Lucien
The forest was alive with the scent of pine and blood, but all he could feel was her. Nyra thrashed in his grip, her shadows lashing out like wild things, clawing at his arms as he hauled her back through the trees. Her stolen sword lay discarded where he'd knocked it from her hand, and her curses filled the air.
"Let me go, you bastard!" she snapped, twisting against him and yanking back with all her strength. Her nails raked across his wrist, shallow cuts that stung like they were meant to insult, more than wound.
"So what's the plan, Lucy?" she continued. "Drag me back to your dungeon for another round of torture? Or are you just gonna dangle me for the vampires as bait like you planned?"
He dragged her harder, forcing her steps to match his. "What made you think you could just slip from my keep and vanish into the night?"
"Funny, I don't remember needing your permission." she said then jerked, nearly ripping free. He growled then shoved her against a pine so hard, the bark cracked on impact. He stepped close, pinning her there, until their faces were only inches apart.
Her green eyes blazed, daring him to do something. The mate bond roared in his chest, urging him to close the distance between them even more, and he hated it– hated her for making him feel this way. And most of all, he hated himself for not being able to walk away. He leaned in until they were barely a hair's breath apart, to the point she was breathing in his air and he was
breathing in hers.
"How the hell did you get out?" he demanded, his voice a low growl. "Who
helped you?"
Her lips curved into that mocking grin he'd come to loathe. "Well, wouldn't you like to know? Maybe I just batted my lashes at the guards, and they handed me the keys. Jealous, Lucy?"
He pressed closer, his body a wall against hers, the heat of her seeping through his skin. "Don't play games with me, half-breed. You're not as clever as you think."
"Oh, I'm plenty clever," she shot back, tilting her chin up, her lips so close he could almost taste them again. "Clever enough to slip your precious keep. Clever enough to know you're not just mad I ran– you're mad because you care that I did."
His wolf whined, clawing at his control, and for a moment, he couldn't move, couldn't think past the memory of last night. That kiss was reckless, desperate, and a mistake he couldn't undo. Her lips had been fire, her hands pulling him closer, and he'd hated how much he'd wanted it. Wanted her. Even now, pinned against this tree, she was a storm he couldn't tame, and the bond wouldn't let him forget it.
She noticed his hesitation and laughed. "So what's the plan now, Lucy? Slam me against every tree in the forest until I break? Or..." her eyes trailed leisurely to his mouth, "...maybe kiss me again and vanish like
the coward you are."
"That," he growled, his hand tightening on her wrist. " was a mistake. One I won't be repeating."
She laughed, soft and mocking. "Sure, keep telling yourself that. But your wolf's not buying it, and neither am I. That bond's got you all twisted up, doesn't it? Poor Alpha, stuck with a hybrid he can't kill or keep."
"Shut up," he snarled, leaning in closer, his forehead nearly touching hers. Her scent was everywhere, drowning out the forest, and his wolf howled, begging him to close the distance. He could feel her breath, the slight tremble in it, and for a second, he wanted nothing more than to give in, to taste her again, to–
A rustle broke the spell, sharp and sudden. They both froze, heads snapping toward the sound. Fangs glinted in the moonlight, and a low hiss cut through the air. Rogues. At least twenty, slinking out from the darkness, their eyes glowing with hunger.
"Great," Nyra muttered, her shadows flaring around her. "Your party guests suck, Lucy."
"Stay behind me," he ordered, releasing her and drawing his blade.
Nyra snorted. "You're hilarious."
The first rogue lunged, he met him halfway, claws raking through his throat in a spray of black blood. Another came from the left and he spun, drove his elbow into his jaw, and snapped his neck with a savage twist. More shadows poured in, circling and cutting them off from every direction.
The wolf inside him clawed at his ribs, demanding release, and he let it rise, calling on an additional wolf to join the fight.
Power surged through him as the echo of an ancestral wolf answered, the ancient strength burning through his veins. With his two wolves in hand, the vampires lunged, and the night exploded into chaos.
Steel met flesh, fangs flashed, and blood sprayed across the forest floor. He moved with brutal precision, slashing through one rogue, then another, the ancestral wolf's power making his strikes lethal. Their bodies fell, torn and lifeless, but more came, faster than he expected. His blade caught a third in
the throat, but a fourth darted past, aiming for Nyra. He spun, ready to intercept, and that's when he saw her slip away, her shadows cloaking her as she bolted into the trees.
"Nyra!" he roared, his focus splintering. The bond tugged, sharp and painful, urging him to follow. That split second of distraction cost him– a rogue struck from behind, claws raking his shoulder, sending him stumbling
back. Pain flared through his body as his vision blurred, and the remaining vampires closed in, surrounding him and attacking all at once. Their hisses filled the air, and he swung wildly, cutting down another, but they were too many, too fast.
Through the chaos, he caught sight of Nyra again, just as her head whipped back, her eyes finding him through the tangle of bodies.
"Go!" he shouted shoving a rogue back, only to take another strike across his jaw. "Run, damn you!"
But then he heard footsteps, fast and reckless, coming closer. He looked up
to find Nyra running – no charging – towards him, faster than he'd ever seen anyone move before. He knew immediately that she was using vampire speed.
"What the hell are you doing?" he growled, slashing at another vampire. He felt her wolf whine in the bond, as she sprinted back towards the fray.
"No!" he roared.
Above her, a jet black raven wheeled, its wings beating frantically, diving toward Nyra as if trying to push her away. The rogues pressed closer, their claws tearing at him, and he stumbled, blood soaking his shirt.
Nyra burst through the trees, her eyes blazing with rage. Her shadows surged first, coiling out from underneath her like smoke with teeth. Her eyes bled light, wolf and vampire both roaring to life in one impossible surge. Her speed cracked the air as she slammed into the rogues, shadows wrapping, tearing, crushing.
He froze for half a second in awe and horror as she moved through them like a storm. Claws met shadows and lost. Steel scraped across her skin and her body healed before the blood could spill. Her wolf's snarl shook the air, fangs glinting, strength multiplied beyond what was supposedly even possible.
She was everything they feared. Everything he feared. The hybrid in its full form.
She ripped one rogue apart with her bare hands, shadows snapping his bones like twigs. Another lunged and she caught him midair, spun, then drove him into the ground, her shadows lancing through his chest.
He staggered back, gasping, half kneeling as he tried to hold on to what strength he had left even as his vision began to blur.
One of the rogues tried to run but stumbled, as shadows dragged him down by his feet. Nyra pinned him, her face a mask of rage as she rose her paw to deliver the final blow.
"Adrian," he croaked through blood stained lips. "Adrian… is coming."
Then his throat snapped under her shadows.
And silence fell.
Nyra turned, her chest heaving, shadows dripping off her like oil. For a moment, she looked less like a girl and more like the nightmare whispered about in war councils. The hybrid. The monster. The last mistake.
But then her gaze found him, and something in her face shifted.
She ran to him, dropped to her knees at his side. Her hands, bloodstained and trembling, pressed against his shoulder where the wound burned deepest.
"Come along, Lucy," she murmured, barely above a whisper. "Let's get you
home."
With that, her face was the last thing he saw before the world went black.