MasukMAKENA “She’s right,” Don interjected, and I looked at Val, already recognizing that familiar look in his eyes… the one he always had when he was about to say no. So I replied before he could, saying we would go. He looked at me, fully aware of what I had just done. I didn’t want to put Leonora and the others in danger either, but she was right. We needed a place to rest and regroup. And he was talking crazy right now. How the hell would he go after Ren and Akira? With no other choice, Val agreed. We then headed to the boat and thanked Don for everything. His lack of anger was what surprised me the most. He didn’t blame us for what happened… for the deaths of his friends, and I couldn’t stop myself from asking him why. He said Andreas was their leader, like an older brother to all of them, and if he had given his life for us, who were they to question that? I shed a few quiet tears at that. Andreas was truly one of a kind. We would never see anyone like him again. We drove back t
MAKENA Kian let out a feral growl and lunged at us, his eyes filled with rage, and Leonora screamed, scrambling to her feet in terror. But he never reached us. There was a sharp and fast gust that felt like the room blinked before a whimper broke the silence, followed by a thud that echoed off the walls as Kian's body crashed to the far side of the room, skidding and slamming hard against the wall. He lay there groaning, and my heart slammed into my ribs. Val now stood in front of me, like he’d barely exerted himself, and I hadn’t even seen him move. "Are you all right?" he asked, turning just enough to look back at me, his voice calm but his eyes still glowing with restrained power. Kian growled, slowly pushing himself up, visibly dazed, and I nodded, still staring at him. “Please don’t hurt him, Val. Please,” Leonora said softly, shocking both of us. How did she know his name? “Stop this, Kian. Your father knew who he was… what he was. He knew the truth, but chose to prote
MAKENA There was no time to regroup, and my eyes fixed on Leonora, but a brown wolf lunged at me from the left, snarling with blood-soaked teeth. I turned, bracing for impact, but another slammed into me from behind, blindsiding me. Its claws tore through the flesh of my back, ripping the air from my lungs as I fell to the ground, screaming. But it was yanked away before it could sink its canines into my neck. I rolled onto my back, pain coursing through my spine, and looked up to see one of Don's men reach out a hand to pull me up, but his eyes widened just as I accepted it and began to stand. "Get down!" I hit the floor, and the air above me shattered as Ren crashed through the wall, stone and dust exploding around him before he landed exactly where I had been lying seconds before, with Val right behind him. Val landed hard on top of Ren, his claws already buried in Ren's chest, and Ren let out an agonized groan, attempting to twist away, blood gushing from his mouth.
MAKENA “Akira?” My voice broke, a thousand emotions colliding: shock, confusion, and disgust as I remembered our last interaction. But before I could take another step or speak, he tilted his head, his eyes gleaming with cold, cruel intent. “Hello, love." There was mockery in his voice. “Miss me?” Then his gaze moved to Val, and everything changed. Disgust distorted his features, and his lips curled. "Is this it?" he scoffed. “Is this the filth you left me for?” He took a step forward, his shoulders squaring, contempt coursing through him like poison as his eyes gleamed. "A fucking strigoi," he hissed venomously. “A bloodsucking, leeching piece of shit!” Val didn’t move, but his eyes stayed locked on Akira, and it was then that I also registered the shock in Don’s eyes. But I couldn’t dwell on it, feeling Val's icy aura rippling just beneath the surface. Akira kept going. "You chose a disgusting, undead parasite that reeks of rot?" He shifted his gaze away from Val and bac
MAKENA I couldn't believe this was happening again. We had just stopped looking over our shoulders. We had begun to breathe again, smile, and sleep. We had started to believe that this was it, that we had finally found our sanctuary. And now this. Guilt lit up my chest, twisting with fear as I remembered how we had never been honest with the Adamis. They were hurt or worse, without knowing the truth about Val and why we were fugitives. Val and I had discussed coming clean. It ate away at us, knowing they’d been nothing but kind while we lied to their faces. But we were afraid that what he was would scare them. We were afraid it would ruin everything, and we didn’t want to run again. We were lucky to find this place… lucky that they took us in and kept us from sleeping on the streets. And we had no idea what would happen if we had to flee again or what the next city would bring. So, even though it tore us apart inside, we remained silent. Familiar sights snapped me out of my
MAKENA Lifted, I opened my eyes and saw Val grinning down at me, and realized I had dozed off. I was cleaning up after dinner when I suddenly became tired and decided to sit for a moment, during which I believe I fell asleep. It had been a week since Val and I moved into our new apartment, and we had never been happier. Things were still going well at work, and he was on the night shift this week, so I frowned, wondering why he was home. He said they ran out of the parts he needed, so his manager told him they would arrive in the morning and gave him the option of going home for the night, which Val accepted. "Well, I am not complaining. I’m never looking forward to spending the night alone,” I said, to which he leaned in and kissed me. I told him Kian came around after he left, and I had spent the majority of the evening with him. The Adamises came to visit us frequently. Kian practically lived with us; he had more clothes here than at home. Last Sunday, we ate dinner at the







