Xander's POV:

"Is it usually this desolate here?"

The snow crunched under my boots, rounding a tree as we traversed through the outskirts of the forest.

After a day full of having her exploring my home, we ended up here.

Not a whole lot of sun broke through the coverage of these woods, and therefore the snow that fell from weighing down the trees made for more of it to pile on the ground than out in the city.

It was peaceful in its silence, save for my steps and the occasional skittering of an animal.

The smaller ones like rabbits and squirrels were more common here at the edge, the heavier beasts hiding deeper than most humans would want to traverse.

I brought here knowing the added inches of snow would be a hassle not many wanted to deal with this time of year, and would instead just wait for it to get warmer entirely.

And the vampires that hunt these forests typically did so at night.

The snow issue, however, did end up being a short-lasting problem for us.

Doe had worn shoes built for snow, but not ones that were made for the deeper piles here.

It took a bit of convincing, but she eventually agreed to let me carry her.

I had her on my back, arms hooked under her thighs with her arms loosely crossed near my neck.

Her head rested close to my shoulder, taking in the sights of the little peeks of sunlight reflecting off of ice, and the crocus blooming.

So I had absolutely no issue when it came to keeping warm.

"This time of year, yes," I answered, "Around this time, people are getting preparations set for the start of spring, so they tend to stick closer to town."

"And where was that spot you mentioned before? The one with the lake?"

I gestured towards the south with my nose since my hands were preoccupied.

"About three miles that way."

"Miles!?"

I snickered at her exclamation.

"Mhm. did you forget I have advanced speed and can get us there in seconds?" I prodded.

She gave a quiet scoff.

"Yeah. Speed you cant control according to Nico." she chaffed.

My laugh followed through at her true, yet mildly misinformed remark.

Nico insisted on carrying me everywhere when we were little whenever speed was used because he didn't want me to get hurt.

Which eventually led to me missing out on a few vital years of practice back when my advancements were weaker due to my age.

From there I could just never get the hang of it 100% of the time.

Not that I regret it at all. I think it adds to my charm.

"With you on my back like this, I don't think that will be much of an issue."

My entirety pulled itself together when it came down to her. It was practically in my instincts to do everything to keep her from getting hurt.

"Mmhm. Whatever you say," She rested her head fully on my left shoulder while I continued aimlessly walking through the scenery I'd missed.

My head jerked to the right at the sound of scurrying, my senses activating on an instinct.

The scent of a rabbit hit my nose and a faint racing heartbeat.

My fangs ached in my mouth, that very specific itching in my throat going frantic.

"Alright, I wasn't gonna point that out, but that's like the seventh time you've done that." Doe began.

I snapped out of it at the sound of her voice, turning the best I could to see the confusion in her eyes.

"Yeaaaah, um, It's a hunting instinct thing," I explained, " Since I'm a royal here, I need fresh blood every so often. It's compensation of sorts for not feeling the full effects on the night of the bloodmoon."

She just looked at me for a few seconds before speaking.

"Oh. We can take care of that tonight then."

I couldn't tell what shocked me more. Her words, or how nonchalantly she spoke them.

My steps came to a halt.

"What?" Maybe there was the impossible chance that I just didn't hear her correctly.

"What what?" She replied, "If you need fresh blood then you should take mine. Less hunting and more hanging out in our room. Plus last time it felt," She paused abruptly, speaking her next word very quietly, almost as if she was embarrassed, "Good."

Felt good...?

My eyes narrowed.

I've heard- well, read, that when there's a romantic tie, one can actually feel pleasure in the others bites.

Another silent show of trust between vampires.

Were my feelings somehow being translated to her through the bite?

Usually, it was from their own feeling, but I had no idea how that worked when the person receiving the bite was a human.

And I highly doubted that there were any records of such that would tell me the answer.

I forced my feet to move again, trying and failing to ignore the rush of heated emotions.

"If you're sure..."

I don't think I had it in me to physically say no, even if it was just out of formality. I was already spending enough energy fighting off the purr that's been a little too present today.

And if I'm getting her blood tonight...oh boy.

"I'm sure. In fact, I've already fit it into my schedule."

I couldn't help but smirk at her proud, upbeat tone.

Her 'schedule' was a hard thing to get onto these days.

"We might wanna start heading back then. We can grab some dinner with Lily first. There's probably some new documents ready surrounding your citizenship too."

The muscles in her legs tightened.

"What?" There was a worry in her voice I wasn't expecting.

"What what?" I repeated.

She was quiet for a moment.

"I thought... I thought we weren't going to rush that," timidness showed itself as well, that loose way her arms were crossed slowly becoming not-so-loose.

"It was the housing situation I thought we weren't going to rush," I began, "that whole thing will happen whenever you decide that you're ready for it. Your citizenship though, I want to get that done as soon as possible so we can burn the records that have you listed as a pet."

Burn away her past so she can truly find solace in its ashes.

So she can build something new from it.

She just stared at me, processing.

"Oh," She sighed, relaxing in my grasp, "I thought the two were happening like... hand-in-hand."

Did she think I just planned on kicking her out?

I know we didn't discuss much on the topic, but that was never in my plan.

"Definitely not," I confirmed, "I like having you around, so there's absolutely no rush on that from my part.

Every time I'd even think about her leaving, something in me broke.

She had every right to. I wanted her to be able to live that kind of life for herself, but I wasn't going to do any kind of convincing in the matter one way or the other.

That just simply wasn't my place.

"Did you truly believe that I was just gonna send you away?" I questioned as a tease in itself, feigning offense.

"Well, I don't know!" She hastily defended, " I don't know how these things are supposed to work!"

The way she shifted made it seem that she was trying to close in on herself.

"I hoped not...I just didn't know if that sort of thing was considered normal," she muttered.

The sadness hidden behind layers in her voice pulled at my chest.

Right now, she didn't want to leave.

I caught myself internally celebrating through all of this.

"Come on, dove, have some faith in me, "I spoke calmly, trying to ease her, "You know you could have talked about it with me to clarify, right?"

She huffed.

"I know that, I just didn't say anything because I rarely thought about it. Y'know cuz we were supposed to be not rushing it!" Her voice grew in volume, adding more force behind her point.

I hoisted her up a bit to fix my hold, wildly amused by her reaction to all of this.

"Alright alright, you've made your point. I'll be sure to be more specific in the future, but disregarding that, do you think you're ready to head back?"

I felt her nod.

"Yeah, let's go."