Kneaded

Amy had just come in from working in the rose garden when Shadow slipped behind her. He wrapped one arm around her waist and curled his fingers around the base of her tail. “What do you think you’re doing?” She laughed, trying to pull away playfully. Shadow buried his face into the crook of her neck and threaded his fingers through the tailscye of her strawberry-patterned dress and into her silken panties.

Amy squeaked. “Excuse you, mister! I’m covered in dirt.”

He nipped the deep red mark on her shoulder, and he felt her pulse quicken. Shadow messaged the base of her tail with his thumb and forefinger as the rest of his fingers claimed as much of her posterior as they could grasp. He licked a stripe along her shoulder from the mark and up her slender neck. “I love a dirty girl.” Shadow whispered.

Amy walked forward, dragging Shadow along with her. “I need to get a shower.” She threaded her fingers through his quills, pressing his head into her shoulder. Then she leaned her head over, pinning him in an unconventional embrace.

“Is that an invitation?” Shadow growled into her flesh, deep and hungry. Her scent intoxicated him, earthy undertones of nature accentuating her rich personal bouquet. She was his opium, his addiction against which he had no defense nor desire to get clean from.

She laughed, the most magical music in the universe. “You are ridiculous.” She released her shoulder hug and grabbed his hand across her middle, twisting out of his hold. Amy led Shadow through the house. Each room they passed through witnessed them shed an article of clothing. Amy’s apron abandoned in the kitchen and dress puddling in the hall. Shadow’s shirt tossed over an armchair and trousers sliding down the railing of the stairs. Gloves and socks discarded like confetti, falling carelessly.

The shower water was searing hot, pouring down on them like rain. Amy looked up at him with gleaming green eyes and a lascivious smirk, running her hands through the soaking white fluff of his chest. “Amy...” Shadow breathed, pulling her into a deep kiss. She tasted of vanilla and strawberries and would always want to go back for seconds.

Amy forced him against the wall with surprising force, sending a thrill sparking through his core. Her body slamming into his, pushing the air from his lungs but filling him with an igniting excitement. He kissed her like the only oxygen in the world existed in her lungs. And it might as well have been because he needed her to live. Amy was vital, mandatory, irreplaceable. His heart did not beat without her permission.

Her hands laced through his wet quills and he ran his hands down her sides, lecherous fingers finding their way around the firm meat of her ass. Spry, she jumped and wrapped her legs around his waist. Never did they break the kiss for long. Amy clung to him, grinding into him with hard rolls of her hips as he held her suspended, as rivulets of water ran marathons down their bodies.

Finally, she pulled away and pressed her face into his neck, taking a long draw of his scent. He bit his lip to stifle a moan as she began to nip and suck along his collarbone. “Amy…” He growled. “You don’t know what you do to me.” He leaned his head back against the wall and let her devour him as the shower white noise drowned out his lustful grunts.

Her fingers crawled through his quills, alternating between short pulls and gentle ghosting against his scalp. Her mouth trailed up his neck and face, leaving a procession of sharp kisses and light bites. Amy planted her hands on his shoulder and lifted herself, her nose tickling his ear as she whispered into it.

“I love you.”

Shadow gasped and blinked once slowly, the darkness of Amy’s room a curious surprise. His thoughts were muddled, the euphoria of the dream fading quickly as reality reasserted itself. There was a weighted heat pressing down on his chest and pelvis. He lifted his hands and ran them along Amy’s sides as she rubbed herself into him.

His fingers slid over the rise of her sides and began to message the tight muscles in her lower back. Her temperature was elevated, but not concerningly so. “Did you sleep well, dear?” Her disheveled quills blocked much of his vision.

She hummed in the affirmative and lifted her head from his chest to look at him. His heart fluttered at the sight of her, her eyes wide and pupils blown wide, lovely features woven into a rich tapestry of flush flesh. “I need you again.” Her voice was breathy and strained, but the complete sentence was a step in the right direction.

Shadow shifted Amy gently to the side, holding her securely with one hand and releasing himself with the other. His dream had left him at attention but he gave it a few pumps anyway. Satisfied with his firmness, he helped Amy lift herself over him. “Take what you need.”

Amy took him in her bare hand, delicate paw pads rubbing against his sensitive flesh. Mon dieu! He wanted to devour her, body and soul. Shadow closed his eyes before he lost himself again. He hadn’t yet forgiven himself for how close he had come to breaking his promise and Claiming Amy. If she hadn’t presented an alternative location for his teeth…

Speaking of which, Shadow parted his lids enough to check Amy’s shoulder. There was a patina of dried blood marring her pink fur. The flesh he’d broken was likely to be sore for a while. He needed to clean the injury. It would just add to his shame if infection set in.

