Chapter 1

The most irritating thing to walk into was the sight of red running from the white marble floors. From one side of the room to the opposite, there was a blanket of red covering everything. 

The color red was a startling color all on it's own. It was a color rarely found in nature. A color of wealth. A color that could be found in the form of beautiful, bright red roses—

Or in blood.

To a vampire, the color red held much more meaning, for it was what gave them strength, thus blood was a much better gift than roses. However, anything red held a special place, second to that of blood.

Blood was a welcoming sight on most mornings, for it was around to quench their thirst, but it was way too early in the morning to be dealing with this when there was so much to be done.

There was a body laying on the floor of the foyer, collapsed, and disarmed, a stake laying near the body. The man still twitched a bit, which only allowed the blood to seep further across the room, adding to the puddles.

What a big riot this weak thing had caused upon storming into the palace intending harm, had he not come in so frantically, perhaps the kings would not have noticed his entrance and his assasination attempt would have been much more interesting. In the end, all it had been was irritating, for it was a shame for such healthy blood to be spread on the filthy floors like this. Such a filthy shame.

Sighing pitifully, a sweeping hand motioned over the mess before a snicker bounced off the floor to ceiling walls.

“Jimin,” The eldest sighed, crossing his robe-covered arms over his chest, eyes on the bottom of the stairs where blood was pooling, looking up to look at the other vampire, “We have guards to take care of these things for a reason. Must you do this? Today of all days.” 

Jimin, stepped through the blood, fingers covered in the warm, thick fluid, before he scoffed a sound, head jerking towards the guards beside the doorway and said, plainly, “I am ten times faster.”

“Plus,” Taehyung cut in, the bottom of his navy colored, morning robe dragging a line right through the puddle that had run through the walkway, laughing as he walked by, “It is fun.” 

Amused, Yoongi snickered before turning to Hoseok, musing, “They're still fledglings.” 

“You say that as if you didn't order an execution for fun just days ago,” The other replied. 

Yoongi smiled, a vicious curve of his lips that showed the sharp edge of his fangs. Then, he hummed to himself and started towards the row of thrones before them, stepping barefoot through the blood, earning an annoyed look from the eldest.

“You must clean yourselves up,” Seokjin complained as he stepped over a puddle to walk towards his own throne, “It is a big day today.” 

Big day being an understatement, but they'd spent way too many years pushing this event off. It was understandable that the vampires were on edge and wanted a way to take it out on others. Making a mess, however, was not exactly a good idea.

“Clean it up,” Namjoon ordered a maid that scurried to run past, she didn't look up at the king, only running faster to get out of their way. It was a smart move.

“Guards, do your job or we have no use for you!” Seokjin yelled out, tone furious.

The armored guards in the foyer practically raced to make their way in the direction of the front door. The sound of their armor bouncing off the high ceiling.

Namjoon internally mused about the fact that an assassin dared enter so earlyas he climbed up onto the platform towards his assigned throne.

It seemed someone did not like the kings’ recent command. It seemed that things had escalated tenfold recently; this was the third assassination attempt in two days, however, normally they never got past the gates. The guards were slacking, it seemed, likely because it was difficult to tell who was here due to the decree and who was here to kill.

“Third day and we still haven't chosen one,” Seokjin commented abruptly, huffing a sound as he climbed into his throne and leaned on his elbow, “You would think, after all this time, we would be much more willing to accept just any beloved, not specifically a fated one.” 

“Ridiculous,” Hoseok cut in swiftly, “Nothing but the best. If I have waited this long for one, they must be the best.” 

“Who knows if they are even in this decade,” Jimin said, sounding pessimistic, “The last time we tried to search, we found nothing. Perhaps we need to think of settling.” 

“You may settle,” Yoongi said, shooting Jimin a disappointed look, “But just know, I find that very cowardly of you. Distract yourself with blood and whores, but I will wait. Patiently.” 

Taehyung snickered, “Hyung, you are only tired of killing your lovers; don't pretend to be above us when your bed has been full of whores for years.” 

“Not recently.” 

Chuckling at his defensive tone, Taehyung chided, “Only because you believe this is the right time, despite having said that multiple times before.” 

Yoongi pressed his lips in a fine line. 

