#vampiresbleeding

You watched as Heeseung twirled the silver blade with his fingers, his eyes staring you down. 

The place where he burned your skin with the blade was throbbing. Your body wasn’t healing it fast enough, and probably wouldn’t. If the blade was made specifically for him, the vampire king, the blade was made to kill and leave scars. 

You scoffed, a small chuckle leaving your lips. 

Heeseung tilted his head, lifting his leg to rest against the chair he sat in, “Want to share with the class what you think is so funny?” 

You glanced into the darkness behind him, not wanting to make eye contact with him, “I was told you’re a doctor. How could the vampire king settle for such a low-class job as that.” 

Heeseung was at your side in a second, the blade inches away from your neck, “I am a doctor, which isn't a low-class job. I’ve saved lives, helped people, and healed people…It is not an easy job. When you’re stuck living for eternity you should put yourself to good use.” 

You rolled your eyes, “But you’re the king, what need would you have to help others!”

Heeseung scoffed, inching the blade closer, “Because I am not the monster I was created to be.” 

You sat still, not knowing how to respond to him. 

Heeseung removed the blade and sat back in the chair across from you, “When will you answer my questions?” 

You shook your head, “When will you stop asking?” 

Heeseung chuckled, “You’re in the presence of the actual vampire king and you still want to defy me?” 

“Just because you’re a king, doesn’t mean my loyalties sit with you, plus I can tell this isn’t the way you normally are,” You leaned forward as far as the rope tied around your body would let you, “You’re not some tyrant, or someone to torture anyone. This is all an act.” 

Heeseung stood from his seat quickly, his golden eyes burning at you. You struck a nerve. 

“I will do what I have to, to protect my pack!” he growled, “Unlike you, whose loyalties sit with a man who won’t be coming for you.” 

You sat back in the chair, not wanting to believe the words coming from his mouth. You don’t know how long you’ve been trapped down wherever you were, but you know it’s been days, maybe even a week and Dorian has yet to try and find you. You weren’t in a pack with him, so trying to find ways to get him to know where you were or sensing where he is, was hopeless. 

Heeseung knew you knew he was right. He could see it all over your face. 

There was a knock on the door, and then it slowly opened, Jungwon stepped in. 

“Hyung,” He called out, “We are all here.” 

Heeseung nodded, relaxing his body and his glowing golden eyes turned back to the coco brown. 

You stared at Jungwon, piercing daggers into him. 

He side-eyed you, his fist clenching, “Say something.” He snapped.

You smiled, “You’re the leader of the pack yet you still follow behind this king. Shouldn’t you be the king?” 

Jungwon smiled back at you, “The king needs his leader, doesn’t he?” 

Your smile faded. You knew their pack was close with their bonds, but you didn’t think it would be that tight. Most packs fight for the leadership role.

Heeseung walked out of the room, and Jungwon followed behind him, leaving you alone once again. 

“Got anything?” Jungwon asked. 

Heeseung shook his head, “The only thing I’ve gotten out of her is she thinks being a doctor is a low job for a king and that Dorian would come for her.” 

Jungwon rolled his eyes, “So the same shit.” 

Heeseung sighed, “Unfortunately.” 

They opened the door that led into the safe room, quickly closing and locking it behind them. 

Sunghoon and his witch mate sat at the kitchen table, her jumping up at the sight of Heeseung. 

Heeseung narrowed his eyes at her, “I told you to stop that.” 

The witch softly smiled, “We do this for our kings and queens in our covens, it’s not a habit I can get rid of overnight.” 

Heeseung knew his title coming out to the mates of the pack was big news. Mostly for the witch and the dhampir.

Jake and his mate got into an argument after Heeseung announced his title officially to them. 

“I have been in the presence of the vampire king my whole life and never knew?!?! We were all friends for so long!” The dhampir paced back and forth in the living room, “I’ve been so rude towards Heeseung!!” 

“My Luna Nova, please calm down, it's okay!” 

“No it’s not!” she snapped, “How could you have kept something so important away from me?!?”

The vampire king has been told in legends to be the most powerful vampire, and if the king was in a pack, his power amplified the number of members in the pack. 

So to call Heeseung weak is far from the truth. 

Jungwon called the others to sit at the table, “We need to make a plan to get Dorian’s followers to spill everything she knows.” 

Sunghoon wrapped his arms around his witch, “Why not let the hex girl here use her magical powers to get her to open up?” 

Sunoo chimed in, pointing at his elf mate, “My magical girl can help.”

Heeseung disagreed, “Using magic on her isn’t going to work. She’s too strong-headed.”

“I wouldn’t know what kind of magic to use anyways,” the elf added, “Using magic on a vampire is a difficult task, your brains and bodies don’t work the same as others.” 

The witch agreed, “You vampires are the undead, you weren’t naturally created creatures to begin with, so to use any kind of magic on you guys would be difficult, like __ said.” 

“And I am assuming threatening her is not working?” The dhampir asked. 

Heeseung nodded, “Her loyalty is also very strong with Dorian still, nothing will change that.”

The room fell silent. Everyone’s brains are working overtime to figure something out. 

“And we have been to Dorian’s compound multiple times over the last week,” Jay pitched in, “Still no traces of him or his followers either.” 

Jake covered his mouth with his hands and then his eyes lit up, “Have we thought about checking the farmhouses again? and the town where __ coven was?” 

The witch stood up quickly from her chair, “He could have found our underground sanctuary. There’s a library down there along with other magical items.” 

Sunghoon stood up beside her, furrowing his brows, “Why are you just now telling us about this hex girl?!” 

She rolled her eyes, “Oh shut up bloodsucker!” she snapped at her mate, “It’s heavily guarded and I assumed after Dorian burnt down the town and killed my entire coven that he wouldn’t be able to find it.” 

The dhampir quickly pulled her phone from her pocket, “I’m calling Archer.” 

Heeseung stood in silence, thinking of how this could go. 

Niki shook his leg with impatience, “What if Dorian is there and __ is with him?” 

Heeseung patted the maknae’s shoulder, ready to open his mouth but was stopped. 

“Archer said he’s felt a force nearby for the last hour!” the dhampir announced. 

Niki stood quickly from his seat, “When are we going.” 

Jungwon knew from the look on Heeseung’s face what the plan was, “Not everyone is going.” 

Niki whipped around, “Hyung!” he begged Heeseung, “If __ is with him!” 

Heeseung placed both hands on Niki’s shoulders, “If she is with him, I’ll bring her back. The moment you step foot near them she will run.” 

Niki wanted to fight, but didn’t, understanding. 

Heeseung looked around the room at his pack, “I will go alone.” 

“What? Fuck no! That’s stupid!” Jake yelled. 

“Are you fucking crazy?!” Sunghoon snapped. 

“Hyung, what are you even thinking?!” Niki and Jungwon asked. 

“Listen, Mr. Vampire King,” the witch scoffed, “This isn’t something to do alone!!” 

The elf agreed, “You need someone with you!” 

The humans even disagreed, “Bring someone with you!” 

Heeseung smiled at his family, happy with how big it had grown. Remembering a time it was just the seven of them. 

“I have something special to protect,” Heeseung yelled over the chaos, his family settling down, “I have eleven of you to keep safe.” Heeseung had a plan, it just didn’t involve his family. 

“Hyung!” Jungwon projected, “What do you even plan to do? Huh? Just walk in there?” 

Heeseung smiled again, “When I meant going alone, I meant without you guys.” 

Jungwon furrowed his eyes, “I am not following?” 

Heeseung nodded his head towards the door that led to you. 

You tried to force your way out of the ropes, twisting and turning in every way possible. 

You had to make it out of there and back to Dorian. You needed to tell him Heeseung was the vampire king. It would speed the progress of his ruling so much faster. 

As if on cue, Heeseung and Jungwon opened the door, Jungwon slamming it shut behind him. 

You smile, “Well well, isn’t it the King and his follower.” 

Heeseung grabbed the back of the chair, tilting it backward, your feet lifting from the floor. 

His face was inches away from yours, his silver special blade was also inches from your skin. 

“I don’t have followers, I have a family.” He growled, his eyes burning. 

You glared at him, not letting this tactic scare you anymore. 

He smirked, letting a small breath out as he clicked his tongue, “We are going on a little trip, if you behave you’ll get to die with Dorian at your side.” 

Before you could say a word, Jungwon covered your mouth with a cloth. Your head spun and your eyes slowly closed. Your world going dark. 

—

You woke up to the sun shining down on you. You slowly sat up, your head still spinning. 

You took in the area around you. The grass was burnt and the smell of burnt flesh filled the air. 

You quickly covered your mouth the more you looked. Houses were burnt to the ground. Bodies spread throughout the land. 

“It’s a sad sight, isn’t it?” 

Heeseung’s voice made you jump. He was knelt, a patch of dead grass in his hands. 

You could see the pain on his face, “What happened here?” 

Heeseung sighed before turning his head to look at you, “This is what Dorian did. He destroyed this whole village and killed an entire coven, just to get the secret to the powers he wields now.” 

You shook your head, not wanting to leave it, “He didn’t do this! He said he threatened them and took what he wanted!”

Heeseung softly chuckled, “This whole area is proof of what he’s done. The only one who survived this incident is the witch in my pack, she lost everything because of Dorian.” 

You wanted to argue back, that you knew Dorian better than anyone else. He’s the one who turned you into a vampire after all. Found you after you were almost murdered in the street by some criminals, he saved you and took you in. It’s clear to you that the soft side of Dorian was a fake. That this was his true nature. 

“Stand up,” Heeseung Demanded, pulling you up by your arm, “Your lord and savior Dorian is in the secret underground library fixing to steal more magic from this lost coven, and you’re going to help me stop him.” 

Heeseung pulled you forward, his hand tightly wrapped around your arm. 

You listened to every demand, all the fight left in you was gone. 

The entrance to the hidden library was no longer hidden, proof in itself that Dorian was inside. 

Heeseung pushed you along, making you go down the steps first into the darkness. 

Small candles sat on the walls to light the path, sending you both down until the path became flat, a brighter light shone down the pathway that led to the opened door of the library. 

Heeseung’s grip on your arm got tighter. Dorian was down the hall and you were terrified of what to expect. 

“How nice of you to join us,” Dorian said as you both walked into the small library, his face planted in the book in his hands, “I was starting to worry when we’d meet again.” 

“You knew we were coming?” Heeseung scoffed, slowly pulling his blade from his pocket, “That means you have my youngest mate with you, ya?” 

Dorian closed the book, his shit-eating grin plastered on his face, “My dear __, please say hello to our guest.” 

The young vampire walked around the bookshelf, a couple of books held close to her chest. 

Heeseung grinned his teeth. He could feel the pain she was feeling being away from Niki, her swollen eyes said it clear enough. She hasn’t slept since being pulled away from him. It was eating her alive. 

“__,” Heeseung called to her, “You don’t have to side with him!” 

She looked away from him and down at the ground. Heeseung could see the battle she was facing. To drop everything and run towards him to return to Niki’s side, or to keep her loyalty to Dorian. 

“Please, Niki needs you.” 

Her body shook at the sound of her mate's name, and she took a step forward towards Heeseung, only for Dorian’s hand to lift, making her stop. 

“She belongs to me,” Dorian chuckled, “You can’t just take what’s mine.” 

“She doesn’t belong to you!” Heeseung snapped, his fangs starting to come to a point, but not fully, “She isn’t bound to you!” 

You couldn’t bring yourself to look at Dorian, you felt the betrayal of getting yourself captured, but also the betrayal that he’d destroy a whole village and coven, just for his gain. 

You then had the idea to expose Heeseung as the king, hoping that maybe Dorian would take you back. 

“How about a trade then?” You said, finally looking up at Dorian, begging him with your eyes, “Take the good-for-nothing girl who mated with the enemy and give her to Heeseung to trade for me.” 

Heeseung could smell your bullshit, his blade quickly pressing to the side of your jaw, the same side he already burned. 

You bit your tongue to keep from crying out, trying to keep your composer, showing proof you were still useful to Dorian. 

Dorian threw his head back in laughter, “Oh this is great! Y/N, do you think I would trade you for __? She’s mates with their youngest, she can help sense where they are if they come near me. What good are you for?” 

The pain from Heeseung’s blade no longer affects you after Dorian’s words. 

Your knees gave out, dropping your weight to the floor. Heeseung let you fall.

Heeseung was more pissed off now, “Give my pack member.” 

Dorian shook his head, “She’s useful to me.” 

Heeseung tightened his grip on his blade, looking back at the young vampire, “__, choose the side that’ll take care of you,” he softly spoke, “You’d have Niki again. You’d have a support system, a family.”

Heeseung could see the gears turning in her head. The way her heart rate picked up and the grip she had on the books in her hands, her knuckles were white. 

Dorian could see it too. The betrayal that was about to happen. 

She used all her strength to tear the books in half and throw them to the floor. Heeseung knew she was choosing him. 

But Heeseung could also sense what was about to happen. 

Dorian reached out, his hand gripping her neck and lifting her off the ground. 

“You idiot! After all I have done for you!” 

Heeseung acted fast. Using all the strength he had into a full sprint. The blade made contact with Dorian’s wrist, slicing his hand clear from his arm. 

Heeseung quickly grabbed __, tossing her off to the side and out of the way. 

Dorian screamed in agony, his hand gripping the nub of his arm, the sizzling sound of his skin burning echoed with his screams. 

“What kind of weapon do you have there hmm?” Dorian said through gritted teeth, “For it to be so strong to cut through my limb and burn it so quickly that not even a drop of blood fell.” 

Heeseung held the blade up, ready to use it once again, preparing for Dorian’s next move, “When you’ve lived as long as I have, you improvise on weapons to be created to help protect yourself and your family.” 

Dorian evilly laughed, “You and this family bullshit!” 

Heeseung heard enough and swung his blade back at Dorian. 

Only for the next turn of events to surprise Heeseung. 

Dorian jumped backward, transforming into a bat. 

“Well that’s not something you see every day,” Heeseung hissed. 

A chuckle came from the bat before he speedily flew out of the library. 

You saw this as your opportunity to run, but your legs wouldn’t move. 

Dorian made it clear he didn’t want you or even need you. 

The young girl knelt to your side, softly touching the burn on your jaw, “Heeseung!” She called out, “She’s not healing!” 

Heeseung knelt in front of you, taking your chin between his fingers, tilting your head to the side, “It will with time. But the scars will remain. My blade wasn’t made to heal.” 

Heeseung dropped his hand, staring at you and your lost face. 

You refused to look at him.

Heeseung scoffed softly, and stood up, walking away from you and towards the door.

“__,” he called out, “It’s time to go. We have things to discuss and I need to return you to Niki’s side so the bond doesn’t do any more damage to either of you.” 

She stayed by your side, her hand settling on top of yours, “We can’t leave Y/N here.” 

Heeseung raised a brow, “Why the hell not?” 

The girl’s eyes pleaded with him. Heeseung wanted to say no. It wasn’t in his playing cards to return home with the follower of Dorian. 

“Please, Heeseung,” she begged, “Y/N helped take care of me and treated me as if I were her sister, just like you do with Niki as a brother!”

Heeseung clenched his fist. The thought of bringing you back made his skin crawl. But he also knew leaving you here wasn’t something Heeseung would normally do. He can’t leave someone who needs help behind. 

He relaxed, looking away from the girls.

The young vampire knew Heeseung agreed to bring you along. 

“Y/N, let’s go.” 

You wanted to protest, to demand to be left alone. There was nothing left for you. 

You pushed __ away. 

To your Surprise, Heeseung was back at your side, pulling you up to your feet. 

You stared up at him, eyes locking together with him. 

A shock was sent down your spine, and by the look on Heeseung’s face, you knew he felt it too. 

He let go of your arm, stepping a few steps back, running a hand through his hair, “Let’s go. We need to get back.” 

—

You fell asleep in the backseat. Your left side leaned against the car door as you slept. 

Heeseung stared at you through the rearview mirror, watching as your chest raised and fell with every breath. The burns on your jaw are still a bright red. 

His heart raced looking at you. His hands softly loosen their grip on the steering wheel. 

“Your heart rate better be picking up pace because you feel like shit for hurting her!” the young one hissed. 

Heeseung glared down at the youngest pack member, “Why would I feel bad? She tried to hurt my family. My only goal today was getting you back and killing Dorian.” 

She rolled her eyes, “You were going to kill her too! I could feel your kill lust, Mr. Vampire King.” 

Heeseung quickly looked at her, “How did you know that?” 

She glanced out the car window, “The moment Niki and I bonded together, I could feel just how powerful your, well our, pack is. It wasn’t hard to put together.”

Heeseung looked back at the road, “Dorian doesn’t know?”

“No. He still believes the old king is still in power,” she looked at Heeseung, “How long has the old king been dead?” 

Heeseung dodged the question, “Why didn’t you tell Dorian if you knew?” 

She looked back out the window, dropping her head into her hands, “I couldn’t betray my pack like that. Even if I wasn’t officially in the pack at the time, I couldn’t hand over that information so easily to Dorian.” 

Heeseung knew she did it to protect Niki, and left it at all. 

You all pulled up at the safe house, Niki being the first one out of the house and at the passenger side door before the vehicle even came to a stop. 

“Oh my god,” Niki breathed out, pulling __ from the car and into his arms. 

Heeseung watched the maknaes embrace each other. Their bond is fully completed. The warmth of their love soothed everyone. 

You stayed in the car, watching as the young ones held each other tight. The other ones with mates follow suit, embracing their mates close to their bodies. Holding onto them tightly. 

Heeseung looked over at you, watching as you watched his family. 

His heart pulled to you, and he knew there wasn’t any stopping this, even if he tried. 

Heeseung reached over and tapped your knee, your attention being put on him. 

“If you want to run tail back to Dorian, be my guest, I am not going to force you here.”

You looked deeply into his eyes, scared of what this feeling was that was pulling you to him. You sat in silence, not knowing how to even respond to him. 

Heeseung rolled his eyes, removing his hand from your knee, ready to turn back around and get out of the car. 

You reached for his hand before he could, causing him to turn fully back towards you, “I can’t go back to Dorian,” you whispered, “He would just kill me the minute I got too close.”

You rubbed your thumb over the top of his hand. Half of Heeseung wanted to rip his hand away from you, the other half wanted to close his hand tightly around yours. 

“Why haven’t you killed me?” You finally asked, “You’ve had plenty of time to do so.” 

Heeseung tucked his lips between his teeth, debating on even continuing this conversation. 

“Because you were right,” he sighed, “When you first said this wasn’t who I am, some tyrant who tortures people…that’s not me.” 

You could see the hurt behind his eyes as he said this. 

Heeseung is a powerful king who has a pack of twelve under his thumb, being the most powerful vampire mixed pack in the world. Every other king that has ruled, did so with thousands of vampires at his side and was a solo hunter. Heeseung has single-handedly outdone every king before him. 

Yet his undead heart was still so pure and full of life. He became a doctor to help others…no wonder no one knows that the old king is dead and that he was the new one. Heeseung never once gave any hints he was a king. 

You held his hand tightly, looking down at the rings that wrapped around his fingers, “I will follow you.”

Heeseung furrowed his brow, “What?”

“Did I stutter?” You said, making eye contact back with him, “My loyalty is with you now.” 

Heeseung looked away from you, shaking his head, “You’re only saying that.” 

You squeezed his hand, “No I’m not. I’ve seen what you can do, and I know what you can accomplish. Plus you need me if you want to kill Dorian.”

Heeseung glanced at you, “I am listening.” 

“I know what his plans are, and where he will be hiding next.” 

Heeseung’s heart was telling him to let you in. To bring you close and never let you go and end Dorian once and for all, after all the harm he has done. But his brain was telling him differently. To let you in long enough to set the goals to kill Dorian and let you back out into the wild. 

“What reason do you have to kill Dorian and join forces with us?” 

You slowly blinked at him, “The things __ and myself have had to endure while living in that compound…being brainwashed into thinking he cared for us…” You shook your head, trying to push out the terrible memories that you’ve suppressed, “I want him dead just as badly as you.” 

Heeseung nodded, closing his hand around yours, “We have a lot to discuss then.” 

—

“WOAH NO WAY!?” the witch slapped her hands onto the table, her long black braid hair flipping behind her as she stood up from the seat, “You’re telling me you vampires can’t turn into bats on your own?!”

“Oh shut the actual fuck up!” Sunghoon hissed, grabbing his mate's arm and pulling her back into the chair.

You confusingly glared at the witch, “He got the spell to turn into a bat from your library…?”

Sunghoon sighed, “Just ignore the hex girl, she’s being stupid. Said the same shit when she saw my reflection.” 

The witch quickly whipped her head to her lover, her black nailed fingertips gripping his chin, pulling towards her, “Watch your tongue bloodsucker, I might hex you.”

Sunghoon smiled warmly at her, quickly planting a small kiss on her lips. 

You looked away from them, only to see every couple in the room either in each other's arms or hands tangled together. 

What have you gotten yourself into? 

Heeseung cleared his throat, “We need a solid plan before chasing after Dorian. He has more tricks up his sleeve than we thought.” 

You softly scoffed, trying to hold back a laugh.

“Something funny, public enemy number one?” Sunghoon raised a brow, “I don’t think you have any reason to be laughing.” 

“Sunghoon!” Niki’s mate snapped, causing glares from Sunghoon. 

“Nah,” he shook his head, “You both worked under Dorian’s thumb and are the reasons for all the bullshit we have gone through.” 

“Baby,” the witch said, wrapping her small hands around his bicep, “They were brainwashed, mostly __. If she could have run away from Dorian I am sure she would have. Mostly after meeting Niki. She was protecting him. Just like you would have gone to hell and back to protect me.”

Sunghoon slumped down into his chair, letting his mate win. 

Sunoo on the other hand, didn’t let the conversation end. 

“No, but, I still want to hear what Y/N thinks is so funny?” Sunoo clasps his hands together, leaning forward against the table, “What could be so funny?”

You glared between Sunghoon and Sunoo, both their eyes glued to you. 

“You are all the strongest pack in the world, following under the fucking vampire king!” you snapped, pointing a finger at Heeseung, “What other plan do you guys need to kill Dorian?!”

Heeseung slid his hands into his jeans pockets, tilting his head up, looking down at you, “Because I am not going to use my title as an act of power. I have a family to protect and cannot just go head first into a war.” 

Jungwon continued, “We don’t know what tricks Dorian has up his sleeve like Hyung said. We could walk into a trap and get us all killed,” Jungwon pulled his mate close to him, “Unlike you, Y/N, we have something bigger to protect besides just ourselves.” 