His eyes slipped closed again. For now, he would submit to her desires and fight his monstrous thirst for her. Her fingers were clearly inexperienced, and she pressed too hard with her dull claws, but the fumbling attempts to seat herself on him was adorable. Ravenous lust replaced by soft adoration, he opened his eyes and watched the endearing display.

Amy’s face was a deeper flush now, her eyes blinking rapidly as if trying to regain focus. Her muzzle grew more and more pinched as she failed to get what she wanted, what her body needed. When she began to whine in frustration, he reached forward and cupped her cheek, drawing her attention. “May I?” She swallowed, eyes misting with tears but not breaking contact with Shadow’s, and relinquished his member.

Shadow maneuvered himself with one hand and her hips with the other. Once they were aligned, he pushed upwards and his tip slipped in. Sensing the contact, Amy eagerly pushed down, her hips pressing flush against his as she consumed him fully without the slightest resistance. Shadow released a strangled moan, his grip on his sanity nearly being ripped from him. Her field was well watered and eager for planting.

Amy situated her hands on Shadow’s shoulders and began an awkward, clumsy ride. He gazed up at her in awe of her beauty. Quills every which way, fur mushed with sweat and slick, and eyes blurry with lust and recently cast-off sleep. An immaculate creature, one whose lack of experience bordered on virginal, a strange quality in an Omega out of her teens. He would have expected the thought to drive a spike of shame through his heart or infect the back of his mind with dark, dominating notions, but all he felt was needed. Needed to protect her, needed to satisfy her, needed to fulfill her and that feeling was exciting beyond anything he’d ever felt.

She started with a series of quick, asynchronous lifts and falls, her balance aided by her grip on Shadow’s shoulders, but she quickly tired from the effort. A cute mask of exasperation marred her face, and she laid down against his chest, nuzzling into the underside of his chin. “May I help you?” He asked gently into her ear, his hands tracing her spine, fingers traveling the peaks and valleys of her vertebrae like ambitious mountaineers.

Amy raised and searched his face. Why didn’t the doubt bother him? His brain chemistry had been so thoroughly reassembled since their first dalliance that he barely remembered why he’d done or said anything that night. She’d been afraid and doubtful and about as resistant as an Omega in her situation could be and Shadow had been terrified of hurting her or crossing a line. By all accounts, the night should have been a nightmare. Instead, it had been the beginning of the rest of his life.

So, the doubt didn’t bother him. Amy’s barriers were slowly coming down so his patience was fed a steady diet of progress, and her uncertainty had a metering effect on him. He didn’t have to be afraid of going too quickly or seizing too much if she was the one in control. Maybe that was it? Following for once. Absolution of the responsibility of authority.

Slowly, Amy nodded.

Shadow lifted his knees and slid his feet to tent his legs. Leverage gained, he threaded his fingers with Amy’s and guided her torso to rise until she was sitting tall, her back straight. His lidded eyes feasted on the sight of his gorgeous Omega. The rosy blush of her face, the soft curves of her chest, the purse of her lips as she drew panting breaths. Shadow was intoxicated, utterly smashed to pieces by her. He wanted to know every crack and crevice of her, to spelunk into the deepest reaches of her mind, body, and soul.

He pushed her upwards with his hips and she instinctually rose with him. At the apex, she held as he pulled away, but only so far as to threaten the exit of his tip from her sensitive entrance. Amy mewled piteously. Then he rose to meet her as she descended, the speed and force sending shudders of pleasure through them both. Amy leaned her head back and gave a satisfied moan.

Ears twitching, the sinful noise stoked Shadow’s desire higher and he sped up.

Any discomfort or difficulty he felt from the position or activity was quickly banished to the furthest reaches of his mind as he bounced her over and over on his throbbing cock. Her chest and quills shook as Amy tried to keep her balance, her bones turning to jelly as he hammered into her. And the noises she made? Rapturously seductive. “Tu es tout simplement magnifique.”

Amy began to gasp short affirmations. “Yes. Yes. Yes!” The utterance grew in volume and pitch. Shadow’s ears perked, eager to consume every precious syllable. The base of his phallus quivered as his knot inflated. “Don’t stop talking!” She screamed.

