89

POV Lio

For a moment, I forgot everything, lost in Alexandar's seduction. And in the kiss that made my mind wander.

The scent was intoxicating, aphrodisiac. His thick hair in my fingers, the muscular body like a rock, throwing me onto the bed and coming over me. Big, heavy, hard. His huge erection pressing against my groin.

He moaned with excitement, and I licked his tongue, a little lost in the unexpected lust. Especially when he caressed my breast and groaned hoarsely against my mouth.

I could give in, get naked, have pleasure. I could climax. I felt deep down that Alexandar would give that to me, would take me to the peak easily. But something screamed deep inside me, a sharp pain, that overshadowed everything.

It wasn’t Balthazar there. He was with Kassandra, making children with her. Kissing her, smiling, loving her. I wanted to scream, and it was the overwhelming urge to cry that hit me full force. Because no matter how much it excited me, let me, it would never be the same.

"Delicious..."

Alexandar’s mouth descended to my chin, nibbling, his fangs coming out and scratching my skin without drawing blood. One hand grabbed my hair, the other lifted my dress. Long fingers moving up my thighs, about to touch me intimately.

My wolf rebelled, I felt her wanting to break free, attack, suck what that vampire had to give. She shared my despair, aware that something very important was missing. Balthazar. He was the one we cried for inside, the one we wanted to snarl at, fight, reach.

I would never experience the madness of senses and feelings with anyone else. He was branded on me, burning my skin, taking my ground. And it crushed me because I couldn't go through with it, give myself to anyone. It felt wrong, out of me. No matter how hot and delicious Alexandar was.

"Stop..."

My voice finally came out as I held his muscular arms.

He froze immediately, his finger on the verge of slipping under my underwear. Then he raised his head and looked at me, beautiful and disturbed, his red eyes burning with flames.

We didn’t have time to say anything more. The terrace doors crashed open with a bang, slamming against the wall. A cold, violent wind rushed into the room, followed by a fierce, hateful scream.

In seconds, Alexandar was torn from above me and thrown with all his might to the other side, crashing with such brutality into the wall that the whole room shook.

My eyes widened in shock, hypnotized by the sight of Balthazar. He seemed to float, off the ground, his face turning into a predator’s mask, his huge, sharp teeth, black veins dancing on his face. His red eyes full of rage, directed at me, before he turned to attack the other vampire again with extreme speed.

I sat up on the bed, swallowed by the shadows that suddenly filled the room, still unable to believe what was happening.

Alexandar regained his stance with supernatural agility, leaping to his feet just as Balthazar reached him. With a primal scream, he lunged forward, grabbing him by the shoulders and sinking his sharp, grown nails into his skin. Balthazar retaliated with unbridled fury, landing an elbow strike to his stomach before shoving him back until his head hit the wall.

They collided with the stone, cracking it, pieces falling to the floor.

"Stop!" I yelled, jumping off the bed, a mixture of fear and fascination.

"Never touch her again!"

Balthazar’s voice sounded different, almost like thunder, shaking everything. Ready to attack the other’s neck with his monstrous fangs.

That’s when Alexandar suddenly reacted, growling, using his hands to summon some kind of wave of dark energy, making an explosion of shadows engulf the room. I felt a hot gust throw me back onto the bed, terrified to see Balthazar’s body pushed violently away, crashing against the wall on the other side of the room.

"Balthazar!" I got up again, fearing the deep impact when he hit the ground.

A light passed through me. It was the vampire, ready to catch him.

The blow was much fiercer than I expected, as Balthazar rose with burn marks and tears in his flesh, clearly showing that the dark energy had harmed him. They started to heal instantly, and he flew toward Alexandar. They collided with horrible sounds, falling to the ground between bites and dodging attacks on their necks.

They kicked, punched, lifted, and threw each other, everything spinning in the dimness, cracking, on the verge of killing each other.

"No!"

I ran, desperate, out of my mind. I didn’t think I could be hit or hurt, with imminent danger. Then the door to the room opened, and flashes passed before me, stepping in between the two. I only realized it was Antares and Dimitar when they pulled the two fighters from the brawl.

"Son of a bitch!" Balthazar screamed, breaking free from his father’s arms. There was supreme fury in his expression, like I had never seen.

"Bastard!" Alexandar also broke free from his brother.

I stepped between them, just as they were about to grapple again.

"Enough!" My wolf appeared as I semi-transformed with claws and fangs, snarling at both of them. "Or I’ll kill you!"

