Chapter 1
Aurora's POV
Jason's lips met mine in a soft, gentle caress.
The kiss deepened, our mouths opening to each other like sun flowers in the sun.
The taste of him was so sweet and intoxicating unlike anything I'd ever tasted.
A moan escaped my lips when I felt his hand slide up my back.
“You like that?” He muttered softly against my throat, his fingers tangling in my hair.
“Yes.”
The world around us melted away leaving just the sound of our breath and the rhythmic beat the bed made with each movement.
His hands were like fire against my skin, his lips a whispered prayer, branding my skin as his.
I had never known love could be so consuming or this passionate.
Jason was mine, and I was his. Our bodies were entwined, our love eternal.
“My queen,” he muttered against my neck.
I closed my eyes, savouring the moment. I could drown in it forever. How foolish I was to ever think love could be this perfect.
The scent of blood replaced the scent of candle wax and rose.
I felt a sharp, searing pain in my chest.
My body arched as I gasped for air. Not out of pleasure, not out of passion, but in pure agony.
My eyes flew open, only to meet Jason's gaze. This time they were not filled with love, but something far worse – disgust.
The warm smile on his lips had vanished, replaced by something far crueler – a cold smirk.
My eyes widened in horror as I looked down. His hands embedded in my chest. His hand… his hand was inside me?
I winced when his fingers wrapped around something warm. Something beating — my heart.
I couldn't scream. Pain robbed me of breath, of sanity.
“N… no.” My hands grasped his wrist, weak, and trembling.
“J … Jason.” I whispered, my voice barely above a whisper.
His lips curved into a smirk. The same lips that had kissed me mere moments ago now held the truth I had been too blind to see.
Jason smirked. “You truly are pathetic, Aurora.”
The world spun.
“What?”
He leaned in and murmured against my ear. “Did you really think I ever loved you?”
Dark spots begin to cloud my vision, his words cut through me like a blade.
“Jason, come on… You're not…” Those words left my lips as a whisper.
“I am.”
And suddenly, I couldn't feel my limbs anymore or hear anything else. Only the slow, agonizing scream that left my lips as he ripped out my heart from my chest.
Blood gushed from the gaping hole, staining the sheets that had once been our sanctuary.
My lips quivered as I stared at him.
My love
My everything.
The same person that had his arms wrapped around me a few moments ago.
My body started to grow cold and I slumped against the sheets.
I wanted to reach for him, to plead, to understand why? But the answer was already there – a wicked triumph painted across his face.
I was a fool.
He never loved me.
He never wanted me.
My vision blurred, but I could still see him, pushing himself out of the sheets, the same that bore witness to our countless passionate nights, the same sheet that now bears witness to my demise.
He walked over to the foot of the bed with my beating heart in his hand, standing there like a victorious god.
It wasn't right!
It wasn't fair!
After everything I had done for him! After all, we've been through it together! For 5 years, I had been loyal to his love. For 5 years, he was the only man I'd ever met, the only man I'd trusted. Now, 5 years of intimacy, love and friendship ends in less than 5 minutes.
Jason clenched the beating heart in his hand and I jerked in pain.
“Oh, how the mighty has fallen.” he said in slow, menacing grace.
He was indeed right. The mighty sure has fallen.
I was Aurora, the Queen of the Vampires!
I was powerful, revered, immortal, feared!
I had given him everything – my trust, body and soul, my love. And now, he has taken it all away.
I let out a shudder, the cold seeping into my skin.
No, no, no….
I couldn't die like this.
Blood bubbled between my teeth as I choked out a whisper.
Not to the heavens I had never believed in nor to the gods I had forsaken. But to Her — The Moon Goddess, the deity of my enemies. The Mother of the werewolves, creatures I had mocked and slaughtered for centuries.
Any yet, on my deathbed, she was the only one who could save me.
The only one who could give me what I craved more than life itself.
“M…Moon Goddess…” Blood spluttered from my lips as I sobbed. “Puh - please, give me a second chance.”
It was getting darker now. My vision was fading.
I sniffled softly. “Please, let me live!”
The taste of blood filled my mouth. “Let me have vengeance!”
Nothing.
My eyes filled and tears slipped. She had forsaken me too.
“No…” I whispered.
In the rush of a moment, a cold wind howled through the room, blowing out every candle, the very darkness of the chamber consuming me.
My time had come.
But not as I had thought.
I thought I would see darkness and anguish but instead —
I saw the moon.
Cold.
That was the first thing I felt. Not the searing agony that came with the betrayal nor the suffocating pull of death. Just cold.
My eyes fluttered open and I winced. It felt like I hadn't slept in centuries.
I noticed the air was damp, thick with the scent of fur. I tried to move but my limbs were unresponsive.
Where was I?
I pressed my fingers against my temples. My mind was a mess. Suddenly, a grin flashed in my mind and I blinked. It was Jason's smile.
My memories returned but in fractures – Jason's lips on mine, the sharp pain I felt, my heart in his hand…
I sucked in a breath and sat up. My chest… My chest should have been torn open but it wasn't. It was smooth, clear, unbroken, like I hadn't just been impaled.
I was alive.
But I had died. I felt life seeping out of me.
But how?
Then it suddenly clicked— The Moon Goddess. I had begged her to save me and she had answered.
A slow, breathless laugh escaped my lips. “I'm alive.”
I was given a second life.
My eyes hardened. No, it was a second war.
“Jason…”
He thought he had won. The fool.
A slow smile curled my lip. “I will return for you, Jason and when I do… you will beg for death.”