Shadow obliged. “Je mourrai sans toi.” Amy was leaning heavily forward, much of her weight being held up by Shadow’s hands now and her legs growing weaker. He had strength enough for both of them and some. Until the end of time, he would take care of her. “Je déposerai le monde à tes pieds.” All of her energy seemed to have moved to her suckling darkness, because it threatened to draw in him so deep he’d never escape. “Tu me détruis.” And why would he want to escape? “Je t'adore.”

Amy slipped forward, heaving chest flush with his, and Shadow wrapped his arms around tightly around her. Her warmth, her breath, her pulse. He could fell it all and it drove him mad. “Oh god!” She moaned. “Don’t stop! Don’t you dare stop!”

Snaking his arms along her back, without losing stride, Shadow flipped them, a deep heavy growl emitting from deep in his throat. Amy pooled below him, her quills splaying, and her face was the picture of desperation. He leaned down and whispered into her ear, “Je veux passer le reste de ma vie sous ton regard.” Amy keened, a long shuddering note. “Quiconque te regarde est mon ennemi.” Shadow slurred the words, his consciousness coming apart at the edges and far too much saliva choking him.

“Now!” She breathed. “I can’t take it anymore. I need you! I need all of you, now!” Her fingers dug sharply into the muscles of his back. The thought of her drawing blood on him almost sent him over the edge.

“D-do you want my - augh! - k-knot?” He wanted to give it to her. She should have it if she wanted it. She should have everything she ever wanted and more, so much more. Say yes, say yes, say yes! Ask him for his knot, please!

“Noo.” She gave a wet moan, almost a sob, as if the declaration pained her to make. “No knot.”

Shadow bite the inside of his cheek until he tasted blood, his loins at war with his mind. His knot pulsed painfully, not at all accepting of this decision. “Comme vous l'ordonnez, mon cher.” He finally breathed.

He pumped forcefully a few more times and then he began to release into her. His body shuddered under the weight of his orgasm and his arms gave. She felt so small and precious beneath him as ecstasy shook him out like a dirty rug.

Emerging from his short trip to Nirvana, Shadow became aware of her squirming beneath him and he lifted slightly. Amy jerked her head away from his chest and gasped. He’d been smothering her. “Merde, Amy!” He exited and rolled off her. “I’m sorry. Are you okay?”

“I’m okay.” She breathed. Amy tilted her head to face him. “It’s a lot of work to be on top.” She grinned.

Shadow laughed. “I suppose you get used to it with experience.”

Amy smirked coyly, “And how much experience have you got?”

Shadow flushed. “I-Is that a serious question?” Merde, what was his body count? Was that- was that something they should be talking about right now? What if she didn’t like the answer. A venomous voice in the back of his mind asked how many men has she fucked darkly, but he shoved that noise away. He couldn’t change the past. Shadow had her in his arms and on his cock now and that’s what mattered.

“Only if you want it to be.” Amy’s eyelids drooped and she curled onto her side. “I think that wore me out. Might…take a nap.” Shadow propped himself up on his elbow. “Can you…” She seemed to be falling asleep midsentence, “get something for me?”

Shadow gingerly brushed her quills out of her face and ran the back of his hand along her cheek. A warm feeling spread through his chest as she leaned into his touch. “Of course. What do you need?”

“I need…” Amy yawned, lips stretching back to reveal her adorable little Omega fangs. Shadow ran a finger along her snout and watched her nose twitch. “My afters.”

Shadow frowned. She better not fall asleep too quickly because he did not know what Amy was talking about. “What are afters?”

“Morning after pills. In the med cabinet...Bathroom.” Amy mumbled the clarification, her eyes closing. “Don’t want…kids.”

The sleep slurred sentence made something in Shadow tighten painfully. She didn’t want to get pregnant. He knew that logically. But it hurt. It was the responsible decision. They hardly knew each other. But it hurt. Throwing the pressure of a child into their newly budding relationship would just make things more difficult than they needed to be. It was just the wise choice all around. Then why did it hurt so much?

As Shadow stroked Amy’s quills, he worked to force the feelings away. The pain was impatient, selfish, impractical, and unwelcome. A tiny, childish tantrum. Still, the little request brought forward a question that Shadow had never seriously asked himself: did he want to have children? The sudden pained disappointment seemed to suggest yes…but was that real or just an effect of Amy’s pheromones on him?

The answer came immediately and easily, a clarifying rain assuaging his burning thoughts.

Shadow wanted children if Amy wanted children.

