Panic seized at my chest as the hunters burst through the doors, Thomas leading the way while five others followed after him.

"There she is!" One of the unfamiliar hunters pointed at me in a frenzy.

Like a swarm of killer bees, they filled the previously empty dining room armed to the teeth with archaic and lethal silver weapons; combat ready in protective gear.

Ethan positioned himself in front of me. "Six against one vampire and a half-wolf. Not exactly fair." He paused before asking, "Can you shift?"

"You want me to fight them?" I asked bewildered. I'd never fought anything on purpose; Anna had been the only exception in my entire life.

"No, I want you to run," he calmly ordered.

My legs twitched but I was unable to move. "I can't. I'm too scared." The fear was only growing as it overpowered my body, making me nightmarishly sluggish. They had weapons, and I was currently declawed and outmatched.

"You can't run, or you can't shift?" He asked.

"Both," I answered, my voice wavering.

A laugh came from the mob. Richard stepped forward, his weapons sheathed and posture relaxed. Unlike the rest of the hunters, he didn't look like he expected much of a struggle. "You don't need to fight or run, Lyric. We're your allies to find your mother, remember? We can help you defeat Aldrich. This bloodsucker obviously wants to take you to him as a captive."

"Don't listen to him. I would never do that," Ethan objected.

It hadn't even crossed my mind until now. What Richard said could be true. I barely knew Ethan anymore. He was a vampire who claimed amnesia but was "slowly" remembering things. And he was cold now. Half the time he was callous and uncaring in a way that made me wonder if becoming a vampire had changed him so deep to his core that he would never be my old Ethan. For all I knew, he was completely capable of turning against me.

Then again, the hunters had ruined their trust by beating and caging me.

"I don't need allies like you," I hissed between clenched teeth, regaining some of my courage.

Richard laughed again. "You certainly need us more than we need you," he sneered.

This time it was Ethan who laughed. "Now that's a lie and we all know it."

"Really?" Richard countered, "We're hunters. We hunt things by definition. If we don't have Lyric to end the wolves, we will simply do it ourselves in time."

I braced my stance more confidently. "I'm not going with you willingly. And I'm definitely not letting you end the wolves."

A cruel smile spread across Richard's face, casting his features into a sinister shade of amusement. "Either way, we're going to take you. Problem is, we don't need your little vampire lover anymore. So, I'll make you a deal; if you can kill me, we will let him go."

"Don't listen to him, they're going to kill me regardless," Ethan warned.

I couldn't answer either of them right away. To fight Richard was suicide, to let him live meant Ethan's death; there was no such thing as a win-win scenario. "How do I know your men won't kill him if I kill you first?"

I could see the eagerness for a fight on his lips as his smile stayed firm. "My word is their word. It's a promise."

Focusing on Richard's scent was difficult with so many people in one small room, but I had to try and sense if he was lying. The air was stale and musky. Sweat beaded down the face of the hunter who had pointed me out earlier, his face shifted with nervousness. I could sense fear on some of them, and hatred on all of them. The disdain for my kind was evident, pure and simple, bred into them to maximize efficiency. It was a complete mystery to me how my mother had overlooked years of inherent hatred to fall for my real father.

I inhaled more deeply and found that he smelled like sandalwood, just like in my dream, but Richard's true scent was nonexistent. Where I could smell the cologne on him, I could not smell any lingering emotions or desires. I stepped forward.

"Don't even think about it," Ethan demanded, shifting his body further in front of my own as he kept a steady eye on the group of hunters.

"If you really are dead either way, I'm not letting you go without a fight." I gripped Ethan's shoulder.

At the wave of Richard's hand, the encircling hunters spanned out to make room for our one-on-one combat, tossing and kicking the chairs and tables against the walls in a disorderly fashion.

"Don't do this," Ethan pleaded, but I pushed him aside.

I had made up my mind.

"Weapon of choice?" Richard asked.

"I know your weapons are all laced with poison, it won't be a fair fight if you use them," I pointed out.

Richard unbelted the sword at his side and dropped it to the floor. "Fair enough. No claws," he retorted.

"Equally fair. Besides, I don't need claws to tear you apart," I sneered.

"Then let me make it easier for you," Richard removed his Kevlar vest along with the holstered guns on his chest.

Before he could position himself for our fight I took the first swing, catching him in the stomach. The air left his lungs in a surprised gasp as he stumbled backwards, but he quickly recovered.

