CHAPTER FOUR— THE WOLF AND THE VAMPIRE
1070 Words
Kael Thornhart’s POV
She collapsed before I could even process what I was seeing.
One second she was staring at me like she couldn’t decide if I was a threat or a hallucination…
The next, her eyes rolled back and her body went limp.
I lunged forward and caught her before she hit the pavement.
Her head fell against my chest, soft and warm, and something inside me snapped into place so violently it stole my breath.
Dax:
Mate. Ours. Protect her. Now.
The word hit me like a punch to the ribs.
“No,” I muttered under my breath. “No, no, no. She’s human. That’s not possible.”
Dax:
Don’t care. She’s ours.
My jaw clenched. “She can’t be.”
But the scent was there — faint, buried under fear and hospital antiseptic, but unmistakable. A pull I felt in my bones. A tether tightening around my ribs.
I adjusted her in my arms, lifting her easily. She was lighter than she looked. Too light.
Behind me, Britney and her two clones scrambled backward like they’d just realized they’d poked a sleeping bear.
“W‑we didn’t mean—” Britney stammered.
I didn’t even look at her. “Leave.”
They ran.
Good.
I looked down at the girl in my arms — Jasmine Givens. The girl I’d run into earlier. The girl whose scent had nearly knocked me on my ass. The girl who shouldn’t be my mate but somehow was.
Her hair brushed my arm with every step as I carried her, and Dax purred like a damn engine.
Dax:
She smells like moonlight. Like destiny. Like—
“Like trouble,” I muttered.
Because she did.
Something about her felt… ancient. Wrong. Right. Dangerous. Impossible.
I spotted the pharmacy bag on the ground, grabbed it, and scanned the label.
Jasmine Givens
14 Willow Bend
I knew the street. Quiet. Safe. Close.
I started walking.
Her head rested against my shoulder, and I tried — really tried — not to breathe her in. But the scent was addictive. Warm. Soft. Familiar in a way that made no sense.
And then I saw it.
The pendant.
An intricate crescent moon resting against her chest, half‑hidden by her shirt. Silver, glowing faintly, carved with symbols I hadn’t seen in years.
My breath caught.
I knew that pendant.
I’d seen it once — in a temple overseas, deep in the mountains, where the elders whispered about the Moon Goddess and the bloodlines she touched.
Selene.
The pendant was identical.
“What the hell…” I whispered.
I couldn’t stop staring. The curve of the moon. The markings. The way it pulsed like it was alive.
Dax:
It recognizes us. She recognizes us.
“She’s human,” I snapped.
Dax:
She’s ours.
I tore my gaze away — but not fast enough.
Because that’s when her eyes flew open.
Bright. Gold. Glowing.
I reached for her pendant for a closer look…
“What—”
A cold voice cut through the air like a blade.
“Careful, mutt. You’re staring at her chest like a dog who’s never seen a woman before.”
I turned sharply.
Laizel Vespera stood in the middle of the sidewalk, hands in his pockets, expression bored and predatory all at once. His eyes flicked to Jasmine in my arms, then to the pendant, then back to me.
His smile sharpened.
“Put her down,” he said softly. “You’re not worthy to carry her.”
Dax snarled inside me.
Dax:
Kill him. Now.
I stepped back, tightening my hold on Jasmine. “Back off, leech.”
Laizel’s eyes flashed red. “You don’t know what you’re holding.”
“I know she’s not yours.”
He chuckled — cold, amused, cruel. “Oh, Kael Thornhart. Everything about her is mine.”
My vision blurred at the edges.
“Say that again,” I growled.
He stepped closer, slow and deliberate. “She belongs to my world. Not yours. Not your pack. Not your pathetic little destiny.”
Dax roared.
Dax:
Rip his throat out.
I shifted my stance, ready to fight even with Jasmine in my arms. “Touch her and I’ll—”
“You’ll what?” Laizel tilted his head. “Fail? Again?”
My blood boiled.
He smirked. “You don’t even know what she is.”
“And you do?” I snapped.
“Oh, I know enough.” His eyes slid to Jasmine’s pendant. “And I know she’s not meant for you.”
I took a step forward. “Try me.”
Laizel’s smile widened — slow, dangerous, victorious.
“Gladly.”
---
CHAPTER FOUR — LAIZEL
Laizel Vespera’s POV
The wolf was shaking.
Not visibly — Kael Thornhart was too proud for that — but I could feel it. The tension rolling off him. The fury. The confusion. The bond he didn’t understand.
Pathetic.
He didn’t deserve her.
He didn’t even know what she was.
I stepped closer, letting the shadows curl around me like smoke. Jasmine’s pendant glowed brighter in Kael’s arms, reacting to her awakening power.
Reacting to me.
Kael noticed.
His grip tightened. “Stay back.”
I smiled. “Or what? You’ll bark at me?”
His eyes flashed. Good. Anger made him sloppy.
“She’s waking up,” I said softly.
Kael looked down at her — just for a second.
A mistake.
I moved.
Fast.
Silent.
Predatory.
Kael barely had time to react before I was inches from him, my hand touching the pendant lightly, feeling the heat ofJasmine’s breast against my fingertips.
Kael snarled. “Don’t touch her.”
“Why?” I murmured. “Afraid she’ll choose me?”
His jaw clenched.
I leaned in, voice low. “She will.”
He lunged.
I caught his wrist mid‑strike, twisting just enough to make him wince.
“Careful, puppy,” I whispered. “You’re out of your depth. She doesn’t need a pet she needs Prince.”
He shoved me back with a growl, eyes glowing with the beginnings of a shift.
Good.
Let him lose control.
Let him show her what he really is.
I straightened my jacket, bored already. “Take her home, Kael. She’ll come to me soon enough.”
He bared his teeth. “Over my dead body.”
I smiled.
“That can be arranged.”
- Writer
