Chapter : Bloodlines and Betrayals

I didn’t sleep.

Every time I closed my eyes, Alaric’s face appeared—smiling, knowing, claiming ownership over a piece of me I thought I’d reclaimed long ago.

The words echoed, circling my mind like a storm.

“You were never the weapon. You were the womb. The bridge.”

And Leo… the first of many.

God.

What did that even mean?

What had Alaric done to me—to him—that we hadn’t yet uncovered?

Lucien lay beside me, his hand resting over mine, his breaths slow and steady. I wanted to believe he was asleep. But I knew better.

Neither of us had peace anymore.

We were just waiting for...