ChiaraThe soft sounds of clinking glass and the sensation of something cold and sticky on my neck are what rouse me from sleep. It’s from the same spot that Alessio bit from last night too. It’s quite strange.Confused, I open my eyes and try to look around, but my eyes get seared by this too-bright overhead light that feels like it came straight out of a surgeon’s operating room. Pure alarm jolts through my body and I immediately sit up, only to be nearly brought back down by the sudden onset of vertigo.I put my hand over my eyes to shield myself from the glaring light, blinking hard and looking at my surroundings.I’m not in Alessio’s cabin anymore. I’m lying down on a metal table with a blanket wrapped over my body, stained with a pungent black liquid. I want to kick it off me, but I’m buck-naked under it.My heart is already beating really fast, but what accelerates even more is when I see where I am. A basement of some sort, the concrete walls barely visible behind the shelves

AlessioThe sheer power flowing in my veins and permeating in my muscles is . . . astounding. I have become a pure monster that is unlike all the other monsters in my own pack. I am stronger, much more massive, and definitely more lethal than all of them combined.I would have been impressed, I would admit that. Witnessing someone turn into what I am right now would have garnered my respect before. But not now.As I stand there in the middle of the mountain, towering over the trees and almost reaching into the sky, I feel like an anomaly more than ever.This is not normal, even by the standards of Werewolves.And it seems that Nero and the others know that very well, because they keep screaming for my death, firing volley after volley of arrows at me.There’s a very clear thought inside my head telling me to just step on them, kick them all down the mountain. That would be the easiest thing to do given what’s happening to me. Right now, I’m invincible, and there is nothing they can do

AlessioI blink repeatedly to make sure I’m seeing things correctly, and I am. It really is Giovanni, even though his eyes are both blackened and bruised and his lips are completely busted. There’s also an open wound on his forehead that’s continuously bleeding.I sink to my knees in front of him and hold his face in my hands. “Gio. Gio, can you hear me?”“Help. . . .” he says in a daze, then his dark eyes focus on me. His whole body begins to tremble as he dissolves into tears. “Oh god . . . Master, is that really you?”“Yes.” My chest constricts when I see him weeping. “Why are you here? Who did this to you?”I raise my sword to cut off the ropes and free him from his restraints but he shakes his head and tries to put his hand on my knee. I see that his knuckle bones are showing from under his skin. Seeing it brings a chill down my spine, not because it’s not something I haven’t seen but because it’s Gio, who I have considered my best friend for the longest time.“Gio, please let me

AlessioI blink rapidly to see if I'm indeed seeing things correctly, and I am. Evelyn is gone and so is Rafael. I know I should run and find Chiara, as was my original plan, but Nero is in my arms, bleeding out after saving my life.He looks up at me, and it seems that he knows what's going on in my mind. There's sadness in his eyes, but there's a deeper emotion too. Defeat. The knowledge that he would never come first, and the acceptance that he shouldn't."I'm sorry," I whisper, setting him down on the ground and trying hard not to keep my emotions appear. "I'm so sorry. . . .""Don't apologize about anything, you have to go," he says, his voice breaking. "Chiara . . . She's in the basement of my cabin. You need to find her."The sorrow that I initially felt all vanish. I stare down at him, finally realizing his words. "What?"“I was trying to find out who she is . . . what she is.” Nero raises his hand and tries to hold my shoulder but he’s too weak to do it. “Alessio, Chiara is n

ChiaraI take a deep breath, trying hard not to show my fear even though deep inside, everything is coiling in dread. I wait for Rafael's teeth to sink into my neck and release all kinds of chaos.But to my surprise, the woman with him pushes him off me."What the hell do you think you're doing?" she demands, still shoving him farther and farther away from me as he growls deep in his throat and stares at me hungrily. "You just said you could detect Alessio's scent on her. Why would you even dare try to eat her? Besides, you can do that once we get what we want. But please, for now, I'm begging you to behave."Rafael just smirks and wipes his lips as though he just got denied of a delicious meal. Which I guess in a away he was. But then his expression darkens into a deeper level of malice when he glances at the woman."Since when have you become so weak, Savina?" he asks with his nose curled up in disgust. "And I thought your heart was into this mission. Don't worry, though, I won't ea