FAZER LOGINI was born a half-blood vampire, the daughter of a vampire father and a human mother. I inherited a vampire's power, yet I could walk in sunlight without harm. On the day it happened, my beloved fiancé Adrian had been gravely wounded by hunters and lay collapsed in the burning light. I was the one who ran to him, and I was the one who took the bullet. But when he came to, he was certain the person who'd saved him was my stepsister, Sophia — because her arm bore the mark of a sunlight burn. I tried to explain. I wept and begged him to believe me. Adrian only looked at me with cold, distant eyes. "Elena, stop trying to steal Sophia's credit." Sophia was cherished in his hands, while I was trampled repeatedly. Adrian sealed my bloodline power, stripping me from half-blood to nothing. Our engagement was annulled, and he watched, cold and unmoved, as I was sent in Sophia's place to marry the noble vampire everyone whispered about: that ancient, monstrous lord. Then came the day of his and Sophia's betrothal ceremony. The vampire hunters struck again. Stripped of my power, I threw myself in front of a young girl to shield her. Sophia, meanwhile, abandoned Adrian's side and fled behind the elders. Only then did Adrian understand: the one who had saved him in the sunlight had always been me. He went mad with it. He blocked my carriage, desperate to stop me from leaving, from marrying another man. But I reached out and took another man's hand. "Adrian," I said. "I don't love you anymore."
Ver maisThe kitchens of Ashbourne Manor smelled of tallow and burnt sugar.
Katina Ashbourne had learned long ago that the smell of home wasn’t love. It was work.
She knelt before the massive stone hearth, struggling to coax dying coals back to life with an iron poker far too heavy for her slender wrists. Sweat dampened the loose strands of dark hair escaping her braid while heat kissed her soot-stained cheeks.
Outside, servants rushed through the corridors, preparing for the biggest night Ravenmoor had seen in decades: the Moon Bond Ceremony.
Katina silently counted the hours. Six hours until the Moon Goddess revealed destined mates. Six hours until dreams came true… or shattered forever.
Behind her, Old Nessa stirred a pot of stew.
You’ll want to hurry, child.
Katina immediately straightened.
Yes, Nessa?
The Lady wants Lady Katerina’s bath warmed before noon.
Nessa pointed toward another stack of trays.
And don’t forget the silver. Every piece must shine before the guests arrive.
Katina lowered her head.
Yes, Nessa.
The old woman sighed softly.
You never say anything except yes.
Katina forced a tiny smile.
It’s easier that way.
Perhaps.
Nessa reached over and brushed ash from Katina’s sleeve.
You deserve today as much as anyone.
Katina’s smile faded.
No.
She shook her head gently.
I really don’t.
It was always the same. Yes to polishing silver. Yes to carrying dresses. Yes to warming bath water. Yes to preparing everything that made someone else shine.
Especially her sister.
Katina carefully carried a basin of steaming water upstairs.
The polished hallway mirrors reflected her worn appearance.
Dark hair. Storm grey eyes. The same face everyone adored… only not her face.
Katerina’s.
She stopped before one mirror.
Her reflection stared back, Warped, Tired, Forgettable.
She looked almost identical to her twin, with the same eyes, the same lips, and the same high cheekbones. Yet somehow…
Katerina was called beautiful.
Katina was called useful.
Twenty-two years, Twenty-two years of being invisible.
She quietly whispered,
When will someone finally see me?
No one answered.
Katerina’s bedroom looked nothing like the servant quarters.
Silk curtains danced in the breeze while golden candlelight filled every corner, and fresh roses perfumed the air.
Katina knocked softly.
My Lady?
Come in!
Katerina stood before an enormous mirror while three maids adjusted her shimmering gown.
The dress looked like liquid moonlight.
Around her neck rested a sapphire necklace that had belonged to their grandmother, a family heirloom Katina had never even been allowed to touch.
Katerina caught her reflection.
There you are!
She spun happily.
What do you think?
Katina smiled.
You look beautiful.
Only beautiful?
Katerina laughed.
Mother said I need to glow tonight.
She lifted her arms dramatically.
Do I glow?
Katina swallowed the ache in her chest.
You always glow.
I knew it!
Katerina clapped excitedly.
Tonight is finally the night. The Moon Goddess is choosing my mate.
She placed both hands over her heart, I can feel it. Her smile widened. The entire pack can.
Katina remained silent.
Katerina tilted her head.
Don’t you feel it?
Katina hesitated.
She did. For weeks, something strange had stirred beneath her skin an invisible pull, a pressure inside her chest, like something sleeping was slowly waking.
She’d blamed nerves.
After all…
Watching her sister receive yet another blessing wasn’t exactly easy.
Katerina returned to admiring herself.
Without looking back, she asked,
Mother is allowing you to attend, isn’t she?
Katina nodded.
She said I may stand at the back.
Katerina laughed lightly.
