Chapter 5. The Alpha and the Vampire

"Alpha Edison..."

I didn't understand what happened.

Jonas, the vampire's hands were cold around my waist and stiff, like marble stones that wouldn't budge when I attempted to step away from him. He had no intention of letting go of me, and that terrified me more. I froze but managed to look him in the eyes. His face was stoic as he glared at Alpha Edison, who was fuming with anger in front of us.

Scared and confused, I knew I'd be dead. If not now, then maybe later. Could the Alpha manage to save me from the hands of the menacing vampire whose arms were still wrapped around me? I felt like a toy being passed down from a rotten rogue to a scary but handsome undead. I should be shaking terribly in fear right now, but there was something in him that was soothing. His hands were gentle, and it was like he was protecting me from King Alpha, which was absurd.

"Please let me go," I begged as I tried to remove his arm around me. He was too strong. It was like my body was being tangled up by a statue. I couldn't even feel his chest move while breathing... Oh, I forgot. Vampires don't breathe. They were specifically dead, and they needed no air to exist.

"It's ok, my lady. I just don't trust this man in front of us that he won't hurt you while he's looking like a savage beast right now," he whispered to me. His euphoric voice made my eyes dreamy as I stared up at his beautiful, flawless face. His gilded eyes were still focused on the Alpha, as if he knew him well.

Just how much do they know each other?

"Let go of her, undead." Alpha Edison fumed, the words rumbling in his throat as he stared at Jonas, who was angrily glaring back at him. It was as if both of them were just waiting to see who among them was going to charge first.

My heartbeats were fast against my chest as I stared at Alpha Edison. His skin glistened with sweat, even in the freezing coldness of the night. His broad, well-carved body trembled in anger while he bared his teeth against the vampire.

Despite the hostility and danger that Alpha Edison threatened, Jonas remained calm. His lips weren't in a straight line, adding more tension to the atmosphere. However, there was an odd look on his face. He didn't want to fight Alpha.

I wondered why he rescued a lowly servant like me. But if he hadn't appeared at that exact moment, I would have been delicious meal for that terrifying cannibal rogue.

"I won't let her come to you when you look like you're going to shred anything in your hand right now," Jonas replied to Alpha Edison, and he was right. The longer I look at the Alpha, the more I realize how scary he is, with his body trembling in anger, looking more dangerous now than the vampire. Alpha Edison glanced at me, and with a surprising jolt, something I never expected happened.

Everything went dark around me.

The hard arms of the vampire around me suddenly vanished. A second later, the ground crumbled, and I fell into an endless, dark pit. The feeling was just like when the rogue dropped me from above the forest, but this time I was more confused and curious than terrified. I didn't scream. When I looked above me as I fell, there was this small light—a glinting light—a swishing sound, and I shuddered.

Before I knew it, a thousand black ropes came from the small opening of the chasm and surrounded me, binding me into something... or someone up there. I expected that the ropes would hurt, but surprisingly, they didn't. The ropes were comfortingly warm against me. Then there was the sound of a thumping heart that was synchronized with mine. It lifted me from the cold, dark chasm. Slowly, gently, until I came back to the surface, finally seeing that person that was bound to me—those hazel-green eyes...

Alpha Edison.

I found myself lost in the eyes of King Alpha. He started to breathe slowly, his eyes locked on mine. The anger on his face slowly turned into confusion, and that terrified me more.

But there was this feeling of certainty in me.

I was bound to him.

I was Alpha Edison's mate!

"Let me go, please," I whispered to Jonas as gently as I could. I should be shaking in fear now that I was in the hands of a vampire, but something was different with him. My heart was comfortable and at ease with him, and there was no sign of hostility in his eyes. He was so composed, and his gestures were all calculated.

His arms slowly loosened against my waist, and he whispered, "Whatever happens, Claire. If that man ever hurts you, just call my name, and I'll come to you no matter where you are."

"What are you saying?"

He looked at me straight in the eyes, like he was memorizing every inch of my face. But he lingered more on my soft, thin lips, and the sadness in his eyes made me want to ask why he was being so kind to me when I was one of the enemies of his race.

Well, half an enemy of them. Since I was a hybrid.

"KING Edison!"

My head automatically turned towards that familiar voice, and from the left came Master Ralph, whose eyes widened in horror upon seeing me in the hands of the vampire. He carefully stepped towards Edison but stopped when Jonas's eyes flickered on him.

Oh, goddess. What's going on?

"A vampire?!" Master Ralph murmured in disbelief, his mouth partly open while looking at me with Jonas's arms around me. His mouth pursed against his teeth, snarling against the enemy.

"We have a treaty." Master Ralph growled in a low tone, his snarl rumbling in his throat. "You have to leave this land, Lord Leonhart, while things are still in control."

I heard Jonas make a deep sigh, and he closed his eyes. Finally, releasing me from his embrace. He made two steps backward and gave me one last look in my eyes before he disappeared into the shadows of the forest. The next thing I heard for a few seconds were the night owls and the nervous beating of my heart as I turned to look at Master Ralph and then at King Edison, whose eyes were now staring sharply at me.

The realization shook me to the bones, knowing the kind of trouble I was in. Master Ralph stepped closer to me, calm but cautious, not wanting to scare me out after all the bizarre things that happened between me and the vampire.

"It's ok, Claire. You're not in any trouble," he said reassuringly, looking at Alpha Edison, who was standing in front of us. He did not say a single word about me. About us. We're all anxious about what happened, but what made me more worried was the calm look on Alpha's face. Shouldn't he be upset? Agitated? He was mated to a mere servant at the Night of the Choosing! I waited for him to despise and insult me, but it never happened. I couldn't believe he came to save me.

His silence and his sharp stare told me I'd be dead when we came back to the mansion. Does he hate hybrids like me?

I flinched.

But looking at Master Ralph, whose hands reached out to me, there was no way I could refuse to take those soft hands. His eyebrows angled up with gentleness in his eyes, and so I slowly moved forward, until he pulled me close to him and imprisoned me in his arms for an embrace.

"Are you alright?" he whispered as he tried to steady my trembling body by rubbing my back with his comforting hand.

"Yes, Master. I-I didn't know why it happened," I replied, stuttering, my cheeks pressed against his chest. "What will happen now, Master? It can't be, right? I can't be the Alpha's Luna."

"We'll see about that, Claire. For now, we have to head back," he murmured gently, nodding at Alpha Edison. Alpha Edison's silence was like torture to me because I was not sure if he'd just spare my life and reject me or if this would be my last night as the last existing hybrid in his region.

From the corner of my eyes, I looked at him and shuddered. Alpha Edison's eyes were blank and stoic as he stared at the dark part of the forest, away from me and Master Ralph's direction.

Just thinking about getting back to the mansion and being feasted on by every eye in that place made me wish for death. Tears sprung from my eyes.

This can't be happening...