The nights blurred into a relentless, breathless haze of training and bloodshed.
Noah stood in the moonlit courtyard of the ravaged mansion, his muscles trembling from exertion, his mind a cauldron of uncertainty and growing dread.
Each lesson Elias carved into him was an agony of precision — teaching him how to slash, parry, strike — how to survive in a world designed to consume the weak.
But Noah wasn't weak.
Not anymore.
With each bruised knuckle, each gasping breath, he felt himself inch closer to something otherworldly.
Something monstrous.
Something divine.
Elias watched him from the shadows, arms crossed over his broad chest, his golden eyes hooded and dark.
There was a pride there, barely concealed but beneath it, a torment far deeper: fear.
Fear of what Noah was becoming. Fear of the unstoppable hunger growing between them.
Fear of himself.
At night, when Noah lay tangled in sweat-soaked sheets, he could feel Elias' gaze like a phantom touch across his skin — lingering, possessive, forbidden.
It wasn't just about blood anymore.
It was about belonging.
It was about surrender.
And both of them knew it.
But desire demands a price.
And that debt would soon come due.
The attack came without warning.
The mansion's ancient defenses crumbled like paper before the onslaught of Elias' enemies — stronger, angrier, more desperate than before.
They stormed the courtyard, their bodies cloaked in black, their teeth gleaming with promised death.
Elias fought like a demon unleashed, but even he magnificent, savage Elias faltered beneath their overwhelming numbers.
Noah's body moved on instinct, the training burned into his bones rising to the surface.
He fought wild, brutal, beautiful but he was still mortal, still fragile in ways he hated.
And then Elias fell.
It was not a graceful fall.
It was a brutal, bloody collapse that stole the breath from Noah's lungs.
The enemy's blade, poisoned and merciless, pierced Elias' side, and he roared in agony — a sound Noah would never forget.
Panic seized him.
Terror shredded his reason.
Without thinking without hesitation Noah threw himself onto Elias, shielding him from the death blow.
His hands, slick with Elias' blood, clawed at the vampire's shoulders.
He needed to save him.
He needed to keep him.
And then — driven by instinct, by something ancient and savage Noah bit him.
His teeth sank into Elias' throat, tasting the dark, potent blood that held centuries of power and pain.
It was not an accident.
It was a claiming.
A sacrifice.
A sin.
Elias froze beneath him.
His body stiffened.
Then slowly, terribly, he turned his golden gaze on Noah — and for the first time, there was no humanity left in it.
His eyes, molten and furious, shimmered with raw hunger and betrayal.
He grabbed Noah's wrists, pinning them above his head with terrifying ease.
His fangs, fully descended, gleamed in the silver light.
"You shouldn't have done that, Noah," Elias growled, his voice low and guttural, a sound pulled from the depths of ancient hunger.
"You've crossed the line."
The air between them ignited, thick with power and danger and something far more intoxicating desire sharpened into violence.
Noah shivered beneath him, knowing two things with absolute certainty:
He had just bound himself to Elias in a way he could never undo.
And the price for that desire had only just begun to be paid.