Canary threw herself against Kyra, tearing the skin of his arm. Blood gushed out, but she didn’t stop attacking. Even as he tried to defend himself, she bit him with ferocity."I’m going to kill you, I’ll kill you for my mother! And I’ll kill you for Vahem," she said without fear.

She saw nothing but red, all she wanted was his blood. She threw him to the ground, biting his neck, sinking her teeth in hard.

"STOP, YOU DAMN BITCH!" he shouted, writhing beneath her. Seeing him like that made her laugh in a chilling way.

Even furious and determined to kill him, Canary was still inexperienced—this was her first time, and Kyra had years of practice. He managed to break free and grabbed her by the neck, throwing her against the wall.

"CANARY!" Merydia shouted from the other side.

Dazed, she tried to get up, but Kyra rushed at her. He began biting her arms and ribs with extreme violence. He was stronger, older. She stood no chance.

Kyra slammed her to the ground, blood pouring from her wounds. He pinned her down, snarling in her face.

"Poor little thing, the violence of the first transformation," he laughed, licking her face.

"We think we can do everything, kill everything! Too bad it’s not that easy, sweetheart. Now… I’m taking you with me, and you’ll pay every single day of your life for what you put me through."

She growled, but she was bleeding too much to fight back.

"We’re going to have so much fun, sweet Canary…"

"GET OFF HER, DAMN YOU!" Merydia hurled a spell at him, forcing him off and slamming him against the wall.

Even wounded, she stood her ground, raising her hands toward him again.

"I’ll tear you apart from the inside out, bastard," she said, advancing on him.

"I… I’ll… finish you," he muttered, choking on his own blood.

But suddenly, Merydia’s nose began to bleed.

"AHHHHH!" she screamed in pain, collapsing to the ground with her hands clutching her head.

"MERYDIA, WHAT’S HAPPENING?" Canary shouted, but Merydia closed her eyes and fell.

Kyra broke free from the spell and charged at Canary again. But she forced herself to stand, exhausted and bleeding.

"Come on now… I don’t want you covered in bruises. I want your body nice and pretty for me."

"You’ll have to kill me first, you filthy bastard," she bared her teeth at him.

He smirked but staggered to the side. He was also weak and wounded. Suddenly, he stopped and looked up. His gaze locked on Canary, and he smiled.

"You think I’m the monster, Canary? That’s only because you don’t know your beloved Rouge yet."

"STOP LYING!" she shouted, but he laughed.

"Ask him, and you’ll find out who he really is! You think he’s better than me? You’re in for a huge disappointment."

He started moving toward the end of the tunnels, leaving Canary confused. Then he looked back at her one last time.

"You’ll be in my bed, even if I have to chain you there."

And with that, he bolted away, fleeing. She tried to go after him, but her legs wouldn’t move.

Her heart raced, her blood burned, and her body trembled violently. She collapsed to the ground, screaming in pain, until… she began to shift back to her human form.

Her whole body shivered as she crawled—naked and bleeding—toward Merydia. Relief washed over her the moment she touched her sister-in-law and felt her breathing.

Then the half-moon mark on her arm began to burn with brutal intensity. The tunnel door was smashed open.

"CANARY!" Vahem rushed to her side, blood covering his face, his body wounded. He dropped to his knees, cupping her face.

"I… I’m…" he pulled her into his arms, holding her with all his strength.

She pressed her hand against his bare chest, hearing the wild rhythm of his heart.

"Thank the gods you’re safe. Let’s go."

                              —--

Vahem carried her to his room and then to the upstairs bathroom. Canary was surprised to see a bathtub. Vahem gently placed her inside, being careful with her bruises.

"I can’t stay here, I can’t! I need to see Merydia."

She tried to stand, but he stopped her.

"My sister is fine, she’s being treated. Now I… I take care of you," he said, staring at her. She chose not to resist.

He began cleaning her, tending to her wounds. The way he didn’t care about himself, even though he was in worse condition than Canary, intrigued her.

"I transformed." He gave a faint smile.

"I know, I felt it."

"You… felt it?"

"It’s our bond. I saw you… I felt your pain." He shivered.

"Forgive me for taking so long to get there." There was sorrow and guilt in his eyes.

"You don’t have to ask forgiveness for that, you were protecting your people."

"I should have been protecting my moon," he said, never looking away.

She shivered at his words, realizing how furious and guilty he was. Slowly, she held the hand he had resting on her injured arm.

She leaned closer to his face and kissed him. Softly, slowly. He was reluctant, but gave in, letting himself be carried away.

Placing his other arm inside the tub, around her waist, he pulled her close. The kiss deepened, Canary ran her hands along his neck, pulling him to her, while he bit her lips with force. He pulled away from her mouth, trailing down to her neck… then to her breasts. He drew one nipple into his mouth, making Canary let out a soft moan—one that made him faster, more relentless.

"Vahem…" she moaned.

And then something overcame her. Images. She saw Vahem snapping the neck of a small child. Then killing what seemed to be the screaming mother… while smiling.

She quickly pulled away from him, leaving him stunned.

"What… what was it? Do you want me to stop?" He looked at her, confused.

"Yes. I want to be alone."

He still seemed confused, but nodded and left the bathroom.

Canary curled up in the bathtub. That couldn’t be true. Vahem wasn’t a monster. He wasn’t.

                               —---

Her night was awful; she couldn’t even sleep. And Vahem never came to the room. She woke up early the next morning and went straight down to meet Merydia, who was already well, sitting at the table along with Vahem and other Lycans.

She didn’t hesitate to run to her sister-in-law and hug her tightly.

"You saved me, Merydia, thank you! My friend."

Merydia gave Canary a big smile.

"I wouldn’t let that bastard do anything to you."

Canary hugged her again. When she let go, she noticed Vahem staring at her.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, quickly looking away.

"We’re leaving. We can’t stay here any longer," he said promptly.

"What?"

"It’s no longer safe. Kyra could break in at any moment! And we lost too much yesterday," Merydia said with sorrow. Canary felt her heart sink—most of it was her fault.

"And where will we go?"

"I have some friends. They can give us shelter until you’re ready," he said, looking at her. He seemed to know something was wrong.

Canary swallowed hard.

"Why don’t we go to the Blue Capital? It’s safe, and they can help us! My mother used to say they were good people. Let’s go there," she said quickly.

But suddenly, everyone went silent.

"That place doesn’t exist anymore," Merydia said.

"Merydia!" Vahem scolded.

"What? It doesn’t exist anymore, am I lying?"

Canary felt her heart race.

"How… what do you mean?"

Merydia looked at her.

"It was destroyed, Canary."

She staggered.

"Destroyed? By whom?"

Everyone stayed silent.

"By just some destroyer," Merydia said quickly.

But Vahem smiled without joy.

"No, not by just some destroyer!"

Canary looked at him in fear.

"It was me. I destroyed the entire Blue Capital."

She had to steady herself not to fall. His eyes changed when she tried to look at him. She couldn’t. That was not the Vahem she had once known.