You were defeated. You couldn’t feel the bond that they all share, you would have no way of understanding. You’ve only ever looked out for yourself. 

Heeseung knew this conversation was going nowhere but in circles. He glanced up at the clock on the wall, the hands hitting midnight. 

“Let’s call it a night,” He yawned, “Most of us have jobs and school tomorrow.”

Niki and __ both groaned.

“Jesus Christ there’s two of them now.” Jay sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers. 

“Is sending them two to school the best course of action?” Jake chimed in, “Wouldn’t Dorian know where to look for them?”

The elf jumped up, “Nope! I amplified my scent-covering spell with the help of our witchy friend, all our scents have completely been covered. Hee, Jay and I can return to the hospital, Niki and __ can return to school, and the others…can do whatever it is you guys do.” 

Jungwon clapped his hands, “We will split into search teams while those with jobs work and the teens are at school,” he glanced over at you, “You’re going to be stuck with me and Jake tomorrow.” 

“Lovely,” you whispered. 

Heeseung stood up, and by reaction, you did also, causing the rest to look at you weirdly. 

“He’s the king…do you guys not…react?” 

Jake chuckled, “We’ve known this man since way before he became king, we don’t use formals with him.” 

Heeseung raised his brows, “Wow okay I am going to bed.”

Heeseung made his way out of the kitchen, before popping back up quickly, “Make sure the teenagers sleep in separate rooms.” 

“Hyung!” Niki snapped, his face flushing. 

“Your mate and Y/N can share a room.” Jay added in, “We have enough spares for them to share a room.”

You agreed, not wanting to sleep alone anyway. 

Jay’s mate shows you and __ to the room. Two twin beds sat on opposite sides of the room. 

“Thank you,” you said, giving her a small smile, but your smile faded once you saw the bite mark scars on her neck, “Dorian did that, didn’t he?” 

She quickly covered her neck with her hand, “Yeah…he did. If it wasn’t for Jay and the others nearby, I would have died.” 

You wanted to apologize but knew apologizing wouldn’t be good enough. No amount of sorry will fix the mess Dorian created. 

So you settled for a nod and walked into the room. The young vampire follows behind you. 

—

You pulled your jacket around your body, as you knelt to the ground. 

Watching as Jungwon and Jake drank from their blood bags. 

Jake caught you staring. You quickly looked off into the distance. 

“Have something to say?” Jake asked between sips, “If you want a bag just ask.” 

Jungwon reached into the cooler bag pulling a blood bag out and tossing it to you, “You need to drink, looking kinda pale.” 

You held the bag in your hands, watching as the dark liquid fell to one side. 

“Problem?” Jake asked, bringing you back to reality. 

“No,” you shook your head, “Thank you for the blood.” 

Jungwon and Jake watched carefully as you ripped the bag, drinking the blood down. 

“You’ve never drank from bags, huh?” Jungwon laughed, clearly teasing you.

You nodded, “Dorian made us hunt for our meals, I am honestly surprised __ was able to take to the bags so easily. She was the only one out of us who drank from bags.” 

“Well when you’re stuck as a teenager forever and have no choice but to attend school, you can’t kill your classmates.” Jake shrugged. 

You sighed, “She still drank from humans, just not her classmates.” 

The conversation turned awkward. 

“Well, I have to piss soooo…” Jake stood up and ran off in the distance. 

You finished your blood bag, handing the empty plastic back to Jungwon, “Thank you.” 

Jungwon nodded, “We need you at your highest strength if you plan to stick around long enough to kill Dorian and be on your way.” 

You didn’t know how to respond to that. How could you tell the leader of this pack that you want to stick around even afterward? That you want to serve under Heeseung. 

But you knew they didn’t work that way. There wasn’t anyone from the outside that was with them besides __ twin brother, but that’s different. 

Jungwon’s giggles pulled you out of your thoughts. He held his phone in his hands as his thumbs went from zero to a hundred typing a message. 

“What’s funny?” you decide to ask, to clear the silence. 

“__ sent me a cute photo of herself saying she misses me.” He smiled brightly, “I want to return to her as quickly as possible.” 

You couldn’t help but smile at him, “It must be nice to feel love like you guys do.” 

Jungwon slid his phone back into his pocket, his smile growing even wider, “It is. I knew from the moment I met her that she was someone I needed in my life.” 

Your heart cried out for them, “I am so so sorry, Jungwon.” 

He looks at you, confusion written on his face, “For what?”

“For what Dorian has caused,” You tried to hold back your tears, “I was hunting with him that night, and he randomly disappeared, just to come back later talking so much nonsense about a girl he wanted. How she was important to his plan, I encouraged him to find her. I have no idea she was a part of your pack at the time, or else I wouldn’t have said anything.” 

Jungwon looked away from you, his lips between his teeth. He released a sigh before returning his eyes to you, “Don’t apologize for something you have no control over. It’s my fault this mess happened.” 

You narrowed your eyes, fixing to protest when he held a hand up to stop you. 

“I brought __ to the clearing that night,” he took a deep breath, “I could have taken her anywhere else, and I chose that place. Her blood is just…” Jungwon rolled his eyes as if he were in a daze, “The smell of it drove me crazy. The sound of her heart beating. It was all like a drug to me. I wasn’t thinking straight.” 

You could tell how badly Jungwon was beating himself up over what happened. 

You placed a hand on his shoulder, the leader side-eyeing you, “But you still have her,” you consulted him, “She’s alive and breathing because you met her, who knows what would have happened if Dorian got to her first before you did.” 

Jungwon nodded, “I know, and Dorian will pay for even attempting to touch her.” 

Jake suddenly appeared again, “I think we should call it a day,” he placed his hand over his heart, “I need to return to my dhampir.” 

Jungwon checked his watch, “Yeah it’s getting late. The teens should be back from school. Heeseung, Jay, and __ should be returning from the hospital too.” 

—

Another night worth of discussing plans to stop Dorian and find his other hidden locations was an endless circle. 

You and the young vampire told the group about multiple different buildings and compounds that he owned and could be at. 

“Since he knows we are coming for him now,” the maknae girl said, “He’s more than likely going to be moving around between them all.” 

“So it’s a game of catching him at the right place.” Jay groaned into his hands, “Why can’t this ever be easy.” 

Jay’s mate stood behind him, her arms wrapped around him tightly, “We will find him, just keep pushing.” Jay nodded, taking her hands in his. 

The dhampir bit her nails, her brain’s gears moving quickly, “Archer has also been searching the areas and hasn't caught his scent or presence either.” 

You couldn’t help the lack of Heeseung at the table or even in the house. The chair he normally sat in was empty. 

“Where is your king?” You finally spoke. 

Jay glanced over at the empty seat, “He got caught up at the hospital. An emergency surgery got scheduled and he just happened to be the doctor that was there when the patient was rushed in.”

You nodded, still in awe that these vampires were even remotely okay with being in a hospital. 

Jungwon rubbed his temples, “I say let’s call it a night,” he stood from his seat, “Sunghoon, the dhampir, and Sunoo are on search duty tomorrow.” 

Everyone nodded in agreement and made their way to their rooms. 

You woke up in the middle of the night, seeing __ slowly tip-toeing her way across the room. 

You quickly sat up and turned the lamp on, her freezing in place. 

“Sneaking off?” You crossed your arms.

She slowly turned towards you, “Oh no, absolutely not.”

You raised a brow, “You’re literally a seventeen-year-old, what else would you be sneaking out of the room to do?” 

She shrugged her shoulders, “Late night snack?” 

“Get back in bed, __. If you get caught in Niki’s room...” 

“Then guard it for me!” She quickly said, “Stand in the hallway and if you hear any signs that someone is awake, tap the door once and I’ll rush out. Easy!” 

You disagreed, “That sounds like a terrible idea!”

Yet you found yourself sitting on the floor beside Niki’s room. 

His room was only down the hall from yours, so it wasn’t like across the house that you and __ would have to escape to. 

You listened to the giggles coming from the teens. Their whispers talked about their school day and how well soccer was going for Niki.

You couldn’t help but smile, being very happy that __ was able to find happiness outside that damn compound. 

You were so distracted by the teens, you didn’t notice that a bedroom door was opened, and someone was standing in the hallway. 

Not just anyone. Heeseung. 

He didn’t notice you at first. His bare feet tapped against the floor. His shoulder hangs loosely around his hips. The only thing he had on was a towel wrapped around his shoulders. His perfectly toned body is on full display. 

You tried to control your breathing but then remembered everyone in this house was some kind of mythical creature with good ass hearing. 

Heeseung turned and looked at you, his brow raising, “What the hell are you doing on the floor?” he whispered. 

You tried to find the right words to say without giving away what was happening. 

But Heeseung’s eyes darted between you, and the door beside you.  

Heeseung rolled his eyes, carefully making his way towards you. 

You quickly and quietly stood up, placing your hands against his chest, “Shhh!!” you whispered, “Nothing is going on I promise.” 

Heeseung stared down at your hands against his bare chest, then slowly made eye contact with you. 

You realized what was happening, and quickly removed your hands from him, “Sorry,” you said, hushed. 

“What are they doing in there?!” he aggressively whispered.

“Being two kids in love,” you whispered back, “They aren’t doing anything they shouldn’t.” 

Heeseung went to take a step around you, only for you to follow. 

Heeseung smoothly wrapped his arm around your waist, pressing you against the wall without making a sound. 

His free arm lay above your head, the other slowly squeezing your hip. His face inches from yours. 

“Why are you trying to protect them?” he whispered, his eyes scanning your face. 

You laid your head against the wall, “Their lives were taken from them way too soon. Trapped at the same age while the world grows and changes around them. Let them be kids.” 

Heeseung pressed his forehead against yours, his breath hitting your lips, “What is the safe word you two agreed on?”

You rolled your eyes, “You're seriously not going to let them be?” 

“The code, please,” he growled.

You submitted, “Tap the door once.” 

Heeseung released his grip from your waist, lifting away from you, his left arm still above your head, keeping you trapped. 

He barely tapped on the door, it opened a second after.

“Oh…Heeseung…” The young one whispered, the embarrassment on her face. 

Niki groaned in the background, “He’s going to kill me.” 

She looked between Heeseung and you, confusion on her face. 

“Both of you go back to bed,” Heeseung barely said above a whisper.

She nodded, carefully closing Niki’s door and walking down the hallway. 

Heeseung fully moved away from you, shifting his head in the direction of your room. 

You nodded, slowly walking away.

“Y/N,” he whispered to you. You turned and faced him, “All our lives have been taken from us way too soon,” he gripped the towel around his neck, “None of us will get to fully experience life the way we should have.”

You didn’t know what to say, all you knew was he was right. 

“We just have to make the best of it,” was all you could say. 

Heeseung nodded, “I am not mad about tonight. They will find ways to be together. I’m just a protective big brother I assume.” 

You understood where he came from. __ was like a younger sister to you. And after the way she betrayed Niki, you knew Heeseung only was doing the best he could for the younger one. 

“Go to bed your highness,” you teased him, slowly walking down the hallway and into your room. 

Your heart racing at the full realization of the state Heeseung was in. How you touched his bare skin. 

Chills went down your body. 

Heeseung smirked at hearing how fast your heart rate went up. He made his way into the bathroom for a nice shower after his long shift. 

—

You followed behind the elf as she led you to Heeseung’s office. 

She yawned into her hand, saying how busy of a day it’s been already. 

You could only nod. You couldn’t help but feel inferior to the other women in the pack. Mostly because Dorian is the reason why most of them were even put in this spot, to begin with, and since you followed behind him…you were part of the problem. 

Another doctor came up to her, asking for help on a patient, and she immediately accepted. 

“Y/N,” she turned and gave you a big smile, “Doctor Lee’s office is that way,” she pointed down the hall, “It’ll be Doctor Park’s office first and then a few more doors down will be Lee’s.” 

You nodded, watching as she walked back in the opposite direction. 

With a sigh, you continued down the hall. 

You stopped and peeked inside Jay’s office through his door window. His mate sat on his desk with both hands on either side of her. 

She was smiling so wide with him as he pressed his forehead against hers, their nose slightly brushing together. 

You softly smiled, then continued a few doors down to Heeseung’s office. 

Heeseung was typing away at his computer, looking back and forth between some X-ray scans and the computer screen. 

You knocked on the door before opening it, Heeseung slightly glanced up at you and then back at the scans. 

“What brings you here?” He asks, rolling his chair over to his counter, and placing the scans on the backlit wall, the bones from the X-rays becoming more apparent. 

You closed the door behind you, taking a small glance around his office, “Jungwon sent me to get more blood bags.” 

Heeseung groaned, “Shit, I forgot.” He typed something quickly on his computer and stood up, “I will go grab the box. Be right back.” 

With Heeseung gone, you took the time to look more around his office. 

His doctor's license and certificate from graduating sat in one massive frame. 

A few drawings that you assumed were given to him from children he had helped. 

Multiple different pictures hung on the wall. A bunch were of him and the pack. Only one looks recent. Recent as in before the events with Dorian. 

The seven of them looked happy with pure smiles on their faces. It warmed your heart knowing that they were able to smile like that. 

One picture caught your attention. It was a painting. Hung in a really old frame. The painting itself you could easily tell was very old. Yellowish tint from its age shown with some paint in areas peeling. 

Heeseung was in the painting with what looked like his parents and an older sibling. 

The four of them had smiles, but for some reason, it broke your heart. 

You wanted to reach out and touch it but quickly pulled your hand back when the office door opened. 

“Okay,” Heeseung trailed in with a massive box in his hands, “I was only able to fill up one box. I’ll have to bring the other home later.” Heeseung used his foot to kick the door closed. 

He set the box down on the counter, dusting his hands on his black slacks. 

“Sorry it took so long, another doctor walked in—,” Heeseung turned and looked at you, his face growing concerned, “Y/N, what’s wrong?” 

You tilt your head to the side, “Hmm?”

Heeseung walked over to you, “You’re crying.” 

You quickly touched your fingertips to your face, feeling how wet your face was. 

You quickly wiped the tears away, but they kept continuing to fall. 

“Hey hey hey,” he said, his hands removing yours from your face and replacing them with his. His soft palms cupped your face, his thumbs wiping away the tears, “Y/N, what happened?” 

You couldn’t answer, or couldn’t give him an answer. You still didn’t understand why you were crying in the first place. 

Maybe it was the pressure of everything. The events that would unfold once Dorian was found. The fact that none of you could survive after this or everyone would live happily ever after with Dorian gone.

Maybe it was the painting on the wall and the fact that Heeseung was taken from his family. That the man standing in front of you, you were slowly falling for and the thought of him giving up his life for the rest of his pack scared you. Because you knew he would. 

“Y/N,” he called for you again, the tears still falling, “Baby, speak to me what’s wrong?” 

Heeseung lifted your face to look at him, his faded purple hair falling in his face. 

You took a deep breath, “The painting.” You decided to tell some truth. You couldn’t tell him the full reason. 

Heeseung glanced at his family's painting, then back at you, a soft giggle left his lips as he smiled, “Baby, you’re crying over a painting that’s older than time?” 

You rolled your eyes as he continued laughing, “It’s not funny!” 

He wiped the last bit of your tears, “What makes it not funny?” 

You just looked at him, trying to get him to read your answer off your face. 

“Y/N,” Heeseung sighed, “I am okay,” he cupped your face firmly, “My family is my pack now. I am not alone. If that’s what you’re worried about.” 

Heeseung could tell you weren’t telling him the full truth. But what place did he have to force you to tell him? To open up to him? And not open up just because he’s the king, but because you want to. 

But all you did was nod at him. Trying to push the rest of the feelings away. 

Your eyebrows furrowed, “Wait did you call me baby…twice?” 

Heeseung giggled, giving a small smirk, “Yeah I guess I did.” 

Without a second of hesitation, Heeseung’s lips were attached to yours. 

It was just one passionate kiss, and he parted from you. 

Heeseung dropped his hands and took a few steps back, “I uhhh…” 

You were more in shock than Heeseung was. 

As if on cue, the intercom speakers paged for Heeseung to go to the nurses' station. 

“Saved by the bell…” He awkwardly chuckled, slowly walking backward and out of his office. 

Heeseung quickly closed the door behind him, leaning against it as he stared straight ahead. 

What did he just do? Nothing has ever choked Heeseung up like what he just did. He’s a fucking king for crying out loud. 

Heeseung patted his face a couple of times, before walking to the nurses station. 

—

The house was silent. Heeseung could hear the tectonic plates of the earth moving from how quiet the house was. 

He tossed and turned in his bed, the only thing on his mind was you and the way your lips felt against his. 

He wanted to go to you. To bring you close to him and hold you tenderly in his arms. 

God, he hated the string of fate. He hated to be put in this situation, to begin with. He knew this pull towards you was his fate, but it was a question of when the string would just knot if it even would. 

Heeseung couldn’t take it anymore, his mind was driving him insane. 

He sat up in bed, ready to bolt out of his room when you opened the door. 

Heeseung sat frozen, watching as you slowly closed the door behind you. 

“Couldn’t sleep either?” you asked. 

Heeseung shook his head, sitting up more.

You couldn’t stop thinking about him, or the way he held your face and kissed you. It’s been driving your brain wild. 

You wanted to know what it would feel like to be completely held by him. To have his lips connect to yours and not stop. To feel his hands on you…

And the look on Heeseung’s face, you knew he was thinking the same thing. He could read you just as easily as you were able to read him right now. 

“Oh fuck,” he whispered, quickly jumping off his bed. 

He was on you within seconds, his body completely pressed to you as your back hit the door. 

Heeseung couldn’t put his lips on you fast enough. 

Your hands pulled through his hair as his hands roamed your body. 

His lips parted from yours only long enough to pull you on top of him on his bed. 

You stripped each other of your clothes one by one until it was bare skin against skin. 

You gripped his shoulders as he wrapped his arms around your waist as you moved against him. 

His sweet moans filled your ears, “Fuck…fuck…Y/N, oh fuck me.” 

Sex with Heeseung was pure bliss. Even once you both collapsed beside each other after you’ve both finished, it still felt like you were on cloud nine. 

You rolled over onto your stomach, propping your head into your hands. 

Heeseung followed your movements, lifting himself on his elbows. 

He pulled a lock of your hair behind your ear, then slowly traced his thumb over the scar he gave you from his blade. 

“I am so sorry for this…” he whispered. Heeseung couldn’t even begin to describe how terrible he felt marking you like this. 

You noticed an old mirror on the wall across from his bed, you tilted your head to the side, getting a better look at the scars. 

“Don’t worry about it.” You said shrugging it off. 

“No, I can’t just not worry about it!” He snapped, “I’ll have our magic girls fix it in the morning.”

“Heeseung,” you said, taking his hands in yours, “It’s fine. You did this out of desperation to protect your family.” You looked deeply into his eyes, seeing the worry in them, “You have a family to protect. You have your title as king to protect. I do not blame you at all for doing what you had to.” 

Heeseung looked away from you, tangling his fingers around yours, “It doesn’t excuse the fact that I did it.” 

“Stop beating yourself up, okay?” 

Heeseung just nodded. It was all he COULD do. He knew you weren’t going to let the girls heal the scar. 

Heeseung grabbed the blanket and pulled it over your bodies, “You’re so beautiful, you know that?” 

You scoffed and softly giggled, “I never thought I’d hear those words, you went from hating me to hating me a lot less.” 

Heeseung smiled, “We can call it hating you less.” 

You stared at him, your eyes moving over every inch of his face. You would have never thought this sweet, caring man in front of you was the vampire king. 

“Will you tell me how you became king?” 

Heeseung’s smile faded, “It’s…a long story.” 

“We have time. We are undead after all, stuck in eternity.” 

Heeseung sighed, “Well, long story short,” he started, “It was just Jay and myself at the time. Before we officially became a pack, we ran with the previous king.”

You nodded, waiting for him to continue. 

“He was a very…terrible person.” Heeseung’s whole body shook at the memories, “He treated us all like shit. He’s the one who nearly killed Jay and me. Deciding at the last second he wanted more warriors in his rank.” he took a deep breath, steadying his heart race, “It wasn’t until we traveled to Australia and found Jake, that it was the final straw for me.”

You put your hand on his shoulder, rubbing circles around his collarbone with your thumb. 

“He didn’t just turn Jake, there was an abundance of people he nearly killed just to add to his army. And all the women he turned he…”  

Heeseung didn’t need to finish the sentence for you to understand what he was getting at. 

“Anyways, there was a woman I was close with and the king…” Heeseung took another deep breath, “He killed her for disobeying him. I was filled with so much rage, I prepared for weeks on how I would kill him and then I did.” 

Heeseung stared at himself in the mirror, remembering the blood that covered his body. The power he inherited once the king’s undead heart stopped beating and was burned by fire. 

He remembers seeing his golden eyes for the first time, and how sharper his fangs were. 

“After that, I took the king's oath. Had some weapons forged in my honor, and then Jay, Jake, and I fled. We haven’t returned and that was the moment I decided to become a doctor. I wanted to put some good back into the world and show that not all vampires are monsters.” 

You met his eyes in the mirror, “That’s why you all drink from bags.”

Heeseung nodded, staring back into your eyes from his mirror. 

The way you two were both lying, the way your heartbeats synced and matched. 

“It’s like you’re my mirror,” Heeseung finally spoke again.

“What?” You asked, confused. 

“It’s like you’re my mirror,” he repeated, “I look at you and I see my reflection…I see us.” 

The both of you could feel the string of fate tying tighter around you, but still not knotting. 

Heeseung knew something was stopping the knot from completing. But he would wait for eternity if that’s what it took for you to become his mate…his queen. 

“I feel it too, you know.” you whispered, “This pull…” 

Heeseung shushed you, touching his forehead to yours, “We will figure it out, okay?” 

You nodded, trusting your king. 

He went to press a kiss to your lips, but his bedroom door flew open. 

“Hyung we, OH MY GOD!” 

Heeseung quickly covered you completely with the blanket, hiding you underneath. 

“Sunghoon!” the king frowned, “Don’t you know what fucking knocking is!” 

Sunghoon held his hands up over his face and stared off into a corner on the other side of the room, “Jesus fucking Christ, I didn’t know she was still in here.” 

“Still??” you questioned. 

“The whole house fucking heard you two!” Sunghoon retorted, “Anyways, Archer just called __, we found where Dorian is.” 

—

Heeseung slid two silver daggers to his belt loop attachments and pulled his black trench coat over his body. 

Jay laid out a map on the table, circling the area where Archer found him.

“Archer said he saw him entering from that side of the woods,” The dhampir pointed, “Archer said he also had roughly ten other vampires with him.” 

Jungwon stared down at the map, eyes wide. 