They froze just before coming into contact with me. Furious, huge, flames in their eyes, surrounded by relatives and others who had arrived in the room.

The shadows still covered almost everything, energy purging, the one they had created, the one I saw Alexandar use as a weapon. I was still in shock, trembling.

"Please, stop," Celestia requested, approaching slowly, reaching for her son. "Please..."

His eyes never left mine, but he listened to his mother. He straightened his back, some veins in his face diminishing. Like he was fighting to control himself.

Caliban arrived from the corner with a frightened Calliope. Kassandra was near them, like a ghost. Silent, drawing the attention of her older brother, who said furiously:

"You should be with your fiancée, not here!"

"Get out of here, damn it!" Balthazar lunged, and I snarled, making him stop with difficulty, almost out of control.

"This will be reported tomorrow at the Temple!" Alexandar threatened.

The blood from their wounds stopped dripping, and all the consequences of the fight vanished in front of my eyes. But the hatred still lingered in the air, purging. And directed at me, as Balthazar glared at me with living, accusatory fury. I didn’t back down, staring at him the same way.

"Enough with this confusion and argument. Everyone out!" Antares demanded, unhinged.

"I only leave if Lioara says so!" Alexandar stared at me, proud and fierce. Then to the others. "I’m a widower, I have no commitments to anyone. I didn’t shelter a supreme in my house to have a child with her, without the clan’s approval! So if she wants to continue and fuck me, I’ll stay, damn it!"

Balthazar was livid and lunged forward. Dimitar stepped in, pulling his brother back, while Antares tried to contain his son. It was me who shoved him by the chest, snarling and screaming:

"Get out of here! You and you!" I pointed at both of them, losing control even more. "Everyone! Now!"

"Lioara..." Alexandar began, very pissed off.

"Now!"

My scream came out mixed with a snarl, barely a step from fully transforming.

They froze for a moment. Then Kassandra slipped out, followed by Caliban and her mother. Furious, Alexandar stormed off, stomping, with Dimitar behind him.

"Balthazar..." Antares said softly, seeing how we glared at each other, and the son still seemed out of control.

Without a word, he shot like lightning toward the terrace and disappeared. The doors slammed shut by themselves, and I exhaled the breath I had been holding, trembling from head to toe.

It was hard to breathe, to calm down. But I managed to retract my claws and fangs. Then, I stared at the older vampire, who was trying to hide his paleness. Pale, tense. He said coldly:

"I want you to leave the day after tomorrow, Lioara."

I lifted my chin, anger rising.

"Why? Your plans with me didn’t work out?"

"There’s no plan anymore. You were always treated well in my home, and you know that. We never forced you into anything."

"But you also didn’t tell me what you really wanted. Who is Kalygor, and why was the emergence of a better species so important. Now you act as if the blame for all of this is mine!"

"I’m not accusing you of anything. You and Balthazar have gotten things wrong. If you care for him, as I feel you do, stay away. Don’t interfere anymore. My son has a great future ahead of him."

His words hit me, and despite all odds, they gave me hope. He had barged into my room like a madman, fought, hurt himself, just because he felt and saw me with Alexandar. He cared little about what others would think, not even about his fiancée. And now, Antares seemed to be stating the obvious. That he had feelings for me.

Not just anything. So strong that I had become a threat to the Severus.

I exhaled, agonized, nervous, shaken.

"Your plans for him are grand." My voice came out low. "But will Balthazar be happy?"

"Of course! He will be the master of the entire clan, the most powerful of them all! And happy with that."

"Like you? Even today, you mourn the love you abandoned for the rules and traditions of the clan. Centuries of unhappiness, making everyone the same way. Cold and distant."

Antares clenched his jaw, struggling with his own feelings, rage bubbling through his controlled expression. He said low and sharp:

"You don’t know anything about me and my family."

"I know what I see. How closed off and lonely you are, so selfish with the pain of your choices that you don’t see how it affects everyone. Not even how your wife loves you and suffers, pretending to be an ice block, keeping away even from your children."

He stepped back, pale, disturbed.

"I’ll tell your father that you’ll leave the day after tomorrow. If you have any respect, stay at least one more day, so you don’t raise suspicions among the clans. They might think you’re running away, that we’re hiding something."

I didn’t back down, being cold too:

"Don’t worry, I won’t harm the important clans. But I’ll speak to my father myself."

Antares didn’t say anything else. He left and closed the door behind him.

I went to the bed, still trembling.