Here is **Episode 8** — long, emotional, romantic, and intense, with plenty of tension and closeness but still safe.
---
# **✨ Episode 8 — *The Night the Moon Chose Them* ✨**
*(Lucian × Isha)*
The next evening, Isha arrived at the college courtyard earlier than usual.
Not because she had a class.
Not because she needed to meet anyone.
But because her heart refused to stay away from Lucian.
She told herself it was curiosity… a strange pull… the need for answers.
But deep inside, she knew it was something else—
**she missed him.**
The wind was colder that night. The trees swayed like shadows trying to whisper secrets. The entire campus felt unusually quiet, as though waiting for something… or someone.
Isha wrapped her shawl tightly around herself and sat on the stone bench.
Her fingers trembled—not from the cold, but from anticipation.
"Why am I like this?" she muttered.
"Why does he affect me so much…?"
The answer came in the form of a familiar voice:
"Because you're connected to me."
She gasped and turned.
Lucian was standing only a few feet away—dark clothes, silver eyes glowing faintly under the moonlight, hair stirring in the breeze like it carried its own storm.
He looked breathtaking.
Dangerous.
And… relieved.
"I didn't sense you," she whispered.
"That's because you weren't meant to."
His step was slow, almost hesitant.
"I didn't want to startle you."
But she *was* startled. Not by his sudden appearance—
By the softness in his voice.
He walked toward her with a gentleness she had never seen in him before. He seemed… uncertain. Careful. A little too careful.
And that scared her more than his power.
She swallowed. "Lucian… about yesterday… you suddenly left."
His jaw tightened. "I had to. If I stayed any longer… I would have crossed a line."
A shiver ran through her.
Not of fear—
of understanding exactly what he meant.
The memory flashed through her mind: his fingers over her birthmark, his breath brushing her skin, his eyes burning with a need he was fighting with everything he had.
She looked away, cheeks warming.
"I wasn't scared," she whispered.
He froze.
Slowly, he stepped closer until he stood right in front of her.
Close enough that she could hear his breath, feel the heat of his body despite the night's cold.
He raised a hand, hesitating for a moment—
as though giving her time to stop him.
She didn't.
His fingers gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
Her breath caught.
"Isha," he murmured, voice low and rough, "don't say things like that unless you understand what they mean to someone like me."
"I do," she whispered back.
Even though she wasn't entirely sure she did.
He closed his eyes for a moment.
"When you're near, I lose control."
"Then don't hold back."
Lucian's eyes flew open—startled, shaken.
"You don't know what you're asking," he said softly.
"Then explain it to me."
He took a slow breath and stepped even closer, leaving almost no distance between them.
"When vampires choose someone…"
His gaze dropped to her lips for the briefest second before returning to her eyes.
"…they don't let go. Ever."
Isha's heart pounded. "Are you saying you chose me?"
"I didn't choose you," he said, voice barely audible.
"The universe did."
Her breath stuttered.
He turned his gaze to her birthmark.
"That mark on your skin… it's not just a symbol. It's a binding. Ancient. Forbidden."
His thumb brushed the spot lightly through her clothes.
"It ties your soul to mine. Whether we like it or not."
Her knees weakened.
Lucian immediately steadied her, one arm circling her waist instinctively.
It wasn't planned.
It wasn't intentional.
But it pulled her flush against him.
She gasped quietly—his chest warm, solid, and far too close.
His hold tightened slightly, as if he didn't trust himself to let her go.
Their faces hovered inches apart.
Neither moved.
Neither breathed.
"If you want me to let you walk away…" he whispered, "…say it now."
Isha didn't say a word.
She just looked into his eyes—silver, stormy, filled with every emotion he tried to bury.
Lucian exhaled sharply, a sound filled with surrender he didn't want to admit.
Then—
A sudden gust of wind rushed through the courtyard.
The moonlight above them brightened unnaturally, glowing back at them like a spotlight.
Lucian stiffened.
His eyes widened.
"What is it?" she asked softly.
"The moon…" His voice was tight. "…it's recognizing the bond."
"What does that mean?"
He looked at her with an intensity that sent chills down her spine.
"It means, Isha…"
He lifted her chin gently.
"…from tonight, destiny begins its countdown."
She blinked. "Countdown to what?"
His lips curved into a sad, beautiful, dangerous half-smile.
"To the moment you decide whether you're going to stay human…"
He leaned closer—breath brushing her cheek, voice almost trembling with the truth.
"…or allow yourself to become mine forever."
Her heart stopped.
The world stilled.
Only his touch, his warmth, his nearness existed.
"Lucian…" she whispered.
But he suddenly stepped back—breaking the tension with obvious difficulty.
"We should stop," he said, voice strained.
"Why?" she breathed.
He stared at her like she was his entire universe.
"That's exactly why."
Before she could speak again, he vanished—
disappearing into the shadows with the speed only vampires possessed.
Leaving Isha standing in the moonlit silence, her heart racing, her soul trembling, and one undeniable truth sinking deep inside her:
**She wanted forever with him.
Even if she didn't fully understand what forever meant.**
---
**EPISODE 8 COMPLETE**