able to sense where Finn was since they were teenagers.
Kurt hadn’t been to work in a long time. He’d isolated himself, and Finn had called Rachel to make sure she came over to get the delivery of Kurt’s blood supply.
But this was just killing Finn. He wanted to be with his mate (not that Kurt liked those terms). He wanted to help him fall asleep at night, to rub his back when it as sore, and to help him tie his shoes as his belly got bigger. He wanted to be there to protect him and watch out for him.
Mostly he was just following at a distance. And calling absolutely every single night. He’d called him the moment he’d gotten home the night they parted and talked with him until Rachel took the phone and told him to let Kurt get some sleep.
Finn had gone to talk to Burt about what was going on, and unfortunately, Burt (not to mention his mom) both agreed that until Kurt felt safe being around Finn, it was probably in his best interests to stay away.
But he couldn’t. Not completely. He had to see Kurt. He had to watch him on Rachel’s balcony rubbing his expanding belly. He had to stalk him through the streets to be sure no Hunters were following him. He had to know his scent.
They had been separated for almost a month when Finn came home to the apartment. The smell of Kurt was fresh. It was just unmistakable now that he was pregnant. He’d been there recently.
Finn lowered his chest and began sniffing. Of course, the big stuffed chair. He dropped his bag and went to curl up in the chair. He was pathetic. He knew this arrangement was for the best, for his safety and continued ability to live and be a father once the baby was born, and he was still sulking around like a teenager.
He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Kurt’s number. When it didn’t answer immediately, Finn began to get nervous. Maybe he shouldn’t be bothering him so much. Maybe he should just let Kurt be.
“You shouldn’t,” Kurt said when he answered the phone.
“I… Get outta my head,” Finn complained.
“Sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?”
“I came over today. I needed a few things… I stole a sweater.”
“Well. Even if you’re not living here, they’re still your clothes.”
“One of your sweaters. I’m stretching it out.”
Finn chuckled. “No, you’re not. You’re not even that big yet. Are you eating enough?”
“Rachel is feeding me within an inch of my life.”
“I bet. She’s worried about you.”
“I know. She’s worried about you, too. She’s being super cheerful about it. It’s a little scary.”
Finn rested his head on the arm of the chair. Kurt laid his head there, sometimes, when he nodded off there. “Can I come see you? For a few minutes? Is… Is the baby moving yet? I’m sorry, I shouldn’t ask-”
“I know its hard. But I can sense you when you’re following me. I’m not sure I can handle more than that.”
“I’m the father, though. I know you just want to protect the baby, and that’s why your instincts are making you crazy about Lycans.” Finn was whining, but he didn’t care. “But I’m the father! Shouldn’t your instincts know me? I can protect you-”
“Babe, logically, I know all of this. Believe me, if it were up to me, if I could control it…” Kurt let out a shaky breath.
Finn was upsetting him. “Shiny change of topic. I’ll be around the apartment tonight. Full moon.”
“I remember. Take care, okay? Our neighbors are nosy. I don’t want them coming over to complain because our ‘dog’ is making too much noise.” “I might be baying at the moon, pining for you. Oh wait, that was last night.”
“What were you doing when you were ‘baying’?”
“Oh, I think you know what I do when you aren’t around.” Finn paused. “Arroouuu!”
“I love you.”
They said it every time they talked on the phone. It was important to remember. Finn could practically imagine Kurt curled up in some chair, wearing one of his sweaters as he petted his belly.
“You’re awesome.”
“I’ll take that,” Kurt said.
“You are.” Finn closed his eyes and imagined Kurt sitting there with him as they chatted for about an hour about nothing in particular.
After hanging up, Finn slipped out of his clothes, locked the door, and set some food down for later. It was easier to weather the full moon when you lived out in the sticks. In the city, things were different. You had to take off work for several days, set up some newspaper in the bathroom, and make sure you had everything within reach for the night. It was the first full moon without Kurt in a long time. Whatever Kurt was doing, he normally tried to make it there to be with Finn.
He padded around the loft for a little while, then sat in front of the tv, naked. He got anxious before the change, and there was no usefulness to be made of him. Not unless he was with someone, and that anxiety could be burned off somehow. Finally, the Change came. Finn felt it before it actually began, so he turned off the television and started towards the bedroom.
It caught him mid-stride.
Bones crunching, back bending, Finn’s body took control, morphing into something else, the predator that was inside him at all times. The weirdest part, although painless, was the sprouting of hair all over his body. Everywhere but his freaking eyeballs.
After the Change, he lay there for a moment, panting. The transformation was draining. He waited longer than he normally would to get up. Then he just went around the apartment, sniffing things, as he was wont to do.
He ended up back in the chair, basking in Kurt’s scent.
Finn was dozing when he felt a hand in his fur. He snapped and growled, but then turned his head. The person had been far, far too fast for him to catch.
He made a whuffing sound as his head popped up and looked around the apartment. No one was there. Finn rested his chin on the arm of the chair with a huff. Kurt usually played with Finn when he was like this. Sometimes back in Lima, he’d take him for a walk on the less populated roads.
Finn’s lids began to close again. Open and closed, open and closed. He didn’t want to sleep, but he had nothing better to do. He couldn’t throw a ball himself. He couldn’t play tug of war with his rope with no one on the other side. Open. Closed. Open.
Finn’s eyes widened and he perked up at the sight of a silhouette on the balcony. He watched intently, then rose, his feet on the arm of the chair.
The shadow disappeared.
***
Finn hadn’t asked about his visit when he’d last called, but Kurt knew Finn had seen something, felt Kurt’s fingers mussing his fur. It was dangerous to visit one another like that. They both knew it, but it was so hard to stay away. All of Finn’s instincts were telling him to protect Kurt and their baby, and all of Kurt’s…
The night before he’d had a dream of ripping Finn’s throat out. When he’d wakened, then baby was kicking like crazy. And he was aroused. Aroused.
It had taken Kurt long enough to get comfortable with the idea of sex, let alone the various morbidities that were afforded to Finn and him because of their lineage. But now he was really beginning to understand why he was an only child. Even if his mother was having murderous dreams about people who were not the center of her world that would be enough. What had his kind been like before modern civilization? Did they just let the pregnant ones run around, ripping Lycans and humans to shreds? Did they tie them up by the campsite and bring food to them so the babies could grow while the host went insane?
Kurt was stirring his tea moodily on the balcony when he heard Rachel opening the door. A reticence came over him. He’d not exactly been gregarious before, but the further along he got, the less Kurt wanted to be around people of any kind. If he could hole up in a cave somewhere and still have the food he needed for his son, he would go for that in a heartbeat.
The sound of his father’s voice pricked his ears, and he set down the tea to push himself out of the chair. Burt was with Rachel by the counter that divided the kitchen from the den with a big dusty book laid out. Rachel peered over it curiously, although she had to get on her tip toes to see it up there.
“Hey! Kurt!” Burt came over to him and gave him a big hug.
Kurt closed his eyes, grateful that his instincts allowed him this much. He wasn’t sure he could stay away from his father for the next four to five months.
“How you feelin’?”
Kurt considered that for a moment. He was sure that there was conflict written all over his face. “Okay.”
“Yeah, I can see that,” Burt replied dryly. “C’mon over here. I have something that might help.”
“I’ll just bring it over there!” Rachel hefted the book into her arms and hurried over to the coffee table. “Why don’t you sit down?”
“I’m not fragile, Rachel,” Kurt said. He took a seat anyway.
Burt flipped through the book. “Carole and I have been talking about your problem, and she went to her grandmother to pick her brain a little about it.”
“Wait. Her family knows?” Kurt’s heart jumped into his throat.
“No. Calm down and trust us a little, wouldja?” Burt’s fingers stopped on a page.
Kurt scanned over the text, but it didn’t seem to be English… Well, parts of it were. Some of it was made of symbols he’d seen in one of this mother’s old books.
“Carole told her that she needed to learn these things to pass on to the next generation. They pretty much believe vampires are extinct.”
“Good.” Kurt’s hand cupped his belly. If they knew about him, about them, he would have to go do something about that. They shouldn’t be too hard to find…
What was wrong with him? Kurt took a breath. Normal pregnant women had mood swings, and he had cravings for mass murder. Damn.
“The book says there’s a ritual that can help you and Finn. And you can live together again!” Rachel said cheerfully, rubbing Kurt’s shoulders. “Oh, not that I don’t love having you here, Kurt! I would keep my best gay here forever if I could.”
“Thanks.” Kurt managed a little smile. “What do we have to do?”
“Basically, you gotta get hitched,” Burt said.
Kurt raised a brow.
“It’s a blood ritual. It’ll mark both of you as ‘belonging’ to the other, and the magic will override your instinct to…” Burt shrugged. “It’s risky, but we gotta do it. And the sooner the better.”
