chapter 3
956 Words
Chapter Three: Hunted Blood
The Blackmoor estate sat on the northern cliffs, looming like a predator above the city. Created more like a stronghold than a home. Inside , the halls was long and cold, occupied with—fangs, claws, bones. All from enemies who dared challenge the Alpha.
Cassian Blackmoor stood before a towering window, watching the storm roll in over Raven Hollow. A glass of red wine in hands.
“his is alive,” a voice said behind him.
Cassian didn’t turn. “So the rumors are true.”
“Yes. Confirmed by a hunter.”
Cassian downed the rest of his wine in one swallow. “Should’ve burned the boy myself.”
“You ordered the purge.”
“I ordered the fire,” Cassian snapped. “But some monsters need to be strangled, not scorched.”
He turned, eyes glowing the color of frostbite. The man who spoke—a younger Beta with nervous hands—lowered his gaze immediately.
“Find him,” Cassian said. “Bring me proof.”
“And if he resists?”
Cassian smiled slowly. “He will.”
Elsewhere, Riven walked beneath flickering streetlights in the East End, where the city forgot its promises. His hoodie was pulled low, but even in the dark, people moved aside instinctively. They sensed what he was.
Predator.
His shoulder had healed. But Ayla’s scent lingered on his skin like a fever.
He hated it.
No. He didn’t hate it. He needed it.
She had something inside her. Power. Something old and unclaimed. She wasn’t just human, and whatever her blood carried, it called to him. Maybe it was fate. Maybe it was madness. But every step away from her dragged like chains.
He ducked into a bar two blocks from the old city wall. It was called The Hollowed Fang—a neutral zone for wolves, rogues, and informants. Everyone kept their claws sheathed. Until they didn’t.
Riven approached the bar. “Is Vesper here?”
The bartender, a woman with mismatched eyes and a coiled serpent tattoo along her neck, didn’t blink. “Back room.”
Riven nodded and moved through the crowd, ignoring the stares. He passed a pack of younger wolves hunched over cards, another group whispering in Russian. Vampires, maybe. Or worse.
The room back door was pushed open.
Vesper was on a table that was filled with bones and feathers, her hair was over her face like . She was a seer—half-witch, half-wolf. All chaos.
“why coming late,” she asked without looking up.
“I never said I was coming.”
“I saw you. In the rain. In pain.”
Riven sat across from her. “What do you see now?”
“Fire. Again. And a woman with blood on her hands.”
He stiffened. “Ayla.”
“She is a doorway, Riven,” Vesper said, finally meeting his eyes. “Not a destination.”
“I don’t care about fate.”
“You should. Because you’re walking into a trap.”
“Cassian?”
Vesper nodded. “He knows you’re alive. His enforcers are already sniffing.”
Riven growled under his breath. “I won’t run.”
“I didn’t say you should. I said you should be careful. There are things moving beneath this city that even Cassian fears.”
“Like what?”
Vesper scattered the bones on the table. They landed in a circle. One fell outside it—cracked and bleeding.
“Like you,” she said softly.
That same night, Ayla crept through the archives of the Raven Hollow Medical Center. The hospital was owned by the Blackmoors, which made her uneasy. But it also meant this was where they hid things.
She had stolen a doctor’s badge earlier that day. Her fake credentials gave her three hours before someone might question her.
She slipped into the basement. Files here dated back nearly two decades. Most were electronic, but the oldest, most dangerous ones remained locked in physical form.
She found the “Fire Victims—2011” folder and yanked it out.
Inside were photos—blackened remains, bones half-shifted. Some wore necklaces. Others had claw marks carved through them. Nine confirmed dead.
But in the back of the file was something stranger.
A DNA report.
The patient was listed as Unknown Male Child – Healer Strain Present – Anomalous Mutation: Rapid Regeneration.
She stared at the code name on the top:
Subject R.
Her breath caught.
Someone had found him. Treated him. Documented him. And then erased the file.
Except it hadn’t been erased. It had been buried.
She looked at the signature line. The doctor listed had been murdered a year later in a “home invasion.” Another cover-up.
And under the notes section was a chilling line:
Patient responded to sedatives only after contact with female child—identity unknown.
Ayla’s hands trembled.
That was her.
She remembered a fire. A boy. Golden eyes and smoke. She’d thought it was a dream. A nightmare. But maybe… it was real.
She carried pictures of everything, heart racing in her chest.
steps echoed in the hall outside.
She froze. Listened.
Not security.
Not human.
She shoved the files back and slipped through the side door just as a tall figure rounded the corner, eyes glowing faintly.
Blackmoor Enforcer.
Ayla ran.
She moved to the stairs and jumped into the nurses’ locker room. Her chest moved with difficulty. She could smell him.
She wasn’t supposed to smell anything.
That night, Riven stood on a rooftop watching the city burn with neon and lies. He closed his eyes.
Ayla’s scent was getting stronger.
She was close.
And in danger.
Again.
- Writer
