Night wrapped itself around the forest like a heavy cloak, thick and unmoving.The wind had died.The trees stood still.Even the animals had gone silent, as if they sensed what stalked between the shadows.Lucian Vale moved under the cover of darkness, his footsteps soundless on the moss-covered ground. He had left the Monaghan estate hours ago, retreating back to his ruins where he had kept watch for days.But something felt different tonight.He wasn’t alone.A faint shift in the air reached him first. Too precise to be an animal. Too quiet to be coincidence. Too deliberate to be harmless.Lucian’s hand slid to the hilt of his blade, muscles coiling as he crouched low, eyes narrowing at the darkened treeline.Then a voice spoke.Not loud.Not rushed.And completely unafraid.“Relax, Lucian. If I wanted you dead, you wouldn’t have heard me at all.”Lucian went still.Not because of fear, but because he recognized the voice.Footsteps approached, soft and steady.A tall figure stepp

The chains rattled violently as Diego pushed against them, his breath coming in broken gasps.Heat pulsed through his veins like liquid fire. His fingers dug into the stone floor, leaving cracks where human hands should never leave marks.Leo took another step back.“Diego… you have to stay with me.”But Diego barely heard him.All he could hear was the monster whispering—“She is in danger.”“They will take her.”“Save her.”“Feed… to become strong.”Diego clamped his hands over his ears, shaking his head, tears burning behind his eyes.“No… no… I won’t let them hurt her… I won’t.”Another pulse tore through his body.His eyes flickered again.Brown.Red.Brown.Red.Leo whispered, voice trembling:“Diego… please don’t lose yourself.”For a moment—just one—Diego looked at Leo with his real eyes again.“Don’t let them hurt her.”Leo’s breath trembled.“I’m trying.”But it wasn’t enough.Not anymore.The monster was waking.---Back at the Evans HouseThe clock in the living room rea

The clash outside grew louder.Metal against bone.Growls against breath.The house trembled with every strike.Claire screamed again, clinging to her mother like her life depended on it , and tonight, it did.Thomas held the phone with shaking hands.But there was no signal.No connection.The lines were dead.Mara’s eyes widened.“They cut the power…”Another brutal thud shook the walls.---Outside – Lucian vs. LewisLucian struck first.A blur of silver.A whisper of wind.Steel carved through the darkness.Lewis dodged, barely.The blade nicked his cheek, just enough to draw a thin line of blood.Lewis touched the crimson smear with two fingers and licked it slowly.His grin sharpened.“Oh… that almost hurt.”Lucian didn’t respond.He moved again, faster this time.A swing meant to sever.Lewis blocked with his forearm, claws piercing the night.CLANG!The guards lunged from behind.Lucian twisted, sweeping his blade in a brutal arc.SHHK.One guard’s arm hit the ground.He shrie

Dominic’s fingers tightened on Claire’s tiny chin.Lewis watched eagerly from the side, sadistic excitement in his eyes.The chained human trembled violently, muffled screams trapped behind the gag.And Diego…Diego stared at Claire.Her little body shaking.Her eyes full of terror.Her small voice breaking:“Uncle Liam… please… don’t let him hurt me…”His vision blurred.His heart pounded like it was trying to escape his chest.The hunger wrapped around his mind like claws.Dominic’s voice cut in, cold and merciless:“Drink, Diego.Or this child dies.”Dominic’s thumb pressed lightly to Claire’s throat.She whimpered.Diego snapped.The chains rattled violently as he leaned forward, jaw trembling, fangs fully exposed.“No… no… no…” he whispered, fighting it.But the scent of blood,the human’s fear,Claire’s sobs,Dominic’s cruelty.It all crashed into him at once.The whisper in his skull turned into a command:“DRINK.”Diego’s hands shook as he lowered his head toward the human’s e

The guards dragged Claire down the hall, her screams echoing through the mansion like something dying.“UNCLE LIAM—HELP ME—PLEEEEASE!”Diego thrashed so violently the chains cut deeper into his wrists.Blood ran down his arms.His eyes glowed a furious, feral red.“LET...HER...GO!!” he roared, the sound shaking the iron bolts in the stone floor.But Dominic only clasped his hands behind his back, calm as ever.“Restrain him.”Two guards moved in.Diego lunged forward, one sharp, violent movement, and one guard went flying across the room, crashing into a pillar with a sickening crack.The second guard froze, terrified.Dominic lifted a finger.The guard swallowed and stepped forward, shaking.Diego snarled, fangs bared, but the chains held him.Barely.“You see?” Dominic said softly, stepping around the shattered marble.“This is not weakness.This is power.”Leo watched from above, gripping the balcony so hard his knuckles were bone white.“Father… stop this…” Leo whispered, but his