Ch.3 When The Blood Rose Blooms
1515 Words
Lucianna dreamed of roses.
Not the delicate white roses she had carried on the day she was supposed to become Luna of Silver Moon.
Not the flowers that had fallen from her hands when she walked away from Kael.
These roses were different.
They were crimson.
Their petals looked like they had been painted with drops of blood, and their thorns curled around her fingers without causing pain.
She stood in a place that was neither a forest nor a dream.
Everything around her was covered in silver light.
The air felt ancient.
Powerful.
Like she had stepped into a memory that belonged to someone else.
The rose in her hand pulsed with warmth.
A voice echoed around her.
You were meant to bloom.
Lucianna looked around.
"Who are you?"
The voice did not answer.
Instead, the rose grew brighter.
You were buried beneath betrayal.
You were surrounded by those who wanted your light to disappear.
A chill moved through her.
She thought of Kael.
The dungeon.
The years she spent trying to earn love from someone who had already decided she wasn't enough.
But roses do not die because they are cut.
They grow stronger.
They bloom again.
The crimson rose opened in her hand.
A strange power rushed through her.
Not anger.
Not hatred.
Something stronger.
Acceptance.
You are not the woman who died in the darkness.
You are the woman who survived it.
Lucianna stared at the flower.
"Why me?"
The answer came softly.
Because your heart broke...
And still chose to beat.
The light around her intensified.
When the Blood Rose blooms, the world will remember your name.
A sharp wind surrounded her.
Lucianna reached out.
"Wait!"
But the dream shattered.
Her eyes opened.
She gasped.
For several moments, she didn't move.
She waited for the cold.
The chains.
The stone floor.
But instead...
She felt silk beneath her.
Warmth surrounded her.
She slowly opened her eyes.
This was not her bedroom.
The ceiling above her was made of dark stone decorated with silver patterns. Tall windows stretched across one wall, allowing moonlight to spill into the room.
Everything about the place felt ancient.
Powerful.
Different.
She sat up carefully.
The last thing she remembered was the forest.
The voice.
The crimson eyes.
The Vampire King.
A sudden panic rushed through her.
She looked down.
Her wedding dress was gone.
In its place was a long black gown.
Her heart immediately tightened.
Someone had changed her clothes.
The old Lucianna would have stayed silent.
She would have told herself not to cause problems.
Not anymore.
She stood.
"Where am I?"
The door opened.
A woman entered.
She had long dark hair and pale skin, with violet eyes that immediately studied Lucianna.
"You are awake."
Lucianna didn't relax.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Evelina. I serve King Adrian."
The name caught her attention.
King Adrian.
The Vampire King.
"Where is he?"
Evelina tilted her head.
"Most people ask where they are first."
"I already know where I am."
A small smile touched Evelina's lips.
"You are not like the stories."
Lucianna crossed her arms.
"What stories?"
"That wolves are proud."
A pause.
"That they are always controlled by their emotions."
Lucianna looked away.
"Maybe the stories are wrong."
Before Evelina could respond, another voice entered the room.
"They usually are."
Lucianna turned.
Adrian stood in the doorway.
The vampire king.
Even without a crown, he carried himself like royalty.
His crimson eyes immediately found hers.
Not her clothes.
Not her power.
Her.
"You should still be resting."
Lucianna raised an eyebrow.
"You always tell strangers what they should do?"
A faint smile appeared.
"Only stubborn ones."
She almost smiled.
Almost.
Then she remembered who he was.
A vampire.
A king.
Someone dangerous.
"Why am I here?"
Adrian entered the room slowly.
"Because you collapsed."
"I would have recovered."
"No."
The certainty in his voice surprised her.
"You wouldn't have."
She looked away.
She hated that he was right.
"I don't need saving."
"I know."
His response was immediate.
She looked at him.
"You know?"
"Yes."
Adrian's expression softened.
"You don't want someone to save you."
A pause.
"You want someone to stand beside you."
The words hit deeper than she expected.
Because that was exactly what she had wanted from Kael.
Not someone to control her.
Not someone to own her.
Someone who would choose her.
Adrian looked toward the window.
"The council wants to meet you."
Lucianna sighed.
"Why?"
"They have questions."
"About the Blood Rose?"
Silence.
A very brief silence.
But she noticed.
"What?"
Adrian looked back at her.
