The Vampire's Luna
Chapter 35: John Legend - All of Me

Chapter 35: John Legend - All of Me

Luna swallowed, hard. Her eyes flicked between the two men.

Her heart pounded, her wolf howled inside her, and she realized that there was no way out of this. She was standing on a cliff, and whichever way she jumped, someone would fall.

But still, Damien held her hand.

And it felt like it might be the only thing keeping her from falling apart.

Luna stared hard at Damien, her eyes narrowing. Then, slowly, as though dragging her own truth out from under the weight of everything she’d been trying to suppress, she turned to Kyllian. Her lips trembled slightly before she spoke.

"I... I cannot help the bond," she began, almost whisper-soft. Her eyes flicked briefly to Damien, then back to Kyllian. "I thought I would hate the bond. I wanted to hate it. Goddess knows I tried to fight it, I threw everything at it. But I..." Her words stalled, and then she let out a breathy, bitter laugh. "I like him."

She gave a smile. It was crooked and resigned. "I like Damien. I know that I want him. I know that I want to be with him... even if I can’t. Even if I shouldn’t. When he’s not near me, I... I miss him. It’s like I can’t breathe."

Kyllian nodded slowly, the movement almost mechanical. His eyes burned with a hurt that no amount of blinking could hide. He didn’t interrupt her, didn’t rage or storm off or yell about betrayal. He just... absorbed it. fr\eewe.bn(o)v\el.c(o)m

Damien, for his part, didn’t say anything for a beat. Then he smiled gently, without the usual smugness, and squeezed Luna’s hands.

"Me too," he murmured. "Exactly that."

Then he tilted his head. "Now," he said, "I want you to look at me. Right here." He tapped his chest with two fingers. "And tell me how you feel about Kyllian. Honestly."

Luna’s brows pinched together. She seemed like she might cry. Or scream. Or laugh. Possibly all at once.

"I feel... at peace when I’m with him, joyful." she said. "I don’t have to think when he’s around. I don’t have to question myself or calculate my every move." She let out a chuckle, light and broken. "I have this... this innate urge to please him. To submit to him. Not because he demands it, but because it feels right."

Kyllian’s lips parted, the weight of her words visibly landing in his chest. "That... shouldn’t be possible," he murmured, barely above a whisper. His eyes shifted from Luna to Damien, wide with reluctant awe and acceptance.

Damien’s lips curled in satisfaction. His eyes twinkled.

"So you believe me now," he said, unable to keep a hint of triumph from his voice.

Kyllian sighed, long and heavy. "I believe we’re all doomed."

"Why?...Why can’t I like two hot men at the same time? People do it all the time."

She threw her hands in the air.

Kyllian watched her with brows furrowed. "It’s not the same with the mate bond," he said gently, trying to inject reason into a conversation that had long since veered into uncharted territory. "The mate bond doesn’t want to share. It doesn’t like competition. It’s instinctual, possessive." He sighed. "Yes, we have free will. Technically. But until the bond is severed, that feeling... it doesn’t just go away. It envelops everything. It becomes everything."

Luna froze mid-pace, her breath catching. "So... what are you saying?"

"That we’re both your mates," Damien answered before Kyllian could say a word.

Luna blinked at him. "Well, fuck me!" she exclaimed.

"Gladly," Damien said with an irreverent smirk.

Kyllian let out a low, warning growl that rumbled through the air. Damien just shrugged as if to say, What? She opened the door!

But Luna wasn’t paying attention to the testosterone-fueled death stares behind her. Her mind was spinning too fast.

"I mean... I do like you," Kyllian admitted. He stood slowly. "I’ve liked you since before you knew right from wrong. When you were still running around barefoot in the fields, daring the boys to race and beating every single one of them." A nostalgic smile tugged at his lips. "But I... I don’t feel the mate bond. Not the way I should."

Damien nodded, stepping closer. "That’s because your bond is the recessive one." fr eewe(b)nove.l.co\m

Kyllian turned sharply. "What?"

"It’s rare," Damien said. "But it happens. One dominant bond, the one you feel and one recessive bond, the one that hides beneath years of quiet affection."

Luna was blinking rapidly now. "How is that even possible? Is that a thing? Are you making this up?"

"I have a theory," Damien replied, folding his arms. "But I need more information before I can explain it."

"Great," Luna huffed, flopping dramatically into the nearest chair. "So what now?"

Damien cracked a smile. "Unfortunately... we do have a problem."

Luna’s head snapped up. "More than two mate bonds?"

"Yes...I spoke to a century-old sage about the situation...Luna cannot handle being mated to two."

"So?" Kyllian shot back, folding his arms tighter, as if bracing for impact. "What’s the bombshell this time?"

"She will die." Damien said it so simply that it took a moment to register.

"What?" Luna gasped, color draining from her face.

"I knew it!" Kyllian snapped. "I knew this was all a ruse to pressure her. You want her to choose you no matter what! You vampires...youalways have your damned schemes!"

Damien narrowed his eyes. "Will you stop being wolfy for one second and use your brain? This isn’t about you or me. This is about her dying. You think I’d make that up for the sake of my ego?"

"You absolutely would!" Kyllian barked.

Luna threw her head back with a loud, soul-deep groan. "Oh my goddess, please stop!" She pressed two fingers to her temple. "I... I need to think. I need air."

She didn’t wait for permission. She didn’t look at either of them. She just walked out of the castle.

"Luna..." Kyllian whispered, chest tightening.

He turned to Damien, eyes dark and wild. "God help me if you’re lying..."