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The Vampire King

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The High Priestess stalked towards him and halted when their bodies grew close to each other.

Crossing her arms, she glanced at the concubine's direction with the same face as hers.

Apollyon was sure the High Priestess didn't even want to acknowledge the other Luna's existence, but she couldn't help but scan the poor female from head to toe with prejudice.

Luna glanced up and narrowed her eyes accusingly at him. "How can you cheat on me with me on our wedding night?"

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The High Priestess

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As she entered the room and closed the door shut, Luna had seen his fangs had flashed brightly.

Luna had witnessed the Vampire King's hand wrapped around the concubine's crimson hair.

The other concubine's arched neck had exposed her milk-and-cream skin and the soft globes of her breasts as she knelt in front of him while Apollyon towered over her.

Luna's stomach had twisted in a vicious shock of both anger and disgust.

Luna stood in front of the Vampire King and met his eyes squarely as they face each other, forcing herself to hold her ground.

She knew she was dangerous.

Blood would spill.

There was no room for flexibility in her mind.

"I'm not cheating, wife." Apollyon shrugged nonchalantly as if he wasn't caught red-handed. "You know for a fact that I had the Consortium."

Luna wanted to attack him and punch his pretty face.

Giving another scream, Luna rushed towards him.

She got in a few good kicks before he grabbed her arms and forced her against a wall.

She let out a piercing scream of rage and agony.

The Vampire King growled, "Stop this, wife."

"I'm going to kill you!" Luna's sense of violation had her humiliatingly close to tears.

How could the bastard dare to cheat on her on their first night as a married couple and as blood mates?

Luna should have expected such tactics from Apollyon, but she didn't, and it made her feel stupid. "Let me go!"

She had been disrespected enough, especially to a mere clone of hers.

'No.' Apollyon looked at her, the blue of his eyes suddenly dark—as if a storm had rolled in. 'In this state, you might force me to hurt you, and I don't want that.'

For a second, her heart kicked as she heard his thoughts in her mind.

He cared, but...

Why was he invading her thoughts without her permission?

Luna told herself to stop staring into the depths of his blue eyes as his betrayal slammed into her brain.

Eye contact will make it easier for him to control and pass through her defenses but she couldn't look away as those blue orbs lit into twin flames.

"Get out of my head, Apollyon," Luna screamed again. You are raping my mind."

For a single fleeting second, she thought she saw shock shadow Apollyon's expression, but then that familiar arrogance looked back at her. "You are being overdramatic."

******************

The Vampire King

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The Vampire King's mouth tightened, his knuckles whitening as he fisted his hands.

Apollyon had done and had been accused of many things through the ages but never had he taken a woman against her will when it comes to sexual congress now that the curse of the Blood Beast was gone.

Never.

He hadn't done so tonight either because this concubine belonged to his Consortium.

Apollyon shut his expression down before Luna could see them. "Of course, I respect your decision not to give me what I want, but you should also respect my decision to look for another partner."

The Vampire King provoked the High Priestess even further to figure out her boiling point and how much he could push and test her boundaries.

Apollyon was well-aware of how devious he was at emotional manipulation and how well he could control the High Priestess through that.

He smirked as he lifted her chin with his thumb and forefinger. "I'm not forcing you to do anything, wife."

Luna turned her head away from his touch while she still had her back against the wall.

She closed her eyes and exhaled.

When she opened her eyes slowly, Apollyon had witnessed how both of her eyes had transformed into gold.

Her large pupils had turned into reptilian slits similar to a snake, and her fangs had extended.

There were shiny scales of pink, blue, and gold forming on her cheeks just below her eyes—changing her facial features—and her lips had turned blood-red, more sensual.

The High Priestess stared blankly at him as if she was in a daze, but the piercing look of her winter chill eyes told her otherwise, "Choose Apollyon."

"I have already chosen wife," Apollyon said but didn't elaborate.

The Vampire King waited for her reaction.

He let his mind focus as he tried to distinguish Luna's emotions from his, but he couldn't quite catch it.

Oh, the Vampire King knew she was jealous, but he applauded the High Priestess for being a fast learner.

He didn't know she already figured out how to withdraw herself from his consciousness so easily in just hours without realizing it.

"This is your last chance to redeem yourself, Apollyon." The High Priestess whispered a smile that was not a smile creasing her face.

Lines were marring the Vampire King's forehead.

"I wouldn't hesitate to drop you and disappear in this Realm if you couldn't even respect your wife and keep your dick in your pants in just one night." Calculation filled her gaze, even as she dropped into less formal speech. "And here I thought you respect my decisions."

Eyes darkly indigo with a challenge, Apollyon decided to tell her the reason why he did it, but once the words came out of his mouth, he had started to doubt his own decisions. "This is my way of respecting your choices."

"You think I don't recognize emotional manipulation when I see it, Apollyon?" Luna laughed at the scowl in his voice, then she smirked. "This is why I don't trust you."

"A King like you who owned the Consortium?" Luna shrugged nonchalantly. "Of course, you were an expert on emotional manipulation."

It was an odd gesture coming from her.

Something wasn't right with the High Priestess.

"Even if you could have a thousand years of practice, you can't fool me."

Naked heat sizzled between them.

Powerful.

Vibrant.

The Vampire King's eyes still locked with hers, Luna reached out her hand to trail her finger down his jaw and to his neck.

"Now, this is your last chance to choose."