IMMORTAL: THE ALPHA KING'S GOLDEN BLOOD

FREYAH A month has passed since that night, the night I woke up in an unfamiliar room, beside a stranger whose presence still lingers in my dreams. I can still see it clearly: the tattoo etched across his back, a wolf, inked in the deepest black, its golden eyes gleaming as if alive, watching me even in silence. Regret has followed me ever since. I never saw his face, the man who unknowingly took what I had guarded all my life. The only man to whom I gave my purity… and with it, the last chance I had to claim my full power. Forbidden thoughts plague my mind, whispers of rules I should never have broken. Among them, the mark. Only my destined mate has the right to mark me. Yet that night, blinded by drunkenness and weakness, I allowed another man to claim what was never his. A stranger. A mark that should never have been mine. And a bond I can never undo. I couldn’t stand staying in my room any longer. The walls felt suffocating, heavy with thoughts I didn’t want to face. So, I pushed myself up, took a quick shower, and slipped into fresh clothes. Maybe a little time in the city would clear my head. After all, I might as well make the most of the vacation Daddy granted me. But the moment I stepped out of my room, I froze. Sunlight, warm, blinding sunlight, greeted me. I blinked at my watch. Past five in the afternoon. That couldn’t be right. By now, the air should’ve been cooling, the sky painted in shades of twilight. Yet everything outside was still bright… too bright, almost unnatural. A strange unease settled in my chest. I turned on my heel and hurried downstairs to the parking area. Sliding into my sports car, I started the engine, the familiar purr grounding me. Most of the snow had melted from the roads, so I pressed gently on the gas and let the city blur past. I didn’t care where I went. I just wanted to move, to drive until my thoughts went quiet, until exhaustion could pull me into dreamless sleep when I got home. Two hours passed before something caught my eye, a crowd gathered ahead. My curiosity stirred, and I slowed down, inching closer. Then it hit me. A strange heat rippled through my body, sudden and consuming. My skin burned as though fire was coursing through my veins. My grip tightened on the wheel as my vision dimmed, shadows closing in. And in that darkness… I felt it, my eyes glowing. My heartbeat thundered in my chest when I noticed the faint shimmer of my necklace. It pulsed with light, warm, alive, as though something inside it had just awakened. I couldn’t ignore it. My hands trembled as I pulled the car over, barely registering the curious glances of the people nearby. The strange energy tugging at me grew stronger with every step, pulling me toward the heart of the crowd like an invisible thread I couldn’t break free from. Then I saw him. A man lay sprawled across the melting snow, motionless, broken. His clothes were torn, his body lifeless. Under the weak glow of a streetlight, my breath hitched. There, etched across his back, was a tattoo, a wolf’s silhouette, inked in darkness so deep it seemed to absorb the light, yet it glimmered faintly with an otherworldly sheen. I dropped to my knees beside him. The moment my hand brushed the ground, a searing pain shot through my chest, sharp and merciless, as if a dagger had pierced straight through my heart. Then, in a rush, the memories flooded in. That night. The warmth of his skin. The mark. It was him. The man from my eighteenth birthday. The one who had marked me. My hand trembled as I reached for his arm. The instant my fingers made contact, my necklace erupted in a brilliant blue glow. My pulse quickened, matching the furious rhythm of the light. There was no doubt. He was my soulmate. I was just about to turn him over when a sudden, invisible force slammed into me, sending me stumbling backward. My heels skidded against the ice, and I barely caught myself before hitting the ground. “Don’t waste your time on that man,” a voice said, cold, smooth, and echoing with authority. “He’s already dead.” I froze. Slowly, I turned toward the sound. There, standing a few feet away, was a figure cloaked in darkness, a long cape rippling with the wind. His eyes gleamed faintly from beneath the hood, fixed on me with unnerving intensity. He stood still, silent… watching. The moment our eyes met, recognition struck me like lightning. I knew him, even after all these years. The man who had given me this necklace inside the Golden Academy. “V–Vampire King?” The words escaped my lips in a trembling whisper, my voice barely my own. “He was your soulmate,” he said, his tone cold and final, “but he’s dead.” My breath caught. “No… that’s not true!” My lips quivered, and before I knew it, tears were falling, hot, relentless, tracing the curve of my cheeks. “It is true,” he said, his voice steady but heavy, like the weight of centuries behind every word. “He’s gone, slain by a vampire. A tyrant drunk on power… the ruler of the damned.” My chest tightened. “But you said he was my soulmate!” I shouted, the pain clawing at my throat. “How