Forged in Blood

Reviews

• Cenigh

  Finished June 28, 2026

  Axl and Xavier are assholes and bully Ophelia at the beginning. At first, Axl enjoyed hurting her feelings and being mean to her. Xavier insecurities, especially in regard to Alexandros, run deep. Malachi is the sweet and sensitive one, and I instantly loved him from the first; I melt when he calls her sweet girl. Alexandros was a total ass as well at first. Alexandros also suspects he knows what she is, but will not even voice the possibility. Ophelia is lonely, sensitive, fearless, inquisitive, and sweet. Her emotions influence the weather. I felt so bad for Ophelia at the beginning of the book; everyone is so mean to her, except Malachi, though he initially doesn't interact with her much. Her anguish bled off the page at times. I could feel her pain; it was so visceral at times. She really should have made the others (except for Malachi grovel more for how they treated her. With their bonding, the way Axl, Xavier, and her changed things between them, after bonding, they cannot hurt her; they feel her pain (it seems even the idea of hurting her is abhorrent to them now). It was heartwarming once Ophelia found her family with the guys; she felt like she finally belonged and was loved. Also, her evolving relationship with Alexandros I really enjoyed. Each of the guys having their own pet name for her was cute I love that Ophelia found a new friend in Cadence, though I was suspicious at the beginning. But I am much more suspicious of Alexandros' brother Giorgios, him being older and not as powerful or respected by their father and also losing the woman he wanted to marry to his brother...... very sus that he is okay with all of that. A lot of questions are left unanswered in this book so on to the next. Fantastic audiobook narrations (full cast). “We’re your worst nightmare, Cupcake.” “No. Simply monitor her movements and warn others away from her. Discreetly. She’s a loner by nature. Ensure that she stays that way. Feed into her insecurities. The fewer friends she makes, the easier it will be to exert control over her should we ever need to.” Alone. Friendless. And if I have my way, that’s exactly how she’ll stay. Much easier to sneak into her dorm room and make her life a misery when she has no one else to look out for her. “We are talking about the same girl who barely flinched when she stumbled upon three vampires feeding from one of her classmates,” I remind him. “The same girl who willingly walked into this house and has more questions than Alex Trebek.” I imagine that it must be heartbreaking to get hurt by someone who cares for you. But realizing you never meant anything to a person to begin with—that has to be the worst kind of pain there is. It was stupid to come here. Stupid to think that things would be any different at Montridge and that I might find my place here. “Why won’t you leave me alone? Why can’t you all just leave me alone? I never …” She sucks in a heaving sob, and the sound feels like a blade slicing into my heart. “I’ve never hurt any of you.” Tears run down her cheeks, and she swats them away with the back of her hand. Rain pours from the sky, soaking us in seconds, but she doesn’t seem to notice. “All I want is to be left in peace. Why can’t any of you let me just … be?” How drawn I always am to her. How her essence calls to my soul like no other ever has before. She is not to come seeking you out either. She’s already too fixated on all three of you. So make it brutal. Make her hate you. They don’t deserve a single tear. So why do I feel like my heart has been torn out of my chest and trampled by a herd of rhinos, leaving a black hole in its place? A black hole of despair that threatens to pull me in and consume me every time I picture their faces. I am worthy. And one day, I will find my people. The ache in her heart feels like a hot knife slicing through my chest. It’s incomprehensible to me now that I could ever want to hurt her, and the memory of how cruel I was to her has guilt eating away at my insides. “I know I pushed you away. Partly because I enjoyed seeing you in pain, but also because it was easier to keep my oath if I pretended you were nothing.” “You made me feel like less than nothing.” There’s a tremor in her voice, and she inhales another shaky breath. “And you enjoyed that?” Her eyes are so full of pain, and I want to look away from her, but I can’t. “I’m a fucked-up guy, Ophelia. But you already knew that.” I run my nose over her jawline. “You know that, yet you want me anyway.” “You only want me because my blood is vampire catnip.” “No, princess. I wanted you before I ever tasted you. I will still want you if I never get to taste you again. I’m going to show you how much.” I may have walked into this room intending to claim her, but I ended up handing myself over at the same time. Every atom that makes up my existence belongs wholly and irrevocably to Ophelia Hart. “You’ll always be my sweet girl, Ophelia. And I’m sorry, baby. I would never hurt you⁠—” “But you did hurt me, Malachi,” I remind him. He presses his lips together and nods before drawing a deep breath. “Then let me show you how sorry I am, baby. Please.” “I would wait ten thousand lifetimes for you, sweet girl.” And I know as sure as I’ve ever known anything that I would die a thousand deaths before I let anyone hurt her. She’s mine for the rest of my life, and that’s all that matters. She flashes me a sweet smile, and my chest aches with the promise of the life we’ll have together. She came here to me—to us—for a reason. Ophelia Hart is my reason for being. “Your bond. Our bond. It’s unbreakable, Ophelia. That’s why you couldn’t stay mad at us after we bit you. Even though you had every right to after what we did. It would be impossible for one of us to live without the other.” “Agonizingly painful,” the professor says. “But not impossible.” “Another side effect of the bond.” More side effects? Just how much of my life is going to change because of this bond? “We’re incapable of harming you, Cupcake. And when you hurt, we hurt.” But now I know, without a doubt, this is what family feels like. This is what home feels like. And these boys are home to me. “We’re your family now, Ophelia,” I say, my heart splintering. “There’s nothing we don’t want to know about you. Nothing you can tell us that will make us love you any less than we do.” Her eyes snap open and she blinks rapidly. “You love me?” Xavier snorts a laugh. “Understatement,” he mutters. A life bond isn’t some chance occurrence. They happen for a reason. Only souls who were meant to be together form a life bond as strong as ours with you.” I would die for her as surely as I would take my next breath, but she has no need for such knowledge. “You can burn down this entire world if you want to, little one. So long as you stay by my side while you do it.”

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