Kurt picked up the book and started looking at the pages intently. Some of the words were funny, but some were understandable. He frowned and tried to read the page again.
“Well, for the sake of wedding photos, I’m sure Kurt would prefer sooner,” Rachel said. “No one wants to look fat in their wedding photos.”
“That’s not the problem.” Burt rolled his eyes. “Well, maybe that’s one of the problems. I dunno.”
Kurt’s throat tightened and his stomach churned. “I’m going to hunt Finn down and kill him.”
“What?” Rachel’s hands stilled and she backed away.
“Yeah. Well.” Burt ran a hand over his mouth. “Great Grandma Hudson told Carole, and mind she’s no fan of vamps, but she bringing a vampire into the Clan is dicy, because if a Lycan and a vampire mate, and y’know, make a kid, the vampire will kill off the father. And the urge will only grow stronger the closer you are to giving birth, and it won’t go away once the baby is born. She said they won’t stop until the father is dead, and maybe the Clan, too.”
“That cannot be right!” Rachel protested.
Kurt lowered his head. “I think it’s true.”
Burt draped his arm over Kurt’s shoulders and squeezed. “We’ll set the ceremony up asap, and it’ll be fine. It’s a whole thing that brings you into his pack.”
“And that’ll make me less dangerous?” Kurt’s brows raised hopefully.
“Well. Y’know. To him. And Carole, anyway. I don’t know about the others. You haven’t met most of them. But it should help.”
“Okay.” Kurt nodded. He looked back to the book and ran his fingers over the symbol depicted there.
They moved quickly. That night Kurt went over to their loft, since Carole said the ritual should be performed in a place where Kurt felt at home. It wasn’t likely that Kurt would want to go anywhere after that. Finn wasn’t there yet, but Kurt could smell him all around. It made him anxious.
Rachel was preparing something pungent in the kitchen, and Burt was looking over the book once again. For all good that would do, since Kurt barely understood it, and Burt didn’t read the language at all.
Kurt sensed Finn’s arrival, and he retreated to a corner. He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to get through the part of the ritual that occurred before he was no longer a rabid, snapping animal. He bit his lip and shuddered. He’d never been so out of control before.
“Kurt.” His father drew closer to him. “It’s okay. It’ll be over soon.”
Kurt clung to the wall. There was another scent. Familiar, but… “Carole? Carole’s here too?”
“We need her for the ritual.” Burt touched Kurt’s shoulders, but he slipped away and kept his eyes on the door.
He was holding his jaws as tightly as he could, but his fangs were coming out anyway. The door opened. Finn stood frozen there when he caught sight of Kurt.
“Hey, sweet stuff.”
Kurt opened his mouth for a greeting, but couldn’t manage it. He needed all of his concentration not to fly across the room and put them both down. Carole didn’t seem concerned at all. She set down her bag and then went to the kitchen.
“It’s good to see you, sweetheart,” she told Kurt. Her face was sympathetic. All Kurt could hear was her heart.
When Finn stepped closer, Kurt lost it. Within a blink, he was on top of him with his lips at his throat. Kurt had just barely managed to stop himself from biting into the soft flesh there.
“Please. Kurt, just a little more, and we’ll be able to be together again.”
“I’m trying! I am. I’m sorry,” Kurt said through clenched teeth.
Finn kept his eyes on Kurt, not even trying to fight back. That was good. If he had, Kurt wouldn’t be able to restrain himself any longer.
“Kurt! Kurt, just come back here,” Burt ordered.
Kurt couldn’t move himself, though. If he did, he might pick off Carole first. She was softer, weaker, an easier kill…
There was a long, terrifying silence in the room. Then a hand touched his back, and a velvety smooth voice spoke a single ancient word. Kurt went limp and let himself be gently rolled off of Finn.
“What was that? What the hell are you doing to him?” Finn demanded.
“Kurt asked me to come,” said the smooth voice. “I’m here to help.”
Kurt blinked up. “Blaine.”
“Whoa. Aren’t you a Hunter?” Rachel asked.
“Yes. But you could say they don’t invite me to the annual picnic anymore.” Blaine kept his hand on Kurt, prayer beads wrapped around his fingers and wrist. “This won’t hurt him. Just calm him down. A lot. I just want…” He leaned forward with eyes boggling. “Are you pregnant?”
Kurt nodded his head sluggishly.
Blaine’s face broke into a large, beaming grin. “That’s awesome!”
“That’s why we have to do this. Can you keep him calm?” Carole asked.
“Depends on what you’re going to do. I’m pretty sure this magic won’t hurt the baby, though.”
“The baby is fine,” Kurt murmured. “He’s… He’s napping. It put him to sleep.”
“Right. It’s meant for taming, not destruction. Help me get him up?”
Kurt struggled to his feet and let Blaine and his father position him in the circle of smelly herbs and oils that Rachel had rubbed on the floor. Rachel frowned at Blaine as she handed the book to Carole, who also stepped into the circle.
“Everyone get in place. We have to do this tonight under the New Moon,” Carole said. She smiled to Kurt. “I don’t know if the moon really matters, but the phase of the moon is mentioned in pretty much every ritual and ceremony that Lycans have.”
“Seems appropriate.” Kurt’s head dipped. The sleepy, dizzy feeling was not pleasant, but it was much better than the rush of adrenaline and the urge to stain the floor red with the blood of his loved ones.
Finn stood next to Kurt and watched him with skewed brows. He was scared. Kurt could smell that. And he should be.
“Behold this union,” Carole read, “of Lycan and Kinn. I, as mother to the Clan of Hudson, solemnly invite the Clan of Hummel into ours, to be of one blood and one pack, for the mutual benefit and survival of all.”
She set the book down and took a black handled knife from Rachel. “Brace yourself,” she said quietly to them. Then she sliced her hand.
Kurt’s nostrils filled with the scent of her blood and he gritted his teeth. She came forward and painted on both of their faces.
“Ew,” Rachel murmured.
Blaine held Kurt more tightly, as a hissing rose from his chest.
“You are both blessed in your choice of partner by the blood of the mother,” she said. “Prosperity will be yours.”
She grabbed a cloth and pressed it against her hand. “Okay, that’s the initial part. Now, Finn, you have to mark him first, as invitation. It’s safer that way.”
“Can I get that?” Burt moved forward and wrapped up her hand tightly. “Don’t need any more blood in the air.”
She looked at him fondly and whispered, “Thank you.” Then she moved out of the circle. “Blaine, you’re going to have to come away. You can’t be in the circle when they do this.”
Blaine frowned. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“This won’t take much longer.” Kurt looked at him. “We have do to it. Or you’re probably going to have to put me down sooner or later.”
Blaine blew air out his lips, then unwrapped the beads and hung them around Kurt’s neck. Kurt slumped forward and put a hand over his mouth.
“It’s not the same without me touching you.” Blaine showed them his palm, where a complicated sigil had been burned in. “But it’ll have to do.”
He backed up and joined the others, putting two fingers to his lips and murmuring. Kurt felt the weight of the beads and the spell Blaine was imbuing upon them. He wished they dared to just use one of the stronger sigils, the ones that sapped his strength… but that might well kill the baby, and Blaine probably hadn’t brought one out for that very reason.
Finn cupped Kurt’s cheek and pressed their foreheads together. “You and me.” Gently he tilted Kurt’s head back, then cut the skin with his nail. His mouth moved over the cut, drawing out the blood. Then Kurt could feel Finn’s tongue tracing the mark with his blood over his skin. Heat surged inside him. His fanged bared, and he hissed as his body shook.
When Finn drew away, their eyes met. Kurt felt volatile. And it was his turn. Draw Finn’s blood. Mark him. After that, every other Lycan would be able to sense that Finn was taken. There were no other Kinn to see that of Kurt, but he would, if everything worked, sense Finn and Carole as one of his own.
He closed his eyes and went to work. The second he cut Finn’s neck, he lunged forward, and it was all over.
Or it should have been. Kurt would never be able to say where he got the willpower to keep from finishing it. He would tell their son that it was because just then, he had woken up and done a flip inside his belly, and denying a Clan to his son, the way he had been denied by Hunters, was probably the worst thing he could do to him.
He didn’t know. But he drew Finn’s sweet blood and sucked on Finn’s neck as he made the mark. He knew when it was complete because his own began to burn. He pulled back, blood still on his lips, and saw bright light emanating from Finn’s mark.
It felt like they were being engulfed, and suddenly Kurt’s strength disappeared and he collapsed into Finn’s arms. Finn lowered them to the ground and pulled him close. Then he jerked off the beads and threw them out of the circle. Kurt looked up and felt the sense of urgency and bloodlust that had been driving him for the past few months dying down. He grabbed the back of Finn’s head and kissed him desperately.
