The air turned cold.
Still.
Heavy.
Dubio stood trembling,
his breaths deep and wild.
Bones cracked under his skin like breaking branches.
Golden light burned in his eyes like fire through glass.
He was shifting.
Gasps and growls rose from the circle of wolves.
They backed away, afraid
yet thrilled.
This was forbidden.
But no one dared stop him.
Breaking the Rule
Matteo took a step back, chest heaving.
He had fought like a man.
And now he had to survive a beast.
"Dubio, stop!"
Kiaro shouted.
He didn't.
Fur ripped through his skin.
His mouth stretched into a snarl.
Claws burst from his hands like curved daggers.
In seconds, Dubio stood on four legs,
a monstrous black wolf
with eyes like molten gold
and fangs dripping with hunger.
Chaos
The circle exploded into chaos.
Wolves howled and leapt back.
Some cheered.
Some ran.
The ground seemed to shake beneath Dubio's paws.
Each step was thunder.
Each breath, fire.
Then he lunged.
Matteo dove aside,
claws tearing the air where his head had been.
He hit the dirt, rolled,
and barely rose before Dubio slammed into him again.
Pain tore through his body.
Blood ran down his arm in hot rivers.
Dubio's teeth snapped inches from his face.
Matteo shoved back with everything he had,
barely holding him off.
"Dubio, please!" Kiaro cried.
But Dubio was gone now
swallowed by the beast.
The Edge
Matteo hit the ground hard, air ripping from his lungs.
He crawled to his feet, dizzy,
while Dubio stalked around him in a slow, cruel circle.
Massive. Silent.
His golden eyes locked on Matteo's throat.
"Stop this!" Kiaro screamed again.
No one listened.
They wanted blood.
Dubio roared a deep, thunderous howl
that shook the trees and silenced even the wind.
Matteo's heart pounded.
His vision blurred from pain and exhaustion.
He wasn't strong enough.
Not like this.
Not as just one half of himself.
Unless…
Unless he used it.
The Forbidden Blood
Matteo felt it stirring inside him
that dark, wild power
he had never touched.
The wolf.
The vampire.
Both.
It burned under his skin like lightning under glass,
sharp and hot and alive.
His mother's voice echoed in his mind,
soft, warning:
"Never use what you don't understand…
or it will use you."
Dubio lunged again.
Matteo clenched his fists,
his blood burning.
Maybe it's time they see who I really am…
Flicker of the Beast
He let go.
Just a little.
The world sharpened.
Every leaf, every breath of wind,
every twitch of Dubio's muscles
exploded into perfect clarity.
His pupils split into thin gold slits.
His canines sharpened like blades.
Black veins curled from his eyes down his neck.
The wolves gasped, stepping back.
They saw it.
They felt it.
Matteo didn't look human anymore.
He didn't look vampire.
And he didn't look wolf.
He looked like something new.
Clash of Monsters
Dubio lunged.
Matteo met him midair.
The impact cracked like thunder.
Fur and blood and fury collided,
rolling across the ground in a blur of claws and fists.
Matteo moved faster than before
faster than they could see.
He ducked under Dubio's snapping jaws,
drove his fist into Dubio's ribs,
felt bones crack.
Dubio howled and whipped his tail like a steel whip,
slamming Matteo across the circle.
Matteo crashed through a tree trunk,
splinters raining down like knives.
He rose instantly.
Bleeding.
Grinning.
Dubio snarled.
His eyes burned brighter.
They charged again.
The Torn Sky
Wolves screamed around them,
some chanting Dubio's name,
others frozen in horror.
Matteo's claws slid from his fingertips,
black and silver and dripping with his own blood.
They hummed with energy,
like lightning made solid.
He tore across the ground,
cutting grooves in the dirt.
Dubio slammed into him headfirst
and Matteo caught him.
Yes. Caught him.
Fangs inches from his throat,
Matteo gripped the beast's jaws
and held them apart.
Every muscle in his body screamed.
Blood poured from his arms.
But he did not break.
Dubio thrashed and roared,
massive paws striking like hammers.
Matteo drove a knee into his chest
and threw him back.
The circle went silent.
A Dangerous Truth
Dubio rose again, shaking the dirt from his fur.
Blood stained his fangs.
Rage blazed in his eyes
but now, under it, something else.
Fear.
He had seen what Matteo could do.
They all had.
Kiaro's eyes locked on Matteo, wide and trembling.
"You… you're not just" she whispered.
"Later," Matteo rasped.
Dubio roared and launched forward again.
The Breaking Point
Matteo's body was breaking.
His heart slammed like a war drum.
Each breath burned like fire.
The beast inside clawed at his ribs,
howling to be freed completely.
It wanted out.
It wanted to rip.
To kill.
To burn this forest red.
Matteo gritted his teeth.
Not yet.
He had to stay himself.
Had to.
Dubio smashed him into the earth again.
The ground cracked beneath them.
Pain exploded through Matteo's back.
Darkness clawed at the edge of his sight.
"Stay down," Dubio's growl rumbled.
Matteo spat blood and stood.
"Not tonight."
The Storm Unleashed
Then he let go.
The beast roared through him like fire through dry grass.
Power exploded under his skin.
His claws lengthened, glinting black.
His fangs bared in a feral snarl.
Golden light burst in his pupils like twin suns.
The ground trembled.
The wolves screamed.
Dubio lunged
And Matteo vanished.
He reappeared behind the great black wolf,
claws carving across Dubio's flank in a single blur of motion.
Blood sprayed.
Dubio howled.
Matteo hit him again, and again, and again
a storm of claws and fury.
Too fast.
Too strong.
Dubio crashed into the trees,
snapping trunks like twigs.
Eyes of Fire
The circle was silent now.
No cheers.
No howls.
Only fear.
They had wanted blood.
Now they saw something worse.
Matteo stood in the center,
breathing fire,
eyes glowing gold and black like twin eclipses.
Blood dripped from his claws.
His shadow twisted on the ground like it was alive.
Even the moon seemed to hide behind the clouds.
Dubio rose from the wreckage of the trees.
His fur was torn,
his golden eyes burning brighter than ever.
He growled, low and deep
but there was something new in it.
Terror.
He saw what Matteo had become.
And for the first time,
the beast hesitated.
Matteo stepped forward, silent, deadly.
The earth cracked under his feet.
The wolves whispered like leaves in the wind.
"Monster…"
"Demon…"
"No…" Kiaro said softly.
Her voice trembled.
"That's not a demon."
Her eyes glimmered with something dangerous.
Something like awe.
"That's the heir."
Dubio roared and lunged one last time
and Matteo, eyes blazing,
charged to meet him.
The two monsters collided in a flash of gold and black
And the world shattered.