Chapter 4
703words
A silver stake. That’s what it felt like. Right through the heart.
I staggered back a step, but pride—the ancient pride of a Vampire Lord—surged through me. I held my ground.
"Impossible! She was fine when I left. She can't be dead!" I roared.
"This has to be another one of her tricks. She's just trying to get my attention. I told you not to fall for her games."
My second-in-command flinched, his voice trembling under my fury.
"My Lord, her body is outside. We checked the mating mark... it's gone. Faded completely. It's really Lady Gracie."
A raw, guttural roar rose in my chest.
Red-hot panic blinded me.
I snatched the keys from his hand and was a crimson blur, blasting through the door.
"To the secret chamber! Now!"
My second didn't dare hesitate. He was right on my heels.
I moved at impossible speed, reaching the chamber in under a minute.
A crowd of blood thralls and clan members were gathered there.
I shoved them aside, my breath coming in ragged gasps. My Lord's aura erupted, a wave of pure terror that sent them scrambling out of my path.
"Gracie, if this is a lie," I snarled, "I swear I will turn you into my blood thrall myself. And I will lock you away forever."
But when I saw the body on the floor, my heart shattered.
The gaping void where our mating bond once sang was now a suffocating silence.
Lying on the floor, covered in blood, was a she-wolf.
It was Gracie.
Even with her face caked in gore, I knew her by that unique, wild scent that had once driven me mad.
My knees gave out. I collapsed.
In that single moment, the Vampire Lord in me shattered.
My trembling hands brushed the matted hair from her face. Strands I had once kissed, now stained with dried blood.
Images of her, curled up in my arms, flashed through my mind.
Her, with her swollen belly, asking me with hopeful eyes who our child would look like.
What did I say back then?
I think I just gave her a cold grunt. All I could think about was Isolde's child. The one the Ancestors would bless.
Now, this corpse was my final, mocking reward.
"Gracie! Wake up! Wake the hell up!" I screamed, my voice raw with desperation. "A cunning she-wolf like you... how could you just die?"
"You're faking it, aren't you? You just want me to care again. Fine. You win."
"I'll give you anything, just wake up. The gift of immortality... my throne... the entire clan... it's all yours. You can be the true lady of the manor. You can rule this clan!"
I shook her lifeless body. Nothing.
Not a single sign of life.
I finally broke.
I threw my head back. Tears of blood streamed down my face.
"Please, just wake up."
My second approached cautiously, his own heart aching at the sight.
"My Lord, let her go. Lady Gracie... she's gone."
A wave of raw power radiated from me. My eyes burned crimson.
"Get out! She's not dead! She has to be tricking me!"
A young blood thrall couldn't watch anymore, her eyes filled with sympathy.
"My Lord, Lady Gracie is truly… please, let her rest in peace."
Two vampires whispered nearby. "Childbirth is an ordeal," one said, her voice full of pity. "But to be locked in a frozen coffin while giving birth... Gods, the pain she must have endured."
My eyes were blood-red.
Numb, I lifted Gracie's body. I held her like she was the most precious thing in the world and walked stiffly out of the secret chamber.
My second stepped closer. "My Lord, it's too cold out here. We should take her to your chambers. Give her some dignity."
I just held my mate's body tighter, my protective instincts flaring.
He tried again, his voice softer.
"Lady Gracie has suffered enough. Don't let her be cold now."
Those words broke through. I looked down at my mate's lifeless face, my own a mask of pure agony.
Then, ignoring the deathly chill of her cold flesh seeping into my skin, I gently carried her back to my chambers.