He wanted as many as she wanted and he wanted them when she wanted them.

He would give her all her child and he’d flay anyone who so much as looked at her.

Huh, convenient.

Shadow absently messaged his brow, fingers ghosting over the healing bruise near his eye. Had that always been his desire? Searching his memory, he found he couldn’t answer that question. His imprintation onto Amy had completely overridden whatever opinion he had had on the matter, and, strangely, the realization of the manipulation didn’t disturb him at all. People change over time. That’s life. He felt comfortable this way. There was a certain sort of harmony to deferring the matter to Amy.

Shadow sighed. He was really getting ahead of himself. Tenderly, he pulled a blanket over Amy’s sleeping form and tucked in the sides. He brushed her quills with the tips of his claws and placed a soft kiss on her brow. “Je t'aime, ma pêche.”

He climbed out of the nest and was immediately hit by the chill permeating the room. The window was cracked, letting in the evening air and the cold air sucked the heat out of him through his sweat dampened fur.

From his paper bag of supplies, he retrieved a knot band. Fumbling with the packaging he finally got the object free and wrapped around his knot. The tight elastic band was terribly uncomfortable, but the pressure would trick his anatomy into eventually shrinking. The alternative was knot sickness and that could fuck all the way off.

He pulled his undershirt and boxers back on, saving the fresh clothing in the paper bag for after he got a chance to take a shower.

Shadow opened the door and stuck his head out. The apartment was blessedly silent. He was fairly certain Amy had a roommate, judging by the prominence of a secondary smell, much weaker than hers, but still present in volumes too distinct to be a visitor. He took a deep breath and his snout ruffled in a grimace. He recognized the second scent, though from where exactly eluded him.

What irked him greatest was the degree of masculinity present in the aroma. Why would Amy have a male roommate? That was unacceptable- Stop it, he chastised himself. His mind kept wandering in unwanted directions.

With a groan, Shadow realized he’d forgotten his Alpha suppressant that morning, having been in a rather thick miasma of apathy ahead of the board meeting. Shit. And he didn’t have it with him now to take either. Which means he’d miss tomorrow morning’s dose as well. Fuck me.

He was playing with fire. His rut was close to being due as well. His weekly blood panel that he submitted to as a living test subject for the experiment blockers had noted the increased testosterone levels of an impending rut. Would being with Amy make things better or worse? Once she was done with him, he should get another blood draw done.

In the meantime, he’d let himself get distracted again. Damn it.

There were only two other doors on the hallway, and the bathroom happened to be the first he checked. It was a cramped space but somehow fit a combined bathtub and shower, a toilet, and a single vanity. Even the washroom off the foyer in Shadow’s home was larger than this. And much better appointed- He was getting distracted again. Why couldn’t he control his thoughts at all?

Shadow stood in the doorway for a moment, scanning potential locations for the medication cabinet Amy mentioned. The counter of the vanity contained a range of toiletry products crowding around the sink. Two toothbrushes proved the roommate theory. The presence of an obscene bottle claiming to be a 4 in 1 hygiene product confirmed the maleness. Shadow found himself growling.

Nothing looked like medicine. The mirror over the vanity extended out from the wall more than it should and Shadow felt along the bottom, finding a lip to pull. The mirror swung away to reveal a recess containing a number of stuffed shelves. As Shadow scanned the contents, his attention was drawn almost instantly to a brightly colored box. He grit his teeth and his lips contorted in a snarl as he removed the box of Starline hormonal suppressants from the cabinet.

This was unacceptable. Absolutely unacceptable. This shit was borderline dangerous. He did not give a fuck what excuses Dr. Prower had, they should be posting the results of his lab’s tests on every lamppost in the fucking City. No Omega should be taking them, least of all Amy. No matter what, Shadow simply could not allow her to keep taking this fucking disgrace of a drug. This was not a distraction that could be dismissed.

Shadow returned to Amy’s bedroom, creeping quietly as to not disturb her sleep, and retrieved his phone. Back in the bathroom, he powered it back on. As he slowly picked through the cabinet, trying to identify the medication that Amy requested, his cellphone erupted with a cacophony of messages and notifications. Checking the time, he found that it was late in the evening. News of his victory in the boardroom had been echoing around the globe for hours and his phone was inundated with (largely inane) chatter.

