Raina's POV
A cold chill ran up my spine, choking the breath from my lungs. The vampire stood unnervingly still, his gaze locked onto mine with an intensity that sent my instincts screaming. Every muscle in my body tensed, but I couldn't move, fear rooting me in place.
Mel.
The name curled around me like a whispered curse. I didn't know any Mel. At least, I didn't think I did. But the way he said it—like it was a name that belonged to me—sent a ripple of unease through me.
I forced myself to speak, drawing in a shaky breath. “You've got the wrong person.”
His lips curled, his fangs gleaming under the pale morning light. “No, I don't.”
My pulse thundered in my ears, my mind racing through options. Run? Scream? Attack? None of them seemed wise against a creature that had already proven it could kill. And from last night's research, I was outmatched in strength and speed. I didn't stand a chance.
“What do you want?” I asked, stalling for time.
The vampire titled his head slightly, his blackened veins pulsing as if something dark and unnatural ran beneath his skin. “So the rumors are true?” he murmured, almost to himself, disappointment flickering in his tone.
My chest tightened. “What rumours?”
“Hmm. Was that the price? Losing your memories?”
I gritted my teeth, irritation replacing fear. I hated feeling lost, like I was being played with.
“What the hell are you tal—”
Before I could finish, the vampire moved. My mouth opened to scream, thinking he was about to sink his fangs into me. But the sound caught in my throat as his lips—cold and soft—connected with mine.
I froze, my body suddenly reacting on sheer will. My hands tangled in his hair as I pulled him closer, letting my tongue roam freely in his mouth. The taste of iron lingered, sending a jolt through me.
The vampire abruptly pulled back, pushing me away with a bewildered look. “Something is wrong,” he stated, eyeing me intently.
I barely heard him. My mind was hazy, body aching to close the distance between us again. I moved toward him, but he took a step back.
“What did you do, Mel?”
Before I could answer, a voice called behind me. “Raina, is that you?”
I turned to find my co-worker, James, standing at the entrance with a garbage bag in hand, adjusting his glasses. “Who are you talking to?”
Remembering the vampire, I glanced back—but he was gone. Only a gust of wind remained, whipping my hair into my face.
“What the hell just happened?” I muttered, the burning need fading into an unsettling cringe.
James walked up to me, scanning the lot. “Raina, are you okay? I swear I saw you talking to someone.
“No,” I lied. “Just thinking.”
“Hmm.” He didn’t look convinced. “Well, better head inside. The manager’s been asking for you. I think you might be in trouble this time.”
“Great.”
I quickly closed my gas tank, throwing one last glance over my shoulder before heading inside.
“That's three times this week, Raina.” Frank frowned, leaning back in his chair.
“I can explain. My bike—”
“You told me you had it fixed two days ago.”
I paused, coming up with another excuse. “I did. But haven’t you heard? One of our honorary customers, Miss Agnes, went missing. Since I was the last person to see her, the police had questions.”
Frank scrutinized me. “Always an excuse with you.”
“Hey, it's not my fault things keep happening.”
He shot me a look, shutting me up. I avoided his gaze, focusing on anything but him.
“Fine. You can leave,” he sighed. “But one more strike, and that's it.”
I paused mid-stand. “You'd really fire me?”
“If you’re late again.” He returned to his paperwork, dismissing me.
“Wow.”
I walked out, heading for the dispatch room. The place was already bustling.
“Look, everyone, the boss has arrived,” Ava called, glancing at her empty wrist. “Over two hours late to give us our orders.”
I rolled my eyes. “Maybe if you saved up for a watch, you wouldn’t have to fake-check the time.”
Laughter rippled through the room, making Ava fume. I blew her a kiss, grabbed my list, and left. Somehow, she had it in her head that Frank and I had a thing. If she’d just talk to me instead of acting like a child, she’d know I wanted nothing to do with him. I wasn’t one to date my boss.
I picked up my packages. The first delivery was to some teenagers, which meant no tip. Great.
After that, I avoided a fight with two other rude customers before returning for my last package. On my way out again, I bumped into Ava. She smirked, brushing me on the shoulder as she walked past.
Suspicion gnawed at me, but I had bigger things to worry about. Like whether the vampire would still show up after our weird encounter this morning.
I secured my package, hopped onto my bike, and took off. Today's traffic was heavy, but I weaved through, glancing at my watch. I wasn’t behind schedule yet.
I pulled up to a bungalow, a German shepherd chained to the porch, It barked but wagged its tail.
“Hey, Max. Want some treats?” I tossed him a bone from my pocket. He devoured it without hesitation. “Good boy.” I scratched behind his ear, then rang the doorbell.
After delivering the package—and receiving a generous tip—I climbed back onto my bike. Loosening my ponytail, I let my hair flow in the night breeze.
The bridge road was open. No speed limits.
I set a timer, smirking as I took off. The wind rushed past, hair whipping behind me, my cap keeping it in place.
“Whoo!” I shouted into the wind, letting go of the handle bars for a split second.
This was the best part of my job.
I laughed to myself, raising my face to feel the wind in it.
Then I heard it.
A horn. Blaring.
No headlights. No sign of where it was coming from.
I hit the brakes—nothing.
I tried again. But it didn’t work.
My heart lurched. “Damn you, Ava!”
The truck came into view, barreling toward me. The driver was distracted, arguing with his pregnant wife.
“Hey!” I waved frantically.
Too late.
I swerved, crashing into the bridge’s side. The impact flung me over the edge.
A scream barely escaped my lips before the river swallowed me whole.
I couldn’t swim.
Lower and lower, I sank, swallowing mouthfuls as I struggled.
The water stung my eyes. My lungs burned.
