The Vampire's Heir Possession

Selene Monroe had been in Oxford for four months, and still, sometimes, the campus felt like a dream she hadn’t quite woken from. The gray spires, the cobblestone streets, the hush of the library, it was the kind of place she had only ever seen in movies.

Her mother had worried she wouldn’t adjust. Homeschooled all her life, shielded from almost everything, Selene was supposed to be too quiet, too naïve for a city like this. But she had adjusted. And she had found her rhythm.

She’d even made friends.

Anna, the extroverted one who had pulled her into a group during orientation and never let go. Hailey, calm and steady, the kind who always had tissues in her bag and answers to the hardest exam questions. They had become her circle since and the family she chose for herself.

And then there was Damien.

Her boyfriend.

If Selene was honest with herself, she wasn’t sure how it had happened so quickly. He had swept her off her feet that first week, flowers at her door, endless texts about how he couldn’t stop thinking about her, promises that she was “different from everyone else.” The kind of intensity that should have been flattering.

Except sometimes, it wasn’t.

He liked her in turtlenecks, so she wore them. He liked her in long sleeves, so she made sure to cover her arms even when the weather was unseasonably warm. Jeans, never skirts. Neutral colors, never the ones she actually loved.

It wasn’t that he asked directly. He just made comments...little things. That skirt is too short. Don’t wear red, it makes you look too noticeable. You’re perfect when you’re modest.

Perfect.

It was supposed to be love. At least, that’s how Selene kept trying to frame it in her head as she dressed to visit him now.

Turtleneck. Long sleeves. Jeans.

Exactly how he liked.

She told herself it was just compromise, that every relationship needed it. That she could live with small sacrifices if it meant stability, attention, someone who cared and most of it all, it had been her first relationship.

She wasn't going to mess it up.

But her chest felt heavy as she walked down the hall to his dorm, clutching her phone like a lifeline.

The door was half open.

At first, she thought maybe he’d left it that way for her, a casual invitation. Selene stepped inside with a smile already forming only for it to die the instant she saw him.

Selene froze in the doorway.

At first, she thought her ears had tricked her. A sound that didn’t belong. The steady rhythm of flesh, the broken gasps of a girl’s voice too high, too breathless filled the room.

“Oh, Damien… yes… Damien.”

Her blood turned to ice.

The sheets were tangled, clinging to slick skin. Her boyfriend’s body bent over another girl, their limbs locked in a rhythm Selene had never been allowed to know.

Her lungs refused to work. Her heart slammed into her ribs, violent, desperate. Heat and cold crashed together in her chest until her vision swam.

“Damien.”

Her voice cracked like a whip in the air.

His head snapped up. No shame. No guilt. Just that same infuriating smirk she’d once thought charming.

“Selene.” He dragged her name out lazily, as if she were the intruder here. “You’re early.”

She stumbled back a step, her fingers clenching the doorframe. “You’re...” Her throat constricted. “You’re with someone else?”

The other girl giggled, shifting against him. Selene wanted to claw the sound out of her ears.

Damien only shrugged, rolling away from the girl, stretching as though he’d been caught napping instead of cheating. He reached for his shirt, tugging it over his head with infuriating calm. “What did you expect? I can’t touch you yet. A guy has needs.”

The world tilted.

Her mouth went dry, her voice scraped raw as she tried to form words. “But… you said you loved me. I gave you permission, Damien. And every time we got close, every time I thought you would… you left me hanging. And now....”

Her voice broke. “Now you do it with her?”

The truth scalded her as it left her lips. He had taken her so far, always coaxing, always pushing, but at the last second, always pulling away. She had been patient. She had believed him. And he’d gone and given what he denied her to someone else.

Damien’s smirk returned. He rubbed his nose with the back of his hand, unbothered. “Selene, you are beautiful. Pure. Stainless. A virgin I don’t plan to fuck not yet. You’re too precious. I won’t break you before the right time.”

The other girl’s voice cut in, low and mocking. “Yes, dear. Leave sex for the grown-ups.”

Selene’s head snapped toward her. Fury burned away the blur of tears in her eyes.

In unison, both Selene and Damien hissed, “Shut up.”

The girl flinched, shocked.

“Get out,” Damien barked. His voice was sharp, commanding. “We’re done here.”

The girl hesitated, glancing between them as if weighing whether to obey.

“I won’t say it again.”

The authority in his tone left no room for argument. She scrambled off the bed, gathering her scattered clothes, and rushed from the room. The door clicked shut behind her, leaving silence in her wake.

Selene stood frozen, fury and betrayal clawing at her chest.

Finally, she laughed, bitter and sharp. “Is this your idea of making me forgive you? Really, Damien? You think I’ll just forget what I saw?”

His smirk faltered.

“We’re done,” she spat, her voice steel and venom. “Done.”

She turned to leave but his hand shot out, clamping around her arm with bruising force.

The pain made her flinch.

“Let me go,” she snapped, twisting against his hold. But his grip only tightened, his nails digging into her skin.

“You’re my girlfriend,” Damien snarled. His calm mask cracked, rage slipping through the cracks. “You’re mine. Did you really think you could end it? Huh? You’re mine until I say otherwise.”

Her stomach churned. The cold certainty in his tone terrified her more than his anger.

Her trembling hand rose, fingers shaking as she lifted it to strike him.

But he caught her wrist midair, his grip iron, unyielding.

“Don’t,” Damien murmured, low and dangerous. His eyes gleamed, not with love, not with regret, but with something darker. Possession. Hunger. Control.

“You’ll come back,” he said with chilling certainty. “You always do. Because no one else will want you the way I do.”

Her vision blurred with tears, her throat raw as a sob fought to break free. But beneath it all, fury surged, hotter than the betrayal, sharper than the pain.

She yanked her arm back with every ounce of strength left in her. His grip slipped, and she stumbled free, chest heaving, her skin burning where he’d touched her.

“You’re wrong,” she rasped.

Her feet carried her before she could think. She ran out, the echo of his mocking laugh following her into the hall.

Down the corridor, her chest aching, the walls closing in.

The cool air hit her when she was finally outside with her cheeks wet and her breath hitched.

Her heart felt as if it had been torn in two. But even through the jagged pieces, one truth cut clear:

She was never going back to him.

Two days later.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

It was Selene’s 21st birthday, but it didn’t feel like it at all. Her friends had come over, yet none of them really knew what had happened or how to make the day feel like a birthday.

Selene let her phone buzz on the desk while she sat at her vanity stool, fingers trying to braid her hair. Her hands felt cold, clumsy even.

“Anna,” Selene said, narrowing her eyes at her reflection.

“Yes, lovely?” Anna answered from the bed, voice calm as always.

Selene twisted another lock but frowned. “Why do you always have that cold, pale skin? Your skin is flawless. And you never tell me any secret.”

Anna paused, caught in the mirror’s reflection, her lips parting just slightly.

Before she could respond, Hailey muttered absentmindedly from the wardrobe as she flipped through hangers, “Because she’s a vampire, Selene.”

The room froze.

Then Selene burst into laughter, Hailey joining instantly. The sound b