Chapter Text
Prologue
Midnight had come and gone when, after hours of screaming and unrelenting pain, the Alpha’s mate, Vivienne, finally gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Soon, the cries of agony were replaced by those of new life, followed by joyful exclamations echoing through the room.
The Alpha held the tiny bundle in his arms for a moment, admiring him. He looked so much like his mother…
With a dazed, almost dreamy gaze, the newly made father whispered:
“Your name will be Wriothesley. Wriothesley Blackthorn. And you, my son, will be the pride of our family.” The man, with black hair and beard, approached his wife with the baby in his arms, bringing him closer to her. In that moment, two hearts that had long been one became three, with the arrival of the newest member of their family.
Meanwhile, several kilometers away from their lands, inside a gothic-style castle with an abandoned facade, lit candles had transformed the Great Hall—normally shrouded in a funereal air—into something strangely warm…in its own way. There, several figures sat still, their skin so pale they almost seemed ill, their eyes fixed forward. Before them stood a raised platform, upon which two men were positioned: one with a severe, almost frigid expression, the other shorter, his demeanor more youthful than the rest.
This was the ceremony to appoint the next leader of the coven. Clément, the current protector of their kind, stood delivering a speech to commemorate the event.
“On this beautiful night, it is an honor for me to announce that from this moment on, Neuvillette, as my descendant and a member of the noble line of our blood, shall become the new leader of the Mortécourt coven.”
Cheers and applause erupted after the announcement. The young man in question tensed visibly; he was still far too young, with no experience in leadership and no grasp of paternal duty. Clément knew this—yet even knowing, he stood firm in his decision regarding who would inherit the throne. Neuvillette was a Mortécourt, by the noble name of Dracula! Sooner or later, he would have to learn what it meant to be a true member of the high lineage and to mature into it.
And so, after that night, the Mortécourt coven had a new leader in power.
Thus, both families established a new order, anticipating the arrival of significant changes within their respective species in the near future.