I tried to stand, but my body felt alien and broken.
Two wolves stepped forward, their strength unyielding as they forced me to my knees.
“Who are you?” Orion demanded, his tone icy.
“I’m… Evelise,” I croaked, barely able to hold my head up.
He crouched, his gaze sharp and unforgiving. “You shouldn’t be here. Whatever you are, you’re not welcome.”
Before I could respond, he gave a calm yet final order. “Take her. If she’s a threat, we’ll handle it.”
“No!” I screamed, struggling against their iron grip. “You don’t understand—”
But they dragged me away. Orion’s unreadable gaze lingered for a moment before he turned his back.
I was shoved into a damp cell, the scent of rust and decay thick in the air. My knees hit the cold stone, and I curled into myself, trembling. My body felt wrong—too strong, too foreign.
The hunger started as a gnawing ache, deep and primal. It wasn’t normal. It wasn’t human.
Footsteps echoed down the corridor. Torchlight flickered against the walls, revealing Orion’s imposing figure.
“Comfortable?” he asked, his voice edged with steel.
“Five-star accommodations,” I muttered, my humor flat and bitter.
“The pack doesn’t trust you,” he said. “Your scent is wrong.”
“I don’t even know what I am,” I admitted, my voice shaking. “One minute I was dying, and the next… this.”
Orion’s gaze softened briefly, but his expression quickly hardened. “There’s something in you—something that doesn’t belong anywhere.”
Suddenly, pain surged through me, ripping a scream from my throat. My skin stretched and tore, my bones cracked, and my body contorted as dark scales erupted along my arms. Sharp claws replaced my nails, and my jaw ached as fangs pushed through my gums.
When the pain subsided, I crouched on all fours, panting. My reflection in the damp stone was barely recognizable—a hybrid of wolf and serpent!
Oh god.
“You shifted,” Orion said, his tone grim.
“No,” I whispered, shaking my head. “This can’t be real.”
When the hunger roared again, I lunged. Orion moved faster than I could track, slamming me into the wall with one hand around my throat.
“Control yourself,” he commanded.
I froze, my claws inches from his face. The realization that he could kill me with ease doused the rage clawing at my insides. Slowly, my claws retracted, and my breathing steadied.
Orion released me and stepped back. “Hybrids like you rarely survive their first transformation. If they do, they’re dangerous—to everyone.”
I sank to the floor, trembling. “What happens now?”
“If you lose control again,” he said, his tone final, “I’ll end you.”
He left, slamming the iron door behind him.
I stayed on the cold stone floor, staring at the cracks in the ceiling. Time blurred until the sound of footsteps shattered the silence. Three wolves stood outside the bars, their gazes hostile.
“She’s a curse,” one sneered. “Doesn’t belong anywhere.”
“Alpha should’ve killed her,” another muttered.
Their words stung, but I stayed silent, curling my claws into my palms.
Suddenly, a shout echoed from above. “Help! It’s the crimson rogues!”
The scent of blood and fear hit me like a punch. Before I could react, the iron door burst open, and a bleeding wolf stumbled inside.
Something massive slammed into him, snarling.
The hunger I’d been suppressing erupted. My chains snapped as I lunged, slamming into the rogue and tearing into its throat with claws and fangs. Blood sprayed as it crumpled beneath me, lifeless.
More rogues flooded in, their red fur a blur. My bones cracked, and my vision sharpened as my body shifted further. Scales and fur melded together, and my claws grew razor-sharp.
I didn’t think—I attacked.
The next rogue lunged, and I ripped through its chest. Another fell as my fangs closed around its neck. Blood coated the floor as I tore through them with savage precision.
When the chaos settled, four rogues lay dead at my feet. My chest heaved, and the hunger still clawed at me, insatiable.
A sharp growl snapped my focus. Orion stood at the entrance, his golden eyes blazing.
“Evelise, Enough!”
