The Vampire Princess and Her Alpha Male

✓✓✓✓✓✓✓ CHAPTER 1 ✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✓ LIORA DeVOSS He was there… They said he died of a wild animal attack. That was the official report the school sent out, the same report that had every human kid whispering in the hallways like it was just a freak accident. Wrong place, wrong time. You know how the woods behind Crescent Ridge get during the fall. Animals get desperate. But… It wasn’t an animal. It was claws. Ripped throat. Chest torn open. Eyes wide, still glowing faint red. His name was Elias. He sat two rows behind me in chemistry and used to pass me notes folded into tiny origami bats. And now he was gone. Gone... and nobody cared… Except me. I sat there in third period English, my pen scratching across a fake essay on Romeo and Juliet. Ironic, right? Star-crossed lovers, bloodlines, betrayal. What a joke. But I wasn’t reading. I wasn’t writing, either. Not really. I was watching him. Aiden Crowl. The golden boy. Quarterback. Pack prince. Probably the reason Elias was rotting in the morgue right now. He was sitting at his desk, relaxed, legs stretched out like he owned the entire damn classroom. He was laughing at something the teacher said. His friends were all around him, howling at his jokes. Every human girl in the room was practically melting. I wanted to scratch his eyes out. But then... he looked at me. Not just glanced. Looked. Straight on. No blinking. No flinching. His green eyes locked with mine across the classroom, and for a second, just one, I swore something passed between us. Not... emotion. Not guilt. Just... recognition. He knew I knew. My hand clenched around my pen so hard the plastic cracked. "Liora," a voice whispered beside me. It was Zia. Pale, thin, and twitchy as ever. She had the bloodline mark carved behind her ear, just beneath her hairline. House DeVoss loyalist, through and through. My mother’s lapdog. I didn’t look at her. My eyes stayed glued to Aiden. "You can’t do anything here," she whispered. "This is neutral ground. You know the rule" “Screw the rule,” I hissed, low and quiet. “You’ll break the Treaty.” “He already broke it.” “Liora” “He tore Elias apart,” I snapped under my breath. “Don’t tell me to sit here and pretend it was a bear.” She didn’t reply. She just leaned back in her seat and stared at her paper like it had secrets written between the lines. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t sit and pretend anymore. Fortunately, the bell rang. Everyone scattered, chattering and shoving backpacks into place, gossip spilling into the hallway like blood in water. I waited… Waited until he stood. Waited until he slung that worn-out leather bag over one shoulder like a careless warrior ready for battle. And then I followed him. “Crowl,” I called out in the hall, my voice sharp, slicing through the noise like a blade. He paused. Turned. Smiled. “DeVoss,” he said smoothly, leaning against the lockers. “Didn’t think vampires came out in daylight.” I stalked up to him, ignoring the looks, the whispers. The humans thought we were flirting. Of course they did. They didn’t know anything. “Want to tell me what you were doing near the woods two nights ago?” I asked, stepping closer. He tilted his head. “Woods? Hm. Let me think. Jogging? Chasing butterflies? Watching the stars?” “Try murdering Elias Raventhorne.” His eyes didn’t even flicker. Not guilt. Not fear. Nothing. “Your friend?” he said casually. “That kid from chem class?” “He wasn’t just some kid.” “Could’ve fooled me.” My fists clenched. Zia’s voice echoed in my head… ‘This is neutral ground.’ But Elias’s hollow eyes haunted me more. “Don’t play dumb,” I growled. “He was torn apart. You were there.” “And you have what exactly? Evidence? A scented trail? Bite marks in the shape of my jaw?” “You smell like death,” I spat. He laughed… like laughed. “Cute,” he said. “But if you’re going to threaten me, Liora, you should probably wait until no one’s watching.” He gestured subtly behind me. I didn’t have to turn to know people were staring. Humans. Mortals. Stupid, clueless teenagers caught in the middle of an ancient war, eating fries and worrying about prom while vampires and wolves ripped each other apart behind the scenes. “You’re not even sorry,” I said, voice low. “No,” he said. “Because I didn’t kill your friend.” I stared at him. “Liar.” He leaned in, close enough that his breath brushed my cheek. “If I wanted to kill someone,” he murmured, “they’d stay dead.” I didn’t move. I wanted to. Wanted to slap him. Scratch his perfect face. Scream that Elias mattered; that he wasn’t just a name on the roll call. That he passed me notes. That he was funny and weird and kind. But I didn’t… Because the way Aiden looked at me... it wasn’t fake. He really believed he hadn’t done it. Or he was just that good a liar. “You think this ends here?” I asked. “No,” he said. “I think it’s just beginning.” That night, I went down to the tunnels. Not the polished subway stations tourists still wandered through. The old ones. The forgotten ones. Cracked concrete. Moss-covered iron. Candles burning in glass bottles. This was our territory. The city’s veins, and my family’s throne. Zia was waiting, arms crossed, red eyes sharp with disapproval. “Did you confront him?” she asked. “I talked to him.” “That wasn’t permission.” “I don’t need your permission,” I snapped. “Or my mother’s. Elias is dead.” “Which is why you have to be careful.” I stopped walking. Turned to her. “Careful?” I asked. “We’ve been careful for centuries while they expand. While they infiltrate. While they pretend they’re noble guardians of the city and not beasts waiting to rip our throats out.” “You’re not thinking clearly.” “No,” I said. “I’m thinking exactly how they want us not to.” She looked at me, long and hard. “You sound like Selene,” she whispered. I froze. Don’t say that name. She knew not to say that name. “Take it back,” I said. She didn’t. “She started like you,” Zia said. “All fire and fury. And where did it lead her? Into the shadows. Into madness. Into the arms of the Glycans.” “Take it back,” I growled. “You’re not the only one grieving,” she said softly. “But you’re walking a path that only leads one way.” I shook my head. “I’m not Selene,” I said. “I’m not losing control. I’m claiming it.” She didn’t stop me as I walked deeper into the tunnels. Didn’t follow either. I lit a candle near Elias’s name, etched hastily into the stone wall by someone in our House. The flame flickered. Something shifted in the air. A scent. Not human. Not vampire. Wolf. I spun around, my fangs already dropping. And there he was. Aiden. Standing in my tunnels. He wasn’t supposed to be here. “How did you?” “Tracked your scent,” he said simply. “Wasn’t hard. You smell like” “Don’t,” I snapped. “Don’t make a joke.” He looked at the name on the wall. Elias. Then back at me. “I didn’t kill him,” he said. “Why are you here?” I demanded.