“Leheilm!” Rachel cheered.
“We should’a done this years ago,” Carole said with her hand to her chest. She turned and gave Burt a kiss on the cheek, and they hugged.
Blaine shook his head in amazement. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Finn petted over Kurt’s hair, his face doting and content. He kissed his forehead. “Mine.”
“That’s what the mark says.” Kurt rubbed his finger over it. The cut had healed, and to human eyes, what remained was invisible. To Kurt, the mark still glowed faintly, and spoke clearly.
You belong here. You are ours now.
Kurt buried his face in Finn’s shoulder and shuddered as he began to sob in relief. Finn wrapped his arms around him tightly.
“It’s okay. We’re okay now.” Finn peppered Kurt’s hair with kisses.
“I know. I know.” He lifted his head and smiled. Then he laughed a little and looked at their audience. Somehow, the magic that tied him to the Hudsons, that made him feel as though they were family, had extended to everyone who had been in the room. He’d already felt it for his father, of course, but now Rachel and Blaine felt tied to him, too. He was also grateful for that. He worried about hurting the humans he spent the most time with. “Thank you.”
Finn wiped the tears off of Kurt’s face and he picked him up as he rose. “Oof. Getting heavy there.”
“That’s as much your fault as mine,” Kurt protested.
Finn looked down and grinned. “Hey, baby!”
“Oh! I made a cake.” Rachel bounced into the kitchen and opened the plastic cake carrier that she’d brought with her.
Kurt rolled his eyes. “Cake. You brought cake to the blood ritual.”
“Oh, come on! It’s a wedding.”
“We’ll do the first dance later.” Finn set Kurt down in their chair, and knelt in front of him, biting his lip. “We should do it. The wedding. For realsies. Later, I mean. When he’s born.”
“Yeah.” Kurt took his hand and held it for a moment. Then he smiled, thinking of what had been on Finn’s mind during so many of their conversations. He pulled up his top and pressed Finn’s hand to his belly.
Finn lit up. He’d never had the chance to feel the baby move, but he did now, and his boyish enthusiasm made Kurt laugh. As did the way Finn talked to the baby, and nuzzled his face against Kurt’s belly.
Kurt suspected they would be having a lot of physical contact to make up for lost time.
***
Nibble nibble.
Finn tried to look innocent when Kurt looked over at him sleepily. Finn squeezed him gently and kissed the back of his neck. Kurt yawned and kissed him with a smile on his lips.
“This is exactly how it should be,” Kurt murmured.
“I can’t complain.”
Although Kurt was obviously tired from the long day, he rolled over, and the two of them began to kiss heatedly. It had just been too long of a separation, and with too much promise of permanence. After the others had left, there had been sex. Of course there had been sex. But after that, Finn held Kurt tight for all the cuddling and support he’d suspected Kurt needed, but couldn’t get. Even with friends or family, he needed his partner in this.
Finn rubbed their noses together and let out a “whuff!” Kurt laughed and stroked the back of Finn’s hair adoringly. It was somewhat okay, even though Rachel had warned him as though it was a problem, that Kurt was preferring more and more to stay hidden away from the human world, away from strangers and any new elements. That instinct made a lot of sense to Finn, and he was glad that their instincts had finally aligned. Because Finn would actually like to hide Kurt away for the next several months, keep him cloistered and safe.
“If I didn’t want it, it would be creepy, right?” Kurt teased. He went to Finn’s neck and left a trail of wet sucks.
“Ahh! Stop… Reading my mind!”
“Whatever. Tell Rachel that your paternal instincts won’t let her throw me a big baby shower. I don’t want everyone I know crammed into our nest here and seeing me pregnant. I’ve had enough stress.” Now his tongue moved teased over Finn’s collarbone.
“Unn… Gotcha. Baby shower cancelled.”
Finn caught Kurt’s hand as it snuck southward, then when Kurt lifted his head, Finn cupped his cheek so he could just stare into his eyes. Bright sky blue. He’d always loved how Kurt’s eyes changed. They were beautiful, almost unbearably so. They should write big sappy novels about his partner, the non-sparkling, seriously lethal, smart, funny, pregnant vampire.
“Hm?” Finn nuzzled him.
“What? Oh. You just told me not to read your mind!” Kurt laughed.
It felt good to see him so happy. Finn had been pathetic and miserable, and Kurt had always looked so sad when Finn was… well, basically stalking him.
“I was just thinking how hot you are.”
“Hm. Good.”
“And I don’t want anyone looking at you.”
Kurt laughed again. He rolled Finn on his back, then maneuvered himself up to straddle his legs. Finn waggled his brows and moved his hand over Kurt’s chest, then his rounded belly. Kurt’s lips curved wickedly. His mark shone in the dark like a beacon.
Oh, Finn would be definitely be making use of their alone time before the baby was born.
“Honeymoon,” Kurt sang softly, moving in to nibble gently on his neck.
Title: Paternal Instincts
Pairing: Kurt/Finn
Warnings: violence, blood
Word Count: 9840
Summary: Future fic for earlier parts of the series. A surprise pregnancy turns dangerous for Kurt and Finn.
First parts:
Forget that Twilight Nonsense
Gibbous Moon
Finn felt sharp teeth nibbling along his shoulder, and with a yawn, he smiled widely. It would be pretty stupid to let a pregnant vampire snack on him in the middle of the night, but it was cute. And a little romantic that he could be the sustenance for both Kurt and their baby.
He rubbed his eyes and flipped around, rolling Kurt over onto his back and then straddling his legs. Kurt looked up at him, eyes blinking over and over.
“Hungry?” Finn swooped down and kissed Kurt’s lips. Fangs and all. He stroked his hands down Kurt’s shoulders, over his arms. Then he cupped the back of Kurt’s head and moved one hand down Kurt’s chest and over the gentle swell just below his navel.
“Sorry,” Kurt murmured. “Wasn’t awake.”
Finn kissed his lips again and nuzzled his nose against Kurt’s. “That’s okay. I’ll get you a mug.”
“You’re the best.”
“Nah.” Finn rose and scratched his naked stomach as he walked down the stairs of their loft bedroom into the main area where the kitchen was located. His night vision was just slightly activated so he didn’t have to turn on any lights and disturb Kurt, who he could hear breathing deeply, asleep already. He seemed so tired lately.
The pregnancy had been a surprise. Moreso for Finn. Lycans had clearly defined genders… as clearly defined as humans, anyway. It hadn’t occurred to him that Kurt could get pregnant. In Kurt’s case, Kinn were generally androgynous to a degree, and internally hermaphroditic. They adhered to the concepts of gender loosely, treating it mostly as optional, or as drag, since their ‘males’ were just as capable as their ‘females’ of bearing young. One dressed the body in accordance with what felt right or looked good.
Kurt just hadn’t figured that werewolves and vampires could mate. The wars between the two groups suggested a shared history, one that Finn had over the years pried out of his family members little by little. While, of course, being very, very careful not to let any of his Lycan family know that his partner was one of the hated Kinn. Except his mother, who just adored Kurt like he was her own son. Years of family prejudice hadn’t been able to make her hate Kurt, after she’d recovered from the shock that one had been hanging around her house (not literally) for almost three years without trying to destroy her family.
Finn thought now that their different breeds must share more than a history. Genetic codes. They were expressions of something similar. That was why Kurt could weather a bite without going through the Change. That was why there were stories that Kinn could change at will, when they got old enough. That was why Kurt’s belly was now swelling with Finn’s child.
Yawning again, Finn put the cold mug of blood in the microwave. Sometimes they went to hunt together, for a change of pace or to exorcise the energy that pent up when one lived among the humans. But often they just used the butcher for convenience. Finn took the mug out, pierced his thumb with a nail, and let his own blood drip into the midnight snack. He found drinking blood sort of gross, and the pig’s blood was even grosser than most. But Kurt had to do it to live, and he wouldn’t feed on humans without their consent.
He grabbed some cheese and crackers and put them on a plate before he shuffled back up to their bedroom area. Sure enough, Kurt was curled over, a hand protecting his abdomen. Finn smiled.
Unexpected, but definitely not unwanted. Finn didn’t even care whether the kid was a boy or a girl, or otherwise. Or if the baby end up more wolfy or vampy. He felt lucky to be partnering with Kurt in this crazy unplanned adventure. Sure, it would probably get more stressful. He remembered how it had been when he’d thought he’d gotten a girl pregnant in high school, but Kurt was nothing ordinary. They would manage. And it wasn’t like Kurt would be going for doctors’ visits.
Finn set the plate on the nightstand and slipped back into bed. His fingers trailed over Kurt’s temple.
“Wake up, sweets. Don’t want everyone at work to see your nibble marks all over me.” Finn shrugged his head to the side and chuckled. “Or maybe we do. Show ‘em I’m owned.”