“Hyung, what’s wrong?” Niki asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“That’s the place he attacked __ and me that night,” Jungwon’s fist balled tightly, “He’s going back to where it all started.” 

Sunoo looks at Jungwon confused, “What need would he have to go back there?!” 

“It’s because of the clearing,” you said, everyone’s eyes now on you, “The moonlight hits it directly, and on a full moon which is right now…” 

“Our powers are amplified.” Jake sighed. 

“Exactly,” you continued, “And since he has spells and other magic items to amplify it even more…”

“He’d be unstoppable.” Sunghoon groaned, “That’s fucking perfect.” 

“It’s also a trap,” the dhampir chimed in, “We are the strongest pack in the world, mostly because of the fact we have the fucking vampire king, but we have multiple different races of creatures with different abilities.”

“Dorian knew we would narrow it down,” Heeseung said through his teeth, “He’s going to lure us there and use every bit of magic and item he has in his deck of cards to kill us all and inherit our power.” 

“He still doesn’t know you’re the king, right?” Jay asked. 

Heeseung shook his head, “No. We never told a soul after I killed the previous king. I took the oath and the ones who stand under the oath can’t say a word.”

You started to get worried because if things went south, Dorian would be hitting two birds with one stone. This pack and the king. 

Jungwon gritted his teeth, “Who gives a shit what he has up his sleeves, we have what he doesn’t: a family. Finish preparing everything and we leave ASAP.” 

Heeseung agreed, “The humans are staying here, are we all in agreement?” 

Jungwon and Jay’s mates disagreed, but the men agreed. 

Jay held his mate against him, his hands cupping her face, “I can’t lose you, you’re staying here.” 

Jungwon held his mate tight against him, “I’ll return to you, I promise.” 

Everyone finished the preparations and started to head out. 

Heeseung took your hand in his, “Ready to kill that son of a bitch?” 

You squeezed his hand, “More than ready.” 

—

Dorian’s laughter filled the clearing as he sensed the pack coming closer. 

Jungwon made his presence known first. 

“Dorian.”

“Ah! Won! We meet here again.”

Jungwon walked off towards the side of the clearing, “Yeah shit crazy. A full circle.” 

“Where is your pack? Hmm?” Dorian looked around the woods, “I know they are here.” 

Jungwon chuckled, “They are doing the same thing your goof nuts are doing, scouting.” 

Dorian raised a brow, “Goof nuts? Really Won?” 

Jungwon shrugged, “We aren’t stupid like you thought we would be. Flying into here blind.” 

Dorian laughed once again, “Except you did come in blind.” 

Jungwon furrowed his brows, watching as Dorian snapped his fingers. 

A rush of vampires came down from the trees. Jungwon counted more than twenty. 

“Damnit!” growled, “He had more than Archer thought.” 

Jungwon steadied himself, trusting the process. 

Before the vampires could even touch Jungwon, the other members circled him, their weapons drawn. 

Dorian’s vampires jumped back, hissing at the pack. 

You jumped in front of Jungwon, staring directly at Dorian, your blades held up. 

“Now my vamps,” Dorian softly spoke, “You got startled by eight full-blooded vampires, a dhampir, witch, and elf? That’s…”

Dorian’s eyes wandered between you all. 

You smirked, “What’s wrong, Dorian?”

He stared back with the most pissed-off look, “Where is the oldest?” 

“Right here.” 

Dorian quickly turned around right in time for Heeseung swinging his blade, Dorian backed up and Heeseung barely cut him across his chest. 

Dorian’s hands flew to his chest as smoke raised from his chest, “God damn your blades.” He hissed. 

Heeseung twirled the blades between his fingers, “Let’s end this game of yours, shall we? It’s been going on way too long.” 

“Oh it has, and it’ll end with your bodies burning!” 

“GO NOW!” Jungwon screamed, initiating the pack to fight. 

One by one, the pack took down Dorian’s vampires. 

The witch and elf set their hands in a blaze to burn their bodies. 

But the fight with Dorian wasn’t over. 

Heeseung hasn’t fought like this since he killed the previous king. 

Dorian was also on another level than the king. Dorian had spells that he was throwing at Heeseung. Items that were helping boost the spells. 

He also was moving too quickly, making it harder for Heeseung to get any major damage done. 

Sunghoon and Jake jumped the last of Dorian’s vampires, tearing their bodies to pieces. 

“Hex girl!” Sunghoon called his mate. 

She responded with flames to burn the body. 

You looked over at Heeseung and Dorian, seeing the struggle. 

“Guys!” You called to the pack, “Get Dorian!” 

Everyone rushed him. 

Every single one of them had some sort of revenge to get towards him. 

Dorian has threatened the lives of their mates and their family. They weren’t going to let him get away. 

Each member took turns attacking, Heeseung following up every single time. 

You saw an opening behind Dorian and jumped on his back. 

“You fucking traitor!” Dorian yelled, desperately clawing at your arms and dodging the members. 

You fought against his arms to angle your blades at him, “Me? The traitor?! You left me for dead! I worshiped the ground you walked on and stood by your side for hundreds of years!”

Dorian wore a shit-eating grin, “I’m going to fucking kill you all. 

Heeseung’s eyes widened, “EVERYONE GET BACK!” 

Dorian released a burst of energy from his body, catching everyone in the blast in some way. 

Heeseung’s arms burned from the blast. He gritted his teeth, only for his face to fall. 

Dorian held you by your neck, one of your blades shoved into your stomach as your skin also burned from the impact of the blast. 

Heeseung’s breathing became uneven, rage filling him. 

Dorian glances over, “Oh my,” he chuckled, “You’re in love with this traitor here?” 

Heeseung gripped his blades. 

“Hyung!” Jungwon called for him.

But Heeseung toned him out. The only thing he could see was you. 

You slowly clawed at Dorian’s hands, getting lightheaded from the blood you were losing 

Heeseung started to build up his power, causing his brothers to yell at him even more. 

“Heeseung!!” Jay screamed, “Don’t do it!” 

“Heeseung!!” Jake joined. 

One by one each of his pack members yelled for him. 

Heeseung drew in the power he inherited from killing the previous king. 

Heeseung’s fangs came to a point, and his eyes shifted. 

Dorian’s eyes widened as he dropped you to the ground. 

“Oh, this is fantastic!” Dorian wore an evil smile, “This whole time I was hunting for where the king could be hiding, just for him to have been in front of me all along!” 

“__, __,” Heeseung called to the witch and elf, “Get Y/N.” 

Dorian paid no attention to the girls picking you up from the ground and dragging you back to the others. 

Jay kneeled beside you, slightly pulling at the blade stuck in your stomach. 

You let out a small groan of pain, you started kicking and swinging your arms, and Jay stopped moving the blade. Niki and __ holding your arms and legs down.  

“Fuck!” He cursed, his focus going back to Heeseung. 

“Jay!” The witch snapped her fingers at him, “Hey! Focus on Y/N.” 

Jay narrowed his eyes between the witch and you, “You want me to choose between my brother and someone who ain’t even in my pack?!” 

Jake touched Jay’s shoulder, “They are bonded, I can feel it. The string just isn’t knotted.” 

“I can feel it too,” Niki said, “It’s faint but it’s there.” 

“Don’t you fucking let her die!” Heeseung cried out, slowly standing back up to his feet, his knuckles white from gripping his blades. 

“Jay, __ and myself will provide the numbing magic so you can pull the blade out,” The witch said. 

He nodded, the girls hovering over you as Jay slowly attempted to remove the blade. 

You turned your head to Heeseung, your vision blurring. 

“Why don’t you just die already, ya?” Dorian asked, “Give me the power that I deserve.” 

Heeseung held his blades at eye level, “Only thing you deserve is to rot in fucking hell.” 

Dorian cracked his knuckles and ran full force at Heeseung. 

Heeseung pushed forward, pushing his speed past its normal limits. 

He swung the blade, cutting Dorian’s right hand off. 

“Damnit!” Dorian screamed and pushed forward again. 

Heeseung dodged him, sliding across the grass and slicing his Achilles heels. 

Dorian went down to one knee. His fangs made an appearance as he held his only hand over where the other would be missing. 

Sunoo and Jake appeared on both sides of Dorian, grabbing his arms as the dhampir pulled his head back by his hair. 

Jungwon and Sunghoon stood beside Heeseung. 

All their eyes glowed bright crimson and golden. 

Dorian laughed, “You think killing me will be the end? That the rest of my followers won’t come after you now that you’ve shown who you truly are?” 

You regained your consciousness, feeling the pain from the blade that was now missing. 

Jay held pressure to your stomach, as the witch and elf used their healing magic. 

“It’s working,” the elf said, “She’s awake again.” 

Jay slowly lifted his hands, seeing your wound closing up. 

Jay relaxed, looking back over at his brothers. 

You rolled your head over to Heeseung, seeing how they surrounded Dorian. 

“I don’t give a shit who knows who I am.” Heeseung hisses, placing both blades against Dorian’s neck, “I am the fucking vampire king in the strongest pack in the world, no one will dare cross me.” 

Dorian regained his shit-eating grin, “I’ll see you in hell, vampire king.” 

Sunoo and Jake wasted no more time, tearing his arms from his body. 

Jungwon and Sunghoon went for his legs, breaking them apart. 

The dhampir held her grip tightly on Dorian’s hair as he screamed in agony. 

Heeseung, with all his force, pushed his blades through Dorian’s neck, cutting it clean off his body. His blood splattered all over Heeseung’s face and clothes. 

“Babe!” Sunghoon called for his witch, her rushing to his side, her hands bursting into flames and setting Dorian’s body on fire. 

The sun finally rose, and the clearing became quiet except for the sounds of the fire. 

You were able to fully sit up, with the help of Jay and the elf. 

Heeseung hung his head low, slowly placing his blades back into his belt. 

It was over. It was finally over. 

“Heeseung!” You called out to him. 

He loved the way you’d say his name. 

He quickly rushed to your side, helping you stand up. 

“Are you okay? Baby?” Heeseung cupped your face, searching for any more wounds. 

“Hee, I am fine.” You said placing your hands over his, “It’s all over.” 

Tears filled your eyes, and the same did with Heeseung’s. He killed the man who had hunted and hurt his family. 

Heeseung pulled you into a kiss, his arms wrapping tightly around you. 

The string of fate finally completed its knot. 

“It’s because of Dorian,” the young vampire girl said, “He had this hold on them, it was complicating the bond.” 

The witch agreed, “Heeseung and Y/N, probably couldn’t fully let themselves have someone until their duties were done.”

Sunghoon raised his brows, “Do you feel that?” 

The members at that moment felt it. 

Heeseung released his lips from yours, turning to look at his pack.  

You also turned to look and the site surprised you. 

They all were kneeling, heads hung low but in an honoring way. Even the witch and the elf copied the men. 

“What’s going on?” You asked, looking back up at Heeseung. 

He took your chin between his fingers, “You’re my mate now, but it’s not just that. You’re now a queen.” 

You looked back out at your new family, feeling the bonds everyone shared. The respect they now held for you, and it wasn’t just because of Heeseung or that you’re bonded to them now. 

“Okay you idiots, stand up. Jeez, nothing has changed.” Heeseung teased, running over to his brothers, all seven of them huddling together. 

The happiness Heeseung was feeling was indescribable. 

He could finally truly be who he wanted, not just as himself, but as a doctor and even a king. 

Heeseung had a family. He had you. 

And that’s all that mattered in the end. 

“Let’s go home now.” Heeseung said, “We no longer have to live in complete hiding.” 

Heeseung wrapped his arms around you as you all walked together home.

the end ♡

Niki knelt down, his fingertips brushing against the grass. The wind blew his blonde hair across his face, his eyes narrowing down at the open water below him. Searching for any clue. 

Jake suddenly appeared beside him, his arm resting on Niki’s shoulder. 

“Find anything yet?” His Aussie accent rushed out. 

Niki nodded, “Yeah, a whole lot of nothing still.” 

Jake sighed, “Keep searching, the entrance has to be here somewhere.” 

Niki stared at his hyung, seeing the desperation on his face to find his mate. 

“I need to find her…” Jake whispered. 

Niki rubbed Jake’s back, “I know hyung, I know.” 

Niki understood how Jake was feeling, obviously not to the same degree, but still understood. 

That hole of having __ and __ being gone hit all of them. The only difference is Niki and the others don’t feel the pain that Jake and Sunghoon feel. There’s a pinch of something, but it doesn’t affect anything else. 

The worst part of all this was Niki couldn’t help but feel disconnected from everything that was happening. 

He wanted to get the girls back just as much as everyone else, but he also felt like this was major bullshit. 

Maybe it was because Niki didn’t believe in soulmates. 

Not like there were a lot of seventeen-year-old forever vampires anyway. 

A girl is the whole reason Niki ended up as this undead being in the first place. 

It was the day before Niki’s birthday. Snow was falling from the sky, it was the perfect day to confess his feelings. It was his first-ever crush. Walked her home from school that day and was attacked in broad daylight. 

Niki survived, she didn’t. 

The vampire venom spread through Niki’s body way too quickly, turning him into a monster. 

The first thirty years were hell. Niki couldn’t control his blood thirst and killed multiple people in the process. 

It wasn’t until another thirty years before Heeseung and Jay found him. He was on the hunt for human blood, the previous human blood stained on his clothes, face, and down his neck. Niki ran into the two of them on his way into the town. 

Heeseung could feel the bloodlust and Niki felt like he was in danger. The only vampires Niki ever encountered were the ones that almost killed him, and the ones he’s had to fight just to get a bite in. Heeseung could sense Niki was terrified, mostly because of how he looked. 

Vampires usually don’t like being exposed, and Niki was terrified his time was up. Heeseung and Jay would kill him, tear him to pieces, and burn his body.  

“It’s okay…” Heeseung whispered, “I can see what you’re thinking, it’s all over your face.” 

Niki backed away, holding a hand up, “Nah, don’t you fucking come near me.” 

And man did it take Heeseung and Jay a lot of time to talk Niki into calming down. Eventually, they adopted him into their pack. 

Niki remembers walking into the safe house for the first time, seeing four other faces stare at him, but welcoming him nonetheless. 

It was the first time Niki felt at home since he was turned. 

And hundreds of years later here he is. Fighting to protect an even bigger family. Even if he doesn’t believe in a lot that’s going on. 

Again, there aren’t many other vampires stuck in their teens anyway. The possibility of Niki even finding a soulmate (if they even exist), is very slim. 

“We need to go,” Jake sighed and snapped Niki out of the past memories.

Niki nodded, standing tall beside his hyung. 

Jake was holding back his emotions, Niki could feel it. That bond tugged hard. 

“Hyung, we will get __ back.” Niki reassured him, “Once we find where his entrance is and when __ can produce a stronger masking of our scent with her elf magic, the easier it’ll be to get in.” 

Jake nodded, rolling his eyes, “Aren’t I the one that should be comforting you? I’m the older one.” Jake chuckled, draping his arm around the younger’s neck, “Come on, let’s go.” 

—

Niki spun the soccer ball on his fingertips, tossing it up to the ceiling, spinning, tossing it again, and spinning. 

He was sprawled out on the couch, mind in a faraway place. 

The front door opened, and the sound of bags dropping to the floor and shoes being kicked off echoed in the apartment. 

Niki leaned his head over the armrest of the couch, “Welcome home hyung.” 

Heeseung glances down at the maknae, “Don’t you have your own home?” 

Niki sat up, spinning the soccer ball in his hands, “I mean, yeah.” 

Heeseung sat at the kitchen table, sliding out of his doctor's coat, “Don’t you have school tomorrow? I’ll have Sunoo come pick you up.” 

“Hyung no!” Niki pouted. 

Heeseung raised a brow, noticing a duffle bag sitting in the corner by the couch. 

“Niki..” 

“Heeseung, they annoy me.” 

Heeseung let out a small chuckle, “Yeah?” 

“It was fine when it was just me and Sunoo, but after __ moved in…” 

Heeseung sighed, he knew why Niki wanted to be here. Heeseung knew of Niki’s history and how it all took place, being around a cute cuddly couple probably isn’t his favorite thing in the world right now. 

There’s enough on his plate with unfortunately attending high school again, dealing with the major loss the pack has taken, on top of his roommate's mate moving in. The kid has a lot going on. 

“Plus, you’re here alone, so I am here to keep you company.” Niki smiled, trying to win his hyung over by acting cute. 

Heeseung wasn’t buying it. 

“Hyung, you’re my legal guardian anyways. This would just make it easier.” 

Heeseung knew Niki had a point. The only problem Heeseung worried about was Niki being alone. 

Heeseung always had to be at the hospital, and when he wasn’t, he was searching with the others to find the entrance to where Dorian was hiding. Niki didn’t always attend the search parties, so if he wasn’t at soccer practice, he would be at home by himself. 

Niki continued to pout until Heeseung gave in. 

“Fine, but nothing changes, you’re still attending school.” 

Niki didn’t like the school idea but was happy to stay with Heeseung either way. 

—

Niki dropped his head into his palm, staring off out the window. 

His classmates all talked amongst themselves about the latest trends and the soccer games coming up. 

Niki tuned out the noise, ready to just get the hell out of here. 

Niki knew his classmates gossiped about him, about how he always kept to himself unless spoken to. how he is really good at soccer and thinks he’s “the king” or something. They even make fun of his brothers, and that’s one thing Niki has to bite his tongue on. 

Niki didn’t see the point in trying to make friends at these schools. Niki will continue living an immortal life and losing friends along the way, so it’s best to not make any. 

Get in and get out as Jay would put it. 

There wasn’t any point to any of it no matter what, he’d just change schools again once he graduated or if his family moved again. 

“Okay class, settle down!” The homeroom teacher yells, the room of teenagers quieting down. “We have a new student joining us today.” 

Niki slightly glanced over to the entrance to the classroom, curious to see the new student just as much as the next person. 

Niki slowly lifted his head from his palm, lips parted and eyes slightly widened. 

You stood at the front of the class, glancing around at your new peers, eyes connecting with Niki’s. 

You were a vampire. Niki couldn’t believe it. Another vampire that was his age and just so happened to be in the same class as him? 

What are the odds? 

You introduced yourself to the class and then waited for the teacher to assign you to an open seat. 

You kept eye contact with the blonde vampire in the back of the class as you walked to your seat. 

Your new classmates already seemed to take notice, their whispers being “Do they know each other?”, “she’s the first girl that has gotten Nishimura’s attention”, “They have to know each other, there is no way.” 

You finally broke eye contact once you sat in your seat, looking amongst the teenagers around you, wondering how mortals can care so much about things that shouldn’t matter. 

Niki looked back out the window, once again dropping his head into his palm. 

Niki could feel your gaze on him throughout the school day. He couldn’t help but wonder if you too have struggled to find other vampires the same age. 

During lunch, Niki made it a mission to find you. 

You sat on the floor in between two bookcases in the library, eyes closed and earbuds blasting music into your eardrums.

A slight tap came to your shoulder, you opened your eyes and looked up, seeing Niki standing beside you. 

You pulled your earbuds out, raising an eyebrow at him, “Yes?” 

“Uhh…” Niki didn’t think this far. He pushed his hair back, looking at the other bookshelf in front of you, “Mind if I sit?” Damn, he was so cheesy. 

You nodded, “Go ahead fellow blood drinker,” you teased, a smile formed on his face as he sat across from you. 

Niki tried to read you, thinking if he stared at you long and hard enough he could figure out every answer to his question without actually having to ask. 

You looked him up and down, “Nishimura, if you have something to say just say it, I’m not going to bite.” 

Niki glared at you, “That’s the best vampire joke you could come up with?” 

You shrugged, “I saw the chance and I took it.” 

He took a deep breath, trying to find the right words. 

“Sorry,” was all he could say, “I have never met another vampire that was well…”

“Stuck in a seventeen-year-old's body for eternity?” 

Niki nodded, “Yeah…exactly.” He was in awe at how you understood. 

“Makes it harder for us to find mates, that’s for sure.” 

And you lost him. 

Niki slumped back against the bookcase, gently laughing.

You didn’t understand what was so funny, “What are you laughing about?” 

Niki shrugged, leaning his head against the bookcase, making eye contact with you, “I don’t believe in soulmates.” 

You furrow your brows, “You don’t?”

“Nope.” He looked away, reading the titles of the books.

“Do you not believe as a whole, or just don’t believe in a soulmate for yourself?” 

Niki lifted his head, seeing how serious you were about that question. 

He didn’t know how to answer it. All he could do was stare at you. 

“You’re in a pack,” you said, “And those in your pack have soulmates, that’s why you can answer my question.” 

It wasn’t hard to tell that Niki was in a pack. Pack hunters have a totally different energy. 

Niki decided to dodge the question, slowly leaning back against the bookcase, “What about you? In a pack? You kinda give off that solo vibe.” 

You tuck your bottom lip between your teeth, deciding how to answer the question, “I am indeed solo. Just do my own thing.”

“I was solo once, and it wasn’t fun.” It surprised Niki how easily he was able to talk to you to even bring up his old past.

You smiled at the embarrassment on his face, he was too cute. 

“Anyways, I am Nishimura Riki, but I go by Niki.” he held out his hand, “We didn’t properly introduce each other yet.” 

You stare down at his hand, then back up at his face, “What time period are you from, Niki? A handshake?” 

Niki rests his hand down, softly scoffing, “I’m two hundred and ten.”

You snorted a small laugh, “Damn you’re old.” 

Niki smiled, clicking his tongue, “Yeah? and you?” 

“I’m only a hundred and fifteen.” you gave him a silly smile. 

“Wow, a whole ninety-five years younger than me.” 

You both laughed, “Unfortunately we are still seventeen.”  you said. 

Niki nodded, “Yeah, well this is the first time I have been okay with being stuck at seventeen.” 

Your heart skipped a beat. Staring into his eyes. 

Niki quickly shot up, startling you. 

“Well, lunch is almost over, head back to class?”

Before you could answer, your phone buzzed in your skirt pocket, “Uhh I am actually going to skip the rest of the day, I have some moving things to do.” 

Niki clicked his tongue, “Damn girl first day and you’re already skipping the rest of the day?” 

You shook his head at him teasing you, “Shut up and get back to class Nishimura.” 

Niki smiled wide as he walked away.

“Oh! Niki!” 

He stopped and turned to face you, waiting for you.

“I am Y/N,” you softly waved a hand at your side, “I didn’t tell you my name earlier.” 

“Well, Y/N,” Niki said, “I’ll see you around then.” 

He disappeared, only to poke his head back around the bookcase.

“Actually, want to hang out? Like after my soccer practice today? Or even tomorrow? Or whenever you prefer.”

