CHAPTER 1

[FIVE YEARS AGO]

DIANA'S POV

"Don’t neutralize her just yet,” my husband, Eric Heart, says to a group of scientists surrounding him, his voice calm but laced with obsession.

“I need to be certain she’s the one.”

I watch them through hazy eyes, trying to stop the tears threatening to rush down my cheeks.

I should have known from the start that Eric had never truly loved me…just like everyone else. I was too overwhelmed by the idea that someone might care for me, despite all the rumors, despite my abnormalities. I had believed he loved me, but I was wrong.

We've been married for only two years, and now he's showing his true side. It’s still better than my parents, who had shown their hatred for me since I tried eating my way out of my mother’s womb.

Eric turns toward me. When he sees I'm conscious, he smirks, not like the man who once pretended to love me, but like a psychopath obsessed with proving his twisted theory that supernatural creatures walk among us.

“You’re awake, my love,” he says groggily, walking toward me, his boots clicking against the marble floor.

My heart races as he approaches. Normally, I would have done anything for him to be near me, but now his presence unsettles me.

For the past week, he’s revealed the monster he truly is.

“Don’t you dare touch me,” I mumble when he attempts to cup my cheek.

He stops, slides his fingers into his pocket, and lets out a cold, bitter laugh. “Oh, Diana, my love. But you’ll do anything to have me touch you.”

I look away, pressing my trembling lips together. Since we got married, he was rarely around. Either traveling for months out of New York or disappearing all day for work.

When I first discovered what Eric was... I was terrified. My only friend at the rehabilitation center, Catherine, had warned me to stay away from him. She said I wasn’t normal and men like him liked not-normal, but not in a good way.

I wanted to believe I was normal—I am normal. I didn’t want to believe I was a monster. That’s why I stayed with Eric. Maybe I should’ve listened to Catherine.

My eyes drop to the scars on my wrist, and my heart breaks. He once kissed those scars and called them beautiful, said they were proof I had survived. Now he wants to cut me open for science.

“You know I love you, right?” he says, and my heart tightens. My hands shake, and I don’t dare look at him.

He exhales. “But I love my job more. And I’ll stop at nothing to get what I want. Out of all, Diana... you are my favorite lab rat.”

“Is that all you ever saw me as?!” I snap before I can hold myself back.

I flinch at my own outburst. The last time I snapped at him, he smashed my face against our closet. That knocked me out cold… until today.

He bursts into heavy, cynical laughter. I feel the blood drain from my face.

Then he suddenly pauses and speaks in a blood-curdling voice. “Look at me, Diana.”

My whole body trembles as I look up at him. His blue eyes are completely dark now, cold and evil. He stares with a blank expression.

He tilts his head and frowns. “Truth be told, Diana, the only reason I came to the rehab in the first place was because I heard of a six-year-old girl capable of strangling both her parents—almost to death.”

“But when I saw you, I admit... I fell in love with you. It scared me, but I did. Maybe I dreamed of a life with you, hoped you weren’t the monster I believed you were—"

“I’m not a monster!” I bark, bursting into tears.

His head snaps straight, making my heart pound. He scowls and grabs my chin, his fingernails digging into my skin.

“Well, yes you are,” he says, a smirk twitching on his lips as I cower in pain. “When you had that miscarriage a few months after our honeymoon, the doctor confirmed my suspicion. My wife is exactly what I need to get my answers. After you killed my child, all the love I had for you vanished.”

My heart races at his words. I see a flicker of pain in his eyes, and for a moment I want to tell him that I’m pregnant again, but what’s the point? He doesn’t deserve to know. I know Eric always wanted a child, and maybe he’d spare my life. But I’d rather die with my child inside me than let it have a father like Eric.

“Now, you’re going to lead me to those creatures,” he says as he backs away, smiling.

“You’re insane—absolutely insane!” I scream, hysterical.

“No, no, sweetheart. You are insane.” He laughs, his deep voice echoing around the cold lab.

If not for the cuffs on my wrists and ankles holding me to the bed, I would show Eric exactly how insane the world claims I am. I’d gouge out his eyes like I did to that boy at the rehab who called me insane. I’d... I’d... I’d...

I breathe heavily, unable to control my heartbeat anymore. I swear I can hear it thundering in my ears…along with Eric’s. I hear the rush of blood in my veins and arteries. I can even hear the distant sound of people bickering sixteen floors below. Everything fades to black and white.

Anger claws at my jaw, and all I want is to show Eric just how insane I can be.

“Yes, my love. Let it all out,” Eric laughs, looking at me with hope in his eyes… hope, instead of fear.

“I swear, I’ll kill you when I get out of here!” I growl.

“I’ve always wanted to die in your hands, my love.”

“Mr. Heart!” one of the scientists exclaims. He says something to Eric in German, and Eric’s eyes widen.

“Give me the neutralizer. Now!” Eric barks, and the scientist quickly hands him a syringe filled with pink liquid.

Anxiety tears through me. I struggle against the cuffs as hard as I can. I manage to break only the first of five before Eric injects the chemical into my neck and my energy vanishes abruptly.

“How can you do this to me?” I whisper, panting as tears roll down my temples.

He puts his fingers back in his pocket and stares at me, as if waiting for something. Then the lab plunges into absolute darkness.

Screams of agony pierce the silence, followed by a loud, inhuman growl.

“Make sure you catch it—” Eric barks like a madman before his voice cuts into a scream.

I can barely keep my eyes open, but I see something silver slashing through the dark. Before I know it, the cuffs snap off, and warm, matted fur brushes my arm. A heavy breath fans across my face. I think... I think I hear it whisper my name.

The last thing I remember before slipping into unconsciousness is being thrown out of the floor-to-ceiling window on the sixteenth floor of Eric’s organization