Kurt wrinkled up his nose, yawned, and lifted his head. Finn put an arm around him and cuddled him close as he waved the mug under Kurt’s nose.
“Oh. Finn.” Kurt wrapped his fingers around the mug and took a sip.
“Who else would bring you bloody goodness in the middle of the night?”
“No. Well, yes.” Kurt licked his lips. “But I meant I smelled your blood in here. Thanks.”
Finn shrugged. “The cut’ll heal before tomorrow night.”
Kurt leaned into him as he sipped the warm, thick liquid. Finn reached over and grabbed some crackers to munch on. He offered a little cracker sandwich for Kurt, and surprisingly, he took a bite. He let Finn feed him the whole thing, hungrily, and washed it down with the blood. Experimentally, when Finn finished a cracker sandwich, he’d offer one to Kurt, and he took it without complaint.
It was a little unnerving to watch Kurt’s dietary needs changing so drastically. Before, he took very little human food, and he only needed blood once or twice a day. Finn wanted to be able take care of Kurt. He just wasn’t sure how. And he just hoped they could do this without much guidance.
“Stop.” Kurt caught him in a tangy kiss. He tasted like blood and cheddar. Then he met Finn’s eyes, and petted his cheek.
“No more crackers?”
“Stop worrying. I can’t be killed. I’m sure my progeny will be just as tenacious.”
Finn frowned. It wasn’t true that Kurt couldn’t be killed. It was just really friggin’ difficult. “I can’t believe you just used the word progeny to talk about our baby. You think she’ll be a super villain?”
“I’ll get to work bedazzling some little booties and a cape in the morning,” Kurt said cheerfully.
“Also, stop reading my mind.” Finn kissed Kurt’s temple. “You’re getting too good at that.”
“I thought I’d be older when the mind reading really kicked in,” Kurt mused. “I wonder if it’s a self-defense thing. Because I’m the only one now, or…” He shrugged. “Maybe because of the baby.”
“That makes sense. Vamps are kinda solitary. They’d have to defend themselves. No relying on the pack.” Finn grabbed some more cheese. “It just doesn’t make sense to me, though, for vamps to be alone all the time. Wouldn’t it be easier for them to band together?”
“I think a territory thing.” Kurt knocked back the rest of the blood.
“Territory? Like cats? Pissing on your front porch?” Finn was skating on thin ice with that last comparison, but Kurt didn’t seem to take offense this time.
“More like, this flock of humans is mine. Get your own.”
Finn raised his brows. He didn’t usually think of Kurt as a predatory animal, but technically, that applied to both of them.
“I’m not going to start feasting on our neighbors,” Kurt said.
“I know that,” Finn scoffed. He took the mug from Kurt and set it aside. Then he looked over Kurt curiously.
As far as creatures of the night were concerned, Kurt was probably the most dangerous thing out there. The fastest, most lethal, and the best at hiding in the shadows. And Finn liked that because it meant he had to worry less. More people would kill Kurt if they knew what he was, from humans, to Hunters, to Lycans, and pretty much anything else. They all recognized Kinn as the top of the food chain, and something that had to be wiped out for the good of whatever-kind. So Finn wanted to know that, unless magic was concerned, Kurt could take down pretty much anything that came after him.
The pregnancy put that into question… Unless vampires were traditionally solitary during pregnancy. But still, who would make sure Kurt got enough food, and was properly taken care of if he had to be alone?
“Stop.” Kurt combed Finn’s hair with his fingers and kissed along his neck.
Finn wrapped his arms around him. Kurt’s long, lean body ground against his. Their eyes met, and Finn grinned at the familiar, dark hue in Kurt’s eyes and the wicked curve of his lips.
Yet another craving Finn was happy to satisfy.
It had only been a few weeks ago when Kurt had begun to feel strange. The headaches came first, and he’d attributed that to his recent inability to get humans’ vapid thoughts out of his damn head. Kurt didn’t dislike humans. He’d been raised by one, and all of his friends were humans, save a wolf from high school and of course, Finn. But their heads were noisy, full of blabbering words, and it was extremely annoying.
Next came a general sense of exhaustion and dizziness. He would get lightheaded more often, could fall asleep anywhere. It had been years since Kurt and Finn had been forced to face down a Hunter, but the idea of getting weak like that still brought him back to that time a group of them had been trying to find Kurt at McKinley and used magic to weaken him to the point of uselessness.
He’d checked all his clothes for strange marks, but the next symptom made it too clear for him that it wasn’t magic. That was hunger. It was his body demanding more blood. More than he’d ever taken, even when injured. He’d walk down the streets, hearing the sounds of blood rushing through people’s bodies, their hearts wantonly beating away, begging to be plucked from their chests.
Realizing that he was pregnant had been a relief. Since he’d been starting to wonder if he was losing his flipping mind. He’d been visiting his father when it occurred to him. He was sucking back his third bag of blood for the day, and dropped down onto the couch with his dad to watch a car show. It was a nice to be able to come see him or Carole. Kurt loved the city, but he (perhaps traitorously for a vampire) found comfort in being surrounded by family. He’d always felt cut off, since the only vampire he’d ever known besides himself was his mother. There was no sprawling Clan that he was connected to.
“You shouldn’t skip breakfast,” Burt had scolded. “You know that’s dangerous.”
“I didn’t. And I’m not going to hurt anyone.” Kurt lifted his head and smelled something that made his fangs peek out a little.
“Huh. Okay then.” Burt reached over and felt Kurt’s head.
“I’m not sick. I don’t get sick,” Kurt said, though he dutifully allowed his father to check for a fever.
“You’re warm, though. Not hot. Just not cold.”
“I’ve felt a little strange lately. Not bad. Just tired.” Kurt set his mug aside and rose to look out the window. The neighbor across the street was grilling hotdogs. To Kurt’s horror. Hotdogs were disgusting. Why would he want one?
“What’s going on out there?”
“Mr. Jenkins is grilling.” Kurt walked back into the kitchen, poked around in the fridge for a moment, then returned with some smoked turkey.
His father eyed him.
“What?”
“Nothin’.” He patted Kurt’s leg. “Just weird to see you eat. Don’t stop on my account. You and your mother always seemed to be the be gauge of what you needed. Which is good, because I would never have been able to guess what you needed during a growth spurt. Or when she was pregnant.”
Kurt munched on his turkey. A few seconds later he set down the plate and touched his flat stomach lightly. He remained quiet, eyes on the screen, then slipped his fingers under his shirt to feel over the warm spot below his belly button.
Oh.
He didn’t say anything to his father right away. He wanted to be sure, and he needed to talk to Finn about it. But Kurt needn’t have worried. When he told Finn his suspicions, his partner’s eyes lit up, and he started sniffing Kurt all over, excitedly.
“You’re definitely pregnant. You smell pregnant.”
Kurt wasn’t sure what pregnant smelled like, but he wasn’t terribly aware of his own scent. Finn was very concerned with that, it seemed. A wolf thing. He knew his mate. And he had been right.
Telling their parents had been fun, although Carole had determined she would have to move closer to them. It wasn’t right in her mind for Finn to be so cut off from the pack, even if that was for good reason. They couldn’t share their happy news with the rest of the Clan, because there was no telling how they might react. Kurt could take care of himself. He hoped he could take care of a little one, too. But he wouldn’t let them hurt his child, even if they were Finn’s family.
Kurt stood in front of the mirror, trying to make his cardigan close, but it was a fruitless battle. His increased appetite was serving its function, and his tummy poked out proudly. He wasn’t sure if he looked “pregnant” per se, to the average passerby, but he definitely needed to work something out in the area of clothing. He settled for a long sweater pulled over his regular jeans and a band that covered their failure to button. He’d remained slender most everywhere else, so he thought he might be able to slip through most of the pregnancy without straining their finances on clothing.
Funny that he would be the person wanting to avoid buying clothes. Kurt just didn’t want to leave the apartment much these days, not even to hunt. Rachel had called complaining that Finn was denying her prime gay bff time with Kurt, and he’d had to start emailing his other friends more, so they wouldn’t feel neglected.
As Kurt reached for his bag, something flickered in his mind. At first he thought that he was picking up one of his neighbor’s thoughts, but this was different. Not words. Not pictures, either. Just… muffled sounds, dark and light. All this little mind had ever known.
Kurt heart fluttered. He dropped his bag and brushed his fingers over his belly. “Oh. Hello.”
Everyone else’s thoughts disappeared, leaving those of his little baby, who was dreaming. Yes. He was.
Moving slowly, Kurt made his way into the living room area and curled up in a chair, petting his hand over his belly as he listened to the amorphous prenatal thoughts of his baby. Contentment that he hadn’t know since he was a child filled his heart, and though he’d been nervous about this pregnancy, suddenly all he wanted was to hold his child in his arms.
