CHAPTER 23: THE BLOOD AWAKENS

CHAPTER 23: THE BLOOD AWAKENS

AMBER'S POV

The moment the words left Steele's mouth, the entire room went silent.

Not peaceful silence.

The kind of silence that came before bloodshed.

I stood behind him, staring at the unfamiliar figures gathered beyond the large windows of his house. They had appeared without warning, surrounding the property as if they had been waiting for the right moment to reveal themselves.

Black Shadow.

The name alone carried enough weight to make Stan stop smiling.

Raven's fingers curled slowly into fists.

And Steele...

Steele looked terrifyingly calm.

I had seen him angry before. I had seen his eyes turn gold, watched him tear through supernatural creatures with strength no human could ever possess.

But this was different.

This wasn't anger.

It was restraint.

"How many?" Raven asked quietly.

"Enough," Steele answered.

I swallowed.

"Who are they?"

No one answered immediately.

Then Stan glanced at me.

His usual playful expression was gone.

"Those are vampires."

I looked toward the windows again.

Vampires.

After werewolves, shapeshifters, and everything else I had discovered in the past few weeks, I shouldn't have been surprised anymore.

But I was.

Because these weren't random creatures.

They had come for me.

"Why are they here?"

Steele finally turned toward me.

His eyes softened for only a fraction of a second.

"They know about you."

My stomach tightened.

"About me?"

"About Anna."

I shook my head.

"She isn't me."

"I know."

"Then why are they here?"

Before Steele could answer, a loud crash came from outside.

The windows shook.

Raven immediately moved toward the door.

"Don't."

Steele's voice stopped her.

Everyone looked at him.

He walked toward the center of the room, his gaze fixed on the darkness outside.

"They're testing us."

"Testing what?" I asked.

"The strength of the house."

A second crash echoed through the property.

This time, I felt something beneath my skin.

A burning sensation.

I instinctively grabbed my neck.

The strange mark left by the vampire in El Víamonte Residence had begun to burn again.

"Amber?"

Steele noticed.

I pulled my collar down slightly.

The ancient-looking mark had changed.

It wasn't merely a scar anymore.

Thin lines seemed to spread outward from its center, forming a pattern I couldn't understand.

"What the hell is happening to me?"

Steele approached immediately.

He took my wrist and examined the mark.

His expression changed.

For the first time since I had met him, genuine fear appeared in his eyes.

"What?"

"Where did this come from?"

"The vampire."

Steele's jaw tightened.

"He marked you."

"Marked me for what?"

He didn't answer.

"Steele."

He looked at me.

"That isn't a normal vampire mark."

My heartbeat accelerated.

"Then what is it?"

"A blood mark."

Stan stepped closer.

His face had become unusually serious.

"That's impossible."

Steele looked at him.

"You've seen it before."

"Not in centuries."

Raven's eyes narrowed.

"What does it mean?"

Stan stared at the mark.

"It means they didn't come here to kill her."

A chill ran through me.

"Then what do they want?"

Stan slowly looked at me.

"They want what's inside her."

I stared at him.

"What exactly is inside me?"

Nobody answered.

And that silence frightened me more than any monster ever could.

A sudden howl echoed outside.

It wasn't human.

It wasn't entirely wolf either.

Steele immediately stepped in front of me.

"Stay behind me."

I almost laughed despite the situation.

"You really think I'm going to stand here while everyone else fights?"

"Yes."

"I'm a detective."

"And you're human."

"I've survived worse."

"Not this."

His voice was firm enough to make me stop.

Then I heard something scratching against the window.

Slowly.

Three long scratches.

Just like the ones I had found on the broken chair at Mansfield.

My blood ran cold.

"The same marks..."

Steele followed my gaze.

His eyes turned gold.

"They're here."

The glass shattered.

A dark figure flew through the window.

Steele moved faster than my eyes could follow.

He grabbed the creature by the throat before it could reach me and slammed it against the wall.

A low growl escaped his throat.

The vampire smiled.

"Still protecting her."

Steele's grip tightened.

"Leave."

The vampire laughed.

"You know we can't do that."

Another figure entered through the broken window.

Then another.

Raven shifted immediately.

Stan's eyes turned crimson.

And Steele's entire body changed.

Silver-gray fur covered his skin as his bones shifted. Within seconds, the man I knew was gone, replaced by the enormous wolf I had seen at the villa.

The creature that had once terrified me now stood between me and death.

But this time, I wasn't afraid of him.

I was afraid for him.

The fight erupted.

I stepped backward as vampires and wolves collided across the room.

The sounds were brutal.

Growls.

Crashes.

The breaking of furniture.

I searched for something I could use as a weapon, but before I could reach the table, one vampire appeared directly in front of me.

His eyes were black.

His smile was cruel.

"Finally."

I froze.

"You."

He reached for my neck.

Before his fingers touched me, the mark on my skin suddenly burned.

