Chapter Three - B
1530 Words
CHAPTER 3 – B — THE ALPHA UNLEASHED
The night was burning.
Luciano’s black car cut through the storm like a knife.
Rain slammed against the windshield.
The tires screamed.
Lightning flashed across the mountains.
He didn’t blink.
He didn’t breathe.
His hands gripped the wheel so tight his knuckles turned white.
Only one thought mattered.
His sons.
Matteo. Luca.
His blood. His legacy.
Taken.
He could almost smell their fear.
Hear their tiny heartbeats echoing in the dark.
The engine roared louder.
The road twisted down toward the valley where Selena lived.
Selena.
Her name hit him like a blade.
He hadn’t said it in five years.
Hadn’t even allowed himself to think it.
But tonight, it was everywhere—
In his mind.
In his chest.
In the storm itself.
Rain blurred his vision, but he saw her face as clear as day.
Her silver eyes.
Her tears mixing with rain.
Her voice breaking as she asked, “Why, Luciano?”
He’d told himself he’d done the right thing.
He’d believed it.
The Council said she carried a curse.
That her blood would doom them all.
So, he left her.
He rejected her.
He thought it would save her.
But he’d been wrong.
So wrong.
The only curse had been his own fear.
The only danger—the love he couldn’t control.
Now, she was in danger again.
And their children—
Their innocent, perfect children—
Were gone.
Luciano’s jaw clenched.
He could feel his pulse pounding in his ears.
The wolf inside him wanted out.
“Easy,” he whispered to himself.
“Not yet.”
If he lost control now, he would destroy everything in his path.
Even Selena.
But when he thought of his boys crying for help, his chest burned.
He slammed the brakes.
The car skidded to a stop at the edge of the cliff road.
Below him, the small coastal town flickered with faint lights through the rain.
Her town.
He could smell her.
Even through the storm.
Wild honey.
Storm air.
Selena.
She was alive.
Luciano stepped out of the car.
The cold wind hit him like knives, but he didn’t care.
He threw off his coat.
His eyes glowed bright gold.
The Alpha of the Italian Werewolf Mafia was done hiding.
He whispered, “I’m coming, my Luna.”
Then, he changed.
Bones cracked.
Muscles stretched.
The sound was raw and painful.
His body grew massive—dark fur, claws, glowing eyes.
When it was done, he stood taller than a man, more powerful than a storm.
And he ran.
The earth tore under his paws.
Trees blurred by.
Every sound, every scent, every heartbeat was sharp and clear.
He could smell fear.
He could smell his children.
Then—movement.
Three figures running through the trees.
Men.
Luciano’s growl shook the night.
They turned too late.
He hit the first one.
The man flew into a tree and didn’t get up.
The second raised a g*n—silver bullets.
Luciano ducked.
Snapped the man’s wrist.
The g*n fell.
Mud splashed.
Bones cracked.
The third tried to run.
Luciano grabbed him by the neck and lifted him into the air.
The man kicked and choked.
Luciano’s eyes blazed gold.
“Where are my sons?” he growled.
The man trembled. “W-we didn’t take them! We were paid to delay you!”
Luciano’s voice was like thunder. “By who?”
“Someone… someone with a black sigil… not your pack…”
Luciano’s claws tightened. “Who?”
The man coughed blood. “Someone higher than the Council. Someone who wants the Moonborn line dead.”
Luciano froze.
Moonborn.
The word cut through him like lightning.
He stepped closer. “Say that again.”
“The Moonborn. The curse. The children—”
Before he could finish, a howl shattered the night.
Low. Dark.
Not human.
Not wolf.
It came from deep in the forest.
Luciano turned.
The air went cold.
The rain slowed.
Shadows moved between the trees.
Dozens of them.
Glowing red eyes.
Bodies made of smoke and hate.
“Void wolves,” Luciano whispered.
He hadn’t seen them since the old wars.
One leaped out of the dark.
He caught it midair and crushed it in his hands.
It turned to black smoke.
More came.
Ten. Twenty. Too many.
Luciano fought like a beast born of fury.
Claws flashed.
Blood splashed.
Black smoke rose into the rain.
But they kept coming.
Endless.
He bled.
Cuts burned along his arms, chest, face.
Still he fought.
Still he refused to fall.
