Chain of power

"Pardon me, but are you even paying attention to yourself at the moment?" I yelled, attempting to control my shaking voice. "Neither you nor anybody else owns me. This is my final request, so please let me go. It's enough punishment to stand here in front of you, your reputation hanging over my head. I will not cause trouble. I promise.

I prayed that the Vampire King would hear how desperate I sounded. Instead, he extended his arm and took hold of my chin with one cold, hard, and unbelievably powerful hand. Then, suddenly, his mouth slammed into mine.

A shockwave of emotions ripped through me—panic, confusion, and then… butterflies? No. I didn’t want this. I bit his lip hard in protest, tasting the sharp tang of blood. But that only made things worse. The blood triggered something in me—a primal hunger that made it impossible to pull away. Against my will, I found myself responding to the kiss.

Even my wolf was eerily quiet, as if she approved of what was happening. When he finally released me, I stumbled back, gasping for breath.

“You belong to me,” he said, his voice like velvet over steel. “Only me. I won’t let you go. Now rest—I have business to attend to.”

And with that, he walked out, leaving me alone, shaken, and confused.

What the hell just happened?

Was I… spared? But why? Why would the monstrous Vampire King show me mercy?

“Because you’re his mate,” Layla said softly in my mind, her fur bristling with unease.

“What kind of nonsense is that?” I spat. “I’d rather be mated to a wild dog than to… him.”

But my fingers drifted to my lips, still swollen from the kiss. And I couldn’t ignore the truth buried beneath my denial. I had felt something—faint, yes, but real. A connection. And when he kissed me, it grew stronger. Too strong to be imagined. The same feeling I had once felt on the mating grounds… with Victor.

“You can feel it, can’t you?” Layla said, eyes wide.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I muttered, but the lie tasted bitter on my tongue.

I pushed Layla into the back of my mind before she could press further. I wasn’t ready for more questions—definitely not the answers. I walked to the door and tried to open it.

It didn’t budge.

“Hello? Is anyone out there? Can someone open the door, please?” I called out, knocking harder.

Silence.

That smug, ancient bastard had locked me in.

I cursed under my breath, but before I could try again, a strange sensation washed over me. It felt like I was sinking—being submerged in invisible water. My limbs grew heavier, and the air felt thick. I stumbled back toward the bed, each step harder than the last.

Blue light shimmered faintly in the air around me, and tiny droplets—like suspended water—began forming in midair. I was suffocating. Drowning. But where was the water coming from?

Then, a voice—soft, soothing—whispered through the silence: “Breathe, Ana.”

I gasped. Suddenly, my lungs filled with air again, and I opened my eyes… only to find myself no longer in the room.

I was underwater. Not metaphorically—literally. I was swimming, weightless and surrounded by shimmering blue light. I looked down and nearly screamed.

I had a tail. An iridescent, oceanic blue tail. My skin shimmered with faint scales, and my hands—webbed.

Drawn to a light glowing in the distance, I swam instinctively toward it. It was a staff—forked at the top like a trident, pulsing with energy. Words whispered from it in a language I didn’t understand, yet my body responded. I reached out and touched it.

A brilliant flash of oceanic blue erupted from the trident, illuminating everything in its wake. I closed my eyes against the blinding light.

When I opened them again, I wasn’t alone.

All around me, people with tails like mine swam in panic. Shouts echoed through the water.

“What do we do, my King?” someone cried.

“Send her to the surface,” a deep voice commanded. “She must live. She’s the only one who can save the ocean. We can’t hold off Aquari’s army much longer.”

A woman cradled a small girl—me?—and swam upward toward the surface. Then darkness crept into the scene. A creeping black aura poisoned the blue waters as it spread like ink.

“You think you can escape me?” A cold, female voice echoed through the water. “Hand over the trident, and I might spare your life.”

“You’ll never wield it, Aquari,” the King said firmly. “Even if you kill me, the trident will resist you—until its true heir claims it.”

He stabbed himself through the stomach with the trident.

His body turned to stone.

The trident dulled, fading to a seaweed green. As Aquari reached for it, a burst of magic hurled her backward, surrounding the trident in a protective barrier. She screamed in rage.

Then… her eyes found me.

She saw me.

“I’ve been waiting to meet the last daughter of the sea,” she hissed. “And when I do, I’ll destroy you.”

The vision shattered.

I woke up back in the Vampire King’s palace—gasping, heart pounding.

Meanwhile, in the King’s chambers…

The council was in chaos.

“My King, by our laws, the werewolf must be executed,” one elder said firmly, standing.

Kieran didn’t answer with words. Instead, his power surged through the room like a violent wind. The council members groaned under the weight of it, clutching their chests, trying not to fall to their knees.

“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again,” he growled. “She is my mate—and your future Queen. If I find a single strand of hair out of place on her head… you’ll answer to me.”