Prologue: Lucian
I tried to protect her. I tried to do everything in my power to keep her safe. The more time that passed, the more I understood the danger of this place. We were both victims of cruelty. Pain made our beds. If I was going to save her, I would have to break her. I would have to shatter her world forever.
She is my temptation - she belongs to me.
The dark howl of night called out to me, a siren’s song of temptation and lust. I walked through the trees, entranced by the wind. Something was changing in my world, and I was sure it had to do with her.
Our connection. She was near. With every step I took, my heart pounded within.
I had seen her once before. Many years ago, I’d disobeyed the rules my fucked up father set in place.
Now I’d crossed the Great Divide that separated our homes to find her home, an old RV.
The glowing light pouring out of the small windows put me in a trance. Heavenly and absolute, I knelt and allowed for it to wash over my eyes, my cheeks, and lips.
Though it was marvelous to see electricity shine so brightly out here, it reminded me of what had happened. The accident.
Unlike me, she was beautiful. I was a fucking beast. A monster. Tossed aside, I was forced to live a tormented existence. But all of that could change if I had her. With her, I could find a cure to my affliction. She was my one ticket out of here.
I heard a voice; a man's voice, low and worn down. Her daddy. "How many times do I need to tell you? You’re allowed five minutes of light. Now, get to bed."
Her father was my father's enemy. He was a man who would do everything in his power to keep me away from his daughter. He was still treating her like a little girl, like a petulant, rotten child, but she was old enough to make her own decisions.
I’d spent years dreaming about her, waiting for her to answer my prayers to find me on the other side of the Great Divide, but he was too careful, and she knew nothing of my kind.
I was a freak of nature. I was an animal. No,—I was a man made to bear the look of something unimaginably terrifying. Though I had grown in age and stature, I still didn't know how to control my powerful anger and cunt-destroying lust.
The accident made me this way. It turned my brother and me into beasts. The accident forced our testosterone and cortisol levels to skyrocket. My muscles bulged, and my blood pulsed, heavy. I felt absolute pain, but the torment was worse than I could ever have imagined. I could take it, but my brother was never the same again.
Scientists couldn't control us. Neither could private security. We broke free from their restraint and found a life deep within the woods. Rules were made and lines were drawn in the soil, but my desires were insatiable.
When we found my habitat in these woods, I tried to hold myself back. I tried to be good. But a bad man can't be changed. I was who I was, and I fucking owned every ounce of evil that pulsed within my veins.
Consumed by a violent lust, I peered into her window. I watched her sleep, smiling peacefully. Was she dreaming of a better tomorrow?
For now, she was safe. Soon, she'd be mine.
Lilly
"Get up. It's time to hunt some wilder-beast."
My dad stood over my bed with my grandfather's rifle in hand. Face severe, he nodded toward the gun rack on the other side of the hallway, and I felt my heart quicken. "Shit. What time is it?"
I wiped my eyes open and yawned loudly. The clock showed that it was already ten. “Oh, fuck,” I cursed.
“Language,” my dad warned.
I rolled my eyes and fell back against my mattress. “Does language really matter anymore?” I asked.