Max was dead asleep.

The kind of sleep where thoughts dissolved into static and the world narrowed down to breathing and warmth. His blanket was half-kicked off, one arm hanging loosely off the side of the bunk, fingers relaxed and limp.

That’s when he felt it.

At first, his half-asleep brain tried to rationalize it away—maybe a bug, maybe Nikki pulling another stupid prank in his dreams. There was a faint pressure around his hand, warm and steady, followed by a strange pulling sensation that made his fingers twitch.

Then came the sharp sting.

Max’s eyes cracked open just a sliver, unfocused, his body still too heavy with sleep to react. His gaze drifted downward—and froze.

You were there.

Kneeling beside his bunk, careful and quiet, your head bowed over his hand. Your grip was gentle, almost reverent, as if you were terrified of waking him. Your lips were pressed to the side of his palm, teeth barely breaking skin as you fed in slow, controlled pulls.

Not frantic. Not violent.

Desperate.

Max’s breath hitched silently. His heart slammed awake before the rest of him did, adrenaline flooding his veins as realization snapped into place far too fast. Vampire. You were a vampire. And you’d never told him. Never told anyone.

But what stopped him from jerking away was the look on your face.

Your shoulders were tense, trembling slightly, as if holding yourself back took everything you had. There was no cruelty in the way you fed—only exhaustion, hunger, and something dangerously close to guilt. You were careful, taking only what you needed, stopping yourself before it could become too much.

You didn’t notice him stirring.

Didn’t notice his fingers curl faintly, or the way his eyes tracked every movement with growing panic and confusion. To you, he was still asleep. Safe. Unaware.

Max lay there, torn between fear and something else entirely, staring at the quiet, impossible secret unfolding in the dark of his cabin—realizing that whatever this was, you hadn’t come to hurt him.

You’d come because you were starving.