The sound of the door opening echoed—a heavy, metallic drag, as if iron-plated steel was being forced across the floor. A middle-aged man, clad in a red robe embroidered with gold, stepped inside.

  The three guards stationed at the entrance immediately bowed in respect. One of them hurried to unlock the iron bars securing the heavy doors.

  “Leave us,” Victor commanded.

  The three guards bowed once more and departed without a word.

  Victor stepped forward. With a single hand, he pushed the doors wide open.

  “Hmm…” His piercing eyes locked onto a woman, her hands and feet bound in heavy chains.

  “F… father,” Victoria uttered weakly, her body hanging limply from the restraints.

  “You are fortunate, Victoria, that your father is a leader,” Victor said, approaching her. “For centuries, I reminded you of our people’s laws… yet you still committed the very act our race despises most.”

  “I loved him, Father.”

  “I would not blame you if the man you loved were a mere human… but the man you loved is an enemy of our kind.”

  “He never hurt our people, Father.”

  “That is not the point, Victoria. There is a reason you were forbidden from loving him. It is the law of our ancestors—and you broke it. Now, your own child must pay the price.”

  Victoria snapped her head up, her eyes burning as she stared into her father’s face.

  “Hanna is your granddaughter! How could you hire people to kill her?”

  “She is no grandchild of mine. The child you bore is a monster, a creature that should never have existed in this world.”

  “Father!” Victoria screamed. “Hanna is human… the child I birthed myself. Don’t you dare insult her!”

  Victor let out a long, heavy sigh. “Your child must die, Victoria. If I do not do it, Maximus will. Marcus is already there, hunting her. She will not survive.”

  “No! No! Please, Father… save her,” Victoria pleaded, sobbing in agony at the thought of her only child. “I beg of you, Father…”

  “Forgive me, Victoria. This time, I stand with Maximus. If Marcus fails… I will send the Elia forces.”

  “No! No!” Victoria thrashed against her chains. “Let me go, Father… let me go!”

  But Victor ignored her. He turned away with cold composure.

  “Father! Let me go… please, let me go!”

  Victor walked out of the room, shaking his head with a regretful sigh. Outside, a tall, slender woman waited in silence.

  “Well?” Victor asked without looking back.

  The woman did not answer immediately. Her sharp eyes remained fixed on the room—on Victoria, who continued to struggle and scream.

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  “Elia…” Victor prompted.

  The woman startled slightly, then shifted her gaze.

  “Marcus is tracking the girl. So far… there is no word on whether he has found her,” Karelia reported calmly.

  “Marcus is a master hunter,” Victor said. “I am certain he will not fail.”

  Karelia hesitated for a moment before speaking, her tone softening. “But Father… wouldn't it be better to bring the child here, rather than having her killed?”

  Victor stopped in his tracks. His expression hardened.

  “Be careful with your words. The child must be killed. If she is allowed to live… she will bring destruction upon our race.”

  “But she—”

  “Silence!” Victor’s voice cut through the air like a blade. His eyes flared with rage. “Do not ever repeat those words again.”

  __________

  “What did I do wrong?!”

  Hanna’s voice broke into a suffocating whisper. Her lungs felt as if they were on fire, yet she didn't dare stop. Every breath she took was tainted by the pungent stench of dry fur and rotting earth—a sign that the creature was only inches behind her.

  Grrr...

  The growling grew louder. Feral and hungry. Hanna screamed internally, imagining the sharp fangs that would tear through her skin at any moment.

  “WHAT DID I DO WRONG!”

  The scream tore from her throat just as a massive blow struck her right ribs. Her world spun. Her body flew through the air before slamming violently against the trunk of an oak tree.

  Khark!

  Warm blood began to well up from her lips, metallic and salty. Her vision blurred, the world dissolving into the hazy greens of the forest. Before her, two giant shadows approached with slow, deliberate steps, as if savoring the final moments of their prey’s life.

  Hanna tried to muster her remaining strength. Her fingers clawed at the damp earth, trying to push her broken body up. Her tear-filled eyes searched wildly, looking for a shred of mercy in those beastly faces.

  “What did I do wrong... why do you want to kill me?” she whimpered through shattered sobs.

  Her question was met only with a hot snort from the creature’s black snout. Rico did not wait. With a lightning-fast leap, his sharp claws swung, tearing through Hanna’s shoulder down to the bone.

  “Urgh!”

  The girl was sent tumbling again, hitting the ground with a chest-crushing impact. But Rico was not satisfied. Before Hanna could even gasp for air, he snatched her leg. Her small frame was tossed like a ragdoll, slamming into a thick branch.

  Prak!

  The sound was short, sharp, and horrific. Hanna could no longer scream. The sound of her own breaking bones echoed in her ears, followed by a silence that carried the unmistakable scent of death.

  Savage watched Hanna’s limp body huddled beneath the tree. Slowly, his terrifying beastly form began to shrink; his skin rippled and shifted until he returned to his human shape.

  “Enough, Rico!” he barked, halting his bloodthirsty companion's next move.

  Rico turned, a low growl rumbling from his throat. His sharp fangs were still bared, glistening with lingering feral rage.

  Ignoring Rico’s anger, Savage walked calmly toward the motionless Hanna. Her face was pressed into the dirt. The deep gashes tearing through her ribs and shoulder told the story of the nightmare she had just endured.

  “She’s dead,” Savage muttered curtly.

  With a nonchalant shrug, he grabbed the back of Hanna’s jacket and hoisted her into the air. Seeing the body hang lifelessly like a broken doll, a thin smile curled on Savage’s lips, which then erupted into a loud laugh that echoed through the silence of the woods.

  “Awoooooo!”

  Rico threw his head back, releasing a long howl to the sky—a victory signal sent specifically for Marcus.

  “We wait here,” Savage said coldly. He threw Hanna’s body into the center of the clearing like a pile of trash. As she hit the ground, thick blood pooled from her mouth.

  Rico shifted back into his human form. The two of them now stood naked in the middle of the silent forest.

  “That was easy…,” Rico said, looking at Hanna’s body with a sinister, unsettling grin.

  Savage stood nearby, his eyes scanning the path ahead, waiting for their leader’s arrival.

  “You shouldn't have stopped me earlier,” Rico grumbled quietly. “I wanted a taste of her flesh.”

  “Don't forget, the girl belongs to Marcus. Let him handle it,” Savage replied without looking.

  “If we hand everything over to him… he won’t share a thing with us.”

  “Just find someone else,” Savage said coldly.

  Rico wouldn't give up. “What about her hand?”

  Savage fell silent for a moment. He took a heavy breath before speaking, his voice low and indifferent.

  “Make it quick… before they arrive.”

  Rico laughed, satisfied.

  “Hahaha… thanks, partner.”