"You know about it."
"I saw it."
His expression changed.
"What did you see?"
She hesitated.
She didn't know why, but something told her this mattered.
"A rose."
A pause.
"Crimson."
Adrian went still.
"The Blood Rose."
Lucianna studied him.
"Tell me what it means."
He was quiet for a moment.
Then he answered.
"The Blood Rose is a legend older than any kingdom."
"And?"
"It speaks of a woman who will rise after being destroyed."
Her fingers curled.
"That sounds dramatic."
"It is."
A pause.
"But it is also true."
Lucianna looked at him.
"You think I'm this person."
"I think you are the person who walked away from a man who broke you."
His voice lowered.
"And that is far more powerful than any prophecy."
The answer surprised her.
She expected him to see her as a symbol.
A weapon.
A queen.
Instead, he saw her.
A knock interrupted them.
A guard entered.
"My king."
Adrian turned.
"The wolf Alpha has arrived."
Lucianna froze.
Kael.
Even hearing his name without saying it caused something inside her to tighten.
Adrian noticed.
"You do not have to see him."
She looked at him.
"Yes."
A pause.
"I do."
"Why?"
Lucianna took a breath.
"Because I spent one life running after him."
Her eyes hardened.
"I won't spend another running from him."
Adrian watched her for a moment.
Then nodded.
Not because he wanted her to face him.
Because he respected her choice.
The throne room was enormous.
Dark stone walls.
Silver decorations.
Hundreds of candles burning.
The vampire court watched as Lucianna entered beside Adrian.
Whispers followed.
But they were different from Silver Moon.
These whispers were curiosity.
Not cruelty.
At the center of the room stood Kael.
And Seraphina.
Lucianna stopped.
The sight of them together should have hurt.
Once, it would have destroyed her.
Now...
She felt only tired.
Kael stepped forward.
"Lucianna."
She looked at him.
"Alpha Kael."
His expression changed.
She had never spoken to him that way before.
"You are alive."
A cold smile touched her lips.
"Disappointed?"
"No."
But she saw the guilt.
The hesitation.
"I came to bring you home."
The room went silent.
Home.
That word used to mean everything.
Now it meant a place where she had been forgotten.
"No."
Kael stared.
"What?"
"I said no."
His jaw tightened.
"You don't understand."
"No."
She stepped closer.
"You don't understand."
Her voice carried.
"You had a wife."
"You had a mate."
"You had someone who loved you."
Her eyes moved to Seraphina.
"And you destroyed her."
Seraphina stepped forward.
"You are being dramatic."
Lucianna looked at her.
The woman who watched her die.
The woman who believed she had won.
"You should be careful."
Seraphina narrowed her eyes.
"Is that a threat?"
"No."
Lucianna smiled.
"It's a warning."
The vampire court watched silently.
Because they could feel it.
Something changing.
The weak Luna who had died in a dungeon was gone.
Kael looked at her.
"I made mistakes."
"Mistakes?"
Her voice shook.
"You left me to die."
Silence.
Even Kael couldn't deny it.
"You want forgiveness?"
She shook her head.
"You want relief."
His expression changed.
Because she was right.
Lucianna turned away.
She had spent too long wishing he would understand.
She no longer needed him to.
That night, she walked through the vampire gardens alone.
The moon shone above her.
She stopped when she saw something growing in the center of the garden.
A rose.
Crimson.
The same rose from her dream.
She reached toward it.
The moment her fingers touched the petals, warmth spread through her.
The flower bloomed completely.
Behind her, Adrian stopped.
He stared.
"The Blood Rose."
Lucianna looked at him.
"What does it mean?"
Adrian's expression was serious.
"It means everyone will know you have returned."
"Returned?"
He looked at her.
"Not as the Luna who was betrayed."
A pause.
"Not as the woman who died."
His eyes lowered to the blooming rose.
"As the queen who survived."
Lucianna looked at the flower.
For years, she had believed being chosen by someone else made her valuable.
Now she understood.
She had always been valuable.
Even when no one saw it.
Even when someone tried to destroy her.
The world had failed to kill her.
It had only made her stronger.
And as the Blood Rose bloomed beneath the moonlight...
The world began to learn one truth.
Lucianna Rose Blood was not a woman who needed to be saved.
She was the queen they failed to destroy.
- Writer
