Simone "Please tell me that's a video." My voice came out thin. My hand was already on Rai's bedroom door, one inch from pushing it open. Behind the door, a woman moaned. I told myself it was porn. Rai watched it sometimes. He'd told me so, grinning, like it was nothing. Tonight was going to be my first night with the boyfriend I'd waited for. I pushed the door open to see a blonde woman on his bed and Rai was on top of her. My bag slipped off my shoulder and hit the floor. Rai's head turned slowly. He didn't even look sorry. A slow smile pulled at his mouth, like I was a show he'd forgotten to turn off. "Simone. You're early." My throat closed. I stared at him, then at the blonde, who pulled the sheet up with a small, bored sigh. "Who is she?" I managed. "Does it matter?" Rai pushed off the bed and pulled his jeans up, taking his time. "Don't make that face. You look like a kicked puppy." "You told me you were watching porn." My laugh came out cracked. "I stood outside your door like an idiot, telling myself it was porn." Heat climbed up my neck. My fingers were shaking, so I curled them into fists. "How long?" I asked. Rai shrugged. "Since the second week." The room tilted. Four months of him kissing my forehead, telling me he'd wait for me, that I was worth waiting for. "You said you respected me." "I said what you needed to hear." He stepped closer. He tilted his head and studied my face, his eyes lingering on mine, one green, one blue. His lip curled. "God, those eyes. I always thought they were creepy. Like something that crawled out of a doll factory." My jaw tightened. "Don't." "Walking Barbie doll. Pretty, dumb, and stuck with the same face." He flicked a strand of my hair. "Did you really think I'd stay with a girl who won't even open her legs?" "I'm leaving," I told him. My voice shook, but I stepped back anyway. "And I'm telling the elders. Your father sits on that council. Let's see what he thinks when I tell him what kind of boy raised in his house cheats and lies and treats girls like this." The laughing stopped and Rai's smile faded. His shoulders dropped, head lowered, and when he lifted it again, the brown in his eyes was gone. They glowed yellow. I stumbled back into the doorframe. "What... what are your eyes..." "The elders?" He crossed the room in two steps. "You think I'm scared of the elders, Simone?" His hand closed around my throat. My back slammed against the wall. Pain split across my neck as something sharp pushed into my skin. I looked down and his fingers weren't fingers anymore. Black claws, long and curved, sank into my flesh. "You really are a pathetic little human," Rai whispered, his face an inch from mine. "Everyone in this town knows what we are. Everyone but you. Your family hid you well, didn't they? Poor, clueless Simone. Stupid enough to think she lived among normal people." Stars burst in front of my eyes. His claws dug deeper. "You'll keep your mouth shut," he told me. "Or I'll rip out your tongue myself." He let go. I hit the floor coughing. I tried to scream. A thin, broken breath scraped out of me, and nothing else. "Oh, that'll last a few hours," Rai said, wiping his claws on the blonde's sheet. "Maybe longer. Shame. I liked hearing you beg." I crawled for the door and his boot came down on my hand stopping me. "Where do you think you're going?" He crouched, grabbed my hair, and yanked my head up. "You threatened me in my own house." I shook my head. My lips shaped the word please. No sound. "Aww." He pouted. Then his voice went flat. "Too late." He reached into his nightstand. A small metal case clicked open. Inside lay a needle, thin and long, with a vial of pink liquid. My heart slammed into my ribs. I thrashed and kicked at the floor. He pinned my arm under his knee like I weighed nothing. "Know what this is?" He held the vial up to the light. "Aphrodisiac. Strong stuff. Made for wolves. For a human?" His grin widened. "You'll be begging for it by the time I'm done." I shook my head again and again. I tried to bite his hand but he slapped me so hard my vision flashed white. The needle slid into my neck. My head dropped back against the floorboards, and the ceiling blurred. "There," Rai cooed, patting my cheek. "Better. Quieter." "Rai," the blonde called from the bed, a little nervous now. "Are you sure about this? She looks bad." "Relax." He stood and wiped his hands. "I've got a better idea than killing her. Killing's too clean." He pulled out his phone and dialed. I couldn't lift my arm. Every breath dragged heat into my chest. My thighs clenched on their own, and shame burned through me even as my body betrayed me. "It's me," Rai spoke into the phone. "Yeah. The human girl, the one I told you about. Bring everyone." He listened. A cruel laugh scraped out of him. "All nine of you. And keep the sick ones near the front." My eyes fluttered. I forced them to focus on him. He ended the call and crouched beside me again, smiling that gentle, awful smile he used to wear when he kissed my forehead. "Nine rogues, sweetheart. They haven't had a woman in months. Five of them are carrying a disease no one can cure." He stroked my hair, "I'd say I'm sorry, but I plan to be far away when they start." He kicked my stomach so hard, I spat blood. Then he dragged me outside, I just knew he was taking me to my death.

