I stepped into the conference hall, and I immediately felt the heavy atmosphere. It was suffocating for someone like me. The aura of the Alphas and Betas from different packs filled the space, it felt powerful, intimidating, as if it was trying to force me to cower in fear and bow my head submission. Yesterday was different since there were more lower ranks in the event hall, serving us, but now, only the heads, right hands, and trusted advisors of the Alphas were present. My eyes immediately sought out Dornic, a compulsion I could not seem to shake. He stood near the front, exuding authority and power, and his prescrice seemed to be dominating the room as if he were born to command it. Even from here, I could feel the pull, the undeniable draw that I hated and craved in equal
measure.
But before I could dwell on it, my gaze shifted. The rogue stood in the center of the room, restrained and surrounded by soldiers. The sight of him made my skin crawl, like little spiders crawling beneath my skin. He was a mess, a man twisted in ways that defied understanding. His eyes glowed an unnatural, hellish red, the kind of crimson that seemed to pierce through flesh and bone, and they darted around wildly, never settling, as if haunted by unseen horrors. He trembled continuously, his muscles spasming and jerking, a marionette pulled by invisible strings. Sweat poured off his pale, almost translucent skin, which was marred by veins that pulsed and writhed like snakes under the surface. They were an unnatural, sickly blue–black, spreading in chaotic patterns that made my stomach churn, a grotesque web that looked ready to burst.
His jaw twitched as though he was fighting the urge to bite or scream, and his lips were chapped, dry, cracked, and flecked with a strange dark residue. Even his hair, once thick and likely dark, had become patchy, clumps of it torn away, leaving raw patches of irritated skin. His fingernails were jagged and broken, caked with dirt and blood, as if he had clawed his way out of some inescapable grison. There was a stench, too, a vile mixture of rot and something metallic, something that made it difficult to breathe.
“This is the rogue we found near the perimeter,” one of the soldiers announced. “He was acting erratic, and we had to use silver chains to subdue him.”
The rogue’s head snapped up, and he snarled, baring elongated, jagged teeth. My heart skipped a beat. There was something… wrong, something off about him. He did not look like a normal rogue wolf. There was an unnatural wildness in his eyes, a madness that felt almost… otherworldly.
Dominic stepped forward, his expression hard as he assessed the threat..
“What are you?” he demanded, a command that reverberated through the hall.
The rogue laughed, a broken, grating sound that made the hair on my arms stand up.
“What am I?” he repeated, his words slurring. “I am what happens when your kind and theirs play gods.” He spat the last word, as if in disdain, a loathing that was caused by a torture he had undergone.
A shiver ran through me. His kind and ‘theirs‘. I stepped forward, drawing the attention of a few Alphas, but I did not care anymore, there was a crucial matter at hand.
“You mean a hybrid,” I said, and the room fell silent.
The rogue’s eyes flicked to mine, and for a moment, something almost human passed over his expression before it twisted back into a snarl.
“Smart little wolf,” he crooned, his voice mocking. “A mix of blood, cursed by both worlds.”
The murmuring picked up again, a wave of disbelief and fear spreading through the crowd. A vampire–werewolf hybrid was a nightmare, a creature that should not exist. But here he was, a living, breathing abomination.
+25 BONUS
Chapter 10
Killian moved to stand beside me. “We need to figure out how this happened,” he said quietly, his eyes narrowing at the rogue. “If there are more like him…”
I nodded. If hybrids were being created, it could destabilize everything. An Imbalance of two worlds, colliding and becoming one would pose a great risk to both races. Someone could be behind this. Whoever had done this was disrupting the natural laws. There were stories, legends, and myths far buried in history and tales, but for it to be witnessed now, in reality, I could not imagine what it would bring
But as I processed the implications, I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye.
Olivia. She was standing too close to Dominic, leaning in as I she had every right to be in his space. Her hand brushed his arm, and he did not move away. My stomach twisted, a sick feeling spreading through me that had nothing to do with the rogue or the threat he posed.
Jealousy.
After all these years, I was still vulnerable to it, still helpless against the hurt that spread when I saw them together. I thought I had moved on, but I guess I was wrong Especially now that the mate bond had learned to entangle with his heart, pulling me in, drawing me close, yet I had to hold back. I couldn’t let fate drag me back to the situation that I had already escaped from six years ago.
I clenched my fists, forcing myself to look away.
‘It doesn’t matter‘, I told myself. Dominic had never been mine, not really, and he never would be. But the jealousy burned so maddening that I had to remind my wolf to calm down. She was a possessive one, but she also understood that with Dominic, it’s complicated.
The rogue’s laughter broke through my thoughts.
**You think you can stop what’s coming?” he taunted, his body jerking against the chains. “You are all doomed. The balance has already shattered, tipping forward to a force you would never expect,” he spat, a dark, sinister chuckle followed.
Dominic’s eyes narrowed, and for a brief moment, his gaze flickered to me. It was a split second, barely enough to process before he turned back to the rogue.
“Who sent you?” Dominic demanded coldly. “Who’s behind this?”
The rogue’s laughter died, and his expression twisted into something almost pitiful.
“They are coming,” he whispered, his voice cracking, and almost choking. “You can’t stop them. No one can,” he warned.
Before anyone could react, the rogue’s body shook, his muscles convulsing violently. The chains rattled as he thrashed, and a dark, oily substance began to leak from his mouth. I stepped back, horror washing over me as the rogue’s body contorted in unnatural ways.
“Get back!” someone shouted, and soldiers rushed forward to aid, but it was too late. The rogue let out a final, guttural scream before collapsing, his body going still, and the silence that followed was deafening.
He was dead, keeping with him the secrets he had witnessed.
“What the hell was that?” one of the Alphas muttered, breaking the stunned silence.
The rogue’s dying words repeated in my mind. They are coming.” Whatever this was, whoever they were, they were bringing something that should have been left in the histories of the past or legends and myths of the old.
Deep down, I knew that our world was about to change in ways we could not begin to comprehend.
Chapter 10
I glanced at Dominic, and his gaze was already set on me….
