The One Night Stand Turns Out To Be My Professor

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Ian’s POV

I stood in the center of the council room, staring down at the cold, lifeless body before me. My heart clenched in my chest as I tried to process what I was seeing. Another one. Another council member, dead.

The smell of blood still hung in the air, thick and metallic. Even after all these centuries, I still hated that smell. Hated what it signified. This wasn’t the work of some random enemy. This was calculated, deliberate. Someone was targeting my council members, and they were slipping through our defenses as if we had none.

“Who found him?” My voice was low, trying to suppress the rising anger that threatened to consume me.

“One of the guards on patrol,” Jacob answered from behind me. “He was discovered at dawn, just outside the council chambers.”

I knelt beside the body, my fingers brushing the edges of the council member’s robe. This was Elian, one of the quieter ones, one who never fully trusted me. He had always been cautious, perhaps too cautious for his own good, and now he lay at my feet, his life extinguished by some unknown force.

The bite marks on his neck told me everything I needed to know. Werewolves.

But how the hell had a werewolf gotten this close? The realm was supposed to be fortified, locked down. After Aldric’s death, I’d made it clear to every vampire under my rule that security had to be tighter than ever before.

And yet… this.

The council was shrinking. Aldric, and now Elian. Two of the most powerful, influential members were gone. My chest tightened with the weight of it all, a sinking dread that I could barely contain. I needed answers. Fast.

Jacob paced behind me, the frustration rolling off him in waves. “We need to find out how they’re getting in. This realm should be impenetrable, Ian. It doesn’t make sense.”

“Of course, it doesn’t make sense,” I muttered, my eyes narrowing as I stood up and faced him. “Someone is helping them. Someone inside our walls.”

Jacob’s expression darkened, his lips pulling into a thin line. “A traitor.”

“Or more than one,” I added bitterly.

We were being infiltrated, and I had no idea who was responsible. The council was supposed to be the backbone of this realm, the ones I could trust to advise and guide me, even if they didn’t always agree with my decisions. And now, they were being hunted, one by one.

I turned away from the body, my thoughts racing. “Get the guards to lock down the perimeter again. I want double patrols around the clock. No one gets in or out without my permission.”

Jacob nodded and immediately strode out of the room to carry out my orders.

As I stood alone in the dimly lit council chamber, I let out a long, slow breath, trying to shake the feeling that I was losing control. For years, I’d ruled this realm with a steady hand, balancing the needs of the vampires and keeping the threats from the outside world at bay. But now, I felt as if the very foundation beneath me was crumbling, and I didn’t know how to stop it.

Elian’s face, pale and frozen in death, stared up at me as if mocking me for my failure. I clenched my fists, the anger rising again. Whoever was doing this was playing with me, and I was tired of being their pawn.

The door creaked open behind me, and I didn’t need to turn to know who it was. Lyanna stepped into the room, her eyes immediately drawn to the body on the floor.

She inhaled sharply. “Another one.”

I nodded, unable to find the words. I was still trying to piece everything together. She approached me slowly, her footsteps light and careful, as if she didn’t want to disturb the dead.