Forbidden Blood

Chapter 9: The Vampire's Claim

The transformation wasn't just physical; it was a complete unraveling of everything I thought I knew about myself, a slow burning fire that started in my veins the moment Lucian's blood mixed with mine, spreading through my body like ice melting into flame, awakening senses I never had, making colors brighter, sounds sharper, and the scent of blood — especially Kai's — intoxicating in a way that terrified and thrilled me all at once.

School became impossible to attend, the fluorescent lights too harsh on my new eyes, the heartbeats of classmates pounding in my ears like drums, tempting me with their rhythm, so I stayed home, claiming illness, while Lucian visited every night, teaching me control, his cold hands guiding mine as we practiced in the darkness of my room, his voice a soothing whisper that calmed the beast awakening inside me.

One evening, as the sun set in a blaze of red that made my skin tingle with hunger, Kai came to my window, his face worried, eyes searching mine through the glass, and when I opened it, he climbed in, pulling me into his arms without a word, his warmth enveloping me like a blanket against the cold that now lived in my bones, his kiss desperate and hot, tasting of pine and wildness that made me forget the thirst for a moment.

"You've changed," he whispered against my lips, his hands sliding under my shirt, tracing the new coolness of my skin, his touch igniting fire that battled the ice inside me, and I kissed him back fiercely, pushing him to the bed, needing his heat to ground me in the humanity I was losing, my body responding to him in ways that were familiar yet heightened, every sensation amplified by my new nature.

We made love urgently, his mouth on my neck, biting gently as if to mark me back, his hands gripping my hips as I rode him, pleasure building in waves that crashed over me harder than before, my fangs extending without control, grazing his shoulder, drawing blood that I licked instinctively, the taste exploding on my tongue like the sweetest wine, making me come harder, clenching around him as he groaned my name.

After, he held me, breathing heavy, his hand on my back.

"Lucian did this."

"Yes."

He tensed.

"I can still save you."

"How?"

"The pack. Our bite can reverse it — if done soon."

I looked at him.

His eyes golden, hopeful.

I kissed him again.

Slow.

Tender.

His hands gentle.

But the thirst grew.

Lucian came later.

Sensed Kai.

Rage.

They fought in the room.

Furniture breaking.

Fangs and claws.

I stopped them.

Power flaring.

They froze.

Knelt.

I looked at both.

The vampire who made me.

The wolf who loved me human.

The choice tearing me.

The thirst for blood — for Kai's blood — growing.

The war between kinds.

Ignited by my change.

The love triangle deadly.

The human girl gone.

The vampire torn.

Between cold eternity.

And hot passion.

The rain returned.

And my choice approached.