Chapter 2: The Fever Begins

Kavy barely remembered how she got home.

The pain had dulled to a throbbing ache, but her body felt wrong—too hot, too restless. She had stumbled through her apartment door, locked it behind her, and collapsed onto the couch.

Now, hours later, she lay curled up, drenched in sweat.

Her skin burned. Her muscles ached.

Every sound was too loud—the hum of the fridge, the ticking of the clock, the distant sirens outside.

She pressed a hand to her forehead. She was burning up.

Her phone buzzed on the coffee table. With shaking fingers, she reached for it.

Jenna: Hey, you good? You never texted when you got home.

Kavy blinked at the screen, trying to focus. She should reply. She should tell her best friend that something was wrong.

But another wave of heat rolled through her body, and the phone slipped from her grasp.

Her breath hitched.

The world tilted.

And then—darkness.

—

Meanwhile…

Dante Moretti paced in the shadows, fists clenched, jaw tight.

He could still smell her.

Her scent was everywhere—in his lungs, in his bloodstream, clawing at his instincts.

He had to stay away.

Had to let her body either fight off the change or finish it.

But his wolf was restless.

He had never bitten a human before. Never let himself get close enough to make a mistake like this.

But tonight… something had gone wrong.

He had lost control.

And now?

Kavy Carter was changing.

And whether she liked it or not—she was his.

—

What Happens Next?

Kavy wakes up different.

Stronger. Faster. Unstable.

And the only person who can explain what's happening to her?

The man who bit her.

The man who wants nothing to do with her.

The heat was unbearable.

Kavy tossed and turned on the couch, her skin slick with sweat, her breath coming in ragged gasps. She had kicked off the blanket, then thrown off her hoodie, but nothing helped.

The fever was inside her. Burning her from within.

She struggled to focus. The room around her blurred, shifting in and out of focus like a dream. The coffee table, the TV, the pile of laundry she had left in the corner—all looked wrong.

Like they were pulsing. Breathing.

Her fingers dug into the couch cushion. What the hell was happening to her?

A sharp pain lanced through her shoulder, and she bit back a whimper. She forced herself to look down at the wound.

Her breath hitched.

The bite—it wasn't normal.

The skin around it had darkened, veins spidering out from the wound like black ink beneath her skin. The edges looked raw, almost like something was still festering inside her.

Her stomach twisted.

This isn't right.

Bites didn't do this. A normal wound should have been scabbing over by now, but this one… it looked worse. It felt worse.

Her heart pounded as a new fear clawed its way into her chest.

What if it was infected?

What if she had caught something?

Rabies? A virus? Something worse?

She needed a doctor. She needed help.

But when she tried to sit up, the world spun violently around her.

The coffee table blurred. The walls stretched and warped.

And suddenly—she wasn't in her apartment anymore.

She was outside.

The wind howled. The pavement was cold beneath her knees.

A dark shape loomed over her.

The golden eyes. The growl.

The pain.

She gasped, snapping back to reality, her body jerking violently.

The vision—**the memory—**had felt so real.

Her pulse hammered against her ribs.

She was losing her mind.

No, no, no. This isn't happening.

She squeezed her eyes shut, forcing slow, shaky breaths.

Think, Kavy. Think.

It was just a fever. A hallucination from the pain. That's all.

Her phone. She had to call someone.

She reached for it with trembling fingers, but the second her hand closed around the device, the screen shattered in her grasp.

Kavy froze.

The phone lay in pieces in her palm, spiderweb cracks running through the glass like a broken mirror.

She hadn't squeezed that hard. Had she?

A sick, heavy feeling curled in her stomach.

Something was wrong with her. Very wrong.

And she had no idea how to stop it.

Kavy's body is changing. Her senses are sharpening. Her strength is growing.

And her fear?

It's only just beginning.

It was crawling under her skin, pressing into her bones like molten iron.

Kavy lay sprawled on the couch, her body drenched in sweat, her breath coming in short, ragged gasps.

Something was inside her.

She could feel it—spreading, twisting, warping her from the inside out.

Her fingers twitched against the couch cushion. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears, erratic and wrong—too fast, too strong, like something was trying to break free.

A violent tremor wracked her body, and she gasped, clutching her arms.

Her skin was hot to the touch. Scalding.

It was like she was burning alive, but there was no fire. No relief. Just an unbearable pressure—pushing, pulling, stretching her body in ways it wasn't meant to move.

Then—the sounds.

At first, she thought it was just the fever playing tricks on her.

But no.

She could hear things she shouldn't be able to hear.

The distant hum of a streetlight outside. The scratching of a mouse in the wall. The faint thudding of footsteps—not in her apartment, but somewhere outside, two floors down.

The realization made her stomach lurch.

Her senses were too sharp.

Too unnatural.

She curled in on herself, pressing her hands to her ears, but the sounds wouldn't stop. They filled her head, echoing, overlapping—growing louder.

Her own heartbeat was a deafening thump-thump-thump in her skull.

What's happening to me?!

Another wave of pain struck, and her back arched violently.

Her nails scraped against the couch—no, ripped into the fabric.

She gasped.

She yanked her hands away and stared in horror.

Her nails… they weren't normal anymore.

They were longer. Sharper.

Almost like claws.

Her breath came in short, desperate gasps.

This isn't real. It's not real.

But the pain was real. The heat was real.

And so was the dark, primal hunger curling in her gut.

Something was wrong. So, so wrong.

And she had no way to stop it.

She squeezed her eyes shut, her body trembling violently.

Then—a noise.

A deep, ragged growl.

Her eyes snapped open.

Her heart stopped.

Because the growl hadn't come from outside.

It had come become worse

Kavy is no longer in control.

And she's about to find out just how dangerous she's becoming.