Matteo stood bleeding in the dirt.
His chest rose and fell in ragged gasps.
His vision shook with pain.
And across from him…
Dubio prowled in full wolf form,
golden eyes blazing,
teeth dripping red.
The wolves watched in silence.
Some with fear.
Some with hunger.
The Awakening
"Run," Kiaro whispered from the edge.
"Please, just run."
Matteo didn't move.
He couldn't.
He wouldn't.
Something inside him cracked open.
A deep heat spread through his veins,
like fire and ice at the same time.
His heartbeat slowed…
then roared.
The air trembled.
His eyes burned crimson.
His nails sharpened like blades.
Fangs glimmered in the moonlight.
And under it all…
a low growl rumbled from his chest.
Not vampire.
Not wolf.
Both.
Fear in Their Eyes
Gasps rose from the circle.
"He's… changing," one wolf whispered.
"That's impossible," another said.
Dubio froze mid-step,
ears twitching,
eyes narrowing at Matteo's glowing form.
Even he hesitated.
Kiaro's breath caught in her throat.
Her heart hammered as she stared at Matteo
at the thing he was becoming.
The Clash
Then they moved.
Dubio charged
a blur of black fur and fury.
Matteo launched forward
fast, silent, deadly.
They collided like thunder.
Dust exploded around them.
Dubio snapped his jaws
Matteo caught them with his bare hands,
pushed him back,
and slammed him into the ground.
The wolves roared in shock.
Dubio clawed at him,
but Matteo twisted,
hooked his arm under Dubio's throat,
and hurled him across the circle.
The great black wolf skidded through the dirt,
crashing into a tree.
Silence.
Dubio staggered to his feet,
but Matteo was already there
eyes blazing red,
fangs dripping,
power crackling off his skin like lightning.
The air itself seemed to recoil from him.
The Truth in the Blood
Dubio stared at him, trembling.
"What… are you?" he growled.
Matteo's voice was calm.
Cold.
"I'm what your world tried to erase."
Dubio's eyes widened.
Kiaro's lips parted in shock.
None of them knew…
not until now.
The child of the man they killed
carried both bloods.
Echoes of the Past
Whispers rippled through the circle like wind through dry grass.
"Impossible."
"Mixed bloods don't survive."
"He should be dead."
Kiaro shook her head, eyes wide.
"No… he's real."
Memories rose like ghosts in her mind
the stories of the old war,
the forbidden love,
the night the wolves and vampires tore each other apart.
They said the bloodlines had been wiped clean.
That no hybrid could live.
Yet here he stood,
breathing, bleeding, burning like a star.
Power Unbound
Matteo flexed his fingers.
Black veins pulsed under his skin.
The ground cracked under his feet.
His voice carried across the silent circle.
"You called me trespasser.
You called me traitor.
But I was never yours to betray."
Dubio snarled, fury fighting the fear in his golden eyes.
"You are a mistake."
"Maybe," Matteo said.
"Or maybe I'm the future."
Rage of the Alpha
Dubio lunged again, howling.
He hit Matteo like a falling tree,
jaws snapping for his throat.
Matteo caught him midair
again
and slammed him straight down.
The ground split.
Dust exploded outward.
Wolves leapt back, shielding their eyes.
Dubio roared, twisting free,
bit down on Matteo's shoulder.
Pain flashed white
Matteo howled, claws tearing across Dubio's side.
Blood sprayed hot and dark across the dirt.
Dubio staggered.
Matteo didn't.
The Fall of Fury
Matteo struck like lightning.
Claws, fists, fangs
a blur of crimson and gold.
He ripped through Dubio's defenses,
drove him back step by step
until Dubio crashed to his knees in the dirt.
The circle went silent.
No one breathed.
Dubio trembled, blood dripping from his jaws.
His golden eyes flickered.
Defeat crept into them like frost.
The Moment of Death
Matteo stood over him,
claws raised,
heart pounding like thunder in his ears.
One strike.
One motion.
And Dubio would be gone.
The wolves watched, frozen.
Some wide-eyed.
Some silently praying he would do it.
Kiaro took a step forward, voice breaking.
"Matteo… don't."
He hesitated.
Dubio looked up, chest heaving,
and for the first time
Matteo saw not the beast…
but the boy inside it.
Proud. Angry. Terrified.
Just like he had been.
Choosing Something Else
Matteo lowered his claws.
"No," he said softly.
"I'm not here to kill you."
Dubio blinked, stunned.
So did the wolves.
"You think mercy makes you strong?" Dubio spat.
"No." Matteo's voice was quiet steel.
"It makes me different."
He stepped back, leaving Dubio kneeling in the dirt.
A defeated alpha.
A living one.
The Weight of Truth
Gasps rippled through the wolves.
Confusion. Anger.
Wonder.
Matteo turned slowly, eyes glowing faint red,
blood dripping from his chin.
"I am vampire," he said.
"I am wolf."
"You are nothing," one wolf hissed.
Matteo met his gaze.
"I am everything you fear."
The words fell like stones into silence.
The Breaking of Silence
Dubio rose shakily to his feet,
still panting, still bleeding.
He stared at Matteo as if seeing him for the first time.
"This isn't over," he rasped.
Matteo almost smiled.
"I know."
Dubio's golden eyes narrowed.
But he didn't attack again.
Not now.
Not tonight.
He turned and limped from the circle,
his dark fur leaving streaks of blood on the dirt.
The pack parted for him
silent, tense, confused.
A Dangerous Future
Kiaro stepped into the circle,
eyes still wide,
heart racing.
"You should be dead," she whispered.
"Maybe," Matteo said.
"But I'm not."
"Half vampire… half wolf… it's not possible."
Matteo looked at her,
his eyes still burning faint gold-red.
"Neither was you and me."
Her breath caught.
Around them, the wolves whispered,
their voices like dry leaves in a storm.
"Hybrid."
"Abomination."
"Heir."
Matteo's body trembled with exhaustion.
Pain rippled through every nerve.
But inside, something new pulsed
something alive.
Awake.
The blood of two worlds.
He raised his head slowly,
meeting every pair of golden eyes watching him.
"You can fear me," he said.
"Or you can follow me."
The words hung in the cold night air
like sparks above dry wood.
No one moved.
No one spoke.
Then
a single wolf lowered his head.
Then another.
And another.
Not in surrender.
Not yet.
But in something close to it.
Respect.
Kiaro's breath shook.
Matteo turned, eyes still glowing,
blood dripping onto the silent ground.
And far away, in the darkness beyond the trees…
something howled.
Not wolf.
Not vampire.
Something older.
Something coming.