Bound by fate:the vampire CEO's bride

Chapter 16: Threat Without Warning

A figure stood framed in the doorway, still as a statue, but the air in the room froze. Amara's heart skipped a beat as she tried to make out his face, but the dimness from the hall cast shadows across it. Damien tensed beside her, his hand clamping down on hers. His pulse quickened, his body coiled, ready at any moment to react.

"Who are you?" Damien's voice was even, but the edge of uncertainty in his tone did not go past Amara.

He stepped forward, fluid and deliberate. For one instant, he was in the pale light, and all that could be seen was a pair of keen, intelligent eyes that gleamed with an unsettling calm. It was a woman. A woman who commanded power and control without a word being said.

"Does it matter?" The woman's voice was low, almost melodic, yet with an undertone of danger that sent a chill crawling down Amara's spine. She didn't look at her directly, but instead, her gaze flickered between Damien and Amara, assessing, calculating.

Damien's jaw clenched. "I don't know what game you're playing, but if you've come here to threaten her—"

"I'm not here to threaten anyone." The smile playing on the woman's lips wasn't in the least warm. "I'm here to make sure you don't make a mistake."

It was as if the storm of tensions between them had just begun to rise like a tempest in the distance. Amara instinctively moved closer to Damien, taking comfort in proximity to him. Her pulse drummed loud and her thoughts whirled as she had no idea who this woman was and what she wanted, yet the look in Damien's eyes indicated this woman was very well known to him.

Who are you?" Amara asked, the firmness of her voice a stark contrast to the gnawing fear that had taken over her insides. She refused to show her uncertainty, especially in front of Damien, who seemed to be caught in some internal struggle.

The woman finally turned her eyes toward Amara, and the weight of her gaze was enough to make Amara take a hesitant step back. "I'm someone who understands the price of choices, and the price of love." Her eyes narrowed as she studied Amara, as though she were trying to read her every thought. "You might think you know Damien, but you don't. Not really. And you'll regret it if you stay here, caught in the middle of a war you can't even see coming."

Amara felt the sting of her words, the implications hanging heavy in the air. A war? What war? And why was this woman so intent on pushing her away from Damien?

Damien, ever the protector, stepped forward, his stance rigid, his eyes hard. "Enough, Selene. If you've come to manipulate her, you can leave now. You have no place here.

The name Selene echoed in the confines of Amara's mind. She had heard it before, the whispers of conversations, never fully explained. But now it seemed so crystal clear that this woman named Selene had some sort of history with Damien. And not just any history, but the kind of history that could tear them asunder.

"You think you can stop me?" Selene's voice was quiet but cut like the edge of a blade. "You have made your choice, Damien. You have already tied yourself to her." There was a flicker towards Amara, something odd, almost pitying in her eyes. "But it is too late for that. You have crossed a line, and now you will both have to pay the price."

The tightness formed in Amara's chest as the words of Selene seemed to hang suspended in air, cloaked with some unsaid threat. What price did she refer to? What was it that Damien had done?

Damien's hand clutched tighter into hers as he growled in a voice low and dangerous, "You don't understand-you'll never understand. I have made my choice. And I am not going to back down on it.

Selene's lips twisted into a smile, but it wasn't a smile of victory. It was a smile of someone who knew something they weren't telling. "We'll see how long your resolve lasts, Damien. But remember this—everything has a price. And you'll find out what that price is, sooner rather than later."

In a sudden turn of her heel, Selene whirled out of the room, with the same ease and eeriness with which she had entered. The door swung shut behind her, leaving the two in sudden silence.

Amara stared at the door, her mind reeling. What just happened? Who was Selene, and why did she so desperately want to tear them apart? And what had she meant by "the price of love"?

Damien exhaled a breath, his shoulders sagging slightly as if tension that had wrapped around him like a shroud finally relaxed, if just a fraction.

"That's Selene," Damien said, his voice hoarse, as if the weight of her words had physically drained him. "She's. complicated. And she's right about one thing-we've crossed a line." He looked at her then, his eyes filled with something she couldn't quite place-guilt, regret, maybe even fear. "But I don't regret it. And I won't let her tear us apart."

Amara took a cautious step forward, her heart still racing from the intensity of the encounter. "What does she want from us?" Her voice shook, but she fought to steady it. "What is this war you're talking about?"

For a moment, the hardness in Damien's expression seemed to soften. He stepped closer, pulling her into his arms without any thought. The sudden contact knotted her breath in her throat, but instead of pulling away, she found herself leaning into him as if deriving comfort from the assurance of warmth in his embrace.

"I've made enemies, Amara. And not just anyone. Powerful enemies." His voice was thick with emotion. "But this—" He pulled back slightly to look at her, his hands resting on her shoulders. "This is different. You're different. You've made me realize what I've been missing all along."

Amara's heart fluttered at the sincerity in his eyes, but there was still a nagging fear deep inside her. She could feel the storm on the horizon, could sense the danger they were about to face. And yet, despite it all, she couldn't bring herself to turn away from him.

"Then we'll face it together," she said softly, her voice barely above a whisper, but the words held the weight of a promise.

Damien's lips hovered above hers, and for a moment, the world seemed to stop. The tension, the danger, the uncertainty—all of it melted away as he closed the distance between them, pressing his lips gently against hers.

It was a kiss full of unspoken promises, full of the emotions they had yet to fully explore. It was a kiss that held the weight of everything they were about to face, and the vulnerability they had yet to admit.

When they finally pulled away, Damien's eyes were intense, his breath shallow. "Together," he echoed, his voice raw with emotion. "We'll face whatever comes next. Together."

It was in that instant, when finally some semblance of peace seemed to be arriving, that the sound of footsteps echoed down the corridor. This time, it wasn't just Selene's voice they heard but the unmistakable sound of someone else. someone dangerous, someone with a plan of his own.