VERA’S POV

I folded the last of my simple gowns, hands trembling not from fear but from the hollow ache where the blood bond had been. The severing left me raw, like skin stripped of its protective layer, every emotion magnified to the point of pain.

The severing didn’t just hurt; it burned. It felt like my blood was boiling, like it didn’t belong in my veins anymore. My skin stung, oversensitive to every brush of fabric. My heartbeat was erratic, my breath too shallow.

No one warned me about this part. The phantom limb of connection—gone, but still pulsing in my body like it didn’t get the message. I’d read about mate bond breaks in werewolves, how they could trigger fevers, seizures, even madness. Vampires didn’t talk about it. Probably because they weren’t supposed to bond with humans in the first place.

He chose me because I talked to him like he was just a person. Not a title, not a legacy—just someone standing in front of me. I didn’t tiptoe around his moods or measure every word. I asked things like, “Are you okay?” when he looked tired. I told him when he was being cold. I didn’t pretend to be impressed when he wanted me to be.

“You don’t talk to me like the others do,” he said once.
“I don’t know how to talk like them,” I replied.
“Good,” he said. “Don’t learn.”

Maybe that’s what he wanted—a space where he didn’t have to perform. With me, he didn’t have to be Lord Shadowmere. He could just be Lucien. And for a while, I think that was enough for both of us.

But then the reality of it all creeped in.

The chambers that had been mine for three years now felt like a stranger’s room. I’d never been allowed to change much, Lady Vela had made certain of that, but there had been small touches: the pressed flowers I’d collect each week, the silk handkerchief from my childhood, the small leather-bound journal where I’d recorded my thoughts during long nights when Lucien was… elsewhere.

All traces of me, erased in moments.

“You’re not taking the Shadowmere pendant,” I said aloud to myself, eyeing the silver raven medallion on the dresser. “It was never truly yours anyway.”

The metal caught the candlelight as I turned away, a final winking goodbye. Let Celene wear it. Let her discover how heavy it could be.

I cinched my traveling bag closed with finality. The Shadowmere estate had never truly been home, but the unknown beyond the territory borders seemed equally daunting. Still, anywhere would be better than remaining here, watching another woman take my place beside the man who had so easily discarded me.

The door burst open without warning, slamming against the wall with enough force to make the candles flicker. Neressa stood in the doorway, her beautiful face twisted with a fury that made her look suddenly like Lady Vela.

“You ungrateful little nothing,” she spat, stalking into the room with vampire grace. “How dare you? How dare you humiliate my brother before the entire court?”

I continued packing, refusing to give her the satisfaction of seeing me flinch. “I merely finished what he started.”

“You severed the blood bond publicly!” She circled me like a predator, her voice rising with each word. “You made a mockery of our most sacred ritual!”

“Sacred?” I laughed, the sound brittle even to my own ears. “Is that what you call taking a second mate without bothering to dissolve the first bond? Where was your concern for sacred rituals then?”

“He is Lord of Shadowmere! He can take as many mates as he desires!”

“And I can reject a bond that’s been betrayed,” I replied, keeping my voice steady. “The blood moon seemed to agree, wouldn’t you say?”

Neressa’s eyes narrowed to dangerous slits, her fangs extending slightly. “Don’t you dare invoke the ancient laws. You’re nothing but a human playing at nobility. Look at you, pathetic, weak, barren. You wouldn’t even take his blood. You never belonged with him.”

I didn’t answer right away. That part hurt, because it was true.
He offered, more than once. Quietly. Each time, I said no.

I told myself it was about boundaries. That our relationship didn’t need magic to mean something.
But in this world, refusing blood isn’t neutral — it’s rejection.

He wanted that bond. Not just the tradition of it, but what it meant. Trust. Intimacy. Full access.
And I wouldn’t give it.

Not because I didn’t love him. Because I didn’t know what would happen to me if I did.

Over time, he stopped asking. Then he started pulling away.

“Then why are you so angry I’ve given up that privilege?” I slung my bag over my shoulder, ready to depart. “Shouldn’t you be celebrating?”

“Oh, we will celebrate your departure,” she hissed, moving to block my path to the door. “But first, I want to make sure you understand exactly what you’re leaving behind.”

“I understand perfectly. A house that never accepted me. A mate who betrayed me. A family that despised me from the moment I arrived.”

“Poor little Vera,” she mocked, her voice a cruel singsong. “Always the victim. Did it ever occur to you that the problem wasn’t us, but you? That maybe if you weren’t so pathetically inadequate, Lucien wouldn’t have needed a second mate?”

I pushed past her, unwilling to engage further. “Move, Neressa. We’ve said all there is to say.”

“He only chose you out of pity, you know.” She followed me into the hallway, her words chasing me like poisoned darts. “Found you half-starved in that pitiful excuse for a village and felt sorry for you. Mother warned him, but he wouldn’t listen. Said taking a human mate would endear him to the common vampires.”

I stopped, her words striking a nerve despite my resolve. “Is that what he told you?”

“Does it matter? The truth is written in your failure.” Her smile was vicious with triumph. “Three years and not a single heir to show for it. What use is a mate who can’t even fulfill her most basic purpose?”

Before I could respond, the sound of approaching footsteps echoed through the corridor. Celene appeared, her red hair perfectly coiffed, her crimson gown a stark contrast to my simple traveling dress.

