CH-3
Aria's POV
"Humans don’t leave Blackthorn," she murmured.
The girl made a run for it. A mistake.
Because the second she moved, something blurred past me—a flash of black and silver.
Lorien.
He didn’t even look at me as he struck.
In the span of a breath, he had the girl pinned against the iron gates, one hand locked around her throat.
"You know the rules," he said, voice soft but merciless. "You break them, you suffer the consequences."
I expected him to snap her neck.
But he didn’t.
Instead, he tilted his head slightly—and his fangs lengthened.
I gasped. The girl sobbed harder.
Then, Lorien leaned in and bit her.
A choked cry left her lips, turning into something between a moan and a whimper. Her body trembled not in pain, but in… pleasure?
Her pulse thrummed in the air, thick and intoxicating. My skin prickled with heat, my own heartbeat hammering in response.
I should have looked away.
But I couldn’t.
The way Lorien held her was possessive, dominating. The way she arched into him—as if the pain and pleasure were one.
He was drinking from her so slowly.
So… intimately.
Something deep in my stomach coiled.
Then, just as quickly as it began, it was over. Lorien released her, letting her slump against the gate. His silver eyes lifted—locking onto mine.
For a moment, the world tilted.
Because that look wasn’t just cold.
It was knowing.
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My legs were unsteady as I left the courtyard, trying to shake off what I had just witnessed.
The way Lorien’s lips had parted, the way the girl had trembled in his hold—it was wrong.
It was forbidden.
It was… something I couldn’t stop thinking about.
"You’re not handling this well, are you, sweetheart?"
I spun around.
Sebastian again.
The smirking, golden-eyed vampire lounged against a stone pillar, his arms crossed over his chest.
He was watching me too closely.
I straightened. "What do you want?"
His smirk deepened. "To make you an offer."
I glared. "Not interested."
"Are you sure?" He pushed off the pillar, closing the space between us too fast. I backed up—until I hit the cold marble wall behind me.
His hand lifted, fingers trailing up my arm, slow and deliberate.
I sucked in a breath. His touch was cool but not unpleasant, his skin like silk over something deceptively strong.
"You don’t have to suffer, Aria," he murmured. "The trials… the fear… the uncertainty. I could make it all go away."
His face was close now, his breath brushing my skin.
"You could belong to me instead."
My pulse stuttered.
His hand slipped down, brushing my hip. The touch was light, teasing—but I felt it everywhere.
"You’d like it," he whispered.
I shoved him away.
Sebastian laughed. "That’s adorable."
"Stay away from me."
"Why? Because Lorien said so?" He tilted his head. "I saw the way you watched him in the courtyard. You liked it, didn’t you?"
I went rigid.
His smile turned wicked.
"Maybe you’d like it even more if it was you in his arms," he mused. "You think he’d be gentle with you, Aria? Or do you think he’d pin you down and make you beg?"
Heat rushed through me. I hated the way my body reacted to his words.
Sebastian chuckled, stepping back. "You’ll come to me eventually, sweetheart. They always do."
Then he was gone.
And I was left burning.
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When I arrived at the Blood Moon Trial arena, my breath hitched.
The place looked like an ancient gladiator pit, a massive stone ring with torches casting eerie gold light against the night.
Headmistress Selene stood at the center.
"This trial is simple," she announced. "Humans must endure until the final bell."
Endure what?
A loud metallic creak answered my question.
A massive iron gate lifted at the other end of the arena.
And something came out.
A feral vampire.
It was all muscle and hunger, its eyes red, its lips curled back in a snarl. Its entire body coiled like a beast ready to strike.
My stomach dropped.
Oh, shit.
The trial was chaos.
The feral vampire chased us down, lunging at humans who weren’t fast enough.
I was panting, my legs burning as I dodged through the shadows. My body ached, sweat dripping down my back.
A sharp cramp hit my side, and I stumbled.
Too slow.
The vampire lunged for me.
And then—Lorien was there.
He moved so fast I barely saw him. One second I was about to die, the next—his hand was on me.
Not rough. Not bruising.
But firm. Possessive.
His fingers circled my wrist, pressing against my pulse.
A small sound escaped me.
Because the moment he touched me… my entire body reacted.
My heart pounded, my skin tingled with something raw and electric.
His thumb grazed my pulse point—a slow, deliberate movement that sent heat curling low in my stomach.
I looked up—right into his storm-gray eyes.
And he… felt it too.
For a second, his grip tightened.
Then, just as quickly, he let me go.
His voice was ice.
"Don’t fall again."
Then he was gone.
I barely lasted another few minutes.
The trial was too much. My vision swam, my body gave out.
I hit the ground, gasping.
The last thing I saw before everything went dark…
Was Lorien.
Standing above me.
Watching.
But doing nothing to help.