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Chapter 3

The one who tells the story when Alina can't do it for you

Alina writhes in agony, growling as pain consumes her. Her bones crack and expand, forcing her skin to stretch and adapt to the new shape. She feels a crushing pressure. Muscles, internal organs, and skin adjust to the new skeletal structure. The skin feels taut and stretched, until it tears—until Alina herself begins to pull it apart to make way for the monster.

The process seems endless, but it is over abruptly when she feels something pierce her flesh, searing it. Despite being thin and weakened from poor nourishment, Alina's wolf form remains formidable: a large, reddish wolf with piercing yellow eyes, nearly the size of a horse.

Jared is indeed clever, but he fails to recognize that the CALENDAR is still an old enemy of Alina's. He doesn't think that even when she is confined within four walls, isolated from the light of the full moon, the ravenous beast within her could still break free.

But it does.

When Jared hears the commotion, he rushes back to the room. Upon witnessing the horrific scene of Alina's transformation, he reacts instantly, throwing his silver knife at her. The knife strikes her collarbone, but the rearrangement of her bones forces the blade out. In a hurry, Jared flees and locks the room once again.

Alina doesn't even realize what happened between the moment she lost consciousness and the sound of the knife hitting the floor. In her mind, a single, undeniable impulse eclipses all else: a deep, primal hunger gnaws at her, insatiable and overwhelming.

Limping slightly, Alina shakes her head and growls, drooling and foaming at the corners of her mouth. She throws her massive, fur-covered body against the door and does it one, two, three times. The wood breaks.

Jared fumbles with the keys, trying to find the one that can ensure his survival.

Click, click, click, go the hungry she-wolf’s claws when she advances towards him. Alina's deep growl seems to make the walls tremble.

Jared screams, and the last thing he feels before his consciousness plunges into pain and disappears completely are the cursed she-wolf’s sharp teeth opening wide and tearing into his flesh, pulling muscles and bones in a single bite that almost splits him in half.

Alina has killed her mate.

Just like her parents did in the past, she has committed an unforgivable crime. And it doesn't matter if Jared has wronged her, it doesn't matter if he was paid or not to torture her—they were married in front of the goddess.

Hastily, and without realizing what she has just done, Alina devours everything. Gnawed bones are all that’s left. But she's still hungry. She still wants more—she needs more. So, just as she did to break through the room's door, Alina hurls herself against the house's door until she manages to break through that as well.

Alina is finally free.

The she-wolf clumsily darts across the open field, aimless, searching for anything that moves to attack, chew, and swallow.

A whirlwind of different scents invades her nostrils, leaving her confused and furious. But she moves forward without looking back. Her shoulder still hurts a lot, but Alina is in no condition to pay attention to that.

However, suddenly, as she reaches a forest’s entrance and the house where she endured a hell of a lot worse than the one left behind Agares’ walls is no longer visible on the horizon, Alina comes to a halt so abruptly that her paws slide on the ground, tearing up grass and dirt.

Alina senses a very strong smell, so strong that it makes all the fur on her spine stand up. It's a hot musk that tingles her nostrils, brought to her by the night breeze.

She hears a growl deeper and more reverberating than her own, a warning that any approach should be done with caution. Then, a dark silhouette emerges among the trees—a towering, burly figure with unusual anatomy, its legs boasting a third joint near the calves. It is unmistakably a male-transformed Lycan. However, Alina is in no state to ponder his purpose there, in that place.

He steps out of the shadows, and his image becomes clear. Displaying all the grandeur of a muscular body that blends human characteristics with the strength and appearance of a wolf, he stands on two legs. His fur is as black as coal, and he has intensely yellow eyes that turn towards Alina, silently sending her a message of threat.

He opens his mouth, showing almost all of his teeth, and then he says, "Don't move, little girl. If I need to bite you to calm you down, I will do it."

But Alina doesn't listen to him. Her response is to show all of her teeth too and lunge forward.

She tries to bite the Lycan's leg, but he evades her by swiftly dodging to the right, withstanding himself on the ground with his enormous feet and hands.

The Lycan keeps his yellow eyes fixed on the uncontrollable she-wolf, who turns and runs towards him again, full of hunger, ready to tear a piece of his body.

Alina tries to bite again, but her fangs find the air’s emptiness as the Lycan skillfully evades her. Confused, she tries again, and again, and again. But with sharp claws and quick reflexes, the Lycan blocks Alina's frantic attacks, gracefully dodging as if he’s playing with her—or trying to find an opening.

However, the Lycan isn't trying to attack, and under different circumstances, Alina would find his evasive attitude strange. It's like he really doesn't want to harm her.

The fight extends into a deadly choreography, both adversaries moving in a wild synchrony. The Lycan uses his cunning to avoid Alina's attacks, always one step ahead, while the she-wolf, enraged and unable to contain her voracious hunger, continues to attack with relentless determination.

In a moment of carelessness, the Lycan fails to dodge Alina and is forced to block her with a forearm pressed against her throat, while his other hand firmly grabs one of her paws, trying to keep her snout away from him. Still, the Lycan manages to spin with her on the grass and secure Alina's lupine waist with his knees and thighs, partially immobilizing her beneath him.

"What's your problem, little girl?!" the Lycan asks amidst a growl. "Calm down!"

But once again, Alina responds with nothing more than a grunt that tears through the air.

She doesn't stop moving, shaking her paws and head, trying to bite at all costs. Their noses almost touch at various moments as he observes her uncontrollable fury.

Alina bites at the air multiple times, resulting in a bewildered gaze from the Lycan, until her free front paw strikes his shoulder in the midst of the frenzy. Although her claws are not as large as her opponent's, they are still sharp and manage to tear out some black fur.

The Lycan releases an irritated snarl. The metallic scent of blood grabs the attention of both beasts as they stare at each other for half a second. However, instead of attempting a direct attack, the Lycan moves his mouth until it forms an insane smile as he says, "I get it. You won't listen to me. So I'll have to forget my gentlemanly manners and do it in the rough way."

With supernatural strength and in a swift movement, the Lycan grabs the she-wolf's massive head and closes the fingers of his right hand around her snout, preventing her from opening her mouth. He then presses her snout against the ground and loosens the grip of his legs around her. In doing so, the Lycan allows Alina, in her unbridled fury, to twist her body underneath him and attempt to escape, but the Lycan quickly sits on her back and locks his knees once again.

In a calculated move, the Lycan strikes the she-wolf on the back of her head. It's a precise blow, applying just enough force to render her unconscious without causing serious harm.

After one final whimper, Alina stops moving. She lies asleep beneath the Lycan, who waits a few seconds before releasing her and getting off her. He wants to make sure this isn't a ruse.

The only sounds now are the heavy breaths of the she-wolf and the black-furred Lycan. He braces himself with his hands on the ground, wanting to get a closer look at her, and he witnesses the moment when Alina's lupine body slowly diminishes, gaining humanoid features, until there is only a thin, naked woman lying on the grass; her body covered in bruises, old scars, and a wound on her shoulder. Her hair is as fiery red as the fur of the beast the Lycan just took down.

The Lycan stops smiling and sniffs her face, then slides his large hands beneath her body and lifts Alina in his arms. She's so small in the Lycan’s muscular arms that he has no trouble accommodating her as he stands on two legs.

"Well
 Now we can have a civilized conversation," he says before carrying Alina into the darkness of the forest.

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