Rolling his eyes at the antics, Namjoon moved towards the end of his seat. He leaned over Hoseok, who sat to his left and said, quietly, “Will there be drinks tonight? Was it only me or were the drinks much more pitiful than the night before?”

“I hear there may be drinks,” Hoseok replied, humming under his breath, “Tonight's guests are from the southernmost town, though, and they may be uncivilized.” 

“Farmers,” Jimin grimaced and scrunched up his nose in disgust. “Might we skip them again? They always reek of filth.” 

“They were instructed to wear their best clothing, none of those peasant things,” Seokjin brushed off uninterestedly, “We will wait and see.”

***

Jungkook only owned peasant clothing, which were mere rags. And, apparently, that was not a great thing to wear considering all of the whispers about him the second his torn boots stepped foot into the palace.

When the letter arrived in the mail a week prior, Jungkook had ignored it until he had the time to decipher it, but he was unable to find time to ask someone what it said as he had to do in the past. 

Unable to find someone to read it to him, Jungkook ended up opening it himself and finding his eyes glued onto the hand drawing of the palace and the numbers written in the corner. He'd overheard whispers of the kings demanding people come to the palace, but never figured he would receive a letter too.

It was both good and bad that he had gotten it. 

Good, because he now had plans other than to tend his slowly rotting pumpkins - he didn't know why they kept dying, but it was growing annoying - and bad because, well, Jungkook was scared. The vampire kings weren't exactly considered the most civilized of people. 

It was a known fact that the kings were vicious and frightening, that they had killed numerous people for things as little as being given the wrong plate of food, given the wrong kind of blood, and even for simply speaking to them - they were the definition of unfriendly. And horrifying.

There were even rumors that back in the day, the kings used to display their victims on the metal fence when they were truly enraged, but nobody knew whether it was true or not.

Jungkook knew vampires. They were uncontrollable. Threatening. They were selfish. Everyone spoke of them as beings whom existed solely to eat. 

Jungkook had never cared for vampires, so when he had presented as an omega, he'd been entirely grateful. He'd grow up and find a handful of very handsome alphas to take care of him and have that fairytale love story his mother always wanted for him. Had promised for him.

At age twenty-one and having only been kissed once, and having never been touched, Jungkook was wondering when his love story would begin, because, honestly, the omega was growing needy.

It was one of the reasons he decided to listen to the Kings’ Decree, because he needed to mingle. Jungkook needed to find his alphas. Allow them to sweep him out of his lonely, moldy little shack and woo him breathless. Jungkook was certainly a hopeless romantic.

Only now he regretted that decision. 

Everyone else had splurged on such beautiful clothing. The fairies wore the royals’ favorite flower, the red rose; every town was required to care for their roses at all times of the year.

Jungkook had heard horror stories of towns painting them red just to pass an inspection. 

(Who knew what the vampire kings would do if they knew their beloved roses were dying and couldn't survive the biting cold.)

Jungkook had made a horrible mistake in not spending what little money he had in replacing his clothing. His best shirt was a deep maroon color and split into a v at his chest. There was a mark on it, a small splotch of coffee he'd chugged out of nervousness before arriving; he held his stained shirt in shame at his actions.

Nevermind the shirt, his dress shoes were muddy and the bottom of his slacks were frayed. The clothes were overused and in bad condition. No wonder he kept getting the most disgusted side-eyes.

Jungkook was a fool to show up so underdressed. 

At least he'd gotten to see the palace, for it was entirely beautiful. The arched ceilings are covered in vines of roses and fairies sat on the rafters, bringing light to the entire entrance. 

Jungkook was in a line, he presumed to greet the kings, but he couldn't help noticing the marble floors and how old the bricks were. Still in such wonderful condition despite their age; he was mesmerized by the ostentatious beauty of the palace. 

There were intricate gold arches sweeping above him lining the throne room, a match to the shining frames on the walls featuring various photographs of the vampire kings.

They were unexpectedly ethereal. Vampires were not always this beautiful.

Jungkook had pictured scar-covered faces from all of the battles he'd heard they had won, he pictured blood-soaked clothing and the reddest of eyes, ones that reminded him of the past.

Only the vampires’ eyes were not blood red. They were more crimson than blood colored and when he walked forward more, the picture flickered with gold throughout the iris. There was no doubt they'd enchanting the paintings to show realism. 

