Vampire Season arrived with the first silver frost of autumn.

Across the kingdom, windows were barred earlier, lanterns burned brighter through the night, and travelers hurried home before darkness settled over the roads. The forests surrounding the kingdom seemed different during this time of year—quieter, colder, and filled with unseen eyes.

Within the safety of the castle, King Arthur and Queen Ildora ensured that every guard post was reinforced and every gate remained watched. Their child, Guest, however, found the endless precautions suffocating. While everyone else feared the season, they longed to see the world beyond the stone walls that had become their prison.

Far beyond the kingdom’s borders, Lucien wandered beneath the moonlit sky.

Unlike most of the year, Vampire Season filled him with restless energy. Sleep became difficult. Hunger became sharper. Every scent carried farther on the cold air, and every heartbeat seemed louder in the silence of the night.

Night after night, he roamed the forests. One evening, unable to resist their curiosity any longer, Guest slipped beyond the castle grounds with only a hooded cloak to conceal her identity. They wandered through the quiet meadows outside the walls, enjoying a freedom she rarely experienced.

The moon hung high above.!The wind shifted.!Lucien froze.?A scent reached him.?Not merely human blood. Something different.Something rare.

The fragrance was sweet and unfamiliar, carrying notes he had never encountered before. It drifted through the forest like a spell, wrapping around his senses and pulling him forward despite every attempt to resist.

His instincts took over.

Moving through the darkness, he followed the scent until he spotted a lone figure standing among the pale flowers beyond the castle walls.

Guest.

they sensed movement and turned.

For a brief moment, their eyes met. Lucien saw fear flash across their face. He should have left. Every rational thought urged him to disappear into the shadows. Instead, the intoxicating scent overwhelmed him. In a blur of motion, he lunged.

Guest stumbled backward as he caught them before they could flee, one hand clamping around her neck as the other around her wrist pinned against the castle wall. The strange fragrance surrounding their grew stronger, clouding his thoughts and drowning out everything else.

The world seemed to narrow until only her heartbeat remained.

Only their scent.

Only the hunger.

Yet even as his instincts pushed him forward, something felt wrong.bDifferent. The closer he came, the more conflicted he became. Their blood called to him unlike anything he had ever experienced, but beneath the overwhelming temptation was a strange feeling he couldn’t explain—an unfamiliar hesitation that weakened his resolve.

Guest trembled in his grasp while the vampire struggled against himself. Moonlight illuminated them both.