His Forbidden Human

I do not want to marry her, father,” Lucien said.Lucien Delacroix had faced wars for centuries without flinching, watched kingdoms burn in silence, entire bloodlines wiped out in his 272 years of existence, all sacrifices made to keep his people safe. Fear had never ruled him, pain had never slowed him.But this was different.He stood before his father, Alaric Delacroix, staring into his eyes.“I cannot marry her, I will not be forced into a marriage I do not want,” he said again, his voice steady.The room went quiet, so quiet that if a pin was dropped, the sound would echo across the purplished marble floor.Lucien's gaze shifted around the council table in his father's mansion. The vampires stared back. No one dared to speak. They had never seen the vampire prince this angry. His face turned paler than it already was, his fists clenched so hard that his nails pressed into his palm.Lucien's stomach twisted. He was the first born child and son of the most feared vampire king, the

Katerina opened her eyes. At first, her vision was blurry. All she could hear were beeping machines. Slowly, her view became clearer. She tried to move, but she felt discomfort, light-headed, like she had hit her head. Where was she? she wondered.The smell of the hospital hit her nostrils. She hated hospitals. Ever since both of her parents died in a fatal plane crash three years ago, when she was sixteen years old. The smell, the sick people, the blood. She hated it all.Just then, the memories began to return. She remembered she left the house in a hurry. She was driving, and all of a sudden, she saw an animal- like a deer, in the middle of the road. She had tried to avoid hitting the animal when she lost control of the steering. She remembered screaming as loud as she could just before her car fell into the old Wickery Bridge.She could feel her breath slowly leaving her lungs. She struggled to open the door, but the pressure of the water was too much. Water was flooding her car

Lucien woke up in one of his many properties, a smaller mansion than the main one he lived in. He turned to face the other side of the bed. The vampire woman he had spent the night with was still asleep. He had barely touched her the entire night.Lucien sat up slowly, trying to not wake up the woman laying beside him. He ran his fingers through his hair. He couldn't remember how the night ended. He remembered arriving, remembered the distraction he was looking for. But that was all. His thoughts were absent. They hadn't been with her.Instead, they were where they'd been for days now.Wickery Bridge. The feeling of the cold water and her fragile body in his arms.Lucien stood, putting on his shirt and jacket without making a sound. He didn’t bother waking the woman. She wouldn’t care. Neither of them expected anything from each other.He left before the sun fully set.By evening, he was walking through the city, blending in. He fed well every time to avoid looking paler than he alr

Lucien had been thinking about that evening at the grill. That evening he saw her again. That evening he was relieved. Relieved that she was fine. That she was safe. That she was alive.He had told himself he wouldn't return to the grill or search to know more about her, but something in him felt like he would defile that.The grill encounter replayed itself over and over.Her laugh.Not forced. It was real. Light enough to slip through the noise in the room and reach where he sat. He had not meant to stay as long as he did. He had not meant to look twice.He certainly had not meant to feel anything.Lucien exhaled slowly and turned away from the balcony. Retreating into the dim interior of the house. The house felt empty. Silent.The walls seemed colder tonight. Shadows stretched long across the floor. The silence pressed against him, heavy, almost suffocating.He poured himself a drink he did not need and did not touch. The liquid sloshed softly in the glass. He watched it, fascinat

She turned too quickly. Without hesitation.Her heart rising as if expecting him to be someone she had been searching for.Someone she didn't even know if he was real. Someone she wasn't even sure if she clearly saw his face.She stared at the man.Her face was obvious with curiosity.Nothing about him felt familiar. She didn't feel the pull she thought she should feel.He looked normal. Just normal.It wasn't him. Something in her felt empty with that realisation.“Who even is he?” she asked herself. There is no him, she told herself. She felt hurt, confused, or perhaps disappointed.Just then, she heard the car honk. Katerina’s parents’ car that had been parked in the garage. They were using it for the meantime while waiting for the insurance repairs on Katerina’s car to finish.Katerina let out a heavy sigh as she got into the car.Rebecca turned to her.“What happened?”“Nothing,” Katerina said. “I thought I saw someone I knew.”Rebecca looked at her for a moment. She didn't ask a