The Crimson Diary

THE PATRIARCH'S CLAIM

The cold night air hit my face, but I didn't care. I was standing in the dark woods, waiting for Lucian to come back from scouting the area.

The Vampire Concil had sent a message earlier that the Hunters were getting closer to human territory, and it was making my blood restless. I had lived for over a thousand years as the last Patriarch, cold and unbothered by anything, but ever since last night when I saved that strange girl, my mind had been so disorganised.

I crossed my arms over my dark coat, lisening to the quiet forest.

Suddenly, my sharp ears caught the sound of hurried footsteps breaking twigs in the distance. The footsteps were erratic and fast. It didn't sound like a trained warrior or a Hunter trying to ambush me. It sounded like someone running out of control.

Then the wind shifted, and a scent hit my nose.

It was her. Elena.

She wasn't running away from something. She was tracking me. I could feel her wild, chaotic vampire hunger radiating off her in waves from meters away. She was completely out of her mind with thirst, probably because her new body couldn't handle human food anymore.

Instead of pulling out my blade, I turned my back to her on purpose. I wanted to see what my little bird was trying to do.

In a split second, she leaped into the air with insane speed and slammed right into my back.

Before I could even turn around, her sharp fangs sank deep into the side of my neck.

A sharp sting went through my skin, but I didn't push her off. I didn't scream or fight back. The moment her tongue touched my blood and she started swallowing greedily, a wave of liquid fire shot through my entire body. It was mind-blowing. My ancient blood, which had been quiet for hundreds of years, roared to life under her touch. It wasn't just a random bite.

My body was reacting to her in a strange way.

I reached up with my hand and gently grabbed her chin, tilting her head back to make her stop drinking.

She gasped, pulling her lips away from my neck, leaving a red smear on my skin. Her eyes were half-lidded and dazed from the blood high.

I turned around slowly to look at her face. Her breathing was heavy, and her hands were resting on my chest.

Then, a sudden, violent jolt shot directly through my chest, connecting my heart straight to hers. Deep beneath my shirt, my skin flared with intense heat. A dark, heavy pulse echoed in my ears, making me hear her heartbeat beating right alongside mine in the middle of the dark forest, which proved that our souls were now locked together.

My dark eyes widened slightly. I was genuinely shocked.

My ancient Patriarch blood couldn't just be taken by any random newborn vampire. It could only be accepted by one person in the whole universe—my destined mate. By drinking my blood, her new body had locked the ancient betrothal bond between us.

She was my mate, and there was no breaking it now.

I didn't push her away. My grip on her chin shifted, and I used my thumb to slowly brush away a stray drop of my blood from her lower lip.

A smirk spread across my lips as my voice dropped into a low growl that vibrated between us.

"I wondered why my blood called to you in the woods, little bird..." I whispered, looking straight into her dazed eyes with pure possessiveness. "You didn't just feed on me. You just claimed the Patriarch."

She stepped out from the shadow of the trees, her eyes wide as she looked at me in a quiet, calm sort of confusion. She wasn't throwing a fit or yelling—she just looked completely lost, her breath coming out in soft, uneven gasps as her gaze dropped down to her own hands trembling in the pale moonlight.

She looked up at me again, her mouth parting to speak. "What..." she whispered softly into the quiet woods. "What is this...?"

Before the rest of the words could even leave her mouth, a bright, golden mark appeared right through her shirt collar—glowing hot and clear in the darkness, right over her heart.