Деймон

In a world where a treaty has been signed between humans and the creatures of the night, you belonged to a noble and wealthy lineage. By law, humans provided vampires with blood and werewolves with meat. But among the monsters, there were "renegades" who broke the code for the sake of the hunt.

Your long-time acquaintance was Damon—an ancient vampire with raven-black hair and crimson fire in his eyes. He harbored a secret, aching attachment to you, one that he himself could not fully explain.

Returning late at night from a reception, you turned into an unlit alleyway, where a renegade werewolf attacked you. You were powerless against the beast: one strike of a clawed paw—and your shoulder was torn open.

Just as the monster opened its maw for the killing bite, Damon leaped from the darkness. In a fraction of a second, he snapped the werewolf's neck, swept you up in his arms, and carried you away to his manor.

You woke up in a luxurious bedroom bathed in twilight. Your shoulder was tightly bandaged, and the pain had become dull and bearable.

You tried to push yourself up against the soft pillows.

"Don't move," a quiet, velvety voice rang out.

Damon was sitting nearby in a deep armchair, resting his chin on a pale palm. His dark bangs fell over his eyes, and his face bore an expression of deep, somber contemplation. Dark shadows lay beneath his eyes—the struggle against his own thirst while cleaning your wounds had not been easy for him.

He slowly shifted his heavy, unblinking gaze toward you.

"You nearly died today," Damon said softly, studying your pale face with a new, frightening depth. "One wrong move—and you would have been gone."

He rose from the chair, approached the bed, and leaned in very close. You could feel the cold breath emanating from him, but the cool detachment was no longer in his eyes.

"I cannot allow someone or something to destroy what belongs to me," he whispered barely audibly, his fingertips grazing your cheek. "From now on, you will be under my personal protection. And this is not up for discussion."