C13 Creep

ALARIC

Danger.

I smelled it before I saw it—the tang of adrenaline and something darker, like steel and oil. My body tensed, instincts flaring as my gaze snapped toward the man in the corner.

He wasn’t paparazzi. His stance was too deliberate. His eyes weren’t hungry for gossip; they were locked on Sydney like a predator choosing its prey.

And I knew predators.

The music, the laughter, the clink of champagne flutes—all of it blurred into silence as my focus narrowed to one thing: protect her.

“Don’t look,” I murmured against Sydney’s ear, feeling her shiver against me. God help me, even now my hunger stirred at the scent of her skin, the warmth of her pulse beneath her throat. “But we’re being watched.”

Her breath hitched. “By who?”

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t—not without drawing more attention. Instead, I tightened my arm around her waist, leading her gracefully off the dance floor, toward a dimly lit hallway that trailed past the ballroom.

Her heels clicked on marble. “Alaric, what—”

“Quiet,” I ordered, sharper than I intended. Her lips parted in protest, but then she caught the look in my eyes and fell silent.

---

The man followed. I heard it—the almost inaudible footfalls shadowing us.

My fangs pressed against my gums. My body screamed to act, to unleash the part of me I’d kept buried under suits and civility.

When Sydney and I turned the corner, I spun her against the wall, shielding her with my body. Her gasp echoed softly, her hands bracing against my chest.

“What are you—”

“Stay here,” I hissed, my voice trembling with restraint. “Don’t move until I say.”

Her eyes searched mine, wide, confused, but before she could argue, the man rounded the corner.

---

He was tall, broad, dressed like a guest but with a coldness that didn’t belong in velvet halls.

“Well,” he sneered, eyes sliding to Sydney. “The princess herself. Daddy’s little scandal.”

Rage flooded me. “You should leave. Now.”

He smirked. “And if I don’t?”

The last thread of my control snapped.

In less than a heartbeat, I was across the hallway, slamming him into the wall with enough force to crack the plaster. His eyes bulged, shock overtaking his arrogance.

“Leave her alone,” I growled, my voice laced with the echo of something inhuman.

The man choked, struggling against my grip. His scent—sweat, fear, blood—flooded my senses, and suddenly the hunger roared awake.

I could taste his pulse through my fangs.

Kill him. End him. Feed.

“No,” I snarled at myself, squeezing harder to focus on pain instead of hunger.

And then—

“Alaric.”

Her voice. Soft. Trembling.

I froze.

Sydney.

She was behind me, and when I turned my head slightly, I saw her staring at me, wide-eyed, lips parted. She had seen too much—the speed, the strength, the way the veins around my eyes must have surfaced when hunger surged.

Her hand lifted a fraction, like she wanted to reach for me. “Who… are you?” she whispered.

For the briefest moment, I wanted to tell her. To let the truth bleed out, to stop fighting this endless war with lies.

But I couldn’t. I wouldn’t.

So I did the only thing I could.

I released the man, letting him collapse to the floor in a gasping heap. Then, before Sydney could question me again, I turned to her, caught her face between my hands—

And kissed her.

---

It wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t patient. It was desperate, fiery, designed to consume her thoughts and bury what she had just seen.

But as her lips parted under mine, as her fingers clutched the fabric of my suit, I realized something horrifying—

I wasn’t just distracting her.

I wanted her.

Wanted her so badly I nearly lost myself in her taste, nearly let my fangs pierce the soft skin of her lower lip.

At the last second, I forced myself back, breaking the kiss with ragged breath. I brushed my thumb against her temple, whispering the ancient words of compulsion, of hypnosis, letting the power flow into her mind.

Forget.

Her pupils dilated. Her breath steadied. Confusion softened into calm.

“You didn’t see anything,” I whispered. “You were never in danger.”

She blinked. Nodded slowly. “Never in danger…”

The lie nestled into her memory, safe and snug.

But as I turned away, every muscle trembling from restraint, I knew one thing for certain—

The lie wouldn’t hold forever.