You nodded, “Yeah I would actually love to hang out. It would be nice to make some friends. But I can’t tonight, so tomorrow?”

Niki nodded in agreement, “Tomorrow then.” 

And he officially disappeared this time. 

You pulled your phone from your pocket and read the messages. 

dni: have time for a chat? you: oops can’t sorry! school work…bummer.  dni: Y/N you: ? dni: now

you sigh, dropping your phone in your lap. 

—

Heeseung stood by the table, Sunoo and __ were at his left, Jake and Sunghoon on the right. 

A notepad with directions and any hints to lead to Dorian was written on it along with a map of the surrounding area. 

Heeseung covered his mouth with his hands, staring down at the map. 

“What about here?” Sunghoon asked, pointing at a specific point on the map. 

“No, Niki and I already checked there,” Jake answered. 

Heeseung’s eyes searched every inch of the map, trying to piece together where to find Dorian. 

Sunoo groaned, “We’ve been doing circles. There’s nothing but open water. We’ve gone diving multiple times as well to see if it’s under but it’s clearly not.” 

Sunoo’s mate sighs as well, rubbing his back, “I wish I could help find a more specific area…”

“No, __ it’s okay,” Jake said, “You’ve already done so much to help.” 

Sunghoon dropped his face in his hands, frustration isn’t even close to describing how he was feeling. 

“Where are the others right now?” Sunghoon asked. 

Heeseung sighed, “Jungwon and Jay are searching the area right now. The girls are at Jay’s apartment and Niki…I don’t know.” 

“I am right here,” Niki says, overhearing as he was walking inside the apartment, “What’s going on?” 

“Just still trying to find where Dorian could be hiding.” __ said. 

Niki walked to the table, his eyes scanning the map, shaking his head, “I feel like we’ve looked everywhere.” 

Everyone nodded in agreement. 

Niki slumped down into a chair, his brain wracking the memories of running through the area, trying to pinpoint anything. But nothing ever came up. 

“Let’s call it a night,” Heeseung finally said, “We’ll change searching shifts for tomorrow and just keep looking.” 

“It’s unfortunately all we can do…” Sunoo softly whispered, looking over at his hyungs, seeing their heads hung low, just wanting their mates back. 

Sunghoon pulled his phone from his jacket pocket, staring down at the lockscreen photo of himself and his witch mate. He silently begged for any hint so he could find you. 

There was a small tapping sound just then. Everyone’s heads perked up, their ears on high alert. Eyes quickly roaming. 

The apartment fell silent and the six of them listened as the tapping continued. 

Niki slowly turned his head towards the window, his brows furrowing at what he was looking at, “A raven?” 

Everyone turned to look at the window, a large raven sat at the windowsill, with a paper rolled and tied to its neck with a red string. 

Sunghoon quickly shot up from the chair, “It’s from __.”

Sunghoon rushed to the window, opening it and letting the raven hop inside. 

The raven stood still while Sunghoon untied the paper from its neck and once it was free, it flew back out the window. 

Sunghoon watched as the raven flew away, his heart breaking. 

“What’s in the note, hoon?” Jake asked, appearing beside his best friend. 

Niki followed behind, hovering over his hyungs shoulders. 

Sunghoon unrolled the paper, a smile forming on his face. 

“It’s coordinates.”

“What?” Heeseung rushed over, taking the paper from Sunghoon’s hands, and reading the coordinates written.

Everyone rushed back to the map. 

Heeseung grabbed a marker, lining up where the coordinates led, and landed in the middle of the forest. 

“We found it,” Heeseung whispered. 

Jake fell to the floor, face covered by his hands, “We finally fucking did it.” 

Sunghoon grabbed his chest, clinging to his white tee shirt, “My hex girl risked sending a raven…god, I love her…” 

“Sunoo, call Jay and Jungwon, and let them know what we found.” Heeseung asked, Sunoo immediately jumped from the table and dialed one of their numbers, “And __, can you use the paper that __ wrote on to find exactly where the coordinates lead? To get a picture of what we are looking for.” 

The elf took the paper in her hands, rubbing her thumbs over the ink written on it, and nodded, “I can, but it might not be enough, I might get only a small enough vision, nothing we haven’t already gotten.”

Heeseung gripped the marker in his hands, feeling like their two steps forward were also a step back. 

“What if we also used this?” Sunghoon lifted a black feather up into the air, “Something told me to take a feather from the raven…that it would somehow help. Since it’s __’s raven, and the bird clearly had to have been in that area for her to call it and then send it to find me.” 

Sunoo’s mate rushed to Sunghoon, taking the weather and feeling it with her hands, she smiled wide, “This is plenty, it has __’s magic all over it. It will work.” 

Sunoo returned, “Jay and Jungwon are on the way here. I told them everything.” 

Heeseung nodded, “__, start the process of the searching magic, so once the other two show up we can fully start.”

Niki felt a rush of adrenaline, they had waited for so long to find Dorian and put him down. They still didn’t fully know what he was planning, or why he wanted the pack dead, but Niki couldn’t help but finally feel relieved that it would be over soon. 

Heeseung noticed a difference in Niki, that he was more upbeat and not as quiet as normal. 

“What’s with you?” Heeseung asked, causing Niki to stutter in his seat.

“Huh?” 

Heeseung studied the maknae’s eyes, “You met someone.” 

The others' attention looked at Niki, his face turning a soft shade of pink.

“I met another vampire today…she’s my age.” 

Sunghoon let out a whistle, “Well look at that.” 

Niki shook his head, “It’s not like that, she’s super cool.”

Heeseung could already tell what it was from Niki’s reactions, but he knew the maknae had to discover everything himself. 

The topic dropped once Jungwon and Jay showed up, their mates following right behind them. 

“Get us updated,” Jungwon said, leaning his body against the table, “Have we started the searching process?” 

“Not yet, we waited for you,” Sunoo answered. 

Jungwon nodded, “Let’s get started. Once we have a clear vision of where this place is at, we will scope it out tomorrow and then will make an infiltration plan and get that son of a bitch the following day.” 

Everyone was in agreement, and the hunt for Dorian officially started. 

—

You stood in the alleyway, blood dripping from your fangs as you licked your lips, wiping the remaining blood from your face on the back of your hand. 

You looked down at the sacrifice of your meal, feeling the small inch of pain of what you’ve just done, but had to do. You needed to eat to survive, after all. 

You tilted your head to the side, “It’s about time you showed up.” 

Dorian walked from behind you, looking down at the body on the ground, “Awe, you didn’t leave any for me?”

You rolled your eyes, “Again, you kept me waiting. Wasn’t going to continue playing with my food until you showed up.” 

“Watch your mouth, Y/N.” Dorian stepped over the body, leaning against the wall, his eyes shooting daggers into you, “get me updated.” 

You sigh, standing in front of him, “Nothing has changed. They still have no idea where to find you.”

Dorian clicked his tongue, “Not yet. Our pretty little witch prisoner sent out a raven earlier. That’s what I was dealing with and why I was late.” 

You crossed your arms, not caring about this war Dorian started with himself and one of the most powerful vampire packs. 

“Why go this far? I thought you said the falling out between you and them was ancient history.” 

“Oh it is, but that doesn’t mean I am over it.” Dorian walked closer to you, “I need their power, their mates. The moment I kill their mates in front of them and then kill them and take in every ounce of power they have…I will be unstoppable.”

You looked away from him, “All this just to be the Vampire King.”

“Exactly!” He said, taking your jaw between his fingers and forcing you to look at him, “That’s why you’re going to lure them in with their little one.” 

You shoved him off you, “I told you I don’t give a shit, fight this on your own.” 

Dorian was quick on his feet as he was now standing behind you and a knife was pressed to your cheek, “Did you forget your place? Hmm?”

You took a deep breath in, letting a soft “no,” leave your lips. 

“Good.” Dorian released the knife and his grip on you, “Win the youngest one over, I don’t care how you do it as long as you don’t mate with him.” 

You shook your head, “It won’t happen, he doesn’t believe in soulmates.” 

Laughter erupted from Dorian, “What a shame.”

You couldn’t get Niki’s soft smile out of your mind, how much hurt that was held in that smile from his past trauma, but also the happiness he held in it as well because of the ones who saved him. 

It felt wrong to hand over Niki and his pack to Dorian. You already knew he was going to use the mates as his wild card to bend them to his will. 

But you knew you also couldn’t defy Dorian. 

Dorian starts to walk away from you, his voice echoing down the alley, “Do your job and lure the youngest in. Their power will be mine.”

—

Niki nervously tapped his foot against the floor, his eyes darting to the clock every five minutes. 

The school day couldn’t go any slower. 

His heart raced every time he would catch you staring at him. The way you would smile at him and push your hair behind your ears. It was driving him insane. 

The school bell rang, and Niki was the first out of the classroom, you followed right behind him. 

“So blondie, what is the plan for today?” You asked, keeping up with his pace. 

“I have soccer practice first, so I figured we could hang out once I’m finished?” 

You nodded, “I’ll even watch the practice.” 

Hearing those words was enough to pull at Niki’s heartstrings, quickly shook his head and shoved that feeling down. 

Niki also noticed how everyone was staring at the two of them. You also noticed. 

The whispers filled his ears. One by one making comments on how he finally wasn’t a loner, that they wondered how much he paid you to hang around them. Pointless bullshit after another.

“Niki,” your voice tuning him back to reality, pushing the whispers away, “Just ignore them, they aren’t worth the time.” 

He knew you were right. Niki smirked to himself, remembering they are just mortals wasting their lives with pointless bullshit. They had a short time. Niki had eternity. 

You sat in the bleachers, watching as Niki and his teammates did their stretches and warmups. 

There was another crowd of girls gushing over how cute all the boys were. Niki’s name came up, catching your attention. 

“Nishimura is so cute in his practice uniform~” one giggled. 

“I know! Gosh, I wish I was brave enough to ask him out, think he would say yes if I did?” 

You groaned in disgust, feeling a small hint of jealousy. The girls were pretty, and you couldn’t help but think how nice they would look standing next to Niki. 

His arm wrapped around them, his bite mark sitting beautifully on her neck. 

You snapped yourself out of your thoughts but still passed a glare at the girls. 

Little did you know Niki watched the whole interaction. 

He smiled warmly at seeing you getting worked up over some mortal girls. 

The coach called the players over, telling them a neighboring school came for a practice match. 

Niki couldn’t focus. His brain was in a million different places. Mostly back with you. How you’re sitting in the bleachers watching him and how bad he was sucking right now. 

The other team was winning. Niki couldn’t stay focused long enough. His teammates were even giving him hell for not being on his “a game”. 

You could sense he wasn’t feeling okay. Your heart pulled to him and you wanted to run across the field and give him the biggest hug. 

But you knew you couldn’t. So you settled for the next best thing. 

“NIKI!!!!”

Niki turned to you when hearing his name fall from your lips. 

All it took was making eye contact with you, for that little stupid string of fate to wrap around you both from across this field. 

Niki stood in place just looking at you and how big your smile was. 

You felt it too. The pull of that knot of fate. 

Before the knot could fully be tied, Niki’s coach called to him, gaining his attention back. 

You let out a breath, slowly sitting back down in the bleachers. 

You stared down at your black Converse, and a thought crossed your brain.

“Dorian will kill me too.” 

—

You and Niki walked side by side, the cool night breeze blowing your hair into your face. 

Niki took the opportunity to pull your hair behind your ears, slowly rubbing his thumbs against your cheeks. 

You tried to not look at him, wanting to push whatever fate had in store for you away. You couldn’t do this. It would get you both killed. 

Niki noticed your difference in mood. You wouldn’t look at him. Talk to him. Barely agreed to walk with him. 

“Y/N.” he called for you, “Look at me, please.” 

“I can’t…Niki.” 

Niki sighed and looked off into the distance, “Is it because I told you I don’t believe in soulmates?” 

You start to say something, to tell him the full truth. But you stopped.

Niki looked back at your face, watching you struggle to look anywhere but him hurt. He wanted your eyes on him, and only one way popped into his mind. 

Niki quickly leaned down, placing his lips gently on yours. 

You backed away quickly, making eye contact with him, “What the fuck, Niki?!” 

Niki smirked at your reaction, getting what he wanted, “It got you to look at me.” 

You groaned, throwing daggers at him with your eyes, “So you think kissing me was the way to go!?”

Niki just kept smiling at you, “I think I am ready to believe in soulmates.”

You relaxed your body, looking at him with such care, “What?”

He nodded, “I am ready to believe in soulmates.” he walked back to you, closing the gap. One hand rests on your waist while the other holds your face, “It took meeting you for me to realize it. I thought long and hard after you asked me if I didn’t believe in soulmates for myself, and you were right. The night I was turned, I was going to confess to the first girl I ever loved. But I watched her get murdered in front of me, thinking I was next but well..here we are. I stopped believing in love and the only love I accepted was from my pack. But one by one I watched as they each found a mate. Maybe I was just jealous because I am two hundred and ten stuck in a seventeen-year-old body for eternity and there aren’t many others stuck in the same situation.”

You tried to hold back the tears after hearing Niki’s past story and what he went through. 

“So finding a soulmate felt useless to me, that was until you walked into the classroom yesterday…Y/N, I know you felt that knot too. That pull of those stupid ass strings of fate…”

You slowly nodded, forcing yourself right now to not give in to it. 

Niki brushed your hair out of your face and wiped the small tear that came from your eye, “be my mate, Y/N. We have eternity to figure everything else out.” 

The pull was stronger and harder to fight. 

You wanted to be with him. Wanted to show him love and care. To spend that eternity to figure life out with him. 

Niki leaned his forehead against yours, “I already stopped fighting it…let it go.” 

You closed your eyes, stood on your tiptoes, and connected your lips to his. The string of fate sealing its knot. 

Niki smiled into the kiss before giggling and breaking the kiss. 

You looked up at your soulmate, his cute face bringing every ounce of joy into your own soul. 

Niki’s phone started vibrating in his pocket. 

He quickly glanced down, seeing a spam of messages from Heeseung. 

heeseung: We found it. Sunoo and Jay just returned. Come home ASAP!! Like right now. 

“Everything okay?” You asked, quickly glancing down at Niki’s phone, seeing the messages. 

“Yeah, I just have to go home, my brothers are looking for me.” 

Niki planted a soft kiss on your forehead, “I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

And then he vanished. 

Dread filled you. They did it. They found where Dorian was hiding, where YOU were hiding. 

“Didn’t I tell you to not mate with the young one?” 

Your heart stopped, panic settling in. 

“No no, Y/N. Better calm down before he senses something is wrong.” 

You knew he was right. and The last thing you needed was Niki to find out everything. 

Dorian appeared in front of you, the biggest smirk on his face. 

“This is a very big turn of events, who knew this whole time you were falling for the younger one? Hmm?”

Dorian’s words angered you, “You’re the one that’s had me stalking them for who knows how long now! This is your fault!” 

“Oh no, sweet Y/N,” he softly snapped, pinching your face, “This is fate's fault. I had no control over it. Don’t you know you don’t pick your soulmates? Fate does.” 

You shoved him away, trying to keep yourself as calm as possible so Niki doesn’t sense anything. Or even worse, his whole pack sensing something wrong. 

“Now what to do, what to do.” Dorian circled around you. 

“I won’t do it. Whatever it is, I won’t do it.” 

Dorian stopped walking, “Excuse me?” 

You took a step back, but Dorian was way too quick. 

His hand met your throat, and your back to the pavement. 

“You really needed to be reminded, huh little one? Did you forget who created you?!? I DID!” Dorian’s voice growled. The memory of the night he nearly killed you but decided at the last minute that you’d be a perfect puzzle piece to his game.

You gripped both hands around his wrist, trying with all your strength to push him off you. But nothing worked. 

“Hahahahaaaa! See, Y/N? The power that I have obtained just from that dhampir and witch alone. Imagine the power I’d behold once that damn pack is gone!”

Your eyes widened, shaking your head, “No please.” 

“It’s too late, your little mate will be killed with the rest of them. But don’t worry, I’ll make sure to keep you alive until the world ends to suffer for the pain you just caused.”

Tears swelled your eyes. You just got your soulmate, and you’ll soon lose him too. 

“Now that I also know they have found where we live, I think it's time to lure them in, ya?” Dorian balled up his other fist, “You’ll go find your mate, show them what I have done to you, and lead them to our home. That damn elf of theirs has masked their scents, but since you’re connected to them.”

You blacked out after that sentence. Doing everything you could to hide the pain so Niki wouldn’t come running. 

—

Everyone ran around Heeseung’s apartment gathering all the supplies and weapons needed. 

Niki helped Sunghoon and Jake pile the supplies into backpacks. 

“It’s almost time,” Jungwon announced, “The earlier we hit his compound, the better.” 

Niki wondered if you could feel the stress he was feeling. The pain of being away from you. He wondered if his brothers had noticed. 

He wanted to tell them. To at least let them know. 

He shoved a few blood bags into the backpack, his brain on the fence about what to do. 

“Hey,” Heeseung tapped his shoulder, “Everything okay?” 

Before Niki could answer, he sensed you. 

Niki dropped the backpack and ran to the front door, swinging it open. 

You looked up at your soulmate and watched how his face shattered at how you looked. 

Niki pulled you inside, slamming the door behind you. 

He embraced you in his arms and all you could do was cry. Not just because of how badly you were physically in pain, but because of the fate that awaited you both. 

“Hey hey, Y/N, what happened?!” Niki tried to calm you down, running his hands through your hair. 

Jay and Heeseung were at Niki’s side in a second, removing you from his arms. 

“STOP!” Niki yelled, using all his strength to get his brothers away from you. 

They took a step back and they watched Niki drop to the floor with you back in his arms. 

And that’s when the others felt it. 

Heeseung sighed, “This is Niki’s mate.” 

Niki was able to calm you down and sat you on the couch while he knelt in front of you. 

This was the first time you’d been up and close with the rest of his pack. 

Now that you were connected to them, you could feel just how powerful these vampires were. 

Heeseung knew something felt off. If Niki and you were bonded together, why didn’t the rest know? Heeseung remembers feeling the exact moment when each member connected with their mates. Why was Niki’s story so different? 

Niki brushed your hair away from your face, his heart broke at seeing how you looked, how bruised and cut up you were. 

“Who did this to you?” Niki whispered, fighting back his own tears. 

You did as Dorian told you, “It was Dorian.” 

The room fell even more silent, and all eyes were on you.  

“He was stalking Niki and me tonight. He told me as he attacked me that he wanted Niki. He wanted the rest of your mates. I don’t know why or what for, I was just so confused. He let me go and I only felt safe finding Niki.” 

Heeseung clocked your story. Putting it to the side for now. 

Jay examined you, making sure your healing function was working and the elf mate offered to help speed up the process. 

Heeseung pulled Niki to the side, “When did this happen?” 

Niki raised a brow, “I told you all that I met another vampire.” 

“Not that.” Heeseung softly snapped. 

Niki knew what he was talking about, “It just happened, like right before you spammed my phone. There were other important matters and I didn’t want to distract anyone. We need the girls back and to destroy Dorian, mostly now that he was targeting me to get to you guys and now hurt my mate. I’m done playing games.” 

Niki walked back over to you, and all Heeseung could do was analyze. 

After you were healed up, the leader of your new pack was ready to move out. 

“We need to leave. Now.” Jungwon said, then turning to his soulmate and planting a soft kiss on her lips. 

Jay did the same, telling the girls to behave and not leave the apartment. 

Sunoo and his elf mate dangled their fingers together and were the first two out of the apartment. 

Niki watched Jungwon and Jay and say the final goodbyes to their mates, telling them they would be back soon. 

Niki knelt back down to you, “You need to stay here with them.” 

You shook your head, “No! I want to fight as well!” 

Niki kissed your forehead, “I can’t lose you.” 

You gripped his forearms, hands shaking. You need to be there to stop Dorian if he tries to hurt Niki. You can’t allow it. 

Niki released you from him, following his brothers out the door. 

You cursed to yourself, standing up and leaving the apartment. 

—

Finding the entrance to the compound was easy thanks to __ magic. 

Niki followed behind his brothers and they snuck their way inside. 

Jake and Sunghoon were on the lookout for where they could be keeping their mates. 

The compound was a lot bigger than they expected. Heeseung figured Dorian made it like this purposely to keep anyone from finding him. 

They eventually came to a throne room. The room was painted red and was barely lit. 

“Keep your guard up,” Jungwon said, “I have a bad feeling  about this place.” 

“As you should, Won.”

All the vampires hissed, seeing Dorian walk into the room. 

Niki’s fist tightened, seeing the man who was responsible for hurting you. 

Dorian looked at each of them, a small tsk releasing from his mouth, “I am so disappointed, where are the humans?”

Jungwon stepped in front of everyone, his fangs retracted and hands pulling out his weapon, “Don’t speak about our humans!” He hissed. 

Jay followed right up behind Jungwon, his jaw locked in place. 

Dorian laughed, “The only one who brought their mate was Sunoo, never thought you’d be into elves.” 

Sunoo gritted his teeth, pushing __ behind him. 

“Give me back my witch!” Sunghoon screamed, “Give her back to me!”

Dorian raised a brow, seeing Jake step beside Sunghoon, “I want my dhampir back as well.”!

“Hmm, well of course.” Dorian snapped his fingers, two portals opening. Two vampire women stepped through, holding the witch and dhampir at knifepoint. 

Sunghoon and Jake tried to rush to their mates, Jungwon and Jay grabbing a hold of them.

Heeseung analyzed everything. Something was off. Dorian wouldn’t just hand them over that easily. 

The women threw the witch and dhampir across the room, Sunghoon and Jake being at their side in seconds. 

Sunghoon embraced her, “Oh my beautiful hex girl.” He cried out, holding her weak body tightly against him. 

“You saw my raven?” she spoke, touching her hands to his face. 

Sunghoon nodded, “I did. We received the raven.” 

Jake pulled the dhampir up to her feet, her strength barely there to even stand. 

“Baby, my Luna Nova,” Jake pulled her to him, tears staining his face, “I won’t ever let you go again.” 

Jay and Jungwon pulled Sunghoon, Jake, and their mates behind them. 

That’s when Heeseung noticed it. 

“This is a trap.” 

Everyone looked at him. Dorian’s smirk gets wider. 

“Hyung!” Niki called out, “What do you mean this was a trap?!” 

Heeseung studied the room more. This wasn’t just some normal room. 

“He put a magic barrier in this room that only amplifies his power and weakens ours.” 

Jungwon gritted his teeth, “That's why you gave us the girls back so easily!”