A guard shifted to block his way, startling Jungkook. The guard had his head pointed towards the ground, despite it being mere commoners in front of him. 

Jungkook quickly shook out of his thoughts and realized where he was, who he was going to meet - perhaps this was a bad idea after all. He should have hid out and risked the kingdom finding out he willingly disobeyed him. 

There was an order that was echoed, one that made Jungkook's fear and panic flood in. 

“Everyone stay against the wall,” A guard requested from the front of the line, “The kings will be coming in a moment, everyone keep your eyes forward, but should a king approach you, do not show your eyes. Follow these rules so as to show your kings’ respect.” 

Obedience. 

Jungkook considered himself good at that and pressed himself into the wall as small as he could, but it was undeniable he was the odd one out as he was so underdressed and didn't look nearly as enthusiastic as the others his age. 

Perhaps this was for their next feed. 

Perhaps the kings had grown tired of their current diet and decided to have a bit more fun. Jungkook could see sirens in the line with their beautiful blue scales, nymphs, and even vampires—

Wait. No. Impossible. Vampires would not drink another's blood. Jungkook was growing too nervous to think straight. His hands were sweaty.

“Are you frightening them so soon?”

The voice was soft, much softer than Jungkook would have pictured and it caused his brows to furrow, but he couldn't find the speaker as the voice was so far away and across the throne room.

A wave of nausea flooded through him when footsteps resonated around the room and got a bit closer.

“Of course not, only making sure they listen.” The guard said, shaking.

“Oh, Beomgyu, but everyone likes a bit of a challenge every once in a while.” 

Jungkook's ears felt like they were picking up even the quietest of breathing from the shifter next to him. He was trying incredibly hard to pick up on the footsteps, see where they were.

“Oh,” There was a pause, “Something certainly smells good enough to eat.” 

Shivers ran down Jungkook's spine. He had no idea if it was because the voice was so enchanting or because he was terrified. All he knew was that his hands were clammy and his eyes grew huge the second he flickered them to his right, to the curved doorway beside the thrones.

Six kings. 

Six various colored robes.

Six chuckling tones and even more nerve-wracking comments.

“Would you look at this? A demon,” There was a throaty chuckle, “Such pitiful creatures, no?”

“I supposed I could deal with a demon, they are lustful creatures, the issue would be: could they deal with us? Perhaps not. Too weak, like this little pixie here. My dear, I could snap you like a twig.” 

What were they looking for? Jungkook wondered.

“Hyungs, this one is nice.” 

“You think all of them are nice to look at, Jimin. You must think for the long run.” 

One of them was walking along to his throne now, looking utterly bored as he snapped fingers at a maid that walked past and earned their attention.

Jungkook swallowed hard when footsteps grew closer and closer, the comments bubbling up this irritation in his chest. His eyes glued themselves to a spot of dirt on the floor beside his boots.

He was growing sick of the comments, he'd heard some pretty awful words before and knew it must not feel very good to be so blatantly scrutinized, much less by a king. The omega worried over what they would say once they reached him.

Perhaps he was too tall. Jungkook was considered a rather tall omega; he'd heard it all throughout life. Or, maybe his eyes were too large. Perhaps his nose was too big. Maybe his scent was too strong.

Jungkook felt the ground shake when there was an abrupt stop just a few feet down from him. 

“Someone smells good.” 

“Yoongi-”

“Hyung,” The voice repeated, “I am not exaggerating. One of these creatures is ours.” 

“A farmer?” There was a scoff before the seated king moved to stand up again, “Impossible. Impossible. I can not have a farmer as a-”

Jungkook was meant to look at the floor; they'd specifically told him to look at the floor when the kings approached, yet he didn't. He raised his head.

He knew their names. They were labeled by golden, cursive plaques on the wall beneath their photos. And standing in front of him was none other than Jung Hoseok. He'd just disrespected Jung Hoseok. He had looked the vampire king in the eye.

Jungkook was doomed by that alone, but there was one even worse realization that settled in the pit of his stomach the second Hoseok sucked in a breath and released an uneven, shaky one. The vampires smile curved upwards and his eyes brightened.

They were mates. 

The omega was mated to vampires.

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