When Kurt heard a noise, he was up and at the door in less than a second, pinning the person to the ground and baring his fangs with a hiss.
“Is this a game?”
Kurt’s ears were filled with the sound of his prey’s blood rushing, pumping. Invading his space, but ready to make a meal for his little one. Kurt licked his lips and started to sniff along the creature’s neck. It wiggled ineffectively, trying to free itself.
“Kurt…? This isn’t funny. Kurt? Kurt!”
Kurt blinked. His eyes refocused. Finn. He had pinned Finn to the ground. He’d been about to suck Finn dry.
Kurt flitted to the other side of their loft, hugging one arm over himself as he tried to make sense of what had just happened. He’d never been a murderer. Never fed on anyone against their will. He considered it rape, and murder, and it was simply unacceptable.
God, he really was a monster. He’d just been a baby monster waiting to grow up into something terrible. No wonder every other species out there wanted to kill him.
“Hey!” Finn jogged across the room. “Kurt, don’t-”
“Stay away from me!” Kurt shrieked.
Finn stopped and stared at him. “Sweets, it’s okay. I’m okay. Did you get startled, or…?”
“I…” Kurt shook his head. He trembled and slid to the floor.
Finn stood there ineffectively, trying to figure out what to do. Kurt had attacked him. Finn had never seen Kurt go after anyone like that before, aside from Hunters, and that had really been a kill-or-be-killed situation. He’d spared the Hunter who’d been kind to them. The ones who had magic were damn dangerous, an they could, and would, take out wolves, vamps, and humans alike. Adults or children. They’d both seen it.
Taking in a deep breath, Finn scratched his head. He had to do something. Kurt had been baring his fangs, so…
He was hungry. Finn went to the kitchen and started to make up a big bowl of blood. He’d have to get a double batch when he went to the butcher’s next. It might look suspicious, but what could he do? Kurt was feeding for two, as funny as that sounded.
He paused as he was about to add some of his blood for flavor. Was that making it harder for Kurt to keep control? Finn sighed. This was something that he couldn’t understand. No one could. Who in the world know what vampires did when they were pregnant?
“Oh, stupid,” Finn muttered. He pulled out his cell phone as he started to microwave the bowl.
“What’s up?” Burt asked.
“Hey. I needed to ask you some questions… I know this is weird, but… I have to. So um-”
“Ask, Finn. Do you guys need money?”
“No. Well. Yeah, but this isn’t about that. I wanted to ask you about Kurt’s mom when she was pregnant. Did she ever feed on you?”
“No, not really.”
Finn grimaced. “Did you ever put your blood in her supply? Not a lot, but like a little for taste? Would that be a bad idea?”
“You’re right, that is a weird question. No, Lizzie tried not to taste my blood ever. She was afraid she’d get used to it.”
“Oh. Was that when she was pregnant?”
“Nope. Pretty much all the time. I’d only give her some if she was hurt.”
“Oh.”
“Do you?”
“Um.” Finn took the bowl of blood out and looked over to the corner. Kurt was still there, curled up and distraught. “Well, we’ve always kind of done it. Not regularly, or anything, but Kurt knows my taste pretty well. He’s never attacked me before.”
“Wait. He attacked you?”
“Yeah.” Finn lowered his voice. Kurt would hear it anyway. He’d have to leave the building for Kurt not to hear. “He jumped me when I came home. Not in a good way.”
Burt sighed.
“It was like he didn’t know me.” Finn watched Kurt and came over slowly with the blood. Maybe he could give him some food with that. He’d be less dangerous for sure, if they could keep him well-fed.
Kurt looked up. His eyes were swollen from crying, and the irises had gone almost the color of water. Finn wanted to reach over and console him, but he could sense that Kurt didn’t want to be touched.
“Sorry. I needed to think on that one.”
“It’s okay.” Finn set down the bowl, then whispered. “Eat, sweet stuff. It’ll be okay.”
“She never attacked me, but we were living in Jersey at the time she was pregnant. Had to move around a lot then, y’know. There was this guy who worked with me, and she landed him on the floor. She was eight months, too, and I thought she was going to rip his head off and drink from it. I’d never seen her like that before. Turned out he was a Lycan, and she smelled it on him.”
“Oh. How did you calm her down?”
“I didn’t. He knew what she was, so he fought back and tried to kill her. She won.”
“Shit.”
“They can handle themselves, that’s for damn sure.”
Finn stopped by refrigerator and looked around for what he could give to Kurt. “Well.”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. He recognized me in time. But he’s really upset.” Finn looked back. Kurt had disappeared. “Can I call you back?”
“What’s going on?”
“I just need to find him. I’ll call you back.” Finn set the phone down and started to scour the apartment. Kurt had drunk the blood, but there was no sign of him. He’d just vanished.
Finn dropped down into a chair and struggled to breathe.
Looking from one end of the hallway to the other, Kurt kept his eyes out for anyone, or anything that might hurt him or his baby. Because if anything got near him, he would have to get away quickly before his instincts took over and he became a murderer.
He rang the doorbell once again. It was odd to have a doorbell with “Don’t Rain on My Parade” as the tune, but that was Rachel Berry for you.
She appeared at the door, with a big fake smile that faded the moment she saw his blotchy, tear-stained cheeks. “Oh, my God. Kurt!” She grabbed his arm and ushered him inside.
Rachel was one of the few friends Kurt had kept from high school who knew their secrets. Partially because she was nosy, and partially because when Hunters came after him sophomore, and then junior, year, she’d gotten caught up in the mess. She knew about the wolves, and the vamps, and she knew about the baby. He also knew from her surface thoughts that she was trying to think of a way to throw him a baby shower without telling the girls all of his secrets.
“Did you have a fight? Did Finn do something stupid? I know how he can be. He never means it; thoughts and words just don’t go together sometimes for him!” She led him over to her sofa. Rachel’s dads had gotten her some nice things for this small New York apartment. The sofa was as comfy as could be.
“I almost killed him,” Kurt confessed.
When Rachel giggled, Kurt started to cry again and covered his face. She went quiet, then wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
“Tell me what happened?”
So Kurt did, every bit of it came spilling out as he curled his fingers into his sweater and tried not to completely lose it. He’d always been good at compartmentalizing, but this was just too much.
“I can’t lose him. I can’t. I need him. We need him.”
Rachel’s head rested on his shoulder, and she petted his back. “Your dad said it was instinctual though, right? So it won’t last. You just lost control for a second-”
“Honey, you know how fast I am. A second is more than enough.” Kurt’s fingers pressed to his cheek. “I’m a monster.”
“You are not! Stop saying that.”
“What else would you call someone who kills the father of their child?”
“A praying mantis?” Rachel kissed his cheek. “I don’t have any blood in the house. Can I get you anything else?”
“This isn’t funny,” Kurt snapped.
“Well, don’t eat me,” Rachel said as she got up and headed for her kitchen. “I’d taste terrible. I’m on a new diet pill.” Kurt rolled his eyes. “I know you want to be an actress more than anything, but sweetheart, those things are terrible for you.”
“They’re working!”
“FYI, they also make you smell weird.” Kurt rose and followed her to the kitchen.
“All right. You know, I don’t have any meat here, either.”
“I can usually eat whatever protein Finn wants to give me. A few weeks ago, carbs started seeming appetizing.” Kurt sighed and leaned back on the counter. “So I’m not just going to be a monster, I’ll be a fat monster.”
“Well, you are pregnant.” Rachel turned and looked over him. “Besides, you’re just too skinny. Maybe if you just ate more, you wouldn’t get a hankering for your mate’s flesh.”
“My partner’s. We’re not animals.” Kurt stared down at his bump. He’d forgotten to listen to the baby, but checking in, the kid didn’t seem to be doing much but sleep. That made sense, though, and it was a bit of a relief that this new psychic boost served a purpose.
“Oh! I know.” Rachel hugged him and pulled his head down to her shoulder, then petted it. “Okay! I’m going to make you some delicious pineapple cous cous stir-fry. Lots of protein, and I know you like fruit!”
Kurt couldn’t force himself to cheer up, but he followed Rachel around in the kitchen as she went to work, having decided that what he needed was food. Kurt could chop faster than pretty much anyone in the world, anyway.
Everything was sizzling away in Rachel’s wok when Kurt sensed Finn outside the building. Kurt sucked in his cheeks and wiped his hands on a towel.
“Where are you going?”
“Um. Bathroom.”
Rachel sighed. “Ah, the joys of pregnancy. I won’t know them for many years.”
“At least you won’t eat your babydaddy,” Kurt muttered.