Clutching his stomach, a menacing smile cut across his face. My efforts were entertaining to him. "A natural killer, for sure," he laughed.

"I'm not a killer!" I yelled as I pushed off the ground for momentum, throwing my body at him with all its force and slamming a fist into his smug face.

A trail of blood dripped from a cut at his lip, but his amusement was unwavering. He knew as well as I did that I would not win.

Laughing, Richard stepped towards me. The muscles in his jaw and neck clenched, and I could see the veins at his temple throb. Adrenaline fueled his fire. Its stench devoured him, and yet I still couldn't sense any emotion behind it. I could feel the power he possessed as it paralyzed my growing confidence, crushing it into despair. His hands reached out and I made no attempt to stop him as he gripped my shoulders, bringing his head back and throwing it forward to strike me square on the forehead.

Blurred dark spots filled my vision as I stumbled backwards, trying desperately not to crumple to the floor.

"Ging—" Ethan's voice was cut off as a hunter in the crowd struck him with the handle of their gun.

My head spinning, I tried to call out to him.

"He's dead either way, just like you said Miss Monroe." A thin line of blood ran down the side of Richard's face, his eyebrow had been split open after head-butting me.

With fading strength, I raised my hand in defense as I watched for his next strike.

He brought his fist down hard onto my temple, causing my legs to buckle underneath me. The group of hunters laughed in unison as I fell to the floor. Disoriented, the darkness in my vision spread as my mouth gaped open with drool and I was sure the hunters had sprouted twins.

Richard crouched in front of me. "We're going to take you," he whispered, petting my bruised skull carefully. "And we're going to kill the vampire now."

The same hunter that had hit Ethan forced him to his knees.

Richard scooped his holster up from the floor and pulled out a gun. "Hold her up," he ordered. "I want her to see."

Someone grabbed my hair and lifted me to stare at Ethan as Richard pressed a gun to his temple. I had already mourned him once; to do it again would break me in half.

Not even Callum could bring me back from this.

I squeezed my eyes shut as tears began to spill across my cheeks.

"Open your eyes and say goodbye," Richard demanded in his unnaturally steady voice.

"No," I slurred.

"Open them or I will kill your mother when we find her," he threatened.

My heart jumped out of my chest and my eyes opened, blinking at the tears that blinded me. "Why are you doing this?" I cried.

"Does it matter?" He asked, cocking the gun.

I looked at Ethan. To say goodbye was all I had ever asked for when I thought I'd never see him again. Now I had the chance before he would be taken away from me forever and I didn't know what to say.

His eyes had softened to the chocolate brown of his pre-vampire days. He looked almost human other than his pale skin. There was a soul inside of him, remnants of the old Ethan. My Ethan. He was worth saving.

"Kill him and the first chance I get I'll kill myself." There was more sureness in my voice than I had expected, but I could promise it.

"Don't," Ethan begged.

"Kill him and I promise you I'll be dead in seconds," I repeated.

Richard laughed, keeping the gun steadily aimed at Ethan. "You will die when I say it's time for you to die."

The blood in my veins boiled as waves of heat rippled through my body, I was going to shift.

"Sir?" The man holding me by my hair addressed Richard.

For a millisecond I saw his cool demeanor waver, flashing unmistakable fear. "Dose her," he ordered, hardening his features.

The man reached into his pocket. As he fumbled for the syringe I made my move, stabbing my elbow into his ribcage.

"Run!" I screamed at Ethan as I lunged towards Richard, trying to knock the gun from his hands.

The gunshot echoed through my ears before I registered that Richard had pulled the trigger.

The swarm of hunters spiraled in a panic around me as the front doors burst open again. I watched Ethan fall to the floor in front of me as two wolves bounded through the dining room, scattering the hunters.

"Fall back!"

A miracle forced the hunters to retreat.

The open wound through Ethan's shoulder oozed blood and sizzled with smoke. Splintering screams of agony broke across his face.

Time lingered in slow motion as the wolves knocked fleeing bodies into walls and tables. I forced my legs to move through the chaos. "Ethan." I collapsed at his side, pressing my hands to the hole in his shoulder to stop the bleeding. "I don't know what to do." Tears fell like raindrops into a river on my cheeks.

Ethan's face was growing sallow and vacant as sweat clung to his skin and wetted his hair. "You have to dig the bullet out," he whispered, clutching my hand.

I searched the floor, looking for something that could help.

"Just use your fingers," his fading voice pleaded.

