The charge of the beast came like a storm. One moment, everything was still—frozen in anticipation—and the next, chaos erupted with the force of a hurricane.I barely had time to react before Luca was already moving. His body was a blur of motion, his stance shifting with the kind of fluid grace that could only come from someone who had been trained for moments like this. The beast, massive and terrifying, lunged at us with a roar that rattled my bones, its teeth bared, sharp and gleaming in the dim light of the forest.But Luca didn’t hesitate. He met the creature’s charge head-on, his eyes blazing with an intensity that matched the monster’s fury. His body collided with it in a blur of strength, the sound of impact sending a shockwave through the ground beneath us.I could barely keep up with the speed of it all. One moment, Luca was there, standing firm against the creature’s weight. The next, he was spinning, his movements too fast for me to track. His hand, steady and precise, sh
The dim light from the candles flickered across the cold stone walls, casting long, twisted shadows that seemed to stretch toward me. My heart was racing as I stood in the heart of the ancient woods, the air thick with the scent of pine and danger. The note, the one that had threatened me with its cryptic message, was still tucked away in my pocket, its presence a constant reminder of how deeply my life had spiraled out of control.The world around me had shifted in ways I couldn’t quite comprehend. One moment, I was seeking freedom from a marriage that had suffocated me, and the next, I found myself tangled in the web of betrayal, vengeance, and power plays that stretched far beyond anything I could have imagined.Luca. His name echoed in my mind, a cruel reminder of everything I had walked away from.“Angelina.” Damien’s voice broke through my thoughts, his tone urgent. He stood a few feet away, his eyes scanning the trees, always on guard, always calculating. I knew that look well—
The night felt endless, the weight of the dark sky pressing down on me, suffocating in its intensity. The sounds of our hurried steps through the underbrush barely managed to drown out the beating of my heart, still racing from the near-fatal encounter. My thoughts, though clouded with confusion and fear, couldn’t shake the image of Luca standing in front of me, his presence cutting through the chaos like a blade.I glanced at him again, trying to make sense of everything. His posture was stiff, controlled, as if he were constantly on alert, and there was an air of authority about him that I hadn’t noticed before. It was the same power he’d displayed earlier, when the creatures had scattered at the mere shift of his hand. There was no denying it now—he wasn’t just a man. He was something far more dangerous than I had ever realized.His gaze flicked toward me as if sensing my eyes on him. There was no softness in his expression, no trace of the man I had once known. It made me wonder:
The cold night air bit at my skin as we hurried through the dense woods. Every step felt like a race against time, the echo of our hurried footsteps mixing with the quiet rustle of the leaves underfoot. Despite the adrenaline rushing through me, my mind was clouded with confusion. Luca’s sudden appearance, the creatures that had attacked us, and now, the revelation that we weren’t safe yet—it was all too much. I could feel the weight of it pressing down on me, threatening to crush me.“Stay close,” Damien’s voice cut through my thoughts, sharp and commanding. His hand was firm on my wrist as he kept me close behind him. I could sense the tension radiating off him as he scanned the surrounding darkness, his eyes never leaving the shadows.I glanced at Luca, who was walking beside us now, his dark gaze set firmly ahead, his jaw clenched. The air between us was thick with unspoken words, and I could feel the tension coiling between us. This wasn’t a reunion, not by any means. I had no id
The clearing felt suffocating as the air around us thickened with the tension of the impending battle. The creature’s growl sent ripples of fear through my body, but Luca’s resolve was unwavering, his eyes burning with an intensity that I couldn’t ignore. The moment he had moved to confront it, I knew that this wasn’t a fight we could run from. We had no choice but to face whatever was coming.Damien’s grip tightened on my wrist as he pulled me further into the trees. “We have to get to safety, now,” he growled, his voice urgent and clipped. “Luca’s got it covered.”I barely registered his words before a deafening roar split the night air. The sound was terrifying, primal—raw—and it was followed by the crash of branches as the creature’s massive form shot forward. It was no longer just one beast we were dealing with. The others—more of them—emerged from the shadows, like ghosts materializing in the moonlight, their eyes glowing with malice. I could feel them, their hunger, their need
The surge of power inside me was overwhelming. I felt it coursing through my veins, a crackling force that lit my senses on fire. It was as though the world had slowed to a crawl, the howls of the creatures echoing in the distance, their growls mixing with the pounding of my heart.But I didn’t have time to think about it. There was no time for wonder or fear.Luca’s eyes locked onto mine, his face unreadable but there was something else—something dangerous. His posture shifted slightly, as though he could sense the change in me, the awakening that had stirred deep within my soul. The air around us seemed to thrum with anticipation, the balance of power shifting in an instant.I couldn’t contain the impulse to step forward. My legs moved before I could even process it, my feet carrying me toward Luca despite Damien’s grip on my arm, trying to pull me back.“Angelina, no!” Damien’s voice was rough, strained, his hands tightening on me as if to stop me from moving, but it was no use. Th
