CHAPTER ONE

The studio apartment was filled with the acidic smell of turpentine and sorrow. Sophia Bennett stared vacantly at the blank white canvas on her easel, a brush hovering in midair, a tool designed to conjure beauty from emptiness—a chore she had done countless times before.

Today, however, the painting remained blank, matching the vacancy in her bank account. Frustrated, she threw the brush across the room. It clattered against the stern walls, leaving a crimson trail in its path.

"Get it together, Soph," she muttered, running her shaking fingers through her raven hair. Without money for a proper meal in days, the dizziness and lethargy weren't helping her tap into her dwindling creative spark.

Her phone rang, displaying Aiden's name. With a sigh, she answered the call.

"You know what day it is, sweetheart?" His voice was calm but carried an undertone of expectation. Sophia, after five years with Aiden, found herself questioning the future of their relationship. She had been preoccupied all day with her financial problems.

She saw no future in the relationship, and neither did he.

"Day?" she questioned, her brow cocked as she had been preoccupied all day with the zero in her bank account.

"You didn't forget, did you?" he asked, sounding disappointed. Deep down, Sophia knew she had no time for this and wanted to snap at him to get to the point. Instead, she kept her cool.

"It's my birthday, Soph. How could you forget such an important day?" His voice now carried a tinge of hurt. Sophia felt a pang of guilt; this was the first time she had forgotten something of this importance.

"What's wrong with you these days? You've been acting strange. First my mother's anniversary, then my sister's graduation, and now my birthday?" Aiden asked, his tone rising.

"My... my... my..." she thought, feeling the sting of his selfishness.

"Aiden, it was a mistake. I'm sorry I forgot. This isn't like me," she said, her voice tinged with frustration.

"It's not unusual. You've become used to it. Do you even care about our relationship anymore?" he said, in a strong, accusing tone.

Her brows shot up in disbelief. She sighed, thinking about the countless occasions he had forgotten her birthday, even last year, and she never complained—only checked to see if he was okay, despite knowing he was. But he...

She sighed. "I'll call you later, Aiden."

"Don't try to—" he started, but she cut him off, hanging up the phone.

A walk might clear her mind, but then a thunderous explosion shook the building's aged foundation. Sophia gasped, clutching her easel for support as the lights flickered.

More deafening crashes echoed up the stairwell, coupled with blood-curdling roars. Inhuman. Furious. Then the screams began. High and shrill, bouncing off every surface. Sobs and pleas for mercy in between the demonic snarls.

"Oh god..." Trembling, Sophia crept to her door and pressed a shaking eye to the peephole. A wave of copper scented the musty air - blood, her mind numbly registered.

"Sweet merciful heaven..." She recoiled, eyes wide at the hunched shadow figures prowling in the hallway. Abnormally large, they skulked with inhuman grace despite their grotesque, contorted shapes.

As they neared an apartment door, muscles rippled in choreographed violence beneath shaggy, coarse fur. A fist the size of a sledgehammer punched through the door - raining splinters.

Sophia gasped, clamping both hands over her mouth to muffle the sound as the monster easily ripped the door from its hinges. The screams grew louder, mixing in sickening snaps and crunches that ripped the breath from Sophia's lungs.

Slaughter. Massacre.

With the grace of an Olympic gymnast, one of the monstrous shapes spun in her direction, snout lifting. Its nostrils flared as a chilling metallic howl reverberated through the enclosed space.

It caught her scent. Petrified, Sophia couldn't move. All thoughts skittered away as blinding terror rooted her to the spot. The only sound was the thundering of her own heart pounding in her ears.

The thing lowered its massive snout, beady black eyes boring into the souls of its prey as it prowled closer. Closer, and closer, the growls grew louder.

Desperate, Sophia strained against the paralyzing fear, forcing air through her lungs. Then she screamed. Ear-splitting, primal, raw - the kind that cut through the most bone-chilling night... Yet it barely slowed the predator's advance. Frozen, she watched in detached horror as the beast reared back on its haunches, muscles coiling tight enough to—

With impossible speed, a dark blue whipped past her. Sophia blinked and her inhuman stalker flew backward, crashing through the drywall opposite in an explosive rain of plaster. Stunned, she lurched back, plastering herself against the door as the second nightmarish shape landed in a low crouch between her and its fallen brethren.

This hulking figure seemed more proportioned than the other twisted forms - powerful and male from the width of the shoulders and swell of corded muscle. But still inherently...not human. It turned slightly, piercing azure eyes locking on her from over one broad shoulder.

Sophia gasped at the blatant predatory dominance burning in those feral depths before they quickly snapped back to the threat rising to its haunches. Its lips peeled back, revealing ivory daggers slicked with crimson.

A resonant, menacing growl echoed from deep within that barrel chest, effortlessly declaring its challenge. With a baying screech, the initial beast launched itself forward. Sophia braced for impact, expecting tearing fangs and claws. But it never came.

A meaty crack filled her ears as the raging beast was hurled sideways into her kitchenette. Her eyes widened as its attacker closed the distance, planting a heavy boot on its skull and rearing back for what would surely be the end.

"Enough," he said, his voice carrying a commanding authority that froze the hulking figure mid-strike.

Slowly, the creature angled its head, its jaw still taut with snarling aggression, as a newcomer stepped through the wreckage of her door. Unlike her savior, this man appeared outwardly human.

Tall and commanding in a tailored black suit, his raven hair swept back revealed chiseled features that could have graced a Calvin Klein billboard. As their eyes met, Sophia instinctively shrank back. His gaze carried an innate sense of arrogance and entitlement as he calmly appraised the carnage, exuding a stifling aura of entitled authority.

With a curled lip of disdain, his pale eyes sliced to the beast pinned underneath her apparent protector's impressive weight.

"I see the mutts need to be put down. Permanently this time," he said, his tone dripping with contempt.