12. Vampires Attack.

Adrian's POV

Two weeks.

Two long weeks since Matthew’s visit, since the conversation that wouldn’t stop echoing in my head. Two weeks since I’d been forced to tolerate the presence of the Council’s chosen “Luna candidate.”

Lucy.

Every time I saw her in the corridors of my mansion, all I could think about was Rose. The way her heartbeat had quickened under my touch.

The way she’d looked at me like she could see something deeper than the Alpha...the monster...beneath my skin.

It was infuriating. Unacceptable. Addicting.

And so I did what I do best...avoidance.

Every day, Lucy trained with the guards. Every evening, she waited in the council room for my audience. And every night, I ignored her. I buried myself in paperwork, meetings, strategies, anything to distract my mind from both of them...the woman the Council wanted and the one fate kept whispering about.

Until tonight.

I was halfway across the glass bridge that connected the west wing to my private chambers when I heard her voice.

“Adrian!”

I stopped mid-step. My jaw flexed, my fingers tightening against the railing.

She was standing at the end of the bridge....arms folded, face sharp with irritation, moonlight glinting on her hair.

“You’ve been avoiding me,” she said flatly.

I turned away. “Observation skills...impressive.”

“Don’t play games with me.” She walked closer, her boots echoing on the glass floor.

“You think I wanted this? You think I enjoy being paraded in front of you like some offering?”

I didn’t answer.

“I was ordered here,” she continued, voice tightening.

“Just like you were ordered to lead the pack. I didn’t ask for it either. But if we’re stuck in this mess, the least we could do is be civil.”

Still nothing. I kept my eyes on the night sky beyond the glass...the moon hanging low and red-tinted, clouds drifting like smoke.

“Adrian,” she said, softer now, “is there someone else?”

That made me finally turn.

Her eyes searched mine, desperate for something...an answer, maybe, or just the truth.

But I gave her neither. “What I do or don’t have in my mind isn’t your concern and it's Lord Adrian to you!.”

Her lips parted. “So you do...Lord...Lord Adrian”

“Lucy,” I said coolly, “I don’t owe you my thoughts. Tell the Council whatever you want. They’ll hear from me when I decide they should.”

Her jaw tightened, but before she could respond, the heavy doors at the end of the hall burst open.

A guard stumbled in...breathing hard, armor streaked with dirt and blood. “Alpha! Vampires...attacking a nearby village! The border patrol’s down!”

My calm shattered in an instant.

“How many?” I demanded.

“Over five dozen...maybe more. They came through the river pass!”

I was already moving. “Sound the alert. Gather the sentinels. Caleb?”

The guard shook his head. “He’s already there, sir. He went ahead.”

Of course he did.

I looked back at Lucy. “Stay here.”

She glared. “Not a chance.”

Lucy’s POV

The wind ripped past us as we rode with our super speed through the dark forest, branches bending under the fury of our speed. Adrian’s presence ahead of me was impossible to ignore...his posture rigid, movements precise, every inch the Alpha he was born to be.

I could sense his anger, his focus. It rolled off him like heat.

When the scent of blood hit the air, I knew we were close.

We broke through the final line of trees, and the world exploded into chaos.

Fires burned in the distance, painting the night with flickering orange light. Villagers screamed as they ran, clutching children, slamming doors, hiding in cellars, Vampires feeding on humans. The smell of iron and ash choked the air.

And in the center of it all...wolves and vampires clashed in a storm of motion and sound.

I barely had time to draw my blade before a vampire lunged at me. Its fangs gleamed, eyes burning red. I spun, driving my blade straight through its chest. It hissed, turned to ash before hitting the ground.

“Lucy!”

Adrian’s voice cut through the chaos. I turned just in time to see him tear through three vampires...bare hands, no transformation, pure Alpha strength. His movements were brutal but graceful, like war was his second nature.

He didn’t need his wolf. He was the wolf.

I shifted to my wolf form, my body burning with the familiar surge as fur and power replaced flesh. My bones lengthened, my senses sharpened, and I joined the fray.

All around us, our pack warriors fought with everything they had. But the vampires were relentless...faster than usual, stronger too.

What the hell was happening?