“Oh, how correct you are!” Dorian snapped his fingers again, and a small flame appeared at his fingertips, “Your pack is the strongest out of all the vampire packs. Not to mention you now have a dhampir, witch, and elf in your ranks as well. You guys are a powerhouse!” 

Jay rolled his eyes, “Get to the fucking point!” 

“With you all out of the way, no one can stand in my way of becoming the Vampire King.” 

Heeseung furrowed his eyes, “You’re afraid one of us will take the throne?” he hissed.

Dorian shrugged, “Of course. The last thing we need is your pack in charge.”

“And what makes you think you’re so fit to be king?!” Sunghoon snapped, finally getting his witch back to her feet. 

“Because I achieved what no one else has. I killed an entire coven and stole all their secrets. Got the blood of humans to use and even stole some magic from your witch and strength from your dhampir. I inherited it all. I will kill each and every one of you then challenge the vampire king for his throne. The world will know no peace.” 

Niki clenched his fist, “No one will follow you!” 

The ladies at Dorian’s side giggled, clearly showing where their loyalty was. 

“Don’t worry, Nishimura. I have plenty of other people in this compound already devoted to me…ain’t that right, Y/N.” 

Niki’s heart dropped seeing you appear from behind Dorian. 

Your eyes were swollen from crying. You couldn’t even look at Niki. You already could feel the bond between you two shaking. 

Dorian pulled you to him, hand gripping your chin. 

Niki ran forward, Jay and Jungwon having to hold him back. He hissed as his fangs sharpened to a point. 

Heeseung knew the moment you stepped foot inside the apartment that something was off. You have the power to mask yourself from not just everyone but also your pack. 

“Let her go!!” Niki yelled, fighting against his brothers to get free. 

Heeseung quickly turned around, receiving a nod from the elf. 

She secretly was tearing the barrier down. It was time to fight. 

Dorian noticed right away, the feeling of his power fading. 

Everyone pulled their weapons out, ready to rush Dorian. 

“Wait STOP!” Jungwon screamed, seeing Dorian’s dagger connected to your throat, “He’ll kill her if we move.” 

Niki fought to stay in place. 

“Drop all your weapons. NOW!” Dorian yelled. 

One by one everyone got rid of their weapons, the women collecting them quickly. 

Niki kept his eyes on you, but the more he looked, the more he realized how he was played. 

His soulmate was his enemy. 

Dorian noticed Niki’s reaction, “Hmm you finally pieced the puzzles together huh? Your soulmate betrayed you. Not just right now either. She’s been stalking and following you guys around.”

Heeseung clenched his jaw tighter, “That's how our locations kept getting leaked.” 

Dorian nodded, “You even called it too, saying a mole was watching from a distance. Bravo.”

Niki took a step forward, but the dagger against your neck broke the skin, your blood collecting on the dagger. 

“Don’t move, I’ll kill her right here in front of you.”

Niki shook his head, the old memories returning. Seeing his first love being drained and killed in front of him. He couldn’t go through it again. He can’t. 

Heeseung’s eyes were roaming all over the room, noticing the women who were once at Dorian’s side were gone. 

That’s when Heeseung sensed it. 

Heeseung ducked down, pulling his hidden blade from his boot, grabbing the woman, and holding her to his chest. He stabbed the blade into her shoulder, and blood slightly painted his face, as her screams filled the room.  

Sunghoon and Jungwon were able to catch the other woman, tearing her apart. 

Dorian furrowed his eyes, anger filled him as he watched one of his followers get murdered. Eyes flooded back to Heeseung. 

“Release the girl!” Heeseung yelled, “And I’ll return your follower.”

Niki kept his eyes on you, waiting for the right second to grab you from Dorian. 

Everyone slowly moved forward. The witches and dhampir's strength slowly return. The witch set her hand a blaze, while the elf built a barrier around her pack. 

Dorian was back into a corner(literally). 

He snapped his fingers, and a portal appeared. 

Heeseung slowly shoved the blade further into the woman’s shoulder, her screams getting louder.

Dorian needed a better plan, mostly since his strongest vampire was being held against Heeseung’s chest. 

“Give me my follower back first, then I’ll let go of the little one.” 

Niki whipped around to his hyung, begging with his eyes to let go of the woman.

Heeseung knew the game Dorian was playing and took a step forward, his brothers following. 

Dorian released a laugh, “Oh well this was fun, but I have things cooking in another place. I was expecting the barrier to hold. Oh well.”

He put one foot in the portal but stopped at Niki’s cries.

“GIVE HER BACK!” 

Dorian laughed some more, releasing you from his grip. 

“Silly teenager, I created her. I turned her into what she is now. I gave her eternal life. Her loyalties are to me!” 

Niki moved forward, his arms stretched in front of him, “Y/N, please. We’re soulmates…choose me again. Please choose me again.” 

You wiped the blood from your neck, refusing to look at Niki. You knew Dorian wouldn’t stop until you all were dead. And the only way to keep Niki safe was to betray him. 

You didn’t move from Dorian’s side. 

“Y/N…” 

Dorian’s laugh filled the room, “I told you. Maybe your bond doesn’t run as deep as you thought.”

Dorian stepped through the portal, you following right behind him. 

“Y/N!!!” Niki screamed, causing your heart to break. 

You looked at him one last time, “Just let me go, Niki…you have to let it go.” 

Niki fell to his knees watching you disappear with Dorian. 

“Fuck.” Heeseung mumbled. 

Everyone stood in place, not knowing what to say or do. They could just watch their maknae stare off into the distance. 

“If you’re going to kill me, go ahead and get it over with!” the woman hissed, squirming in Heeseung’s arms. 

“Hmm…” Heeseung hummed, pushing the blade further in, “I have other uses for you.” 

They placed a bag over her head and tied it tightly. 

“Where to now?” Sunghoon asked, pulling his witch closer to him. 

Jungwon looked at Heeseung for confirmation, only speaking after he nodded, “The new safe house.” 

—

The woman was thrown into a chair and tied down, the bag being removed from her head. 

She blinked a couple of times to refocus her vision, seeing Heeseung standing in front of her. 

She squirmed in the chair, quickly looking around the empty room. 

“Where the fuck am I?” 

Heeseung let out a laugh, “That’s a fucking funny joke.” 

She gritted her teeth, the pain in her shoulder returning. 

Her blood was still attached to Heeseung’s face and clothes, and it completely covered her entire clothes. 

Heeseung placed his right boot between her legs on the chair, leaning on his right leg, “Tell us where to find Dorian.” 

“Go fuck yourself.” 

Heeseung pulled out the same blade from earlier out his back pocket, placing the cold silver against her jawline, it burned her skin. 

“This blade was made special for me. Made with the same type of silver that’s used to kill us.” He pressed the blade closer, watching as she gritted her teeth. Heeseung removed the blade, asking her one more time, “Where is Dorian.” 

She refused to answer, instead, laughter filled her lungs. 

“You won’t find him. He succeeded in his experiments to become the strongest vampire. And once he kills the vampire king, he will be stronger than you pack and kill you all.”

Heeseung chuckled, “What makes you so sure that he could kill the vampire king?” 

“Look at what he has achieved,” she tilted her head, “He’ll kill the vampire king, kill you all and save me.” 

Heeseung laughed more, “That’s pretty fucking hilarious actually.”

She furrowed her eyes in confusion. Staring up at Heeseung. The facial expression he was making scared her.

“How is this so funny?” she asked. 

“Because,” Heeseung tilted his head up, his fangs slowly came to a point, his tongue licking his right fang as his eyes turned a different color. It wasn’t the shade of crimson that normal vampires have, but it was bright gold. And the only vampire that has bright golden eyes was…“I am the vampire king.” 

She gasped, seeing how bright golden his eyes were. Seeing six pairs of crimson eyes glowing behind him. 

Heeseung smirked down at her, as the fear settled in.

Jake hung his head back, legs slightly lifted and hands gripping the tree branch to keep his balance. 

The sky is a mixture of orange and red, the moon slowly lifting in the distance. 

“It’ll be a new moon soon,” Jake whispered to himself. 

Sunghoon sat beside him, an old Nikon camera held to his face. 

“Capturing it?” Jake asks, his best friend adjusting the camera angle. 

“Of course,” Sunghoon sassed, “Why wouldn’t I?” 

Jake chuckled, “Try getting the angle upside down, it’s still pretty this way.” 

Sunghoon glared down at him, “That’s stupid.” 

With a shrug of his shoulders, Jake teased, “You wouldn’t know unless you tried it.” 

Sunghoon rolled his eyes, flipping around into the same position as his friend, holding the camera back to his eye. 

“This isn’t actually that bad,” Sunghoon admitted, “Just need the perf-“

“YOI!!” 

Jungwon dropped down from the branch above, shoving his face into Sunghoon’s camera.

“Capture me instead, Hyung.” 

“When did you ever get here,” Sunghoon snapped, palming Jungwon’s forehead, and shoving him out of the way. 

“Just now,” Jungwon sang, connecting his feet back to the ground. 

Jake sat up, “Where’s the others?” 

“Should be here soon.” Jungwon hummed. 

“You’re more annoying, where’s __?” Sunghoon once again tried to capture a photo of the sunset, just for Jungwon’s face to get right back into the frame. 

“She’s with Jay and __,” he shrugged, “My mate is tired of me.” 

Jake rolled his eyes, “That’s impossible.” 

Jungwon’s eyes lit up, “she’s here!” 

Jake watched the younger runoff, his hands instantly locking onto his mate, embracing her close to him, their smiles ear to ear. 

Jay’s arm was also wrapped around his mate. Jake swears he’s never seen Jay smile as much as he has with her. Their stubborn Jay, is always so serious and self-hatred for what he is just to have folded so easily under her. 

Jake dropped his head in his hands, watching his brothers with their soulmates. A small pit of jealousy forms. 

“Jake, Sunghoon, come down,” Heeseung waved to the two of them, “We need to start this meeting.” 

—

“Wait, you want us to move?” Niki questioned, clearly not liking the idea. 

“It’s what will be best for our pack,” Jungwon crossed his arms, “We have more to protect besides just each other now.” 

Jake twirled his rings around his fingers, taking in the information.

Sunghoon sighed, “Where will we go now? What about our jobs here? School specifically for Niki?” 

“I’ll move if I don’t have to graduate high school again!” Niki raised his hand, “I’ll gladly move if so.” 

“Unfortunately for you,” Jay’s stubbornness at play, “You’re stuck in a seventeen-year-old body, if you don’t attend high school it’ll make it more suspicious.” 

“Not to mention he still acts seventeen,” Heeseung teased, “No one would ever guess that he’s almost two hundred and ten years old.” 

“Says you old man.” Niki teased back. 

Jake laughed along with the banter, happy that it’s been this peaceful. 

“Any other sightings of Lilly?” Sunoo brings back the topic, “Or any other that could be connected with Dorian?” 

Jay’s jaw clenched at the mention of their names, his mate also tensing at the mention, “No. I’ve searched everywhere. Asked around. It’s like both have disappeared.” 

“It’s been almost three months, but we can’t continue to peek over our shoulders,” Heeseung sighed, “Dorian knows where we work, where we all live, where the girls attend college…we need to do what’s best for the pack.” 

“And that’s leaving?” Sunghoon asked, “Again, where would we go?” 

“The countryside,” Jungwon nodded, “It’s away from the city, no one will know who we are.” 

“Or what we are,” Jake mumbled, still twisting the rings around his fingers. 

“Jay and I already found a clinic we will both work at and even a high school for Niki.” Heeseung teased the younger. 

Niki groaned, dropping his head into his hands, “This fucking sucks.” 

“The girls will have a good small community college to continue studies,” Jungwon wrapped his arms around his mate, “Gotta keep this pretty brain learning.” 

“Already smarter than you, Wonnie.” She teased. 

“Baby, I have so many years on you, don’t even.” 

“Anyways,” Jay ignored the lovebirds, “The countryside would be the best bet for us right now. There is also someone who has some knowledge about Dorian, she can keep us up to date.” 

“Another vampire?” Jay’s mate asked.

With a shake of his head, he answers, “No, she’s a dhampir.” 

Jake raised an eyebrow, “Who?” 

—

You pulled the string back, narrowing your vision down to the target, taking a deep breath in, releasing the string and your breath in one go. 

The arrow flew across the field with a quick snap, hitting the target dead in the center. 

You smirked, relaxing your arms. 

A snap of a twig caught your attention, quickly grabbed another arrow to the bow, string touching your cheek, and whipped around to the sound.

“Woah woah! Calm down there Y/N, Jesus.” 

“Archer, I swear to god!” You snapped at your twin brother, lowering your bow, “What if I took your head off!?”

“I’m way too quick, you’d miss.” 

You pointed a finger at the target, “I don’t miss.” 

Archer glared off at the target, ignoring your comment. 

“Anyways, they will be here tomorrow morning,” Archer says, “We need to clean out the spare house.” 

You turn and face the target again, pulling the string back, “Why don’t you go clean it? I’m busy.” 

Archer groaned, “No, you’re helping. You know who they are after all.”

You released the arrow, it once again hitting the middle, “I knew them,” you corrected, “It’s been like a hundred years, they are probably completely different people.” 

Archer sighed, “Y/N, please.” 

You couldn’t resist the pout your brother gave, “FINE!” 

He smiled wide, following behind you towards the spare house. 

“You’re lucky you have a good older sister like me.” You teased him. 

“You are literally five minutes older.” 

Cleaning the spare house took longer than you wanted, but alas it was done. 

“Why did you agree to have them stay here?” Archer asked, sweeping the last bit of dusk into the dusk pan. 

You shrug your shoulders, “The way Heeseung and Jay were talking, it seemed important, the least I could do.” 

Archer slumped onto the couch, “Why are they coming out here? City too much for them?” 

You shrugged again, “I didn’t ask.” 

Archer narrowed his eyes at you, trying to read your very good poker face, “You’re lying to me.”

You looked away from your brother, “I really don’t know.” 

Archer knew he couldn’t press anymore, and let it at that, excusing himself to go home and sleep. 

The boys arrived sooner than you expected that next morning. 

You leaned against the wooden post on the porch, crossing your arms as their car pulled up to the house. 

You caught two other scents with them, two you didn’t recognize…two that aren’t vampires. 

One by one, the seven of them trailed out of the van, two female humans following behind. 

“Lee Heeseung, you didn’t tell me you were carrying humans with you!” you snapped, your mood completely changing. 

Jungwon and Jay quickly pulled the females behind them, giving you glares. 

You notice immediately, your body and mood relaxing. 

“You didn’t say you had mates, I only prepared blood bags for you seven.” 

Jake held up two bags worth of food, “We went shopping when we got into town.” 

You studied him, his half smile sending flutters in your stomach. 

“Long time no see, Y/N.” His Aussie accent was as adorable as ever. 

You nodded, “Indeed it has been,” you looked between the other boys, stopping back at Jungwon, Jay, and their mates, “Please come inside.”

Everyone settled in one by one, the boys all drinking from the bags. 

Jungwon’s mate wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, her smile never once fading from the sight of seven vampires drinking blood from bags. 

Jay’s mate was even more unphased. She seems just as stubborn as Jay is. 

“Never thought I’d see you two with mates,” You said leaning against the dinner table, laying your head in the corner of your arm, “Mostly nice to know someone can tame that stubbornness of yours, Jongseong.” 

Jay shot daggers through you, “Don’t you have something better to be doing than hanging around here?”

You sat up, giving him a smug smile, “Nope! I want to know why you’ve come to me begging to help hide you here in my parents' spare house, along with your mates.” 

The room went quiet, you looked at each of them one by one. 

“Someone better speak up.” 

“It’s Dorian,” Heeseung finally answered. 

Your heart stopped at the name, “Why the fuck are you here!” You stood up from the table, staring Heeseung down, “What the fuck is going on?!” 

“He’s after my mate,” Jungwon was the first to speak up, “He tried to take her from me.”

“And he almost drowned and killed mine,” Jay spoke in the calmest voice you’ve ever heard. Pulling his mate's hair back, revealing two scars on her neck, “He drank every ounce she had and dropped her off a cliff.” 

You watched as Jay dropped his forehead to hers, his jaw clenched tightly. 

Jungwon also brought his mate closer to him, their hands intertwined. 

You sat back down, “Dorian wants your mates, and probably wants you all dead.” 

They all nodded. 

“He joined up with Lilly,” Sunghoon chimed in, “He must have something else planned besides tearing our pack apart.” 

“And you came to me, why?” You asked. 

Heeseung sighed, “We needed someplace safe, mostly for the girls. But for the safety of our pack. Y/N, you’re the only one who can help.” 

You crossed your arms, squeezing yourself tightly, “What if he finds you all here? He’ll kill us too!” You took a deep breath in, “I have Archer to protect.” 

“Please, Y/N,” Jungwon asked, with pure desperation on his face. 

“Ugh! Fine! If he shows up, I’m leaving you guys here alone.” You quickly stood up, heading for the door, “I apologize deeply for what Dorian has caused for you all, but if he’s planning something, we all need to discuss that soon.”

You stormed off to your house in a second, grabbing your own bag of blood from the fridge and dropping onto your couch, nearly scaring Archer to death. 

“Jesus Christ,” he mumbled, “Did they settle in fine?” 

You nodded, the iron liquid making its way into your system. 

Archer could sense how pissed off you were from the beginning, “Y/N, what is wrong? Why are they here?” 

You shrugged, not wanting to talk about it. 

Archer rolled his eyes, groaning, “I’ll go ask them myself.” 

“Dorian.” 

Archer laughed, “You’re joking, nice joke.” 

“I wish I was,” you sighed, “He’s after their mates and wants to kill them all. They are here to hide.” 

Archer stood to his feet, “What if Dorian follows their scent here?!” 

“Trust me Arch, I know!” You snapped back, “All we can do is pray the witches' spell they put on this town helps hide their scents.” 

Archer started pacing back and forth, “What else did they say?” 

“Lilly joined him.”

Archer groaned again, sitting down on the floor, “Y/N, we have lived peacefully…”

“Archer you don’t have to tell me this,” you rolled your eyes. 

“Do I need to remind you what Dorian did?!” 

You stood up quickly, your index finger dug into your twin's chest, “Shut up, Archer.”

“He killed our parents!!” 

You walked away from him, opening the front door ready to sprint away. 

“Dorian killed your mate!” 

You stopped in the doorway, staring down at the wooden steps, and a pair of shoes suddenly appeared. 

Your eyes followed up on who they belonged to.

“Y/N,” his soft Aussie voice whispered your name.

“Don’t, Jake.” you pushed past him, running as fast as you could. 

—

Jake found you by the pond, watching the fish swim in circles. 

“Y/N…” Jake whispered. 

You turned around and looked at him, “What do you want?” 

“We were friends once which seemed like a lifetime ago…I didn’t know about your parents or your mate.” 

You looked away from him, moving your knees to your chest, “It was after you guys found Niki and left that city to get away from Dorian. We moved out here to do the same. We weren’t so lucky.” 

Jake sat beside you, “Do Heeseung and Jay know?” 

You nodded, “That’s why they didn’t want to tell me over that phone call why they needed to come here.” 

Jake twisted his rings again, “What does it feel like? What did it feel like?” 

You looked over at him, “You mean having a mate, and what it felt like losing them?” 

Jake nodded.

You took a deep breath in, staring off at the water and its movement from the wind. 

“It’s exactly like they all described,” you hug your legs tighter, “Being a dhampir, I didn’t think I could even feel all the parts of having a mate.”

Jake also pulls his legs to his chest, leaning his head on his knees, putting his full attention on you. 

“My father, the vampire side, always talked about the knot that connects you. My mother, my human side, always talked about the warm feeling you get, how the butterflies flutter and your words jumbled together. That you’ll know you found your soulmate.” 

You looked at Jake, giving him a soft smile, “I didn’t think I would even have a soulmate, who could love something like me? Half monster, half human…”

“Okay Jay,” Jake teased, “Everyone is capable of love.” 

You rolled your eyes, “Thank you Captain Obvious!” 

He smiled, “It’s true!”

“Anyways,” you looked away from him, feeling your face slightly flushing, “When I met him, I knew immediately. That knot tied together, pulling me to him. But I also felt that warm feeling, the butterflies and I could barely speak.”

You looked down at your shoes, fighting hard to continue the story. 

“But Dorian came, wanting the witch's spells that my parents were protecting. Obviously, he didn’t get what he wanted and killed them. My mate happened to witness the murder and Dorian…”

Jake tucked his lips between his teeth, knowing exactly what happened without you even having to say it. 

“I was at the market with Archer, and we both felt the connection to our parents fade. But when Dorian took him from me…” 

You clenched the fabric over your heart, the pain resurfacing, “I felt that knot snap. I felt his last breath. And then there was nothing. My colorful world turned dark. My reason for living…gone.”

Jake tried to find the right words to say, knowing nothing could even help. 

Jake clearly doesn’t have a mate. He doesn’t understand how it would feel to have one or lose one. 

But he fully understood now why Jay and Jungwon have gone to these measures to protect their own. 

“I obviously still have Archer,” you continued, “He was there to help keep me from going off in the deep end. It was Archer's idea to have the witches in the neighboring town conceal our scents here to protect us and the rest of the people living here.” 

Jake sat up straight, “Wait.”

You raised your eyebrows, “Yeah?”

Jake stood to his feet, “I know what Dorian could possibly be wanting.” 

—

Heeseung covered his mouth deep in thought, “Y/N, what other information can you gather about the witches?”

You shook your head, “I don’t know, we just grow the crops and take care of the land and send them herbs when they ask to keep them protecting us.” 

“He wants the spells for something,” Jake jumped in, “He clearly does. It would make sense why he’s been feeding as much as he has lately, to build strength.” 

“Then what would he want with me?” Jungwon’s mate spoke up, “He never met me before until that night.” 

“It must be our blood type,” Jay’s mate chimed in, “Jay said when we met that he can tell my blood type based on the smell, I’d assume it’s the same for you all?” 

Everyone except you nodded, you weren’t so blessed with that side of the vampireness. 

“So that clearly means, these witches spells that he wants,” Sunoo put the pieces together, “Needs a specific blood type for it to work. knowing Dorian, he has __ blood from when he almost killed her.” 

Jay’s mate looked away from the table. You could only imagine what she could have felt that night. 

Jake crossed his arms, rubbing his fingers on his chin, trying to put more puzzle pieces together. 

He looked over at you, studying your face as if looking at you would unlock all the secrets of the world. 

And then it actually did. 

Jake took a deep breath in, your scent flowing through him. 

“He also wants Y/N.” 

You look at him, confused, “What would he want with me?” 