The figure before us—cloaked in shadows, his presence commanding the very air—stepped forward. His dark eyes gleamed in the moonlight, and a sense of familiarity tugged at the edge of my consciousness, though I couldn’t place it. He was human, yet there was something about him, something unnatural, that made my heart race. The creatures that had been attacking us had stopped, as if at his command, retreating into the darkness, leaving us with an eerie silence.“Who are you?” I demanded, my voice cold and firm, though my body felt heavy with both exhaustion and the power coursing through me. The storm within me was still raging, but now, it seemed more like a quiet hum, a constant reminder of the raw strength I had tapped into.The man didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he surveyed us, his eyes flicking from Luca to Damien and then to me. There was something calculating in his gaze, something that made my skin crawl.“You have no idea what you’ve unleashed,” he finally spoke, his voic
The forest around us was eerily silent. The only sounds that could be heard were the soft rustling of leaves in the wind and the steady, rhythmic breathing of the group. I had never been more aware of the distance between each of us, even though we were walking in near silence, side by side. There was something ominous in the air, a sense of impending danger that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being hunted—not just by the creatures that had attacked us earlier, but by something far more sinister. The warning from the man who had appeared out of nowhere echoed in my mind: You were never meant to tap into this power. It will tear you apart.How could I even begin to understand what that meant? The power coursing through me was volatile, unpredictable. It felt like a storm, waiting to break free, and every moment I spent trying to control it only made it more chaotic.Luca had kept his distance since the encounter with the stra
The wind howled through the ruined temple as we stood at the precipice of the final battle. The sky churned with dark clouds, unnatural in their movements, as if the world itself knew what was coming. A storm was brewing—not just in the heavens, but in our souls.I could feel it. The darkness. The raw, unrestrained energy that had been sealed away for centuries, now clawing its way back into existence.And at the heart of it all, him.The one who had orchestrated it from the shadows.The one who had betrayed Lunara all those years ago.And the one who now stood before me, watching with eyes that glowed like molten fire.Malakai.I took a slow step forward, my pulse steady even as my body braced for what was to come. Luca and Damien flanked me, their presence grounding me, but I knew—this was my fight.Malakai smiled, his voice like silk laced with poison. “So, you finally remember.”I clenched my fists, power humming beneath my skin. “I do.”His smile widened. “Then you know why this
The weight of the revelation pressed down on me like a crushing tide. My breath came in short, shallow gasps as I stared at the altar, the symbols etched into its stone glowing with an eerie light.The last of my kind. A forgotten bloodline. A ritual that would unlock the truth.Every nerve in my body screamed at me to stop—to turn away before I unleashed something I couldn’t control.But I had come too far to stop now.I forced myself to stand, my legs trembling beneath me. Luca’s hand shot out to steady me, his touch firm yet careful.“Angelina,” he said, his voice low, controlled. “Are you sure about this?”I looked up at him, into those dark eyes that had seen too much, endured too much because of me. I could see the war raging inside him—his need to protect me battling against the understanding that I needed to do this.I nodded. “I have to be.”Damien exhaled sharply behind me. “Well, this is either going to be a breakthrough or an absolute disaster.”I ignored him and stepped t
The figure’s silver eyes burned into mine, their glow the only source of illumination in the endless void around us. My breath hitched, my heart hammering as I struggled to process their words.“Who are you?”It was such a simple question, yet it sent a shiver down my spine.Because I didn’t know the answer.I had been an omega—weak, unwanted, discarded. Then, I had been a wife—betrayed, used, thrown away. Now, I was something else entirely.Something more.The figure took a step forward, their form shifting as if they weren’t entirely bound to this plane. I instinctively tensed, ready to run if I had to, but something about them held me in place.“You don’t know yet, do you?” the voice mused, a strange mixture of amusement and something… deeper. Something ancient.My hands curled into fists at my sides. “I don’t know what you mean.”They tilted their head, as if observing me more closely. “You stand at the edge of two worlds, yet you belong to neither. The blood in your veins remembe
