"Let me belong to you," she whispered, voice low and trembling, "not just in words—but in blood."
Asher didn't hesitate. His lips grazed her skin—and then, he bit.
A sharp gasp escaped Catherine's mouth, half-shock, half-ecstasy. Her knees buckled slightly as she gripped his shoulders for support. She wasn't afraid. She didn't resist. The mark of his bite shimmered faintly with ancestral power, threads of soul and blood entwining with hers.
He was no ordinary vampire.
He was the Sanguine Supreme, a Progenitor in truth—capable of extending his bloodline's essence to others. It was a power rooted in ancient lineage, deeper than mere turning. It meant she would forever be bound to him—not as a servant, but as family.
He had done this before.
First with Veyra, when she awakened her Bloodroot Bloom and swore herself to his path.
