Avenging Luna
Chapter 159: Kissing My Vampire

Chapter 159: Kissing My Vampire

Leila POV

I had been standing in the garden, watching Ash play with Damon, trying to ignore the chaos swirling inside me. For once, the world felt normal. Ash’s laughter rang out through the air, and Damon, despite his usual disdain for children, was actually engaging with him, using his vampiric speed to make the boy squeal with joy. It was strange to watch. Damon, the brooding, mysterious, and seemingly emotionless vampire, reduced to nothing more than an overgrown kid himself.

I couldn’t help but smile as Ash begged Damon to "do it again" for the third time, his little face alight with wonder. Damon rolled his eyes but complied, zipping around him once more. The tension that had been building in my chest eased ever so slightly. For a few minutes, everything was right in the world.

But then, I felt a shift. A presence in the air. I turned, expecting to see something unremarkable, but my heart skipped a beat when I met Chase’s eyes. The moment we locked gazes, my smile faltered, and I saw the tension in his posture. His normally confident and relaxed demeanor had changed into something... darker, something harder.

"Leila, can we talk?" His voice was strained, and I knew immediately that something was wrong. My stomach churned, a sense of unease sweeping over me.

"What’s wrong?" I asked, instinctively feeling a shift in the air. The words came out faster than I could stop them, worry already creeping into my tone.

He didn’t answer, his gaze shifting to Damon, who had slowed down at the edge of the garden, looking like he could sense something was off too. Chase’s voice broke the air again, cutting through the tension. "Watch the kid," he commanded, his tone sharp. "And if anything happens to Ash, you’d better disappear to somewhere I’ll never find you."

My heart skipped a beat at the sudden shift in his words. It was rare for Chase to speak like that. He was always in control, always so level-headed. But right now, something was off.

I called out to Ash, trying to reassure him. "Be good. I’ll be right back," I said as Chase led me away, his grip on my arm firm but not unkind. His face was grim, his jaw tight with anger, and I couldn’t help but feel a knot tightening in my chest.

He led me to the nearest room, the door closing with a soft but definite click behind us. The finality of it all seemed to hang in the air. The moment felt charged, as if something heavy was about to break open. I couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever it was, it had been building up for some time now.

I turned to him, trying to read his expression. "What’s wrong with you?" I asked, the words sharp and automatic. I didn’t want to sound angry, but I felt this gnawing sense of confusion. I couldn’t make sense of it. The man I knew was gone, replaced by someone I didn’t quite recognize.

Instead of answering, he stepped forward. His arms wrapped around me with a sudden intensity that caught me off guard. My body tensed, but I didn’t push him away. The warmth of his embrace was comforting, but there was an underlying storm beneath it that unsettled me.

"Chase," I murmured, my voice small as I pressed my hands against his chest. "You’re scaring me."

I felt his arms tighten around me, and despite the confusion swirling inside me, I didn’t pull away. There was something in his embrace that made me feel safe, despite the unease that still lingered. His scent, familiar and comforting, washed over me, grounding me in a way that nothing else could. But there was a darker edge to it, an undercurrent of something raw, something angry.

"I need to talk to you," he finally spoke, his voice thick with emotion.

"Then talk," I said, still trying to keep the worry from seeping into my voice. But it was hard to ignore the heaviness in the air. Whatever it was, it wasn’t something small. I could feel it—the way the room seemed to close in around us, the way my pulse was quickening in response to his tension.

He hesitated for a long moment, and I could see the struggle in his eyes. The weight of what he was about to say hung heavy between us. I waited, but each passing second made me more and more anxious.

Finally, he spoke, the words like a knife slicing through the air. "I found out about your past."

I froze. My body stiffened in his arms. The room seemed to tilt, and my breath caught in my throat as shock and disbelief flooded my mind. What was he talking about? How? How could he have possibly—?

"What did you say?" I whispered, barely able to get the words out.

"I looked into your history," he continued, his voice steady but low. "I needed to understand. I needed to know what made you who you are. I needed to know how to help you."

The words hit me like a slap, and I pulled away from him, stepping back, my heart pounding in my chest. The anger flared up in me before I could control it. My mind raced as I tried to process what he had just said. "Why would you do that?" I demanded, my voice rising. "You had no right, Chase!"

"I know," he said quickly, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender. "I know I had no right. But I couldn’t stand seeing you carry all that pain, all that weight alone. I wanted to understand you better. I needed to."

My chest tightened, the air suddenly feeling thin, as if the walls were closing in. I shook my head, the sharpness of his words cutting through me. He had gone behind my back, digging into things I had buried for years. Things I had fought so hard to forget.

