Chapter 16

POV Lio

"Everyone already knows there’s a vampire here," said Cezar, the head of the guard in our territory, with disdain. The vampire attack was already known to the pack. Standing near the hay in one corner, he had ordered the wolves to stay alert outside, ready to act if Caliban dared to try anything.

"We’re worried. We don’t know if this is a declaration of war," his brother Lonut added. Then he faced my father. "Is it?"

There was blood on his skin and clothes, on my mother and me. Not to mention the wounded and unconscious vampire. It was hard to argue the visitor had come in peace.

My father stared at me, still furious, ready to rip every limb from Caliban. I wasn’t the same only because my curiosity held me back. Shaking my head, I whispered, "Just a little longer. Let’s at least figure out what he wants."

"He wants you. Isn’t it obvious?" He stepped closer to me. Wolves were often overly protective. "I don’t buy this story that he came in peace. He was going to kidnap you or do worse."

"Like what?"

"The bastard got it in his head that he’s going to marry you, Lio! Severus made it clear their goal is the mixing of species, as if my daughter were some kind of breeding vessel for those filthy creatures! He was going to violate you!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, his control snapped. Before anyone could stop him, rage drove him to lunge at the other man, grabbing him by the throat and slamming him against the stable wall. Caliban woke up immediately, clueless about what was happening, his body collapsing to the floor with a thud.

"Riuk!" My mother held him back, stepping in front of him before he could finish the vampire off. Cezar and Lonut also moved closer, ready to obey their alpha’s orders. "Let’s hear what he has to say!"

"I don’t care!"

He was enraged but didn’t push her aside. He took a deep breath, barely restraining himself.

Caliban dragged himself backward, realizing the evident danger. He took rice straw and sand with him, sticking to his once-elegant clothes. The smell of dry manure and animals filled the stable. The cows mooed, disturbed by the commotion.

"I’ll talk to him," I said quietly, noticing my father wanted to intervene, but my mother stopped him.

I was safe there. I couldn’t say the same for the unwelcome visitor.

His pale blue eyes were wide open on his face, shadowed with dark circles. He clutched the arm that had recently regenerated, clearly in pain, worsened by the blow he had just received.

He looked at me as I stopped in front of him, towering over him. I asked in a low voice, "Why is it taking so long for you to heal completely?"

"The regeneration was too violent, it drained my strength... and the bite you gave me on my shoulder... it hasn’t closed."

"Our bite is venomous," I concluded from what he’d mentioned earlier.

"When you bit Balthazar’s arm... he felt excruciating pain and sweated like I am now. That only happens with wolf bites."

"Good to know." I crossed my arms over my chest, not wanting to think about his brother and get distracted. For him to confess such a secret, he must have been desperate. "Were you going to kidnap me? Violate me?"

"No!" He paled even more, glancing around. My parents, Cezar, and Lonut were all eager for a reason to act. He focused back on me. "Listen, Lioara. I wanted to talk."

"Five vampires charging at me doesn’t seem like a conversation to me."

"You misunderstood. I thought it would be better to keep you calm so you’d listen without attacking. But everything spiraled out of control. You thought that... well..."

His attempt to be cunning had no justification; he was at a ridiculous disadvantage. So he fell silent, anxious, sweating more. My father demanded, "The waterfall is on my land. How did you manage to get past the traps or avoid being seen on the cameras?"

He struggled to find words, tense and nervous.

"We came through the treetops. It’s harder to spot us there."

"Do you fly?" Cezar asked, frowning.

"No. But we can jump very high."

"Reinforce that area, Cezar. I don’t want more intruders coming close! Explain exactly the route you took."

Caliban didn’t even meet my father’s gaze, his voice weak. "I can’t think straight right now. I’m too disoriented by the pain. I need blood to recover."

"You want one of us to offer you a neck, is that it?" Lonut snapped.

"Any blood... If I were home, I’d feed on the servants. Human blood works faster, but animal blood will do... I’m very thirsty..." He looked hopefully at the nervous cows behind the fences.

"Just tell me what you came here for. No lies," my father ordered.

Caliban finally looked at him, trying to compose himself.

"I came to convince Lioara to marry me. That way, I would earn my father’s and brother’s respect and prove I’m not useless!"

The desperation in his voice was so apparent that I believed him. At least on that point, he was being honest.

Sensing that he had swayed me slightly, he continued, humbled and still unsteady:

"I swear I wouldn’t hurt you. Do you think it’s a coincidence you don’t have a scratch on you? I told them not to harm you. I just wanted to explain myself, to say that we could be allies, that my intention is..."

"Why don’t you stop lying and just admit what you really want with my daughter, damn it?"

My father’s voice thundered through the closed stable. The cows backed away, and Caliban glanced at him, seeing death in his eyes. Silence fell until he found the courage to answer:

"I want to marry her. To prove that pure vampires and supreme wolves are superior, that together we can create a species stronger and more powerful than any other. It would be good for everyone! And my father would see that I can be just as perfect as Balthazar!"

"All this just to gain your family’s approval?"

It was my mother’s soft question that struck him the hardest. His grayish, sweaty skin looked up at her. And there, he seemed like a lost, abandoned child. Lonely. It was so evident that everyone noticed. He stammered:

"We’re not like you."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You protect each other, you unite. We... we do what we must."

It was too strange, cold, impersonal, and ridiculous. Yet, it rang true. Caliban seemed desperate to prove something to his family. That was the best anyone could say about him.

"Please..." he pleaded, swallowing hard, his eyes glowing a deep red. "It hurts so much... I need blood. Or let me return home. I promise I’ll never come back, that..."

"I don’t believe you." My father stepped beside me, never taking his eyes off him.

Caliban tried to appear strong and superior, but his head fell back, and he closed his eyes, exhausted and weak. He shattered the image of the untouchable, invincible vampire.

I remembered Balthazar when I bit him—pale but still poised, never attacking me. Cold, composed, furious only on the inside. He must have been in pain; his brother confessed as much. But he didn’t show it. Apparently, Caliban was either more debilitated or less controlled.