My hands shook as I tore open his shirt over the pulsating wound. Blood ran freely down his chest. The veins around the hole throbbed purple and blue with infection from the poisonous bullet.

The room quieted as the last of the hunters fled. They seemed ill prepared to fight more wolves than they had expected.

Lucky me.

I tried to focus on the task at hand. There was so much blood. Ethan's eyes fluttered shut and his body slacked down. If I hadn't known he was a vampire, I would have guessed him for dead. I had to get the bullet out and fast.

Pressing two fingertips into the wound caused Ethan to snap into consciousness long enough to let out a scream. I could feel his agony tremor through me, but I had to keep going. Blistering pain singed at my skin. The bullet had been poisoned for both vampires and werewolves. Involuntarily, I pulled back.

"Keep going," Ethan's raspy voice struggled to speak as he weakly grabbed my hand and pressed it further into the hole.

I could feel the bullet graze the tips of my fingernails. Knowing it would hurt, I plunged deeper, just barely grasping it. There weren't many times in my life that I used foul language to express myself, but lately Ethan was instigating the need for profanity. In the few short seconds the bullet rested in my fingers as I pulled it slowly through his chest, I managed to say every curse word I had ever learned.

"Lyric Ginger Monroe, those are not words a delicate flower such as yourself should be using," Ethan teased as his head lolled to the side and his eyelids fluttered shut.

I flicked the bullet away from us. "That's not my middle name," I corrected him. My hands still shook with an ache left over from the poison and Ethan's blood painted them a glistening crimson. It was hard not to stare at the immeasurable gore. In a moment of hazy involuntary action, I brought my hand to my mouth. My stomach quivered with its growing hunger.

"Gingy?" Ethan's voice was soft and tired, and unmistakably confused.

The bitter tinge of the blood coated my tongue in its sweet taste, raising my temperature to an immediate sweat that pulsed through me while the world became a fuzzy shadow.

"Ging, are you okay," he asked, reaching to catch me as I fell into his arms, my mouth resting on the crook of his neck.

The whole world swam in a dizzying continuous spin, as the ache in my stomach grew louder. Without thought, my teeth buried themselves into Ethan's hard skin, sinking deep enough to draw blood.

As Ethan screamed and clawed at me like frantic prey in the wild, I kept his feeble form pinned under me as I fought to devour every last drop of his blood. Low guttural snarls hacked their way between breaths, and I could feel my body shimmer halfway between human and wolf.

"Lyric, stop," Callum commanded, wrapping his arm around my throat as Zeke pulled Ethan to safety.

"I don't know why we bother saving the vamp, he's probably why she's in this mess," Zeke muttered.

I kicked and fought, reaching out for Ethan. "Mine," I barked, struggling to free myself from Callum's interlocked arms.

"We're saving him because it's the right thing to do for Lyric," Callum shouted over my persistent objections.

"Well, this is what happens when you're soulbound to a feral!" Zeke dragged Ethan over to a fallen hunter, the same nervous man who had pointed me out upon entering the inn. Behind the loud heat of my aching stomach, I could hear the hunter's heartbeat at a slow crawl, racing towards an inevitable finish line. With little regard for Ethan's body, Zeke slung him near the dying man, close enough so that Ethan was able to hold the man's throat to his lips. Close enough for Ethan to drink from him. A meek whimper was the cowardly man's last word.

Callum threw his body on top of mine, holding my head between his hands as my eyes darted back and forth between my obstacles and Ethan. My nails had grown into claws that ripped at Callum's flesh, but his hold never wavered.

"Let me go!" My voice unrecognizable to my own ears. It was tainted with a hunger I'd never known before. So hungry, it screamed.

"Lyric, it's me, Callum. Look at me!" He demanded.

"No, no, no," I cried, whimpering like a mad man desperate to satiate an addiction. The hunger was ripping its way through my body, tearing at every inch of skin, every ounce of sanity, and every last drop of love I had once had for Ethan into a million obliterated pieces that vanished into the wind with my lust for his blood.

"Get him outside," Callum ordered Zeke.

Ethan struggled to stand, and they both cringed as Zeke helped him up and out of the room. The scent of his blood faded from the air as he made it outside the building, only stains in the carpet remained. They mingled with the putrid scent of the hunters' spilt blood and the ever musty scent of the old inn.

Slowly, my heart rate lessened its erratic pace, and my breathing became shaky sips of air between clenched teeth rather than quick heated panting.

"Lyric." Callum gripped my shoulders, shaking me to my senses. "It's okay now. He's gone. Just breathe." He squeezed my head to his chest as I shivered with unbearable withdrawals.

