The storm passed by morning, but its damage lingered in the silence that settled between them.
Kai stood by the kitchen counter, barefoot, wearing one of Adrian's oversized shirts. He sipped his coffee slowly, watching the way Adrian moved calculating, distant, too composed for someone who'd kissed him like the world had ended just hours before.
"You're quiet," Kai finally said, trying not to sound too disappointed. "That's not a good sign."
Adrian glanced up from the documents spread across the table, his eyes a little softer than before. "It's not bad. I'm just…thinking."
Kai narrowed his eyes. "About?"
Adrian didn't answer immediately. He folded one paper, then another, organizing them neatly before speaking. "There's a vampire I trust. A very old one. She might help us."
Kai blinked. "You want to trust a vampire to help us against other vampires?"
Adrian gave a small, humorless smirk. "I didn't say I trust her completely. Just enough. And right now, we need allies. You saw what happened last night. That wasn't just a rogue scouting party. They knew where we were."
Kai's jaw tensed. "So we've been compromised?"
"Possibly. And that's what worries me."
He crossed the room and gently took Kai's coffee from his hands, setting it aside before resting both palms on the counter, caging Kai in. "They want you. Not just to get to me. But because of something else."
Kai tilted his head. "What something else?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out." Adrian's voice dropped. "There's something about your blood. Something they're after. And if I don't get answers soon, they'll take you… and I won't be able to stop them."
Kai's pulse raced. "Adrian…"
"I've always been the monster, Kai." Adrian leaned in, his forehead pressing against Kai's. "But now, I feel like I'm becoming something worse. Something reckless. Because of you."
Kai swallowed hard, feeling the tension shift from fear to something deeper, something knotted with affection and pain. "Maybe that's not a bad thing."
Adrian smiled faintly, bitter-sweet. "It is when it makes me stupid."
They stood there for a moment, breathing each other in. Then a knock sounded two soft taps, followed by one sharp knock.
Adrian went still.
"That's her," he muttered. "The vampire."
Kai instinctively reached for the knife on the counter. "We're just going to let her in?"
Adrian glanced over his shoulder with a mischievous gleam. "I thought you said you weren't helpless."
Kai rolled his eyes. "Touché, bloodsucker."
Adrian opened the door.
Standing there, dressed in black leather and crimson lipstick, was a tall woman with eyes like ancient glass and a smirk that said she knew far more than she should.
"Well, well," she purred. "So this is the little wolf causing all the trouble."
Kai stared back defiantly.
Adrian simply said, "Kai, meet Selene."
Selene tilted her head, looking Kai over like he was both a curiosity and a loaded weapon.
"Shall we talk?" she asked, already stepping inside.
As the door closed behind her, Kai felt it.
The shift.
The weight of fate dropping heavily onto their shoulders.
The turning point had arrived and there was no going back.
Kai didn't trust Selene the moment she stepped in.
It wasn't just the way she looked at him like she was undressing his soul and checking for cracks but the way Adrian changed in her presence. More guarded. Less open. His body taut like a string pulled too tight.
"I see you haven't lost your taste for impossible romances," Selene said, circling the room slowly, her heels clicking against the hardwood. "First a human with a vendetta, now a wolf with fire in his eyes."
Kai bristled. "I'm not a romantic interest, I'm a partner."
"Mm, of course you are," Selene replied smoothly, but her gaze stayed on Adrian. "And how long do you think he'll stay, once he knows what you've done?"
Adrian's face didn't twitch, but something in his energy snapped, like a whip cracking against the air.
"Selene," he said, voice low, "not now."
"Oh, darling. Now is exactly the time," she said sweetly, then turned her full attention to Kai. "Do you know why they want you, little wolf?"
Kai held her gaze, his spine straight despite the warning in his instincts screaming to back away. "Because I'm with Adrian?"
She chuckled, the sound like silk soaked in blood. "No. Because your blood sings. It's old. Pure. A very specific kind of omega."
Kai froze. "What the hell does that mean?"