could he just die like that?” “Because he loved you,” he murmured. “He gave his life to protect those you hold dear.” I shook my head, vision blurring through my tears. “H-how? My parents… they’re fine. They’re safe.” “Yes,” he said simply, his gaze steady and unflinching. “Because before the attack ever reached them, he struck a deal with his murderer — Lazarus. A cunning beast with no sense of honor. He wanted to erase King Jeremias’s bloodline. That’s why he killed Prince Gillian before he could take his rightful place as the new Alpha King.” The world tilted around me. “You mean… my soulmate was a prince?” He nodded slowly, the truth heavy in his eyes. “Yes. Everything you’ve just heard is real.” “But… how?” I could barely form the words. “I’m a vampire. How could a vampire and a werewolf be soulmates?” A faint smile curved his lips, tinged with sadness. “You’re not a true vampire,” he said softly. “You’re a half-breed, half-werewolf, half-vampire. You are the lost Golden Blood of the fourth generation.” My breath hitched as the necklace against my skin flared to life, glowing a fierce, brilliant blue. It pulsed in time with my heartbeat, answering his words as if it, too, knew the truth. “The necklace you wear,” he continued, his voice low but powerful, “is proof of your lineage. You are the only princess, the one destined to bear the greatest power this world has ever known.” My tears wouldn’t stop. “But… what now?” I whispered, clutching the pendant to my chest. “My soulmate is gone. What’s the purpose of this necklace… if he’s no longer here to share it with me?” He held my gaze in silence, his eyes unreadable, dark and ancient, as if they carried the weight of secrets too heavy for this world. When he finally spoke, his voice was low, deliberate. “There is a way,” he said. “A way to bring him back.” My breath hitched. I lifted my gaze towards him, hope flickering in my chest like a fragile flame. “W—what is it, sir?” “If your love for him is true…” he said, every word slicing through the cold air, “then he will live again, and this time, death will never touch him.” My fingers tightened around the necklace until it burned against my palm. “How will I know if my love is true?” I whispered. “Bite him,” he said simply. “Take his body somewhere quiet, where no one can find you. Then wait. If your necklace glows again, it means his soul has heard your call, proof that your love was pure enough to wake him.” My throat constricted. “How long must I wait?” His gaze drifted past me, distant and knowing. “It could be weeks… months… or years. His return will depend on the depth of your love, and the strength of your heart to endure the waiting.” A trembling breath escaped me as I tried to hold back my tears. “Thank you, sir,” I murmured. He turned to leave, his cloak whispering against the snow, but then his voice rang out once more, colder, heavier. “One last thing,” he warned. “Protect him. There are those who will come for his body. If they succeed, you will never see him again… and the power within you will vanish with him.” My grip on the glowing pendant tightened as I nodded, my voice barely in a whisper. “I’ll remember, sir. I swear it.” He nodded, regal, cold, and impossibly distant. “If you have no more questions, I shall take my leave…” “Wait, sir,” I blurted, my voice trembling as I caught sight of his form flickering like mist in the fading light. “You once told me… when I turned eighteen and my pendant glowed gold, I would finally recognize you. Is that true?” A faint, wistful smile curved his lips, the kind that held both pride and sorrow. “Yes,” he said softly. “I am the Vampire King of the third generation. You and I are the last of the golden-blooded, the final remnants of a dying lineage.” He took a slow step back, and with it, the air seemed to thicken, colder, heavier, pressing against my chest. “I must go.” “Wait… one last question.” My heart pounded so hard it hurt. “How can I reach you… if I ever need your help?” His gaze darkened, the weight of centuries reflected in his eyes. “I do not appear at will,” he said, his tone grave. “Only in moments of true peril, as I have tonight.” I nodded weakly, though a storm of questions still screamed inside my head. “Thank you… sir,” I whispered, my voice breaking as his silhouette began to fade, dissolving into the night like smoke scattered by the wind. And then, I was alone. The silence pressed in. My breath trembled as I turned back toward the body still lying before me. Each step felt heavier, slower. I knelt beside him, my fingers shaking as I reached out and drew back the fabric covering his face. And then I stopped. Completely. The world around me fell away. The face before me, was Archie’s. “A—Archie?” The name escaped me in a broken whisper. “N-no… this can’t be real…” But denial was useless. No matter how I fought it, my heart knew the truth. Archie, the boy who had always been there, the one who smiled when I couldn’t, who stayed when everyone else left… He wasn’t just a friend. He was the one. My soulmate. The one my heart had been waiting for all along.