Chapter 2: The Wolf I Buried
555 Words
Roman hit the ground hard enough to crack frozen earth beneath him. The creature stood over him growling, steam pouring from its mouth into the night air.
Everything inside me stopped.
Five years ago, I watched Roman disappear into blood and fire. I survived that grief once. I would not survive it again.
The beast raised one claw.
I shifted. Bones snapped. Skin tore. Power exploded through me in a violent wave of heat and fury. The wolf I’d buried for years ripped free at last.
The hunters backed away immediately. Smart men.
Silver-furred and monstrous beneath the moonlight, I slammed into the creature with enough force to send both of us crashing through the trees. It roared. I bit down hard on its throat. Rot filled my mouth. Wrong. This thing wasn’t natural. Not born. Made.
The creature hurled me off violently. I slammed against a tree trunk, dazed for half a second too long.
Then Roman appeared between us with a gun loaded in silver rounds. Three shots. The beast staggered.
Roman grabbed my fur roughly. “Move!”
I shifted mid-run, pain ripping through my body as I stumbled beside him naked and breathless through the snow-covered forest. Roman stripped off his coat and wrapped it around me without slowing.
Even now. Even bleeding. Even after everything. He still protected me first.
I hated how much that hurt.
Behind us the creature screamed. Not dying. Healing.
Roman cursed under his breath. “We don’t have much time.”
“What the hell was that thing?”
“Something your family created.”
Ice flooded my veins. “No.”
“Yes.”
“That’s impossible.”
Roman looked at me grimly. “Your father isn’t dead, Bianca.”
The world tilted violently beneath me. My father was executed twelve years ago by the Crescent Council after experimenting on werewolf bloodlines. I watched the sentence carried out myself.
“You’re lying.”
“I wish I was.”
Another roar thundered behind us. Closer.
Roman dragged me toward a sleek black cabin hidden among the trees. Security lights flicked on instantly as we approached.
The door burst open before we reached it. Luca stood there holding a rifle. Relief crossed his face at seeing Roman alive. Then he noticed me wearing Roman’s coat. The relief vanished.
“Well,” Luca muttered darkly. “This feels familiar.”
I glared at him. “You sold me out.”
His expression hardened instantly. “No, Bianca. I didn’t.”
“You expect me to trust you?”
“No,” Roman answered before Luca could speak. “You shouldn’t trust anyone.”
His eyes locked onto mine as blood soaked through the front of his shirt. And despite the wound, despite the danger surrounding us, despite the years between us— The tension between us still burned hot enough to destroy kingdoms.
Roman stepped closer slowly. “You came back to New York for revenge,” he said.
“Yes.”
“Good.” His fingers brushed my jaw lightly. Because Roman De Luca had always known exactly how to ruin me with the smallest touch.
“Now we can finally destroy them together.”
Then the lights in the cabin died. Every monitor went black. And from somewhere inside the house- A woman screamed.
- Writer