“How timely,” Celene said, moving closer with predatory grace. “I wanted to thank you, Vera, for making last night so… memorable.”

“What do you want, Celene?” I asked, exhaustion weighing on my words.

“Want? I want to show you something.” She produced a small crystal vial from her bodice, filled with dark liquid that seemed to pulse with its own light. “Do you know what this is?”

I stared at the vial, a cold dread settling in my stomach. “No.”

“This is Lucien’s blood,” she said, her smile sharp as a blade. “He gave it to me during our private bonding ceremony this morning. The real one, not that public spectacle you ruined.”

“That’s impossible,” I whispered. “The bond severance—”

“Only broke your connection to him,” Celene interrupted. “It didn’t prevent him from forming a new one. And what a connection it is.”

She uncorked the vial and brought it to her lips, drinking deeply. The effect was immediate, her skin began to glow with an inner light, her eyes brightened to an almost supernatural green, and I could feel the power radiating from her.

“His blood is exquisite,” she moaned, her voice thick with satisfaction. “So much power, so much strength. And now it flows through me, marking me as his true bride.”

“You’re lying,” I said, but my voice lacked conviction.

“Am I?” She licked her lips, savoring the last drops. “Would you like to taste it yourself? Oh, wait—you can’t anymore, can you? You severed that privilege when you threw your little tantrum.”

Neressa laughed, the sound like breaking glass. “Such a shame, really. To think you had access to such power and threw it away for pride.”

“It wasn’t pride,” I said, my voice growing stronger. “It was self-respect.”

“Self-respect?” Celene moved closer, her enhanced presence making the air itself seem to thicken. “Is that what you call public humiliation? Because that’s what you did to yourself last night, dear. You showed everyone exactly what you are, a weak, jealous human who couldn’t handle sharing.”

“I didn’t have to share anything,” I replied, backing toward the door. “I was his first mate. You were the interloper.”

“Was,” Celene emphasized. “Past tense. Because now I’m his only mate. And unlike you, I can give him what he needs.”

She pulled out another vial, this one filled with her own blood. “Would you like to know what makes my blood so special? Why he chose me over you?”

Before I could respond, she had uncorked the vial and poured a few drops onto her palm. The scent that filled the hallway was intoxicating, rich, powerful, with undertones of ancient magic.

“This is the blood of the Blackthorne line,” she said, her voice hypnotic. “Pure vampire heritage stretching back centuries. No human contamination, no weakness, no… imperfection.”

“Unlike yours,” Neressa added with cruel pleasure. “Human blood that he had to tolerate for political reasons.”

“Political reasons?” I repeated, the words hitting me like a physical blow.

“Oh, didn’t you know?” Celene’s smile was poisonous. “Your village had resources we needed. Your marriage to Lucien secured mining rights for rare crystals. But now we have better access through my family’s connections.”

Lady Vela’s sharp voice cut through the air as she approached from the main hall, her elegant form silhouetted against the torchlight. “I could hear your voices from downstairs. Are we having a farewell party?”

“Mother,” Neressa said, practically preening. “We were just ensuring Vera understands exactly what she’s throwing away.”

Lady Vela’s cold gaze swept over me, taking in the bag on my shoulder, the travel clothes. “So, you’re running away. How predictably cowardly.”

“I’m not running,” I replied, squaring my shoulders. “I’m choosing a different path.”

“Call it what you will.” She moved closer, her expensive perfume suffocating in the narrow hallway. “Your little display at the ceremony may have temporarily disrupted our plans, but make no mistake, your departure is a blessing in disguise.”

“Then we finally agree on something.”

Her perfectly painted lips curved into a cruel smile. “Where will you go, I wonder? What house would take in a mate who publicly rejected her lord? What vampire would want a human proven to be barren and disloyal?”

“I don’t need another vampire,” I said, the words tasting of newfound freedom. “And I certainly don’t need your son.”

“Such brave words from a human with no protection,” Neressa taunted. “The world isn’t kind to lone mortals, especially ones as weak as you.”

“Especially ones who know our secrets,” Celene added, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. “You’ve seen too much, heard too much. What’s to stop you from selling information to rival houses?”

“I would never—”

“Wouldn’t you?” Lady Vela adjusted her immaculate sleeve. “Lucien’s recovering from the bond-sickness. Had you stayed, he might have been obligated to offer some form of protection despite your actions. But since you’re choosing to leave…”

“Your concern is touching,” I replied, sarcasm dripping from each word. “But I’ll take my chances with whatever’s out there. At least external threats are honest about their intentions to destroy me.”

Lady Vela’s eyes hardened. “Get out before I call the guards to drag you out. Your renunciation of the blood bond means you have no place here. You’re nothing to us now, less than nothing.”

“I was always nothing to you,” I said quietly. “The only difference is now I know my worth isn’t determined by your approval.”

I pushed past them all, head held high despite the hurricane of emotions threatening to tear me apart from within. Their voices followed me down the corridor.

“Good riddance to weak blood,” Neressa called after me.

“Don’t come crawling back when you realize what you’ve lost,” Celene added.

I didn’t respond. I couldn’t. The weight of their words, the revelation about the political nature of my marriage, the sight of Celene glowing with Lucien’s blood, it all crashed over me like a wave, threatening to drown me in despair.

But as I reached the main entrance, I felt something stir deep within me. A warmth, a power, something that pulsed in rhythm with my heartbeat.