Then—he heard it.
A voice.
Soft, trembling.
His name.
“Luciano!”
His heart stopped.
He turned.
Through the storm, a figure stood at the edge of the clearing.
Soaked in rain.
Hair clinging to her skin.
Silver eyes glowing in the dark.
Selena.
He couldn’t move.
Couldn’t breathe.
Five years had passed, but she looked the same.
Fierce. Beautiful.
Heartbroken.
The bond between them sparked like fire.
He wanted to run to her.
To fall to his knees.
But the void wolves snarled and came again.
Selena lifted her hands.
Light burst from her palms.
Silver, bright, pure.
The creatures screamed.
The light burned through them.
One by one, they vanished.
Smoke faded.
Silence returned.
Luciano stood there, breathing hard.
His wolf form began to shrink.
Bones shifted.
He fell to one knee, now human again.
Blood ran down his arm.
He looked up at her.
Couldn’t speak.
Could only stare.
Selena’s face was pale.
Her eyes were cold.
Her voice shook.
“You shouldn’t have come.”
Luciano swallowed. “They took them.”
“I know.”
Her voice cracked.
He saw pain in her eyes that nearly broke him.
“I’ll get them back,” he said.
She laughed bitterly. “You? You couldn’t even protect me. What makes you think you can protect them?”
He froze.
That hurt more than any wound.
“Because they’re ours,” he whispered.
Her expression changed.
For a heartbeat, he saw something—love, maybe—but then it was gone.
“You don’t get to say that,” she said coldly. “Not after what you did.”
Rain fell harder.
Thunder cracked overhead.
Lightning lit their faces in white light.
Luciano took a step closer. “You think I don’t regret it? You think I don’t see your face every night? I broke my own soul to save you.”
“Save me?” she shouted. “You left me to die!”
He shook his head. “I left to stop them from killing you. I thought—”
“You thought rejecting me would protect me?” she cut in.
Her voice broke.
“You destroyed me, Luciano. You destroyed everything.”
He looked at her like a man already punished.
But he said softly, “You’re still here.”
Her eyes glistened. “And my children are gone.”
Silence.
Cold.
Endless.
Luciano’s heart cracked.
He wanted to hold her.
To promise he’d never leave again.
But he could feel the wall between them—
Years of pain, betrayal, and loss.
Then—movement.
Selena’s eyes flicked toward the forest.
“Luciano,” she whispered. “They’re coming back.”
He turned.
Shapes moved in the fog.
Dozens of them.
He grabbed her hand. “We need to move.”
She tried to pull away. “I can handle—”
He pulled her closer. “You’ll die if you stay.”
For a heartbeat, their eyes locked.
The bond pulsed between them—hot and bright and painful.
“Trust me,” he said.
Selena hesitated.
Then nodded.
They ran.
Through trees.
Through rain.
Through darkness.
Behind them, shadows howled.
The ground shook.
Lightning split the sky.
They reached the cliffs.
Selena stopped suddenly.
Her voice broke. “Luciano—look!”
He followed her gaze.
Far below, through the fog, two tiny figures were being dragged by dark shapes.
Matteo. Luca.
Luciano’s heart shattered.
He roared—so loud the earth trembled.
He took a step forward, ready to jump.
Selena grabbed his arm. “No! It’s too far!”
He turned to her, eyes wild.
“I’d die a thousand times for them.”
“Luciano—!”
But it was too late.
He jumped.
Straight off the cliff.
Selena screamed his name.
Lightning flashed.
Rain poured.
The Alpha fell into the storm—
Into darkness—
Chasing his sons.
Chasing his past.
Chasing the only thing left worth saving.
Selena dropped to her knees at the cliff’s edge.
Tears mixed with rain.
Her scream echoed through the valley.
Then—
A whisper.
Soft. Cold.
A woman’s voice in the wind.
“This is only the beginning.”
Selena froze.
Her breath caught.
She looked up—eyes wide—
As thunder rolled and the sea swallowed the man she once loved.
HOOK / CLIFFHANGER:
Luciano vanishes into the raging waves.
Selena is left alone on the cliff, trembling, rain falling like shards of glass.
And in the distance, two small voices cry out—
“Mommy!”
Then silence.
End of Chapter Three B
- Writer
