Claimed by the Alpha and the Vampire Prince: Masquerading as a Man-Chapter 173: A Trigger Of War

Blaze’s POV

I should’ve never gotten involved. That was the first thing I thought after the fight with the wolves. I broke the one rule I had sworn to stick to—don’t get involved with wolves’ prey. Simple enough, right? I’m a vampire, I’m supposed to keep the balance. The last thing we need right now is a full-on war between vampires and wolves, especially not with the situation I was dealing with.

But there I was, fending off a pack of them for a human boy. God, what the hell had I gotten myself into?

It was like something in me snapped the moment I saw those bastard wolves closing in on him. I knew I was crossing lines, breaking the delicate peace that had existed for centuries between vampires and wolves. I knew I was playing a dangerous game, and I knew this could come back to bite me. Literally.

But I couldn’t stop myself. There’s something about him—Clark—that just fucks with me.

This kid... I could feel the weight of trouble surrounding him from the moment I saw him. It was like some primal instinct kicked in, and my demons were all drawn to him, responding in ways I couldn’t control. Why? Why him? I’ve dealt with humans before, and it’s usually nothing more than a bite and a quick kill or turn, but this little boy was different.

The way his blood smelled. The way his heartbeat pounded through my senses, making everything inside me tremble. It was too much. The scent of fresh, untapped blood, the smell of life itself—he was a walking, breathing temptation.

I wasn’t some savior or some protector. I wasn’t the knight in shining armor, and I definitely wasn’t in the business of playing hero. Yet here I was, taking on those mutts—those wolves—just to protect a human boy.

I had never done that before. Not for anyone. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

But for some reason, I couldn’t let him go. I couldn’t stand by and watch him fall to them. Something in my gut told me he wasn’t like the others. The other humans, they were disposable. But him? No.

Maybe it was because he was so young. So small. Still innocent in a way that only a barely eighteen-year-old could be. He hadn’t had his soul shattered by this world, not yet. He was just a kid who had stumbled into a nightmare, unaware of the dangers lurking behind every corner.

And that was the thing that pissed me off the most: He didn’t even know what he was getting himself into.

I had lived too long. Too long to be blinded by the same naive idealism that kept him thinking he could simply "escape" this place. He couldn’t. No one could. No matter how hard they tried, the monsters would always find you. The wolves, the vamps, they would hunt you down and tear you apart. If you didn’t play by their rules, you became prey.

But my little lamb? He was too damn pure to see that. His innocence was his weakness. And the longer I let him live in my orbit, the more I realized that I was probably making the biggest mistake of my existence.

If I wasn’t careful, I would end up making him a target—an even bigger target than he already was.

Shit, I’ve already made him a target.

The wolves had caught a glimpse of him, and they were hungry. I could see it in their eyes. The same way I saw it in mine when I looked at him.

I’d broken the peace I had worked so hard to maintain, and now I was going to have to clean up the mess.

But what really bothered me was how I couldn’t stop myself. I should’ve left him to fend for himself. I should’ve let the wolves have him and moved on with my life, but there was something about him—something that had started as just a little spark, but was now a full-blown flame inside me. The more I protected him, the more my demons craved him. It wasn’t just hunger. It was a deep, primal obsession that I couldn’t shake.

And now I had to deal with the consequences.

What if a bigger wolf caught wind of what I was doing? An alpha or a beta, someone who knew what it meant to have the favor of the vampires but wasn’t afraid to tear up the peace to get what they wanted.

I had done a good job of keeping my demons under control, keeping everything in check. But this kid... clark... he had the potential to wreck everything. The balance between vampires and wolves, my control over my own emotions—it was all slipping through my fingers because of him.

I couldn’t let him get caught up in the politics of this place. If word got out that I was involved with him, the stakes would rise. The wolves would hunt him down, the vamps would get more aggressive.

What I needed to do was cut the ties. Sever any connection before things went too far. But every time I tried to push him away, he kept pulling me back in.

I could already see the wolves’ eyes on him, their predatory gaze growing sharper by the day. They were circling, watching, waiting for the right moment. They were like wolves in a pack, hungry and eager, just waiting for an opening.

And here I was—one of them.

The thought sent a thrill down my spine, a dark satisfaction that I couldn’t ignore.

But I also knew better than to get cocky.

clark wasn’t just a random human. He was a dangerous human. He had the ability to start a war between vampires and wolves. I could sense it. The way he stirred my demons, the way the others reacted to him.

I’m supposed to be the one making sure we don’t plunge into an all-out war between vampires and wolves.

But it’s more than that. He’s already shaking things up in ways I can’t predict. The moment I got involved, I set off a chain reaction. My demons are becoming restless, hungry for him in ways that are wrong. I can barely keep them under control when they’re near him, and if the other vampires sense the way I’m protecting him, they’ll know. They’ll see that I’ve gone soft. They’ll want to use him, use me, to settle scores. That’s not the kind of chaos I need right now. The fragile peace is what keeps us all alive. If it falls apart, if I’m forced to defend him in front of the wrong wolves—hell, even the wrong vampires—we’ll have blood spilling in the streets before the end of the week.

Goddamn it. He’s not worth the war.

If I didn’t rein in my instincts, if I didn’t shut down these thoughts I had for him—whatever the hell they were—I was going to find myself in the middle of something far worse than I’d ever expected.

The wolves weren’t just going to let him walk away with it after what I did.

And if I wasn’t careful, I’d be forced to choose between them and him.

So much for peace.