Chapter 30: The Break

Kavy's chest rose and fell in rapid succession, her heart hammering against her ribs as she stared at Dante. His grip on her wrists remained firm, unyielding, as if he was waiting—waiting for her to accept what she already knew deep down.

She belonged to him.

"Let me go," she whispered, her voice trembling with the last shred of defiance she had left.

Dante exhaled slowly, his dark eyes flickering with something unreadable before his lips curled into a slow, knowing smirk.

"Let you go?" he repeated, tilting his head. "Where would you even run, Kavy? Back to the life you knew? Back to pretending you were just another ordinary human?"

Her jaw clenched. "That life was real."

His hand released her wrists, only to slide down her throat, his thumb pressing lightly against the frantic pulse there. "No, it wasn't. That life was a lie. And you're starting to realize it, aren't you?"

Kavy swallowed hard, her throat tightening. She hated that he was right. Hated that, despite everything, she could feel herself slipping.

The transformation had started.

She wasn't the same person she'd been before Dante's bite. Her body knew it. Her instincts knew it.

And worst of all—he knew it.

"You feel it, don't you?" Dante's voice dropped to a low growl, his fingers tracing along the curve of her throat before settling just below her collarbone. "The pull. The hunger. The need."

A sharp, searing heat spread through her veins at his words, her body betraying her in ways she didn't understand.

"No," she choked out, shaking her head violently. "I won't become like you!"

His grip tightened just slightly, a reminder that her words meant nothing in the face of what was happening.

"You don't have a choice."

Tears burned the corners of her eyes, frustration and fear clashing inside her like a violent storm.

"I—" Her voice broke as a sudden wave of pain shot through her, making her knees buckle.

Dante caught her effortlessly, his arms wrapping around her waist as she gasped for breath. The fire beneath her skin grew hotter, consuming, twisting, reshaping her from the inside out.

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to fight it, trying to hold on to the last pieces of herself.

But it was slipping.

"Let it happen," Dante murmured against her ear, his breath hot against her skin. "Fighting it will only make it worse."

She shook her head wildly, her nails digging into his arms. "I won't let you win."

Dante chuckled, a dark, sinful sound that sent a shiver through her already burning body.

"Sweetheart, you already have."

And deep down, Kavy knew—

This was only the beginning of the end.