[Lucien’s POV]
“Eloise!” I screamed from my sleep, and reached my hand out into the air, panting heavily as I sat up. When my eyes opened and I looked around my environment, I expressed relief by exhaling deeply. It had all been just a nightmare. Everything was perfectly fine.
I buried my head in my hands, wondering what was wrong with me and why I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Eventually, I climbed out of my bed after getting no meaningful answers and headed downstairs, ignoring the call of Nivera’s blood that pulled at my heartstrings.
On getting to the fridge, I took out a bottle of whiskey and on second thoughts, decided to drop it and just took a bottle of chilled water which I gulped down within a few seconds. Again, her blood called to me, but I ignored it and just grabbed a pack of chips and sat on the couch, tuning in just in time to watch an animal documentary series on the television.
It was either Nivera had become more clumsy over the past week and had been regularly sustaining injuries or she just wanted to draw my attention. According to Celeste, she probably wanted to say something to me, but whether that was truly the case or not, it didn’t matter to me. I hadn’t been joking around when I had told her goodbye, and honestly, I couldn’t care less about her. If truly she was injured, her Alpha could save her. It was no longer my responsibility.
Sadly, I couldn’t concentrate on the documentary as much as I wanted to because for some reason, her blood kept drawing me to her. It was truly not my concern, and I attempted to switch the channel to something more fun that could take my mind off her. However, as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t in that moment as a memory flashed through my mind… a memory I dreaded more with each day that passed.
It was when I had rushed back after the war with the werewolves four hundred years ago, only to see Eloise dead and cold. I still felt the same pain and shattering heartache that I had felt that day. A lot of “If Only’s” played through my head, and that same suffocating feeling swallowed me whole.
I was scared of something like that ever repeating itself again, and so, I gave in. I decided to just transport my mind to where she was to see if she was truly in danger before deciding on whether to go there or not. My eyes were shut close and I allowed my heart to become one with the attraction I felt towards her blood. It wasn’t a one-time call; the attraction became more and more intense as though her blood was still spilling and I began to feel afraid as my mind approached her very being.
It wasn’t even up to ten seconds later before I could finally see her. It was like the same sorry sight I had witnessed four centuries ago, and my hands visibly trembled as I took it in all at once. Her eyes were closed and she was laying on the cold hard ground, bleeding from every part of her body with clear wolf bites everywhere. She had lost a lot of blood and she was as good as dead.
“No!” I screamed out in a very loud voice as I snapped my fingers and appeared at the very spot I had clearly seen her laying.
I hadn’t noticed it before, but all around her, there were eight rogue werewolves. I could tell they were rogues from their stench, and it was quite evident that they had been hired to kill her from the vicious looks on their faces and the terrible harm they had done to her.
“How did you get here? Who are you?” one of them asked.
He had barely finished asking his question when I jacked him up in the air and landed him several feet away. They seemed puzzled, and with the anger that filled my heart, I didn’t hesitate before going at them all at once. They tried to resist and put up a fight, but in the end, they couldn’t win against a vampire… especially a furious and vengeful one.
One after another, I engaged in a fierce and swift battle with them, scratched them violently with my claws, so that they staggered and coughed out blood, then dug out their hearts, making them drop dead to the floor with their eyes wide opened. It was how I defeated them all, and soon, I was surrounded by the dead bodies of seven rogues.
The last one was the one I had thrown off in the distance, and seeing me looking at him, he knew he was the next and scrambled up to his feet, then began to run away. It wouldn’t have taken me anything to teleport right in front of him and dig out his chest, but I let him go. I needed him to relay the message to whoever had sent him, and also, I needed to save Nivera. I had already wasted enough time in killing those good-for-nothing murderers, and although it didn’t make me feel satisfied in any way, I was glad they paid for what they had done to my beloved Nivera.
I hurried up to where she lay and after lifting her hand up, I placed two fingers on her wrist and checked her pulse. It was weak, very weak, and as I looked around, I knew there was nothing a doctor could do to save her. There wasn’t even enough time to take her to Celeste if she could even find a way to treat her.
Tears streamed down my eyes as I broke down uncontrollably. I couldn’t afford to lose her again. I had waited for so long to have her back, and it hadn’t even been that long since she had returned. I held her in my arms, brushing my fingers through her hair as I stared at her sweet, beautiful face.
There was something that could be done, but even in her past life, she had never wanted something like that… but right now, I had no other choice. I knew she would hate me for it, but I wanted to be selfish and keep her alive for my sake. It would break my heart if I also couldn’t save her life this time around and I would either go insane, or take off my daylight ring at once and step into the sun to bring my own life to an end, too.
Now that she was alive again, it was impossible for me to even imagine ever living in a world without her. Even if she wasn’t going to be with me, I just needed for her to be alive and as long as she was happy, that was enough for me. My only regret was not telling her that when I had the chance to, but there would be more chances because there was definitely no way I was letting her die.
I bit my lip, wondering if what I was about to do was the right thing. What if she hated me forever? What if she never forgave me again? However, all my doubts subsided as I could still feel her slow breathings even though they would soon come to an end. Anyone would have died if they had been attacked that way, but she was still alive and fighting for her life. It showed she wanted to live, and I refused to let her suffer anymore.
With my very own claws, I sliced through my palm from which blood gushed rapidly and forcing her mouth open, I fed her my blood and ensured it went down her system.
“I’m sorry, Nivera. I saved you the only way I know how to,” I said as though she could hear me, knowing fully well that my decision would come back to haunt her in the future. At the time, though, I didn’t mind because whatever misfortune she might go through for my decision, I assumed I would somehow always be around to protect her.