Lahat ng Kabanata ng Mated To Valentine : Kabanata 81 - Kabanata 90

I reach out to North, wanting to pull her closer to me as the cold of the early morning begins to settle on me.The bed is cold.Her side—North’s side—is cold.I blink into the darkness, the heavy silence pressing against my ears. Something feels wrong. I reach out, trailing my hand over the sheets, but they lack the lingering warmth of her body. She’s been gone for hours.My jaw clenches.I close my eyes and focus—pulling on the mating bond, searching for her presence. Nothing. No warmth, no familiar pull. Just a faint, distant ache, like she’s not here.Panic spikes through my chest.I throw off the covers and stalk out of the room, my steps silent against the cold marble floors.Living room. Empty.Hallways. Empty.Balcony. No trace.She’s nowhere.I move faster, heading to the one person who might have answers.I kick the door open to the next bedroom.A groan. "What the hell, man?"Achilles is sprawled on his bed, shirtless, his dark hair an absolute mess. His face is twisted

The silence that follows Dr. Kane’s departure is suffocating.The room is cold, sterile, thick with the scent of antiseptic and blood—old and new. I flex my fingers, testing the restraints digging into my wrists. The metal is unforgiving, biting into my skin like a warning. My gaze drifts to the other prisoners, three vampires in varying states of decay. I can hear their shallow, rattling breaths, the weak thump of their hearts fighting against whatever poison lingers in their veins.I break the silence first. "Do you even have any idea how long have you been here?"One of them—his skin sickly pale, his eyes sunken deep into his skull—lets out a hollow chuckle. "Time doesn’t exist in this place," he mutters, his voice rasping like he hasn’t used it in years. "You could’ve been here a day, a week, a century. You won’t know the difference."I tilt my head, studying him. "It’s been almost three months," I say, my tone firm. "Almost three months these assholes have been torturing you gu

Hunger is a monster.It sinks its claws into my gut, gnawing, tearing, devouring me from the inside out.My body is shutting down, drained of strength, stripped of any ounce of power I once had.The Ascendants have made their decision. If I won’t drink blood willingly, they’ll make me suffer for it.They starve me.They drain me.Day after day, I’m strapped down, cold needles piercing my skin, pulling what little life I have left. The blood bags fill, red and glistening, disappearing into the hands of faceless scientists. They take and take and take.I have nothing left to give.I don’t know how long I’ve been here. Time is meaningless. The hunger warps it, stretches it, drags every second into eternity. My body is weak, my limbs barely functioning. Even my mind, once sharp, is slipping into the haze of deprivation.I try to reach for him."Valentine."I whisper his name in my mind, over and over, like a prayer. Like a plea.But there’s nothing.The bond is blocked, severed by whate

The door slams shut behind me, the sound echoing through my prison like a gunshot. Cold. Final.I collapse onto the cot, my limbs shaking, my body wrecked with exhaustion. The disease they injected into me still lingers, making every breath feel heavy, my skin clammy. But none of it compares to the emptiness clawing at my soul."Valentine."I reach for him through the bond, stretching myself as far as I can, but it’s like screaming into a void. Silence."Please, please, hear me."Nothing.It’s there, our bond, but it feels like he’s light-years away. Like I’m grasping at smoke.A broken sob tears from my throat.I press my forehead against my knees, trying to keep myself together, but I’m unraveling, thread by thread."I’m sorry."I whisper it into the darkness, but it doesn’t change anything.I should have never left that night. I should have never tried to hand myself over to the council. If I didn't, I wouldn't have been kidnapped by the Ascendants.I won't be here.What the hell

The bond is silent. Dead silent. It’s been a month since I last felt her—since I last heard her voice in my head, felt her presence like a warm, steady flame in the darkest corners of my mind. But now, it’s just… emptiness. A void that gnaws at me, relentless and unyielding. She’s not dead. I’d know if she were. I’d feel it. But this silence? It’s worse. It’s like she’s been erased, cut off from me, and I can’t reach her no matter how hard I try.The Ascendants have her. I know it. I’ve known it for weeks now. And every second she’s in their hands is a second too long. Achilles and I have been tearing through New Orleans, hunting down every lead, every member of their cursed organization. But they’re loyal to a fault. Too loyal. They’d rather die than give us anything useful. It’s infuriating. Maddening. And the rage inside me is a living, breathing thing, clawing at my chest, demanding blood.Achilles bursts into the room, his face tight with frustration. “Another dead end,” h