She Woke Up Hungry

She Woke Up Hungry
Present....

The iron door suddenly opened.

Lucille was thrown inside carelessly.

“Get her out of here,” Jaden Gabe ordered coldly.

He tossed clothes toward her without even looking twice.

A pair of pants.
A shirt.
A large dark cloak.

Before Lucille could speak, she disappeared immediately.

Jaden Gabe dressed quickly, then carefully wrapped Pearly’s unconscious body inside the cloak before lifting him into his arms.

His hands still trembled slightly.

Not from weakness anymore.

From shock.

Pearly was pregnant.

Three months pregnant already.

With his child.

Even though only one night had passed.

Jaden Gabe looked down at Pearly’s stomach again, disbelief still clawing through him.

Immortal children developed differently inside mortal bodies.

Fast.

Dangerously fast.

It was the same thing that happened years ago with Euria when she carried him, Lander, and Criss.

The growth accelerated rapidly during the first three months before slowing into a more stable state afterward.

For immortals, six months was considered a full-term pregnancy.

And now,

despite everything that happened,

Pearly was carrying their son.

But something still felt horribly wrong.

Jaden Gabe could hear the baby’s heartbeat clearly now.

Strong.
Fast.
Alive.

So why couldn’t he hear Pearly’s?

The question clawed violently inside his chest as he carried Pearly back to the mansion.

The moment he laid him carefully on the bed, the entire room fell silent.

Criss went pale instantly.

Lander froze beside the doorway.

Even Helios looked unsettled for the first time in hours.

Only Euria remained absent from the nightmare unfolding around them, trapped once again under their father’s control somewhere deeper inside the mansion.

“W-What did you do to him?” Criss whispered weakly.

Then suddenly, her knees gave out beneath her.

Jaden Gabe’s chest tightened painfully.

“She was cold,” Helios muttered while staring at Pearly carefully. “Too cold.”

Criss snapped toward him immediately.

“She’s dead!” she shouted angrily through tears. “What did you expect? For her to still be warm?!”

Helios frowned slightly.

“No.” His eyes narrowed. “Something’s wrong.”

Jaden Gabe immediately looked at him.

“What do you mean?”

Instead of answering, Helios turned toward Lander.

Lander’s face had already lost color.

Completely.

Something about that reaction made unease spread sharply through Jaden Gabe.

“What’s happening?” he demanded.

Lander looked away too quickly.

“I…” His throat moved hard. “I need air.”

Then without another word, he walked out of the room.

Fast.

Almost escaping.

Jaden Gabe’s pulse worsened instantly.

The second the door closed behind Lander, he turned back toward Helios.

“What aren’t you saying?”

Helios stared quietly at Pearly for another moment.

Then finally spoke.

“She died,” he admitted softly.

Criss inhaled sharply.

But before either of them could react,

Helios continued.

“And she’s transitioning.”

The room went completely still.

“What?!” Criss and Jaden Gabe spoke at the exact same time.

Helios nodded slowly.

“I can hear vampire blood moving through her system.” His expression tightened. “It’s converting every cell inside her body.”

Jaden Gabe’s hands clenched instantly.

“Whose blood?”

The question came out harsher than intended.

Who touched Pearly?

Who turned him?

Criss looked just as shocked.

“You didn’t do it?” she asked immediately.

Jaden Gabe shook his head.

“No.”

A horrible silence followed.

“It wasn’t Donovan either,” Helios murmured thoughtfully.

Then slowly,

his expression changed.

“Whoever gave Pearly their blood…”

He looked directly at Jaden Gabe.

“…saved him.”

For a second, Jaden Gabe forgot how to breathe.

The crushing weight around his chest loosened slightly.

“She’s alive?” he asked hoarsely.

Hope hurt after everything tonight.

It hurt enough to feel dangerous.

Criss stepped closer immediately.

“Tell us she’s alive.”

Helios hesitated.

Then slowly shook his head.

“No.”

The word hit hard.

But before despair could fully settle,

“She’ll wake up as a vampire.”

Silence crashed over the room again.

Jaden Gabe stared at Pearly in disbelief.

Alive.

Not alive.

Dead.

Changing.

Everything felt impossible.

Then Helios spoke again.

“And the baby will need Euria’s blood.”

Jaden Gabe frowned sharply.

“What?”

Helios exhaled slowly.

“A vampire body normally can’t carry a child.”

Confusion immediately tightened inside Jaden Gabe.

“I thought vampires couldn’t conceive children at all.”

“They can’t,” Helios replied calmly. “Except for the Vox Vaughns.”

Jaden Gabe’s jaw tightened.

The cursed bloodline again.

