The taste of blood was still sharp on Amelia’s tongue as she staggered deeper into the black woods. Her hands trembled, slick with the crimson proof of what she’d done—what the bite had awakened inside her. The faces of the men she’d torn apart flashed behind her closed eyes, but there was no guilt anymore. Only hunger. Only the raw pulse of power singing through her veins, each heartbeat dragging her further away from the woman she used to be.
The wind shifted suddenly, carrying with it a scent that made every nerve in her body snap to attention. Earth, musk, and something darker—something male and dominant. A low growl rumbled through the trees, and Amelia’s breath hitched as her newly sharpened senses caught the predator closing in.
He stepped from the shadows like a phantom born from
