Roman’s P.O.V
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The warmth had totally fled from Snow’s body. I held her, my hands trembling with helplessness I had never really known except the day my blood was cursed. No matter how much of my cursed lycan blood I desperately forced past her lips, she remained deathly still, her once–soft skin turning a sickly shade of blue. I pressed my forehead to hers, inhaling a scent that was already fading, slipping through my grasp like fucking smoke. FUCK!/
The one thing the gods had given me that should have been mine to protect…that could have healed me. And I failed.
My grip on her delicate form tightened. The coppery scent of her blood still clung to the air, mingling with the salt of the sea and my rage. That fucking vampire. The bastard had snuck aboard and drained her. And for what? I haven’t had anything to do with vampires for a long time. The last time we discussed was years ago when they were coming to some of the packs on the outskirts of my kingdom and stealing omegas to drain and rape. Instead of going to war with their nest leader, had spoken with them and I thought we all came to an agreement. The reason I couldn’t afford a war with the blood–suckers then was because my kingdom was battling the insurgence of rogues who believed they laid claim to the throne. But they must have taken my levity for weakness and were now emboldened to harm my mate before I even brought her back to the kingdom.
It suddenly dawned on me that the last person my mate had seen assaulting her had been that thing wearing my skin. Wherever her soul was trapped right now, Snow would be convinced I’d killed her. Gods.
A muscle ticked in my jaw and I dug my fingers into her arms as if I could anchor her back to life through sheer will. But when she still didn’t move, I glanced at my guards lingering at the doorway, watching me like one watches a beast on the verge of snapping its chains. None of them dared to speak either.
When I finally moved, I rose in a single fluid motion, cradling my mate’s lifeless body to my chest. I cleared my throat then. Set sail east. We’re going to Taldian.”
Every breath in the room hitched.
A guard–one of my more seasoned warrior–stepped forward, his expression cautious, but the fear in him was evident nonetheless. “Sire, you can’t possibly want to travel to the vampire Kingdom all because of a weak omega? That’s a death
sentence if=”
I didn’t let him finish. My hand shot out and I closed my fingers around the fool’s throat and soon the sound of bones crunching under my grip filled the room. His eyes bulged and he fought weakly against my grip as I lifted him off the ground, his feet kicking uselessly.
“She is my mate,” I snarled, my eyes burning. “Question me again, and I will rip out your spine.”
The guard choked, clawing weakly at my wrist before he was finally released. He crumpled to the floor, gasping, but noone else moved to intervene. They knew better,
Within moments, the ship veered east.
I stood at the bow, the wind ripping through my hair as I held snow close, pressing my forehead against hers. Her scent was so faint at this time that it made my stomach churn. I realized that though I’d seen her giggle, I’d never heard the sound of it. I would give whatever it took to heart that. I remembered the way she’d thrown her arms around ray neck at the dock, like was the safest place in the world for her. Even if my motives weren’t pure, Snow was pure and I was supposed to protect her. I let out a shaky breath as the veins in my jaw ticked,
I wouldn’t let her go.
Even if it meant defling everything I was.
Even if it meant turning her into the very thing I loathed.
By the time we reached the shores of Taldian, the sky had darkened, casting an eerily greyness over the water. I barely registered the silence that swallowed the docks or the sleek black vehicles lined up as if expecting me until the boat was
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anchored. My eyes narrowed on the royal sigil of Taldian on the car doors.
So the vampire royalty knew I was coming.
A thought they they had been the one to send the vampire to my boat in the first place crossed my mind but I ignored the thought. News traveled fast, yes, but the vampire royalty had no beef with Lycans. In fact, we shared trading borders.
1 stepped onto the dock, my boots loudly hitting the wooden planks. A lesser man would have thought twice before stepping into the territory of bloodsuckers with nothing but a dead mate in his arms that war brewing in chest. Hell, my guards were hanging behind, themselves.
But I didn’t care.
The only thing that centered in my vision was the path to the castle as I climbed the waiting vehicle.
The drive was swift, unnervingly smooth, but I still felt like I was unraveling. The absence of SNow’s heartbeat was driving me
insane.
I ground my teeth refusing to accept she was gone.
The moment the car skidded to a half before the castle gates, I was out with Snow in my arms, shoving past the dhampir guards before they could so much as speak. All I could smell was ancient blood and cold stone, it was so thick in the air that I could almost taste it on my tongue, but that didn’t make me pause.
It was a guard who stepped forward, hands raised that faltered my steps. “State your bu-”
I was pretty sure the Dhampir didn’t even see the punch coming. One second he was standing before me, stopping me from my mission, and the next, Liga took over my body briefly and my feet kicked his chest in and he was a heap of shattered bones and torn flesh against the wall.
“Out of my way,” My voice was guttural, more beast than man.
The others hesitated, but before they could decide whether to let me in or attack, a voice thundered from inside the castle.
“Halt,”
The air itself seemed to seize. I looked up and descending the grand staircase, was the vampire King himself.
Tall, ageless and unfathomably powerful. Midnight black hair framed a pale almost beautiful face that would have been heartwrenchingly lovable if not for the cruel dead eyes it held. He moved with an effortless grace that spoke of a predator long accustomed to being worshipped–or feared. I hated him already. I’d never met him but I knew my father had met with him to continue the trading borders.
When our eyes met, I could feel the weight of centuries coiling around the man like a second skin, but I simply held Snow tighter.
The vampire king glided closer and I could almost feel his breath but the moment his gaze fell on Snow’s lifeless body, his blank expression changed.
The blood drained from his face. If such a thing were even possible, his already paper–white skin grew paler. His lips parted and then in a voice barely above a whisper, he uttered a single word. “Mate.”
