The alley turned into a slaughterhouse. Garbage cans shattered, lids clanged, blood smeared across the pavement. The air stank of iron and wet fur.

One by one, they fell. Some under Gregor’s merciless claws, others under my half-panicked, half-instinctual strikes.

And then—it was quiet.

Ten bodies littered the alley. Blood pooling, steam rising from torn flesh in the cold air.

Gregor stood in the center, fur slick with gore, chest heaving, dominance radiating like fire. His eyes burned ...