A burst of energy exploded from my body.

The vampire was thrown across the room.

I stared at my hands.

"What..."

Steele stopped fighting.

His golden eyes locked onto me.

The vampire slowly stood.

His expression had changed.

He wasn't smiling anymore.

"She's awakening."

Steele's face hardened.

"Get away from her."

The vampire looked at him.

"Too late, Alpha."

He smiled.

"She has already awakened."

Then he disappeared.

I looked around.

The other vampires were gone too.

The house was destroyed, furniture scattered everywhere, windows shattered and pieces of glass covering the floor.

But no one moved.

Everyone was staring at me.

"What just happened?"

Steele shifted back into human form.

He walked toward me.

"You're not ready to know everything."

I laughed bitterly.

"That's getting really annoying."

"Amber."

"No. You don't get to do that anymore."

I stepped toward him.

"Every time something happens, you tell me I'm not ready. Every time I discover something, you hide another piece from me."

His expression remained serious.

"You have to trust me."

"I did."

I pointed toward my neck.

"And look where that got me."

He stared at the mark.

Then he reached for my hand.

I didn't pull away.

His fingers closed around mine.

"I will protect you."

"I don't need someone to keep protecting me."

"I know."

He looked directly into my eyes.

"But I'm going to do it anyway."

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

Then Stan broke the silence.

"Well, this is getting interesting."

Raven rolled her eyes.

"Not now, Stan."

"I think now is exactly the right time."

He looked at me.

"Detective, you really should ask your favorite Alpha what happened twenty-two years ago."

My brows furrowed.

"What do you mean?"

Stan's smile disappeared.

"Because the people who attacked that plane weren't just looking for Anna."

Steele immediately turned toward him.

"Stop."

Stan ignored him.

"They were looking for the same blood that's awakening inside you."

My entire body went cold.

Steele's expression darkened.

"Stan."

"What?" Stan shrugged. "She deserves to know."

I looked between them.

"What blood?"

No answer.

I tightened my grip on Steele's hand.

"What blood?"

Finally, Steele spoke.

"The First Wolf."

My heart stopped for a second.

"What is that?"

He stared at me with an expression I couldn't understand.

"Something that should have died centuries ago."

"And I have it?"

His silence answered me.

I slowly shook my head.

"No."

"Amber—"

"No."

I stepped backward.

"You told me Anna wasn't me."

"She isn't."

"Then why do I have her blood?"

Steele's eyes softened.

"Because blood doesn't always follow the rules you think it does."

I felt the mark burning again.

This time, the pain was stronger.

I grabbed my neck and fell to my knees.

"Amber!"

Steele caught me before I hit the floor.

His arms wrapped around me.

The moment his skin touched mine, the burning stopped.

I looked up at him.

He was staring at me like he had just realized something terrible.

"What?"

He didn't answer.

"Steele, what is it?"

His eyes shifted toward the broken window.

"The vampire wasn't trying to kill you."

"Then what was he doing?"

His arms tightened around me.

"He was waking something up."

My breath caught.

"And what happens when it wakes up?"

Steele looked back at me.

For the first time, the man who never seemed afraid looked genuinely terrified.

"It chooses."

"Chooses what?"

He lowered his voice.

"Whether you remain human..."

He paused.

"...or become something else."

STEELE'S POV

I had spent centuries believing the First Wolf blood was gone.

Every record had been destroyed.

Every descendant had disappeared.

Every trace had vanished.

Until Amber.

She had Anna's face.

Now she carried Anna's blood.

But there was one thing I still couldn't understand.

Why had the blood awakened now?

And why had Black Shadow found her?

I looked at Amber sleeping on the couch after the pain finally subsided.

Stan stood beside the doorway, unusually quiet.

"You knew," I said.

He looked at me.

"I suspected."

"You should have told me."

"You wouldn't have believed me."

I glared at him.

He sighed.

"Steele, think about it. The plane incident wasn't random. The shapeshifters weren't killing people for nothing. They were searching for something."

"The First Wolf."

"Exactly."

Raven crossed her arms.

"And now the vampires know she carries it."

I looked at Amber again.

The woman who had once been nothing more than a stubborn human detective had become the center of a war that had existed long before she was born.

And the worst part?

She still didn't know how deep it went.

Stan smiled faintly.

"Your little detective just became the most dangerous person in this world."

I looked at him coldly.

"She's human."

"No, brother."

His eyes shifted toward Amber.

"That's exactly what we're afraid of."

Outside, somewhere beyond the darkness, a howl echoed through the forest.

I stood immediately.

It wasn't ours.

It was a warning.

Someone was watching the house.

And judging by the scent carried by the wind...

it wasn't Black Shadow.

Someone else had arrived.

Someone who smelled strangely familiar.

Someone who had been missing for twenty-two years.

Anna.

Or whoever had survived the night of Flight XX07.

And this time, they weren't hiding anymore.