Chapter 3 The Blood Between Us

Umbreth lay buried beneath a mountain of bone-white stone hidden from the eyes of men, guarded by spells that could peel the skin from trespassers. But Selene walked through untouched, the ruins whispering her name like a prayer and a curse.

Beneath the cathedral crypts, among scrolls wrapped in time and sealed with ash, the truth unraveled like a bleeding wound.

She was neither vampire nor wolf.

She was both.

A hybrid impossible, forbidden. The last time such blood existed, it sparked a war that burned entire cities into legend.

Kael watched her from the shadows, his golden eyes uncertain. He bore scars not just on his flesh, but deep in his soul memories of loss, of kin turned enemies. He wanted to hate her. He wanted to protect her. He did both in the same breath.

But Selene's thirst had awakened.

It hit like a storm. She drank from a child a boy who had shown her kindness. The taste of his life almost unraveled her.

She would have killed him... if not for the panther.

It stepped from the dark, fur glistening like onyx rain, and for the first time, it spoke within her mind.

"You are what they fear. You are the storm they buried."

Far away, in his blood-forged tower, Valrick watched. Surrounded by rogues and creatures twisted by forgotten science, he reached into her mind with a vision:

A throne of shadows. Power over both races.

"Let the wolf die," he whispered, "and the world will kneel."