Chapter 87

Lauren

The night air was crisp, carrying the scent of city streets and the distant hum of traffic. My heels clicked against the pavement, sharp and rhythmic, matching the rapid beat of my heart. I walked a little faster, not caring that Liam was just a few paces behind me, his steps long and confident. I could feel his eyes on my back, and it made me want to grit my teeth.

“Lauren, stop walking so fast,” Liam called after me, his voice dripping with that same teasing edge I was so tired of. "You’re gonna break your heels."

I didn’t respond. I just kept moving, my mind racing faster than my feet, a storm of emotions swirling inside me. Anger, frustration, guilt. I didn’t know what to feel anymore, not after what happened at the restaurant. The way he’d spoken to me, like I was some... some child who didn’t know her own mind. Like I was incapable of making my own decisions. Like he owned it.

“You think I can’t handle myself?” I muttered under my breath, my fingers curling into fists, the words aimed more at myself than him.

“I know you can,” Liam replied, his tone softening for just a moment. “But you’re acting like you're under you’re enemy’s thumb. I’m not going to make you do anything.”

I whipped around to face him, “No, but just make a show that you could but you don’t. Right? And for what? Loyalty? What do you even want.”

“A way back into you’re world. An invitation.”

The words stuck to my chest, heavy and suffocating. An invitation? Into my world? He had never left! Things had just shifted changed! Is this what this was about?! Access to me? What a joke.

My heart started beating far to quick, a spike of heat cause me to grasp my chest with a gasp.

“Lauren!” Liam cried.

My body was changing, my instincts were shifting, and everything felt out of my control. It was terrifying.

A sudden burst of energy surged through me, coming from nowhere. It felt like electricity running through my veins. I stumbedl, nearly tripping over the hem of my dress, but then I straightened, my senses suddenly sharp.

I could hear everything—the distant sounds of traffic, the murmur of voices coming from nearby cafés, the flutter of wings as a bird passed overhead. And underneath it all, a low thrum, like a heartbeat, urging me forward. My breath quickened, adrenaline spiking without me even meaning to.

What… what is happening?!

“Lauren?” Liam’s voice snapped me out of it, but I could barely hear him. My body was already ahead of my mind. I couldn’t control it.

Then I saw him.

A man, sprinting down the street with a purse in his hand, clutching it like his life depended on it—a women far behind crying for her purse back.

I didn’t think. I just reacted. My legs took off, faster, and faster my body moving with a predator’s grace as I darted across the street without even checking for cars, my heels like a war drum. My heart raced as I closed the distance between me and the thief, the sound of my breathing loud in my ears.

The world around me blurred, and the only thing that mattered was him.

The thief glanced over his shoulder, his eyes widening as he saw me gaining on him. His footsteps faltered, but just for a moment. Then he picked up speed, his feet pounding against the pavement as he pushed himself harder, faster. But I was already there.

I leapt, my feet leaving the ground as I catapulted over a chain-link fence with the ease of someone who’d been doing it their entire life. I didn’t even know how I did it, but the exhilaration that shot through me made me smile. It felt too good to stop now.

The man shot a look over his shoulder and swore, panic flashing across his face. But it didn’t matter. I was gaining on him, and there was no way he was getting away, like a rabbit in my sights.

I pushed harder, the air sharp in my lungs, my eyes fixed on his back, focused, determined. The man’s breaths were coming in quick, ragged gasps now, but his desperation only fueled me. He wasn’t getting away. Not while I was this close.

I rounded the corner of a building, sprinting down the alley, the darkness swallowing me whole. I heard the man’s footsteps ahead, and I followed, the chase almost intoxicating, the blood rushing through my veins as though I were the one being hunted.

I could smell him now, the sweat, the fear, the desperation. It filled my senses, drowning everything else out. This was primal. This was instinct.

He turned down another alley, and I followed without hesitation. My breath came in sharp bursts, my body coiled and ready to strike. The adrenaline coursed through me, the power inside me bubbling over.

I was close. So close.

The man glanced back, and I caught a glimpse of his panic-stricken face before I lunged. I grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him back, my strength surprising even me. He hit the ground hard, the purse slipping from his hands as I pinned him to the ground.

I heard him gasp, his chest heaving under my grip. His hands tried to push me off, but I wasn’t having it.

I reached for him, my nails elongated, sharp. My breath came in ragged gasps as I brought my face close to his, my blood singing with energy, my heart thundering in my chest.

One bite to his neck. One bite and—

“Lauren!”

A voice, cutting through the madness.

Alexander’s voice.

I froze. The spell broke, just like that. I blinked, my vision clearing. Blood was on my hands. The purse theif’s blood. It was smeared across my palms, the warmth of it shocking in its suddenness.

I looked down at the man beneath me, my heart pounding in my chest. What had I done? But I had… only thought about it.

I could hear Alexander’s footsteps before I saw him, his boots slamming into the ground as he ran toward me, his eyes wide with shock. “Lauren, what the hell are you doing?!”

I barely registered the question, my mind still reeling. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. My breath was shaky, my body trembling with the realization of what I’d almost done. Almost killed him.

The man groaned beneath me, weakly trying to push me off, and that snapped me out of it. I scrambled backward, my hands instinctively wiping against my dress, trying to get rid of the blood, but it was everywhere. I was shaking now, my body too aware of how close I’d come to crossing a line.

“What the hell?” Liam’s voice came from behind me, and I turned just in time to see him rounding the corner, a wild smirk on his face like he’d been enjoying the show. But when he saw the scene in front of him, his expression faltered for just a second.

“Told you you’ve changed,” he said, his voice low, smug, like he knew something I didn’t.

I didn’t respond. My mind was too busy trying to comprehend what I’d just done, the raw, primal rage that had overtaken me. The way I’d hunted that man down.

And then the woman whose purse had been stolen arrived, breathless, her eyes wide with terror as she took in the scene before her. Her gaze flicked between me, Alexander, and Liam before she screamed. “Oh my god!” She backed away slowly, horrified.

“Shit,” I muttered under my breath, standing up quickly. Alexander didn’t let me go far, grabbing my arm to steady me.

“Run,” he said, his voice low, urgent. “Now.”

I barely had time to register what he meant before he started pulling me with him. Liam was right behind us, moving fast, as siren’s wailed in the distance. The woman’s scream echoed in the alley behind us as we sprinted away, all of us running as if our lives depended on it.