The drive away from Lina's dorm was a blur of silver moonlight and suffocating frustration. Nicole gripped the steering wheel so hard the leather groaned under her strength. Her mind was a chaotic storm of conflicting instincts. She could still feel the phantom pressure of Lina's lips against hers, a sweetness that contrasted sharply with the cold, invisible barrier that had barred her from entering the girl's room. It was an ancient law she hadn't encountered in an eternity, a reminder that despite her power, there were mysteries in her blood that remained locked.
As she pulled into the winding, tree-lined driveway of her forest lair, the air suddenly changed. The peaceful hum of the woods had been replaced by a heavy, metallic scent that made her fangs ache instantly.
"They never learn," Nicole whispered to the empty car.
She stepped out of the SUV, her golden eyes already bleeding into a deep, predatory crimson. From the shadows of the ancient oaks, four figures emerged. They moved with the jerky, unnatural speed of young vampires, their faces pale and twisted with a misplaced sense of bravado. These were not her father's loyalists; they carried the scent of the northern dens men sent by her uncle, Thoros.
"The princess is far from her throne," one of the vampires sneered, his fangs bared. "Our master says your time is up, Mixed Blood. A queen who cannot even enter a human's room is no queen at all."
Nicole didn't waste breath on a reply. Before the speaker could blink, she moved. She was a blur of black shadow and lethal grace. She caught the first vampire by the throat, her strength so immense that the sound of his vertebrae snapping echoed through the clearing like dry kindling. She didn't let him fall. Instead, she tilted his head back and sank her fangs into his neck.
This wasn't the stale, cold blood from Freddi's medical supplies. This was the hot, panicked essence of a traitor. She drained him in seconds, feeling the surge of raw power ignite her veins, making her skin glow with a terrifying vitality.
The other three lunged at her simultaneously. Nicole spun, her foot connecting with the chest of one, sending him flying thirty feet into a stone pillar. She caught the third by the arm, ripping the limb clean from the socket with a sickening wet pop, and used her free hand to crush the skull of the fourth against the side of her car.
Within minutes, the driveway was a graveyard of dust and shadow. Only one remained, the one she had kicked against the pillar. He lay broken, his chest heaving as he stared up at her in absolute horror.
Nicole walked over to him, her heels clicking rhythmically on the pavement. she knelt down, her face inches from his, her eyes glowing with a terrifying, unearthly light.
"You are going back to my uncle," she said, her voice a low, vibrating growl that seemed to vibrate the very ground. "And you will tell him exactly what you saw. Tell him that mate or no mate, I am the chosen one. Tell him that no vampire, no wolf, and no god or goddess can kill what has already claimed the night. If he wants my throne, he will have to come and take it from my cold, dead hands. And believe me, he is not strong enough to make them cold."
She stood up, watching as the survivor scrambled to his feet and fled into the darkness, leaving a trail of blood behind him.
The adrenaline was screaming in her ears, and the taste of the kill had awakened the beast she had been trying to suppress all day. She didn't want to be a CEO. She didn't want to be a diplomat. She wanted to be the monster the world feared she was.
Nicole reached for her collar, tearing the silk tie and throwing it to the ground. She kicked off her shoes, her body already beginning to expand and contort as the shift took hold. The pain of the transformation was a welcome distraction from the ache in her heart. Bones cracked and reset, thick white fur erupted from her skin, and her human screams turned into a thunderous, soul-shaking howl.
A massive, snow-white wolf stood where the billionaire had been just moments before. With one last glance at her silent, empty home, Nicole turned and bolted into the deep forest. She ran with a speed that defied physics, her paws thumping against the earth as she headed for the darkest part of the woods. She needed to hunt. She needed to forget the girl with the blue eyes. But most of all, she needed to remind the forest who the true Alpha was.