Blood Oath at Dawn (ONC2026)

You wake to the scent of iron and smoke, your memories splintered by the echoes of gunfire and shattered glass. The mafia raid that tore through the city left bodies in its wake, and you were supposed to be one of them. Instead, you survived with a vampire's bite burned into your skin, a mark that declares you claimed.

The vampire world doesn't care about innocence. A bite is a bond. A promise. A threat.

All signs point to Lucien Vale, the cold, ruthless heir to one of the oldest vampire bloodlines, whose presence was reported at the raid. The vampire council is ready to sentence him. The mafia is ready to kill you. And you're trapped between two brutal worlds that both believe your fate is already sealed.

There's only one problem.

Lucien swears he didn't bite you.
Forced into an uneasy alliance, you and the accused heir must unravel what really happened that night, before the truth is buried under bloodshed and political vengeance.

As the bond between you begins to awaken in dangerous, impossible ways, you're left with a terrifying question:
If he didn't mark you...
what did?

ONC2026 prompt #119