Then—something fell from the sky.
A splash.
I reached out, fingers brushing against something solid. My vision blurred, but I recognized the eerie, empty void of nothingness staring back at me.
I blinked, trying to hold onto him, just as the last of my air escaped. My grip faltered, and I slipped away, drifting into the comforting embrace of darkness.
Raina’s POVThe first thing I felt was cold metal against my wrists.The second was the pressure in my chest when I tried to move and realized I couldn’t.My eyes snapped open. A harsh light buzzed above me, bleaching everything in pale white. The ceiling was cracked concrete. Pipes ran across it like veins. My arms were strapped to the sides of a narrow bed, leather biting into my skin.Panic flared hot and immediate. I jerked against the restraints, but they didn’t budge.“Let me go,” I croaked, my voice raw.A shadow moved at the edge of the light. A woman stepped forward, her dark hair tied back, her glasses sliding down her nose. My stomach twisted.Dr. Velma.The sight of her sent a chill through me, bile burning the back of my throat. The woman who had murdered my uncle. The woman we’d forced into humanity, only for Ian to steal her back.I glared at her, my voice hoarse. “You…”She flinched but didn’t speak. Her eyes darted anywhere but mine, as if she couldn’t stand the weigh
Liam’s POVI should have been happy.The woman I had loved more than anyone else wasn’t dead after all. Mel had been here all along—alive, breathing, standing in front of me under another name. I should have felt relief, gratitude, joy.But what I felt instead was anger.Because if Raina was Mel, then every word she’d spoken, every look she’d given me, had been a lie—and I’d been right all along. I’d felt the similarities, but she let me believe I was crazy.She let me believe she was someone else, someone untouched by the sins of my past. She let me fall for her all over again, knowing the truth would cut me open. And when I asked her about Mel, when I begged to know what had happened to the woman who made me, she told me Ian killed her. She let me grieve a ghost when she was standing right there in front of me.And now I knew the worst part: Mel hadn’t just left me for a human. She’d abandoned vampirism altogether, choosing mortality over me.The betrayal burned deeper than any woun
Raina’s POV“Liam—”My voice broke before I even finished his name. He wouldn’t look at me. His piercing silver eyes were locked on the floor, his jaw clenched so hard I thought he might shatter his own teeth.“Don’t,” he bit out. The single word cut sharper than any blade.I stepped forward anyway, my hand half-reaching for him. “Please, just listen. I was going to tell you. I just—”“You were going to tell me?” His voice rose, raw, accusing. His head snapped up, eyes burning. “When? After I cried my eyes out for you? After I swore to fight every last one of them to protect you?” His arm flung wide at the wolves, the hybrids, Ian watching with smug delight. “Or maybe after you drain everyone of us to keep yourself alive?”“That wasn’t—” My throat ached. “I wasn’t ready. I thought now wasn't the right time. I’m not the Mel you knew. I’m me now. I’m Raina. I didn’t want you to see me as her—”“You are her,” he shouted, stepping closer, his fury radiating. “You’re Mel, and you let me be
Liam’s POVThe air darkened when Ian lifted his hand. Shadows peeled from the walls like living things, twisting into shapes that crawled across the cracked platform. The wolves braced, growls echoing, but the darkness only pooled at Ian’s feet, waiting for his command.He didn’t strike. Not yet. He only smiled, as though the entire room belonged to him already.Then he stepped forward, his shoes echoing against the concrete, every move deliberate. The hybrids flanked him, silent, waiting. His smile was calm, too calm, and it froze the wolves around me in wary stillness.“You make me the villain,” he began, voice smooth, carrying easily through the subway. “You whisper about me in your camps, you tell stories of the monster who bled this city dry. But the truth? The truth is far less poetic. I am not your enemy. I am your salvation.”The wolves growled at that, low and unified, but Ian only lifted his hand, silencing them with the arrogance of someone who believed himself untouchable.
Raina’s POVThe waiting seemed like the hardest part.Wolves murmured to each other, weapons being checked, and strapped tighter their bodies. Zade was sharpening a blade for the third time. Judy leaned against the wall, flipping her dagger like she was bored.The Alpha stood near the broken fountain, arms crossed, eyes on the horizon where the sun was sinking. Dorian was close to him, speaking low until finally the Alpha raised his voice so the rest of us could hear.“Ian is not in his mansion. My scouts checked every corner. Empty. No movement for days.”I frowned. “So he’s hiding somewhere else in the city?”“Or waiting,” the Alpha said flatly. “He wants us to search. He wants us to walk into him on his terms.”Liam folded his arms, his jaw tight. “Then we don’t search blind. He’ll go where there’s blood. Where there are survivors to feed on.”“Not many survivors left,” one of the wolves muttered.“Enough for bait,” Judy said. “He knows what he’s doing.”The Alpha’s jaw tightened.
Liam’s POVDawn came, but it brought no peace.We had taken shelter in what was left of an old barn, its roof half-caved, its walls leaning like they would fall with a strong wind. The wolves had chosen it for cover, but no one closed their eyes. The smell of blood still clung to us, iron and smoke lodged in our throats, and every creak of the boards overhead kept nerves taut.No one spoke much at first. Zade paced in the corner, muttering curses under his breath. Judy leaned against the wall, dagger still in her hand, spinning it idly as if daring anyone to interrupt her. Raina sat with Ysra, holding her steady, whispering things I didn't bother hearing.I stayed near the fire pit in the center, the embers throwing out weak light. My mind replayed the night over and over: Silas’s roar, Tiana’s smirk, the hybrids tearing through the camp. Too many wolves had not made it out. Those who had were slumped in corners now, eyes hollow, waiting for orders that had not yet come.Finally, Zade