CRAVED: SHE TOUCHED THE MONSTER.

THE MONSTER WATCHES.

The manor was silent again. Not quiet - silent. The kind that presses on your chest like a weight, the kind that makes the walls feel like they're listening.

Liam stood by the tall window, the glass stained with shadows of the moonlight. A half-empty crystal goblet trembled slightly in his hand. Blood. Cold. Not human. It never tasted the same when he was like this - lost in her memory.

Irene.

He had driven her home hours ago. Months without seeing her, touching her, hearing her laugh... and now he was torturing himself with glimpses. A single drive. A few stolen minutes. It wasn't enough. It was never going to be enough.

He brought the glass to his lips, paused, then hurled it into the fireplace. Shards of crystal and a smear of red clattered across the stone.

"You're pathetic."

The voice came from behind. Deep. Thunderous. Poisoned with disappointment.

Liam didn't have to turn to know who it was.

"Hello, Father," he muttered, brushing the blood from his fingers.

Drac stepped into the room like he owned every shadow in it. Towering, regal, his long coat billowing slightly behind him like smoke. His eyes glinted - not with age, but with centuries of merciless conviction.

"You stink of her," Drac spat. "That human girl. Irene."

Liam's jaw tightened. "Careful how you say her name."

"She's made you weak. Months, Liam. Months without feeding properly. Without hunting. You linger like a dog on her leash."

"I stayed away," Liam said coldly. "That's strength. You wouldn't understand that."

Drac moved fast - in a blink, his hand was around Liam's throat, slamming him back against the wall with a sound like thunder. His fangs bared.

"You mistake restraint for decay," he growled. "You are not human. You do not love. You consume. That is our nature."

Liam's eyes burned red. "Let go."

"She's already marked," Drac hissed. "You brought her in the moment you touched her. And if she is marked, she is vulnerable. They will find her. I have sent them."

"What-"

"I gave the order this morning. Either she's turned, or she dies."

Liam's roar was not human. He struck his father with a force that shattered furniture and cracked stone. The two collided like falling stars, teeth and claws and hatred in the air, but neither mortal enough to bleed like men. Finally, breathless, Liam stood over him.

"You touch her again," Liam panted, "and I will burn every inch of this lineage to ash."

Drac smiled, blood trailing from his lip. "Then protect her, if you can. But know this - she was never yours to keep."

---

MEANWHILE...

The bass was low, pulsing like a heartbeat through the cracked-open windows of Jenny's car. Irene leaned against the seat, laughing at something Brian had said - she didn't even remember what.

He was cute. In a real, boy-next-door way. He had dimples. Warm eyes. And he actually listened when she spoke. Maybe not as sharp as Liam, but Liam wasn't here. Hadn't been. Maybe he never would be.

So when Brian leaned in that night and kissed her, she didn't stop it.

And when she walked into school the next day, trying to pretend it didn't happen, she didn't expect him to walk right up to her.

"Irene," Brian said, grinning, "you disappeared on me."

She turned, flustered. "Brian... I was drunk. That kiss-"

"I liked it," he cut in. "A lot."

She blinked. "We barely know each other."

"Then let's fix that." He leaned in, his voice dropping. "Go out with me."

Jenny gave her a look behind his back - say yes. And Liam hadn't texted. Hadn't called. Nothing. Just silence.

"Fine," she whispered. "Okay."

---

That night, they kissed again. Longer. Slower. On her porch. Under stars that didn't care.

But someone was watching.

---

HER ROOM - MIDNIGHT

Irene stepped into her room, kicking off her shoes, fingers clumsy with the buttons of her dress. It slipped off her shoulders, catching at her hips. She left it there, standing in the glow of her bedside lamp in nothing but a bra and a sigh.

She didn't hear the window open.

Didn't hear the whisper of movement until she was pinned to the wall with a thud, a gasp breaking from her throat.

"Who the hell was that?" Liam's voice. Cold. Low. Dangerous.

"Liam-" she breathed, pushing against him. "Get off me!"

He didn't move. His eyes were glowing, his jaw clenched, his body coiled like a storm ready to break.

"You kissed him. I saw it."

Her heart pounded. "You've been watching me?!"

"You let him touch you." His voice cracked. "You let him in."

"You left me, Liam!" she screamed, shoving him again. "You disappeared for months. Not a text. Not a word. What the hell did you think was going to happen?!"

"I was trying to protect you," he growled. "From my father. From me."

"I'm not some fragile little girl who needs saving! I needed you. And you vanished!"

"You're mine," he hissed. "You always have been."

"No," she snapped, her voice breaking. "You don't get to say that now. You don't get to show up, uninvited, and lay claim to a heart you abandoned."

"I never abandoned you," he said, and his voice shook.

"You let me believe you didn't care."

He stared at her, and something in him broke.

He pressed his lips to hers, savage, hungry, desperate. She resisted - then melted, because she hated him, but she loved him more. His hands gripped her waist, her skin, her breath. Their mouths fought for air, for control, for understanding.

She gasped against him, "This doesn't change anything."

He whispered into her throat, "It changes everything."