Claimed by the Alpha and the Vampire Prince: Masquerading as a Man Chapter 21: Trapped

A heavy silence settled between us, thick with unspoken horrors.

Sara’s words hung in the air like a death sentence.

We’re all just waiting to be claid.

I couldn’t breathe.

Couldn’t think.

Because she was right.

This wasn’t just a school. It wasn’t even a prison. It was a hunting ground. A place where humans were nothing more than cattle, their blood and bodies a resource to be used at the pleasure of the monsters lurking in the shadows.

And now, I was one of them.

One of the marked.

I pressed a hand to my neck, to the two tiny puncture wounds that still ached, my skin raw and sensitive. It wasn’t just the bite that made feel weak. It was the power behind it. The way Blaze had sunk his fangs in without hesitation, without concern.

I had felt my life slipping away, my blood flowing from in warm, slow streams.

And he had enjoyed it.

I clenched my jaw, bile rising in my throat.

"You look like you’re going to be sick," Sara murmured, studying with dull eyes.

Maybe I was.

Maybe I was already dying.

I sat down heavily on the edge of her couch, my legs shaking too much to support any longer. The room was small, but the shadows in the corners seed to stretch, flickering and pulsing like sothing unseen was watching.

Maybe it was.

Maybe they already knew I was here.

"They won’t let leave," I finally said, my voice hoarse. It wasn’t a question.

Sara nodded. "No. They won’t."

My fists clenched against my lap.

"So what now?" I whispered.

Sara let out a quiet, bitter laugh.

"Now?" She shook her head, staring blankly at the floor. "Now, you survive."

The way she said it sent a shiver through . Not live. Survive.

I licked my lips, my mouth dry as sandpaper.

"And if I don’t?"

Sara looked at then, sothing dark and hollow flickering in her gaze.

"Then soone claims you. And after that..." She let out a shuddering breath. "You either learn to love being owned, or you don’t last long enough to regret it."

A chill rolled down my spine, slow and suffocating.

I thought back to the airport, to the way the staff had looked at with pity, like they knew there was no way I’d make it out.

To the wolves—how they had torn into the humans like they were of no value, their cries for rcy swallowed by the night.

To the vampires, their fangs pressing into warm flesh, taking and taking without care.

And to Blaze.

The way he had held down. How he had drunk from like I was nothing more than a cup of water to quench his thirst.

I shivered violently.

I wasn’t naive.

This wasn’t over.

"Be careful," she murmured.

I didn’t answer.

Because I knew it wouldn’t matter.

Careful or not, I was already dood.

The last thing I rember was Blaze’s fangs in my neck.

The pain was excruciating, burning through my veins like fire and ice at once. I could feel my blood leaving , flowing into his mouth, my heartbeat slowing with every pull. My body was going numb, yet my mind was screaming. I was dying.

Then ca the snarl.

A deep, guttural sound that sent chills down my spine, vibrating through the air like the growl of sothing not human.

Then the roar.

And then—chaos.

Blaze was ripped away from so fast I barely registered the absence of his fangs before my body collapsed.

I didn’t hit the ground. I was vaguely aware of my body being caught—but I couldn’t tell by who.

Everything was a blur, but I saw it.

I saw him.

A beast.

A monster.

Where Reed had been standing seconds before was now a massive, black wolf.

Not a regular wolf. Not an animal.

Sothing ancient. Sothing unnatural.

His canines glead under the dim light, longer, sharper than any wolf’s should be. His eyes were a violent gold, glowing like molten fire as he launched himself at Blaze.

Then—nothing.

Darkness.

Silence.

I don’t rember what happened next.

I don’t rember how I got back to my room.

I don’t know who brought here.

I don’t know how they knew where I lived.

But I knew one thing.

It was either Reed.

Or Blaze.

Sara’s face turned ghostly pale, her trembling fingers reaching toward my neck but stopping just shy of touching the bite marks.

"Can I ask who... who did it?" she whispered, as if saying his na was a curse, as if even speaking of him would summon him into the room.

I hesitated.

Should I tell her?

Should I say it out loud and confirm what I was already struggling to accept?

But what was the point in hiding it? The evidence was on my skin, etched into like a brand.

"...Blaze," I finally said, my voice barely above a breath.

The reaction was imdiate. All the blood drained from her face.

Her eyes widened in pure horror, her body trembling like she’d been hit with a sudden, freezing wind.

"And... you survived?" she choked out, her voice small, disbelieving.

"Barely," I whispered.

Sara shook her head violently. "No... no, that’s not possible. You don’t just barely survive Blaze. You don’t survive him at all."

My stomach twisted at her words.

"You should know," she continued, her voice breaking, "that when Blaze drinks from soone... he doesn’t stop until the person dies."

A heavy silence settled between us, suffocating. I could hear my heartbeat hamring in my ears.

I should be dead.

By all logic, by all horrors Sara had clearly witnessed before —I should be dead.

"You’re lucky," she murmured, shaking her head like she couldn’t believe what she was saying. "But serious, Clause, you need to stay clear of him. He’s the most dangerous of his kind. If he has his eyes on you, it’s already too late."

Her warning sent ice through my veins.

I should have been relieved that she was taking this seriously. I should have been grateful that she was telling what I already feared.

But she had no idea.

She didn’t know that Blaze wasn’t the only one.

She didn’t know that the other monster she had warned about—Reed—was just as fixated on .

And worst of all?

She didn’t know that no matter how much I wanted to stay away from them...

They wouldn’t let .