I couldn't take my eyes off Kongar's black eyes for even a moment. I wasn't afraid of him.
Yes... I wasn't.
But why?
As I looked at him, I felt a tear welling up in my eye. I blinked rapidly, trying to stop it, but I couldn't.
Kongar reached out and wiped away my tear. Yes... he had wiped away a single tear. Yet at the very same time, he was having a vampire remove my heart.
"Ah... ha..."
The moment I burst into laughter, Kongar took a step back.
"How can you laugh in a situation like this?" the vampire asked.
Before I could answer, Kongar cut in.
"Do your job," he said. "Take the heart out."
At Kongar's command, the vampire raised his hand once more, then brought it down in one swift motion. The movement alone made my entire body tense with fear.
"Goodbye," I whispered to Kongar.
Kongar's eyes kept shifting—one moment turning yellow, the next fading back to black.
Did it mean something?
Then again… It didn't matter anymore.
The blow I had been expecting never came.
Were they playing with me?
"Enough already!" I shouted. "If you're going to take it, then take the damn heart!"
My whole body trembled with anger.
Then I turned to the vampire.
"What kind of vampire are you?" I snapped. "You couldn't even take out a heart—"
Kongar cut me off before I could finish.
"Do it," he said.
His jaw was clenched so tightly that his white teeth were showing.
"I-I will... if you let go of my hand," the vampire said.
Let go of his hand?
My gaze immediately darted to the vampire's hand.
Kongar had grabbed the vampire's wrist just as his hand was about to touch my skin. He was squeezing it so hard that bruises had already begun to bloom across the vampire's pale skin.
As Kongar's grip tightened, his body began to tremble as well.
"Let me go!" the vampire shouted. He struggled with all his strength to free his wrist. He was moving so fast that my eyes could barely follow him. He kept struggling for a long time, but he couldn't break free from Kongar's grasp.
What was Kongar trying to do?
Suddenly, the vampire used his free hand to jerk Kongar's head to the side and... bit him.
I flinched in shock.
"Kongar," I whispered, looking at him.
But he hadn't taken his eyes off me for even a moment. Yellow tears tinged with black streamed down his face.
"Urgh..."
The vampire quickly tore his fangs away from Kongar's neck. Then he doubled over where he stood and began to vomit.
"What are you?" he said, his eyes widening with fear.
Kongar completely ignored the vampire. His gaze remained fixed on me.
Could he have broken?
"Damn it," Kongar cursed quietly.
Then he swung his hand toward the vampire. Black smoke instantly engulfed him.
"W-What are you doing—"
Before the vampire could finish his sentence, he vanished into the black smoke.
Were we back to square one again?
In exasperation, I brought a hand to my forehead.
Wait a minute.
What had happened to my chains?
My other hand wasn't bound anymore.
Frowning, I quickly looked down at my feet.
They were free too.
"Why?" I asked, turning to Kongar. The moment I looked at him, he tossed a garment at me.
My T-shirt.
Without questioning it, I quickly pulled it on.
The instant the fabric touched my skin, a strange sense of relief washed over me.
The moment I covered myself, I felt safe again.
Maybe clothes had an invisible way of protecting people.
The moment I felt Kongar's hands on me, my thoughts scattered.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
Once again, he didn't answer.
I tried to push away his arms wrapped around me, but I couldn't. He was too strong. And with every touch, that tingling sensation spread through my body, strangely calming me.
Was this another one of Kongar's powers?
He lifted me into his arms and stood up. I found myself cradled against him like a bride. As I raised my head, my gaze fell on his yellow neck tinged with black.
That was when I realized his body wasn't completely black. His skin seemed to glow with a faint yellow light from within.
Suddenly, my teeth began to itch.
I wanted to bite something.
Just like whenever I was with Arkan.
No.
Don't be ridiculous.
I quickly tore my gaze away from his neck.
My heart was beating so fast that there was no way I could hide it from Kongar. After all, we shared the same heart.
It was so embarrassing. It was worse than a disease.
Yes... a disease.
I wasn't just schizophrenic anymore. I might have developed Stockholm Syndrome too.
I needed to get back into Arkan's arms.
Yes... those strong arms.
He would hide me.
Ah... I missed his scent.
Kongar's arms tightened around me all at once. Then black smoke began to swirl around us.
I turned to him in alarm.
"Where are you taking me—"
Before I could finish, the black smoke completely engulfed us.
For a while, I couldn't see anything. When the smoke slowly cleared, it was still dark, but the moonlight illuminated our surroundings just enough.
I frowned.
Wait a minute...
I was outside.
Just as I was about to turn back to Kongar with excitement, I heard a powerful growl.
Instead of frightening me, the sound made my heart race with joy.
"Arkan," I said as I turned around.
In his wolf form, Arkan came charging toward me with a growl.
