Jake POV
A violent scream echoed through the dungeon walls.
"Don't shout."
"It's okay," I said coldly as I drove a silver needle into the vampire's nerve.
The creature screamed in agony.
"You dared to come here, thinking I wouldn't find out?"
I drove another silver needle into the nerve near his collarbone—the place that caused the most unbearable pain.
"Adrian sent you... didn't he?"
The vampire glared at me through clenched teeth but refused to answer.
A cold smile spread across my face.
"That bastard."
The stone floor was soaked with blood.
"Keep him alive," I ordered, wiping my hands with a handkerchief. "Don't let him die."
Without another glance, I walked out of the underground dungeon beneath our mansion.
Five days had passed since the incident outside the girls' hostel.
Yet my mind refused to calm down.
Why were they standing so close?
Why was Adrian touching her?
And why didn't Eira push him away?
Those questions repeated endlessly in my head.
Eira...
She is mine.
How dare that bastard go near her?
The image of Eira standing in Adrian's arms wouldn't leave my mind.
At that moment, I had wanted nothing more than to tear him apart.
But Eira was there.
So I let him go.
I clenched my fists.
"Adrian..."
Just then, one of my men entered the room.
"Sir..."
"We still haven't found any information about the princess's daughter."
I looked at him, my expression hardening.
"Then keep looking."
"We don't have much time."
"I don't care how many places you have to search."
"Search every village."
"Every kingdom."
"Every record."
"Every rumor."
"Find her."
"At any cost."
The man lowered his head.
"Yes, Alpha."
Eira POV
Ever since Adrian saved my life...
I couldn't stop thinking about him.
Something about Adrian didn't make sense.
His strength...
The way he always appeared whenever I was in danger...
How had he reached me so quickly when the light fixture fell?
One second he had been several feet away.
The next...
He was holding me.
It wasn't normal.
No matter how much I thought about it...
I couldn't understand.
As if that wasn't enough...
The dreams had become worse.
Ever since returning from Silverpine, they had been coming almost every night.
Ancient ruins covered in symbols I couldn't read...
Yet somehow understood.
Whispers calling my name from the darkness.
A woman's voice.
Gentle...
Sad...
As though she were searching for me.
Sometimes...
I caught a glimpse of a woman with long silver hair reaching out to me.
But before I could see her face...
I always woke up.
Every morning, I woke up with the same strange feeling.
Like I had forgotten something important.
Something I was supposed to remember.
The dreams felt so real...
Too real to be ordinary dreams.
Sometimes I wondered...
Were they really dreams?
Or were they memories of a life I couldn't remember?
The more I tried to ignore them...
The stronger they became.
My thoughts were interrupted by my phone ringing.
"Tessy?"
"So," she said excitedly, "how did the shopping go? Did you buy your dress?"
I sighed.
"Actually... no."
I told her about Jake's message saying that something urgent had come up, so we couldn't go shopping.
There was silence for a second.
"Eira!" Tessy exclaimed.
"Only five days are left until Halloween, and you still don't have a dress?"
"I know..."
"Oh, don't worry."
"I'm coming with you."
"You don't have to," I replied.
She cut me off before I could finish.
"No arguments."
"I'm already on my way."
A small smile escaped my lips.
"Fine."
"I'll see you soon."
Adrian POV
"Did you find anything?" I asked.
Drake shook his head.
"I searched everywhere."
"No one even knows she had a daughter."
He sighed.
"And it happened so many years ago."
Silence filled the room.
"She's the daughter of a vampire and a werewolf," Drake continued. "It's impossible to tell whether she'll inherit more vampire traits... or werewolf traits."
He ran a hand through his hair in frustration.
"Adrian... how are we supposed to find out the truth? We don't have a single clue."
"It's like searching in complete darkness."
I remained silent for a moment before my eyes settled on an old photograph of Astraevor Palace.
"Then we start where everything began."
I stared at the picture.
"Silverpine."
The journey to Astraevor Palace was silent.
The abandoned palace stood exactly as it always had—grand, lifeless, and buried beneath years of dust and memories.
Drake and I searched every room.
The library.
The royal chambers.
The hidden passages.
Every document.
Every diary.
Every secret compartment.
Hours passed.
Nothing.
Not a single clue.
Frustrated, I stood inside the old throne room.
The Princess of Astraevor.
Her portrait still hung above the throne, untouched by time.
I stopped in front of it once again.
For a long moment, I simply stared at her.
"Where did you go?" I whispered.
"Where did you hide your daughter?"
Only silence answered me.
I was about to turn away when another portrait caught my attention.
I walked closer.
The painting showed the princess standing sideways, one shoulder uncovered.
My eyes narrowed.
There...
Just below her left shoulder...
A small crescent-shaped birthmark.
I froze.
"No..."
I stepped closer.
"This isn't an ordinary birthmark."
I remembered the ancient royal records.
"Only members of the Astraevor royal bloodline are born with this mark."
"It isn't simply a birthmark."
"It is the symbol of their family."
"The proof of their blood."
"If the princess had a daughter..."
"Then her daughter would have the same mark."
I turned toward Drake.
"Drake."
He looked at me immediately.
"Find everything you can about this birthmark."
"Search every record."
"Every legend."
"I want to know everything."
Drake frowned.
"You think the princess's daughter has it too?"
I looked back at the portrait.
"I'm certain."
"If she's alive..."
"That mark will lead us to her."
The palace fell silent once again.
At that very moment...
Jake was hunting for the princess's daughter to claim the legendary stone she carried.
Adrian was searching for the same girl to destroy the very stone she carried before anyone could claim its power.
Neither knew where she was.
With the Red Moon drawing closer...
Only one question remained...
Who would reach the girl first?