Page 109 of Bite The Terror That Feeds

My eyes stayed on the fire.

“Look at me.”

The power in his voice triggered my obedience.

“It’s time.”

I shook my head. “Please don’t ask me…”

His expression remained hard with disappointment. “There’s no other option, sweetheart.”

“You’re asking me to forsake my immortal soul—”

“I’m asking you to spend eternity with me.”

“What if we break up—”

“Don’t insult us,” he snapped.

“You might grow tired of me—”

“Don’t insult me.” He stepped forward. “You think I’d ask you this if I wasn’t prepared to marry you? To make you the Queen of Vampires, Lady of Darkness?”

I looked away again.

“You can’t run away from this.”

My stare returned. “It’s not the way—”

“Says who? I will prove to you that the Ethereal are self-serving liars.”

“Even if they are, it’s not the natural way.”

“That’s bullshit—”

“I want children,” I said. “You can’t give them to me.”

His expression didn’t change, but a surge of pain moved through his chest. “You don’t need children if you have me. I will be enough for you.”

“I want my own family—”

“And I will be your family.” Now he came closer.

“You don’t understand…”

He cocked his head slightly.

“I don’t have parents. I don’t have siblings. I’m literally all alone. And you have three brothers who adore you…”

His stare hardened, his eyebrows furrowed. “My brothers will be your brothers, sweetheart.”

“It’s not the same—”

“They will love you like their own, I promise you. And one day, they’ll have wives of their own—and I’ll love them and protect them like my own blood. Our family will grow, just in a different way.”

His words touched my heart, painted a life that a part of me wanted. “It’s an irreversible decision.”

He was quiet.

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