Jake tilted his head, “You also have that blood type he needs, on top of where to find the witches for their spells. The only reason you’ve been safe is because of the protection spell.” 

Your body went still. Everything is connected. 

“That makes sense why he always disappeared for months at a time,” Jay tapped his finger on the table, “He is going back and forth between trying to take our girls and find Y/N.” 

“Good thing we came here then,” Jungwon leaned onto the table, “Now we know what he’s after, we have to find the witches before he does. He must know we skipped town by now.” 

“I can go tomorrow,” you said, “I know how to get there, but we all can’t go together.” 

“Why not?” Jay’s mate questioned, “Safety in numbers?”

“That’s not how witches work, babe.” Jay sighed. 

“Witches and vampires don’t get along,” Sunghoon explained, “They will notice seven full vampires and a dhampir, they will conceal themselves and either kill us when we get too close or flee.” 

You nodded, “They will more than likely flee due to the fact you all are in a pack, they won’t stand a chance if they fight you all. Which is why I need to go alone.” 

“No,” Jake protested, “you’re not going alone.” 

You glared at him, “They know me.” 

“And once you leave this town, Dorian could pick up your scent.”

You hated to admit that Jake was right. The witches only were protecting this town, and their town, not in between it. 

“I’m going with you.” Jake couldn’t let you do this alone. 

And you knew you couldn’t stop it from joining. 

“Okay,” Heeseung said, “we will come up with a more solid plan in the morning.” 

Everyone agreed. 

“Can I-“ Niki started. 

“No.” Heeseung and Jay said at the same time. 

Niki stood in silence, looking between the two of them, “What?”

“You start your first day of school tomorrow.” Heeseung teased the younger. 

Niki pouted, “Hyung, you’re joking?”

Heeseung gave him a smile, “Go to bed.” 

—

Jake sat against the wall on the bed, trying to go through his own game plan for the following day. 

He couldn’t explain it, but after seeing you after all these years was messing with his head. 

You've filled his every thought. It even surprised him that he was so quick to join you tomorrow. 

Jake ran his hands through his hair, his stomach doing flips. 

There was a knock on the door, startling Jake out of his thoughts. 

“Yeah?” 

You opened the door, peeking your head through, “You’re still awake?” 

“Obviously.” 

You slipped inside the room, slowly closing the door behind you. 

You leaned against the wall, studying him and his white t-shirt and plaid-designed boxers. 

“You look like you are getting ready for bed?” 

Jake shook his head, “Too deep in thought to sleep.” 

“Getting cold feet about tomorrow? Sim Jaeyun?” you teased him, your heart did a flip as he bit his lower lip with a small smirk. 

“Haven’t been called that in a while,” Jake looked down at his hands, his fingers once again twisting his rings. 

“I was one of the only ones who called you by your actual name.” you brought the memory back. 

Jake nodded, “We didn’t know each other very long then, did we?” 

“Yeah, it was a very short time in that town.”

“I guess one thing about being immortal is having to skip around because locals notice you aren’t aging,” Jake leaned his head against the wall, “You at least still age.” 

You softly giggled, “Yeah I guess I was blessed in that department, I still age but it’s just slower.”

“Gives you a better chance at living an actual life.” 

“How long were you guys in the city?” curiosity filled you.

“Oh shit, awhile,” Jake let out a small whistle, “We moved around a bit into different areas, but once Heeseung and Jay made their names at the hospital and clinic, it made it harder to move.” 

You nodded, “It’s good you were able to stay in one place for a bit longer, ya?” 

Jake softly smiled, “Yeah. Eventually, we were all able to leave what we ended up calling the safe house and got our own places. Heeseung and Jay had their own separate places. Sunghoon and I lived together. Niki was with Sunoo. Jungwon kinda just floated.” 

“I always forget that Jungwon is your pack leader.” You laughed. 

“Why? Is it so hard to believe?” Jake pulled his knees to his chest, waiting for your answer. 

“No, Jungwon is perfect for it,” you quickly spat out, “I don't think anyone else could corral you guys like him.” 

Jake nodded in agreement. 

The room fell silent. Jake could hear how fast your heart was beating. 

“Why is your heart beating so fast?” Jake tilted his head, his hair slowly falling from its part. 

You tucked your lip between your teeth, breaking eye contact with him. 

How do you admit to an old acquaintance that he’s been making your heart go crazy from the moment he stepped foot out of the van? That even all those years ago you may have had a small crush on him. 

Jake could see the blush on your skin, the goosebumps on your skin, and how your chest moved with your increased breathing. 

“Y/N.” 

You looked up at him, the look of want was on his face. 

“Come here.” 

And that’s all it took. You were on him in a second. 

Your fingers tangled in his hair, lips touching his as if your life depended on it. 

Jake’s hands squeezed your hips as he pulled your body even closer to his. 

The mutual pining that was between the two of you was driving Jake up a wall. 

Jake slowly snaked his hands under your shirt, resting them on your back, 

You didn’t know what came over you, you reached for the hem of Jake’s shirt, quickly sliding it up and off his body. 

Your hands slid back down his bare chest, fingers tracing his abs as you shoved your tongue down his mouth. 

Jake felt himself losing control, the mixture of the hormones and your blood was like a drug to him. 

He couldn’t get enough of you. 

Jake wrapped your legs around him, quickly changing positions, and laying you on your back. 

Chills went down your spine. You cling to his bare back, softly letting out a moan. 

“Fuck fuck fuck…” Jake groaned into the crease of your neck, leaving small kisses trailing up to your jawline. 

Jake wanted you. Oh, he wanted you. 

And you wanted him. 

But the thoughts of losing your mate came too, causing you to slide right from underneath Jake and back to the door. 

“I’m sorry…” Jake said, quickly pulling his shirt back over his head. 

“No it’s my fault,” you turned away from him, “I just…”

“It’s about your mate.”

You nodded, “I lost my soulmate, but you still have a chance to find yours, don’t waste any time on me.” 

That was the last thing you said, leaving Jake alone in his room. 

—

You’ve both been walking for hours. Jake’s hair stuck to his forehead from his sweat and the damp air. 

You’ve both been quiet. Barley saying a word to each other since last night. 

It was driving Jake crazy not being able to talk to you. 

Jake was stuck in his thoughts about last night. Scared of the possibility that maybe he doesn’t have a soulmate. That no one was made for him. 

Jake was hoping it’d be you, but not once did he feel this so-called knot. The string of fate. 

“Can we talk about last night, Y/N?” 

You sighed, “There isn’t anything to speak about with it.” 

Jake stepped in front of you, “Yes there is.” 

“Like what?” you scoffed, “We aren’t mates, Jake. I don’t owe you anything.” 

You walked around him, your heart pulling back to him, but continuing forward. 

Jake grabbed your arm, pulling you back towards him.

“Let yourself feel, Y/N.” 

All you could do was stare up at him, unable to speak. 

He took your face between his soft hands, his thumbs making circles on your cheeks, “Let yourself feel again. You are holding yourself back all because of your loss. Let yourself feel.” 

You wanted to open your heart up to him, but the fear of losing someone again, you couldn’t do it. 

“We have to keep going, night will fall soon.” 

Jake followed behind you, knowing he could only do so much to get you to reopen your heart again. 

The sky grew darker as the moon slowly made its appearance. 

Jake stopped, mouth forming into a small smile. 

You no longer heard Jake’s footsteps, turning around and seeing him just standing there. 

“Everything okay?” you asked him.

Jake nodded, his eyes not leaving the sky. 

You walked over to him, looking up at where he was. 

“I’m confused?”

“Luna Nova.” 

You look back at him, “what?”

“Latin for the new moon,” Jake’s smile grew even wider, “Beautiful Luna Nova.”

Jake meets your eyes. The new moon’s light brings out that beautiful cocoa color. 

You wanted to kiss him. To grab his hand and hold it so tightly. 

The gate to your heart has been locked. Jake was right, it was time to feel again. 

You broke the lock to your closed gate and let yourself feel. 

Your heart pulled to him, the beautiful string of fate twisting and knotting together. The familiar feeling of love and want and belonging. 

Tears filled Jake’s eyes, “Is that…is that what it feels like?” 

You nodded, your own tears filling your eyes. 

“Who knew it was still possible to find a soulmate.” You softly whispered. 

Jake kissed you. He kissed you with so much love and passion and with every ounce of lost time from the moment he was born, turned into a vampire, and lived all the lives he has until this moment. Those hundreds of years were now finally worth it. 

He was tied to you. 

Jake released his lips from yours, his sweaty forehead connecting to yours. Your breathing matches his in perfect sync. 

“You’re my Luna Nova, my new beginning…just like the moon phases,” Jake whispered. 

Hand in hand, you lead Jake the rest of the way towards the witch’s village. 

“What is this head witch like?” he asked. 

“She’s roughly our age?” you said, trying to calculate the math in your head. 

“That’s pretty old.” he teased. 

“Yeah, aren’t we all? She’s trapped in her twenties like the rest of us.” 

“Couldn’t be worse than Niki.”

You nodded in agreement, “Poor Niki.” 

Laughter filled you both, but only until you reached the village. 

To be met with despair. 

The land was burning. Young children witches and warlocks were covered in ash and dirt. 

People shouting and crying out for their loved ones who were caught in the fires. 

Homes were torn to pieces by flames and lifeless bodies spread throughout the land. 

“What the hell happened…” Jake was barely able to speak, too shocked at the sight before him. 

You ran as fast as you could towards the village. 

“Y/N! Wait!!” 

You didn’t listen to Jake and kept running. The witches' village was supposed to be hidden. Was supposed to be on the edge of the town, hidden from the world. 

You frantically searched for people to help while asking around for the head witch.

But no one has seen her. 

You panicked, giving Jake orders to help find her, describing her in detail. 

Jake searched all the while helping those in need. 

“Y/N,” Jake showed back up at your side, “The fire isn’t stopping, we need to go!” 

You shook your head, “We need to find her!” 

One of your few vampire gifts was your sense of hearing. You called your eyes and focused hard, searching everywhere, until you heard her breathing. 

“She’s alive!” 

She was found under some rumble from a fallen building. 

“Y/N…” she said barely above a whisper. 

Tears filled your eyes as you and Jake pulled out from the rumble. 

You held her in your arms, pushing her hair out of her face. 

“What happened here?” Jake asked, kneeling down beside you, “What caused this?” 

“Dorian.” She coughed out. 

Your heart stopped, and anger washed over Jake. 

“He came for the spells,” she breathed out, “he knew you were coming for them, you were too late.” 

You looked up at Jake, tears falling down your face, “What do we do now?” 

Jake bites down on his tongue, looking at the witch below him. 

“Get her back to the house, we need to know exactly what happened.” 

You nodded, “So much for a new beginning, huh?”

a/n: i hope everyone is enjoying my little vampire series so far! i have so many ideas planned for the rest of the members and hope everyone looks forward to it! thank you so much to everyone who is keeping up with this series and the continued support. It means everything!

“YOU BROUGHT BACK A WITCH?!” Sunghoon snapped, his jaw clenching tightly. 

“Yes!!” the dhampir snapped back, “We couldn’t leave her there to die!!” 

Sunghoon was filled with anger, blood boiling. 

“Let's all calm down…” Heeseung spoke up, placing a hand on Sunghoon’s shoulder.

Sunghoon slapped his hand away, “Hyung, that dhampir bringing this witch here will put us all in danger!!” 

“This witch is one of my best friends!” She yelled, “I wasn’t going to leave her, end of story!” 

Sunghoon scoffed, “Yeah, and if we all die it’ll be the damn dhampir’s fault.”

“Hey!” Jake yelled, getting in his best friend's face, “That damn dhampir is my mate, watch your words. She’s in our pack now.” 

The room fell silent. Sunghoon figured he would have connected with the dhampir, the tension between the two was too obvious. 

“And for the record,” Jake said, taking a step back away from Sunghoon, “I’m the one who said to bring the witch here. We need information once she wakes up.” 

Sunghoon looks away from his friend, looking at the witch lying unconscious on the couch. 

He knew Jake was right. In order to stop Dorian, they needed any information possible. 

Sunghoon releases a breath, “Fine, do what you want with the witch.” 

And with that, Sunghoon stormed off. 

—

“Easy does it,” Heeseung grabbed your hands, helping you sit up.

It’s been exactly a week since Dorian burned down your village and killed your coven. You were the only surviving member. 

Your heart ached for those you’ve lost, but you knew their souls were somewhere free from the cruelness of this world. 

Most of your burns have healed from your recovery spell, but you still ached with each movement, making it harder for you to move. On top of that, your right leg was broken. And no recovery spell could make that heal any faster. 

The vampires have shown you kindness for the most part. One in particular doesn’t care for you much. 

Once you were completely sat up, you thanked Heeseung. 

Jay knelt down beside you, looking at the bandages that covered your arms, slowly lifting them up to look at your skin. 

“We can probably remove the bandages,” He said, lifting more of the bandage up to get a better look at your skin, “The only thing is, there’s a lot of scarring.”

You nodded, “Recovery spells can only go so far.” 

Jay removed the bandages, relieving the scars. You didn’t realize how bad they actually were until you looked directly at them. 

Flashbacks to the fire came back, shaking you to the core. You dropped your head into your hands, begging for the thoughts to go away. 

“Y/N,” your best friend drops beside you, her hands set gently on your shoulders, “what’s wrong?” 

Her voice alone was enough to snap you out of it, you quickly looked up at her, giving a nod, “I am fine, the scars just…” 

She sighs, “It brought back the memories?” 

You nodded again.

A scoff happened from across the room. You immediately glared in its direction. 

Sunghoon leaned against the wall, arms crossed against his chest, his black hair falling against his eyes. 

“Got something to say, bloodsucker?” you hissed.

Sunghoon raised a brow, “You gonna put a hex on me or something, witch?” 

You gripped the blanket that covered your legs, “I just might!” 

He chuckled, pushing himself off the wall. He smiled just enough to show his sharpened fangs and cracked his knuckles. 

“Alright, that’s enough!” Jungwon snapped, looking between the two of you, “This situation isn’t ideal, but we all have one goal in common, so please for the love of everything put your differences to the side and shut the fuck up.” 

Sunghoon sighed, retracting his fangs. 

“Good boy, listen to your leader.” you gave him a wink. 

“Y/N,” Jungwon warned. 

You sighed and relaxed your body. You were powerless in your current situation. 

A pack of vampires and two humans were your only source of protection at the current moment. Your coven was destroyed. This is all you have right now. 

Sunghoon scoffed, then stormed out the door into the night. 

“Do you think you can make it up the stairs to bathe and sleep in a bed finally?” your dhampir friend asks, giving you a soft smile. 

You removed the blanket, and more burn scars trailed down your left leg, while the other was covered in a cast from your knee down. 

You pulled your shorts down, trying to hide the scars. 

“Hey,” Jay’s mate kneels beside your friend, her soft hands taking yours, “These scars are proof that you survived, don’t try to hide them.”

You wanted to protest, to shout that she doesn’t understand what it meant to survive after what you went through. 

But then you noticed the scars on her neck. It didn’t take long for you to recognize that those scars were caused by Dorian. That __ survived almost being killed by him. 

You forced a smile, “These scars don’t just show that I survived, they show what I also lost.” 

“Then you’ll carry them with you forever,” she gives you a soft smile, “It’ll be a reminder of what Dorian has done, and what will be done to get back at him.” 

She was right. You gave her a smile back with a nod. 

Jay pulled his mate up and to his chest, wrapping her in his arms, “__ always knows what to say.” 

Their bond pulled at each of them. Jungwon pulls __ to him and Jake pulls your friend to himself. Sunoo, Niki, and Heeseung had smiles watching their pack. 

You too had a smile. You could feel the bond they shared. Their vibes and how their energies matched. 

You looked at your friend and Jake. The way he held her so tightly and her head in the crease of his neck. 

Your heart danced for them. You knew how much losing her first mate did a number on her. But you truly believe Jake was meant to be hers completely. She just had to go through some bullshit shit first. 

Eventually, you had enough of the love birds, positioning yourself to stand up. 

Your recovery spell healed your broken leg enough that you were able to stand up straight and still walk…but just barely. 

Your half-blooded friend noticed your struggles, releasing herself from Jake to help you up the stairs and into the bathroom. 

The reflection you saw in the mirror haunted you, a burn scar covering your left eye and up the side of your forehead. The recovery magic healed it enough that it was a light pink. 

A sigh escaped your lips, as you turned and faced away from the mirror. 

You cleaned yourself up, washing away the couch bum life you had for the last week. 

You were so glad to finally be able to sleep in a bed. Archer was nice enough to run to the nearest supermarket to buy you extra clothes, bed sheets, and other witchy essentials to have here. 

Your new room was filled with plants and crystals and a few books that Jake was able to salvage from the fire. 

You tried to stay awake to read, but your eyes failed you. After not sleeping in a bed for over a week, it was way too comfortable. 

—

You stood in front of the mirror, pulling your long black hair behind you and into a braid. Your bangs pull out perfectly down the sides of your face. 

Your half-blooded friend brought you some jewelry to wear, which you were ecstatic about. 

Witches can’t go without jewelry, right?

You pull some rings onto your fingers, then dangle earrings into your ears. 

A perfectly black hooped nose ring suited your nose and a lace choker around your neck and a short silver bar on your eyebrow. 

You pulled a white cropped tank top over you and a black baggy pair of cargo pants and black boot, and black cast boot on your right leg to match. 

A beautiful light brown cardigan made the outfit even more perfect. 

You did a three-sixty in the mirror, finally feeling and looking like yourself. 

You stared at the scar on your eye. You traced your fingers over it, feeling the rough skin. 

Dropping your hand back at your side, you turn and walk away from the mirror. 

The kitchen was lively, and laughter from your new friends echoed up the stairs as you made your way down. 

Jay stood at the counter flipping pancakes and bacon, a bag of blood attached to his lips. 

The two humans stood behind Jay, begging him to hurry with breakfast and Jay tried his best to shoo them off. 

Jake sat with __ on the couch. She ate a bowl of cereal while Jake drank his own bag of blood. 

Sunoo, Jungwon, and Heeseung sat at the kitchen table with a map in front of them discussing the layout of the area. 

Niki also sat at the table, backpack in his lap, and sipping on a bag of blood as if it were a juice box. 

You giggled and walked over to the table, “You really are stuck in a seventeen-year-old body arentcha?” 

Niki rolled his eyes, “Unfortunately.” 

Heeseung checked his watch, “Off to school.” 

Niki groaned, throwing his head back against the wall, “This fucking sucks.” 

You softly smiled at the younger, “I’ll walk you out.” 

Niki stood up, throwing the backpack on. 

You went to the fridge, grabbing an apple and a bottle of water. The piles of blood bags filled the bottom shelf. 

Seeing the bags reminded you that one bloodsucker in particular was missing. 

“Where’s the idiot bloodsucker at?” you asked anyone who would give you an answer. 

Jake perked up, “That idiot bloodsucker has a name,” you shrugged your shoulders, and Jake sighed, “He’s outside doing his photography.” 

Your dhampir friend smiles at you, “Worried about him, Y/N?”

You narrowed your eyes, “He annoys me.” 

She smirked at you, “You look pretty.” 

You toss your braid over your shoulder, “Of course I do, part of being a witch is also being charming.” 

The vampires groan, which you expected. They might be being nice to you for the moment, but witches and vampires still don’t get along. 

You grabbed a blood bag along with your other items and closed the fridge. 

You patted Niki’s back, “Come on baby bro, let’s get you off to school.” 

—

Sunghoon sat up in a tree, camera in hand, and snapping photos of the open land. 

The morning sunrise hit the land perfectly. He changed a few filter and lens settings, finding the perfect combination. 

His mood changed once he heard the door to the house open, sensing Niki and you stepping out of the house. 

Sunghoon turned around, watching as you waved Niki off, him going into a full sprint and gone within seconds. 

You took a bite out of the apple in your hands, looking around until you made eye contact with him. 

Sunghoon glared before turning his attention back to his camera. 

“You lack a lot of manners bloodsucker, ya know that?” 

Sunghoon scoffed, looking down at you who was now underneath him. 

“Why do you care about my manners, hmm?” 

“Haven’t you heard? We have a common goal, gotta act like friends, don’t want Jungwon to snap our necks, right?” You loved teasing him. You loved how irritated you made him and how you knew exactly what to say to get under his skin. 

Deep down you really wanted to get along with all the vampires, Sunghoon was just the only one not budging. 

Sunghoon ignored you, his jaw clenched as he held the camera back up. 

You whistle at him, his eyebrow rising. 

Sunghoon was fixing to snap, “I know for a fact you didn’t just whistle at me like I am a dog.” 

“Look at me then.” You said. 

Sunghoon looked back at you, a warm smile on your face. 

You tossed the blood bag up to him, Sunghoon catching it. 

“You haven’t eaten yet, right?” 

All Sunghoon could do was stare at the bag, his tough exterior relaxing. 

“Thank you,” was all he could say. 

You smiled even brighter, taking another bite out of your apple. 

Sunghoon drank the blood as you finished off your apple and drank your water. 

“Can I see your work?” You asked, finally breaking the silence. 

Sunghoon glared at you again, “Why do you care?” 

You sigh, “Because believe it or not, we are kinda stuck with each other, soooo.” 

Sunghoon rolled his head, running a hand through his hair. 

He knew you were right. 

“You won’t put a hex on me if I come down, will ya hex girl?” 

You glared at him, “No you idiot!” 

Sunghoon smirked, “Sassy much, hex girl?” 

“Continue pushing my buttons and you’ll see, bloodsucker.” 

This small banter admittedly made Sunghoon happy. You were the first person to get under his skin and make it crawl, but returned every ounce of energy he gave out. 

Sunghoon flung himself down from the tree, waving you over. 

One by one, Sunghoon showed you all the photos he took this morning. 

“These are really beautiful, bloodsucker,” you said, patting his shoulder, “But it’s missing something.” 

Sunghoon once again glared at you, “Missing what, exactly?” 

You smile, pointing at yourself, “A model!” 

Sunghoon furrowed his brows at you, “I don’t need you in my photos hex girl, might put a curse on them.” 

You rolled your eyes, “Come on, just snap a few pictures.” 

Sunghoon wanted to protest, why should he take photos of his enemy? 

But with the way you looked right now, Sunghoon knew with the sunrise and open fields, you would be a perfect fit. 

He nodded, “Fine.” 

You smiled, skipping away from him. 

Sunghoon lifted his camera, snapping a few photos of you skipping. 

You stopped and quickly turned around, the biggest smile on your face. Sunghoon snapped that as a photo, his stomach doing flips. 