The clearing was silent, the air thick with tension. My pulse pounded in my ears as I tried to steady my breath, my body still tingling from the power that had surged through me. The creatures lay scattered, their twisted forms crumpled against the trees. But the silence wasn’t reassuring. It felt like the calm before a storm.Luca’s grip on my arm was firm but not painful, grounding me as I wobbled slightly on my feet. His eyes bore into mine, dark and unreadable. “Angelina,” he said, his voice low but urgent, “what did you feel?”I swallowed hard, my throat dry.How could I explain something I didn’t even understand?“It was like…” I hesitated, searching for the right words. “For a moment, when my power touched them, I could hear something. Not words, exactly, but—” I stopped, frustrated.“A connection?” Damien guessed, his gaze sharp.I nodded slowly. “Yes. It felt… ancient. And familiar, somehow. Like a whisper in the back of my mind.”Luca exchanged a glance with Damien, somethin
The forest remained eerily quiet as we moved forward, the only sound coming from the rustling leaves beneath our feet. The adrenaline was still coursing through my veins, making my fingers tremble slightly, but I forced myself to stay focused. Whatever had just happened—whatever power I had used—I needed to understand it. Control it. Because if I didn’t, it could consume me.Luca’s gaze flickered to me every few seconds, as if he was assessing me, trying to make sense of what I had done. He wasn’t the only one. Damien, who had been tense and sharp through every battle, was unusually quiet. He kept his distance, but I could feel his eyes on me too, wary and calculating.I didn’t blame them.Even I wasn’t sure what I had become.I clenched my fists at my sides and focused on the path ahead. The trees had started to thin, the density of the forest giving way to a faint, silvery mist. It curled around our legs, making it feel like the ground itself was shifting beneath us.“We’re close,”
The darkness of the forest pressed in on all sides, the shadows seeming to stretch further with each passing minute. The air was thick with the smell of wet earth, and the distant rustle of leaves only heightened the sensation of being followed. Every step felt heavier, as though the forest itself was conspiring against us, drawing us deeper into its labyrinth of twisted trees and tangled underbrush. The weight of the unknown pressed down on my chest, suffocating me.I had always known that power came at a cost, but I had never fully understood it until now. The force that surged within me—this strange, dangerous energy—was both a gift and a curse. Each time I used it, I felt like I was losing a part of myself. I wasn’t just tapping into some external source of power; I was becoming something else. Something more dangerous.And the worst part? I didn’t know if I could control it.Luca’s presence beside me was a steadying force, though. His calm, unshakable demeanor seemed to balance o
The forest was suffocating. Even though the cool night air should have offered some relief, it felt oppressive, heavy with the weight of danger that lurked just beyond the shadows. I couldn’t shake the feeling that we weren’t alone, that the darkness was closing in around us. Every crack of a branch, every rustle of leaves sent my pulse racing.Luca’s grip on my arm was firm but gentle, as if sensing my anxiety. He didn’t speak, but I could feel the quiet strength radiating off him, steady and unwavering. Despite everything that had happened, I found comfort in his presence. There was a calm in him that I didn’t have, a peace that somehow anchored me in the chaos.We moved quickly, following Damien as he led us through the dense trees. His eyes darted from side to side, scanning for any movement, any sign of a threat. I could see the exhaustion on his face, the way his breath came in shallow gasps. We had all been through so much already, and it felt like there was no end in sight.“A
The air was thick with tension, the stench of earth and decay mixing with the sharp scent of danger that was creeping in on all sides. My heart raced, and my chest tightened as the power within me surged once more, a raw, untamed force that I struggled to keep at bay. I could feel it, like an electric pulse beneath my skin, urging me to unleash it, to let it consume everything around me. But I fought it. I had to. I couldn’t let it take control. Not again.The creatures—there were more of them now—surrounded us, their glowing eyes flickering like embers in the darkness. Each one was larger than the last, their bodies sleek and muscled, their claws scraping the ground with a sound that sent shivers down my spine. They were closing in, their low growls vibrating through the ground beneath my feet. It was only a matter of time before they attacked.Luca stood beside me, his presence a calming force amidst the chaos. His hand was on my arm, grounding me, but even he couldn’t hide the tens
The forest stretched endlessly before me, its towering trees standing like silent sentinels, casting long shadows across the ground. The air was thick with the scent of pine and earth, the stillness of the morning broken only by the rustling of leaves beneath our feet. My heart beat steadily in my chest, though every step felt heavier than the last, weighed down by the unease gnawing at me.Luca walked beside me, his presence like a steady anchor, grounding me in a world that seemed to be spinning out of control. His gaze was fixed ahead, but every so often, his dark eyes would flicker to me, searching for something. I didn’t know what he was looking for—maybe reassurance, maybe fear—but I didn’t have the answers he wanted. Not yet.We had made it through the night, but the danger was far from over. The creatures that had attacked us in the forest, the ones that had been stalking us from the shadows, were still out there. And whatever power was stirring inside me, whatever it was that