A blur of motion caught my eye...a massive silver wolf, slamming into a vampire midair. Caleb.

He landed beside us, blood spattering across the dirt, and gave a low, rumbling growl.

The sight of the Alpha and Beta together sent shockwaves through the battlefield. The vampires faltered. Some froze. Others turned and fled.

And then...silence.

The war cries faded, replaced by the low hum of dying fire and heavy breathing. The battle was over.

Caleb’s POV

The field smelled like burnt ash and wet earth. Ashes...of vampire... littered the ground, luckily no wolf was killed, just injured. My fur was slick with blood that wasn’t mine.

I shifted back into human form, grabbing the clothes I hid before transforming, stretching my sore limbs. Lucy followed, collapsing to one knee to catch her breath.

Adrian stood in the center of it all...untouched, eyes glowing faintly gold in the moonlight.

The Alpha.

He didn’t say a word for a long time. Just stared at the horizon like he could already see what came next.

Finally, he spoke. “Wipe the scene.”

“Yes, Alpha,” the guards murmured, already moving to do as ordered.

I joined him, watching as he pulled out a silver pendant from his coat. It shimmered faintly, then pulsed with blue light.

The spell was quick. Within moments, the chaos faded from the villagers’ minds. Their eyes went blank, confusion replacing fear.

They would remember nothing but a “fire accident.”

Even the reporters...who had arrived with cameras and flashing lights...suddenly turned away, lost in the haze of manipulated memory.

When the last light dimmed, I finally said what had been sitting heavy on my tongue.

“That wasn’t just a random attack.”

He didn’t look at me. “I know.”

“They’re testing the borders again,” I continued. “And this time, they knew where to hit. The vampires are planning something big, Adrian.”

His eyes flickered toward me briefly. “The eclipse.”

“Exactly.”

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. “You feel it too, don’t you? The pull. The tension. Everything’s shifting. The battle at the eclipse isn’t just rumor anymore...it’s coming.”

He was silent, but the tightening of his jaw told me everything.

The moon was rising higher now...redder, fuller.

Lucy stepped closer, wiping blood from her face. “The Council needs to hear about this.”

“They will,” Adrian said quietly. “But first, the pack needs to be fortified. We are lucky we lost none tonight.”

“And Rose?” I asked before I could stop myself.

Lucy’s head snapped toward me, but Adrian didn’t react. His expression was carved from stone.

Why talk about Rose now.

“Rose is safe,” he said finally, though his voice betrayed him. “That’s all that matters.”

We stood in silence, the smell of smoke and blood heavy around us. The wind carried a faint, eerie sound...like distant laughter.

Vampires.

Even retreating, they were never truly gone.

Adrian’s POV

The fires had been put out, the wounded taken care of. My soldiers stood in formation, waiting for orders.

But all I could think about was the prophecy....the eclipse, the Luna, the impossible line between human and wolf.

I was supposed to lead my kind into balance. But balance didn’t exist anymore. Not when my mind was chained to a woman who wasn’t supposed to be part of this world.

Lucy walked up beside me, her armor still glinting under the blood-streaked moon.

“You fought well,” I said, surprising even myself.

She gave a faint, tired smile. “You too.”

I turned toward the forest, where shadows danced like whispers. “The Council will demand answers. You can tell them what you want.”

She hesitated. “And you? What will you tell them?”

I met her gaze...steady, unflinching. “That I’ll deal with them when I choose to. Not before.”

She nodded slowly, a flicker of understanding...or maybe pity...in her eyes.

Then she said softly, “You’re not as cold as you pretend to be, Adrian Wolfe.”

I didn’t respond.

Because maybe she was right. Maybe I wasn’t.

But what I couldn’t admit...not to her, not to Caleb, not even to myself...was that somewhere far from this battlefield, a human woman’s heart was calling to me.

And the wolf inside me was starting to answer.

Caleb’s POV

When the last of the guards left, I walked up beside Adrian. The night was quiet again, too quiet.

“You know what this means,” I said.

He didn’t look at me. “Say it.”

“The battle of the eclipse,” I murmured. “It’s not coming. It’s already begun.”

The moon glowed above us, red as blood.

And for the first time, I saw something in Adrian’s eyes that I hadn’t seen in years.

Fear.