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Chapter 10: The Night King's Mark
The moonlight bled silver across the frost-laced hills as Selene's fingers trailed the ancient carvings on the obsidian walls of Valerian's private sanctum. The language, lost to the modern world, pulsed faintly beneath her touch—like veins under skin.
"You shouldn't be here," came Valerian's voice, low and rough like cracked stone.
Selene didn't flinch. Her heartbeat was a whisper against the silence, but her eyes—gods, her eyes were wide with defiance. "Then why did you bring me here?" she asked, not turning around.
"I didn't," he said, stepping into the shadows. "The bond did."
She turned slowly. "The bond?"
"The curse," he clarified, his eyes gleaming with ancient sorrow. "And you."
His presence was a weight and a warmth at once—like being burned and blanketed at the same time. His hair was a mess of ink-dark waves, and moonlight lit the lines of his face like a sculpture of grief and divinity. He wasn't just a man. He was fate incarnate.
Selene stepped closer, her voice quieter now. "You said something in the dream… that I was marked."
Valerian nodded, reluctant. "There's an old legend—one we hoped would never awaken again. A prophecy that speaks of a Bloodhound Omega, born once every thousand years. Marked by the scent of prophecy. Cursed to be both hunted and savior."
Her breath caught. "You think that's me?"
"I know it's you." His eyes burned red then—just for a heartbeat. "Because I felt it the moment you screamed my name that night in the storm. I felt the mark ignite. And now…" His voice lowered, trembling. "Now I can't stay away."
Selene stepped closer until there was no more space between them. "Then don't."
He grabbed her wrist—not roughly, not gently either. Somewhere in the middle. Like he didn't trust himself. "If I touch you… if I claim you… the bond will complete. The curse will awaken fully. We can't undo it, Selene."
Her lips trembled as she whispered, "I don't want to undo it."
The moment shattered.
Valerian crushed her against him, lips devouring hers like a starving man reclaiming something holy. The kiss wasn't tender. It was war—hungry, bruising, breathless war. And Selene met him blow for blow, her fingers gripping the back of his neck like she'd drown if she let go.
Magic roared to life around them.
A pulse of light rippled through the chamber—white and violet and black all at once—and the obsidian walls wept mist. The carvings glowed, and somewhere, deep below the earth, something woke up.
Valerian pulled away, gasping. "It's begun…"
Selene was breathless, dazed, her lips swollen and her heart roaring. "What has?"
He touched the place just above her heart—where a faint, shimmering mark now bloomed, shaped like a crescent moon inside a flame. "The Night King's Mark."
A storm cracked outside the castle.
And far away, across the veil between worlds, a voice whispered: "The Omega has awakened. The end begins."
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