How generous.
There wasn’t even cruelty in her voice. That somehow hurt more. Katerina simply didn’t think about Katina enough to be intentionally cruel.
To her, Katina was just there, like furniture, likeanother servant.
By nightfall…
The Great Hall of Ravenmoor glowed beneath hundreds of candles.
Moonlight streamed through towering stained-glass windows, washing silver across polished stone floors.
Nearly every wolf in the city had gathered. Noble families, warriors, elders and children.
Laughter echoed beneath the vaulted ceiling.
Katina quietly slipped inside.
She knew exactly where she belonged, the very back, hidden behind rows of elegantly dressed nobles.
One woman frowned.
Who’s that servant?
Another shrugged.
No idea.
Katina lowered her eyes.
They didn’t recognize her. The Alpha’s daughter. A member of the Ashbourne family.
No one knew her name.
At the center of the ceremonial circle stood Katerina.
She looked radiant, confident, born for this moment.
Katina watched from the shadows.
You belong there, a tiny voice whispered inside her.
She quickly silenced it.
No.
That place had never been hers.
A ripple moved through the crowd.
Alpha Lucien.
He has arrived.
Katina looked up.
Lucien Blackwood entered wearing ceremonial black robes embroidered with silver wolves.
Tall, broad-shouldered, handsome enough to steal every gaze in the room, future Alpha of Ravenmoor, the pack’s golden son.
Katina’s heart tightened.
She had loved him quietly, hopelessly, for years. Never speaking. Never hoping. Only watching from a distance, like loving the moon beautiful and untouchable.
Tonight everyone expected the same outcome.
Lucien. Katerina. The perfect pair.
The Moon Goddess would simply confirm what everyone already believed.
The Elder Priestess stepped into the circle.
She raised her staff.
Children of the Moon…
The hall fell silent.
Tonight we witness destiny.
Ancient chanting filled the room.
Words so old few still understood them.
Katina suddenly inhaled sharply.
Her chest burned.
What…?
She pressed a hand against her heart.
The strange feeling she’d carried for weeks exploded.
Heat surged through her veins as her pulse thundered and her breathing quickened.
It hurts…
She whispered.
No one heard.
The moonlight brightened.
The air grew unnaturally still.
Then….Something grabbed her, Not physically, something deeper.
A force wrapped around her heart and pulled Hard.
Katina stumbled forward.
No…
She tried planting her feet.
Nothing happened.
Her body kept moving.
The invisible force dragged her straight through the crowd.
People gasped.
What is she doing?
The servant girl!
Stop her!
Her mother’s horrified voice rang across the hall.
Katina!
But she couldn’t stop.
She couldn’t even breathe properly.
The pull became irresistible.
Step after step…
She crossed the hall.
Straight toward….
Lucien.
His head snapped upward.
Amber eyes met hers.
His entire body froze.
For the first time in twenty-two years…
Lucien Blackwood looked directly at her.
Not through her. Not past her.
At her.
Like he was truly seeing her.
The invisible pull finally stopped.
Katina stood only inches away.
Suddenly….A sharp burning spread across her wrist.
She cried out.
Ah!
Silver light spiraled beneath her skin.
The glowing mark bloomed beautifully.
Everyone stared.
No…
Someone whispered.
It can’t be.
Lucien slowly lifted his own arm.
His sleeve slipped back.
The identical silver mark blazed across his wrist.
Twin marks.One bond.The unmistakable blessing of the Moon Goddess.
Silence swallowed the hall.
Katerina’s smile vanished.
Her face turned deathly pale.
Lucien took one slow step toward Katina.
His lips parted.
Mate…
For one impossible heartbeat…
Katina believed.
She had finally been chosen.
She mattered.
She wasn’t invisible anymore.
A scream shattered everything.
AHHH!
Katerina collapsed onto the stone floor.
She clutched her stomach.
Tears streamed down her face.
It hurts!
She sobbed violently.
It hurts so much!
The hall erupted into chaos.
My baby!
Katerina screamed.
My baby!
Every head turned.
Lucien’s face changed instantly.
The warmth in his eyes disappeared.
Fear replaced it.
Katerina!
Without another glance at Katina…
He ran.
He dropped beside Katerina, catching her before she hit the floor.
What happened?
His voice cracked.
Katerina, look at me!
She buried herself against his chest, sobbing uncontrollably.
I’m losing the baby!
Lucien looked up.
His amber eyes locked onto Katina.
Gone was the wonder. Gone was destiny.
Only suspicion remained.
What…
His voice became dangerously quiet.
What …did you do to her?
The words struck harder than any blade.
The entire hall turned toward Katina.
Whispers spread like wildfire.
She attacked Lady Katerina.
She’s jealous.
She cursed her.
Katina couldn’t speak.
She simply stood there.
The glowing mate mark still burned on her wrist.
Completely ignored.
The Moon Goddess herself had spoken.