Shadow ignored most of his messages and brought up his email application. He typed out a quick request to Blaze. He required a detailed summary on KLS’s current understanding of the Starline product as well as a professionally informed schedule for weening someone off that shit. As much as he wanted to get Amy onto KLA’s superior suppressants immediately, given what he knew already about the Starline product, a sudden transition may cause her undue discomfort or harm. He needed to find out how long she’d been on them. Likely since KLS lost the City contract.

Fuck, how he not thought about this before? God, he was such a garbage Alpha. He let her suffer alone last time and now he’d failed to notice she was potentially unwittingly poisoning herself. His hand went to his brow and his claws dug into the bruise there. The pain pushed him out of his spiraling thoughts. He can’t change the past. He can’t change the past.

Next, he messaged Nicole asking her to get with the relevant members of KLS to procure enough sales samples of Amy’s prescription to bridge the gap until he could get Dr. Quack to write a proper script. If she ovulated monthly, she’d be taking a low dose each day. To think her heats were this severe whilst she was taking that much hormonal suppressants, questionable efficacy aside…But, he reminded himself, things would be better now. Amy had Shadow and he would take care of her.

There was a single message from Eclipse. How is she? Of anyone, his brother deserved a response. Shadow knew he wasn’t an easy sibling to have on occasion. Their dynamic was complex. Shadow provided his little brother protection from the mechanization of their parents, whose attention was narrowly focused on Shadow, some mythology of the first born still holding sway in this modern age. In turn, Eclipse was effectively Shadow’s keeper. Never afraid to drag him screaming in the proper direction or to smack him upside the head for Shadow’s foolishness or mania.

Shadow contemplated how to respond. Seeing Amy so utterly helpless and in distress had brought a handful of terrible memories to the forefront of Shadow’s mind. He’d been able to force them away with the weight of his lust, but now, out of Amy’s warm nest, they reasserted themselves with deadly vengeance.

Like Amy, Maria had had frequent rough heats. They had presented themselves earlier than normal, when Maria was scarcely eight. The terrible pain had left her bedridden with no relief for a significant portion of her waking hours. Shadow and Eclipse had spent every possible minute at her bedside, trying their best to make her comfortable. Even when Maria was of an age that ‘Alpha assistance’ could be reasonably procured, Mother wanted to preserve her ‘virtue’. Preserve Maria’s value, Shadow now understood.

Then Shadow had his first rut and he was never allowed near Maria in heat again. She suffered alone from then on until she was bartered in Father’s Faustian deal with the Robotniks.

Maria had looked terrible the last time he’d seen her alive. Gaunt, haggard, weak. No one listened to Shadow’s concerns, and she was allowed to stay with her Alpha. He should have fought harder, should have done something more to keep her away from that monster. But Shadow had allowed himself to be convinced, to believe that everyone else was right, that Maria belonged to with her Alpha.

Then Maria died in a room that locked from the outside.

The world had lost all color or meaning for Shadow. It was a wicked, rotten place, worth less than nothing. He took his revenge, yes, but it wasn’t enough. The world had to pay as well. All of its despicable, ungrateful people had to feel his loss and despair. Maria’s death had purified him of mortal weaknesses such as hope or compassion. Nothing short of the obliteration of the entire planet would satiate the lust for wrath that had taken root in the bleeding hole Maria vacated in his heart.

He had become the perfect son Father had always wanted. Cruel. Apathetic. Ruthless. Efficient. A living weapon wanting only to be pointed and fired.

Ruby hadn’t stood a chance…

The noise of his phone clattering against the linoleum flooring jarred Shadow out of his reverie and he gasped. He pressed his fingers against his head and dug his claws into his scalp. Stop it! He wasn’t that person anymore. He wasn’t! His stomach roiled and nausea reminded him of how little he’d eaten that day. Shadow tried to take a steadying breath, but his whole body was shaking. The person Shadow had become after Maria’s passing was dead. DEAD! That soulless weapon burned away long ago on reentry into the world Maria had loved so much.

Eventually Shadow got his breath under control and with it the rest of his body and spiraling thoughts. I can’t change the past, he reminded himself again. I can only do better in the future. He turned on the sink and drank a few handfuls from the tap. The water was disgustingly hard with dissolved minerals and he grimaced.

He couldn’t save Maria, but he could make sure Amy did not share her fate.

Shadow looked at Eclipse’s message once more. How is she?

Unfortunately, Shadow had another experience to which he could compare Amy’s heat-poisoned state. Do you recall a few years ago when you were abroad and Meri went into heat early? Shadow replied.

