Chapter 137: Protecting In The Dark_Alpha's Dark Desires

<h4>Chapter 137: Protecting In The Dark</h4>

 Dean’s POV

 So there I was.

 A vampire.

 Inhabiting a body simr to the kid’s—but not quite.

 At first, I wasn’t as solid as I am now. No flesh. No true form. I was more like a shadow—hence the oh-so-creative name Kane’s Shadow.

 A wraith. A ck smoke with a voice.

 Drifting. Watching. Lurking just beyond reach, whispering into the night.

 I couldn’t touch.

 I couldn’t feel.

 I was there, but not there. A half-existence. A curse.

 Until I learned the truth.

 I needed blood.

 The moment I drank, I became.

 The ck smoke condensed, twisted, took shape.

 Flesh. Bone. Strength. Power.

 The more I fed, the more real I became.

 And oh—how hungry I was.

 And where else to get the blood, if not from the pack?

 I was careful. Precise. A little here, a little there—never enough for them to notice. Just enough to sustain me.

 And slowly, I became whole.

 Solid. Real.

 At first, they didn’t understand. How could they? One day, I was just Kane’s shadow, a whisper of something they feared. Then suddenly, I had form. Flesh. A face identical to his.

 Some thought we were twins. Identical. Two sides of the same coin.

 Even his parents... they allowed me to stay. But not because they wanted me. No.

 To them, I was nothing more than an unwanted mistake—a parasite they couldn’t get rid of.

 They never treated me like a son.

 More like a burden. A nuisance. A shadow that refused to fade.

 But Kane?

 Kane saw me differently.

 He didn’t see a monster.

 He didn’t see a curse.

 He saw a brother.

 And that... that was why I stayed.

 But there was something else. Something deeper.

 A bond.

 It tethered me to Kane, allowed me ess to his mind as if it were my own. His thoughts, his emotions—I could feel them all.

 And for a moment... it felt right. Like this was how it was meant to be.

 Two halves of a whole.

 But there was more to it than just a connection. There was the darkness.

 That malevolent force lurking within us, wing at the edges of Kane’s sanity, whispering vile things into his soul. It was always there. And Kane, in his innocence, didn’t understand it. Couldn’t control it.

 So I did.

 I took it. Absorbed it. Let it fester inside me.

 I made it mine.

 Because if I didn’t, Kane wouldn’t survive it.

 And maybe... maybe a part of me thought that was my purpose. To be his shield. To bear the burden of the darkness so he wouldn’t have to.

 But the problem with darkness?

 It doesn’t like to be contained.

 Resisting it became... harder.

 At first, I fought it. I tried. But it was always there—whispering, coaxing, waiting.

 And with everything bashing me down—Kane’s parents, the pack, the constant reminder that I was an unwanted mistake—I found myself leaning into the darkness more and more.

 It felt like an addiction.

 Anytime I did something wicked—something cruel—the darkness would ease. Just a little. Like a beast momentarily sated after a fresh kill.

 But it neversted.

 It always came back, gnawing at me with an even deeper hunger.

 And the more I gave in, the more it took from me in return.

 My joy. My warmth. My humanity.

 Until all that was left was a hollow, reckless shell.

 And I embraced it.

 Because why the hell shouldn’t I?

 The world had already decided I was a monster.

 So I became one.

 And I made damn sure that if they were going to call me evil—

 I would give them something to fear.

 Then, of course, there was the hunger.

 The need to feed.

 Unlike any vampire, my body was... different.

 Maybe it was because I had regenerated it, or maybe it was something else entirely. Either way, I found myself possessing abilities no other vampire had.

 I could walk in the sun.

 I could eat regr food.

 I could pass for normal.

 But the hunger never left.

 I needed blood—at least twice a week—or the darkness inside me would w its way to the surface, twisting my mind, demanding to be fed.

 At first, it was easy. When I was still more shadow than flesh, I could sneak around, taking small sips from the pack members while they slept. A little here, a little there—just enough to survive. They never noticed.

 But with a physical body, things changed.

 I couldn’t sneak into homes anymore.

 I couldn’t go unnoticed.

 And the wolves... they were too aware. Their senses too sharp. If I took from one of them, I’d be caught.

 So I had to adapt.

 For a while, I lived off animals. It was disgusting. Their blood was weak, barely enough to keep me from spiraling. But I endured.

 Until I grew older.

 Until I was strong enough.

 And then, I ventured beyond the pack’s borders.

 There was a human vige miles away—isted, unaware of the creature running through the woods.

 With my speed, the distance meant nothing.

 And humans?

 They were easy prey.

 I learned quickly that teenage girls and women were the simplest targets.

 All I had to do was pretend to be a lost child.

 Innocent. Helpless.

 And without fail, some sweet, naive woman would stop.

 Would kneel down.

 Would try to help me.

 And that’s when I’d strike.

 This went on for years.

 By the time I reached my teenage years, I was strong. The weak, shadow-like form I once had was long gone. Now, I was solid. A true predator.

 Kane and I were the same age in body—twins in appearance—but in mind?

 He was still young. Na?ve. Soft.

 And me?

 I was older. Darker. I had lived through things he never had to.

 We were still close then. He still cared for me, still saw me as his brother. But that’s when things changed.

 That’s when he started listening to them.

 To his parents.

 To the pack elders.

 To all the voices whispering in his ear, telling him that I wasn’t his brother, that I wasn’t even a person. That I was the evil inside him given form.

 At first, he ignored them.

 He defended me.

 But doubt... doubt is a poison.

 And once it takes root, it spreads.

 He started to pull away.

 Started to question.

 And eventually, he began to block the bond we shared—the bond that had once made us one.

 But here’s what he never knew.

 What no one ever knew.

 The reason Kane was considered good, the reason he was able to be their perfect son, their noble alpha...

 Was because of me.

 Because all these years, I had absorbed his darkness.

 All the rage.

 All the anger.

 All the malevolence that should have consumed him? I took it. I bore it.

 I made sure he never had to feel it.

 And now?

 Now he was abandoning me.

 Turning his back on the very thing that had kept him pure.

 And for the first time...

 I started to wonder.

 What if I stopped?

 What if I let him feel the full weight of what he truly was?

 Would he still be their golden boy then?

NovelLamp

Chapter 137: Protecting In The Dark