He took a few steps out of the kitchen and then disappeared, zipping down the hallway and stairs, and stopping on the stoop that led down to the sidewalk. He could see Finn stop mid-step at the corner. He lingered there for quite a while. He looked down, toed the ground, looked up again at Kurt, then down to the ground.
Kurt licked along his lower lip, then sucked it in. He didn’t know if he hoped Finn would come over or not. He could imagine how Finn had found him. Find his scent, track him down. Even if Kurt could travel much faster than him, Finn would always be able to find him.
After what seemed like a painfully long time, Finn started toward Kurt, his eyes fixed on him. He thought Kurt would disappear again.
Kurt hadn’t quite decided whether he should or not.
“Please stop,” Kurt whispered when Finn came close.
“Please don’t run away.”
Finn kept coming. Kurt felt the urge to attack him rising again, the need to defend himself and his child from the enemy. He clenched his fists and turned his head.
Then Finn was there, guiding Kurt’s face toward him with his fingers. Finn pinched his lips to the side as he looked at him.
“We love each other,” Finn muttered. “We…”
He sighed and his lips bowed downward.
“We do.” Kurt breathed in and out, his chest tightening. “But this isn’t about that. This is… biology. Instinct. I’m dangerous. I’m getting more dangerous every day,”
Finn nodded. “But you’ve always been able to control that. You’re better than any wolf I’ve ever met at keeping a lid on the predator side. Right? You just need some time…”
“I think we need to be apart. At least for now, I guess.” Kurt closed his eyes, and tears came again. “Hormones.”
“I don’t think it’s hormones.” Finn wiped Kurt’s cheek with his thumb. Then his lips pressed against the wet skin.
Kurt lifted his head back as he struggled, and failed, to keep his fangs from elongating. His fingers gripped Finn’s arm tight, tight… too tight.
“Ah!” Finn moved back and looked on Kurt with surprise. The hostile greeting from before had been wiped from his memory because it was too hard to understand that Kurt would ever hurt him.
Kurt pressed his palms against the cold wall the the building and tried not to look into Finn’s eyes. He couldn’t risk compelling him to do anything, but maybe… Well. He could send him away. Make him go somewhere safe.
He closed his eyes. “I love you so much. Please go away.”
Finn stood there for another minute. “Look at me.”
Kurt let out a slow breath, then tilted his head a little and looked at Finn.
“Rachel will take care of you tonight? We can… We can figure this out.” Finn’s eyes suddenly overflowed. He was by far not a crier. “We’ll figure it out, and… and um, I can have some blood sent over here…”
Finn shoved both his hands into his hair and looked all around.
“Come over here for a minute?” Kurt reached out for him. “Then you really have to go.”
Finn hesitated for a moment. His heart rate surged. Kurt hated this. He hated for Finn to be afraid of him. But he needed to be.
“I love you,” Kurt whispered, taking Finn to him, holding him close, and kissing his lips. “Say goodbye to your son, and we’ll see you soon, okay, babe?”
Finn stroked his fingers over the side of Kurt’s face, then moved his hand down to his belly and petted it gently. “Goodnight, sweet stuff.” Then he knelt down and kissed his belly. He caressed the side, then pressed his cheek against it.
Kurt petted his hair for a moment, but he could only take Finn being close to his baby for so long.
“Time to go.”
Finn stood and nodded. He lunged in once more for one more kiss, then ran backwards for a minute before he bolted down the sidewalk. Kurt stayed, watching him go. Finn’s thoughts were clear in his mind. He understood, but he was so sad. He wished he could feel his baby move, and he was scared that something would happen to them while he couldn’t be there to protect them.
No wonder the wolves and vamps couldn’t get along. So little chance of intermarriage of Clans.
Kurt made his way back up to Rachel’s apartment slowly, one hand pressed against his forehead. His head ached. His body ached. He was exhausted.
Finn had never gone in for that Twilight bullshit, but he seemed to be stalking the one he loved now. And there was no way that Kurt didn’t know he was doing it. He had the sense of smell, the super hearing, and frankly he’d been able to sense where Finn was since they were teenagers.
Kurt hadn’t been to work in a long time. He’d isolated himself, and Finn had called Rachel to make sure she came over to get the delivery of Kurt’s blood supply.
But this was just killing Finn. He wanted to be with his mate (not that Kurt liked those terms). He wanted to help him fall asleep at night, to rub his back when it as sore, and to help him tie his shoes as his belly got bigger. He wanted to be there to protect him and watch out for him.
Mostly he was just following at a distance. And calling absolutely every single night. He’d called him the moment he’d gotten home the night they parted and talked with him until Rachel took the phone and told him to let Kurt get some sleep.
Finn had gone to talk to Burt about what was going on, and unfortunately, Burt (not to mention his mom) both agreed that until Kurt felt safe being around Finn, it was probably in his best interests to stay away.
But he couldn’t. Not completely. He had to see Kurt. He had to watch him on Rachel’s balcony rubbing his expanding belly. He had to stalk him through the streets to be sure no Hunters were following him. He had to know his scent.
They had been separated for almost a month when Finn came home to the apartment. The smell of Kurt was fresh. It was just unmistakable now that he was pregnant. He’d been there recently.
Finn lowered his chest and began sniffing. Of course, the big stuffed chair. He dropped his bag and went to curl up in the chair. He was pathetic. He knew this arrangement was for the best, for his safety and continued ability to live and be a father once the baby was born, and he was still sulking around like a teenager.
He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Kurt’s number. When it didn’t answer immediately, Finn began to get nervous. Maybe he shouldn’t be bothering him so much. Maybe he should just let Kurt be.
“You shouldn’t,” Kurt said when he answered the phone.
“I… Get outta my head,” Finn complained.
“Sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?”
“I came over today. I needed a few things… I stole a sweater.”
“Well. Even if you’re not living here, they’re still your clothes.”
“One of your sweaters. I’m stretching it out.”
Finn chuckled. “No, you’re not. You’re not even that big yet. Are you eating enough?”
“Rachel is feeding me within an inch of my life.”
“I bet. She’s worried about you.”
“I know. She’s worried about you, too. She’s being super cheerful about it. It’s a little scary.”
Finn rested his head on the arm of the chair. Kurt laid his head there, sometimes, when he nodded off there. “Can I come see you? For a few minutes? Is… Is the baby moving yet? I’m sorry, I shouldn’t ask-”
“I know its hard. But I can sense you when you’re following me. I’m not sure I can handle more than that.”
“I’m the father, though. I know you just want to protect the baby, and that’s why your instincts are making you crazy about Lycans.” Finn was whining, but he didn’t care. “But I’m the father! Shouldn’t your instincts know me? I can protect you-”
“Babe, logically, I know all of this. Believe me, if it were up to me, if I could control it…” Kurt let out a shaky breath.
Finn was upsetting him. “Shiny change of topic. I’ll be around the apartment tonight. Full moon.”
“I remember. Take care, okay? Our neighbors are nosy. I don’t want them coming over to complain because our ‘dog’ is making too much noise.” “I might be baying at the moon, pining for you. Oh wait, that was last night.”
“What were you doing when you were ‘baying’?”
“Oh, I think you know what I do when you aren’t around.” Finn paused. “Arroouuu!”
“I love you.”
They said it every time they talked on the phone. It was important to remember. Finn could practically imagine Kurt curled up in some chair, wearing one of his sweaters as he petted his belly.
“You’re awesome.”
“I’ll take that,” Kurt said.
“You are.” Finn closed his eyes and imagined Kurt sitting there with him as they chatted for about an hour about nothing in particular.
After hanging up, Finn slipped out of his clothes, locked the door, and set some food down for later. It was easier to weather the full moon when you lived out in the sticks. In the city, things were different. You had to take off work for several days, set up some newspaper in the bathroom, and make sure you had everything within reach for the night. It was the first full moon without Kurt in a long time. Whatever Kurt was doing, he normally tried to make it there to be with Finn.
He padded around the loft for a little while, then sat in front of the tv, naked. He got anxious before the change, and there was no usefulness to be made of him. Not unless he was with someone, and that anxiety could be burned off somehow. Finally, the Change came. Finn felt it before it actually began, so he turned off the television and started towards the bedroom.
It caught him mid-stride.
Bones crunching, back bending, Finn’s body took control, morphing into something else, the predator that was inside him at all times. The weirdest part, although painless, was the sprouting of hair all over his body. Everywhere but his freaking eyeballs.
After the Change, he lay there for a moment, panting. The transformation was draining. He waited longer than he normally would to get up. Then he just went around the apartment, sniffing things, as he was wont to do.
He ended up back in the chair, basking in Kurt’s scent.
Finn was dozing when he felt a hand in his fur. He snapped and growled, but then turned his head. The person had been far, far too fast for him to catch.