Simone "Hold her down. The boss said we can take our time." The voice came from somewhere above me. Rough and happy. I was lying on gravel. Rai had dragged me out of the house and dumped me behind a ruined barn at the edge of town. I didn't remember how I got there. My heart pounded so loud it drowned out half the world. Someone grabbed my ankle. I kicked but it was weak and clumsy. "Look at her try," a second voice laughed. Then it dropped into a mean, curious hum. "Eyes like that? I've never seen a human with eyes like that." "Don't care about her eyes." Boots crunched around me. Nine shapes in a loose circle, their eyes glowing dull yellow in the dark. Some had scars, one had a missing ear, another was breathing in a wet, rattling way that made my skin crawl. I tried to scream but nothing came out. "Hear that?" The man with the rattling breath crouched near my face. His fingers brushed my jaw. "She's begging already." I jerked away. A hand slammed my shoulder back into the dirt. "Careful," another one warned, grinning. "The drug's working. Look at her skin. She wants it." "No," I forced out. It cracked in half. "No." They laughed. My dress strap snapped. I squeezed my eyes shut, and something deep inside me, a tiny, stubborn piece, refused to break. If I closed my eyes and thought of my grandmother's humming, maybe I wouldn't feel it. Then the laughing stopped. "Why's it so quiet?" the one with the missing ear muttered. A low sound rolled across the barn yard. It started deep, almost too deep to hear. It vibrated through the ground into my back. The hair on my arms rose. It wasn't a growl. It was worse. It was the sound of something very old deciding that someone was going to die. "Who's there?" The rattling man stood up fast. Nothing answered. A shadow moved at the edge of the barn. Tall and broad. It stepped into the moonlight one slow footstep at a time, and my breath caught. He was beautiful. That was my first stupid thought. Black hair, tousled like he'd run through the wind and eyes, gold, burning bright in the dark. A man built like a king carved out of stone. His gaze swept over me. "Which one of you touched her?" he asked, his voice quiet... that made it worse. "Mind your business, pretty boy," the missing-ear rogue sneered, stepping forward. "This one's ours." The golden eyes slid to him. "I'll ask once more." The stranger tilted his head. "Which. One." "You deaf? We said..." The man vanished. One second he stood twenty feet away. The next, his hand was around the rogue's throat. I heard a crack, like a branch snapping. The body dropped. Four rogues lunged at once. Claws flashed. A scream tore out of someone. The stranger moved like smoke. A claw raked his arm, and he didn't even blink. He grabbed a rogue by the jaw and slammed him into the barn wall so hard the planks split. "Kill him!" someone screamed. "What the hell is he?!" My vision swam. The drug was crawling up my legs now, pulling me under. I lay in the dirt and watched, unable to look away. A body hit the ground near my hand. A rogue crawled away, whimpering, one arm hanging wrong. "Run," the man with the rattling breath cried. "Run, run, RUN." They scattered. The stranger tracked each one with those burning eyes. He didn't chase them. He lifted one hand, and the air around his fingers rippled. A black wind cracked across the yard. Three of the rogues dropped mid-step, collapsing like puppets with cut strings. Then everything was still. I lay there, shaking, my chest rising and falling too fast. The smell of blood and dust filled my nose. I forced my eyes up. He stood over me, his chest rising and falling, a long scratch bleeding along his forearm. His eyes had changed. "Can you stand?" he asked. I tried to nod. My body didn't obey. I managed a tiny, pathetic shake of my head. He swore under his breath and knelt. His coat dropped around my shoulders. "Look at me." He cupped my chin. His hand was shaking. "What did they give you?" My lips parted but words wouldn't come. My throat burned and I tapped my neck weakly. His gaze dropped to the puncture mark and the dried blood. His nostrils flared. "Aphrodisiac. Wolf grade." He closed