I crossed my arms defensively, my heart racing with anger and hurt. "You shouldn’t have done that. You shouldn’t have gone digging into my past. I didn’t want you to know, Chase. I didn’t want anyone to know."

The words tasted bitter in my mouth. The thought of him knowing everything—everything that had shaped me, everything that had scarred me—made my stomach churn. I felt exposed, vulnerable in a way that made me want to run, to hide. But there was nowhere to run, not when he was standing in front of me, his eyes dark with something I couldn’t quite read.

"What did you find?" I asked, my voice quiet, even though I didn’t want to know the answer. The words felt like a confession, a surrender.

"Everything," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "The Moonshine Pack. The Blood Moon Pack. Vanvil. Drake."

At the mention of his name, my whole body went cold. I felt the air leave my lungs, my legs going weak beneath me. I couldn’t breathe. I hadn’t heard that name in so long. And now, hearing it from Chase’s lips—it felt like the world had just turned upside down.

I stepped back, my hands shaking. "No," I whispered. "You don’t understand."

But he stepped forward, his eyes burning with conviction. "What they did to you, Leila, it was unforgivable. I can’t let it go. I won’t let it go."

I shook my head. "Chase, you don’t get it," I said, my voice trembling. "If you do this, you’ll be starting a war. And for what? Revenge? You can’t just go after them."

But he wasn’t listening. He was already too far gone, and there was nothing I could do to stop him.

"I’m going to make them pay," he said, his words cold and final. "Every single one of them. Anyone who laid a hand on you, anyone who stood by and let it happen—they’re going to pay."

I stared at him, my heart breaking. The anger in his eyes was enough to make me feel as though I was standing in front of a storm that was about to explode. I wanted to stop him. I wanted to tell him to let it go, to walk away from it all. But I knew, deep down, that I couldn’t.

"You can’t do this," I said, my voice breaking. "You can’t—"

"I can," he interrupted, his voice steady, his jaw clenched in determination. "And I will."

For a long moment, we stood in silence, the weight of his words hanging heavily between us. I could feel the world shifting around us, the tension building until it seemed like the entire universe was holding its breath.

"I want justice," he said, his voice lower now. "For you. For everything they took from you. For every scar they left on you, physically and mentally. And I’ll burn the whole damn world down if that’s what it takes to make sure you never have to carry this burden again."

Tears filled my eyes, and I felt them slip down my cheeks. I wanted to tell him to stop. I wanted to tell him that this wasn’t the way. But my heart—my heart wanted the same thing. My heart wanted revenge. I wanted them to pay for what they had done to me. For everything they had stolen from me.

I took a deep breath, wiping away my tears. "Do what you have to do," I whispered, my voice steady. "Just... make sure Ash is safe. He’s all I care about."

And just like that, something inside me seemed to shift. A weight lifted off my shoulders, and for the first time in my life, I didn’t feel like I was carrying my past alone. Chase was here. He was with me. And I realized, in that moment, that he wasn’t just doing this for revenge—he was doing it for me. For us.

I looked at him then, my heart pounding in my chest. There was something in his eyes—something I had never seen before. Something raw, something deep. And as the air between us grew thick with an intensity that neither of us could deny, I stepped closer to him.

I didn’t say anything. I didn’t need to. All the words, all the emotions swirling in my chest, they were there in the way our gazes locked. And before either of us could speak, before either of us could stop it, I leaned forward and kissed him.

The kiss was hesitant at first, like two people testing the waters, unsure of what to expect. But then, it deepened. I could feel the intensity, the raw emotion, the desperation in every touch, every movement. I felt like I was finally home, like I had found something I hadn’t realized I’d been searching for.

When we pulled apart, both of us breathless, I couldn’t help but smile. "That was..." I started, but my words faded away.

"Incredible," he finished for me, a small smirk tugging at his lips.

I laughed softly, my heart still racing. "Yeah."

He reached out, brushing a strand of hair from my face, his fingers lingering on my skin. "I’ve wanted to do that since the moment I met you."

I raised an eyebrow, teasing him. "Took you long enough."

"I was waiting for the right moment," he said with a grin.

"And this was it?" I asked, a playful smile breaking through my own guarded expression.

"This was perfect," he said, his voice low, sincere.

I smiled, and for the first time, I felt the weight of the world lift off my shoulders. I was no longer alone. Chase was with me, and he was ready to fight for me, no matter the cost.

For the first time in my life, I felt like I could truly begin again.