CHAPTER 5

(Judian's Pov)

With a draggy step, I moved to the door of the sitting room and locked it before heading up to my room. Three steps up the stairs, I felt my head bang so hard. The scene of the heartbreak and rejection from Hudson hit me again, and I cried out, scurrying up to bury myself under my duvet.

I hate myself for meeting him for the first time.

Slamming the door in frustration, I kicked off my boots and leaped to slump on the bed when I heard a creepy grunt right outside my window.

My brows arched, and fear crept in, as it was getting dark already, and I was alone in the house.

What was that, then?

As my heart thumped louder inside my chest in fear, I remembered I would be a hunter soon and needed to be brave, so I shoved off the fear and bolted to the window, rolled off the curtain and peeped through. I searched around and couldn't see anyone until I looked downwards.

My jaw dropped, with shudders running up and down my spine as every part of me stiffened in horror. I couldn't believe my eyes and really thought I was having illusions.

Right in front of me was a vampire in long sleeves and a dark hoodie, covering his face and whole body. Even his palms were covered with gloves. He was clasping on to the bar of my window, grunting deeply.

He was in intense pain, and that really touched my heart. I should have easily hit his hand holding on to my window bar to let him lose it and fall from the top of the building, but thinking of that made my heart flutter. I could see the hunters roaming around the city searching for him.

Before I could take several breaths in thought of what to do next, he pulled up his face, which had been sagged all this while, and on seeing my opened window, he leapt swiftly and dived through, right into my room. I nearly jumped out of my skin as he dived into my room at a speed that was too fast for me to stop him. The blood all over his body smeared my window and also caused a red streak on my shirt when his body got in contact with mine in the process of hopping in.

With a sharp turn, I stared at him as he grunted deeply in pain, breaking the arrows stuck in his body with a snap. I recognized those arrows as those which were used by my parents as the pack hunters, and they were specifically made for vampires. The edge was poisoned by a substance made by a witch in our pack. It could not only weaken a vampire but kill them once they aren't treated in 24 hours.

"Please shut the window, so they won't locate me here!" I heard him growl as he tried to breathe at the same time. From his hair down to his feet, everything was stained with blood. His white hair was smeared with blood and had turned slightly red. That same thing goes for his clothes, which have almost taken the color of his blood as well.

He looked so pitiful as he battled for his life; the hood top still covered his face, and as I rested my eyes on him, I couldn't help wondering what he would look like.

"Do you even have an idea that you will be dead before 24 hours runs out?" As I shut the window, I asked. I'm not sure why I suddenly don't want the pack hunters to track him down. I am the daughter of one, and I should pounce on this vampire here, injecting him with more poisonous substances to get him weaker before calling on the royal warriors to take him to our alpha for execution. But the thought of all that wasn't going down well with me.

The man here doesn't seem to be as cruel as I was told the vampires were, or was I the one who was making him appear good in my eyes? If he wasn't badly wounded, would he hesitate before ripping me off my heart?

The moment I mentioned he would die, he cringed as the statement struck him so hard that he quickly pulled the hood away and raised his gaze at me for the first time, making our eyes lock. I got frozen instantly.

Everything around me vanished, creating an empty world containing just the two of us. His almond eyes were emerald green and wet due to tears, causing them to flick under the light as it pierced into mine, drawing me into its depth; I felt stiffened at the warmth. It seemed to grasp my soul in it. My hands shook as his angelic face drew me in so deeply that I couldn't take my gaze away from

him.

With his concrete jaw and defined cheekbones, he looks flawless; I could notice his bristly brows and hawkish nose, which made him so sexy.

My gaze fell on his wet lips, and shudders ran down my spine; he has red-filled lips that are so sensual and inviting to kiss that I felt like wrapping my arm around his neck and plunging my lips into them.I could only stand right here and wonder how sweet his lips could taste.

I never believed in love at first sight. I was not going to believe it would ever happen to me, not when Hudson had broken my heart. As cute as Hudson was, I didn't fall for him at first sight. Men hardly attract me with their handsome faces, but this man right in front of me was getting me intoxicated at how alluring he looked.

"Please, will I really die?" He inquired with a husky voice that sounded right inside my heart, and I couldn't help admiring his tone this time; something was really wrong with me now.

I had flinched back to reality, away from my world of admiration and fantasy, only to forget what he asked. I was too busy imagining a lot of things in my mind that I had also forgotten he was injured.

"Isn't there any way to save my life? I know you're a werewolf who..." He coughed out blood, breathing heavily, and now I couldn't bear standing over there watching him in pain.

Whether he was a vampire at that moment or not was what I didn't care to know. This man here is the most handsome creature I have ever seen.

Hudson would look ugly beside him.

Oh, gosh!

My heartbeat accelerated and thudded erratically as I took quick steps closer to him to hastily check his wounds.

"Please help me and I will pay you back some day," he pleaded, and flashed those beautiful eyes at me again, sending tingles through my skin. I couldn't talk but gulped as I bent to buckle his losen off his sandals.

"Please take off your shirt," I mumbled, and a deep grunt escaped his lips, making me flash a sharp look at him. His eyes were getting dimmer and I could tell the effect of the poison was becoming stronger.

"Let me go get the antidote." I found my lips speaking without my brain. I wasn't thinking normally anymore. Saving a vampire would have been something impossible before now; I would have doubted it bluntly with a sneer if someone had ever told me that a moment like now would come.

It just seemed so irresistible. I felt like I might lose my mind if he died; this was something so hard for me to understand.

"Please save my life," he pleaded and held my hand, but I snapped it from his grasp and ran out to get the drug. My heart was fluttering as the spark I felt at his touch was so magical that I had to pull it away.

Was this a kind of spell or what? Why can't my brain and body see the fact that he is a vampire and hate him like I should? I mean, as a pack hunter's daughter who will be a hunter soon, I should abhor the vampires who are our enemy so deeply and raw.

Yes, I have that hatred for them after hearing the stories my parents fed me about how cruel they treated us in the past, but that man over there isn't among the vampires I hate. He can't just be, no matter how tough I try.

Now I can't believe how fast I was running through the hallways to my father's room to get the antidote, which I had seen him buy weeks ago when one of their arrows mistakenly struck my mother during their season of hunting.