Chapter 71

Evelyn’s POV

He hadn’t spoken to me all evening.

Even after we left his office, even after dinner, even after I crawled into bed beside him… Damon was distant. His body was there—warm, solid, familiar—but his mind was miles away, locked behind whatever steel door he thought I couldn’t pry open.

But I felt it.

The storm building under his skin. The way his jaw tensed. The way his hands had trembled just slightly when he thought I wasn’t looking.

And I was done pretending not to notice.

I rolled onto him, straddling his lap in the darkness of our bedroom, the only light coming from the moon spilling through the curtains. He blinked up at me, startled but silent. His hands instinctively found my hips.

"You're not sleeping," I whispered, brushing my fingers over his bare chest. His heartbeat was wild beneath my palm.

"Neither are you," he replied, voice low, almost guilty.

I leaned closer, until our noses almost touched. "You’re hiding something again, Damon."

He looked away, and that alone cracked something in me.

"I told you I could handle your truth,” I said softly, “but you keep treating me like glass. You can talk to me Damon, what is really going on?”

His face darkened slightly. "I'm sorry, I’m just protecting you."

I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. "No, i don't think so. I think you’re protecting yourself from the idea of losing me." My voice trembled as I said it, but I held his gaze. “But every time you do this.... this coldness thing. It feels like you are pushing me away. It's terrible.”

A muscle twitched in his jaw. He swallowed but still didn't say anything.

I sighed, running my hand through my hair.

"Damn it, Damon, trust me," I breathed, pressing my forehead to his. “I’m not just your lover. I’m your mate. I’m yours, in every way—and I want all of you, even the dark.”

The breath he let out was jagged. Raw.

Still, he hesitated.

And that hesitation… that was the match.

I kissed him—deep, demanding—poured everything into it. The ache. The questions. The love. My hands moved down his sides, desperate, not for lust, but for answers. For connection. For truth.

His restraint crumbled under the weight of it. In an instant, he pulled me impossibly closer, deepening the kiss.

“Evie…” he groaned into my neck, a lifetime later, while pulling me tighter, as if trying to memorize me with his hands.

His mouth found mine again, and it wasn’t soft this time. It was filled with frustration. With need. With guilt.

He rolled me over, until i was buried in the seat beneath him. I could feel his arousal pressing into my stomach as he supported his weight with his hand, as though he was afraid he would crush me.

My hand found his pants as he hesitated. As soon as I touched his younger member, he shivered.

His breathing became heavy, but his eyes held mine with an intensity that burned through me. It was as though he was looking to see what I would do.

Gently, I stroked him, my eyes still pinning his.

"What are you doing little wolf?" His eyes held a dark amusement, laced with deep arousal. He was barely restraining himself.

I smiled darkly. "Punishing you."

His eyes cracked with an amusement that filled my heart up. Just like that, he freed his younger member and the show began.

We moved together like fire and oil—consuming, burning, wordless—but it wasn’t just about pleasure. It was punishment. A challenge. A confession without words.

And when we collapsed beside each other, our breaths tangled and skin slick with sweat, I whispered, “Now tell me why you really looked like a ghost earlier.”

He closed his eyes.

Then opened them slowly… and gave in.

“The Vampire Queen,” he said hoarsely. “She asked to see you.”

I sat up slightly. “What?”

“I didn’t want you to know,” he admitted, sitting up beside me. “She requested you—insisted. Said it was urgent.”

“Who is she, and why me? I’m not even—”

“That’s what terrifies me,” he cut in. “You’re human, Evelyn. Fragile compared to her. And she never calls anyone without reason. Especially not a Luna of a werewolf pack. She helped me get this territory.”

I stared at him. At the man who moved mountains and buried bodies to protect those he loved.

And yet… he was scared.

“She’s not going to kill me,” I said gently.

“You don’t know that.”

“No,” I agreed. “But I also won’t run from this. I can’t. If something’s happening—if I’m involved somehow—I want to face it. With you.”

His jaw clenched, but he gave a small nod.

He pulled me into his embrace, kissing me lightly on my head.

I tried to push that thought away from my mind all through that night, but it remained.

The next morning, as we got ready for our normal routines, Damon informed me that we would be going to see the vampire queen, and her officials today.

Even though the idea scared me on its own, i didn't want to show him that, so i masked my face with a smile, and went with him.

He held my hand all the way there, as though he was afraid i would disappear.

The castle was a cathedral of shadows—tall, ancient, eerily still. Black banners with silver crests fluttered on walls that had seen centuries of blood spilled in silence.

There were two other men already there, they were cold.

And then she arrived.

The Vampire Queen didn’t walk—she glided. A vision of power wrapped in obsidian and moonlight. Her eyes locked on me the moment she entered.

“You must be Evelyn,” she said, voice smooth and velvet-laced. “So… this is the human, I'm impressed.”

My stomach tightened. Damon stepped forward instinctively, shielding me.

The queen only smirked. “Still so possessive, Alpha Damon. You should have warned her.”

“Warned me about what?” I asked quietly.

Her gaze pinned me. “That you’re not just human.”

And before Damon could stop her—before anyone could speak—she was in front of me, unnaturally fast.

And her fangs sank into my neck.

Pain. Then cold.

Damon roared, grabbing her by the throat and slamming her back, but she laughed—blood on her lips—as guards flooded the room.

I staggered back, heart racing, vision spinning.

“She has magic,” the queen hissed to her council. “Raw. Wild. Ancient. And… werewolf blood.”

That made the room freeze.

“No,” Damon growled. “She’s not yours.”

“She could be,” the queen said, eyes glowing. “Let me turn her. Give her strength. Immortality. Power. You’re trying to protect her by keeping her weak. But she’s so much more than that.”

Damon’s fists clenched. “She’s mine.”

But my gaze was still locked on the queen… and something in me stirred.

Because deep down, a part of me wanted what she offered.

Not for the immortality.

But because I was tired of being the weakest link.

Tired of needing protection.

Tired of not knowing what I was.

And for the first time, I wondered…

If becoming something else—something more—was the only way to survive what was coming.