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.
