Chapter 3

(Natalia)

BLAZE ran with that savage power only he possessed. The minute he charged forward, I came to understand why people named him ‘Chaos’ in the battlefield, why even the best warriors in the kingdom cracked under his dangerous gaze. He looked like he had already been to war and had brought chaos wherever that was.

There was blood dripping down his fur although I knew right away that it was not from him.

I could smell the vampires’ scent on him.

But why? Did something happen to the kingdom?

I tried standing up, but my shaking legs failed me again. All I could do was sit there and watch as Blaze bit and ripped the vampires in two. I hadn’t seen him in action until tonight.

Of course, the vampires knew him and what he was capable of. The brave mask they showed me a while ago had fallen as fear flickered in their eyes upon recognizing his big, bad wolf. Their faces had turned as white as paper.

They tried to run but it was too late. Blaze was as quick as the lightning as he ran after them and caught them. He snarled and attacked them one by one. He eliminated most of the vampires by himself.

An hour later and the battle was over; his pack was scouting the area for more threats.

When his attention settled on me, my heart rate had become wild and rampant.

Blaze shifted and moved fluidly with predatory steps. He was fully naked and yet, I could not take my eyes off of him. Three years had passed but nothing had changed. This man was still illegally attractive. I watched as the blood of the vampires dripped from his wide shoulders down to his abs. He was wearing his enemies’ blood like armor.

And as he walked towards me, I didn’t see the creature of destruction they talked about. In fact, a god of war would have suited him perfectly.

Because Blaze was exactly like that. A god. Although right now, as I feel the burn of his gaze against my skin, I was unsure whether he was here to rescue me or ruin me.

I clutched the wound from my shoulders to distract my body that had become numb for a moment before I struggled to stand.

And when he was about to take the last three steps towards me, I stepped back. His expression hardened and his wolf growled at me.

When I tried to take another step away, he grabbed my arm and pulled me closer to him. My eyes widened at the bolt of energy that blazed between us the second our skin touched. My hands automatically went to his chest to push him away, but he didn’t let me. His body heat was soaking into my flesh, awakening what I thought had died years ago when he squashed my hope and turned his back on me.

Standing this close to him had brought back memories I tried so hard to forget.

I rebuilt my defenses and cleared my throat. “Thank you for saving me, General Kingston. When I return to the kingdom, I will make sure that you will be rewarded handsomely for this.”

Even when I was still a foolish girl, I’d never called him by his title. It was always his name. His jaw tightened although he chose not to comment on that. He just continued staring at me. I saw his eyes twitch when he noticed the bite mark on my neck and the bruises in my shoulders.

“You were bitten,” Blaze said in a low but rough voice.

“It’s nothing. I have a personal doctor near my place. I’ll summon him after you leave.”

Instead of responding, Blaze leaned in and held my back and neck. His fingers grazed the bite, softly brushing the blood from it before his lips sealed around it; his hot tongue traced the mark which made me curse myself inwardly as a zap of pleasure shot straight between my thighs.

Our bond was broken. So, why was I still feeling like this after all these years?

I didn’t know how it happened but slowly, I felt my strength returning. When he finally released me, his eyes had become darker. Something flared in them, something I could not understand. For a while, we just stared at each other, both of us breathing hard.

I cupped my neck, the sting from the bite had completely disappeared. I didn’t know he could heal a vampire’s bite.

My body was still burning up when I forced myself to look away and turned to his pack, they were done inspecting the area. They all lined up as they put their right hands over their left shoulders and lowered their heads to greet me.

Blaze stood regally in front of them.

His face was devoid of any emotion when he pinned me with his forest-green gaze. And when he spoke, his voice was back to being cold.

“We are here to escort you back to the kingdom, princess. It’s time to come home.”

(Blaze)

‘SOMEWHERE in your little black heart, I know you care for my daughter. If something happens to me, I expect you to assist her, Blaze.’

Those were Mikhail’s words when he summoned me a week ago. I had no idea where the heck he went afterwards. We may have known each other for decades now but there were certain things we refused to share with each other. He would tell me all about the darkest and dirtiest secrets in the kingdom, but he would never tell me who Natalia's mother was or whether she was still alive or not.

The way I would never tell him about the hundred and one things I wanted to do if only his precious Natalia did not possess his blood and surname.

Mikhail Larsen may be a hero in his daughter’s eyes but to the rest of the world, he was one hell of a monster. And monsters always recognized each other. I may have been tagged as ‘Chaos’ in the battlefield, but he was named ‘Daredevil.’ That was the reason why we stuck to each other and became friends.

We were both aware of each other’s darkness and monstrosity, that’s why he constantly warned Natalia never to meet people like us in the future, especially people like me.

Because Mikhail knew that his daughter would never survive a man like me.

I glanced at the woman who spelled trouble and bloodshed as she sat in the backseat with me. In the kingdom, there were lunas, betas, omegas.

And then there was Natalia.

She was the kind of woman who could never be identified.

My eyes drank her in. Every inch of her. Her blonde hair shone under the moonlight like a halo. She possessed the face that could make any man wage war with that doll-like face, blue eyes, and natural red lips. She had removed her jacket and was only wearing her white tank top and her jeans which were not enough to hide her luscious curves.

Natalia’s body was a territory any ruler would want to conquer. And I was never supposed to think of any of that. That was a sin towards the king I served.

It was her fault.

In my eyes, Natalia was supposed to be nothing but a little girl.

Until I saw her in that red dress.

Until that goddamn kiss ruined it all.

She was too beautiful. Too perfect. Too… forbidden for me.

I informed her about her father who was found unconscious in the garden last week. The doctors had done their best. They were able to extract the poison from the king’s body, but they could not save him from the coma.

The butler only informed me about his condition. I knew that whoever he met had something to do with it. I didn’t alert the princess yet because it would mean alerting the council as well. I thought the doctors could still weave a miracle before the news reached them. I commanded all the staff to keep their mouths shut. The castle kept the news until we were attacked by the vampires as soon as the sun set today and we found out that Natalia’s personal guards had been ambushed.

But unlike before, Natalia did not waver. She was quiet as she listened to my report. She didn’t show any emotion in front of me. She was becoming the queen she was trained to be.

When we finally reached the castle after a few hours of silence, I went around to the other side of the car and opened the door for her but before she headed out, I met her eyes.

“Before you step out of this car, remember this, Natalia. You need to keep your guard up at all times. With your father’s situation, everyone in this kingdom would rush to you either to murder you, fuck you, or use you.”

She flinched at the blatant words I let out, but I didn’t take them back. This was a brutal world. Gentleness had no space here. It was high time she realized that.

After a while, she raised her chin. “What about you, General Kingston? In which category do you belong to?”

“I’m in the fourth category. I want nothing to do with you, Natalia.”