Nikolai

I had just told Ava the truth. I revealed my identity as a wolf, and more importantly, that she was a hybrid. But the moment those words left my mouth, fear crossed her face. She bolted, and I let her go. I figured she needed space.

But as the minutes turned into hours, something gnawed at me. She didn't come back to her dorm, and I couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. I had to find her. I focused, trying to catch her scent in the middle of the woods where we were earlier.

Instead of Ava's sweet, familiar scent, I caught a whiff of Liam's. That made my blood run cold. Liam was a known rival, always lurking around, always looking for a chance to stir up chaos.

I rushed to his dorm room, my heart pounding, but when I got there, the room was empty. No clothes strewn about, no sign of life, just silence. My gut twisted.

I whipped out my phone and called my pack members. I needed them to search for Ava.

"Ava's missing. Look for her. Anywhere. Everywhere." I hung up and tried to focus.

The more I thought about her, the more I feared her safety. Ava was raised as a regular human being. A hybrid like her could be the most powerful being, but her powers remained dormant since she was young, so she was still vulnerable in ways she didn't understand.

Minutes felt like hours as I paced outside Liam's dorm. I couldn't shake the image of Ava's frightened face from my mind. I couldn't help but feel disappointed at how I handled everything earlier.

Just then, my phone buzzed. It was one of my pack members.

"Alpha, we may have found her. Her scent led as far as the old warehouse by the river."

Relief washed over me, but it was mixed with dread. What had she been doing there? I took off, my feet pounding against the pavement.

I stepped inside the old warehouse, the darkness swallowing me. I called out Ava's name, but only silence answered, so I felt my heart race again. I rushed forward, sniffing for clues until I was led into a small makeshift room.

The room was empty, save for the faint smell of dust and something metallic, the smell of human blood. My eyes landed on the floor, where a tiny vial lay shattered. Rage surged through me.

I could almost hear Ava's voice in my head, urging me to stay calm. But how could I? She was missing, and the empty vial of blood told me everything. My mind raced with thoughts. Had she drunk it?

I rushed out of the warehouse. I had to gather my pack. I needed them with me. We had to confront Liam’s pack. I wasn’t even sure if he was involved in Ava’s disappearance, but the anger inside me didn’t care about uncertainty. I had to do something. I had to act.

As I reached the clearing where my pack gathered, their faces turned serious. They could see it on me—the desperation, the fury. I told them what I found. Their eyes widened. Whispers spread through the group. They knew what it meant. They knew how dangerous this was. I felt the weight of their eyes on me, waiting for directions.

"Liam's pack may have Ava," I announced. "You know what this means, right?" Some members hesitated, but others nodded. They knew the stakes.

When we reached Liam's territory, I could see the shadows of his pack. They were already waiting for us. I stepped forward, my pack flanking me.

"Where is Ava?" I shouted.

Liam arrogantly stepped out from the shadows, a smirk on his face.

"Looking for her, are we? What's wrong? Did she finally realize what a loser you are?" he taunted.

I clenched my fists. I wanted to lunge at him, but I held back. I needed answers. "Did you take her?"

When he didn't answer, I stepped closer, fists clenched. "Did you take her?"

Liam shrugged, his indifference infuriating. "Search the territory if you want. She's not here."

Ava

I felt like a switch flipped after Liam forced blood down my throat. My senses sharpened, and hunger surged through me. It was a kind of hunger that was primal, a desperate need to feed. I could feel the pulse of everything around me, the heartbeat of every living thing. It called to me as if I wanted to tear into flesh.

I lunged at Liam, my body moving faster than I thought possible. I wanted to hurt him, to consume him. But before I could reach him, his friends appeared and restrained me, immediately injecting something at the side of my neck.

My limbs grew heavy and the darkness closed in again. When I woke again, I was in a basement. Cold, concrete walls surrounded me. There was a single window high above, but it was too small to escape through.

I tried to stand, but my body betrayed me. I felt weak, like a puppet with severed strings. Liam stood a few feet away, watching me. His expression was a mix of triumph and curiosity.

"Why are you doing this?" I mumbled.

"Why? Because I need what you have, Ava," he laughed as he stepped closer to me.

His eyes flickered with something I couldn't quite place. Desire? Greed? Maybe both.

"The power of the Luna Hybrid was whispered about in dark corners of Duke University. You're one of a kind. Half werewolf, half vampire, supposedly unstoppable."

"Are you all insane?" I asked, unable to take any more of this hybrid nonsense.

The question hung in the air, making him smile, but it wasn't a comforting smile. It felt like a trap. Liam then told me that nothing about the idea he had in mind was insane and that it was for his glory.

"I had been planning this since you came to Duke," he admitted.

"I know nothing much, but I knew you needed to be bitten by a werewolf to unlock your wolf's side and drink human blood to awaken your vampire side, and now here we are."

He laid out his plans like a chess player revealing his strategy. The poison coursing through my veins made me untouchable for now, but I knew what would happen next. Once it was flushed out, he would drain me. My blood, the powers I never knew existed—he wanted them to rule the world and the werewolf society.

"Your real parents had to die," Liam said, leaning closer. "My father killed them to get to you. Unfortunately, you were still too young to harvest, so you were handed over to your fake parents first."

Tears started streaming down my face realizing that everything about my life at this point was all lies. I felt rage bubbling inside me, but the poison held me back. I was trapped, both physically and emotionally.

"Imagine it," he continued, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "With your abilities, my father and I could control the packs. We could create a new order, a new world!"

I forced myself to stand only to fall back down.

"You can't escape with all that Verbena and Wolfsbane running through your veins," Liam mocked, petting my head as if I were a toy dog. "Tomorrow, though, you'll be ready."

When he left, I focused on my breathing and my senses. I didn't know what I was supposed to do, but since Liam mentioned that I had great powers, then maybe, I wasn't completely helpless in this situation.

I was weak, but I couldn't let that stop me. Liam wanted my blood, and I couldn't let him have it, so I pounded on the steel door over and over, my fists aching with each strike. Each failed attempt only fueled my anger. I could feel it boiling inside me, ready to erupt.

I kept trying until my fists started bleeding, but the steel door wouldn't budge, and just as I was about to give up, I suddenly sensed it. One way or the other, I could feel Nikolai was close by, so i kept trying even though I still felt weak.

Suddenly, the door creaked open, revealing a figure I couldn't clearly see as it was covered in darkness.