Chapter 13 – The Kiss That Broke the Moon
The air in the throne room was no longer still.
Selene stood breathless before the Night King, her pulse drumming louder than the winds outside. Valerian's crimson eyes locked onto hers, not with hunger—but with something deeper. Something that tore through the veil of ancient curses and fate-written bloodlines.
"You shouldn't have come here tonight," Valerian rasped, stepping down from his obsidian throne. Each step echoed like a heartbeat in the stone walls. "You've changed something."
"I came because I had to," Selene whispered, voice trembling. "Because my body burns when I'm away. Because… I dream of you, even when I'm awake."
A muscle in Valerian's jaw twitched. He reached out, fingertips grazing her cheek, sending a shock of magic crackling between them. Shadows curled at his feet, stirred by the chaos that stirred in his soul.
"You don't know what you're asking of me, omega," he murmured. "You want my truth? It will destroy what little light you've clung to."
"Then destroy me," she breathed.
The bond roared to life between them—no longer dormant, no longer quiet. It surged, a tidal wave of fate crashing against centuries of silence. Her knees buckled, and he caught her. Their lips met—not soft or sweet, but a battle between surrender and resistance. A kiss that felt like prophecy cracking open.
The moon above fractured behind the clouds, throwing pale light into the castle like spilled milk across a darkened altar. It wasn't just a kiss. It was a promise.
A curse awakening.
When they broke apart, the room had changed. Candles had flared. The air held heat, scent, and something dark. Dangerous.
"I saw it," Selene whispered. "When I touched you… I saw your past."
His expression froze.
"Then you saw too much."
In her mind, echoes of a burning forest flickered. A blood ritual. A screaming child.
"You were cursed to rule, not to feel. But I'm the one that was fated to break you," she said softly. "A bond like this doesn't happen twice."
"You think love can unmake death?" Valerian growled. "I am not a man, Selene. I am darkness that learned to walk."
"Then teach me how to walk it with you."
He turned away sharply, fists clenched.
"You don't understand. The moment you kissed me…" His voice broke. "You've marked yourself. Every vampire in the north will hunt you now. They will smell me on you. They will see you as mine."
"I was always yours," she said, stepping closer, pressing her hand to his chest. "From the moment I crossed the border."
Thunder cracked. Somewhere deep in the castle, a bell tolled.
Valerian lifted his gaze slowly. "Then prepare yourself, omega. The prophecy has begun."
Suddenly the floor trembled. A pulse—low, ancient, and guttural—rippled through the foundation of the castle. The blood wards surrounding the keep flared scarlet. The Night Guard was already on the move, shouting orders.
"They've come," Valerian hissed. "The Order knows."
Selene turned to run, but he pulled her back. His fangs descended—longer than before.
"If they take you," he warned, "I will burn the world."
And then, just as the throne room doors burst open, he swept her into the shadows with him—vanishing like smoke.
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End of Chapter 13