Chapter 12: The Anchor and the storm
The forest of Redpaveley didn't feel like a sanctuary tonight; it felt like a battlefield. The wind howled through the ancient oaks, mimicking the scream that was locked inside my chest. I found her deep in the Silvermoon thicket, standing on the edge of a jagged cliff that overlooked the valley.
"Wolfie!" I roared, the sound tearing through the rain.
She didn't turn around. Her silver Academy dress was soaked, clinging to her skin, and her hair was plastered to her face. "Go home, Drayan. Go back to the Academy. Go to her."
"You know I don't want her!" I moved toward her, but she bared her fangs, a low, warning growl vibrating in the air between us.
"Don't!" she cried, finally turning to face me. Her eyes were a wild, flickering amber, caught between her human heart and her wolf's instinct to flee. "You're a prince, Drayan! You were born for palaces and silk! Look at me—I'm covered in dirt and blood and fur. I'm a beast! She's right... eventually, you'll look at me and see a mistake. I'm letting you go before you learn to hate me!"
The Vampire Rage inside me finally snapped. I didn't care about being gentle anymore. Gentleness had led us to this doubt.
I lunged.
She tried to move, her werewolf reflexes kicking in, but my desperation gave me a speed I had never used before. I collided with her, my arms wrapping around her waist like iron bands, pinning her back against the trunk of a massive cedar tree.
"Let go!" she screamed, struggling against me. She was strong—strong enough to break stone—but I was a vampire who was losing his entire world. I didn't budge.
"No!" I shouted, my voice raw. I slammed my hands onto the tree on either side of her head, locking her in place. I leaned in, my face inches from hers, my fangs fully extended, my eyes a dark, terrifying crimson. "You think you're being a martyr? You think you're being 'kind' by throwing me back to that empty, cold life?"
"Drayan, please—"
"Listen to me!" I shook her slightly, my grip firm. "I spent a hundred years in the 'palaces' you're so worried about. I was a ghost. I was a statue. I was dead long before my heart stopped beating. You are the only thing that made me feel the sun again. You are the only reason I don't want to sleep in the dirt forever."
"She can give you a better life," she sobbed, her hands pushing against my chest.
"She can give me nothing!" I snarled. "I don't want a 'better' life. I want your life. I want the mud, I want the fur, I want the danger. If you leave me, Wolfie, you aren't 'setting me free.' You are sentencing me to an eternity of cold."
She tried to look away, her stubborn heart still fighting the truth. I wouldn't let her. I grabbed her chin, forcing her to look into my eyes—to see the wreckage Bianca had caused in my soul.
"Look at me," I commanded.
And then, I stopped talking.
I kissed her.
It wasn't the soft, sweet kiss of our wedding day. This was a forced, desperate claim. It was a kiss of fire and ice, a collision of two monsters who belonged to each other. I kissed her with all the fury of my rejection and all the hunger of my love. I poured every ounce of my Vampire Stillness and my Rage into her, forcing her to feel the truth that words couldn't carry.
For a second, she fought me. Her claws dug into my shoulders, drawing blood that mixed with the rain. But then, the fight drained out of her. A broken, helpless whimper escaped her throat as she realized she couldn't run from a bond this deep. Her arms slid around my neck, pulling me closer, her heat finally meeting my cold in a silent explosion of surrender.
The forest seemed to go quiet. The wind died down. The only sound was the heavy, synchronized thud of our hearts.
I pulled back just an inch, my forehead resting against hers. We were both shaking, drenched and bleeding, but the wall between us had been leveled.
"Don't you ever," I whispered, my breath hot against her lips, "ever try to give me away again. I am a vampire, Wolfie. We don't 'move on.' We don't 'find someone better.' We find our soul, and we hold on until the world ends. You are my soul. Do you understand?"
She looked at me, her eyes finally clear of the city's lies. She reached up, her thumb tracing the line of my fangs. "I understand, City Boy."
"Good," I said, my voice finally softening as I pulled her into a protective embrace. "Now, let's go back. We have an 'ex-girlfriend' to deal with, and I think it's time she learned how we treat intruders in Redpaveley."