And not a single person cared.
In that moment…
Katina understood something far more terrifying than rejection.
Elena's POVAfter Adrian left, the handkerchief remained on the table. I looked at it for a long time, then asked the housekeeper to take it away.Lucien didn't ask why. He only pushed the box with my mother's things toward me, then drew out two larger cases. "I had these brought from the Valerie estate some time ago," he said. "I wasn't sure when you'd want them. I didn't want to bring them up too soon in case the memories were difficult." He paused. "Keep them. I know how much you miss her."I opened the cases. My mother's ruby necklace — she used to wear it to the window to read to me when I was small. It was something I had thought I would never get back. When she died, my stepmother claimed all her personal effects were to be held by the family, and I had been too young to stop her.I held the necklace in both hands and my eyes went hot. Nearly twenty years, and it was back in my hands. I said, very quietly, "Thank you." Lucien looked at me. "Stop thanking me. They were alw
Adrian's POVI heard about Elena's power beginning to recover while I was sitting in my father's study, staring at a document I hadn't read a word of. My father was at his desk with an expression that had been building for some time; the Elder Council had suspended my inheritance status and recalled half my guard command, the kind of things that once would have stripped me of sleep.Then my guard stepped close. "Sir. Word from the northern domain. Miss Elena's bloodline — there are signs of recovery." I looked up sharply. "Say that again." He kept his eyes down. "Lucien brought in a physician. She's apparently been able to reform a faint barrier."Barrier. Something struck me hard in the chest. The day the hunters attacked, she had done the same thing: terrified, no guarantee it would work, and she stood there and held her barrier up, kept it going until she ran herself dry, because it was for me. I had woken to Sophia's story and never questioned it. And then I had taken that v
Elena's POVI arrived at Lucien's northern domain with him, and by the time the carriage passed through the gates the sky was dark.I had expected something bleak. Every story about Lucien described his home as cold, forsaken, forbidding. But when I walked through the doors it was nothing like the stories.The iron gates opened slowly, and the long corridor beyond was lined with lanterns. The household staff stood in two quiet rows, and when they saw me they bowed together. "My lady."I stopped walking. The title felt wrong, unfamiliar. In the Valerie house I was a problem. To Adrian I was a liar. In Sophia's accounting I was the obstacle between her and everything she wanted. But here I was someone's lady, without mockery, without wariness, without being treated as something dangerous to be managed.Lucien stood at my side and didn't rush me forward. He only turned to the head of the household. "Send for the physician." I tightened my fingers. "That's not necessary." Lucien
Adrian's POVMy hands tightened slowly. The interrogation room was very quiet.Elena's father went first. "This is impossible. On what basis does Lucien have authority over the Valerie family?" An old voice came from the doorway. "On the basis that he is Lord Lucien."The Elder Council's representatives entered, their expressions unreadable. The lead elder looked at me. "The Prince has authorized this ruling, Lord Adrian." "My father authorized it?" "Lucien submitted the evidence directly. There is nothing to contest."I went quiet. Lucien hadn't needed to be in the room. He had simply sent his evidence and the Elder Council and my father had given their assent. That was what genuine power looked like: not the stories of a monster driven out to the edges, not a failed contender for a throne.I thought briefly about the old history I knew in pieces. Lucien and my father had once been rivals, and most people had expected Lucien to win because his abilities were too formidable — fo
Elena's POVMy heart sank sharply."No.""No." Adrian looked at his guards. "Take her."I spun and ran, but they caught me before I made it two steps. My wounds were still raw, and the moment they grabbed my arm the pain blazed white and I nearly buckled. If I hadn't already been weakened from shi
Elena's POVMy hand came down, and Sophia did not flinch. The crack split the silence in the attic. Sophia's face swung to the side, a red mark blooming across her cheek.I hadn't even pulled my hand back when the attic door slammed open. Adrian stood in the doorway with several of his guards behind
Elena's POVI was not sure how I made it back to the attic.The cuts on my knees were still seeping, and my palms burned. After years of small wounds and larger ones, even my half-blood resilience wasn't much to speak of. My healing had been slower than any ordinary vampire's for a long time, and t
Elena's POVMy words fell into silence, and for one suspended moment the entire hall held its breath.Then my stepmother laughed. It was a sharp, deliberate sound."Elena," she said, "do you have any idea what you're saying?" She positioned herself beside Sophia with one hand raised protectively, as






Welcome to GoodNovel world of fiction. If you like this novel, or you are an idealist hoping to explore a perfect world, and also want to become an original novel author online to increase income, you can join our family to read or create various types of books, such as romance novel, epic reading, werewolf novel, fantasy novel, history novel and so on. If you are a reader, high quality novels can be selected here. If you are an author, you can obtain more inspiration from others to create more brilliant works, what's more, your works on our platform will catch more attention and win more admiration from readers.