Chapter 61

**MIHAI POV**

Mae screams until her face is red and her body is shaking and trembling violently, it is almost over, she just needs to hold on for a little bit longer. She's strong enough to do it, i know it. I know that she can survive.
Some die during the transition, and other’s break completely, their minds becoming mush and the bloodlust taking over the very essence of who they are.
And some, like me, come out stronger, faster, and with a special gift unique to the holder. It's a feeling like no other when the power comes, and though i will never feel anything like it again, i am unable to forget the moment i received my fire.
I almost burnt the entire place down, more than once, it took weeks before i could stop myself from becoming almost identical to an inferno. And then it took even longer to full control it, years, fifty years to be exact.
The powers don’t come easy, nothing worth having does.
Mae will learn this, once the transition is over, she will receive her gift, because even though she is only half Nati, she is stronger than most of the lords i have met.
Mae's mind is stronger than she believes, and even though she struggles with loneliness, she doesn’t let the pain consume her, she is strong willed.
She screams again, her back arching as she almost falls off the altar, but i hold her in place, keeping her in view of the moon.
“I c-can't d-do this-s.” She cries between the bursts of pain.
“You can, you are stronger than the pain.” I tell her, softly stroking her damp hair. “Take deep breaths, let the pain in, it will be faster that way.”
She looks at me with a stare so angry, I'd be dead if she could move, but i don’t flinch away, i don’t move an inch, i just stroke her sweat soaked hair out of her face and smile.
She needs me right now, she doesn’t know how to cope with the pain, but i do, i have been through this very moment myself.
Mae throws her head back and cries out, “Make it stop!”
Luthor is stood beside me, his face tense with worry, he doesn’t think she’ll make it. But she will, i know that she will. She just needs some encouragement.
“Breathe Mae.” I say, shaking her a little, “Just fucking breathe. Let it in.”
“I don’t want to be a Nati!” She snaps, growling at me fiercely.
“you have no choice.” I say, trying not to rise to her anger. “You can either let it in, or die. Those are the only choices.”
She cries, tears sliding down her cheeks, but i see the moment she decides to let it all in, i see her hair thicken, her eyes darken, and her skin tone grow lighter.
She has done it. She has survived.
“There you go.” i say, smiling down at her, “you did it.”
Mae pants, trying her best to catch her breath, “I did it?” she asks, her eyes wide.
I nod, my smile growing wider, i knew she could do it. I always had faith in her.
She proved me right, she proved that she is strong enough for this life. Even if she doesn’t believe herself to be.
Luthor steps forward, planting a kiss on her wet forehead. “You did it, my daughter, you have made it through the hardest day you will ever face.”
He almost sounds proud of her, but I know that he is only here for his reputation. Luther barely cared for any of his children beyond money and status. He wants them all to succeed him in many ways, but he doesn’t know how to love them. He never has.
I can see that he is trying, it is clear that he wants a relationship with Mae, even if he doesn’t say it out loud.
But she should be careful, I don’t want to her to get hurt again, she might be rough around the edges, but she had a big heart, and she loves with everything she has.
Mae smiles at us both, but then her eyes grow darker, and her hands fly to her throat, “it burns, why does it burn?”
Luther turns to me, and I turn to him, both of us exchanging the look of concern. But we know what the burning is, it is familiar, as familiar as the feeling of a heartbeat.
She wants blood, and she needs it if she has any hope of surviving the night. But will she drink it? It cannot be from us, it has to be human floor or the pain will not fade.
“Mae.” I say. “You need to listen to me very carefully.” I lean forward, “you need to drink human blood, the transformation isn’t over until you drain a human.”
She shakes her head, her eyes wide with panic, “I can’t.” She cries, “I can’t do that.”
“You have no choice.” Luther says coldly, “it is either drink or die.” He turns to one of the guards, “bring the human.”
Mae looks at me, pleading me to help her with her eyes, but there is nothing I can do, her father is right. She either drinks from the human, or she dies.
“You don’t have to kill them.” I tell her, trying to make her less frightened. “You just have to take enough blood from them to sustain you.”
She nods, once, fast, and terrified. “Ok.”
A young woman with blonde hair and blue eyes is brought into the room, her smile wide. She thinks we will turn her if she does this. But Luther doesn’t take kindly to turned vampires. He calls them vermin.
When Mae is finished, the woman’s memory will be wiped, and she will be returned back to her human life with no knowledge of what happened.
She walks straight up to Mae and hands her wrist over, still smiling, “it’s ok.” She tells her. “I want this as much as you need it.”
Mae looks reluctant, but as the seconds pass, her fangs descend and she takes a long breath in through her nose, finally ready to take the last step.
Mae leans forward, snatching the woman’s wrist and bringing it to her lips, biting down as hard as she can. She can’t stop it. The bloodlust had come.
And for some, it never leaves.
She is Nati now, and she is mine.