Chapter Three: The King’s Mercy
1143 Words
The throne room emptied quickly after Lucien dismissed the wolves.
Heavy doors slammed shut behind them, leaving only silence and the faint crackle of candle flames. The echoes of their footsteps faded down the dark corridors until the castle felt impossibly still.
I was alone.
Alone with the most dangerous creature in the supernatural world.
Lucien Draven stood a few feet away from me, studying my face with a kind of unsettling calm. His crimson eyes moved slowly over my features as if he were trying to read something written beneath my skin.
I fought the urge to step back.
“Interesting,” he murmured again.
The word sounded almost thoughtful.
“What are you?” I asked quietly.
Lucien’s eyebrow lifted.
“You’re asking me?” he said.
My pulse raced.
“You said I was a hybrid.”
The word still felt unreal on my tongue.
Hybrid.
Like him.
Lucien’s lips curved faintly.
“Yes,” he said.
“But you didn’t know that.”
It wasn’t a question.
I shook my head.
“No.”
He walked slowly around me, his footsteps silent against the black marble floor. Every instinct inside me screamed that I should run, but my body refused to move.
Predator.
That was the only word my mind could form.
Lucien stopped behind me.
I felt his presence before I heard his voice again.
“How fascinating,” he said softly.
“You lived twenty-two years believing you were a failed wolf.”
My throat tightened.
“I didn’t believe it,” I said quietly.
“They told me.”
A small pause followed.
Then Lucien stepped back in front of me.
For the first time since entering the throne room, something in his expression shifted.
Not kindness.
But curiosity.
“Tell me something, Lira Vale,” he said.
“How many times did you try to shift?”
“Every full moon,” I replied.
“And every time… nothing happened?”
I nodded.
Lucien leaned back slightly.
“That makes sense.”
“How?”
His smile returned.
Because wolves shift through instinct.
Through the bond with their inner wolf.
“But hybrids,” he said softly, “are different.”
My chest tightened.
“Different how?”
Lucien’s eyes gleamed.
“They need something to wake them.”
A cold shiver slid down my spine.
“What kind of something?”
Before he could answer, the massive doors behind us suddenly opened.
Footsteps echoed into the chamber.
Five figures entered the throne room.
And the atmosphere instantly changed.
They moved like Lucien.
Graceful.
Silent.
Dangerous.
Vampires.
The first was a tall man with silver hair and sharp, calculating eyes.
The second looked younger, with dark curls and a careless smile.
The third was broad-shouldered and scarred, his gaze constantly scanning the room like a soldier expecting attack.
The fourth…
Looked almost identical to Lucien.
Same dark hair.
Same crimson eyes.
But his expression held a restless anger.
The fifth figure was a woman.
She was stunning—long black hair falling over a deep red gown, her pale skin glowing in the candlelight.
But her eyes were cold.
Very cold.
Lucien didn’t even turn around.
“You’re late,” he said calmly.
The silver-haired vampire bowed slightly.
“We were hunting.”
Lucien’s gaze shifted briefly toward them.
“Did you find him?”
The careless smile vanished from the second vampire’s face.
“No.”
Lucien’s expression hardened.
“Davies was seen near the southern border,” the scarred one added. “He’s getting closer.”
A flicker of irritation crossed Lucien’s face.
“So the hunter continues chasing ghosts.”
My stomach tightened.
Hunter?
Lucien noticed the reaction immediately.
His eyes slid back to me.
“Ah,” he said softly.
“You didn’t know about him.”
“Know about who?” I asked.
Lucien’s smile returned, colder this time.
“The man who has been trying to kill me for the last decade.”
The room seemed to shrink around me.
“Davies,” the woman added smoothly.
“He’s human.”
Lucien chuckled quietly.
“Mostly.”
I swallowed.
“And he’s hunting… you?”
“Yes.”
Lucien didn’t sound concerned.
He sounded amused.
“But we were discussing something more interesting before my siblings interrupted.”
My attention snapped back to the five vampires watching me.
Siblings.
The silver-haired one stepped closer, studying me with open curiosity.
“This is the tribute?” he asked.
Lucien’s gaze sharpened.
“No.”
The vampire’s brow furrowed.
“Then what is she?”
Lucien looked directly at me.
His next words dropped into the room like a blade.
“She’s the future.”
Silence followed.
Then the twin-looking vampire laughed.
“You’re joking.”
Lucien didn’t react.
“I don’t joke.”
The laughter stopped immediately.
The female vampire tilted her head slightly.
“You think she’s one of us?”
Lucien’s voice turned dangerously calm.
“I don’t think.”
“I know.”
My heart pounded.
“What are you talking about?”
Lucien stepped closer again.
Close enough that I could see faint silver veins beneath his pale skin.
“You’re not just a hybrid,” he said quietly.
“Your blood is something… new.”
My stomach dropped.
“What does that mean?”
Lucien reached out suddenly.
His fingers closed around my wrist before I could react.
The moment his skin touched mine—
Pain exploded through my body.
A blinding flash of heat tore through my veins like wildfire.
I gasped.
The vampires around us froze.
Lucien’s eyes widened slightly.
For the first time since meeting him…
The ruthless king looked surprised.
Because the veins in my arms were glowing.
Bright silver light pulsed beneath my skin.
The entire throne room filled with the sound of something rising deep inside my chest.
Something powerful.
Something ancient.
The twin vampire whispered hoarsely.
“What the hell is that?”
Lucien’s grip tightened slightly as he watched the light spreading through my veins.
Then he said something that made the entire room go still.
“Impossible.”
My breath came out in ragged gasps.
“What’s happening to me?!”
Lucien didn’t answer.
He was staring at the glowing veins beneath my skin like a man who had just discovered something priceless.
Something dangerous.
Then he whispered a single sentence.
And the words shattered everything I thought I knew.
“You’re not the second hybrid.”
The room fell completely silent.
Lucien’s crimson eyes lifted slowly to meet mine.
“You’re the first one.”
My heart stopped.
Because if that was true…
Then someone had lied.
About my entire life.
And far away beyond the castle walls…
The vampire hunter Davies had just crossed into the city of Nocturne.
Looking for the same girl.
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