It's been a few days since I found and healed Mason. Nate will be arriving later today. He's supposed to come and take me home, but only he will be going back to his territory. I plan to leave Nate, but I need to break his heart in the process.

I wish I could just leave him, but we all know that Nate would search the world for me. Things were fantastic between us. He'd never leave me alone even if I ran away from him. The only way to make sure he won't look for me is if I break his heart.

Later in the day, I stand in front of Mom's door as Nate walks toward me with a smile on his face. He looks happy to see me. I wish I could reciprocate the feeling, but all I feel is sadness because of what is about to happen.

"Hello, love," Nate says, leaning in for a kiss, but I move my face away before he can make contact. He immediately starts panicking. "Did I do something wrong?" he asks, worried.

"Why don't we go inside and talk," I say, walking inside the house. But before I can fully enter, Nate stops me.

"Whose scent is that I smell on you?" he asks, growling.

"I'm sorry, Nate."

"No," Nate says, shocked to hear me admit it. I stole a shirt from a random male werewolf and put it on. My plan is to lie to him and tell him I cheated on him. I know it's going to crush him, but this is the only way. It breaks my heart to see him in pain.

"I don't believe you," Nate says, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry. I know I said I' would be patient and wait for you to break the curse, but I couldn't hold it when I saw my old boyfriend." Nate doesn't know exactly how many old boyfriends I've had, but he knows I dated before we got together.

"How could you do this to me, Elizabeth?" Nate asks, tears pooling in his eyes.

The Alpha King has tears in his eyes because of me. Will I be able to completely shatter his heart? I can feel my own tears threatening to fall as I feel his pain through our bond. Why was I cursed to hurt the one who loves me? This is too much for me to handle. I just wish I could disappear right now. My heart aches every second I stand here and continue to break his heart.

"You're lying. I don't believe you."

"I'm sorry. I wish it wasn't true, but I'm with child," I say, placing my hand on my stomach.

"Wha-t-tt?" Nate stammers as it sinks into his brain. He sniffs the air for a child's scent. It drifts through his nose. A teardrop leaves his eye and he quickly wipes it away, but I see it.

If a she-wolf is pregnant, she'll have her scent and that of a child's. You can detect a pregnant she-wolf faster than humans can detect their pregnant women. It takes seven days to be able to detect if a she-wolf is pregnant.

The child scent he sniffed is Elena's. I have her in the house, so my plan could work. Every child has the same scent until they are sixteen. That's when my kind get a unique scent.

"I can't believe you did this to me. I never want to see you again in my life," Nate says, turning and walking away from the house.

With every step he takes my heart breaks more and more. I was worried my plan wouldn't work, but even when it did, I couldn't be happy about it. I released my tears once he'd walked far enough away. I place my hand on my heart as it starts to ache because of the pain I'm feeling for breaking his heart. I want to run toward him, tell him it's a lie, and kiss his pain away, but I know this is for the best.

This is to save his life.

***

The following day, I leave with Mason for vampire territory. I didn't tell Mason my plan to give myself up to the vampire king. I know, like Mom, he would be against it. I plan to sneak out in the morning the day after we arrive at his house. I lied to him, saying I'd spend a few days with him to make sure he was okay before I left, so he wouldn't suspect why I suddenly wanted to spend the night after dropping him off.

After an hour or two, we arrive at vampire territory. It's easy to enter since I know I just need to mask my scent to be able to go in unnoticed.

"Wait, let me help you," I say to Mason as he tries to walk on his own to his house door. I quickly walk toward him and take some of his weight.

"I'm fine. You didn't have to bring me here. It's dangerous for you to be here."

"I did have to. I'm the reason you're in this situation, Mason, and I'm not leaving until you're fully recovered," I say, walking to his house with him beside me. I have my arms around his waist while his arms are across my shoulders.

"I told you I decided to help you, knowing the consequences. What happened to me is none of your fault."

"As much as I would love to stop feeling guilty, it's easier said than done."

"I know. Hopefully, with time, that will dissipate."

I help Mason to his room and on his bed. I run back to the car to get the medical things I brought and my bag. I cook dinner for myself and clean Mason's wound before calling it a night. Tomorrow morning, I plan to travel to the vampire king's castle. I don't know for sure if the process for reviving the vampire king's brother will kill me, but if it does, I'll die knowing I saved the werewolf kingdom.

***

Late at night, I wake up feeling thirsty, so I walk downstairs to get a glass of water. I'm drinking my cup of water when I hear something break in the living room. Did Mason knock down something?

"Mason, is everything alright?" I ask, walking toward the living room.

As I walk closer to the living room, I realize the lights are off. I'm about to switch them on when I suddenly feel someone grab my neck. I struggle to remove their hold, but they're stronger than me.

What's going on? I try to sniff the air to find out which species is trying to harm me, but I start to feel dizzy before I can. How are they making me become unconscious? Are they using some kind of magic? Before the darkness entirely surrounds me, I get a slight scent of a vampire. I think I just got kidnapped by a vampire.

