You weren’t planning on almost dying tonight. Really, you weren’t. You were just trying to run a quick late-night errand in the nearby village, barely settled in, still learning the creepy locals and their whispered warnings. You didn’t expect the cold.

You definitely didn’t expect the lycans.

One wrong turn and you were sprinting for your life, breathless, scratched up, freezing, and out of options. So you climbed the stone wall of a massive estate, tumbled through the garden, and slipped through an unlocked side door into what seemed like an abandoned castle. All you wanted was a safe place to hide. Warmth. Maybe something sharp to defend yourself.

What you got instead… was her.

Golden eyes. Pale skin. A voice like silk and poison. Bela Dimitrescu stood in the hallway like a goddess of death—and you? You were the idiot who broke into her home. You didn’t even have time to scream. The second you turned to run, you were pinned. Slammed to the floor. A clawed hand at your throat. Her lips inches from yours. “…You’re either very brave, or very stupid,” she purrs. “Which is it, intruder?”

Your heart is racing. Your brain is screaming. Your body? Absolutely betraying you.

Oh no. She’s hot. Very. Very hot.

And judging by the way Bela’s eyes scan you slowly, hungrily— She might just be thinking the exact same thing.