Did I hear that right?
As if becoming a vampire wasn't enough, had I become Valen's slave, too? Just the thought made me shudder.
I furrowed my brows.
Was that why I was drawn to his blood? But Arkan's blood tempted me just as much. Unable to resist, I licked my lower lip. I could still taste it.
For a moment, my eyes met Soren's questioning gaze. He must have noticed me licking my lips, because his gaze slowly shifted to one of disgust, and he quickly turned his head away.
Maybe coming here had been a mistake. And once again, I had nowhere else to go. It was as if I kept ending up right back where I started. I was that lonely… little girl all over again.
Maybe that was why my parents had abandoned me. I didn't belong anywhere. I was a hybrid. And now, I was a slave to some Dracula.
I gave a frustrated smile.
Was all of this really happening?
"Kayra."
I turned toward Arkan as soon as I heard his voice.
"Why are you crying?" he continued.
Was I crying?
The black smoke was floating right beside Arkan. It was as if it were watching me, too. Of course, I couldn't know for sure if that was really the case, but that was how it felt.
"Don't… don't worry, Luna," Soren said.
I turned my gaze toward him.
"If necessary, we'll capture the Vampire King and take his blood. We might even be able to stockpile some," he said with a smile.
I couldn't help smiling at the ridiculous idea.
As the black smoke began circling around me, I turned back to Arkan.
"Arkan," I said. "Where is Kongar's body?"
The concern in Arkan's eyes slowly faded. Then he furrowed his brows.
"Why?" he asked. "Don't you want to get rid of him?"
Did I want to get rid of Kongar?
Honestly, I wasn't sure. I couldn't fully trust Kongar, but I didn't want to be without him, either. Especially not now.
"If I need Valen's blood, then I need Kongar, too," I said. "Valen can't hurt him under any circumstances."
"What if Kongar hurts you?" Arkan asked, gritting his teeth on the last few words.
I shrugged.
"I've already been hurt enough."
Arkan froze at my words. He stared at me expressionlessly for a while. Then he lowered his head.
"You're right," he said. "I failed. I couldn't protect you."
Where had that come from?
"That's nonsense," I said immediately. "You did everything you could."
Then I walked over to hug him. But Arkan stepped back. My heart ached.
"Alpha," Soren said quietly.
"We took his body to cold storage," Arkan said. Then he turned to Soren. "Go get it."
Once Soren left, the room fell silent. Arkan lifted the leather armchair from the floor and set it back in place, then sat down. I, meanwhile, looked around, unsure of what to do.
Meanwhile, the black smoke—Kongar's soul—was circling around Arkan. It kept lunging at him as if trying to enter his body, but each time, it passed straight through him and came out the other side. I supposed he could only enter my body. As always, I was the lucky one. I smiled wryly at the thought.
My smile faded when my stomach growled. What kind of vampire had a growling stomach?
Well, what else could you expect from a hybrid?
"Kayra."
When I looked at Arkan, I saw that he had rolled up the sleeve of his white shirt to his elbow. Then he held his arm out toward me.
"Come," he said. "Feed."
My eyes immediately locked onto his wrist. Unable to stop myself, I hurried over to Arkan and sat in his lap.
Arkan looked at me in surprise.
Hadn't he told me to come?
Without hesitation, I grabbed his arm and sank my teeth into his wrist. Arkan tensed at the bite, then let out a sound somewhere between a purr and a growl.
Arkan tasted incredible.
As I drank his blood, Arkan tried to adjust his position in the armchair. He was careful not to touch me as he did so.
Even though I was sitting in his lap.
While I drank Arkan's blood, the black smoke didn't move from its spot for even a moment. It hovered in the air directly in front of me.
"Alpha, I brought it—"
At the sound of Soren's voice, I pulled my teeth away from Arkan's wrist. Arkan, however, responded with a growl that sounded almost like a whimper.
"Did I come at the wrong time?" Soren asked, turning around.
Arkan cleared his throat loudly.
"No," he said. Then he scooped me into his arms, stood up, and set me down in the spot where he had been sitting moments ago. "Come."
Soren slowly turned back toward us. Then he lowered Kongar's yellow body from his shoulder and laid it on the floor.
The smoke beside me wasted no time. It headed straight for the body and entered through its nose. As the smoke entered his body, his yellow skin slowly turned black.
Would his skin be black from now on?
His hands twitched first, then his entire body began to move. The next moment, he was standing upright. He raised his hands into the air and examined them.
All our eyes were on him.
"Kongar," I called, walking toward him.
Kongar slowly raised his head and looked at me. His eyes flickered between black and yellow for a brief moment, but eventually settled on yellow. His eyes had returned to their old color.
What did that mean?
Now he had yellow eyes and black skin.
"Yes, my master, Kayra?" Kongar said, then smiled. "I've finally regained my body."
"Yes, you have," I said quietly. All that remained for Kongar to achieve the immortality he desired was to take my heart.
Kongar stepped in front of me and knelt. Before I could ask what he was doing, he took my hand and kissed the back of it. The moment his lips touched my skin, a tingling sensation spread all the way up my arms.
Why was my body reacting this way to his touch? I already had a fated mate, didn't I?
"Thank you," he said, pulling his lips away from my hand.
What was he up to now?
When I heard Arkan growl, I turned toward him. The moment he noticed me looking at him, he averted his gaze.
He was acting strangely, too. It wasn't his fault that I had been hurt. If anything, he was the one who kept getting hurt because of me.
"What are you thanking me for?" I asked Kongar.
He slowly rose to his feet, and his strange smile spread across his face.
"For coming back to life," he said.
Good job, me.
"And also… for existing."
Kongar's last words left me frozen. I didn't know what he meant, but they made my heart race like crazy. What was it that I couldn't understand, but my body somehow did?
I took a step back as Arkan moved in front of me. His back was turned to me, and he was staring at Kongar.
"Where have you been?" he growled at Kongar.
"Did you miss me that much?" Kongar asked mockingly.
Arkan's growl filled the room. But the grin on Kongar's face didn't disappear.
"Alpha," Soren said. "You're going to wake the others."
"Let them wake up," Arkan said, his voice growing deeper.
"If my staying here is going to be a problem, I can leave," I cut in.
At my words, Arkan's growl turned into a roar.
"I am the Alpha of the Crescent Pack," he said. "If they don't want you, then they don't want me either."
Was he really turning his back on his pack for me? I couldn't accept that.
"No, Alpha," Soren said hurriedly. "They just need time to get used to their Luna being… a vampire."
"Then they'd better get used to it quickly," Arkan said. Then he turned to Kongar.
"Where have you been?" he asked again.
---
Kongar recounted everything that had happened to him, one by one: how he had been pulled into the sphere, how he had escaped the witch siblings, and most importantly, how he had been drawn into the Land of the Dead…
Fortunately, all of that was behind us. Now, we had bigger problems to deal with. Dawn was approaching.
"What if we prepare a room for Luna in the hidden shelter, Alpha?" Soren asked.
Arkan thought for a while.
"That could work," he said. "She can stay there for now. Get it ready."
Was I going back underground again?
The earthen structure Kongar had imprisoned me in came to mind, and my chest tightened.
"Are you okay, Kayra?" Kongar asked. "My chest tightened."
"Kayra?" Arkan said worriedly.
"I'm fine," I said. "The thought of being underground just made me a little… uneasy."
As Kongar took a step back, black smoke began to envelop him.
My eyes widened in fear. He couldn't leave. I couldn't lose him again.
I quickly grabbed his hand.
"Don't go."