Chapter 001: Dawn's Ruin

BOUND BY THE VEIN CONTENT WARNING This novel contains material intended for mature audiences only (18+). It includes themes and scenes involving: Graphic violence Blood and feeding Sexual content Obsession and psychological manipulation Power imbalance and coercive dynamics Death and dark supernatural horror elements 🚫Reader discretion is strongly advised. COPYRIGHT/DISCLAIMER This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. @Starlet Xross. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed without written permission from the author. CHAPTER ONE : Dawn's Ruin He woke to the muted buzz of his phone on the marble nightstand, winter light slipping thin and pale through the heavy drapes of the Carlyle suite. Upper East Side. New York. The room c

Last Updated : 2026-01-24

Chapter 002: The Fallout

Shawn took the stairs. Not the elegant marble staircase guests used, but the narrow, fluorescent-lit service stairwell behind the fifth-floor linen closet, smelling of bleach and old carpet. He couldn’t risk the elevator. The thought of those smooth metal doors sliding shut, trapping him in a steel box with nothing but his own heartbeat and the possibility that the pale thing from suite 512 could be waiting on the other side, with its fangs out, eyes glowing and cock still slick from the dead man. Picturing it made bile rise in his throat. Better to sprint down five flights on shaking legs. Better to twist an ankle or crack a kneecap on the concrete steps, than stand motionless while something that ancient, hungry and terrifying decide whether to drain him dry or fuck him to death first. The memory kept flashing: the wet fangs pulling free, blood on lips, trailing down neck, the limp body still impaled, hips twitching in dying rhythm. Shawn’s stomach lurched again. He gripp

Last Updated : 2026-01-24

Chapter 003: Intrusion

His mouth was cool at first, then slowly warmed, stealing heat from him. Shawn's hands found bare skin that didn't feel as it should, and his back arched against sheets that felt too smooth and expensive for his life. Cool, marble-smooth, muscles moved beneath his palms like shadows sliding through water. The stranger rumbled a low sound against his lips, amusing but tender. "You are trembling." Shawn's breath caught. “Should I be?” Fingers slid down his side, tracing ribs he could feel too clearly, then lower, slipping beneath fabric with the same carefree assurance. The touch wrapped around him, stroking slowly enough to make every nerve scream. He rocked forward without intending to, chasing pressure he didn't want. His mouth hovered at Shawn’s throat, close enough to feel the frantic pulse hammering there. Not kissing yet, just lingering, teasing, breathing him in. He drew a shaky breath. Teeth lightly touched his skin, sending a thrill without actually biting. “God—” The

Last Updated : 2026-02-05

Chapter 004: Crossroad

Monday morning in New York hit him like a freight train. It was just after eight, and Midtown was already alive with suited commuters hopping over puddles from last night’s drizzle. The air carried the usual mix of exhaust, burnt coffee from street carts, and that sharp, metallic smell that always seemed to hang over the city at the start of a new week.Shawn tightened his grip on his phone in the back of the yellow cab, the cracked vinyl seat squeaking every time the driver hit a pothole on the way toward Fifth Avenue. The tie around his neck wasn’t even his, and it felt more like a leash than part of a professional outfit, but it was what he had.This was the second stage: the in-person interview after his resume and documents had somehow made it through the first round. It was a real corporate firm this time. Glass tower, security badges, daylight hours. If he didn’t mess this up, maybe… just maybe, he could start digging himself out of the mess he’d been drowning in.The call conn

Last Updated : 2026-02-13

Chapter 005: First Day

Shawn’s first full day at Valemont Publications felt like stepping into someone else’s life.Lunch break buzzed around him before he registered it. His colleagues were already stacking files and shutting down screens as they drew their drawers closed. Shawn stayed where he was.He picked up his phone instead. A call with his family was all he needed.The video connected after two rings. His sister’s face filled the screen first, hair tied back, eyes ringed and dull at the edges from too many late nights beside a hospital bed.“You’re at work?” she asked immediately, angling the camera around to see more. “Did you get it?”“Yeah,” he said, turning the phone slightly so she could see the desk, the monitors, and the window behind him.Her eyes widened. “You’re serious?”“Yeah. I got it.”She let out a sharp breath that sounded half like a laugh. “Oh my God.”Their mother’s voice drifted in from off-screen before she leaned into frame. She looked thinner than last week. Still smiling.“Yo

Last Updated : 2026-03-09

Chapter 006: The Man from 512

Shawn’s first week at Valemont Publications had been less about learning the job and more about learning how to keep up with it.The first couple of days nearly ran him into the ground. Everything moved faster than he expected, and for a while he felt like he was always a step behind whatever Ella asked for next. But after repeating the same tasks for several days in a row, the rhythm finally started to settle in his head. By the time the weekend came around, he no longer had to stop and think before doing something.He spent most of the afternoon sorting contract folders Ella had left on his desk. He checked the names against the spreadsheet on his screen, stamped the ones that had already been approved, and carried the rest down to Legal.That wasn’t as easy as he’d thought. And life outside the office wasn’t easy either.His mother’s diagnosis was a full weight on his chest. Stage three breast cancer. The words echoed in his head every time, even when he tried not to think about th

Last Updated : 2026-03-13