He made a whuffing sound as his head popped up and looked around the apartment. No one was there. Finn rested his chin on the arm of the chair with a huff. Kurt usually played with Finn when he was like this. Sometimes back in Lima, he’d take him for a walk on the less populated roads.
Finn’s lids began to close again. Open and closed, open and closed. He didn’t want to sleep, but he had nothing better to do. He couldn’t throw a ball himself. He couldn’t play tug of war with his rope with no one on the other side. Open. Closed. Open.
Finn’s eyes widened and he perked up at the sight of a silhouette on the balcony. He watched intently, then rose, his feet on the arm of the chair.
The shadow disappeared.
Finn hadn’t asked about his visit when he’d last called, but Kurt knew Finn had seen something, felt Kurt’s fingers mussing his fur. It was dangerous to visit one another like that. They both knew it, but it was so hard to stay away. All of Finn’s instincts were telling him to protect Kurt and their baby, and all of Kurt’s…
The night before he’d had a dream of ripping Finn’s throat out. When he’d wakened, then baby was kicking like crazy. And he was aroused. Aroused.
It had taken Kurt long enough to get comfortable with the idea of sex, let alone the various morbidities that were afforded to Finn and him because of their lineage. But now he was really beginning to understand why he was an only child. Even if his mother was having murderous dreams about people who were not the center of her world that would be enough. What had his kind been like before modern civilization? Did they just let the pregnant ones run around, ripping Lycans and humans to shreds? Did they tie them up by the campsite and bring food to them so the babies could grow while the host went insane?
Kurt was stirring his tea moodily on the balcony when he heard Rachel opening the door. A reticence came over him. He’d not exactly been gregarious before, but the further along he got, the less Kurt wanted to be around people of any kind. If he could hole up in a cave somewhere and still have the food he needed for his son, he would go for that in a heartbeat.
The sound of his father’s voice pricked his ears, and he set down the tea to push himself out of the chair. Burt was with Rachel by the counter that divided the kitchen from the den with a big dusty book laid out. Rachel peered over it curiously, although she had to get on her tip toes to see it up there.
“Hey! Kurt!” Burt came over to him and gave him a big hug.
Kurt closed his eyes, grateful that his instincts allowed him this much. He wasn’t sure he could stay away from his father for the next four to five months.
“How you feelin’?”
Kurt considered that for a moment. He was sure that there was conflict written all over his face. “Okay.”
“Yeah, I can see that,” Burt replied dryly. “C’mon over here. I have something that might help.”
“I’ll just bring it over there!” Rachel hefted the book into her arms and hurried over to the coffee table. “Why don’t you sit down?”
“I’m not fragile, Rachel,” Kurt said. He took a seat anyway.
Burt flipped through the book. “Carole and I have been talking about your problem, and she went to her grandmother to pick her brain a little about it.”
“Wait. Her family knows?” Kurt’s heart jumped into his throat.
“No. Calm down and trust us a little, wouldja?” Burt’s fingers stopped on a page.
Kurt scanned over the text, but it didn’t seem to be English… Well, parts of it were. Some of it was made of symbols he’d seen in one of this mother’s old books.
“Carole told her that she needed to learn these things to pass on to the next generation. They pretty much believe vampires are extinct.”
“Good.” Kurt’s hand cupped his belly. If they knew about him, about them, he would have to go do something about that. They shouldn’t be too hard to find…
What was wrong with him? Kurt took a breath. Normal pregnant women had mood swings, and he had cravings for mass murder. Damn.
“The book says there’s a ritual that can help you and Finn. And you can live together again!” Rachel said cheerfully, rubbing Kurt’s shoulders. “Oh, not that I don’t love having you here, Kurt! I would keep my best gay here forever if I could.”
“Thanks.” Kurt managed a little smile. “What do we have to do?”
“Basically, you gotta get hitched,” Burt said.
Kurt raised a brow.
“It’s a blood ritual. It’ll mark both of you as ‘belonging’ to the other, and the magic will override your instinct to…” Burt shrugged. “It’s risky, but we gotta do it. And the sooner the better.”
Kurt picked up the book and started looking at the pages intently. Some of the words were funny, but some were understandable. He frowned and tried to read the page again.
“Well, for the sake of wedding photos, I’m sure Kurt would prefer sooner,” Rachel said. “No one wants to look fat in their wedding photos.”
“That’s not the problem.” Burt rolled his eyes. “Well, maybe that’s one of the problems. I dunno.”
Kurt’s throat tightened and his stomach churned. “I’m going to hunt Finn down and kill him.”
“What?” Rachel’s hands stilled and she backed away.
“Yeah. Well.” Burt ran a hand over his mouth. “Great Grandma Hudson told Carole, and mind she’s no fan of vamps, but she bringing a vampire into the Clan is dicy, because if a Lycan and a vampire mate, and y’know, make a kid, the vampire will kill off the father. And the urge will only grow stronger the closer you are to giving birth, and it won’t go away once the baby is born. She said they won’t stop until the father is dead, and maybe the Clan, too.”
“That cannot be right!” Rachel protested.
Kurt lowered his head. “I think it’s true.”
Burt draped his arm over Kurt’s shoulders and squeezed. “We’ll set the ceremony up asap, and it’ll be fine. It’s a whole thing that brings you into his pack.”
“And that’ll make me less dangerous?” Kurt’s brows raised hopefully.
“Well. Y’know. To him. And Carole, anyway. I don’t know about the others. You haven’t met most of them. But it should help.”
“Okay.” Kurt nodded. He looked back to the book and ran his fingers over the symbol depicted there.
They moved quickly. That night Kurt went over to their loft, since Carole said the ritual should be performed in a place where Kurt felt at home. It wasn’t likely that Kurt would want to go anywhere after that. Finn wasn’t there yet, but Kurt could smell him all around. It made him anxious.
Rachel was preparing something pungent in the kitchen, and Burt was looking over the book once again. For all good that would do, since Kurt barely understood it, and Burt didn’t read the language at all.
Kurt sensed Finn’s arrival, and he retreated to a corner. He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to get through the part of the ritual that occurred before he was no longer a rabid, snapping animal. He bit his lip and shuddered. He’d never been so out of control before.
“Kurt.” His father drew closer to him. “It’s okay. It’ll be over soon.”
Kurt clung to the wall. There was another scent. Familiar, but… “Carole? Carole’s here too?”
“We need her for the ritual.” Burt touched Kurt’s shoulders, but he slipped away and kept his eyes on the door.
He was holding his jaws as tightly as he could, but his fangs were coming out anyway. The door opened. Finn stood frozen there when he caught sight of Kurt.
“Hey, sweet stuff.”
Kurt opened his mouth for a greeting, but couldn’t manage it. He needed all of his concentration not to fly across the room and put them both down. Carole didn’t seem concerned at all. She set down her bag and then went to the kitchen.
“It’s good to see you, sweetheart,” she told Kurt. Her face was sympathetic. All Kurt could hear was her heart.
When Finn stepped closer, Kurt lost it. Within a blink, he was on top of him with his lips at his throat. Kurt had just barely managed to stop himself from biting into the soft flesh there.
“Please. Kurt, just a little more, and we’ll be able to be together again.”
“I’m trying! I am. I’m sorry,” Kurt said through clenched teeth.
Finn kept his eyes on Kurt, not even trying to fight back. That was good. If he had, Kurt wouldn’t be able to restrain himself any longer.
“Kurt! Kurt, just come back here,” Burt ordered.
Kurt couldn’t move himself, though. If he did, he might pick off Carole first. She was softer, weaker, an easier kill…
There was a long, terrifying silence in the room. Then a hand touched his back, and a velvety smooth voice spoke a single ancient word. Kurt went limp and let himself be gently rolled off of Finn.
“What was that? What the hell are you doing to him?” Finn demanded.
“Kurt asked me to come,” said the smooth voice. “I’m here to help.”
Kurt blinked up. “Blaine.”
“Whoa. Aren’t you a Hunter?” Rachel asked.
“Yes. But you could say they don’t invite me to the annual picnic anymore.” Blaine kept his hand on Kurt, prayer beads wrapped around his fingers and wrist. “This won’t hurt him. Just calm him down. A lot. I just want…” He leaned forward with eyes boggling. “Are you pregnant?”
Kurt nodded his head sluggishly.
Blaine’s face broke into a large, beaming grin. “That’s awesome!”
“That’s why we have to do this. Can you keep him calm?” Carole asked.
“Depends on what you’re going to do. I’m pretty sure this magic won’t hurt the baby, though.”
“The baby is fine,” Kurt murmured. “He’s… He’s napping. It put him to sleep.”
“Right. It’s meant for taming, not destruction. Help me get him up?”
Kurt struggled to his feet and let Blaine and his father position him in the circle of smelly herbs and oils that Rachel had rubbed on the floor. Rachel frowned at Blaine as she handed the book to Carole, who also stepped into the circle.
