Aurora POV**
My eyes slowly opened, a sharp pain lingered in my head.
"Well that was quick." Taylor murmured.
"What happened?"
She didn't reply, her eyes already did. Sending me a message words couldn't. What have fucked up?
"What did I…"
Immediately my mind went straight to the silver hair pure blood.
The wine.
That glare.
Their silence.
I gasped.
What have you done Aurora?
"That's Brandon Anderson." Taylor muttered.
My eyes widened, glancing at her.
"What?" I asked.
"The Brandon Anderson?"
Taylor nodded slowly,The cold blooded hunter sent to hunt the rogue Dean Hale.
"I'm doomed Taylor."
My hands ran through my hair frustratingly.
"Relax, you're still alive right?"
Yeah. I'm still breathing. What if he had other plans?
The doors swung open, our head witch stormed in.
"You insolent child, do you realize what you've done?" Her eyes blazed with anger.
"Your parents swore you wouldn't be of any trouble to me and on the first night here you've managed to prove them wrong." Her voice,sharp and precise.
Her eyes went to Taylor and then to me.
She glanced back at Taylor again.
"Less than an hour with you and she's already facing true blood hunters."
Taylor crossed her arms and leaned on the wall.
She looked down at me again,
"Get up…you will face your punishment."
I jumped off the bed and slowly tiptoed behind her back.
The moment I stepped outside everyone turned their gazes to me.
Their stares made me shiver in shame,I kept my head low and wished the floor could open up for me.
So much for not wanting to be noticed, nice try Aurora.
The head witch paused, I almost bumped into her.
What did she stop?
"You might want to look up." Taylor whispered.
I slowly raised my head, my jaw almost dropped.
The hunter.
My eyes locked on with his and he was headed straight for us, my heart beat rapidly increased,my legs were trembling.
He's here again? Why is he here again? I swallowed deep, tightly squeezing my gown.
Then he stopped. Staring down at me. His blue eyes fixed down on me like a predator who just caught his prey.
"Lord Brandon, are you alright?" Our head witch asked.
He kept silent.
"I sincerely apologize on her behalf."
"The girl is to be my spell bond witch partner."
My jaw dropped, my ears must have heard wrong.
"But my lord…" He silenced her with a finger.
I held my breath. I couldn't help it, his presence seized my breath.
They always say true blood hunters don't need partners, I am no use to him.
There's only one thing he could only want, his personal whore.
Oh God. No.
I'm too good to be someone's means of pleasure.
"With me." He ordered.
My stomach dropped in dread at those words, I looked at our commander but she stood there frozen. Fear etched in her eyes.
She would willingly give me up without a fuse?
They all watched, some with pity while others watched with delight.
Then he paused, like he'd sensed something.
"Do you feel that?" He murmured.
The temperature dropped.The chill bit into my skin, sinking into my bones.
The windows froze.
"That's not right." He whispered.
"He's here."
The moment those words left his lips,a force blew me away. My body collided hard with the wall.
My body screamed in terrifying pain, the hall erupted into screams and chaos. I slowly lifted my head.
Then I locked eyes with it…
A creature, its eyes black as night.
With teeth sharp as knives,drools forming out from its mouth.
It came pacing towards me.
My heart froze,my head went blank. I watched as my end drew near.
So this is it. This is how I die?
Get up Aurora. Fight you silly girl. Fight!
But my body did the opposite, my eyes went shut,I heard its roar. Then a whimper and a humane groan. Something warm spilled on my face.
"What the hell are you doing?" I opened my eyes, it was Brandon. And I was bathed in the blood of the creature.
He pulled me up.
"Go into the woods…Now!" He gritted out.
Everything rushed back.My body trembled. My breath shook.
The screams.Roars and cries.
I stumbled through the trees, lungs on fire, my heartbeat hammering so loud it drowned out the chaos I'd left behind. Branches whipped against my arms, roots clawed at my ankles, but I didn't dare slow down. Not when death itself was tearing through the forest behind me.
Then—snap.
The sharp crack of a twig froze me mid-stride. My breath stilled in my throat. Slowly, I turned my head, every nerve screaming that something was watching.
The shadows thickened. The air grew colder, heavy, pressing down like invisible fingers curling around my neck. And then he stepped out.
Dean.
The moonlight caught his face and my stomach dropped. I knew that face—every whispered warning, every dark story that sounded too monstrous to be true. He wasn't supposed to be real. And yet here he was, standing a few paces away, smiling like a wolf that had finally cornered its prey.
"You…you're him," I whispered, my voice cracking as the words barely clawed their way out of my throat.
"Dean."
His grin widened, teeth catching the light like knives.
"Wow, darling.You've heard of me. Fantastic." His tone was smooth, playful almost, but there was rot in it—like silk wrapped around poison.
My body screamed at me to run, but my legs refused. Every instinct was locked between bolting and collapsing.
"Don't worry," he said, raising his crossbow, the arrow glinting wickedly in the moonlight. "I won't kill you. Yet. I like keeping young witches around. You're… entertaining."
The smile he wore was worse than the weapon. He wasn't bluffing—he meant it. He'd cage me, bleed me, tear pieces off me just to watch me squirm.
I opened my mouth, but all that came out was a ragged gasp. He pulled the string back. The arrow sang.
And then—impact.
A strangled groan ripped through the night as the arrow didn't hit me—it buried itself into a hand. Brandon's hand. He'd stepped between us.
My heart lurched, relief colliding with shock as I watched him snap the shaft in two, his blood spilling hot and dark.
"Dean." His voice was a low growl, fury burning through every syllable.
"Hello, brother." Dean's mockery dripped like venom.
Brother.
The word knocked the breath from me harder than the sprint had. My eyes snapped between them, the same angles of their jaws, the same shadows in their gazes—except Brandon's intensity was a storm barely held together, and Dean's was pure madness cloaked in charm.
I wanted to move, to do something, but all I could do was clutch my chest, fighting the thundering panic rising inside me. My fear made me small, but not blind. Brandon's stance was different—tighter, heavier. His dagger slid free, silver catching the faint light, his entire body coiled like he'd been waiting years for this moment.