Helios continued quietly:

“A Vox Vaughn can impregnate a mortal during the full moon.” His gaze shifted toward Pearly’s stomach. “But the mortal usually dies before surviving the pregnancy.”

Criss crossed her arms tightly around herself.

“Then how is Pearly still carrying the baby after turning?”

“Because Pearly conceived while still human,” Helios answered softly. “The transition only happened after death.”

Jaden Gabe froze.

Lucille.

The blood.

The forced feeding.

Everything suddenly clicked together.

“Lucille…” he murmured absentmindedly.

Was she already planning this from the start?

And if Lucille was pregnant too,

whose child was she carrying?

Because Jaden Gabe knew one thing with absolute certainty.

It was not his.

Three weeks.

That was how long Pearly had been asleep.

Three weeks since the transition began.

Three weeks of silence.

Jaden Gabe brushed his fingers gently across Pearly’s cheek while sitting beside the bed.

He almost laughed bitterly at himself.

For someone immortal, three weeks should have meant nothing.

But Pearly somehow made every hour feel unbearable.

Longing had become its own kind of torture.

“You know,” Jaden Gabe murmured softly, “you’re the first person who ever made me understand what boredom feels like.”

A faint smile touched his lips.

Small.
Tired.

“I can wait longer if I have to.”

His fingers moved carefully through Pearly’s softer hair.

“A decade. A century. I don’t care.”

But his voice lowered after that.

Quiet enough to sound almost vulnerable.

“Just wake up before I lose my mind missing you.”

Slowly, color had already begun returning to Pearly’s skin during the past weeks.

The changes from the transition were becoming more obvious now.

His skin looked smoother.
Brighter.

Younger somehow.

Like death reshaped him into something dangerously beautiful.

Jaden Gabe leaned closer and kissed his forehead gently.

“You’re going to be shocked when you wake up,” he whispered softly.

Then his hand rested lightly against Pearly’s stomach.

“Your dream finally came true.”

Emotion tightened painfully inside his chest.

“We’re going to have a baby together.”

Her hair had lightened slightly during the transition.

Her skin looked softer now.
Brighter.

Almost unreal beneath the dim light of the room.

Even the shape of her body had changed subtly, becoming more refined, more dangerously beautiful in a way only immortals could become.

And that terrified Jaden Gabe more than he wanted to admit.

Because once Pearly woke up…

everything would change again.

She would no longer crave the simple things she once loved.

No more ice cream at midnight.
No more ordinary meals.
No more human life.

She would need blood now.

And Jaden Gabe had no idea how to tell her that without watching her hate him all over again.

His chest tightened painfully.

Of course Pearly would be angry.

Every terrible thing that happened somehow kept leading back to him.

But Jaden Gabe was willing to accept all of it.

Every accusation.
Every scream.
Every ounce of hatred.

As long as Pearly stayed alive.

As long as he did not leave him again.

Jaden Gabe lowered his gaze toward Pearly’s stomach and rested his hand there carefully.

Their child.

Their future.

He would protect both of them this time.

No matter what it cost him.

No matter who he had to destroy.

He would never let anyone touch them again.

Then suddenly,

Pearly’s finger twitched.

Jaden Gabe froze.

His heartbeat stumbled violently.

Slowly, Pearly’s eyelashes fluttered.

Then again.

And the moment her eyes finally opened,

relief hit Jaden Gabe so hard it almost brought him to his knees.

“You’re awake…” His voice cracked softly. “My love…”

But despite the happiness flooding him, nervousness crept in immediately after.

Newborn vampires usually woke up overwhelmed by thirst.

Violent.
Confused.
Out of control.

Yet Pearly only stared at him silently.

Too silently.

Jaden Gabe’s chest tightened.

“Pearly…”

Carefully, he stood and moved closer to the bed without taking his eyes off him.

“How are you feeling?”

He reached out slowly and brushed Pearly’s cheek gently.

Instead of answering,

Pearly suddenly grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him closer.

Jaden Gabe inhaled sharply.

Fangs.

Small.
Sharp.
Beautiful.

And somehow, instead of frightening him, they only made Pearly look even more devastating to his eyes.

“I want you…” Pearly whispered hoarsely.

The hunger in his voice barely sounded human anymore.

Jaden Gabe’s restraint shattered instantly.

He grabbed the back of Pearly’s neck just as Pearly kissed him first.

Hard.

Desperate.

Like he had woken up starving for him.

Jaden Gabe kissed him back immediately with the same overwhelming intensity.

Weeks of fear.
Grief.
Longing.

Everything crashed together at once between them.

And for the first time since believing Pearly had died in his arms,

Jaden Gabe finally felt alive again.