ECLIPSE OF DESIRE

Sophia The vampire's hand clamped around my throat before I could even scream. "Found you, little Luna," he hissed, fangs gleaming in the dark alley. I drove my silver blade straight into his chest. He shrieked and stumbled back, smoke curling from the wound. Not dead silver didn’t kill them but it bought me precious seconds. I ran. Five years ago, vampires massacred my family in our Brooklyn home. I was seventeen, hiding in a closet, listening to my mother’s screams echoing through the halls. Tonight, in Manhattan, they had finally caught up to me. And I was done running. I burst onto the crowded street, heart hammering. The crescent-moon mark on my wrist pulsed under my sleeve a birthmark my mother had told me meant I was protected. She was wrong. The mark burned hotter tonight, like a brand pressed deep into my skin, a warning I couldn’t ignore. Across the street, a black SUV pulled up at Black Industries Tower. The door opened, and Alexander Black stepped out. I should have kept walking. I should have disappeared into the subway. I didn’t. Because the moment I saw him, the world stopped. He was tall over six feet of pure predator in a suit that probably cost more than my entire rent. Dark hair, a sharp jaw, broad shoulders. But it was his eyes that held me. Storm-grey, intense, dangerous. They didn’t just look at me they saw me. Heat slammed into my chest, uncomfortably warm, like coming home after a lifetime lost in the dark. The mark on my wrist flared gold, pulsing beneath my skin. I could feel it through the sleeve. I gasped. Alexander froze. His eyes flickered, golden now. Wolf-gold. Oh God. He wasn’t human. His lips moved, forming a single word I shouldn’t have been able to hear: "Mate." A taxi passed between us. I bolted. Alexander MATE. The word exploded in Alexander’s mind. His wolf erupted, seven years of iron control shattered in an instant. The girl across the street wild, dark hair, golden-brown eyes wide with shock was his. His mate. His salvation. His death sentence. CLAIM HER. The beast snarled. MARK HER. NOW. "Find her!" Alexander roared at Damian, his beta. "NOW!" He surged forward, shoving past reporters. His vision bled gold as the alpha clawed for control. "Sir, the curse—" Damian started. "I know about the damn curse!" Alexander snapped. If he claimed her, marked her, bonded her before the blood moon in six months, the curse would kill her drain her life force until nothing remained but a corpse. If he didn’t claim her, he would become a mindless wolf, slaughtering everything until someone put him down. Six months. That was all the time they had. And she was running from him. Four vampires perched on rooftops, red eyes tracking her path. Hunting her. Something inside Alexander went feral. "They're dead," he growled, bones already shifting. Damian grabbed his arm. "Not here! There are witnesses—" Alexander’s fist shot out, sending Damian flying ten feet into the SUV. The beta hit with a metallic crunch and slumped, groaning. Reporters screamed. Cameras flashed. "Sir!" Damian wheezed, staggering upright. Blood trickled from his mouth. "You just shifted in front of fifty humans with phones! The Council will—" "I. Don’t. Care." Alexander’s voice was barely human. His mate was running. Vampires were hunting her. Everything else could burn. Bones cracked, reformed. In three seconds, a massive black wolf stood where Alexander had been twice the size of a normal wolf, silver eyes blazing with intelligence and rage. Damian stumbled back. "s**t. Marcus! Damage control NOW!" But Alexander was gone, launching himself down the street. Her scent filled his lungs jasmine, steel, something ancient that sang to every instinct. She's ours, the beast rumbled. Ours. Protect. Claim. Behind him, Damian shouted orders into his phone. "Buy every photo, erase every video, threaten every witness if you have to! The alpha just shifted on Fifth Avenue!" Sophia I made it two blocks before they cornered me. Three vampires dropped from the fire escape, landing in a circle around me. My silver blade was ready. "The lost Luna," the leader sneered, pale skin and glowing red eyes. "Viktor will be so pleased." "I don’t know what you’re talking about." "Liar." He inhaled deeply. "You reek of ancient blood. Royal blood. The bloodline we thought was extinct." The mark on my wrist burned hotter. "My family wasn’t royal," I said, blade raised. "They were normal—" "Murdered because of what you are." His smile was cruel. "Did you think that was random?" My throat tightened. "What am I?" "The last Luna princess. The key to Viktor’s ascension—" A massive black wolf exploded into the alley with a snarl that shook the walls. It positioned itself between me and the vampires. Mine, it growled. "The cursed alpha," the lead vampire hissed, stepping back. "This complicates things." The wolf moved like a liquid death. It caught the first vampire mid-leap, jaws closing around its throat, ripping. Blood sprayed. The vampire disintegrated to ash. The second lunged from behind. The wolf spun impossibly fast, claws tearing through flesh and bone. More ash. The third grabbed me, using me as a shield. "Call off your beast, Luna, or I’ll—" The wolf’s eyes met mine. Time slowed. In those silver depths, I saw everything. Recognition. Protection. Possession. Trust me, those eyes said. I drove my elbow into the vampire’s ribs and dropped. The wolf’s jaws closed where my head had been. The scream cut off abruptly. Ash rained down around me. Silence. I was on my knees, gasping, staring up at the massive wolf standing over me. It leaned down slowly, nose brushing my cheek surprisingly gentle. Then it licked my face. "Did you just—" I sputtered. "Did you just lick me?" The wolf made a sound almost like smugness. Bones cracked and reformed behind us. I scrambled backward as the wolf shifted, fur receding, body reshaping until Alexander Black knelt naked in the alley, breathing hard, eyes still unnaturally gold. "You're hurt," he growled, reaching for me. I slapped his hand away. "Don’t touch me!" "You're bleeding—" "What the hell are you?" I pushed to my feet. "What did he mean by Luna princess?" Alexander slowly stood, unconcerned by his nudity. Of course he wasn’t human he looked carved by a sculptor. Focus, Sophia. "You want answers?" His voice was rough. "Not here. More are coming." "More?" "Vampires. That was just the scouting party." He grabbed a discarded jacket from a dumpster. "Viktor will send dozens now." "How do you know about Viktor?" His eyes met mine. "Because he’s been my enemy for a decade. And now, apparently, he wants my mate." "I'm not your—" "Yes, you are." He stepped closer. "You felt it. The pull. The heat." I had. God help me, I had. "What does it mean?" "It means you're mine." His voice dropped possessive and dark. "My fated mate. And I will burn this city to ash before I let Viktor take you." "I don’t even know you!" "You will. Because I’m taking you somewhere safe. Right now." "Like hell—" Red eyes appeared at both ends of the alley. Dozens of them. "Too late," Alexander growled. "Hold on." "Hold on to what—" He grabbed me, shifted into wolf form with me clutching his fur, and leaped. We soared onto the fire escape, then the roof, then across to the next building. Behind us, vampires swarmed. "Where are you taking me?!" I shouted. The wolf responded with a possessive growl that vibrated through my body. Despite the danger, wrapped in the monster's embrace, I felt safe. Which terrified me more than anything else.