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Fated to the Alpha King, Claimed by the Vampire Lord

ivyhart
14
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The average realized release rate over the past 30 days is 14 chs / week.
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Synopsis
Someone marked me for love that could kill. One night, two ancient enemies claimed me—a werewolf king and a vampire lord. Now my blood calls to both, binding my fate to theirs. If I choose one, the other dies. If I choose neither, a prophecy will devour us all. Kaelen says I’m his destiny. Theron says he’ll break the world to free me. Desire twists into danger. Every secret I uncover could ruin us, but every stolen moment drags me closer to surrender. I hold a magic that can shatter every bond—except the one that might destroy my heart. War is coming for me. Love is hunting me. And I don’t know who will survive the night.
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Chapter 1 - Chapter 1

Elara POV

The map was supposed to save my life, but with every rule I broke, I felt it slip away.

I stared at the worn parchment in my hands. Aldric's shaky handwriting covered the edges. Do not cross after sunset. Do not enter alone.

Simple warnings. Clear rules.

I was breaking both.

Stupid. So incredibly stupid. But what choice did I have?

Aldric was bedridden with fever. The council didn't care that he'd served them for thirty years. They wanted their maps of the Thornwall Barrens. If he couldn't deliver, they'd strip his license. Take his pension. Leave him with nothing.

So here I was. His assistant. Nobody important.

Walking into forbidden territory at night because someone had to finish the job.

The Barrens stretched out in front of me under the moonlight. Dead land. Gray earth cracked like old bones. Twisted trees reached toward the sky but nothing grew on their branches.

Nothing lived here. That's what people said.

Only rogues and exiles came to the Thornwall. Only things that had nowhere else to go.

I adjusted my pack and kept walking. My boots crunched over brittle ground. Each step sounded too loud in the silence.

Too obvious.

My hands were sweating despite the cold. I wiped them on my coat and checked the map again. Just another half mile. Mark the old stone circle. Then I could leave.

That's when the wind picked up.

It carried a smell that made my stomach turn. Copper. Like old blood. And something else underneath. Something that smelled like smoke and rot mixed together.

I stopped walking.

My heart started beating faster. Something was wrong. The air felt different. Heavier. Like the pressure before a storm.

Then I heard it.

A howl in the distance.

My blood went cold. That wasn't a normal wolf. I'd heard wolves before. This was different. Deeper. Angrier.

It sounded like pure rage given a voice.

The sound echoed across the Barrens and I felt it vibrate through my chest. More howls answered. From different directions. Surrounding me.

Oh god.

I turned in a slow circle. My hands shook. I couldn't see anything yet but I knew they were coming. I could feel it. That animal instinct that screams at you when you're being hunted.

Then I saw them.

Shadows moving over the ridge. Dozens of them. Flowing down the hill like black water. Too fast to be human. Too coordinated to be animals.

Vampires.

The word slammed into my brain and my body reacted before I could think. I ran. Dropped the map. Didn't care.

Just ran as fast as I could.

My lungs burned. My legs pumped. Branches tore at my coat but I didn't slow down.

Behind me, I heard laughter. Cold and cruel.

They were playing with me. They could catch me anytime they wanted.

I wasn't going to make it. I wasn't fast enough. I was going to die out here and no one would ever find my body.

Something hit me from behind.

Hard.

I went flying forward and crashed into the ground. My mouth filled with dirt and blood. I'd bitten my tongue. Pain exploded across my back where claws had raked through my coat into my skin.

I tried to crawl forward. Tried to get up.

But a weight landed on my back and pushed me flat. I couldn't breathe. Couldn't move.

I managed to turn my head just enough to see pale fingers with black nails digging into the earth beside my face.

Then I saw the fangs.

Right above me. Close enough that I could smell death on the vampire's breath.

This was it. This was how I died.

The ground exploded.

Huge wolves burst through the vampires like they were made of paper. Silver fur. Golden eyes that glowed in the darkness. Bigger than any wolf should be.

They moved with impossible speed and power.

They tore into the vampires with savage efficiency. No hesitation. Just pure violence.

I covered my head with my arms. Bodies crashed around me. Above me. Blood sprayed hot across my face.

I heard snarls and screams and wet tearing sounds that made my stomach heave.

A vampire's head rolled past me on the ground.

The eyes were still open. Still blinking.

I was going to be sick. I was going to die. I was—

A wolf landed directly in front of me.

Massive. Silver coat gleaming in the moonlight. It stood between me and the fighting like a wall made of fur and muscle.

Protecting me.

Why was it protecting me?

Then the wolf started changing.

Its body shimmered. Shifted. Bones cracked and reformed. Fur disappeared.

In less than three seconds, the wolf became a man.

I couldn't process what I was seeing. My brain refused to accept it.

The man was tall. Broad shoulders. Wearing dark clothes that somehow appeared with the shift. His hair was black and fell across sharp features. Strong jaw. High cheekbones.

And his eyes.

Golden eyes that burned like they had fire inside them.