As he waited for a reply, Shadow continued to scan the medicine cabinet. but he wasn’t as fluent enough in the generic names of contraceptives, so he ended up Gaggling the names until he found a promising box containing a blister pack of large pills. He frowned as he scrolled through the common side effects displayed on his phone. Dear god, this was going to happen to Amy?

But the alternative was…not what Amy wanted. His opinion wasn’t a factor in the matter. She asked for these ‘afters’ and he would give them to her. Alternatives could be discussed later when she was feeling better.

Shadow’s phone chimed with Eclipse’s reply. You mean the time when you called me whilst I was over the ocean, rushing home at all possible haste, and I was treated to the heartwarming sounds of my wife begging you to fuck her? No. I had entirely forgotten.

They hadn’t known it at the time, but Eclipse’s Omega Meridian had a malignant cyst growing on her pituitary gland, driving her body to be flooded with luteinizing hormone, kick starting her heat early and violently. Aphelion had been in tears when she called Shadow after the distraught Omega barricaded herself into a bedroom to nest. Luckily the children had been sent away so as to not witness that which followed.

Shadow had been able to convince Meridian to unlock the door with his scent and lies about what he was willing to offer her, but he was not sufficiently prepared for how aggressively his sister-in-law wanted his knot. He’d gone nearly mad trying to get her to calm down because Shadow wasn’t particularly interested in being the victim of fratricide. Eclipse certainly had not been in his right mind once he finally arrived given how murderously his eyes glinted as he savagely snarled at his brother to get the fuck out before I kill you! Shadow was more than happy to remove himself from the situation.

Aphelion, immune to all the Alpha and Omega madness, had played go between, reassuring Shadow that Eclipse would calm down eventually.

Amends were made a few weeks later when Meridian went under for surgery to delicately remove the offending growth from her brain. Shadow distinctly remembered the hollowness in his brother’s eyes as he paced the waiting room for hours. The surgery had been a success, and the condition was closely observed from then on. The incident joined the past, joining other oft ignored bits of Kintobor lore.

Amy was in terrible shape. I almost called for medical attention. Shadow admitted. She was so desperate, but far weaker physically than Meri. Nearly incoherent with fever, fatigue, and dehydration. He had seriously considered calling for an ambulance given how feverish and dehydrated she had been. Shadow was under no illusion that such a move would be considered anything less than a betrayal. The image of Amy being forcefully removed from her nest to live out her heat in the cold sterility of a medical setting turned Shadow’s stomach. He would rather die than see her go through that, but he’d not let her die just to save his own feelings.

I’m sorry to hear that. Eclipse’s reply came immediately. And now?

Better. Shadow hoped he wasn’t lying.

Congratulations, brother. I look forward to meeting her.

Shadow wasn’t sure how to respond. His initial reaction was one of possessive indignations about how fucking dare another Alpha think they had the right to be anywhere near Amy, but he let that thought pass without giving it much acknowledgement. Still, he wasn’t ready to share Amy with the world just yet.

Mother had expressed the desire to meet Amy as well. Shadow grit his teeth and shoved that problem away again for later consideration. He needed to get back to Amy. He couldn’t seem to handle the responsibility of solitude right now.

Returning once more to the dark of Amy’s room, Shadow turned his phone off again and tossed it into the discarded pile of his clothes. The outside world was not allowed into Amy’s cozy nest. It was a place outside of time, sequestered from the pains and worries of reality, a perfect cocoon for at least a little while longer.

From his cache of supplies, he prepared another supplement pouch. Amy would likely be able to stomach more fluids now that her fever was broken.

Leaning over the bed, he placed his hand on her shoulder and shook her lightly. “Wake for just a moment, dear.” Amy cracked an eye, considering him with a little more ire than Shadow felt he warranted.

Slowly, Amy pushed herself to sit, blanket draped over her shoulders. He handed her the pill and she dry swallowed it. As Amy drank from the pouch, Shadow, not wanting to be denied entrance again, disrobed. “It would be better if you took that with something solid.”

“Maybe later.” She reached for him.

Shadow shuffled through the nest and leaned against the wall at the head of the bed. He opened his arms and Amy crawled to lay her head against his chest. He enveloped her in his arms and she nuzzled into the white fur on his chest. Shadow licked his thumb and began grooming away the blood on her shoulder.

“I can hear your heartbeat.” She whispered.

He rubbed his face against the top of her quills, basking in her scent, allowing it to push away all his dark thoughts and anxieties. “What does it sound like?”

“Safety.”