Had I really just tried to eat my ex-boyfriend?

"Everything's going to be okay." He could make as many promises as there were fish in the sea, but I still knew it was a lie.

"Nothing's going to be okay," his chest muffled my voice. "I'm a monster."

He held my face to his, our foreheads touching. "You are not a monster. You're far from it. You're —"

"Feral," Zeke interrupted.

"Shut up, Zeke!"

Callum's protest had come too late. I hadn't heard Zeke reenter the room, but I couldn't unhear the hate in his voice. It was how the rest of his pack felt, I could tell. The girl raised by a hunter and incapable of being a normal wolf. That was all they saw when they looked at me, a wild and unpredictable mess.

Maybe it was my vulnerable position on the floor, but looking at Zeke towering over me with his arms crossed and his brow furrowed in irritation made me want to shrink into oblivion.

"You might be soulbound to her, but the whole pack has to deal with the consequences. She's igniting a war, or haven't you noticed? Hunters don't just come after wolves like this, Callum. Vamps maybe, but they only come after us when we've actually done something. The worst I can tell our pack has done is harbored her," he gestured towards me.

"How could you say that? How could you blame her for the hunters attack? She didn't even know she was a wolf until I told her. And she didn't even know her mother might be a hunter until Grams said something! For all you know, her problems hadn't begun until she met me! I could be what got her in this mess. She's been lied to her whole life about her existence, and you would blame her for the actions of murderous hunters?" Callum's eyes filled with fire.

I was tearing apart two friends, probably well on my way to tearing apart his whole pack. "You don't have to defend me," I said, placing my hand over his as the sanity returned to my voice. "I can leave, hide. I'll come back when it's all over. I don't want to put your pack at risk anymore." My body ached with the idea of leaving him, but if it kept him safe it had to be done.

"No."

"It's a good idea, man. She's going to get you killed," Zeke argued.

"No. Maybe when you find your soulbound you'll understand, but that's just not an option." Although he spoke to Zeke, Callum's eyes stayed on mine. "I'm in this all the way."

Zeke threw his hands outwards in frustration. "Whatever, man. I'll help you keep her safe, but I'm not gonna harbor a vamp're for her, and we're definitely not taking her back to the pack until we figure out why the hunters are after her so hardcore."

"It's my mom," I interjected. "Someone took her. After they grabbed me at my house, they locked me in a cell. Apparently, I'm their Miracle Child and there's some stupid prophecy about me." Tears swelled behind my eyes as I cursed at myself for mentioning the prophecy. If Callum found out . . . I didn't want to think about what would happen if he found out. He certainly wouldn't claim to love me anymore.

"What's the prophecy?" Zeke asked, squinting his eyes in suspicion.

"I don't know. They wouldn't tell me," I lied.

Callum stroked my arm. "What does this have to do with your mom?"

The tears spilled over. "They said that this vampire took her, and they were just trying to help me out, but then they got a lead on where your pack was, somehow, and then they went after you thinking you might know where she is." Saying it out loud was making it all feel too real. Someone had my mom, and my only lead was a vampire I'd just tried to eat.

"Why didn't you stop them if you knew your mom wasn't with us?" Zeke's temper spiked a little higher.

"I didn't find out until after they'd left. That's when I escaped with Ethan."

Callum's hair had fallen over his eyes in an almost sheepish manner. "Ethan?"

Blush burned at my cheeks as I answered him honestly, "The hunters said they found him at my house a few hours before they grabbed me. He's a vampire now."

"You know this vamp?" Zeke's question sounded more like an accusation.

I paused, not sure how to answer.

"It's sort of her ex-boyfriend," Callum answered for me, although I wasn't sure if his words hid something more.

Zeke smirked. "Awkward."

"He knows where the vampire is that might have my mom." I searched Callum's face for understanding. "I need him to find her."

"You just tried to eat him. I doubt he's going to be of much help now." The smirk on Zeke's lips continued.

Callum stood, extending his hand to me. "We'll find her."

A look of incredulous shock slapped Zeke in the face. "How are we supposed to find her mom, while working with her vampire ex-boyfriend, and while keeping her from eating him?"

I took Callum's hand and stood, my knees weak and unstable from the fight with Richard and the terrible aftermath.

"I have no idea." Callum shrugged, smiling in a way that lifted my defeated heart. With him by my side, I could hope to find my mother.

Everything was going to be okay.