***

I open my eyes to a dark, smelly place. I look around to try and see if I recognize where I am, but I don't. I try to change my eyes to my werewolf eyes, but I can't. I try to contact Eva, but I can't either. Where the hell am I? I stand up from the cold ground and try to feel around the room to guess where I'm. I groan a little as my muscles hurt when I move them. I think I was on the floor for a while. I put my hands in the air and try to feel anything around me.

I move toward my right and my hands come in contact with the wall. I lean toward the wall and continue to walk around the place. I quickly remove my hand from the bars when I touch them. They're made out of silver. They burn me the moment I felt them. I must be in a vampire or human hunter's prison. I don't know which one to wish for. I'm turning back to where I think I woke up from when the lights suddenly come on in the room. I shield my eyes as I try to adjust to the light.

Thi

"Hello, beautiful, we finally meet," a voice behind me says; I turn around to see the owner of this voice.

A very handsome vampire stands before me. His hair is as black as night. His beautiful green eyes stare at me and take in my whole appearance. His brows are full and thick; even with the little lighting in the room, I can see how red and full his lips are. How can a vampire be so handsome? Aren't they all dead-looking? Why does he look human? If I couldn't smell the vampire off him, I would think he was human. He doesn't smell as bad as they do. His scent has a mixture of death which is how all vampires smell to me, and cinnamon, yes, cinnamon. How is it possible?

"Who are you?" I ask the vampire as he walks toward me. With every step he takes, I find it more difficult to not stare at him. What's going on?

"I can't believe you don't recognize me, my love. I know it's been ages, but I don't age like those dogs," he says as he stands in front of my cell.

"I don't know who you are?"

"You do; you just don't remember."

"I think I'd remember if I met someone like you."

"Let me help you refresh your memory then. My name is Nickolas Adams. Your mate, the vampire king."

"What?" I ask, wide-eyed. There's no way in hell I'm the vampire king's mate. I don't feel any pull toward him.

"You might not remember my love, but I'll help you recall."

"Is this some kind of trick?"

"I didn't want to have to do this, but it seems it's the only way you;ll remember me," he says and rips open my cell door. He's in front of me faster than I can blink my eyes. He extends his fangs, and before I can run away from him, he dips them into my neck.

I scream in agony as his fangs pierce my skin. I'm trying to block the pain in my neck when suddenly I start seeing images of someone else's thoughts in my head. They're moving so fast it's hard to tell what they're showing. The speed of the images suddenly stops, and before my eyes stands the vampire king and a woman, not just any woman, a woman who looks exactly like me. But I know she isn't me. I watch how she smiles at the vampire king, and he for her. She walks toward him, and he kisses her once she is in front of him. I think this is his mate. The image of them in front of me suddenly starts getting blurry as I feel the pain in my neck disappear.

"You're not her; you're an imposter," the vampire king says, throwing me across the room.

I hit my body hard against the wall. I crouch down in pain and hold my side. I knew he'd realize that the minute he figured the memory he was showing me was known only to him. The only logical explanation to what I just saw would be that I look exactly like his mate. But I'm not her. I can look like her since I'm a descendant of vampires. I'm sure he thought she was reborn.

"I never claimed to be your mate," I say as I try to lift myself off the ground. I stand up but it's not because I could gather my strength and lift myself. Nickolas gripped my neck and lifted me off the ground. My feet dance in the air as I struggle to remove his hands from around my neck. He's choking the life out of me.

"I'm going to kill you for trying to deceive me. You're not her," he says, increasing the pressure on my neck. I try to release my claws, but they won't come out. It's like I'm a human right now. I wonder what spell was cast in this cell to make me human.

I can feel my airflow reducing with every passing second that he continues to choke me. This is how I die? I didn't even get to fight first. My vision gets blurry when I suddenly hear someone coming to my aid.

"Please, my king, don't kill her. I beg you, please don't kill her," Mason begs on his knees in front of the cell.

Mason? What is he doing here? He shouldn't be here. The vampire king won't spare his life if he sees him alive. I want to shout at Mason to run away, but I can hardly breathe let alone talk.

"Why should I not kill her? She isn't Jane, so I don't need her," Nickolas says.

"She might not be Jane, my king, but she's still a hybrid. She can help you revive the vampire kingdom. Please, spare her life," Mason says.

The vampire king presses his nails deeper into my neck before throwing me hard against the floor.

"You're lucky he was here to talk me out of killing you. I was so angry I forgot your blood is all I need to rebuild my family and not your womb," he says, walking out of the cell. He bangs the door shut once he's out.

I cough and massage my neck. I crawl toward Mason who's on his knees outside the cell, but before I can reach him, Nickolas 's words stop me.

"Thank you, Mason, for delivering her to me," Nickolas says, smirking.

I look at Mason, wide-eyed, hoping it's a lie and he didn't betray me. He can't meet my eyes, and that's enough to prove the vampire king isn't lying.