CHAPTER THREE
812 Words
CHAPTER THREE — HUNGER UNLEASHED
LIORA
Night hates me.
I can feel it pressing against my window, calling to the part of me I spend every day trying to bury.
The vampire half.
The half that doesn't care about rules or warnings or hunters.
The half that wants one thing.
Food.
The hunger starts as a whisper… then a pulse… then a burn spreading through my throat.
"No. Not tonight," I breathe, gripping the Heartseal Talisman.
It glows faintly, trying to hold me together, but the hunger is too strong.
Too sharp.
Too wild.
If I stay here, I might lose control.
I slip out my window into the cold air.
Bare feet.
Silent steps.
The alpha part of me blends with the night like it belongs there.
I promised myself I'd never feed on a human.
But promises mean nothing when your body stops listening.
By the time I reach the edge of town, my senses sharpen so fast the world tilts.
Every heartbeat in the streets.
Every warm scent drifting from sleeping houses.
Every pulse calling my name.
Focus, Liora.
One quick feed.
No harm.
No witnesses.
A man steps out of a bar, alone, tired, unaware.
I move toward him—
Silent.
Fast.
Deadly.
But before I reach him, something slices through the air.
A whistle.
A signal.
A hunter's call.
My entire body freezes.
Someone's here.
Someone trained.
Someone hunting.
I leap into the shadows, climbing the rooftops in seconds, hiding my face, my scent, my identity.
And then I see him.
Liam.
Dressed in hunter black.
Moving with precision.
Tracking me.
He doesn't know it's me — he only sees a supernatural creature on the hunt.
He raises a silver-tipped bolt.
No.
No.
NO.
The hunger inside me snarls, but the alpha part forces my bones to shift.
My eyes darken.
My senses ignite.
My stride turns predatory.
I'm in my alpha form now — faster, stronger, impossible to recognize.
Liam scans the street.
"I know you're here," he calls out.
My heart stops.
He's hunting me.
The girl he walked home yesterday.
The girl he smiled at this morning.
I force myself to stay silent, crouched low on the rooftop as he follows my trail.
But my hunger breaks again, harder this time, and I lose control for half a second—
A loose tile slips under my foot.
It hits the ground.
Liam whirls toward the sound, crossbow raised.
"Got you," he whispers.
LIAM
It moved like lightning.
Not a wolf.
Not a vampire.
Something between.
Whatever it is, it's dangerous.
I step closer, following the faint tremor of footsteps above me.
A rooftop creature.
Smart.
Fast.
But I'm faster tonight.
I fire a warning bolt — not to kill, just to flush it out.
The figure leaps across the roof, landing with unnatural grace.
It's tall… sleek… glowing faintly at the eyes.
A hybrid?
Impossible.
I sprint after it, my boots pounding the pavement.
"Stop running!" I shout.
The creature pauses for a single second — and I swear those glowing eyes look familiar.
Like I've seen them at school.
In class.
In sunlight.
No.
That's impossible.
It jumps again, disappearing into the darkness of the trees.
I chase it without hesitation.
This might be the one.
The one father warned me about.
The hybrid.
The forbidden creature.
LIORA
He's too close.
I can feel his breath behind me.
His aim.
His focus.
His training.
I leap from the rooftop and land hard in the forest dirt, knees bending, claws digging into the soil.
The hunger claws at me from inside, pushing me to attack, to grab the nearest human—
But the human is Liam.
I can't.
I won't.
I sprint deeper into the woods, using every ounce of my alpha strength to outrun him.
But Liam is relentless.
He fires another bolt.
It hits the tree beside me with a sharp metallic thud.
I growl under my breath—the first sound I've let slip all night.
He hears it.
He follows.
My body feels split in half — the vampire wanting blood, the wolf wanting escape, the human wanting to cry.
I skid to a stop at the riverbank.
Cornered.
Nowhere left to hide.
Liam steps into the moonlight, weapon raised, breathing hard.
"Show yourself," he says.
His voice is steady.
Mine isn't.
Because for the first time in my life… I'm staring at someone who might kill me.
Someone I… almost liked.
I step backward into the shadows, letting the darkness hide my face.
I can't let him know.
I can't let him see Liora in this monster form.
He takes another step.
"Who are you?" he demands.
My heartbeat shakes my chest.
My hunger shakes my veins.
I open my mouth to answer—
But the talisman around my neck flares.
Pain hits me.
And the world goes black.
- Writer
