The Vampire's Luna
Chapter 106: Bruce Springsteen and Barry White - Secret Garden

Chapter 106: Bruce Springsteen and Barry White - Secret Garden

"You didn’t tell her... why?"

Damien exhaled, long and low. "I don’t want her pity," he said finally. "I don’t want her to be with me out of obligation. I want her to love me. To see me. Me. I hoped that if she did... if she really saw me and still chose me... it would make dying worth it."

His throat worked around the knot forming there. "I’ve done all I can for her," he added. "Now I just have to do what I can for my people."

He bowed stiffly and turned to leave.

Lucivar watched him go, a hundred thoughts scrambling through his mind but none with enough strength to stop his son’s retreat. The great double doors closed behind Damien with a dull thud

If Damien died without an heir... there would be chaos. The Blood City, already fragile from centuries of political fractures, would fall into uncertainty. Civil unrest, power struggles, rebellion.

And even if—if—Luna bore his child, the realm would oppose a hybrid heir?

And then, there was Gabriel.

Oh, Gabriel would be dancing with delight. That smug, serpentine bastard had always craved the crown. The second son with too much ambition.

Lucivar looked toward the doorway where Damien had vanished and closed his eyes. f\ree webn ovel(.)com

"Morvakar," he growled under his breath. "If you wanted me to suffer, congratulations. You’ve done a splendid job."

*****

"So the king says you have to get married," Talon said as he leaned against the railing of the training yard, twirling a dagger between his fingers.

Kyllian stood beside him, arms crossed, gaze fixed on the horizon. "To take the throne after him," he muttered. "I need the throne for one thing and one thing only. To bring the princess back."

"Alpha... does she even want to be brought back? She is mated to the vampire prince. Nothing you can do about that."

"It doesn’t bother you?" he growled, turning to face his friend. "That our princess is banished from us? For what? For a pale bloodsucker?"

Talon smirked despite himself. "Your jealousy is showing, Alpha."

Kyllian scowled. "This has nothing to do with jealousy."

"Oh?" Talon raised a brow. "You always cared only about her happiness, Alpha," Talon pressed more gently now.

"There is no way she is happy away from her people," Kyllian insisted. "A wolf without a pack... that’s not living. That’s surviving."

Talon nodded thoughtfully, the dagger still spinning. "Maybe talk to her. You can’t save someone who doesn’t want to be saved. And besides... taking the vampire prince’s mate?" He let out a low whistle. "That’s another war."

Kyllian sighed, long and low. It was the sigh of a man who’d made up his mind and knew he’d be fighting everyone along the way. "I’m going to save the princess," he said, steel woven through every word. "End of story."

*****

Seliora had waited for Prince Damien all night. All. Night.

"Milady, shall I announce—"

She silenced the guard with a mere flick of her wrist. Seliora didn’t even glance at him. The energy radiating off her was enough to curl shadows back into corners.

She swept into the castle.

The living room was dimly lit, the heavy curtains still drawn despite the dawn. And there, sprawled on the couch in a heap of self-pity, was Damien.

Seliora stood at the threshold for a full ten seconds, soaking in the mess of him—the disheveled hair, the untouched glass of bloodwine, the blanket clinging to one ankle.

He looked up, eyes bloodshot and hollow. "Seliora," he croaked.

"Oh, now you remember my name."

Damien rubbed his face. "It’s been... a rough night." .com

"Oh, I can see that," she snapped. "Is that supposed to excuse the fact that you left me waiting like a fool?"

Damien winced. "I’m sorry. Truly."

"I waited all night!" Seliora shouted. Her cheeks were flushed from the sting of heartbreak that she could no longer keep hidden. "Do you have to humiliate me like this?"

"I forgot. I... I’m sorry."

"That’s it?...Do me the courtesy of not insulting me! I know I’m expendable now, I know I’m not the one branded into your soul, but you cannot disrespect me like this."

Each word felt like it took flesh from his bones. Seliora, the woman who had waited in the cold, who had given him her warmth and loyalty—and all he gave in return was the echo of someone else’s name.

He rose, slowly. "Seliora..." he began.

"All I want is a baby!" she cried. "I’m not asking you for love or anything else. I’m not trying to be her, I’m not trying to take her place—I just... I want someone to love me back. Even if it’s not you, I want someone that’s mine."

Damien’s chest tightened. He could see it now—the fierce dignity in her eyes warred against the trembling vulnerability in her voice. The pain of being second. Of giving everything and being treated like a footnote.

He stepped forward.

"Seliora..."

She met his gaze. "Don’t pity me," she whispered.

"I’m not. I’m ashamed of how I treated you."

Then, without another word, he closed the final distance between them and kissed her—hard.

Seliora responded instantly. Her hands fisted into his shirt, dragging him closer with a gasp against his lips.

The kiss deepened. There was hunger in it, and sorrow, and apology.

Damien’s hands framed her face. Her lips, the line of her jaw, the trembling beneath her skin.

There were no more harsh words. Just tangled limbs, fastened buttons ripped loose, and the slow, inevitable surrender to shared loneliness.

And later, when the fire had dulled and the silence settled over them, Seliora lay beside him on the floor with her back to his chest, and Damien rested his forehead against her shoulder.

And Seliora prayed...prayed that this would be it. She prayed that she wouldn’t have to beg for him anymore.

*****

If Luna was being sincere with herself, then yes, she already missed Damien. She didn’t like how they had parted: his heartbreak wrapped in quiet fury. It wasn’t how it was supposed to be. Not after everything they’d survived together. She sighed, fingers grazing the faint imprint on her neck.