Chase’s POV:
My heart twisted at his words, pride and sorrow mixing.
The wolf froze, his expression darkening. Before he could respond,
Before I could act, the wolf—the supposed "father"—let out a guttural growl, his body contorting as he shifted into a massive black wolf. His glowing yellow eyes fixed on , filled with rage and challenge.
Stupid wolf. He had no idea what he was up against.
He lunged at without warning, his jaws snapping dangerously close to my throat. I sidestepped, barely avoiding his teeth, and countered with a powerful blow to his side, sending him stumbling back.
"You’re going to regret this," I snarled, my fangs bared.
We circled each other, the tension in the room thick and suffocating. He lunged again, this ti swiping at with claws aid to tear. I dodged, grabbing his paw mid-swing and twisting it, earning a pained yelp. But he recovered quickly, slamming into with the force of a battering ram.
We crashed to the ground, his massive weight pinning beneath him. He snapped at my head, his jaws coming dangerously close, but I jerked away just in ti.
"You’re just delaying the inevitable," he growled, his voice distorted by his wolf form.
His arrogance was infuriating.
I struggled beneath him, but even as he thought he had the upper hand, I saw my opportunity. His focus was on my neck, his massive jaws poised to strike. He had left his chest wide open, exposed.
Big mistake.
With one swift, calculated move, I slipped my hand between us, claws extended. In one powerful strike, I plunged my claws into his chest and tore his heart free in a single, brutal motion.
He froze, a strangled whine escaping him as his body went limp.
His massive form collapsed onto , heavy and lifeless. Blood pooled beneath us, the sharp tallic scent filling the air. I shoved his body off with a growl, standing and glaring down at the unmoving form.
"You should have stayed down," I muttered, my voice cold and unforgiving.
Ace’s smug laughter abruptly stopped, replaced by a stunned silence. His eyes darted between and the fallen wolf, disbelief etched into his features.
I turned my attention back to Ace, my rage simring just beneath the surface.
"Let her go, Ace," I said, my voice dark and deadly. "This is between you and ."
Ace’s grip on Leila tightened, the silver knife pressing dangerously close to her throat. "You’re making this far too entertaining, Chase," he sneered.
Just then, Damon appeared in the room, taking in the chaos with a sharp, assessing gaze. He looked at the dead wolf, then at Ace, and his expression darkened.
"Seems I ca late to the party," Damon said, though his voice lacked its usual humor. His eyes flicked to the knife at Leila’s throat. "Shit."
Ace smirked, his confidence returning. "Oh, this is perfect. You’re just in ti to watch her die."
I could feel my control slipping, my instincts roaring at to end Ace. But one wrong move, and Leila...
I clenched my fists, my body tense with the need to act. "Let her go, Ace. Now."
The tension in the room was suffocating, and ti was running out. But I wasn’t going to lose her. Not now. Not ever.
Ace muttered sothing under his breath, his gaze snapping toward the sudden disturbance.
In an instant, Damon appeared in the room, his presence bringing a flicker of hope to the chaos. He took in the scene, his sharp eyes narrowing as they landed on Ace.
"Seems I ca late to the party," Damon said, his voice laced with sarcasm, but the tension in his posture betrayed his unease. His gaze flicked to the knife at Leila’s throat. "Shit."
"You shouldn’t have co," Ace replied smoothly, his smirk widening. "Now you’ll both get to watch her die."
I could feel my control slipping, my instincts screaming at to tear Ace apart. But one wrong move, and Leila...
I couldn’t let that happen.
"Let her go, Ace," I said, my voice barely more than a growl. "This is between you and ."
Ace’s grip tightened. "Oh, but it’s so much more fun this way."
Ti was running out, and every second felt like an eternity. My mind raced, searching for a way to turn the situation in my favor.
I wasn’t going to lose her. I wasn’t going to lose either of them.
Not today. Not ever.
The mont Ace spoke, my world narrowed to his triumphant smirk and the silver blade at Leila’s throat.
"Silver knife laced with wolfsbane," Ace sneered, dragging out the words like a gleeful villain relishing his performance. "Kills a wolf within seconds. Tell , Chase, how does that feel?"
For a mont, everything stilled. My mind scread at to move, to stop him, to do anything. But it was as though my body had frozen, every muscle locked in a vice of terror and helplessness.
Then it happened.
Ace’s hand moved in one swift, rciless motion. The blade sliced across her throat, and a torrent of blood spilled out like a river, vibrant red against the pale skin of her neck. Leila’s eyes widened in shock, her lips parting as though to speak, but no sound ca.
I felt my soul tear apart, if a vampire even has one.
