Chapter 68: A Hunter's Pursuit

Jacob's white teeth gleamed in the night, a mocking smile playing across his lips. So the boys thought it was amusing to deceive the people who loved and trusted them. His molten-gold eyes pierced through the darkness with ease, observing the young mortals as they stumbled deeper into the woods. Their carefree attitude felt almost offensive, a reminder of how fragile and fleeting human life could be. His mind, however, kept drifting back to Zande, his lifemate. The very thought of her filled him with a deep, unrelenting need. Every vampire knew how rare and precious the connection with a lifemate was, especially in these dark times. Their dwindling numbers, decimated by centuries of vampire and witch hunts, left little hope for future generations. The Holy Wars, the Turk invasion, and countless other brutalities had almost extinguished their kind. And if that wasn’t enough, the few remaining vampire women hadn’t given birth to female children in years. Without them, their race was slo