The way your lips curled as you smiled. How the sun brought out the color of your eyes. The way your hair fell and blew in the wind. 

Sunghoon stared at the photo. You were so beautiful. 

“Hey!” You snapped Sunghoon out of his trance, “Are you going to stare at the camera or tell me how to be a good model?” 

Sunghoon smiled, “Just…be you.” 

You thought about it, deciding to make a joke, “What if I do Wanda Maximoff poses? Like Scarlet Witch Style?”

Sunghoon blinked at you, “Can you actually do magic like that?” 

You glared at him, “No! I’m a witch, not a superhuman.”

Sunghoon glared back, “Well, I didn’t know what all you witches can do!” 

“Just think of us witches as hippies, just that we don’t smoke a shit ton of weed.” 

Sunghoon chuckled, his hand clenching his shirt from his laughter.

“What is so funny?” You tried to not laugh as well, but his laugh was contagious. 

“Just the way you explained witches,” Sunghoon took a deep breath, “I’ve only ever been in contact with witches who use darker magic, you’re the first who doesn’t.” 

You studied him and his smile, his natural fangs being present with his smile. 

You haven’t seen him smile at all since you met a week ago. 

You walked towards him, stopping directly in front of him. 

Sunghoon narrowed his eyes down at you, “What are you doing? Get away from me.” 

You sighed, “There’s that tough exterior.” 

You placed your hand on his cheek, he pulled away, but reached back for him, connecting your palm to his skin. 

Sunghoon’s heart was racing at your touch, his jaw locking together. 

You breathed in, “You have such a tough exterior, but are so caring and soft underneath it.” 

Sunghoon rolled his eyes, “Stop using your voodoo shit on me.” 

“Sunghoon.” 

It was the first time you actually called him by his name, and oh did it do numbers on him. 

He made eye contact with you, and immediately after, you backed away from him. 

Sunghoon knew why. There was a spark of electric energy that shot through the both of you, that small string slowly getting tied, but being still loose. 

He shook his head, not letting it tighten. 

“I’m going back to the house.” Sunghoon quickly turned and walked away, leaving you. 

You touched your chest, looking down at the ground. 

“What the fuck was that.” 

—

Sunghoon spent the rest of the day locked inside his room, flipping through the photos he had taken earlier that morning, stopping at the one of you. 

His heartstrings were being pulled. The moment of the string being attached to the both of you came back into his mind. 

“I can’t mate with a damn witch, it’s impossible,” he whispered to himself. 

But the more he looked at your photo, the more his heart called to you. 

He turned the camera off, set it on the bedside table, rolled over, and fell asleep. 

He woke up at the sound of footsteps walking down the hall. 

Sunghoon stretched, a yawn escaping his lips. 

He checked the time off his phone, rolling his eyes at the time. 

Sunghoon quickly got out of bed, sliding his sneakers on before walking out of his room, seeing the door to your bedroom was open. 

Sunghoon rolled his eyes, “What the hell is she doing?” 

He found you outside by the pond sitting on the ground. Glass bottles filled with herbs sat in front of you, and a small fire was lit to your right. 

“It’s three a.m.,” he yawned, “why the hell are you outside at three a.m.” 

You turned and smiled at him, “I’m doing witchy things.” 

Sunghoon scoffed, “I already figured that, hex girl. I’m asking what exactly you are doing.” 

You turned back to the herbs, slowly mixing them together and setting them into the fire. 

“Don’t you know the witching hour is three a.m.?” 

Sunghoon shoved his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants, “Yes, isn’t that when your powers are at their strongest? Just like us on a new moon.”

“Exactly,” you sang, “My powers are only stronger for an hour, plus the protection barrier I put around the house was fading due to my injuries from the fire. I need to revamp my recovery spell as well, so these scars go away.” 

Sunghoon’s heart pulled towards you even more, you were sacrificing so much to protect everyone, to protect him when he does nothing but be an ass towards you. 

You stood up, brushing the dirt off your sweatpants, “The barrier on the house has been fixed, so yay!” 

Sunghoon nodded.

“But I ran out of herbal recovery leaves, so I need more of that to remove all these burn marks.” 

You started to walk away, only for Sunghoon to grab your arm.

You raised a brow at him, noticing how serious his face looked at you, “What?”

Sunghoon walked closer to you, tracing his fingers over the massive pink scar on your face, “You’re beautiful as you are,” his fingers moved over every inch of the scar, before moving down your cheek, his palm cupping your face, “You’re so beautiful, scars and all.” 

Your heart raced. He thought you were beautiful? You thought he hated you. But you couldn’t help but feel that tug to him, and notice his energy was matching that tug. 

“What is this feeling?” You asked, “This energy that’s flowing between us? It wasn’t there before today.” 

Sunghoon reached for your hand with his free hand, his eyes meeting yours, “It’s the string of fate.” 

You looked at him confused, “String of fate?” 

“When vampires meet their mates, a string of fate ties them together,” Sunghoon took a deep breath in, “And I think we might have a string of fate tying around us.” 

“Is that another way of saying we are soulmates?” You made a grossed-out face at him, which earned you a glare. 

“Don’t look at me like that hex girl, you act like it’s a choice.” 

“Is it not?” 

Sunghoon shook his head, “Trust me if it was, I wouldn’t be standing here right now.” 

“Must be spine-chilling knowing your string of fate is probably being tied to a witch.” you teased him. 

Sunghoon half smiled, biting his lower lip, “You know for someone who was the head witch of your coven and village, you sure don’t know a lot about vampires.” 

You rolled your eyes, finally pushing his hand from your face, “I was only recently appointed as head witch, it’s not something I wanted.” 

Sunghoon squeezed your hand, “It’s like Jungwon being our leader, I don’t think he thought he was fit enough.” 

“Jungwon is doing fanatic, better than I was.” 

“I bet you were fine—“

“If I were fine,” you took a deep breath in, “Then Dorian wouldn’t have found a way to break the barrier over my village and wouldn’t have burnt down to ashes and killed my whole coven.” 

Sunghoon pulled you to him, embracing you, “I am so sorry they didn’t get to you in time. The moment Dorian would have been near Jake we would have known, we would have been there in seconds and…” 

“And what, bloodsucker?” 

“I could have saved you and your coven.” 

You looked up at him, “You hate me, hate witches, why do that?” 

Sunghoon took a deep breath, pushing your long hair behind your ear, “I would have gone to protect Jake, he’s my best friend after all, but I would have met you sooner, and could have prevented what happened.” 

You stepped away from him, tears filling your eyes and not wanting him to see it. 

“I couldn’t have stopped what happened, but I can do something now to protect you and my pack.” 

You made eye contact with him, once again feeling that string of fate, it pulled your hearts together, you could feel and see the red energy wrap around the two of you, but you could also feel Sunghoon’s heart trying to reject it. 

“We can’t be mates, you won’t allow it.” 

Sunghoon rolled his eyes, “Stop using your voodoo on me.” 

you scoffed, “I’m not using voodoo! I am using my—“

“Just shut up and come over here and kiss me.” 

You stared at him, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

You chuckled, “What?” 

“Y/N,” your heart stopped at hearing how beautifully your name rolled off his tongue, “I am fighting to push out that string of fate. Anytime I’ve thought about who my mate would be, I never once pictured it would be you. Yet here you are in front of me. We are total opposites and two different types of creatures. And if you go back into that house and ignore this fate, then we will continue this back and forth. But if you come over here and kiss me, I swear I’ll be good to you.” 

God damn that string of fate and god damn this vampire. 

You rushed to him, standing on your tiptoes to reach his lips. His hands found your waist. The red energy of this fate tied you two into a knot. Bonding you as mates. 

“Goddammit, hex girl,” he whispered in between kisses.

“Goddamnit, bloodsucker,” you whispered back. 

Sunghoon sat against the tree, with you between his legs. Back against his chest and his arms wrapped around you. 

You leaned your head against his chin, watching as the sun slowly peaked over the horizon. 

“How long were you the head witch?” Sunghoon asked, taking your hands in his. 

You sighed, “Only two years, I was next in line but I didn’t want it.” 

“Why didn’t you?” Sunghoon was curious. Witches were something totally different than vampires, dhampirs, and even werewolves, their way of life was completely in the opposite direction. 

“I didn’t feel as if I was ready,” you leaned more into him, “I don’t have as many years on me as some of the other warlocks and witches in the village.” 

“And what time period are you from exactly?” Sunghoon teased. 

“I saw the Salem Witch Trials happen.” 

“Gosh you’re so old!” he teased you more, planting kisses on your cheek. 

“Oh shut up!” you shoved your back into his chest, “I can NOT believe I am stuck with you until the world ends.”

“Get used to it, sweetheart.” 

You both laughed and leaned more into each other. 

“Can I take a photo of us?” Sunghoon asked, “I want to capture this moment.” 

You nodded and he pulled his phone from his pocket. 

“No camera?” you teased. 

“Phone cameras work just as well.” 

You looked into the phone's camera and gasped, “Oh my god! I can see your reflection!” 

Sunghoon dropped his arm and rolled his eyes, “Shut up with your stupid ass jokes and take a nice photo with me, hex girl.”

You decided to stop teasing him and smiled into the camera. 

Sunghoon stared down at the photo of the two of you, the happiness he felt, he could see it written all over his face. 

“You know, I’ve never captured something as beautiful as you.” 

You looked up at him, “And I’ve never thought I’d have my own personal photographer to take model photos of me.”

“God you’re so annoying.”

Hand in hand, you followed Sunghoon back to the house. 

Everyone was awake and stopped everything they were doing in shock at the sight they were seeing. 

“Who would have thought,” Jake teased.

Sunghoon tried hard to fight back his smile, “Shut up.” 

Everyone laughed and joked along. 

You were happy. 

The moment you bonded with Sunghoon, you felt the same bond with the others, including your best friend and the humans in the pack. 

It wasn’t like your coven, but the bond was still there. You belonged somewhere again. 

You looked up at your mate, his smile working numbers on your heart. God you loved him so much already. 

But Sunghoon’s smile faded, and so did the other vampire's smiles. 

The room fell silent. The humans and you are both confused, clearly not being able to hear what they are hearing. 

“Something isn’t right,” Heeseung said quietly. 

“Sunghoon?” you take your hand in his.

He squeezed your hand tightly.

Before Sunghoon could open his mouth to speak, you sensed the other presence. 

You dropped your mate's hand, and slowly back away. 

You looked at your half-blooded friend, she was already looking at you. 

“Dorian...” you whispered, “He broke the protection barrier.” 

Sunghoon’s jaw clenched, “Guys what do we do?” 

Before any more could be said, you and __ were running towards the door.” 

“No no no!!” Sunghoon and Jake both yelled, grabbing ahold of you and her. 

“Jake, fucking let go of me!!” she screamed. 

You also fought off Sunghoon’s grip on your arm, “Let go of me!” you hissed. 

“I am not letting you go out there!” He snapped.

You managed to get out of his hold and were out the door. 

“Y/N!” Sunghoon yelled, going after you. 

__ released Jake’s grip and was following behind. 

Everyone else was right behind. 

Dorian stood at the edge of the pond, two women standing at his side, and a black portal opened behind him. 

You clenched your fist and you stood in front of him at a distance. 

“Dorian!” you hissed. 

“I see you survived being burned,” he laughed, “You unfortunately didn’t get the fate as your coven did.” 

“How dare you speak of them!” You took a step forward, only to be stopped by Sunghoon getting in front of you. 

Sunghoon glared down at Dorian, his rage hitting its peak. 

Dorian laughed, “Oh this is too good! Two enemies mated? This pack continues to surprise me.” He glances over at your best friend with Jake also at her side, “Ahh, nice to see you again, __. I also see you’ve mated again.” 

“Shut up!” the dhampir snapped, “Don’t you dare bring him up!! You murderer!!” 

Dorian’s laughter grew louder the more he made eye contact with each member of the pack. 

Jungwon and Jay have death grips on their mates. Their eyes narrowed and their jaws clenched.

“I would love to stay and chat up with you guys, but I only came for two of your mates, and that is all.” Dorian looked at the women at his sides, “Ladies will you do the honors?” 

The women both smiled and disappeared. 

Sunghoon’s eyes widened, those two weren’t like normal vampires. 

“He used magic..” you whispered, “He figured out how to read the spells he stole from my coven.” 

Dorian’s laughter filled the air and it only made Sunghoon rage even more. 

With one blink of an eye, one of the women was at Sunghoon’s side, and then she was gone. She reappeared back at Dorian’s side with you in front of her, a knife pressed against your neck, the sharp edge making a cut, a small stream of blood dripping down. 

The other woman reappeared with the dhampir at Dorian’s side. 

As if on command, Sunghoon and Jake both rushed forward. 

They weren’t thinking clearly. Their brains fogged and only had their sights on their mates. 

Heeseung made it in time to grab Sunghoon, pulling him back, and Sunoo for Jake. 

“GIVE HER BACK!!” Sunghoon screamed, “FUCKING GIVE HER BACK TO ME.” 

“Sunghoon calm down,” Heeseung shouted, “He’s going to kill them both if you take one more step.” 

Sunghoon stopped fighting Heeseung, but Sunoo struggled to keep Jake at bay, until Heeseung repeated the same words again, causing Jake to fall to his knees. 

“Good,” Dorian said, “Would have been a shame to kill your mates in front of you.” 

“What do you want with our pack members!?” Jungwon snapped a low growl leaving his lips when he yelled. 

“I have some unfinished business with them,” Dorian stared down at Jungwon’s mate, causing Jungwon to press __ even closer to him, “I have some unfinished business with all of you actually, but Y/N and this dhampir are more important. They have something I need.” 

Sunghoon went to take a step, just to be stopped by hearing your whimpers as the knife was pressed harder against your neck. 

“Now then,” Dorian turned and faced the portal, “We shall be taking our leave then.”

He stepped through the portal, the women slowly following behind him. 

Sunghoon and Jake tried fighting Heeseung and Sunoo again. 

Both scream out for their mates.

Sunghoon felt powerless as he watched you disappear through the portal, quickly closing up after you stepped through. 

The last thing you saw was the tears that filled Sunghoon’s eyes. 

Once you were gone, all Sunghoon could do was fall to his knees, his fingers dug into the dirt as he stared down. 

The sounds of Jake’s cries muffled out. 

No one ever told Sunghoon how it would feel to have your mate taken from you, to feel the distance of how far they were. The loneliness of them not being at your side. 

Sunghoon couldn’t hold in his rage as he let out a yell until his voice was gone and his throat sore. 

The last thing Sunghoon remembered was Heeseung pulling him off the ground and dragging him into the house. 

—

Everyone sat in silence the next morning. 

Jake sat in the corner of the living room, knees to his chest and head on his knees, tuning out the world. 

Sunghoon stared down at the photo of you he had taken with his camera. His hands shook. 

“Dorian is going to pay.” Sunghoon said, breaking the silence, “I am going to make him pay for the things he’s done and get my mate back.”

jay: got this weeks shipment. you? heeseung: ours just came as well. how much extra? jay: about two boxes worth.  heeseung: we have one. has jungwon checked in yet? jay: no. fixing to give him a call.  heeseung: 👍🏼

Jay scoffed, “I hate when he replies back in just emojis.” 

Jay tossed his phone onto his desk, running a hand through his silver hair. The two boxes of blood bags sat at his feet. 

He released a sign, hanging his head low. 

Jay quickly picked up the boxes, and was out the window of his office and to his car, tossing the boxes in the back and was back in the office before a second even passed. 

A nurse walked into the room right when Jay was closing the window.

“Doctor Park?” her soft voice spoke as she tapped her knuckle to the door.

“Yes?” Jay said, giving her a soft smile. 

“Your next appointment is here, they are in room 1130.” 

Jay nodded, “I will be right there, I have to call my brother for a second.” 

The nurse smiled with a giggle, “Which one?” 

“The one causing me the most problems right now.” 

She giggles again, “That’s what happens when they start dating.” 

Jay nodded in agreement, “You have no idea.” 

Except it wasn’t even the fact Jungwon was dating. He found his mate. One that is human and is being targeted by another vampire. Which made Jay stress more than normal. 

 “I’ll be there in a second,” Jay confirmed again with the nurse before dialing Jungwon’s number. 

But no answer. 

Jay then calls Jungwon’s mate. 

“Hello?” she answers right away.

“Where is your mate?” Jay softly snapped, trying to not drop his frustration on her. 

“Geez, Wonnie! Jay is upset with you!” 

Jungwon mumbled something in the background before coming onto the line, “Yes, Hyung?”

“What is the point of having a phone if you’re not going to answer it damnit!” Jay clenched his jaw, “If neither of you would have answered.”

“Hyung,” Jungwon breathed out, “We are fine. I am sorry I didn’t check in.” 

Jay dropped his head into his hand, took a deep breath, and out, “How is everything going?” 

“Niki just left, today has also been normal. Nothing out of the blue.” 

“Okay, Heeseung and I will be there later to drop off bags.”

“Sounds good.”

“And Jungwon?” 

Jungwon sat and waited for Jay. 

“No funny business.” 

“No promises.” and the line cut. 

Jay smirked, standing up and grabbing his doctor's coat. 

—

You dropped your head to the desk. This lecture was draining you. Class has also been in session for thirty minutes and you already wanted to throw yourself in front of a moving bus. 

You tilted your head to look out the window. The sky was getting darker, was there a chance of rain today?

Your cell phone buzzed in your pocket, pulling it out you see you’ve received some texts from a guy you’ve been talking to through an app. 

sharpdart32: when can I finally meet you? :(

sharpdart32: facetime calling you isn’t enough. 

A smile formed on your face. 

fate622: matt, I’m in class rn…how about afterwards?

sharpdart32: sounds perfect. there is an amazing place with a beautiful view of a lake. you’ll love it. 

fate622: it looks like it’ll rain though.

sharpdart32: don’t worry! everything will be fine. trust me. 

fate622: I trust you. 

sharpdart32: :) 

sharpdart32: see you soon. 

You waited by the entrance to the park, double-checking the address Matt sent you, and sure enough, it’s the right place. 

The sky was getting darker and the air smelt of rain. You wrap your jacket tighter around your body. Thankful to yourself for choosing your cargo pants to help keep your legs warm.

You checked the time, Matt was running late. 

Thinking you got stood up, you decided it was time to leave. You walked back to your car, opening the door. 

“I just got here, leaving already?” 

The familiar voice sent happiness. You whipped around, seeing Matt’s beautiful smile. 

“I thought you stood me up!” you laughed, closing your car door and making your way towards him. 

He pulled you into a tight hug, “Gosh, it’s finally nice to see you in person.”

You smiled into his shoulder, “Yes it really is.” 

Matt took a deep breath in, “You smell so…so good.” 

Your face flushed, you spent so long in the college’s bathroom to make yourself presentable and it seemed to have paid off. 

“Thank you, I'm glad I decided on this perfume.” 

Matt pulled away, his hands resting on your shoulders, “Well it smells fantastic. Shall we?” 

You nodded, taking his hand and following him into the park. 

“Where is this view at, Matt?” you asked, excited to see how breathtaking this lake has to be. 

“It’s not too far, you’ll see!” 

As you both continue your hike through the park, Matt talks about his day and asks how school is going for you. It helped pass the time until the breeze from the lake caught your attention. 

“Oh! Are we here?!” 

Matt nodded, “Of course!” 

You released his hand from yours, rushing over to see the lake, but quickly stopped when you noticed the cliff. 

“You didn’t say anything about a cliff.” 

“Scared of heights?” Matt teased. 

You scrunch your nose at him, “Absolutely not! Just a detail I expected you to have told me is all.” 

You carefully walk closer to the edge, looking at how far of a drop it is. Deciding to take a few steps back was best. 

“You like the view, Y/N?” Matt whispered in your ear as he wrapped an arm around your waist. 

You leaned into him, nodding, “I do, it really is beautiful like you said.” 

Matt breathed you in again, “Y/N, you smell so good.” 

“You told me that already,” you turned to look at him. 

Your heart stopped at the change of his facial expression, the color of his eyes such a dark crimson. 

“Matt…? Your eyes…” 

He chuckled, “What's wrong with them? Hmm?” He smiled as he continued his chuckle, fangs now appearing. 

You tried to run from him, but his grip was all too tight. 

“What’s wrong Y/N? You were having so much fun just a second ago.” 

You continued trying to escape, but he was way too strong. 

“Stop fighting me, Y/N. I’m starving, and your blood is what I’m craving.” 

Matt took your chin between his fingers, forcing you to look at him. 

“What are you…” You whispered. 

“You already know the answer, sweet thing. And you fell right into my trap.”

He was going to kill you. There was no denying it. 

Matt tilted your head and dug his fangs into your skin. 

You felt the blood leaving your body. Your skin is growing cold and pale. 

Your eyelids become heavy as the dizziness sets in. Try to focus as much as you can to stay conscious. 

The rain finally came down. Your feet losing their traction on the ground from the rain, Matt keeping his grip on you as you lost feeling in your legs. 

He finally released his fangs, licking his lips. Whatever blood you had left in your body pooled out of your neck and down your clothes.

You barely were able to look at him and the shit-eating grin he had. 

“It was fun, Y/N.”

“They’ll find you, my family. Friends. The police. They’ll find you.”

He threw his head back in laughter and took a deep breath, “No they won’t. And they won’t find you either.” 

He dropped you over the edge, gravity taking you down until the cold water claimed you. 

—

Heeseung and Jay one by one placed the blood bags into the fridge at the safe house. 

“I think we have enough to last years.” Jake’s Australian accent chipped in, “Why are you two planting so much?” 

Jay sighed, “Because we don’t know how long we have to hide the love birds here for.” 

“It’s been two months,” Sunoo rolled his eyes, “We haven’t found any traces of Dorian or any hints that he’s formed a pack.” 

“Yeah, but he also knows we are after him!” Sunghoon snapped, “He’s going to be on his toes.” 

Heeseung hung his head down, “Can we not fight in front of __.”

Everyone glances over at Jungwon and his mate, and then quickly looks back at each other. 

“They are too in Lalaland to even notice.” Niki jokes. 

Jay looked back over at his younger brother, seeing the smile on his face as he pushed her hair behind her ears. 

“We have to protect them.” Jay said, looking between the other five, “Jungwon might have his strength back, but if Dorian ever showed up for her, Jungwon would get desperate to protect her and he would need us.” 

Everyone nodded in agreement. 

“Who is next on watch?” Heeseung asked, “Niki just finished, right?” 

Niki nodded. 

Jay raised his hand, “My duty turn, I’ll go now.” 

Jay took one last look at Jungwon, the younger giving him a glance back, “Behave.” 

