The Vampire King's Possession
Chapter 701. Fear Into Spite

Chapter 701: 701. Fear Into Spite

Jael held Mauve in his arms. She had a locked grip around his neck with her face pressed up against him. She had just woken up, and he was letting her hang onto him as tightly as she wanted, even though she obstructed his airflow. But he didn’t need to breathe—not when she was like this, and he was to blame for it.

When Louis had told him of his plan to give Seraphino the illusion that he could easily access Mauve and see what would happen, so they would have a good enough reason to kick him out, Jael had immediately shut it down. He didn’t even want to hear it, but Louis had pressed, assuring him they would protect Mauve in time. However, Jael didn’t like the idea of letting her revisit the horror.

He hadn’t accepted, but somehow the situation presented itself that Mauve couldn’t make it to the last meal. When Louis brought it up again, Jael grudgingly accepted—only because he didn’t think Seraphino would actually do it. He didn’t think the Lord was that spiteful and foolish. Mauve was his mate now; regardless of whether or not she was human, she was walking around with his mark. She was not to be touched by anyone else but him. No one understood that better than a vampire.

The instant Seraphino had excused himself halfway through the last meal, Jael had known. He had locked eyes with Louis, and they had left the table after him. Jael had instinctively taken the table knife with him.

Unfortunately, he had not been fast, as they did not want Seraphino to know he was being followed. Jael thought the guard in front of Mauve’s room would slow Seraphino down. He wanted to catch Seraphino red-handed but not put Mauve in danger. The horror he felt when there was no guard in front of her room had Jael flying up the stairs, straight to her room, where he met the scene of Seraphino strangling his mate.

It had taken everything in him not to break Seraphino’s neck instead. Seeing him walk out of the doors with just a bleeding neck had caused Jael so much pain that his vision blurred.

Mauve sniffed, pulling him out of his memories. She slowly pulled away from him, wiping at her face. She was no longer crying and, by her scent, no longer terrified.

"I am sorry," Jael said and placed his forehead against hers.

Mauve smiled sadly. "Don’t be. This is not your fault," she replied.

The sad way she spoke broke Jael into a million pieces. "Actually, it is," he whispered. "This is completely my fault."

Mauve stiffened slightly, pulling away from him to get a proper look at his face. "What are you talking about?" she asked softly, her voice still raspy from all the crying. "You didn’t know Seraphino would—"

"I did," Jael interrupted, his voice thick with regret. "Or at least, I should have." He closed his eyes, inhaling deeply before continuing. "Louis suggested a plan, one I should’ve shut down more firmly. I thought... I thought we could handle it, that it wouldn’t escalate like this. But I miscalculated, and you paid the price for my mishap."

Her brows furrowed, confusion splayed across her features along with an emotion Jael wasn’t used to seeing. "You let him near me on purpose?"

Jael flinched at the accusation, his grip on her arms loosening slightly. "Not like that. I didn’t want him to hurt you. I thought..." He exhaled sharply, shaking his head. "I thought his arrogance would stop him before he did something so reckless. But I underestimated his callousness. I shouldn’t have taken that risk."

Mauve stared at Jael in disbelief, a rush of anger rising in her chest. "You put me in harm’s way to test a theory."

It was hard for Mauve to explain how she felt in words. She could clearly remember the fear she had felt at the sight of Seraphino in her room while she was all alone. It had been so crushing that all she could do was sit frozen until he got to where she was. She had thought no one would get to her in time, and here was Jael telling her it was all part of his grand plan with Louis.

Mauve wasn’t angry about the plan; she was willing to do anything to help Jael make headway with the Lords. What she found completely unacceptable was being left out of it. If Jael had told her, she wouldn’t have felt that crushing fear she did.

"No! I didn’t—"

"It is fine," Mauve cut in and got off his legs. "Next time, it would be nice for you to give me a little heads-up. It would have definitely helped a lot."

"Mauve," Jael called, and she shot him a look that killed whatever else he wanted to say. "I am going to sleep," she said and climbed into the bed, making sure to sleep at the very edge.

"Mauve, won’t you eat—"

"Tell Mill not to bother. I am sure I don’t have the appetite." She pulled the blanket over her shoulders and shut her eyes.

Mauve knew she wasn’t going to get much sleep, but she would try her hardest. She really didn’t want to speak to Jael right now, she didn’t even want to look at his face. She would have gone to her room, but that was where all the horrors were.

She knew Jael didn’t mean for this to happen. She had seen the hurt look on his face; it was like she had slapped him. However, she couldn’t be sympathetic. He should have told her. As always, things played out like this. It was like Jael did not trust her to be able to handle it, and she couldn’t blame him—he had seen her crumble in front of the Lords a little too much.

Danag was right. If even her husband didn’t think she was capable, how much more the Lords? They all treated her like she wasn’t there, and made decisions for her without caring for her input. She was going to keep getting put down if she didn’t act differently.

She had to turn her fear into spite, she couldn’t let this break her. Most importantly, she couldn’t show the lords her weakness. She had to show that this little human could bite.