Crimson Hunger

The growl cut almost like a knife through the night, heavy and guttural, vibrating on the bricks below the rooftop. The Alpha froze, instincts kicking in. His wolf surged to the fore, ready to fight, ready to defend the forbidden male whose cold hand still grasped his wrist.

The vampire did not flinch; an amused smirk came instead, golden eyes glowing with a predator's thrill. "Guess we aren't alone," he drawled, a seductive throaty challenge that made danger thrill him even more.

The Alpha's heart ran a marathon. He peered into the shadows below. The alley stretched away, silent except for the drops of rain water falling from a broken pipe. Not much—until movement. From the darkness, a figure stepped boldly forth, fiery yellow eyes, claws half-shifted, lips bared in a snarl.

A wolf.

Not just any wolf; his packmate, his Beta.

The Alpha's blood chilled.

The Beta's gaze darted back at him and then to the vampire standing too close, fingers still tangled in his shirt. The truth hung heavy between them. Betrayal. Longing. Insanity.

"Tell me I'm wrong," the Beta growled, his voice torn between rage and disbelief: "Tell me you didn't let him touch you. Tell me you're not betraying us all."

The Alpha's throat constricted. A thousand lies burned on his tongue, but none came forth. Silence alone was testimony.

The Beta's growl deepened, fangs bared, claws trembling as he sprang high, scaling the wall at a brutal velocity. The vampire threw the Alpha back, fangs bared and dark, wicked laughter spilling out. "Finally," he purred, "somebody worth sinking my teeth into."

"No!" the Alpha screamed, stepping in front of the vampire, shielding him. The wolf inside him clawed him from within, crying out for blood, for a choice to be made. But how could he choose between a man he was sworn to lead and one who had already claimed his soul?

The Beta's claws swiped the air, nearly striking the vampire as the predator slipped aside with inhuman grace. Chaos erupted on the rooftop—fangs flashed, claws slashed, and the air thickened with the sounds of a battle tinged with rage and lust.

Heaving in the midst of fighting his two crazed companions, the Alpha felt torn between intervening and giving way to fury. Every hit, every hiss of pain twisted his insides. His world was crumbling. His secret had ceased being a secret—now it was war.

"Enough!" he roared, his voice resonating with power across the fighting pair. Power erupted from him, a command carried clearly in every syllable by the blood of his wolf. Both fighters froze, breaths ragged as they stood trembling with the desire to finish what they had begun.

The vampire licked blood from his lip, and amusement twinkled in his eyes. "You see? He's already mine. You'll never break what we've started."

The Beta's face twisted in rage; breath was hardly contained within him-it surged and pulled again and again. "When the pack finds out, you're finished- both of you. I'll make sure of it."

The Alpha advanced, his voice turning dangerous. "No one will find out. Do you hear me?" His eye shifted between them, panicking but defiant. "This stays between us-or we all burn."

The Beta's silence was as sharp as a blade. Then, he snarled one last time and leapt off the rooftop, disappearing into the shadows, leaving only the stench of fury and betrayal.

The Alpha gasped for air, stumbling and feeling guilty. His pack was crumbling, and he was the one tearing it apart.

The vampire's hand was on his chest, steadying him. "Let him rage," he whispered, lips brushing his ear. "The more they fight us, the sweeter the hunger becomes."

The Alpha's body shuddered with fury and need. He ought to push him away. He ought to run. But when the fangs scraped across his throat, when lips met with the mark already burned into his skin, any resistive strength ebbed from him.

He surrendered.

Mouths crashed-tentative at first, and then desperate. Their teeth clashed and tongues lapped. The kiss was fire and ice, punishment and reward. His nails raked at pale skin, dragging him closer until there was no space left.

A moan escaped the vampire's lips as it melted into his mouth, resonating somewhere deep in the Alpha's bones. "You taste like fury," he murmured, pinning him against the cold rooftop wall. "And I want more."

The impatient hands ripped off the clothes, exposing skin to skin-hot against cold, vampires rushing toward their storm. Every touch was wrong, forbidden, and that made it all the more sweet. Alpha's breath came in jagged gasps, his body betraying him over and over, yielding to what he must destroy.

The vampire's mouth traced a path down his chest, sharp teeth gliding along but never drawing blood, taking him to the edge of pain. Alpha's fingers tangled into dark hair, pulling him in closer and begging for more without words.

It was madness. It was bliss. It was hunger, raw and purest form.

But then—

A howl sliced the night.

It was neither his Beta nor his pack.

It was something else.

Far away. Strong. Terrifying.

The vampire froze with his head turned toward the sound; his eyes narrowed. "That," he said slowly, the tone of recognition mingled with dread, "was no wolf I know."

The blood of the Alpha went cold. His wolf stirred inside him, uneasy, restless. Something primal had awakened.

The vampire looked back at him, still hungry but very much with a warning. "For now, your pack is the least of our problems."

And just before the Alpha could retort, the howl cut in again—this time nearer, echoing in his bones like an ominous prophecy.

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