Chapter 7

A sharp pain shot through my chest. The wolf inside me cried out.

"It wasn't me!" I screamed, sitting bolt upright. "Use the bond! If I'm lying, you can kill me right now!"

The blood bond was our most sacred connection. No lie could hide within it.

He finally looked up, his deep blue eyes bloodshot, swimming with pain and conflict.

"Everyone saw you. How am I supposed to believe you over my entire coven?" he snarled. "How can I protect you when you make it impossible? I have sacrificed everything for our 'forever'—for this damned eternity!"

This damned eternity.

That’s what our love had become to him.

"If our eternity is a curse," I said, my voice dangerously quiet as I met his furious gaze, "then I don't want it."

"What?"

"I want to break our bond."

The words hit the room like a bomb.

Dorian's face went white with rage. He slammed his fist into the stone table beside him.

The solid marble shattered.

"What did you just say?" His voice was a low growl. He lunged, his hands gripping my shoulders like steel bands. "Say. It. Again."

"I said," I repeated, each word clear and sharp, "I want. To break. The bond."

"No!" His roar shook the room. "You can't leave me!"

"Why not?" I laughed, a cold, broken sound. "You already have your perfect family, don't you? You have your heir. What use is there for this 'outsider' anymore?"

"Because I love you!" he roared, his eyes wild with desperation. "It has only ever been you!"

We stood there, locked in a standoff.

His hands were shaking. His eyes were a storm of pain, madness, and despair.

Finally, he pulled me into a crushing embrace.

"Don't you ever talk about leaving again," he rasped, holding me so tight I thought I would break. "Ever."

I didn't fight him.

I had no fight left.

"Liliana has forgiven you," he said against my ear. "But on one condition."

I closed my eyes, waiting for the final blow.

"I have to perform the Blood Moon Vow with her," he finally said, his voice hollow. "It's the only way to legitimize the heir."

The Blood Moon Vows.

The most sacred union for vampires, a pledge of eternal fidelity.

I smiled, but it was a smile of pure heartbreak.

"When?"

"In three days."

I nodded, unable to speak.

For the next few days, Dorian was a model of devotion.

He fed me, changed my bandages, and took me for walks in the garden.

It was as if nothing had happened.

But after I was discharged, everything was different.

The castle was buzzing with servants preparing for a wedding.

Red carpets, silver decorations, and massive bouquets of blood-red roses.

Dorian confiscated my communication device.

"To prevent any accidents," he explained.

Blood servants began to watch me twenty-four hours a day.

"For your safety," he said.

I was a prisoner in his castle.

On the day of the Blood Moon Vow ceremony, I sat in my room, listening to the noise outside.

The guests were arriving, their laughter and congratulations echoing through the halls.

Just then, a soft knock came at my door.

It was Elder Viktor.

Right. This was the day we agreed I would leave.

"A flight ticket to the Crimson Port," he said, handing me an envelope. "And a new identity."

I took the envelope, my face calm as I fought back the pain.

Then I stood and picked up the suitcase I'd already packed.

"Freya," Viktor called out. "Don't you want to watch the ceremony? Hear the vows he makes to her?"

I shook my head.

"No."

I walked out the door with my suitcase, the sound of ceremony bells ringing through the night air.

I didn't look back at the lavish ceremony. I didn't stay to hear Dorian's vows of eternity to Liliana.

I just sat in the back of the car, watching the castle shrink in the distance until it was gone.

Let the past, and the love that was never meant to be, fade away.

Goodbye, Dorian. May you enjoy your new eternity.

The one without me.