"No!" I roared, the sound inhuman and raw, echoing through the cavernous hall.
Before I could move, Damon blurred into motion. He appeared by Ash’s side, his arms wrapping around the trembling boy as he shielded his eyes from the horror unfolding before him. "Don’t look," Damon whispered, his voice soft and urgent, but I barely registered it. My gaze was locked on Leila.
Her body crumpled to the floor, lifeless, a crimson pool spreading beneath her. Her heartbeat—our heartbeat—was gone.
The world went red.
Ace had turned toward , his smirk still plastered on his face, but he didn’t see coming. In a flash, I was in front of him, my hand plunging into his chest with a ferocity I didn’t know I possessed.
His smirk twisted into shock, and then terror, as my fingers closed around his heart.
"You wanted to know how it feels, Ace?" I snarled, my voice a guttural growl. "Let show you."
I ripped his heart from his chest, the sickening sound of tearing flesh and snapping bone filling the air. Ace’s mouth opened, but no words ca. His body crumbled to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut, lifeless and aningless.
I stared at the dead organ in my hand, the rage in my chest boiling over as I crushed it into a pulp. The blood sprayed across my face, but I didn’t care.
None of it mattered.
Not Ace. Not Damon. Not the guards who burst into the room, their eyes wide with shock.
Only Leila mattered.
I turned to her, dropping to my knees beside her. My hands trembled as I reached out, pressing against the gaping wound on her neck, as though I could will her to heal. The blood sputtering was still warm on my skin, but I didn’t care.
"Leila," I whispered, my voice breaking. "Co back to . Please."
Her eyes were closed, her face serene despite the blood sared across her lips and cheeks. She looked like she was sleeping.
But I couldn’t hear her heartbeat.
"Don’t do this," I begged, my voice cracking under the weight of my anguish. "You’re stronger than this. You don’t get to leave . Not now. Not ever!"
My hands pressed harder against the wound, as if I could hold her life in place, keep it from slipping away. But it was useless. The bond between us, that radiant thread of connection, was gone—snapped like a fragile thread.
A sob ripped from my throat, raw and guttural, shaking my entire body. I pressed my forehead to hers, her skin already growing cold beneath mine.
"You were my everything," I whispered, tears mixing with the blood on my face. "I can’t do this without you. I can’t—"
My words broke off as I choked on the sobs wracking my chest.
I had faced wars, enemies, betrayals—but nothing, nothing, had prepared for this. The emptiness, the hollow ache that consud every part of .
I looked up at the ceiling, roaring out my grief and rage. The sound was animalistic, echoing off the stone walls and shaking the very air around .
"Why her?!" I bellowed, my voice hoarse and raw. "She was mine! She was mine!"
Damon’s voice broke through the haze of my anguish, quiet but urgent. "Chase. You need to pull yourself together. Ash—"
Ash.
My head snapped toward Leila son, my only tether left in this world. Damon held him close, shielding him from the carnage, but his wide, tear-filled eyes peeked over Damon’s shoulder, searching for answers, for comfort, for her.
He was all I had left of her.
I staggered to my feet, my legs trembling under the weight of my grief. My hands, still slick with blood, hung limply at my sides as I turned to face him.
Ash’s small voice broke the silence, trembling and filled with innocence and confusion. "Mommy?"
I opened my mouth to speak, but no words ca. What could I say? That she was gone? That she had left us, that I had failed to protect her?
Instead, I stepped closer, pulling him from Damon’s arms and holding him against my chest. He clung to , his tiny hands gripping my shirt as his sobs soaked into my bloodstained clothes.
"It’s okay," I murmured, though the words were a lie. Nothing was okay. Nothing would ever be okay again.
The room was silent except for the sound of Ash’s muffled sobs against my chest. I held him tightly, trying to anchor myself, but my gaze remained fixed on Leila’s lifeless body. Her vibrant spirit, the fire that had drawn to her like a moth to a fla, was gone.
She was gone.
The realization sank in, heavier than any weight I had ever borne. My knees buckled, and I sank to the ground, still clutching Ash. My vision blurred as the tears flowed freely, unchecked.
What was the point of any of this? The power, the titles, the battles I’d fought and won—it all felt aningless.
Leila was my reason, my light in the darkness of this cursed existence. Without her, the vampire within , the one I’d spent centuries keeping in check, clawed its way to the surface.
Rage, despair, and the hunger for blood coursed through , a volatile cocktail that threatened to consu what was left of my humanity.
A low growl rumbled from my throat, primal and unhinged. Ash whimpered in my arms, sensing the shift in . My grip on him loosened, my arms trembling as I fought to hold on to reason, to sanity.
But I couldn’t.
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