Chapter 263: The Ritual

​Scarlett’s POV

​The moment my paws crossed the northern border, the air changed completely. The safe, familiar scent of the Full Moon Pack’s woods was gone. Now, there was only a freezing, heavy mist that smelled of wet stone, decay, and ancient blood.

​I didn’t stop running. Even though my heart was breaking from the distant, angry roars of Liam, Leonard, and Leo behind me, I pushed my legs harder. The crimson energy of the Red Wolf swirled through my fur. It granted me incredible speed, making the dark, crooked trees of the vampire territory fly past me.

​"They will follow us," my ordinary wolf whispered, her voice small and trembling within my mind. "You hurt them, Scarlett. They are going to tear this entire land apart just to get to you."

​"I know," I thought back, a sharp wave of guilt aching in my chest. "But by the time they find me, the King will already have his fangs in my neck. The trap will already be set."

​"Are you ready for the fire?" the Red Wolf’s deep, cold voice echoed from the dark corners of my mind. "The moment we reach his castle, I will begin infusing the poison into your veins. Remember, little wolf... it will feel as though your entire soul is burning."

​"Do it," I countered internally. "Don’t hold back a single drop."

​I ran for what felt like hours, venturing deeper and deeper into the dead, silent land. There were no birds singing here, nor any small animals scurrying through the bushes. It was an empty wasteland ruled entirely by monsters. Finally, the thick trees opened up, revealing a massive, crumbling stone castle. It resembled a sharp fang jutting out from the black earth.

​The heavy iron gates were already open, standing agape as if they were waiting for me.

​I slowed my pace, my heavy paws thudding against the cold stone path as I walked into the dark courtyard. Dozens of pale, red-eyed vampire warriors emerged from the shadows. They bared their fangs as they caught the scent of a werewolf, but none of them moved to attack. Instead, they stood in a silent, eerie line, guiding me toward the grand front doors.

​I took a deep breath, letting the red magic recede from my fur as my bones cracked and shifted. In a split second, I returned to my human form. I stood barefoot on the freezing stone, completely naked. My sea-blue eyes hardened as I pushed open the massive wooden doors of the castle and stepped inside.

​The grand hall was illuminated by low, flickering candles. At the far end of the room, sitting upon a high throne crafted from dark bone, sat the Vampire King.

​My breath caught in my throat. He did not look like a powerful monarch; he looked like a corpse that was somehow still moving. His skin was gray and peeling, stretched tightly over his skull-like face. Black, rotting veins crawled up his neck and disappeared into his hairline. He was dying, decomposing while he was still alive, and he was desperate for the ancient blood that could save him.

​But when his blood-red eyes locked onto me, a sinister, ravenous smile stretched across his decaying lips.

​"Well, well," the King rasped, his voice sounding like dry leaves scraping against stone. "The prized possession of the Full Moon Pack walks right into my domain. And she comes completely alone."

​"I am here to pay the debt," I said, forcing my voice to remain cold and steady, even though my heart was hammering wildly against my ribs. "Twenty liters of my blood. If I surrender this to you, you leave the Full Moon Pack alone. You end this war."

​The King let out a sharp, mocking laugh that echoed off the high stone walls. "A brave little wolf. Do you truly think you are in a position to negotiate with me? You came here because you know your pack would be burned to ash if you refused."

​He raised a pale, bony hand, waving it slowly toward his guards. "Chain her. Prepare the ritual chamber. I want to taste the ancient magic before the moon begins to descend."

​Two massive vampire guards stepped out of the shadows, wielding heavy silver chains. I didn’t fight them. I stood perfectly still as they wrapped the cold metal tightly around my wrists and ankles. They dragged me toward a dark staircase that led deep down into the castle dungeons.

​"It is time," the Red Wolf suddenly roared in my head.

​Before the guards could even push me down the stairs, a sudden, agonizing pain exploded in the center of my chest.

​I gasped, my knees immediately buckling as I collapsed onto the stone floor. It felt as though someone had poured liquid fire straight into my heart. The magic of the Red Wolf began to flood my bloodstream, coursing through my veins like burning acid. My insides felt like they were twisting, scorching, and melting all at once.

​"Ah!" A small, broken cry escaped my lips before I could suppress it. My fingers clawed at the cold stone as the excruciating pain took complete control.

​"What is wrong with her?" one of the guards muttered, frowning as he looked down at my writhing body.