He looked at me and I forgot how to breathe.

I knew who he was. Everyone knew his name even if they'd never seen his face.

Kaelen Ashvyre. The Alpha King of the werewolves.

"Stay down," he said.

His voice was rough. A command that went straight into my bones.

I couldn't have moved if I wanted to. I was frozen.

He turned back toward the fight. His body tensed. Ready.

And then everything got worse.

The sky split open.

Not a storm. Not lightning. Reality itself cracked. A jagged line of silver light tore across the darkness above us.

The air around the crack shimmered and twisted.

My ears popped from the sudden pressure change. The temperature dropped so fast I could see my breath.

Something was coming through. Something powerful enough to break the world just by arriving.

He stepped out of the tear in the sky.

Descended slowly like he was walking down invisible stairs. His black coat moved around him even though there was no wind. His skin was so pale it almost glowed.

And his eyes.

Blood red. Burning with an intensity that made me want to look away but I couldn't.

Theron Nightshade. The Vampire Lord.

I'd heard stories. Everyone had. He was older than kingdoms. More powerful than armies. Beautiful and terrifying in equal measure.

He landed on the ground without making a sound.

Every vampire still standing immediately dropped to their knees. Heads bowed. Like puppets whose strings had been cut.

Kaelen growled. The sound rumbled through the ground.

"This is pack territory, Nightshade."

Theron smiled. It wasn't a nice smile.

"Is it? I wasn't aware the Barrens belonged to anyone."

His gaze moved past Kaelen. Locked onto me.

"How very interesting."

My heart stopped.

Those red eyes pinned me in place. I felt something hook into my chest. Invisible. Pulling. Like he was trying to drag me toward him without touching me.

The sensation made me dizzy.

Made me want to move closer even though every instinct screamed at me to run.

I couldn't do either. I was trapped by his stare.

A rogue vampire lunged at me from the side.

I didn't even see it coming. But Kaelen did. He moved in a blur and intercepted the attack with a roar that shook my bones.

At the same moment, Theron moved.

Faster than Kaelen. Faster than anything should move.

They collided. Right over me.

Wolf king and vampire lord fighting while I crouched on the ground between them. I was the prey. The prize. The thing they were both trying to claim.

Kaelen's hand shot out and grabbed my left wrist.

The moment his skin touched mine, heat exploded up my arm. Not burning. Something else. Something that felt like power and wildness and storm all at once.

It poured into me through his grip and I gasped.

Theron's fingers wrapped around my right wrist at the same instant.

Cold flooded through me. Sharp. Intoxicating. The opposite of Kaelen's heat but just as overwhelming.

My body couldn't handle both sensations at once. I felt like I was being torn in two directions.

Then they both bit me.

Kaelen's fangs sank into my left shoulder. Theron's into my right.

The pain was immediate and blinding.

I screamed. The sound ripped out of my throat but I couldn't hear it over the roaring in my ears.

Something ignited inside my chest.

Like a spark catching on dry wood. Fire and ice racing through my veins at the same time.

The bite wounds blazed with light. Silver light from Kaelen's mark. Crimson from Theron's.

The light spread. Down my arms. Around my wrists.

Forming symbols that burned themselves into my skin.

On my left wrist, a wolf mid-leap. On my right, bat wings spread wide.

The marks were beautiful and terrible and they hurt so much I couldn't think.

I should be dead.

I knew that. Everyone knew that dual marks were impossible. One person couldn't be marked by two different fated mates. The magic would tear them apart instantly. Kill them in seconds.

But I wasn't dead.

I was burning.

Both marks pulsed with heat. With power. With something I didn't understand.

Through the pain, I felt them.

Kaelen and Theron. Not just physically. Their emotions poured into me through the marks.

Kaelen's shock and rage and fierce need to protect me. To claim me. To keep me.

Theron's cold fascination and hunger and satisfaction like he'd won something.

The crack in the sky widened.

The Unraveling. That's what people called it. The place where reality broke down. Where magic went wrong.

It spread across the darkness like shattering glass. Reaching down toward us with claws made of nothing.

The wolves scattered. Running.

The vampires threw themselves flat on the ground.

Even Kaelen and Theron pulled back from me. They stared. Both of them. Shock clear on their faces.

My vision blurred. Doubled.

The marks on my wrists pulsed so hot I thought my skin would catch fire. I tried to speak. Tried to ask what they'd done to me. Why I wasn't dead. What was happening.

But my mouth wouldn't form words.

Darkness crept in from the edges of my vision. Not the unconsciousness of sleep. Something deeper. Heavier.

Like I was sinking into deep water.

The last thing I heard was Theron's voice.

Soft. Almost gentle. Like he was standing right next to me even though he was several feet away.

"The twin-flame lives."

Three words that I didn't understand.

Three words that sounded like a promise. Or a threat.

Then the darkness swallowed me whole.

I fell. Into nothing. Into everything. Into a future I couldn't see but knew would never be the same.