Chapter 7 STEP-BROTHER

"Brother!" The voice of his brother could be heard from the sitting room, haze wondered why he was there, he had made sure no suspicion about hazel was out .

Haze and his brother never saw eye to eye, in fact they aren't blood brothers but step Brothers.

Haze mother was a former lover of the king, but the king's father wasn't in support of it when she got pregnant the king had

already remarried and she had to keep the pregnancy a secret. But haze was unlike other vampires, he showed powers that most vampires didn't have, he was said to be a descendant of the ancient strongest vampire's, he had blue eyes like them and strange unique powers.

Although he was the first child of the king, a child of a mistress is not supposed to be crowned as the crown prince, since there was a legitimate son, but the king saw the power in him and crowned him. His step brother had always found every way to bring him down, he had always loathed him, most especially because he came out of nowhere. Haze mother had hid him ever since she gave birth to him, she went to the human world to get black contact lenses for him just to hide his blue eyes so as not to raise suspicion, but it could not be hidden for long. Haze was a 100 years old when he was summoned to the palace because a few people had witnessed his strength . A vampire who was only a hundred years old was still seen as a teen.

When they summoned both mother and father to the palace, the father immediately recognised his former lover and that was when the secret had to be revealed. Queen Matilda, his step mom, hated that moment, and so, while the king planned a welcome party she planned to kill them. She successfully poisoned both of them but was surprised to see that haze had survived it. She feared his strength. The war was drawing near and the king had no time to investigate the death of his lost lover, all he could do was bury her well and accept his son. He immediately put haze in training for the battle, and haze proved to be better than the best. The king was proud of him and continued to train him, eventually he was put to lead the war against demons and witches.

Haze won the war even after losing many soldiers and the king crowned him the crown prince. Even at an early age everyone praised him, but they didn't know about the curse the moon goddess placed on him because of that war.

"It's not very nice to meet you Javier," Haze said and slumped on the chair while Javier's eyes were fixed on Tasha.

"What brings the most powerful witch into the vampire territory? I am very surprised" Javier said still staring at her.

"What can I say, I can't hide the fact that I missed Scott", Tasha lied smoothly and Scott almost choked. There was once a rumour that Scott and Tasha where dating, because Scott was the one who forced Tasha to help fight the last war with the demons.

"Is that so?" Javier asked rhetorically not buying the lie, he looked at them suspiciously and haze could only scoff at the fact that he was looking for an opportunity to bring him down.

"So what brings here?" Haze asked, he couldn't wait for him to leave.

"I came to personally invite you to my sister's wedding, as you know after her wedding she would move to the north, it might take a long time before we would see her again, I know you don't like associating with the family but, the least you could do is come pay your respect". Javier said and haze chuckled softly.

"I am the crown prince, what makes you think I'll miss such a wedding, and just to make it clear it's you and your mother that I loathe the most, so don't go passing my hatred for you to someone else". Haze replied him and Javier face turned sour, but he immediately covered up with a smile.

"Oh come on, we are brothers after all".

"I believe you came to say what you have to say", haze said standing up, he folded his hands and looked at Javier, meaning it was time for him to take his leave. Javier stood up and proceeded to walk to the door when he stopped on his tracks and turned.

"And when you come to the wedding, please bring a woman with you, preferably your future bride, remember that title of crown prince can still be snatched from you" he said and left with a victorious smile.

Javier knew that haze had no woman and he could not become the king without having a wife and having a child. In other to keep the vampires in existence the king believed that no one should sit on the throne without a child, be it male or female. The vampire clan was slowly going out of existence. Since they were spread far and wide it was hard for a vampire to find their destined mate, so many vampires took a liking to sleeping around and not willing to settle, and they mostly enjoyed the sexual pleasure of humans, and it was impossible for a human to give birth to a vampire infant. So the king set up the rules to encourage vampires to find their destined mate, the rule did not only apply to the crown prince but to other high rank positions, some men who were interested in some power and high rank positions went far and wide to find their destined mate, while others mated with creatures of their kind.

Haze watched Javier leave, and he could only sigh, no vamp woman has ever caught his eye, the ones who where interested in him, where more interested in power, the last one tried to take his life.

"Well that was an unpleasant visit", Tasha broke the silence, earning Scott's glare.

"We have a more crucial matter at hand". Haze said looking at the witch.

"I told you, I can't draw the power out of her, you either do it the right way or you take the dark path", Tasha said and quickly conjured up a spell to prevent anyone from listening to their discussion.

"I can't trust the dark witches, they are not on our side" haze said, and after some time he added.

"How about I drain her blood" haze said and both Scott and Tasha eyes widened.

"You can't haze, she is human, and you can't break the rules". Scott advised, the number one vampire rule was to never drink human blood, of course they were those who broke the rules but they served a penalty if being caught.

Ignoring him, haze proceeded to Hazel room.

"Draining her blood won't give you your powers, because your powers are not just stored within her blood, they are in every inch of her body, that's why it's only her love that can free them, because when you love someone you unknowingly give them all of you". Tasha said with a serious expression, but haze was already occupied with something else. When he reached the door, he stopped in his tracks.

"What's wrong?" Scott asked.

"I can't perceive her scent" haze answered and Scott sniffed the air realizing it was true, before he could say anything haze opened the door, revealing no one, but a scattered bed, he hurriedly went to the bathroom and open the door but no one was there. His face turned sour, his eyes turned red and his fingers elongated.

"FIND HER NOW!!"