A billionaire Hybrid, Blood and Starlight.

The night was dark—too dark—and there was no one around. The kind of silence that worms its way beneath your skin—if you're cursed enough to still feel anything. But for the first time in centuries, I could. The cold. Not the imagined sensation I used to describe to passersby, not the mental memory of winter nights long past. This was real. The wind slid over my skin like a whisper with teeth—not enough to make me shudder, but just enough to remind me that things had changed. I was no longer the creature who once danced through shadows, untouched by the elements. I was something else now. Half vampire. Half wolf. Fully cursed. And it was all thanks to Kane. He lived inside me now—his blood, his spirit, his instincts tangled with mine like roots in old earth. He brought warmth where once there was only hunger. I could feel now. I could taste food—actually enjoy it—like some ridiculous human in a holiday movie. Kane hated blood. Despised it. Which, of course, made me love it even more. The craving still lived in me, coiled and waiting. I wasn’t ready to give that part up yet. But he had given me something I would never resent. Sarena. Or rather, the certainty of her. The moment Kane's soul merged with mine, the haze in my mind cleared like mist from a mountain top, and all I could see—all I could feel—was her. My love for her, once a fierce flame, had become something deeper. Steady. Anchored. I loved her with everything I was, everything I wasn’t, and everything I hoped to be. She was my flame and my ruin. The chaos in my veins and the peace I longed for. My bond, my future. And tonight… tonight was the night I was going to end this hunt. This agony. This hollow ache where she should be. Three months—an eternity, and yet not long at all in the grand tapestry of my cursed life. Still, I’d felt every second, every breath without her. And Edward… that bastard… he was going to pay for every one of them. According to my sources, Edward was preparing a ritual—something ancient, something twisted—deep in the ruins of his family’s old estate. It belonged to Hexter Witch Mother. Once a place of elegance, now it reeked of dread. It stood like a corpse, proud but rotting, a monument to what had been lost and what should never return. Tonight was a full moon. The perfect night for monsters to dance. He was going to bring Sarena with him. I didn’t know why. I didn’t care. I only knew one thing: he wouldn’t leave with her. I would. I was crouched near the southern edge of the ruined courtyard, scouting the perimeter, when I felt it—movement. Subtle. Human. A mistake. They were trying to climb the south tower, slipping on the slick stone like a first-time thief. They made it about two minutes before crashing to the ground in a graceless heap. I sighed. In a blink, I was behind her before she could even rise. She didn’t see me—but she felt me. Her body tensed, hand already curled around a golden dagger, voice low and steady. Cautious, but far from afraid. “Stay away if you know what’s best for you,” she said. “I don’t want to kill unless I have to.” I smirked. “Nice fall, Snail. What are you doing here?” She froze. Then turned. The mask came off, and before I could even brace myself, she threw her arms around me and pulled me into a bone-crushing hug. “Dominic!” “Good to see you too, clumsy snail,” I murmured, letting the hug linger longer than I meant to. She stepped back, eyes shining. “Where have you been?” “Hunting shadows. Chasing ghosts. Losing my mind, mostly,” I said. “But what are you doing here alone?” She straightened her back. “What do you think? I’m here to rescue Sarena.” I raised an eyebrow. “you are here alone?” She looked away. “Yea.” “And where is Silas?” “Council meeting. Again. New rules, new politics. The usual chaos.” I nodded. “I heard. The big reveal’s in two months.” “Yeah,” she said softly. “And I don’t think humans are ready for the truth. Not all of it.” “They’re never ready,” I muttered. “But Edward doesn’t care. He’ll kill anyone who gets in his way.” She looked back up at me. “That’s why I’m here. Because I can’t lose anyone else while I sit behind safe walls doing nothing.” “Does Silas even know you’ve been out here looking for her?” “No,” she whispered. “He’s got too much on his plate already. I can’t burden him any further.” “So you lie to him?” “No,” she said with a shrug. “I just... let him believe I’m with you. That you’re heartbroken and need a friend.” I let that hang in the air. “So why didn’t you check up on me in the past three months?” Her voice cracked. “Because I can’t look at you without remembering how I failed us all.” I went still. She swallowed. “I’m the reason Edward awakened. she was once again carrying a burden that wasn't hers to carry, not alone at least. We all got played. I never knew my own aunt was that soaked in evil. she had her demons hidden. So very perfectly wrapped in the glamour of perfection that had everyone mesmerized . Aunt Victoria had me questioning my very own existence.