**EPISODE 13 — *The Night of Confessions and the Blood Oath***
The storm outside raged harder, lightning flashing across the windows as if the sky echoed everything happening inside Isha's chest.
Her lips were still tingling.
Her heartbeat still stumbling.
And Lucian—
Lucian stood in front of her with eyes glowing a molten red, torn between desire and fear.
He gently brushed a strand of hair from her face.
"Isha…" he murmured, voice barely steady.
"I should not have kissed you again."
She stepped closer.
"You didn't hear me complaining."
His breath caught.
Her fingers slid to his jaw, her touch soft, warm—dangerous.
Lucian's eyes fluttered closed for a second.
"Isha," he whispered, taking her hand gently but firmly, "you don't understand what this bond means."
"Then explain it," she demanded softly.
He exhaled slowly, as if each word cost something.
"When a vampire develops a connection to a human… it begins as a pull. A desire. A protective instinct."
He looked at her, eyes darkening.
"But once you return that feeling… the bond wakes completely. It ties us emotionally. Physically. Spiritually."
Her heart thudded, but she didn't step back.
"And that's bad because…?" she whispered.
Lucian lowered his head, his lips brushing her forehead—so gentle she almost didn't feel it.
"It means I would kill anyone who touches you."
That should have scared her.
It didn't.
"You already fought for me tonight," she reminded him.
He closed his eyes.
"Because Kael wanted to claim you."
"Claim me?" She frowned. "I'm not an object."
His jaw tightened.
"In vampire law… a blood-tethered human becomes—"
He hesitated.
"—their eternal companion."
Her breath stopped.
Eternal.
Companion.
Lucian looked away, ashamed.
"I didn't want this for you. You deserve a normal life. A human life. Not chains."
She held his face and forced him to look at her.
"You are not chains."
His eyes widened slightly.
"You're the only thing that's ever made me feel safe."
Lucian's expression softened—slowly, painfully—like he was allowing himself to believe her.
He whispered, "You shouldn't love a monster."
She whispered back, "Then stop being one."
That sentence broke him.
Completely.
He pulled her into his chest, his arms wrapping around her like he'd been starving for the touch.
Her hands slid across his back, feeling every tense muscle, every tremor.
Lucian lowered his head to her shoulder, breathing her in.
"You make me feel alive," he admitted, voice shaking.
"Alive in a way I haven't felt in centuries."
Her fingers stroked the back of his neck.
"Then don't push me away."
A beat of silence.
Then—
"I won't," he breathed.
---
# **JEALOUSY STRIKES AGAIN**
A sharp crash outside made them both flinch.
Lucian instantly moved in front of her, fangs extending, eyes glowing.
"Stay behind me."
The window rattled from the wind.
Isha grabbed his arm.
"You're hurt."
He glanced down—blood still trickled from the deep stab in his side Kael had left.
"I'll heal," he said quickly.
"Lucian, you're bleeding badly."
He turned his face away.
"I will heal."
"Not fast enough," she whispered.
Her voice was soft.
But he froze at the tone.
She stepped closer, pressing her palm over the wound.
Lucian sucked in a sharp breath—her warmth made him tremble.
"Isha…" he warned. "Don't."
"You fought for me," she said quietly. "Let me do something for you."
His eyes softened in conflict.
"Isha…
My blood can heal me quickly."
She blinked.
"You mean—"
"My blood inside your veins would bind you to me forever."
Her breath stilled.
He swallowed hard.
"That's why I refused. Because if you drink even a drop… I will never be able to leave you. And you will never break from me."
She stared up at him.
"Lucian… look at me."
He did.
Slowly.
"I don't want you to leave me," she whispered.
Lucian's eyes widened, pupils dilating in something between shock and longing.
"Don't say that unless you mean it," he whispered urgently.
"I mean every word."
His breath shook.
"Then you must know what you're choosing."
He held her face between his hands.
"Me. My world. My darkness. My immortality. My hunger."
He leaned closer, lips brushing hers.
"You choose me, you lose the life you know."
She whispered back,
"I'm not afraid of losing anything… if I have you."
Lucian let out a low, broken sound—a sound torn from a creature who had never been chosen before.
He rested his forehead against hers.
"Say it," he breathed.
"Say you want the bond."
"I want it," she whispered.
Lucian's restraint shattered.
---
# **THE BLOOD OATH**
He lifted his wrist slowly—trembling.
His skin glowed faintly, veins pulsing with crimson light.
"Isha… once you take this, your fate ties to mine."
She nodded.
He hesitated one last time.
Then he bit into his wrist—
sharp, swift, clean.
Isha gasped as the scent hit the air—dark, sweet, intoxicating.
Lucian's voice shook as he held his wrist to her lips.
"You can stop," he whispered.
"You still have time to change your mind."
But Isha didn't pull away.
She parted her lips.
And pressed them softly to his skin.
Lucian's entire body shuddered—
his breath hitched—
a groan escaped his throat, low and primal, as she drank a single warm drop of his immortal blood.
Her vision blurred.
Her heart exploded with heat.
Her hands gripped his waist as her knees weakened.
Lucian caught her instantly, holding her tightly as the bond ignited between them.
A burst of warmth spread from her lips to her chest.
Lucian gasped, gripping her tighter, his head dropping to her shoulder.
"Isha…"
His voice broke.
"You're mine."
Her pulse synced to his.
Their breaths aligned.
Heat coiled between them.
The bond locked.
Forever.
When she opened her eyes, he was staring at her, pupils blown wide, lips parted in awe and need.
Lucian whispered like a man worshipping:
"My mate."
---
**EPISODE 13 COMPLETE**