Chapter 4

LUCIANO'S P.O.V.

The silence irked me to no end. How long had it been? Days? Weeks? Months? I had no idea. All I knew was that I had been stuck in this darkness. At first it had been nothing but pain, blinding pain that made me want to tear my heart out. And then slowly the pain gave way to frustration, then to numbness. On some days I felt no actual hunger; on other days the hunger was so strong I thought I'd lose my mind. The need to hunt, the need to feel the blood on my claws, filled me. It was painful. But then I'd learned to suppress it.

I could hear the voices, the memories... they kept on playing on repeat.

"Look at them, Luciano, look." Forcing my face to look at them, I came face to face with a pair of eyes lifelessly staring back at me.

"It's all your fault. All of this was your fault, remember that." He snarls in my ear, my blood boiling at his words. Mustering every bit of strength in me, I manage to twist my way out of his grip, flipping him over before plunging my fist into his chest, feeling the beating organ in my grip as his eyes widened in fear.

"How dare you? How dare you come into my home and threaten me? You had the nerve to kill them?" I snarl ferociously, blinded with rage.

His lips curled up into a malicious grin. "You deserved it, you fucking bastard." My grip tightened around his heart as I twisted it, causing him to groan in pain.

"Do it, you fucker, if you have the balls to. I fucking dare you."

"Oh, I will, but I promise you, Jacob, I will find your daughter. I'll hunt down each and every one you've ever loved, and I will rip them apart. You won't be alone in hell for long." I promise, my words dripping with venom as he struggles to grip the collar of my shirt.

"Don't you dare, you fucking bastard."

"See you in hell." Ripping his heart out of his chest, I watch as the life drained out of him. But I wasn't satisfied; I wanted more. The moments after that passed by in a blur of mindless rage; I destroyed everyone and everything in my path, but it wasn't enough. I wanted her blood, the sole reason behind everything. The weeks following that have fallen into the same routine; I killed day after day hoping I was closer to my target, but it was fruitless. It was as if she had vanished off the face of the earth.

I had no mate; I had no family... I had no one. I had no remembrance of how I had come here; all I could remember was blood... a lot of it before I came here. At first I had conflicted feelings. At a point I welcomed the feeling of being able to feel nothing, but then I wanted to feel everything. I wanted to feel pain, the pain of transformation; I wanted to hear the pleas of my victims as I drained the life out of them. But I couldn't; I was stuck in this darkness.

Something was different; I could feel it. A presence. Not here, but out there. It was like a siren's song calling out to me. Feminine and soft. Her scent was faint, but it smelled sweet. Like Jasmine and roses, I wanted a taste of it. She seemed so far but at the same time so near. With every fiber in me, I called out to her; she was my awakening. I didn't know how I knew it, but I just knew. Who was she? How had she gotten here? Savannah, only she would allow people into the manor.

I could feel her presence getting nearer and nearer, her body heat radiating so closely. I itched to be let out of this place, to be let out of my skin. And then I felt it, her touch so feather-light no one would ever notice. I heard her voice, but I could barely make out her words. Her fingertips trailed up my arm up to my face, and like a new pathway had been found, my eyes fluttered open as my eyes collided with amber orbs.

"Bloody hell." Her shriek echoed throughout the room as I grabbed her hand, attempting to sit upright, which was the worst decision I'd make as I immediately fell back onto the bed.

Taking that as her escape, she slipped her hand out of my grasp as she fled dear life. But even though she could run, she could not hide. She had awoken me, and I had claimed her. My mate.