Adrian exhaled, running a hand through his hair, jaw clenched.
"It means you're not just a rare omega," he said. "You're descended from the original werewolf bloodline. The kind that can be used in ancient spells. Dark magic. Blood-binding rituals. Especially when combined with vampire blood."
Kai blinked. "So… I'm a walking spell ingredient?"
"Basically," Selene said with a wink. "But don't worry. Some of us like you just the way you are. In one piece."
Kai looked at Adrian, his voice tight. "You knew?"
"I suspected," Adrian admitted. "But I didn't want to scare you. I didn't think they'd come for you so fast."
"I can't believe this," Kai whispered, backing up. "This whole time you've known I'm more than just"
Adrian grabbed his hand. "No. I've always seen you, Kai. You. Not your blood. Not your past. Just the stubborn, reckless, beautiful mess who ruined my suit and my goddamn peace."
Kai didn't pull away. But he didn't move closer either. His heart was hammering like a trapped bird, and now he understood why he'd been hunted. Why Adrian looked at him with guilt in his eyes when he thought Kai wasn't watching.
Selene watched them with open amusement.
"Such drama," she purred. "But I came with more than just bad news. I came with a location."
Adrian raised a brow. "Where?"
She tossed a folded paper on the table. "Your bloodthirsty friends are regrouping. And they're planning something… spectacular."
Kai picked it up. The coordinates. The layout.
"What's this?" he asked.
Selene smiled. "A trap."
Kai's eyes narrowed.
Selene continued, "They want you to come, Adrian. And you too, little wolf. They're expecting a show."
Adrian took the paper from Kai's hands, his jaw ticking. "Then let's give them one they'll never forget."
Kai swallowed hard, then nodded.
He was done running.
Kai paced the room after Selene left, his nerves burning hotter than a full moon rise. The room smelled of tension, of old secrets cracking through the floorboards and blooming like rot.
Adrian hadn't moved from the window.
"So that's it?" Kai asked, his voice sharp, but the cracks were showing. "You just weren't going to tell me I'm some kind of magical target?"
Adrian's voice was quiet. "I was going to. But not like this."
"When? After they ripped my fucking throat out?"
Adrian turned then, his eyes glowing faintly vampiric instincts rising to the surface. But when he looked at Kai, they softened. Always softened.
"You think I don't want to protect you?" Adrian asked, stepping closer. "You think I haven't torn through half the city already just to keep their scent off your trail?"
Kai's breath caught. "Then why didn't you just tell me?"
"Because the moment I did… you'd look at me like this. Like I'm the monster in your story."
Kai flinched.
"I don't think you're a monster," he said quietly. "I think you're scared."
Adrian's lips twitched not into a smile, but something heavier. More tired.
"I've watched people I care about die, Kai. Ripped away before I could do anything. You show up with that damn coffee cup, those big stubborn eyes, and suddenly my world goes sideways. And then I find out you're not just a target you're the target. That doesn't scare me, Kai. That fucking terrifies me."
The silence between them thickened, but something had shifted. Kai walked closer, close enough to feel the cold that lingered in Adrian's skin even when his body burned.
"I'm not going anywhere," Kai whispered.
"You might not have a choice," Adrian replied.
Kai tilted his head, defiant. "I always have a choice. And right now, I'm choosing to fight. With you. Not for some prophecy, not because I'm a 'rare bloodline omega,' and definitely not because I'm some magical fated one. I'm fighting because I care about you. And I don't want to lose what we've started."
Adrian's fingers brushed against Kai's cheek, tender and possessive all at once.
"You've already ruined me, you know," he murmured.
"Good," Kai said with a small smirk. "Now ruin me back."
Adrian's lips crashed into his before the tension snapped like lightning. This wasn't sex it was a kiss that promised war, one that tasted like regret and love and every awful, beautiful thing in between.
By the time they pulled apart, breathless and trembling, Kai said, "So what's next?"
Adrian's gaze darkened. "Next, we set the trap… and then we burn the bastards to the ground."