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The shifters closed ranks around us, their massive forms blocking Lucas’ path. He tore through them with a ferocity that made my breath catch, but they kept coming, slowing him down just enough.

The figure holding me leaned close, his breath hot against my ear. “Don’t bother fighting,” he hissed. “Your fate was sealed the moment you were born.”

Fear coursed through me, but I refused to give in. I gripped the knife still in my hand and stabbed backward, sinking the blade into his arm.

He growled in pain, but his hold didn’t loosen. Instead, he spun me around, gripping my throat with one massive hand. “Feisty,” he sneered, lifting me off the ground. “But it won’t save you.”

I clawed at his hand, gasping for air, my vision blurring.

“Annika!” Lucas’ voice was closer now, desperate and filled with rage.

The shifter barely had time to turn before Lucas hit him like a freight train. The force sent me flying, and I hit the ground hard, the impact jarring my entire body.

Through the haze of pain, I saw Lucas pin him to the ground, his fangs bared and his eyes blazing with fury.

“You don’t touch her,” Lucas snarled, his voice more animal than human.

The man laughed, even as Lucas’ hand closed around his throat. “You can’t protect her forever, vampire. Her blood belongs to us.”

Lucas didn’t respond. He drove his fist into the man’s chest with brutal precision, silencing him mid-sentence.

The remaining shifters hesitated, their confidence shaken. Lucas rose slowly, his blood-soaked gaze locking onto them.

“Run,” he growled.

And they did.

The square fell silent except for the sound of my ragged breathing. Lucas was at my side in an instant, his hands gentle as he lifted me into his arms.

“You’re safe,” he whispered, though his voice trembled with barely contained fury. “I’ve got you.”

I clung to him, my body shaking as the adrenaline ebbed. But the man’s words echoed in my mind, chilling me to the very bone.

Her blood belongs to us.

Chapter Two

Lucas

The taste of shifter blood still lingered on my tongue, bitter and metallic, as I held Annika against me. Her heart thundered beneath her fragile ribs, a melody I had memorized but never ceased to crave. My hands curled around her shoulders. My fingers brushed her hair, her warmth grounding me in a way I detested needing.

I tightened my grip, daring the universe to try and steal her from me again.

Then I smelled him.

The air shifted, carrying the sharp tang of iron and a faint, smoky musk. My gaze snapped up. My eyes narrowed as a man stepped from the shadows. He was bloody, but I wondered whose blood it was. His presence was unnervingly calm. He was tall, lean, his face carved with an arrogant confidence I already hated.

“Beautiful night for bloodshed,” he said in a voice smooth as velvet. I wondered if that was, as always, false civility.

Annika tensed in my arms, and I moved instinctively, positioning myself between her and this stranger. My fangs ached to extend, to rip into him and erase the threat before it could take form.

“Who are you?” My voice was low, a growl simmering beneath my words.

He smirked, the kind of smile that spoke of both truths and lies. “My name won’t mean anything to you, but I will share it. I am Kael. What might mean something to you would be the fact that I have been watching you… both.”

Not the answer I wanted. My muscles coiled, ready to lunge.

“Wait,” Annika’s voice, soft but firm, stopped me cold. She stepped to my side, her hand on my arm, the touch both a plea and a command. “Lucas, let’s hear him out.”