his eyes briefly. "Of course." "Hurts," I rasped. Barely a sound. "Everything... hurts." His eyes opened. "Don't talk. Your throat is torn." "Who..." I swallowed. "Who are you?" A pause. His thumb brushed the tear tracks off my cheek, and it was so careful I almost cried again. "Someone who shouldn't be here." He slid one arm under my knees and lifted me. My head fell against his chest. "You're burning," I mumbled. "So are you." His voice came low and rough. "Don't move, human. I'm not... I'm not in a good state either." I blinked up at him. "Drugged?" "Poisoned. Earlier. A glass of wine at a banquet." A humorless breath. "Someone wanted me to do something stupid tonight." "Then why did you come here?" His jaw ground. For a long moment he said nothing. He carried me through the dark yard, away from the bodies, toward a black car parked on the road. "I smelled blood," he told me finally. "And I couldn't walk past it." The car door opened for me. He eased me into the back seat and leaned over, buckling me in. His face was inches from mine. His breath was ragged. His eyes dropped to my mouth and snapped away. "Don't look at me like that," he warned. "Like what?" I whispered. "Like you want me to forget I'm trying to be a decent man." My heart skipped. The heat in my body surged. I was dizzy, confused, and so tired of being afraid. A strange, reckless thought drifted up through the haze. This man had killed for me. This man was shaking just from touching my skin. My fingers curled into the front of his shirt. "Then don't be decent," I breathed. His whole body went still. "Say that again." I didn't. I tugged him down by the shirt instead. A sound tore out of his chest. Part groan, part curse. He pressed his forehead against mine, eyes squeezed shut, fighting something. "Last chance," he rasped. "Tell me to stop." I didn't tell him to stop. His lips crashed into mine softly, I could feel the tension rising. "You have no idea what you just started," he growled. When we got to his penthouse, he didn't waste any time and carried me up to his room. "Are you fine?" He asked, touching my skin carefully. I nodded, anticipating what would come next. He slowly licked the wound around my neck and it started healing. I gasped in shock. "Calm down, baby. You will be fine," he smiled, wanting to walk away. I held his hand back, shaking my head. "There is no going back from this," he told me, his voice laced with desire. Before I knew it he was on top of me, careful not to squeeze me, he took his time taking off my clothes. "Fuck!" He grinned looking at my naked body with amusement. I blushed hard, trying to turn away, but he lifted my chin to face him and kissed me again. His cock was hard and close to my pussy. "Last chance to say no." I grabbed his cock and pressed it against my wet clit. "Fuckkkk." He pushed in slowly, allowing me to adjust to his size. "You're so tight, baby," he whispered in my ears, sucking on it. I lifted my waist to meet his thrusts and he took that as a sign to go faster. "Ah..." I moaned. "Shh... your neck needs to heal fully, take it like the good girl you are." He pushed in deeper as he was almost close. His cock hit that spot that made me see starts. I clenched so hard as I came. "Yeahh." He didn't stop, instead he increased his pace and filled me up with his cum. I could feel it dripping down my thighs. "You belong to me now," he said, hugging me in a way that made me feel safe. I woke before sunrise. Every inch of me ached. An arm lay across my waist, and a stranger's slow breathing brushed the back of my neck. I didn't know his name. I didn't know where I was. I slid out from under his arm one careful inch at a time. My dress was ruined, so I pulled on his shirt, grabbed my shoes and held my breath and tiptoed toward the door. My hand touched the handle. "Leaving already?" My blood turned to ice. I didn't turn. "I..." My voice had come back, "I have to go. My grandmother's waiting." "Is she?" I could feel him smiling. "Run if you want, little human." My fingers tightened on the handle. "But I never let go of anything I've tasted," he told me softly. "You can run. I'll still find you."

