Claimed by the Alpha and the Vampire Prince: Masquerading as a Man

I must have really scared Sara because now she was walking ahead of me, putting a few steps of distance between us.

At first, I thought she was just in a hurry—until he showed up.

A guy. Tall, sharp-jawed, familiar.

I squinted, trying to place him—then it clicked.

The same guy she was making out with yesterday.

I had assumed he was her boyfriend, but now?

Her reaction told a different story.

She didn't light up when she saw him. No warmth. No excitement.

Instead, I watched the life drain from her face.

Her shoulders tensed, her lips pressed together in a tight line, and when she did force a smile—it was wrong.

Fake.

Like she was putting on a mask.

Her eyes darted to mine, almost like she wanted to say something. But before I could ask, she spoke first, voice too light, too rehearsed.

"I'll catch up with you later."

And then he grabbed her wrist.

Not gently. Not playfully.

Like he owned her.

My stomach twisted.

She let him pull her away without protest. No struggle. No second glance in my direction.

And just like that, they were gone.

Something was very, very wrong.

I stood there for a moment, staring at the empty space where she had just been.

A chill ran down my spine.

What the hell is going on in this town?

I had watched as the guy—the same one from yesterday—grabbed Sara's wrist and pulled her along like she was some lifeless doll.

I expected her to protest, to at least pull her hand away.

She didn't.

Her shoulders had slumped, and her fake smile stayed frozen in place, like she was forcing herself to play along.

But her eyes?

Dead.

Whatever light was there before—the little spark that made her Sara—was gone.

I should've said something.

I should've stopped him.

But by the time my brain caught up to what was happening, they had already disappeared around the corner, leaving me alone in the middle of the courtyard.

Great.

Now whose gonna show me where today's class is?

I sighed and pulled out my phone, quickly checking the schedule and the map of the campus. I was about to start walking blindly when a voice—smooth and slow, yet laced with something sharp—spoke right behind me.

"Lost, pretty boy?"

A shiver ran up my spine.

I knew that voice.

I turned slowly, already bracing myself—

And there he was.

Reed.

Standing there like he had all the time in the world, arms crossed over his chest, his golden-yellow eyes locked onto mine.

The same eyes that shouldn't exist.

The same eyes that made me feel like prey standing in front of a predator.

I swallowed hard.

He smirked.

"First day of class, right?" He tilted his head, gaze sweeping over me in a way that felt... too knowing. "Guess you need someone to show you the way."

He stepped closer.

Too close.

I took a step back on instinct, my body screaming at me to put distance between us.

His smirk widened.

Like he liked that reaction.

I forced myself to straighten up, to keep my voice level.

"I'll figure it out."

His eyes flashed—something unreadable flickering across them for just a second—before his smirk dropped.

"Oh, I insist."

Something about the way he said that made my stomach twist.

Like it wasn't a suggestion.

Like I didn't have a choice.

I should have known.

The moment Reed started walking in a different direction—not toward the building's front entrance, where Sara had been leading me—I knew something was off.

Every instinct in me screamed red flag.

So I did what any sane person would do.

I didn't follow him.

And he noticed.

He stopped mid-step, shoulders tensing. His head turned slightly, just enough for me to see the shift in his expression.

Anger.

Not the normal kind of frustration—this was something else.

Something darker.

The way he looked at me, eyes narrowing, jaw clenching—he wasn't just unhappy I wasn't following him. He was furious.

And for what? For not blindly walking into the unknown with him?

I swallowed hard, my body coiled with unease.

This isn't going to end well.

Reed was already at the top of my list of potential suspects—the way my brother disappeared, the strange things about this town... it all lined up too perfectly.

For all I knew, this was how my twin died.

I took a slow step backward.

Then another.

And with each step I took, Reed took one forward.

Deliberate. Unrelenting.

Like a predator closing in.

My pulse thundered in my ears.

I didn't think—I ran.

Or, at least, I tried.

Because before I could even turn fully, Reed moved.

Too fast.

A blur of motion, and then—

Pain.

His hand clamped around my wrist like a vice, twisting it sharply as he yanked me forward.

I bit back a scream.

His grip was ironclad, his strength inhuman.

A sickening panic curled in my gut—he could break my arm if he wanted to.

And I had a terrible feeling he wanted to.

"I don't repeat myself."

His voice was cold.

Deadly.

And for a second—just a second—I felt like my soul was about to leave my body.

A chill raced down my spine.

I lashed out instinctively, swinging my free hand in a desperate punch.

It was sloppy, wild—but I had to do something.

Reed didn't even flinch.

Didn't dodge.

He simply caught my fist mid-air, like I was nothing but an annoying insect.

"You don't want to make me madder," he murmured.

And the way he said it—low, even—was worse than if he had yelled.

I was trapped.

And for the first time, I wondered—

Had I made a mistake coming here?

He dragged me forward, his grip unyielding, his pace unforgiving.

I struggled, but it was useless—he was too strong, his grip like iron shackles around my wrist. My heart pounded violently in my chest, each beat a drum of pure, unfiltered panic.

Where the hell was he taking me?

I dug my heels into the ground, trying to resist, but Reed barely noticed.

He didn't even falter.

It was like pulling me along took no effort at all.

That scared me more than anything.

The hallway we entered was eerily silent.

Too silent.

No students. No voices. Not even the distant hum of life you'd expect in a school this big.

The further we went, the colder it got.

I wasn't just talking about the temperature—it was a deeper kind of cold, one that seeped into my bones and coiled around my lungs, making every breath feel heavy.

Wrong.

Everything about this was wrong.

And yet, I couldn't do anything to stop it.

My mind raced with everything that had led me here—my brother's death, to avenge him, the cryptic warnings,the way this town had secrets buried so deep no one dared to speak them aloud.

And now I was being dragged straight into the darkness.

Had I just doomed myself to the same fate as my twin?

I prayed to any god that would listen that I hadn't.