Chloria – Royal Temple Grounds
Ezra's POV
The drums of the Moon Ceremony echoed through the valley, slow and haunting, like a heartbeat wrapped in silence. Beneath the Crescent Moon Arch, Liora stood in ceremonial robes that shimmered with woven moonlight. Her silver lashes fluttered nervously as she awaited her vampire groom.
The entire Council was in attendance—elders, priests, nobles. Every corner of the sacred temple radiated power and old laws. Yet Ryan, standing next to me at the edge of the ceremonial steps, looked like a man made of stone.
He hadn't said a word since we left the priest's chambers. His mind wasn't in Chloria.
It was with Mia.
"She's still in your head," I said quietly, not needing to guess.
He didn't deny it.
"She's your mate, isn't she?"
His jaw flexed. "No."
"Ryan—"
"She can't be," he bit out. His silver eyes didn't look at me. "I can't let her be."
I studied him for a second before asking, "Why? Because she's human?"
He turned to me then. Slowly. Something flickered behind his eyes—pain, and fear masquerading as fury.
"My father… he's vampire royalty, you know that. But my mother—she was a demon."
I blinked. "What?"
"She came from the demon bloodline of the Northern Peaks. A powerful house, feared even here in Chloria. Her kind doesn't feel the same way we do. They devour emotions, twist bonds. She left me when I was barely a child, before I could understand what I was. But her blood… it's in me. Her curse is in me."
The wind picked up slightly, brushing past us with the scent of cold incense and flame.
"So you're… a hybrid. Half demon. Half vampire."
He nodded. "Which means the mating bond isn't like it is for you or anyone else. If I accept her, if I give in, Mia won't just be mine. She'll be tied to everything inside me. My hunger. My nightmares. My rage. She'll carry it… feel it. A human soul wasn't made for that."
"She's strong," I said, not even fully understanding why I defended Mia. "You're trying to protect her. But what if it's not your choice?"
"It has to be my choice," he growled, his voice rough. "Because if I lose control… she won't survive it."
And just like that, the priests began to chant. Liora stepped forward, the groom beside her, and the ceremony began.
But Ryan wasn't watching it. He stared at the flames dancing along the altar, seeing a different pair of eyes.
Eyes that were warm brown. That always looked at him like he wasn't a monster.
He clenched his fists.
He was trying to run from fate. And it was chasing him like a shadow he couldn't kill.