Jungwon raised his eyebrow, “Okay, mom.” 

With a roll of his eyes, Jay was out the door, running to the edge of the perimeter. A good couple hours worth of distance between himself and the safe house. 

The end of the perimeter was on the edge of a cliff with a beautiful view of a lake. 

Jay knelt down, taking in the fall lake breeze and the smell of the lake. 

This used to be one of his favorite places anytime the seven of them would be at the safe house. It always helped calm his nerves. 

Jay looked up at the dark sky, “It’s about to rain soon.” 

And as if on command, rain fell down. 

Jay clenched his jaw, “Fuck…should have brou-“ 

The smell of blood filled his nostrils, shooting Jay back up to his feet, looking in every direction the smell could be coming from. 

His heart raced against his chest. Jay smells blood all the time at the clinic, but to smell it out here when it’s not an animal? Something was wrong. 

Laughter echoed across the lake. Jay pinpointed where it was coming from, narrowing his vision to see a man and woman standing on the edge. 

Blood flowed from her neck.

“Vampire..” Jay whispered, looking closer at the man, “Dorian!!” 

Dorian took the girl and dropped her over the edge. 

“Dorian!!!” Jay yelled louder.

Dorian’s eyes locked with Jay’s, a smile played wide on Dorian’s face, but faded and quickly ran. 

Jay knew why too, the others sensed Jay’s distress, and Dorian felt it too. 

Jay started to run after him but stopped as your body hit the water. 

You were still alive, Jay could feel it. You tried with whatever strength you had to keep from sinking, but eventually, you gave out, the water filling your lungs. 

Heeseung ran past Jay, “Come on! He’s getting away!” 

Jake, Sunghoon, Sunoo, and Niki also ran past. 

“Hyung?” 

Jay whipped around, seeing Jungwon with __ standing behind him, pressed to his back. 

“Damnit Jungwon get her out of here!” Jay snapped, pointing back towards the safe house. 

Jungwon tightened his grip on __, looking down at the lake, “That woman is drowning!” 

Jay groaned, “Won I know!” Jay took steps back, “Get her out of here! Now!” Jay then turned and ran off the cliff. 

The cold water sent chills down him as he pushed himself through to get to you. Your faint heartbeat playing in his ears. 

The cool air and rain hit your face as you came to. 

“Hey!” a male voice said, “Hey, I need you to tell me how many fingers I am holding up?” 

“…a peace sign?” 

Jay rolled his eyes, “Close enough. Can you sit up?” 

You nodded, slowly trying to move your body. 

“Woah woah, easy.” Jay wrapped his arms around you, helping you sit up. Coughing up the remaining water in your lungs. 

The rain finally came to a stop, but the pain in your body continued. 

You groaned as you touched your hand to your neck. 

“Hey, don’t touch that.” He said quickly, taking your hand away from your neck, “We need to get you to a hospital so it doesn’t get infected.” 

You recognized the warmth of his skin. It felt the exact same as Matt’s. 

You pushed the man away from you, scooting back away from him. 

“Hey, I’m not going to hurt you, I saved you from drowning.”

You studied him as his chocolate eyes studied you. His silver hair was slicked back and his clothes tightly fit him from the rain. You could lie, it had your heart racing. This man was beautiful. 

“The last vampire that told me that ended up draining me of my blood and pushing me off the fucking cliff! You snapped. 

Jay’s hard eyes soften, “You know, you’re the first person to recognize the monster that I am so quickly.” He glances away from you. 

Your heartbeat slowed, the way he said those words…They were filled with hurt. 

“Anyways,” He said looking back at you, “This is the thanks I get for saving your life? It took almost ten minutes of CPR to save you.”

Your fingers went to your lips, face flushing, “What if I had a DNR!!” you snapped, giving him the same attitude back. 

He rolled his eyes, “You don’t have a DNR. I’m not stupid. Plus I am a doctor, I know what I’m doing.” 

You raised an eyebrow, “A vampire…doctor?” 

He nodded, “Well yeah, we have to make money too.” 

Your body relaxed, “You said I needed to go to a hospital?” 

He nodded again. 

You agreed to go, “I swear if I put my trust in one more vampire and you break it…”

He chuckled, “I’m not like the one that hurt you.” 

The drive to the hospital was long and awkward but finally arrived. 

You followed him around the building, “This is a clinic?” 

He nodded, “Of course.” 

“No hospital?” 

You followed him to a window and watched as he opened it. 

“We are breaking into a clinic?!” 

He stared back at you, “Not breaking in.” He fully climbed through the window, helping you inside after. 

“Sit on the bed, I have to grab some supplies.” 

You nodded, doing as you were told. 

You looked around the room. It was pretty bland. Had a small tv in the corner of the wall with a table underneath and some flowers with a tag that read, “To: Doctor Park, thank you for everything you do! -♡ Nurse Kay.” 

You giggled at the note, someone had a small crush on the vampire doctor. 

You continued looking around the room, setting your eyes on the desk. 

Pictures of him with six other boys filled with frames around the desk, along with a photo of himself and what looks like his parents. The photo was very old and looks like it has been reprinted multiple times. 

Your heart sank, just how long has he been alive? 

Jay came back into the room, with bandages, medicine, ointments, a blood bag, and an IV pole. 

“You don’t know what blood time I am?” you said. 

“I know your blood type based on its smell.” He said, setting everyone down on the bed beside you. 

That made sense, he is a vampire after all. 

“I am going to do a blood transfusion,” he set the blood bag onto the rack, hooking up the tubes to it, “Your body is still trying to recover from the blood loss, so we are just going to go ahead and do the transfusion.” 

He took your arm and turned it over, wiping the alcohol pad over your skin, “Are you ready for the needle?” 

You looked away and nodded. 

You felt the prick of the needle and bandages being wrapped around your arm, your body taking in the blood back into your body. 

“Now time for the ointment.” he knelt down in front of you, dabbing a small amount of the cream to his finger and applying it to your neck wounds. 

“Dorian really dug his fangs deep.” 

“Dorian? His name is Matt?” 

Jay shook his head, “He is smart, that’s for sure. Known the man for so long, it doesn't surprise me that he did a name change.” 

“You know him?” panic started to set in. 

“Well, used to. It’s a long story. Don’t associate with him anymore.” 

You could tell he didn’t want to talk about Dorian anymore. Glancing back at the flowers, you had another idea. 

“Nurse Kay seems to have a crush on you, Doctor Park.” 

He softly smiled, “She’s been trying to jump my bones since I’ve been here, and please just call me Jay.” 

Jay grabbed the bandage and slowly wrapped it around your neck, “I’m Y/N. And thank you, Jay.”

Jay’s eyes meet yours. The thread tangled into a knot, tying together perfectly just from one look. 

You felt it too, this pull to him. Something clicking together. Your heart raced being inches away from him. 

Jay looked away from you, “Yeah, you’re welcome.” 

He stood up, gathering the leftover items and setting them into a cabinet. 

Jay’s softness went back into his tough core. You wondered what made him so tough?

Jay sat down at his desk, letting out a deep sigh. 

“Once your bag is finished I’ll take you ho-“

Before Jay could finish, the door opened, and five men followed all of them talking at once. 

“Hey hey! Quiet!” Jay snapped, “This is a clinic for fucksakes.” He covered his face with his hands. 

“I told them that, but…” Heeseung mumbled. 

Jay stood up, facing the four of them. 

“Jungwon?” 

“Back at the safe house,” Heeseung said. 

“Good, but we need to get them out of there.” Jay sighed. 

Niki nodded, “After noticing you, Hyung, he has an idea where the house is. He’ll be coming for __.”

Jake agreed, “We need another safe place.” 

Sunghoon gave suggestions and the others agreed or disagreed. 

Jay glances over at you, giving you an “Are you okay?” look. 

You nodded back at him.

Heeseung glanced between Jay and you, “Whose this?” 

“This is Y/N,” Jay scratched the back of his head, “Y/N, this is Heeseung, Jake, Sunghoon, Sunoo, and Niki.” 

You slowly waved a hand at them. These were the boys from the pictures, only one is missing and you assumed it was Jungwon, the one they all mentioned earlier. 

“Why is she here?” Sunoo asked.

“I didn’t realize someone else was in here either…” Sunghoon admitted. 

“She was Dorian’s meal.” Jay shrugged. 

You rolled your eyes, “You don’t have to put it like that you jerk.” 

Jay rolled his eyes back, “Could have left you to die.” 

“Might as well have, asshole.” 

Jay hung his head low and softly groaned. 

Heeseung smiled between the two of you, but the smile faded just as fast, “Does Dorian know she’s alive?” 

“I don’t know.” Jay sighed, sitting back in his chair, “I jumped in to save her after he took off.” 

“Well,” Jake started, “He left town, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have eyes and ears around. He has Y/N’s scent, he’ll know she’s alive the minute he goes back to the area.” 

“Jay,” Heeseung called for him. Jay looks up at his only hyung, “We have to protect her too now.” 

Jay looks at you and nods, “Yes we do.” 

You look at the two of them confused, “Is there another person you’re protecting from Dorian?” 

They all nodded, “Jungwon’s mate.” Niki sang. 

“Mate?” You’re even more confused. 

Heeseung continues staring between Jay and yourself, “You felt it, didn’t you?” 

Jay immediately shakes his head, “No. Absolutely not.” 

“Jongseong…” Heeseung said using Jay’s real name. 

“No! Drop it.” Jay snapped, “We need to get Jungwon and __ to a new safe place and Y/N somewhere too.” 

“I want to be wherever Jay goes.” You spoke up, causing all six of them to look at you. 

Heeseung smirked at Jay, causing Jay to shove his older. 

“I have an idea where to take Jungwon and __,” Jake said, “But I’ll need help to lose our scents at the safe house and to transport the bags.” 

The boys cooked up a plan and were all in agreement. 

“What about me?” You asked. 

“You’ll stay with me…”Jay mumbled, “At my apartment.”

“Will it be safe?” 

“Trust me,” Sunoo sassed, “Out of all of us, he has the most security at his apartment.” 

You giggled at the embarrassment on Jay’s face. You could tell he was having a hard time holding onto his tough shell. 

A knock sounded on the door, and a female walked in, “Oh hello boys! Long time no see! And hello Doctor Lee, nice to see you again.” 

You immediately knew it was Nurse Kay by how she glanced over at Jay, and then at you. 

“Oh, I didn’t know you had a patient…” 

Jay shook his head, “It was last minute.” 

She nodded, giving you one final glance, “I don’t  think your brothers should be in this room with a patient.”

You rolled your eyes, could her jealousy be any more obvious?

“We were just finishing up,” Jay said, walking to you. Releasing IV from your arm. “Thank you, Nurse.” 

She closed the door, leaving the room silent. 

After one more decision, you all left the clinic. Jay at your side and the other five surrounding the both of you. 

“This is embarrassing.” Jay scoffed. 

You smiled, “I have my own personal bodyguards, this is fun!” 

Jay couldn’t help but smile after you looked away. His heart pulling to you, and him trying to shove it down. Trying to cut the knot. 

The drive to Jay’s apartment was short. You also expected a vampire who is god knows how old with however much money, he would be living in a bigger apartment space. 

You stood in the doorway, looking into the studio apartment. 

“What’s wrong? Go inside!” Jay gently pushed you forward. 

“Just expected like a massive luxurious apartment.” 

Jay raised a brow, “I don’t have that kind of money.” 

You glared at him, “There’s no way you don’t.” 

Jay rolled his eyes, “I like this small space.” 

You looked around as you walked in, seeing his bed in the corner, a couch and TV in the other. A small dining table with the kitchen on the other side and a hole in the wall for the bathroom. 

Jay handed you a pair of his clothes, “I’ll wash the ones you’re wearing now, the shower is ready, please freshen up.” 

You take the clothes, “What about you?” 

“I’ll shower after you.” 

You took your time in the shower, trying to process everything that happened today and what it means going forward. 

Will you have to run for the rest of your life? Always hiding? Will Jay be by your side? 

So many more questions filtered through your brain. It hurt trying to wrap everything around it. 

Once out of the shower, you pulled on the basketball shorts and shirt he gave you to wear. They were both oversized, but comfortable. They even smelled like him. 

You stood in the mirror and ran your fingers through your hair, only to stop and notice the puncture holes in your neck. You leaned forward to get a better look, noticing how bruised your skin was around the scabs. 

Tears slowly fell down your face. You survived an attack. These wounds will turn into scars and show proof of how you survived. But they will also hold all the trauma. 

You decided to wrap more bandages around wounds, hiding it was what you wanted for the moment. 

You walked out of the bathroom, seeing Jay fast asleep on the couch, his bed unmade for you. 

The sun shining through the window was enough to wake you up. 

The smell of pancakes and bacon filled the small studio apartment. 

You crawled out of bed, only to see you were alone. 

Your bare feet hit the floor as you walked over to the kitchen, a plate of food and a note waiting for you. 

Y/N,  I got called into the clinic. There was an emergency surgery that needed my attention. I made this breakfast for you, so please eat it. Niki and Sunoo will be taking turns checking in on you while I am gone. So if you try to leave, they will stop you. There’s a number on the fridge for a pizza place down the street you can use for lunch. I should be home by dinner. Make yourself at home. Oh, there is also a fresh toothbrush and other toiletries in the bathroom for you as well. Remember do NOT leave…I mean it.  -Jay

You rolled your eyes at the last part and dug into the food. 

After your meal, you freshen up in the bathroom, washing your face and brushing your teeth. 

Since you’d be stuck here all day, you explored more of the apartment. Looking at what other food he could possibly have and then remembering he was a vampire when you opened the fridge to only find blood bags. 

You watched some TV, only to fall asleep an hour later. A knock on the door waking you from your nap. 

You looked through the peephole to see Sunoo standing outside. 

You opened the door and confirmed you were okay. Sunoo patted your head and went on his way. 

You finally decided to order pizza, and to your surprise, it was free all because the owner personally knows Jay. Which hey, free pizza is always a win. 

A couple of hours later Niki stopped by, confirming you were still in fact okay, stole one of Jay’s blood bags, talked to you about the one time Jay was scared of a “ghost” and forced Niki to shower with him, and then went on his own way. 

For the rest of the time you flipped through TV channels or read one of the many anatomy books Jay had. 

You found yourself back in the bathroom staring at the two small holes on your neck, a massive sigh leaving your mouth. 

The front door opens followed by, “I’m back.” 

You walked from the bathroom, “It’s almost 11 p.m., that’s so way past dinner time.” 

Jay glared at you as he took off his coat, “Don’t start with me.” 

You rolled your eyes, crossing your arms over your chest, “I am assuming the surgery took longer than expected?” 

Jay nodded, “It was a lot worse than we thought it was.” 

Jay dropped his coat on the kitchen table and kicked off his shoes.

You could see how tired he was. How stressed he must be trying to deal with a normal human life on top of hiding who he really is and also trying to keep you safe. 

Your face softened, the knot pulling you to him. You stood beside him, taking his hand into yours, “I am sorry it was a rough day.” 

Jay tried to calm his heart rate, not wanting to show the effect you had on him. Shoving away the knot that was pulling him to you. 

“Yeah, it’s been a long day,” he pulled you closer to him, wrapping you in a hug, “I’m going to shower, don’t stay awake for me.” 

Before you could protest, Jay gently kissed the top of your head, and then walked away, closing the bathroom room behind him. 

Jay gripped the sink, face flushed, “What did I just do???” he whispered. 

The knot is just growing tighter. 

After his shower, Jay threw on his favorite black t-shirt and shorts, finally happy to rest. 

Only to see you still awake, sitting on the couch. 

“I told you to not wait up for me!” Jay snapped, “It’s 12 a.m.!”

You rolled your eyes, “Just sit down grumpy ass.” 

Jay threw himself onto the couch, resting his legs at your side. 

“You want to share the couch?” You sassed. 

Jay scoffed, “My couch, I bought it. Stop being sassy.” 

You sighed, knowing you weren’t getting anywhere with it. 

“Tell me more about Dorian, and how he’s related to Jungwon and his…girlfriend?” 

Jay took a deep breath in, “Dorian himself is a longer story,” he started, “And his girlfriend is actually his mate.” 

You turned to face him, “That’s the second time I have heard her being called mate.” 

Jay continued and ignored your comment, “Jungwon and his mate ran into Dorian. Dorian is a solo hunter, versus us who are in a pack. Dorian hunts not to just feed but to kill. He could smell __ blood from miles away and he wanted her. Jungwon fought to keep Dorian away, but the problem was Jungwon tested his limits and didn’t drink any blood for months, he was weaker than normal.”

You nodded, taking in the information. 

Jay continued, “When you’re in a pack, you feel everything the others feel,” Jay placed his hand over his heart, “Their happiness, sadness and when they are hurt. It’s the knot of fate that ties us all together. So when we sensed Jungwon was in danger, we rushed to him. Dorian ran off knowing he couldn’t take all seven of us. He made it clear he was coming for Jungwon’s mate. And Dorian won’t stop until he has her.” 

“And since she is Jungwon’s mate, she is now a part of the pack?” 

Jay nodded, “Vampires mate for life. Once one finds their mate, they get tied into the same fate knot. Jungwon and her knot are obviously different from the one the pack shares as a whole, but it’s still there.” 

“How do you guys find your mates? Is Jungwon the only one?” 

Jay nodded, “The rest of us don’t have one. And finding mates isn't that easy. It’s a feeling both yourself and your mate will feel. That knot tangled together, making everything clear. In that moment you see only them, and that maybe this monstrous life is actually worth living.” 

You tilted your head, pulling your knees to your chest, “That is the second time you’ve called yourself a monster.” 

Jay looked into your eyes, “What else am I? There’s a reason I followed in Heeseung’s footsteps and became a doctor. To put some good back into the world at all the bad I have done.” 

“Jay…”

“We’ve done some terrible things, Y/N. There’s a reason we took to drinking blood bags and not directly from humans.” 

You placed your hand on his knee, waiting for him to continue. 

“We weren’t born vampires, but the ones who turned us were very terrible people. We did terrible things to others in our first hundred years, but we hated it. Every moment of it. Life got better once we made the change. Once we each found other passions and drank from blood bags, life did get better. Everyone else has forgiven themselves for the past but…” 

“But you never did?” 

Jay nodded. 

“Jay, look at me.” 

And he did. He stared deeply back into your doe eyes. His heart strings aching for you, the knot pulling tighter and him shoving it down. 

You crawled over to him, wanting nothing more than to kiss him. To show him how worthy he is. How he deserves so much more than what he gives himself. The knot you felt, praying he feels it too. 

Jay places his hands on your shoulders, stopping you from moving closer. 

“Y/N, please don’t, I don’t deserve this, I don’t deserve you. I’m trying so hard to cut this knot from you.” 

Tears fill your eyes, your soulmate is sitting in front of you as he tries to push you away. You could feel his hurt. Feel the pain he’s feeling as he tries to cut the knot that’s already been tied. You’re his mate, and he’s doing everything to stop it. 

But you’ve had enough, “Stop denying yourself the possibility of love just because you see yourself as a monster!” Jay’s grip on your shoulders loosened, narrowing his eyes at you, “I don’t see you as a monster, Jongseong! From the moment we met I never once saw you as a monster. I was scared, yes, but never have I ever felt so safe being by your side.”

Jay took a deep breath in, studying your face. 

“I don’t know much about how mates work for vampires, but I felt that knot you talked about. The moment we looked into each other's eyes at the clinic, I felt that knot. My whole life became yours.” 

Jay folded at your words, releasing his hands from your shoulders, one reaching for your neck, and the other on your hip. 

Jay accepted his fate, accepted the knot, and accepted you. 

His lips connected to yours, breathing you in as if he was running out of oxygen. 

His hands gripped your hips tighter, pulling you closer to him. 

Jay pulled himself up on the couch, pulling you into his lap, deepening the kiss more. 

You ran your hands in his dyed hair, causing Jay to send soft moans against your lips. His shorts hardening underneath you. 

Jay rests his hands on your lower back, slowly pushing you down onto him with every moment you make. 

The sensation you felt being completely connected to him sent butterflies to your stomach. 

Every inch of pleasure Jay was feeling was amplified because of your bond. Every movement Jay made that turned you on, turned him on more. 

It made you dizzy at his very touch. If making out with him felt like this, you could only imagine how sex would feel with him. 

Jay released his lips from yours, resting his forehead against yours. 

You both took deep breaths in, smiling and laughing. 

“There’s that smile I love,” You whispered, “Smiling looks better on you than being Mr. Grumpy Pants.” 

Jay chuckled, “You really irritate the fuck out of me.” 

“And you’re stuck with me for life, right? Mates?” 

Jay pulled your hair behind your ears, finally truly feeling every ounce of love Jungwon felt for his mate, towards you. 

“Yes, beautiful,” Jay said, taking your face between his hands, “You're stuck with me just as much as I am stuck with you.” 

He planted one last kiss on your lips, before tossing you off him. 

“You really are an asshole.” You stuck your tongue out at him. 

Jay rolled his eyes, “Go to bed, we have a big day tomor-“ 

You sat up on the couch, feeling the worry that he was feeling. 

“Jay? Jongseong? What’s wrong?” 

He pulls you towards him and behind him, away from the window.

The glass shatters, and a woman with dark red hair, steps through. 

“Oh isn’t this a sight to see, Dorian will be excited to know his lovely friends rescued his lunch.” 

You rolled your eyes, “I am so sick of hearing that.” 

Jay clenched his jaw, his grip on you becoming even tighter. 

“Didn’t think you were much for being in a pack, Lilly.” Jay hissed. 

“Oh, we aren’t in a pack. Let's just say we are in an agreement.”

“He still wants __ doesn’t he?” Jay asked, already knowing the answer. 

“He doesn’t just want Jungwon’s mate,” she sang, looking around Jay and directly at you, “He wants your mate as well.” 

Your heart sank, the man responsible for almost killing you knows you’re still alive. You gripped onto the back of Jay’s shirt, pulling yourself closer. 

“Why does he want Y/N and __?! There’s plenty of other people out there!” 

“Now now, Jongseong, that’s not something a doctor should say.” 

Lilly walked closer, studying the two of you. 

“I’m not here to hurt you or take your mate from you, I just had to come to confirm Dorian’s suspensions.”

“What is he planning?”

Lilly laughed, “I don’t have the time nor patience to tell you, plus your pack just arrived, don’t want to be torn to pieces.” 

With a wave, Lilly jumped out the window. 

Jay pulled you to his chest, wrapping his arms tighter around you. Your whole body shakes with fear. 

“Don’t be scared baby, I have you.” Jay ran his hand through your long hair, “And I won’t let them touch you.”