“Everyone get in place. We have to do this tonight under the New Moon,” Carole said. She smiled to Kurt. “I don’t know if the moon really matters, but the phase of the moon is mentioned in pretty much every ritual and ceremony that Lycans have.”
“Seems appropriate.” Kurt’s head dipped. The sleepy, dizzy feeling was not pleasant, but it was much better than the rush of adrenaline and the urge to stain the floor red with the blood of his loved ones.
Finn stood next to Kurt and watched him with skewed brows. He was scared. Kurt could smell that. And he should be.
“Behold this union,” Carole read, “of Lycan and Kinn. I, as mother to the Clan of Hudson, solemnly invite the Clan of Hummel into ours, to be of one blood and one pack, for the mutual benefit and survival of all.”
She set the book down and took a black handled knife from Rachel. “Brace yourself,” she said quietly to them. Then she sliced her hand.
Kurt’s nostrils filled with the scent of her blood and he gritted his teeth. She came forward and painted on both of their faces.
“Ew,” Rachel murmured.
Blaine held Kurt more tightly, as a hissing rose from his chest.
“You are both blessed in your choice of partner by the blood of the mother,” she said. “Prosperity will be yours.”
She grabbed a cloth and pressed it against her hand. “Okay, that’s the initial part. Now, Finn, you have to mark him first, as invitation. It’s safer that way.”
“Can I get that?” Burt moved forward and wrapped up her hand tightly. “Don’t need any more blood in the air.”
She looked at him fondly and whispered, “Thank you.” Then she moved out of the circle. “Blaine, you’re going to have to come away. You can’t be in the circle when they do this.”
Blaine frowned. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“This won’t take much longer.” Kurt looked at him. “We have do to it. Or you’re probably going to have to put me down sooner or later.”
Blaine blew air out his lips, then unwrapped the beads and hung them around Kurt’s neck. Kurt slumped forward and put a hand over his mouth.
“It’s not the same without me touching you.” Blaine showed them his palm, where a complicated sigil had been burned in. “But it’ll have to do.”
He backed up and joined the others, putting two fingers to his lips and murmuring. Kurt felt the weight of the beads and the spell Blaine was imbuing upon them. He wished they dared to just use one of the stronger sigils, the ones that sapped his strength… but that might well kill the baby, and Blaine probably hadn’t brought one out for that very reason.
Finn cupped Kurt’s cheek and pressed their foreheads together. “You and me.” Gently he tilted Kurt’s head back, then cut the skin with his nail. His mouth moved over the cut, drawing out the blood. Then Kurt could feel Finn’s tongue tracing the mark with his blood over his skin. Heat surged inside him. His fanged bared, and he hissed as his body shook.
When Finn drew away, their eyes met. Kurt felt volatile. And it was his turn. Draw Finn’s blood. Mark him. After that, every other Lycan would be able to sense that Finn was taken. There were no other Kinn to see that of Kurt, but he would, if everything worked, sense Finn and Carole as one of his own.
He closed his eyes and went to work. The second he cut Finn’s neck, he lunged forward, and it was all over.
Or it should have been. Kurt would never be able to say where he got the willpower to keep from finishing it. He would tell their son that it was because just then, he had woken up and done a flip inside his belly, and denying a Clan to his son, the way he had been denied by Hunters, was probably the worst thing he could do to him.
He didn’t know. But he drew Finn’s sweet blood and sucked on Finn’s neck as he made the mark. He knew when it was complete because his own began to burn. He pulled back, blood still on his lips, and saw bright light emanating from Finn’s mark.
It felt like they were being engulfed, and suddenly Kurt’s strength disappeared and he collapsed into Finn’s arms. Finn lowered them to the ground and pulled him close. Then he jerked off the beads and threw them out of the circle. Kurt looked up and felt the sense of urgency and bloodlust that had been driving him for the past few months dying down. He grabbed the back of Finn’s head and kissed him desperately.
“Leheilm!” Rachel cheered.
“We should’a done this years ago,” Carole said with her hand to her chest. She turned and gave Burt a kiss on the cheek, and they hugged.
Blaine shook his head in amazement. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Finn petted over Kurt’s hair, his face doting and content. He kissed his forehead. “Mine.”
“That’s what the mark says.” Kurt rubbed his finger over it. The cut had healed, and to human eyes, what remained was invisible. To Kurt, the mark still glowed faintly, and spoke clearly.
You belong here. You are ours now.
Kurt buried his face in Finn’s shoulder and shuddered as he began to sob in relief. Finn wrapped his arms around him tightly.
“It’s okay. We’re okay now.” Finn peppered Kurt’s hair with kisses.
“I know. I know.” He lifted his head and smiled. Then he laughed a little and looked at their audience. Somehow, the magic that tied him to the Hudsons, that made him feel as though they were family, had extended to everyone who had been in the room. He’d already felt it for his father, of course, but now Rachel and Blaine felt tied to him, too. He was also grateful for that. He worried about hurting the humans he spent the most time with. “Thank you.”
Finn wiped the tears off of Kurt’s face and he picked him up as he rose. “Oof. Getting heavy there.”
“That’s as much your fault as mine,” Kurt protested.
Finn looked down and grinned. “Hey, baby!”
“Oh! I made a cake.” Rachel bounced into the kitchen and opened the plastic cake carrier that she’d brought with her.
Kurt rolled his eyes. “Cake. You brought cake to the blood ritual.”
“Oh, come on! It’s a wedding.”
“We’ll do the first dance later.” Finn set Kurt down in their chair, and knelt in front of him, biting his lip. “We should do it. The wedding. For realsies. Later, I mean. When he’s born.”
“Yeah.” Kurt took his hand and held it for a moment. Then he smiled, thinking of what had been on Finn’s mind during so many of their conversations. He pulled up his top and pressed Finn’s hand to his belly.
Finn lit up. He’d never had the chance to feel the baby move, but he did now, and his boyish enthusiasm made Kurt laugh. As did the way Finn talked to the baby, and nuzzled his face against Kurt’s belly.
Kurt suspected they would be having a lot of physical contact to make up for lost time.
Nibble nibble.
Finn tried to look innocent when Kurt looked over at him sleepily. Finn squeezed him gently and kissed the back of his neck. Kurt yawned and kissed him with a smile on his lips.
“This is exactly how it should be,” Kurt murmured.
“I can’t complain.”
Although Kurt was obviously tired from the long day, he rolled over, and the two of them began to kiss heatedly. It had just been too long of a separation, and with too much promise of permanence. After the others had left, there had been sex. Of course there had been sex. But after that, Finn held Kurt tight for all the cuddling and support he’d suspected Kurt needed, but couldn’t get. Even with friends or family, he needed his partner in this.
Finn rubbed their noses together and let out a “whuff!” Kurt laughed and stroked the back of Finn’s hair adoringly. It was somewhat okay, even though Rachel had warned him as though it was a problem, that Kurt was preferring more and more to stay hidden away from the human world, away from strangers and any new elements. That instinct made a lot of sense to Finn, and he was glad that their instincts had finally aligned. Because Finn would actually like to hide Kurt away for the next several months, keep him cloistered and safe.
“If I didn’t want it, it would be creepy, right?” Kurt teased. He went to Finn’s neck and left a trail of wet sucks.
“Ahh! Stop… Reading my mind!”
“Whatever. Tell Rachel that your paternal instincts won’t let her throw me a big baby shower. I don’t want everyone I know crammed into our nest here and seeing me pregnant. I’ve had enough stress.” Now his tongue moved teased over Finn’s collarbone.
“Unn… Gotcha. Baby shower cancelled.”
Finn caught Kurt’s hand as it snuck southward, then when Kurt lifted his head, Finn cupped his cheek so he could just stare into his eyes. Bright sky blue. He’d always loved how Kurt’s eyes changed. They were beautiful, almost unbearably so. They should write big sappy novels about his partner, the non-sparkling, seriously lethal, smart, funny, pregnant vampire.
“Hm?” Finn nuzzled him.
“What? Oh. You just told me not to read your mind!” Kurt laughed.
It felt good to see him so happy. Finn had been pathetic and miserable, and Kurt had always looked so sad when Finn was… well, basically stalking him.
“I was just thinking how hot you are.”
“Hm. Good.”
“And I don’t want anyone looking at you.”
Kurt laughed again. He rolled Finn on his back, then maneuvered himself up to straddle his legs. Finn waggled his brows and moved his hand over Kurt’s chest, then his rounded belly. Kurt’s lips curved wickedly. His mark shone in the dark like a beacon.
Oh, Finn would be definitely be making use of their alone time before the baby was born.
“Honeymoon,” Kurt sang softly, moving in to nibble gently on his neck.
