VladimirThe next six weeks after Rose and Mark joining ceremony have been pretty quiet. No vampires or rogues attacks.I spent all my nights in Elena's room, making love to her for hours and then talk until we both fall asleep.Lately, Elena has been furious. She gets angry about anything. When she snaps at me, I keep my mouth shut because anything I might tell her gets her angrier. Not even my Aura ability can save me then.After making love to Elena, I lay in bed with her in my arms like any other night."Elena?""Mm?""Can I ask you something?""Sure.""About your vampire side. Can I ask how it happened?"She tenses and gradually relaxes."My maternal grandma met and fell in love with a vampire.""But that's....""Not allowed. I know. But my grandma didn't care. She and the vampire had a relationship, even if she had a mate at that time. When her mate got killed by a few vampires, she was already pregnant with my mom. Everything was fine with them for a while, but one day they had
VladimirI go to my room and slam the door.Stupid, stupid, stupid me! I should not have lost my fucking temper like that. I lost my shit when she accused me of flirting with another female.Seeing Elena take off the ring I gave her broke my heart. Fuck it!I will let her calm down, and tomorrow I will apologize. I will beg if I must too, but I can't live without her.If she doesn't want a joining ceremony, so be it. All that I care about is to be with her.I go and lie in bed and look at the ceiling. I am too upset to sleep. All I want is to have Elena in my arms, but she will cut my head off if I go to her now.I stay like this for a long time, but sleep won't come, so I decide to go out. Maybe a walk in the park will work. I look for Winter and go to the park.I watch at Winter as she plays when I suddenly get a bad feeling. I feel a lot of evil energy. I decide to see where it is coming from."Vampires and rogues, lots of them," I hear Derayu."What? Where? And the alarm... We hav
MarkI have pack members cleaning the big plaza. Over five hundred vampires and a thousand rogues are dead. And how did Vladimir kill them? I have seen nothing like this before.I find Winter, badly hurt, between corpses of vampires. I take her to the doctor, and he assures me Winter will survive.Poor Elena is devastated. I had to call the doctor to sedate her. She wouldn't stop screaming and crying. I just stood there, numbed, when she told me Mihnea took Vladimir away, not knowing what to say to her.I let the rest of the pack clean the plaza while I call for Bobby, the architect of the pack, to evaluate all the buildings, to see if any had suffered damages during the blast wave. Every single window has been shattered.Once I have the buildings evaluated, I make phone calls to ask for the materials I need to repair the buildings.I have werewolves taking measures for windows. It will take a few days until I have all the measures.Later on, I go to check on Elena. She hasn't come ou
VladimirI have been awake for some time, waiting to see what the vampire will do. I haven't opened my eyes, but I know that I am chained. I feel a silver collar tight around my neck and chains around my ankles and wrists."I wonder how long you will pretend to be unconscious for? You think I don't know you woke up a while ago?" I hear the vampire ask.There's no use pretending. I open my eyes. I try to focus my gaze, but I am still dizzy. I need an entire minute to see the vampire's face.My heart pounds fast, my mouth goes dry. Anger rips through me."I know your face," I say.The vampire, Mihnea, looks at me with curiosity."But I don't think we met before. I would have remembered," Mihnea says."Fifteen years ago, you kill an innocent girl in a forest, but you let the boy live."Mihnea looks at me, studies me, and laughs."You are the rogue from the forest? You should be grateful I let you live.""Grateful? You destroyed my childhood."He laughs some more."I give a shit about you
ElenaEarly in the morning, I leave with my mom to go to where my grandfather is living. Mark offers to go with us, but I tell him that the pack needs him.In the car, I touch my belly and think of what the doctor said to me."Because of the pregnancy, your hormones change, making you feel moody all the time."Is that's why I treated Vladimir like trash the last time I spoke to him? If I get to him in time, I will explain and apologize. I feel tears going down my cheek. Lately, I have been crying a lot too. It is because of the little pup. I will gladly cry a thousand tears if I know this will save my mate."We will reach Vladimir in time. I promise. Your grandfather might be the biggest bastard this Earth has seen, but he also promised me help if I ever needed it."I nod absently, my thoughts flying to Vladimir. Please, let me get to him in time! He can't die. We have a pup on the way.I am so deep in my thoughts that I don't even pay attention to the road. My mother is the one that
In the darkest night,Go to the old citadel.Elena"Faster, mom! We are almost out of time!" I say to mom, while I look at my watch, 11:53 PM. Shit!"We will get there in time!"And I see my mom going even faster. Three move minutes and we stop the car. We still have to climb 1480 stairs to get to the old citadel of Poienari.Everyone thinks that the castle of Vlad Țepeș, or Dracula, is Bran, but he had two castles, one in Târgoviștene, and the other in Poienari.I run on the stairs, pushing myself even more than ever. Vlad already told me how to get into the secret tunnel that leads under the ruins."Elena! Wait for us!" my mom yells.But I don't listen. All I care about is to save Vladimir. I touch the scythe to make sure I still have it in my messenger bag. I look at the watch, 11:57 PM. I push myself even harder.When I get to the ruins, I look for the wall that Vlad told me.I push the stones and grab and pull the wall rings Vlad described. Stairs that lead beneath the ruins appe
At the last hour,The old altar is the answer.Elena"Oh no, sweety," I hear my mom say. "I am sorry we didn't get here on time."I keep rocking Vladimir, and I put my cheek on top of his head. He still smells like peaches."He is my half, my everything. He is the light of my darkness. He is my yang. Even our wolves are a match. I never thought I could love someone so much."I look at my mom."I don't think I can go on without him.""Sh. You have a pup to think about. You are strong. One day you will be reunited with him," my mom says.My heart stops."No! I don't want to wait. I want him back.""There is nothing we can do about it," my mom says."There might be a way to bring him back," I suddenly hear Vlad says.I look straight into his eyes, and they glow red."What way? I will do anything to have him back. Anything!"Vlad looks at me."It is very risky. He might lose his humanity, and I will be forced to kill him. And you will see him die again.""He won't lose his humanity. You d
When everything seems lost,Remember that ancient blood is the key.ElenaAfter seconds that seemed like years, the door opens, revealing a long chamber. At the end of the chamber, I see the altar. Vlad takes Vladimir from my mom."Here we have to be very careful. Harpies protect the old altar. Never look up, and if a harpy comes to us, never look her in the eyes. She will take it as a fight signal, and trust me, you don't want to fight a harpy. They are tough creatures. No running, we walk normally."We do as Vlad instructed us, and we start walking. We walk with soft steps.I hear the flaps of wings, and a harpy lands next to us."You finally came back," I hear a female voice."After our last time together, I thought I would never see you again. Missed me?" the female voice asks Vlad."Mika, as lovely as always. I see you haven't changed a bit. But I am not here to see you.""Then why are you here? And bringing females in here, after we....""Meet my daughter and granddaughter. As y