CHAPTER TEN
The transformation into a monster always left Gabby feeling depleted right after, her energy drained out of her faster than she could recharge it. She felt that weakness now seeping into her bones, and it was all she could do not to stumble as she stood up from the area where she blacked out.
It always happened that way, with Gabby never really recalling what she did or how she did it when her inner darkness came out and transformed her. All she knew was that upon waking up, she would often find dead bodies all around her and blood all over her hands. It got to the point where she had to hide herself from the rest of the world when needed, which had her mother thinking she was some kind of introvert who simply knew how to put on a friendly face for business purposes.
Oh, if only her mother knew the truth.
She’d probably have her daughter killed on the spot.
As it was, Gabby learned that her case was rare—mostly because she was the only one alive. A long time ago, she’d been bitten by a rogue wolf shifter while out partying in some club before she was left alone for dead. She’d been a teenager back then, and all she could remember were the red eyes of the wolf and the pain of the bite before darkness took over. When she woke up, she was surprised to find that she was alive, with minimal wounds that already healed overnight. She thought that was the end of it.
She was wrong.
A certain darkness began developing inside her—one that made her lose consciousness every once in a while, only to wake up with corpses of animals surrounding her. Because she was young and scared, she hid it. It happened enough times that Gabby finally found the courage to chain herself up in a makeshift prison and videotape herself.
What she saw in the video when she woke up after still gave her chills now.
She watched herself turn into a rogue half-wolf, half-fox creature, one with violent tendencies, fangs dripping with saliva and blood-red eyes. She watched as she attacked the cell bars and the chains over and over, trying to get away and injuring her skin and bones in the process. The thirst for blood and the kill was insaitable.
Then news came out—that of the old vampire leader’s first-in-line named Killian betraying him by trying to create a rift between shifters and vampires in the form of experimental rogues: the exact one that bit her. More news came out about how vampires and shifters were teaming up to clean all the rogues and the incident up, so as not to leave any of that senseless violence behind. The puzzle fell into place, and Gabby realized at that moment exactly what she needed to do.
She chained herself up whenever she could.
She also hid her true self from the rest of the world.
It worked at first, and despite the loneliness and the frustration of keeping the darkness a secret, she’d been able to deal. Then the kidnappings started—something that she attributed to her wealth at first until they started extracting her blood. The kidnappers never really got anywhere, because her mother often always found the most efficient men to rescue her before anything else could happen. Then, a year ago, she decided that maybe she could use it to her advantage and allowed herself to get kidnapped while trying to charm it up with Raz.
Her agenda had been to let them experiment on her and use her blood however they wanted—whether they used it to produce more of her kind, she’d planned to deal with later. She just knew that if they were to experiment, surely there had to be a cure they could also make—and she desperately wanted it.
But her plan had resulted in bloodshed as she ended up transforming during the rescue—and killing the shifter bodyguard who rescued her. What had started out as brilliant became the most painful memory of her life, one that had her grieving at night for the man who’d become her friend.
Now Gabby was at a standstill, with still no idea what the cure could be and feeling weaker than she’d felt in a long time. She cursed this weakness and tried not to hate herself as she removed her chains, stumbled out of the horse box, and tried to get her bearings.
She squeaked when she saw Jake standing inside the barn with his broad back facing her.
Everything happened in slow motion after. First, Jake froze in his walking, obviously hearing the sound she made. Then he turned around, and at first, she saw the explosion about to happen and knew he was annoyed that he hadn’t spotted her in the barn right away—he was probably thinking that she’d snuck out on him.
Then his expression changed to shock when he saw her state of dress, and it was only then Gabby realized that she’d torn through her clothes earlier and was wearing…nothing.
Something flared in his hazel eyes, darkening them to that green color again. She watched as desire rang so loud and clear that she could almost taste it in the air and even reach out for it. Her body responded, and she reasoned out that it was because she was closer to her beast nature at the moment, and beasts always tended to be lustful.
Deep inside, Gabby knew she was lying to herself.
She ordered herself to move, to step away and break whatever tension was building between them—had been building between them since they tangled with each other. But she was frozen in place, absorbing his emotions until it doubled up inside her and had her whole body quivering. Her nipples hardened, and something hot throbbed in her core, primal and strong.
Then his gaze changed to make way for concern, and Gabby knew she was done for.
She could stand hate. She could even stand desire and use it to her advantage. But the genuine concern from him was hard to take, making guilt rack her up and swallow her whole. It was what had her opening her mouth, intent on saying something—anything—to soften the situation.
But Jake made the noise first when he cleared his throat. Then he was the one who stepped back first and looked away.
“Gabby…” he said gruffly, his suddenly low voice sending those shivers scattering again.
“Sorry,” she blurted out. “I was about to…shift and find a river. It’s too hot in here.”
His frown said he didn’t believe a word she said. But he didn’t pursue it, instead walking towards the door and waiting until she was dressed. When she was, Gabby cleared her throat.
“Did you…find anything about Raz?”
Jake nodded, not looking at her. “Yeah. He saved me from potential disaster.” Then he glanced in her direction, and his gaze was unreadable again. “Get some rest, please. We might need it.”
Gabby watched as he slipped out the barn and left her alone again.
She still felt weak, but the adrenaline rush of their encounter kept her standing up and fueled with…something. She was tired. She was confused. Jake was the person who should have been a bastard, but here he was, the first guy to show concern when most would have just tried to get it on with her in that instant. He didn’t push either, when he had every right to, considering she’d gotten him involved in this situation whether he liked it or not.
What was she supposed to do with him?
The door opened again, and Gabby looked up, intending to make peace—or at least, some kind of truce.
Her eyes widened when she saw the old man take her in with hungry eyes—not the lustful kind of hungry, but the predatory kind. Then he was leaping towards her in a blur, fangs coming out. Gabby shifted—or she tried to—when she understood that her transformation must have removed the scent-masking potion and had the vampire smelling her.
Horror filled Gabby when she realized she had no energy left to shift.
Then the first strike of pain came in.