Chapter Twelve
The room felt colder the moment I stepped in. Damien stood there, his eyes dark and unreadable, and something inside me snapped. Before I could even think, my wolf instincts took over.
I lunged forward, my hand wrapping around his throat. "You!" I snarled, slamming him against the wall. "You're one of them!"
"Luna, stop!" Dad's voice cut through the air, full of shock and confusion. "What are you doing?"
I tightened my grip, ignoring the tremor in my fingers. "You don't understand, Dad," I hissed, my voice breaking with fury. "He's one of the hunters. One of the monsters who kidnapped me!"
Dad froze. "What?"
Damien's lips twisted into a smirk, but I could feel the tremble in his body. Before I could demand answers, he reached into his pocket and threw something down — a handful of black powder.
The second it hit the floor, smoke exploded through the room.
I coughed, eyes burning, heart pounding so violently I thought it might tear through my chest. The world spun. Then… the pain began.
It started as a sting in the back of my skull — then spread, burning through my veins like fire. My vision flickered, silver and red flashing in front of me. I could barely breathe.
"Luna!" Dad's voice was faint now, muffled by the haze. I fell to my knees, clutching my head, screaming as the pain split through me. My claws extended. My fangs scraped my lips. I could feel my wolf fighting to break free — but something else was inside me too. Something darker.
Damien tried to run, but Dad caught him before he reached the door. They crashed into the table, both of them struggling for control. I could hear the sound of breaking glass, the scrape of furniture, my own screaming echoing over it all.
Then I heard Dad's voice again, trembling with rage. "What have you done to my daughter?!"
Damien only laughed — a sound so cold it made my blood curdle.
I screamed again, the pain intensifying until it felt like my skull would shatter. "Haa—ahh!" I couldn't stop. My body jerked violently, my nails digging into the floor. The world blurred into red and white. I wanted to die just to make it stop.
"Luna!" Dad shouted. His voice broke — I could feel his fear even through the haze.
That single second of distraction was enough. Damien twisted free, kicking Dad backward. He stumbled, the gun slipping from his hand.
Damien looked at me, smiling with cruel satisfaction. "From the looks of it," he said, brushing blood from his lip, "you have three days. Take her to the witch clan… or her body will explode. Her bloodlines are eating each other alive."
Then he was gone — slipping through the smoke before Dad could reach him.
The silence that followed was suffocating. My body hit the floor, trembling uncontrollably. The world dimmed at the edges. I barely heard Dad shouting my name. I barely felt his arms around me. The only thing I could feel was the fire crawling through my veins, tearing me apart from the inside.
"Hold on, baby. Just hold on…" he whispered, his voice breaking.
He rushed across the room and grabbed a ceramic jar from the shelf. My vision blurred as he crushed a handful of leaves and shoved them gently into my mouth. The bitter taste filled my throat, but the pain — it dulled, just a little. Like ice on a burn.
"This will slow it down," Dad murmured, brushing the hair from my face. His hands were shaking. "You'll be okay. I promise."
I wanted to believe him. But I saw it in his eyes — that flicker of terror. Like he knew what was happening to me.
He looked toward the stairs, suddenly alarmed. "Tom should've come down by now…" he muttered. "All that noise—"
I wanted to tell him not to go, that I was scared to be alone. But my voice wouldn't come. All I could do was lie there, trembling.
Dad ran upstairs, banging on Tom's door. "Tom! Are you there?"
No answer. He knocked again. Nothing.
After a moment, he kicked the door open. The room was empty. The window stood wide open, curtains flapping in the night air. On the desk lay a folded letter.
He picked it up with shaking hands and read silently. His face fell.
Then he whispered, "He's gone…"
When he came back downstairs, his eyes were wet. He crouched beside me, brushing a strand of hair from my face. "Tom said he'll come back when he's stronger. When he's ready for me to finally recognize him…"
I wanted to ask what that meant, but my lips barely moved. My head felt heavy, my body cold.
Everything hurt.
And yet… somewhere deep inside, something was changing — twisting and merging in ways I couldn't understand. My wolf… my blood… my fate.
And as darkness pulled me under, I heard Dad whisper one last thing.
"I won't lose you, Luna… not again," he choked out, clutching me against his chest. "They won't take you from me, not like they took your mother."
Then the world went black.