Simone "Simone, listen carefully. Don't tell anyone where you're going. Not your father. Not a single soul." My grandmother's voice crackled through the phone. I stood at a bus stop in a stranger's shirt. "Grandma?" I frowned, tilting my head. My throat still stung, but I could talk now. "What's going on? You sound scared." "Come to the house. Today. Right now." A shaky breath. "I should have told you years ago. I kept thinking there was more time." "Told me what?" "Not on the phone." Her voice cracked. "Just come. Please, my girl. Please." The call dropped. I stared at the screen. My grandmother never begged. She was the woman who'd once chased a burglar out of her yard with a frying pan. I took the first bus. Then I walked the last mile on foot because my legs were still weak and the driver didn't go that far. I couldn't think about any of it. Not yet. The front door stood open as I got to her place and my feet slowed. "Grandma?" No answer. The humming I always heard when I came here was missing. The house was too quiet. "Grandma, it's me!" I stepped inside. The kitchen light was on. A chair was knocked over. Her glasses lay broken near the stove. Something cold crawled up my spine. "Grandma?" My voice came out small. "Please answer me." A low growl came from the living room. I froze. Slowly, I turned my head. Three wolves stood in the middle of the room. Gray and black, their fur matted with red. Their heads were lowered, their muzzles dripping. And on the floor between them, my grandmother lay on her back... her chest was open. My mind refused to understand. I stood there, blinking. One wolf lifted its snout. In its jaws, something dark and wet glistened. A heart. My grandmother's heart. It chewed and swallowed. A scream ripped out of me. I dropped to my knees. My hands flew to my mouth. My whole body started to shake like I was standing in a storm. "No. No, no, no. Grandma. GRANDMA!" The wolves turned. Yellow eyes locked onto mine. Slowly, one of them rose onto its hind legs, its bones cracking and shifting. In seconds, a tall man stood in front of me, naked and smeared with blood, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "You're late," he told me. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't blink. "Why?" It came out in a broken whisper. "She's an old woman. She never hurt anyone. Why?" He gave a lazy shrug. "She knew too much. Talked too much. Old women are like that." "Knew what?" He didn't answer. He walked slowly around me, studying me like a piece of meat on a hook. "You're smaller than I thought." The other two wolves shifted too. One of them, a scarred man with a chipped tooth, laughed under his breath. "This is her? The granddaughter?" "That's her." "She looks like a rabbit." "Rabbits run. Let's see if she does." I scrambled back, my hands sliding in blood. Tears blurred everything. My grandmother's face was turned toward me, her mouth open, her eyes still wide. "She called for you at the end," the first man said softly and leaned down. "You know that? Said your name three times. Right before I reached in." Something inside me snapped. My hair burned... I felt it. A sparking heat at my scalp that I hadn't felt since the night before. Strands whipped across my face, and the color caught my eye. Red, gold and streaks of white. The man's smile faltered. "What the hell...?" I lunged and threw myself at him, clawing, screaming, hitting his face, his chest, his throat. He caught my wrist and twisted. Pain shot up my arm. He slammed me against the wall so hard my teeth rattled. "Stupid little girl." "Let me go!" I kicked at his shin. "Let go of me, you animal!" "Animal?" He laughed, delighted. "You're half right." "Wait." The scarred one stepped forward and sniffed the air. His brows pulled together. He stared at my hair, at my face. "Something's wrong. She smells wrong." "She's human." "No. Not entirely." The man pinning me froze. His grip loosened by a fraction. His eyes narrowed, studying my hair, which was still flickering with color. "Did the old woman hide something?" he muttered. Then my phone rang. All three heads snapped toward my pocket. The man holding me reached into my pocket and pulled it out. He glanced at the screen. A slow, cold smile spread across his bloody face. "Look at that," he murmured. "Right on time." I tried to read the name on the screen. My vision swam. Dad. The man turned the phone toward his friends. They exchanged a look, and the scarred wolf started to laugh. "Don't answer it," I begged. My voice cracked. "Please, don't..." The man held the phone in front of my face. He didn't answer. He let it ring and ring, letting me watch the word glow on the screen. "Funny thing about your father," he told me as he tossed the phone to the floor, "He knew we were coming." My heart stopped. "What?" He released my wrist. I slid down the wall. He crouched in front of me, his bloody fingers tapping my cheek twice, gently, like I was a pet. "Tell Leonardo," he said, "that we kept our end of the deal." Then they were gone