​"It doesn’t matter," the other grunted, dragging my burning body down the stairs by the chains. "The King only needs her blood flowing. She can scream all she wants."

​As they dragged me into the dark ritual room, the agony grew so intense that my vision started to go black. I lay on the cold stone table, my skin burning hot to the touch as the dark, venomous magic completely transformed my blood.

​I knew the triplets were coming for me; I could feel the faint, desperate tug of the mate bond pulling in my chest.

​The two vampire guards hoisted me off the floor and slammed me down onto a large, flat stone altar in the center of the room. The silver chains clattered loudly as they locked my wrists and ankles to the heavy metal rings embedded in the rock. The silver seared my flesh, but that pain was nothing compared to the raging fire tearing through my veins.

​"Stay strong, little wolf," the Red Wolf’s voice echoed in my mind. She was breathing heavily as she funneled more of her dark, ancient power into my blood. "The poison is almost ready. Just a few more moments."

​I clenched my teeth together so hard I thought they would shatter. I gripped the edges of the stone table, my knuckles turning white as my body convulsed from the unbearable torture. Every breath I took felt like inhaling shattered glass.

​Then, the heavy wooden door of the chamber opened with a loud groan, and the Vampire King walked inside.

​Up close, his stench was putrid—evoking dead leaves and stagnant blood. He moved slowly, his gray, peeling hands lightly tracing the dark stone walls as he approached me. His eyes were entirely blood-red, glowing with a terrifying, feral hunger as he stared down at my face.

​"Look at you," the King whispered in a dry, scraping voice. He reached out a cold, bony finger and dragged it along my jawline. His skin felt like ice against my burning flesh. "I can feel the ancient magic pulsing beneath your skin. It is so thick. So pure. It is exactly what I require to restore this rotting vessel."

​"If I give you... what you desire," I choked out, the words tasting like copper in my mouth as I forced them past my trembling lips, "you leave... my pack... alone."

​The King let out a low, sinister chuckle. He leaned down until his skull-like face was only inches from mine. "The Full Moon Pack will be nothing to me once I possess this power, little wolf. I will have no need for war when I am immortal once more."

​He didn’t waste another second. He pinned my shoulder down with a deceptively powerful grip, holding me flat against the altar. I braced myself, my heart beating a frantic, terrified rhythm against my ribs.

​Let this plan work before the triplets get here, I prayed silently, closing my eyes tightly.

​The King bared his long, yellowed fangs. With a sudden, vicious snap, he sank them deep into the side of my neck.

​A sharp, blinding bolt of agony shot through my entire body, and a loud gasp tore from my lips. I felt the horrifying sensation of my life force being drained out of me as he began to drink.

​The moment my blood touched his tongue, the King’s entire body went still.

A slow, blissful sigh escaped his cracked lips as his blood-red eyes fluttered shut.

"Magnificent..." he whispered hoarsely. "After centuries... I can finally feel it."

The gray decay clinging to his skin seemed to recede for a heartbeat. A faint flush of color spread across his hollow cheeks, and a greedy smile twisted across his face as he drank even deeper, desperate to consume every drop.

Then his smile froze.

His eyes snapped open in horror.

​He couldn’t pull away—the ancient magic in my blood was too potent, forcing his body to keep consuming it—but a dark, panicked gasp escaped his chest. The black, decaying veins on his neck suddenly distended, turning a bright, glowing crimson.

​"It’s working," the Red Wolf said in my mind, a dark, victorious laugh echoing through our bond. "The poison is entering his core. He is drinking his own demise."

​The King’s body began to convulse violently. He groaned, his grip on my shoulder tightening so fiercely that I heard my bone pop, yet he remained powerless to stop drinking. The raging fire in my veins was flowing directly into him, rotting his heart from the inside out.

​But I was fading fast.

​Losing that much blood was an absolute death sentence. My head spun, the dark stone ceiling of the room blurring as everything began to dissolve into darkness. My heartbeat grew slower and weaker, each thud sounding increasingly distant. The pain was finally receding, replaced by a cold, heavy numbness that started at my toes and crawled up my legs.

​Scarlett!

​Suddenly, a massive explosion rocked the entire castle. The stone walls cracked, sending dust and debris raining down from the ceiling.

​Through the thick stone doors, a sound cut through the chaos—a sound I recognized better than my own name. It was a fierce, earth-shaking roar of pure, possessive rage.

​The triplets had arrived.