Silver Eyes

Forbidden Fruit

I'm still in shock at the moment when someone called my name.

"Veronica!"

My mother, Luna Selene, burst into the clearing in her giant grey wolf form, shifting mid-stride into a tall, silver-haired woman. Behind her, three of my father's warriors. Walking like they own this place.

She ran to me and threw her cloak around my naked, trembling body.

"Are you okay? Goddess, your arm - no, it's healed? What happened? We heard rogues - we found two ash piles -"

I couldn't speak. My lips were still swollen from his kiss. My tongue still tasted his royal blood. My heart was beating so loud I was sure she could hear it. My mind was still in chaos while remembering how it was. It was the best forbidden fruit I ever tasted.

I looked to the side where Sandro had stood. The ground was empty.

I did the only thing I could.

I nodded, and buried my face in my mother's shoulder so she wouldn't see my silver eyes glowing with forbidden love.

I had found my mate.

My mate was the King of all Vampires.

And he had just disappeared, leaving me with a taste of blood that could heal me, a kiss that could ruin me, and a secret that could kill us both.

Royal blood does not heal.

Royal blood burns.

I learned that at 3:17 in the morning, locked in my bathroom while the entire Pack House slept below me.

Four hours. It had been four hours since he kissed me in the dark forest and vanished into nothing. Four hours since my mother, Luna Selene, found me naked and shaking and wrapped me in her cloak. Four hours since I looked my mother in the eye and lied to her face.

"Two vampires, Luna. I killed one. The other ran."

She believed me because the truth was too insane to even imagine.

My hands were shaking as I gripped the edge of the sink. I had scrubbed my skin raw in the shower, trying to wash off the ash, the blood, the scent of him. It didn't work.

I could still taste him.

I stared at my reflection. My long white hair was dripping wet, sticking to my bare shoulders. I looked pale. Sick. But it was my back that made me stop breathing.

The dagger wound was gone. That cursed, witch-enchanted blade that had paralyzed me should have left a scar that would take weeks to close. But the skin was perfect. Smooth. Unmarked.

Except it wasn't.

Just under the skin, right where the blade had gone in, thin veins of glowing crimson light pulsed. Like liquid rubies flowing through my veins. They beat in rhythm with my heart. Thump. Thump. Thump. Each pulse sent a wave of heat through my whole body, not painful anymore, but possessive. Branding me from the inside.

And then my eyes.

I leaned closer to the mirror, my breath fogging the glass.

My silver eyes had always been my curse. No other wolf in Aigupta had them. Gold, amber, ruby, yes. But never silver. The elders whispered it was a gift from the Moon Goddess. Pups called me ghost.

Now, inside the silver, there were flecks of red. Like embers caught in moonlight. Swirling, alive.

His eyes. Inside mine.

"No," I whispered, and my voice broke. "No, this is not happening."

Inside my head, my wolf, who had been silent and curled up since we got back, suddenly lifted her head and purred. She sounded... happy. Drunk and happy.

*Mate,* she said, her voice soft and content. *King. Strong. Ours. He saved us.*

"He is NOT ours!" I hissed out loud at my own reflection. "He is a vampire! He is the Vampire King! Do you know how many of our kind he has killed? He executed twelve Alphas in one night!"

*He healed us. He kissed us like we were the only star in his sky.*

The memory of that kiss slammed into me and my knees almost gave out. His mouth on mine, desperate, starving. The way he had tasted like winter and power.

A sharp, twisting pain tore through my chest, right over my heart. I gasped and doubled over, clutching the sink. The marble cracked under my fingers. Why am I feeling this pain?

It wasn't a physical wound. It was hollow. Aching. Like a string tied directly to my heart was being pulled, stretched taut across miles of forest, all the way to Brixhes.

The mate pull.

I had read about it in the old scrolls in the library. When fated mates separate after the first recognition, the bond starts to pull. You can't eat. You can't sleep. You think of nothing but them. It hurts more than any blade.

I pressed my forehead against the cold mirror.

I need to see him again. The thought wasn't mine. Or maybe it was the most honest thought I had ever had. I need to know if he feels this too. Or if I am going crazy alone.

A soft knock on the bathroom door nearly made me jump out of my skin.

"Veronica? Sweetheart? Is everything okay? You have been in there a long time."

It was Luna. Worried about me.

I forced my voice to sound normal. "Yes, Luna! Just... I dropped my shampoo!"

"Okay, love. Come down for breakfast when you are ready. Your father wants to see you."

I waited until her footsteps faded. Then I looked back at the mirror. The crimson veins were fading, hiding themselves again deep under my skin. But I knew they were there. King Sandro's blood was inside me. And it was changing me.

If my father ever found out, he would kill him. And if he killed him, this pull in my chest would kill me.

The Pack House was suffocating the next morning.

Aigupta Pack House is never quiet. Two hundred wolves live within its walls. Warriors sparring in the courtyard, pups running through the halls, omegas cooking in the kitchen. Usually, I love the noise. It means I am home. It means I am safe.

Today, it felt like a cage. The air was thick with tension and the smell of war.

I walked down the grand staircase in my black training leathers, my white hair pulled back in a tight braid. I had put on extra powder to hide the dark circles under my eyes. I had not slept for a second.

The war room doors were open. My father was already there, standing over the massive map table carved from a single oak tree. Alpha Magnus Althea. My father.

He is six foot five of pure muscle, white hair cut short like a general, eyes like molten amber that can make even the strongest Beta kneel. He is called the Alpha King because he rules the largest territory, but also because when he speaks, every other Alpha in the continent listens.

Around him stood Beta Yidramo, who had taught me to fight, Gamma Lorcan, and half a dozen of our best warriors.

"Third attack this week," my father was growling, his fist slamming on the map where the south river was marked. "They are testing our borders. And last night, they almost got my daughter."

Luna Selene stood beside him, elegant even in her morning robes, her hand resting on his forearm to calm him. Her ruby eyes found mine as I entered.

"Veronica. Good, you are awake."

Every head in the room turned to me.

"Alpha," I said, bowing my head slightly. "Luna."

My father looked at me, his amber eyes scanning me from head to toe, the way he scans a warrior after battle, looking for weakness.

"Tell them what you told us last night, Veronica. Exactly what happened."