Page 3 of Vampire Bite

Chapter Two

Lucas

The world snapped into focus like a jagged, broken mirror. Fragments of pain and hunger shifted back into place. Although my eyes were used to this, darkness draped the streets, heavy and resolute, pierced only by thin shafts of hazy light from the streetlamps. The fog hung low, gripping at your ankles, curling over the cobblestone like it wanted to swallow the whole town and you with it.

And then, I saw her.

She was sprawled beside me in the filth of the alley. I didn’t recognize her face. I’d never seen her before. It was slack and ashen, her pulse faint and fragile.

But even in the shadows, even in the muck, she was stunning. I could feel her blood thrumming inside of me, through me… warm, potent, like wildfire searing through my veins. The ache of it twisted through me, a fierce heat that clawed from my chest to every raw corner of my soul. Her blood pulled me back from the edge, stitching me back together when I was lost.

I wanted her. It was primal and undeniable, and there was no sense lying to myself about it. The memory of her wrist pressed to my mouth—skin yielding, warmth spilling from her veins to mine—burned in me, fresh and vivid.

But she was defenseless. She’d given herself to save me, and it wasn’t her vulnerability that held me back, but something sharper, something stronger. She wasn’t prey, she was... she was something I hadn’t found the words for yet. Not someone to consume, but someone to protect.

I slipped an arm under her shoulders and the other beneath her knees, lifting her up carefully. Her head lolled against my shoulder, her breaths soft, her heartbeat weak but steady against my chest. Her scent lingered in the air around us—a hint of warmth, of life, of something achingly familiar.

I pressed her to me, as though holding her close might somehow return the strength she’d poured into me. It was dangerous, how much she tempted me, but I couldn’t afford to let that thought linger. The thought of leaving her here for someone else made my insides burn with jealousy.

Never.

Every step through the alley was calculated, silent. I knew these streets as well as any predator knew his hunting ground, but tonight, the roles were reversed. I was not the hunter. I was her protector.

The fog was thick, muffling sound, swallowing up the few distant figures that haunted the night. Shadows shifted, stretching out as I moved beneath the cover of buildings, threading my way through the labyrinthine backstreets. My instincts, honed by centuries, flared at each flicker of movement in the dark, every shift in the heavy, stifling air. But I kept her close, my focus a narrow beam, fixed on my one purpose: getting her somewhere safe, somewhere she could breathe easily again.

Her life was fragile, her skin too soft, her pulse too weak. And yet… she had taken my darkness and held it like it was nothing. She had stared into the blackened pit of me and chosen to pull me back.

She had saved me. And now, I will save her.

The streets felt like a maze of shadows and silence as I moved through them, cradling her against my chest. The cold air bit into my skin, but I kept moving, every step measured, every sense sharpened. Her weight was barely a whisper in my arms, her head tucked against me as if she belonged there.

I wondered about her name. A million names came to mind, but none of them sounded right.

Then, I heard them.

Footsteps, soft but purposeful, scuffing against the cobblestones somewhere nearby. My body went taut, the instinct to protect her surging forward with brutal clarity. Shifters. Their scents hit me a moment later—animalistic, earthy, dangerous. They were close, too close.

My mind flashed through options, already plotting every way this might go wrong. I knew the scent of blood on me would draw them like moths to a flame. They’d sense her heartbeat, however faint, and they wouldn’t hesitate to tear through us both. It was what they did best.

I flattened myself against the cold stone of a nearby wall, holding her even tighter against my chest. If they saw us, there would be no avoiding it—I’d have to fight, and they would come at me with everything they had. With her in my arms, it would be nearly impossible. I tightened my hold on her, and the thought struck like a knife. I’d risk death if it meant giving her even a sliver of a chance to live.

Their footsteps grew louder, pausing just beyond the corner. I clenched my jaw, steadying my breath. I could feel the fierce pull toward her, a force that dug into me like claws, rooting me to this moment. She was everything, and I would bleed for her without hesitation.

But then, slowly, their footsteps receded. The tension in the air lifted, and they moved along, continuing down the fog-shrouded street.

Only when I could no longer hear them did I allow myself to breathe again. I glanced down at her, my fingers brushing the stray strands of hair from her face, and let a quiet sigh escape. She had saved me, and I would keep saving her until my lastbreath if that’s what it took. I would be her shield, her weapon, her shadow in the night.

I waited for a few moments longer, then the low murmur of voices reached me, drifting through the dense fog. I stilled, every nerve on edge.

“She’s new,” one of the shifters was saying, his tone gruff and mocking. “Some human from out of town, here to poke her nose in business that doesn’t belong to her. But we can make it her business… boy can we!”

A low chuckle followed, sharp and twisted, like nails scraping across stone. “Think we should introduce her to the others? I hear the army could use fresh blood. She might even be strong enough to handle the Turning.” His voice dripped with a sick sort of pleasure.

A muscle in my jaw tightened. They were talking about her. I had no doubt. Her scent was already imprinted in my memory, laced with that fierce, unmistakable spirit. She hadn’t come here just to be another lost soul, and yet, that was exactly what they wanted for her. Just another body to chain, another soul to drain, bending her to their will until she was nothing but a puppet.

Anger flared in me, sharp and hot. They had no idea who she was. She was more than prey, more than some weapon for their filthy cause. She had her own mind, her own strength—strength she’d proven the moment she’d offered me her blood.

My fingers tightened around her, holding her closer as I stayed silent, listening, fighting the urge to tear into them. The alley was too open, too dangerous. Even with all my strength, I knew I couldn’t face all of them here, not with her to protect. I forced myself to breathe, to hold steady, tamping down the fire that raged within me.

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