Chapter 15

I jumped to my feet, and my mother, with her reddish fur spreading across her face, almost fully transformed into a wolf, took hold of the other one who tried to escape, tearing him apart. I didn’t celebrate—it was too quick. I saw Caliban sprinting at an extreme speed toward the forest, fleeing like a coward.

That coward would pay.

I ran after him, but I couldn’t catch up. His figure became a blur ahead, and I feared he might take flight—then I’d never catch him.

Despite his advantage in speed, Caliban didn’t realize I knew that part of the forest like the back of my hand. I ran until I gained enough momentum to step on a trunk and launch myself from one to another, leaping sideways. I cut him off, knowing the Transylvanian Alps were to the west and that’s where he’d head.

I heard my parents’ screams coming from behind. They were shouting for me to stop, but I didn’t slow down. Rage turned me into a determined being, hungry for more blood and revenge.

I intercepted him before he could cross a clearing. At the speed he was coming and the leap I made, our bodies collided, and we were thrown in opposite directions. I lost my breath, rolling over my ribs and hitting my head on a hard root. I shook it off—there was no time for weakness—my eyes searching for him.

The vampire was about to get up when I threw myself at his body, and we fought.

I saw his red eyes, full of anger and panic. Caliban screamed in surprise when I climbed onto his chest on my knees and went for his neck. He managed to push me back, but only enough for me to sink my claws into his right arm and my teeth into his left shoulder.

“Bitch! Let me go! Ahhhhhh…”

His scream was shrill and agonized. My claws tore through tendons, bones, and flesh. My mouth filled with expensive fabric and fresh blood as I ripped a piece of his flesh away. Then, with an aggressive yank, I tore his arm off, soaked in blood and fury, ready for more.

“Is that all you’re capable of?” I shouted, holding his arm and seeing the terrified, pain-stricken look in his eyes. “So much arrogance just to die so easily?”

“No… please…”

He weakened, in shock, his eyes losing their red hue and lightening to their normal tone. His face was whiter than paper.

I dropped the arm to the ground, indifferent to the mess of dark red blood. I was about to tear off his head and send it as a trophy to his family—to show Balthazar what happens when they invade our lands and attack us.

“Was it him who sent you here, you coward?”

“No… I wasn’t going to… hurt you…”

I growled and attacked. Caliban managed to raise his intact hand before me, preventing me from reaching his neck. I heard my parents arriving, my mother shouting my name. Impatient, I shoved his arm out of the way, but his weak voice stopped me:

“I just wanted to take you… and marry you… to make my father proud.”

I stared into his eyes, part of me dominated by my enraged wolf, part of me recognizing the emotional pain in his expression. He muttered:

“I wouldn’t hurt you… just prove… we could… together…”

I was pulled away. My father arrived, out of control, pushing me off Caliban, ready to turn him into a bloody pulp right there on the ground.

I acted on instinct, some alert inside me holding me back, feeling an inappropriate pity for my enemy, laced with doubts and suspicions.

“No, Dad! Don’t kill him!” I hugged him and stood between them. His golden eyes fixed on me, his hands ready to pull me out of the way, and I shouted, “It was a misunderstanding! Dad! Mom!”

They stopped, panting and furious. Silence fell over the forest, Caliban lying there bleeding out, his arm beside him. Hatred hung heavy in the air.

I wanted to finish him too, but something held me back. I needed to understand what was really going on first.

“He attacked you!” My mother approached, looking down at the vampire with contempt.

“No. He came to talk, but I misunderstood and attacked him first.” I turned to Caliban. “Explain.”

“My arm… please…” He tried to reach for the limb nearby, but my father stepped on it. With no choice, he obeyed: “I came to talk to Lioara… to convince her… to marry me.”

It was a blatant lie. He hadn’t come in peace—they attacked me, he ordered them to capture the ‘damn wolf.’ Irritated, I got closer, barely containing my desire to tear him apart.

“Talk here, in the middle of the woods? Try another story!” My father grabbed the front of his shirt and lifted him, ignoring his cries of pain. He stared into his eyes, ready to finish the job. “Tell the truth, damn it! Did you come to kill my daughter?”

“No! I swear! I knew… you wouldn’t welcome us… so I…”

“Did your father order you to kidnap her?” My mother approached, panting and furious.

“No! My family doesn’t know anything! I came to make her a proposal! Please, give me my arm. If too much time passes, it won’t regenerate!”

His desperation was palpable, bathed in blood, surrounded by us. His life hung by a thread.

I didn’t believe a word he said, but I bent down, picked up his arm, and pleaded with my father:

“Let’s hear him out. It might have been a misunderstanding.”

He pushed the arm toward Caliban with disdain, and the vampire staggered, nearly falling. He took the severed limb from my hand at the elbow, attaching it to his shoulder, closing his eyes for a moment. He was sweating profusely, pale, greenish, and dizzy.

For minutes, he remained that way, waiting for the regeneration to take place, as we watched in astonishment. Something was happening.

The arm seemed to have its own energy, connecting to the rest of his body. Veins, tendons, skin—they fused together before our very eyes, as if an invisible glue were binding them.

We weren’t like that. Our wounds could be healed with our powerful saliva, but our bodies didn’t reattach limbs or repair what was too damaged.

Caliban took a deep breath and fell to his knees, weak but focused. He continued holding his arm at the elbow, even when it became clear it wouldn’t detach again if he let go. I was quite shocked, finally understanding part of their power.

They might not be as strong as we were, but in speed and regeneration, they were unique. That’s why they didn’t die easily.

“The others… are they alive? Could they have recovered?” he murmured, turning to my father.

Tall and alert, my father remained entirely focused on the kneeling vampire. His golden, furious eyes showed his desire to tear him apart.

My mother stepped closer, more restrained. She wrapped her arm around his waist, stopping him from giving in to his instincts. She was the one who replied:

“I doubt they’ll find their heads. They’re in pieces scattered back there.”

“Are you going to kill me?” Caliban raised his pale, blood- and sweat-soaked face. Besides being a coward, he was a weakling who only thought of himself.

“Riuk!” She held him tighter when my father growled. I stepped between them, pleading softly:

“I just want to hear more, to understand.”

“It’s clear to me. This was an invasion and a declaration of war.”

“You don’t understand! I came in peace! My family doesn’t know!” Desperate, he managed to stand, still clutching his arm against his body. “I feel awful. A wolf’s bite is like venom and… I used my strength to regenerate… please… help me…”

“How?” I murmured, not truly caring.

“I need to contact my father, my brother… through telepathy… they’ll come for me… but… I’m too weak…”

Finally, he collapsed backward like a rag doll, unconscious.

“Let’s take him to the village,” my mother decided.

“No way!” Furious, my father moved toward the lifeless body.

“We need to know what they want!” Something compelled me to make that decision, pleading to calm him. “Dad, that’s all I ask! Then we’ll decide what to do. In this state, he’s no danger to anyone.”

“Damn it!”

It was difficult, but we convinced him to take Caliban Severus with us.

I could see my mother wanted to avoid a war with the vampires, but my father seemed eager to start one—for the insult of their invasion, for putting my life at risk.

But I needed answers. What drove him to come here? And what did Balthazar have to do with it?