The forest wasn't quiet this time. It screamed with chaos.
Asher stumbled over the uneven ground, branches snapping beneath his boots. The glow of the locket grew sharper with every heartbeat, guiding him deeper into the shadows like a beacon. His lungs burned, but he didn't stop.
He found them near the clearing where he'd first met Lucian. Three figures in black, their silver-tipped weapons gleaming in the moonlight, circled a man with crimson eyes. Lucian.
But this wasn't the calm, mysterious figure Asher knew. This Lucian was untamed. His fangs bared, his clothes streaked with blood, his movements too fast to follow. He moved like the wind itself—deadly and beautiful.
"Monster!" one of the hunters roared, swinging a blade coated in shimmering liquid. Lucian dodged easily, but another hunter caught him from behind with a silver chain, wrapping it tight around his throat.
Lucian hissed, a raw, inhuman sound that made Asher's chest tighten.
Before he even thought about it, Asher shouted, "Stop!"
All three hunters turned. One of them—the leader—smirked. "Another bloodline rat. Move along, boy. This isn't your fight."
But the locket burned hot against Asher's skin, and the moment his eyes met Lucian's, he "felt " it—Lucian's pain, his rage, his breathless struggle.
Without thinking, Asher stepped forward. "Let him go."
"You don't even know what he is," the leader snarled. "That thing kills everything it touches."
Lucian's voice rasped, dark but steady. "He's mine."
The leader lunged at Asher, blade raised—
—and Lucian snapped the chain.
It happened in a blur of movement. One second, the blade was inches from Asher's throat, the next, the hunter was on the ground, blood blooming beneath him. The forest fell silent, the other hunters backing away in fear.
Lucian stood between Asher and the world, breathing hard, eyes blazing. His fangs were still out, his hands trembling from holding back more than he unleashed.
"Asher," he rasped, turning slightly. "What are you doing here?"
Asher swallowed hard. "I felt you."
Lucian froze. That single sentence cracked something open between them.
The leader staggered up, clutching his wound. "This isn't over, vampire." He spat the word like poison before vanishing into the shadows with the others.
Lucian turned fully then, his hand still bloodied, his breath uneven. "You shouldn't have come."
Asher stepped closer, eyes wide—not in fear, but something else. "I couldn't stay away."
Lucian's gaze softened, just barely, as if the monster within him was slowly pulling its claws back. "You're going to regret this bond, little star," he whispered. "Because next time… I might not be able to hold back."
But Asher didn't move away. The locket pulsed once between them—a heartbeat shared.
To be continued....