Chapter 6: First Blood

Aria's POV

The front door exploded inward like a bomb had gone off. Wood splinters flew everywhere as three men in dark suits burst into the room, guns raised and ready to kill.

I screamed and dove behind the bed just as bullets started flying. The sound was deafening - like thunder crashing inside my skull. Plaster rained down from the ceiling where bullets punched through the walls.

"There she is!" one of the men shouted. "Vincent wants her alive, but kill the boy!"

More gunshots. I pressed my face against the floor, shaking so hard my teeth chattered. This was real. People were actually trying to kill us.

Then I heard something that made my blood freeze.

A growl. Not from a dog or any normal animal. This sounded deeper. Wilder. Like something that belonged in the darkest part of a nightmare forest.

The gunshots stopped. One of the men screamed in terror.

I peeked around the edge of the bed and saw something impossible.

Kael was moving like lightning, faster than any person should be able to move. He twisted away from bullets like he could see them coming. When he grabbed the first attacker, he lifted the full-grown man off the ground with one hand and threw him across the room like a rag doll.

The man hit the wall so hard it cracked.

"What the hell is he?" the second attacker yelled, backing toward the door.

Kael spun toward him, and I saw his face clearly for the first time since the fighting started. His golden eyes were literally glowing now, bright as car headlights. His teeth looked sharper. Longer.

He wasn't human. He couldn't be.

Kael lunged at the second man faster than my eyes could follow. There was a sickening crunch, and the attacker dropped to the floor and didn't move again.

But while Kael was busy with him, the third man spotted me hiding behind the bed.

"Got you, princess," he snarled, pointing his gun straight at my head. "Time to go home to daddy."

Terror froze my blood. I was going to die. This stranger was going to shoot me, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

Then my eyes fell on the fireplace poker lying on the floor next to me.

Without thinking, without planning, I grabbed the heavy iron rod and swung it as hard as I could.

The poker connected with the man's knee with a wet crack. He screamed and fell sideways, his gun clattering across the floor.

I hit him again, this time in the shoulder. Then again in the ribs. I kept swinging until he stopped moving, my heart pounding like a war drum.

When I finally stopped, my hands were shaking so badly I dropped the poker. It hit the floor with a metallic clang that seemed too loud in the sudden silence.

"Aria." Kael's voice was gentle, but when I looked at him, his eyes were still glowing that impossible golden color. "Are you hurt?"

I shook my head, unable to speak. I'd just hurt someone. Maybe badly. Maybe permanently. The thought made me sick to my stomach.

"You did good," Kael said, stepping over the unconscious attackers. "You saved both our lives."

"I've never hit anyone before," I whispered, staring at my trembling hands. "I didn't know I could do something like that."

"You did it to protect yourself. There's nothing wrong with that."

But it felt wrong. Even though the man had been trying to kill me, hurting him felt awful. Like I'd crossed some invisible line and could never go back.

Kael knelt down next to the man I'd hit and checked his pulse. "He's alive. Just unconscious."

"Good," I said, relief flooding through me. "I didn't want to... I mean, I'm glad he's not..."

"Dead?" Kael finished for me. "Aria, these men came here to murder me and kidnap you. You don't need to feel guilty for defending yourself."

I nodded, but guilt still twisted in my stomach like a sick snake.

That's when we heard footsteps on the front porch. Slow, careful footsteps. Someone else was coming.

Kael grabbed his rifle and motioned for me to get behind him. His golden eyes were still glowing, making him look dangerous and wild.

A fourth man appeared in the broken doorway. This one was older than the others, with gray hair and cold eyes. He looked at his unconscious teammates, then at Kael, then at me.

"Well, well," he said calmly, like he was commenting on the weather. "Looks like the stories about you are true, wolf boy."

Wolf boy? What did that mean?

"Tell Vincent his daughter is safe," Kael growled, his voice deeper and rougher than normal. "For now."

The older man laughed. "Oh, I don't think Vincent cares much about that anymore."

Something cold crawled up my spine. "What do you mean?"

The man pulled out a phone and showed us a news article on the screen. The headline made my heart stop:

"MAFIA PRINCESS ARIA SANTORO CONFIRMED DEAD IN CAR CRASH"

Below it was a picture of twisted metal and broken glass. My supposed car crash.

"According to the official story, you died three days ago," the man explained. "Vincent held a beautiful funeral. Very touching. Lots of tears."

"But I'm alive," I said stupidly.

"Not officially. And Vincent likes it that way. Dead daughters can't testify against their fathers in court."

The truth hit me like a sledgehammer. My own father had declared me dead. He didn't want me back. He wanted me gone forever.

"Vincent sent us here with very specific instructions," the older man continued. "Kill the wolf. Kill the girl. Make it look like an accident. Problem solved."

Kael raised his rifle. "You're not touching her."

"Actually, I am." The man pulled out his own gun. "Orders are orders."

But before he could fire, Kael moved. One second he was standing next to me, the next he was across the room with his hands around the man's throat.

There was a brief struggle. A gunshot. Then silence.

The older man crumpled to the floor, gasping for breath. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

"Please," he wheezed, looking up at Kael with terrified eyes. "I was just following orders."

"Give Vincent a message for me," Kael said coldly. "Tell him the wolf is done playing games."

The man nodded frantically. "Yes. Yes, I'll tell him."

"And tell him if he sends more men after Aria, I'll come for him personally."

"I will. I promise." The man struggled to sit up, blood staining his shirt. "But you should know something. About the girl."

"What about her?"

The dying man's eyes found mine, and what I saw there made my skin crawl.

"The

boss says... the wolf can keep her," he gasped, each word costing him effort. "She's already marked for death anyway."