Unable to stop myself, I slipped out of Kongar's arms. Strangely, he didn't try to stop me, but I wasn't in any state to think about why. At that moment, the only thing on my mind was reaching Arkan.
I started running toward him.
Kongar remained where I had left him, standing perfectly still as he watched me from behind.
I came to an abrupt stop when a man suddenly appeared right in front of me.
His crimson eyes almost glowed beneath the moonlight. The moment he bared his fangs and hissed at me, I recognized him.
He was the vampire Kongar had brought to remove my heart.
"That creature will pay for the way he treated me," he snarled as he lunged at me.
"Ahh!"
I screamed and shut my eyes. At that exact moment, something cold and slick splattered across my face.
As I slowly opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was a pair of blue eyes glowing in the darkness.
The black wolf—Bozok—was looking at me with the vampire's neck clamped between his jaws.
When he tightened his bite just a little more, the vampire's head tore free from his body, rolled across the dirt a few times, and came to a stop at my feet.
---
Soren
With Luna in my arms, Kongar emerged from the black smoke right in front of us. Before I could even understand what was happening, I found myself slamming into the wall on my back.
The bastard was unbelievably fast and incredibly strong.
For the first time in a long time, I felt utterly helpless. I quickly got to my feet and called out to the Alpha. But just then, an invisible force began tightening around my throat. I staggered back and braced myself against the wall behind me. Struggling to breathe, I slowly slid down toward the floor.
Thankfully, the Alpha was at my side in an instant. He grabbed me and shook me hard several times.
I was in no state to speak. With great effort, I raised my hand and pointed behind him, toward Kongar.
Growling in fury, the Alpha lunged toward them, but he was too late. Kongar and Kayra had already vanished into the black smoke.
The Alpha stared at the paw he had frozen midair for several seconds. As for me, the moment Kongar disappeared, I was finally able to breathe again. He had literally used dark magic on me.
The witch siblings were arguing heatedly among themselves. Ignoring them, I walked toward the Alpha. Just as I was about to reach him, he shot past me like lightning and charged at the siblings.
"Watch out!" I shouted. "Alpha, don't!"
The siblings managed to raise a barrier at the very last second. The Alpha, however, didn't stop for even a moment. He kept slashing at it with his claws and trying to tear it apart with his fangs. The barrier wouldn't withstand his attacks for long. Cracks had already begun to spread across its surface. After all, Lycans were nothing like ordinary werewolves.
When I reached him, he turned toward me with a growl.
"Kayra," he said in a hoarse, animalistic voice. "Kayra."
"We'll find her," I said.
He roared at me in fury.
"How?" he shouted. His entire body was trembling uncontrollably.
"Alpha, calm down. Your wolf is going to take over your whole body—"
Before I could finish, he lashed out at me with his claws.
In an instant, I found myself on the ground.
"I don't care!" he bellowed. Then he transformed into a black wolf and leapt through the window.
"Alpha!"
---
The Alpha had been out of control ever since Kongar disappeared before his eyes with Kayra. But it wasn't just him—the entire pack was in the same state. What had happened was nothing short of a disaster.
We had only just gotten our Alpha back, and now we were about to lose him again. No one could think of a sensible solution. We were all on edge.
His wolf had taken over him once again. He had spent the entire day roaming through the rooms of the pack house, and now he was outside, running endlessly around it.
Luna's scent must have permeated the pack house far more than I had realized.
Sarya and Targen had already returned home. They were planning to trap Kongar within a sphere and even believed he might be a witch who wielded dark magic.
What business would a witch have with our Luna? The more I thought about it, the more I felt like I was going to lose my mind.
The Alpha's sudden growl made me turn toward the window. As it grew more intense, I got to my feet and walked over to it. The moment I looked outside, I saw that bastard.
Luna was in his arms.
Without a second thought, I jumped out the window.
The moment my feet touched the ground, a red-eyed man appeared right in front of me.
A vampire.
I was just about to growl at him when our guards stepped between us.
"Beta Soren," one of them said, then gestured toward the vampire.
"Prince Lucas of the Vampires."
What was he doing here?
"Beta Soren," Lucas said.
"Prince Lucas," I said in greeting.
"Where is Alpha Arkan?" he asked. "A creature is holding your Luna underground."
At the prince's words, I turned my gaze toward Kongar in the distance. When Lucas followed my gaze, he spotted him as well.
"I don't need you anymore," he said with a smile before running toward Kongar.
I sprinted after him, but he was unbelievably fast.
The prince stopped a few steps in front of Luna.
Why had he gone to Luna instead of Kongar?
The moment I saw the Alpha lunging at him from behind, I shouted at the top of my lungs.
"Alpha!"
I was still too far away. To make matters worse, the Alpha's wolf was preventing me from establishing a mental link with him.
The instant the Alpha pounced on the prince, I shifted into my wolf.
I couldn't let him kill the prince.
That would mean war.
But I was already too late.
The Alpha tore Prince Lucas's head from his body.