t e n
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THE COMMOTION PROVIDED the perfect cover for Connor and Tia as they wove through the panicking crowd. Tia stepped on a foot, then the rich velvet fabric of a woman's ball gown. The material tore, but Tia didn't stop to apologise. She was done with apologies, and the handle on the clock was winding down, narrowing her window of opportunity.

Connor, nor Tia, knew what had happened. As they broke from the crowd, the hall flashed into darkness. The pair blinked unstoppably to adjust to the lack of lighting. Tia's vision switched to black and white, her feet catching the bottom stair of the winding staircase.

"Tia!" Connor whispered as he sprinted ahead of her with long strides, taking two stairs at a time. He waved a hand to beckon her forwards. "Come on!"

Eretria rolled her eyes, almost tempted to cross her arms. Connor was much faster and stronger than she could ever be, purely because he was a male, and purely because the werewolf shifting gene was recessive and carried on the X chromosome.

The pair reached the top of the stairs as the lights flickered. She didn't hesitate to fall against the railing to rest for a second. Her wolf vision kicked into motion, a masked scene playing out before her. All she could see was blood. And lots of it. The doors to the hall had been thrown open in the frenzy, dazzling light streaming through the black seams.

Someone clasped her hand. It was hot to the touch. The woman's cheeks flustered.

"Tia," Connor hissed. "We don't have much time."

The brunette nodded as a response.

The upstairs was alike the first floor of the beautiful building, but with much lower ceilings. As Connor headed for an archway, he had to duck so that he wouldn't bang his head. Lace ran along the bottom of the walls, the decorations plentiful. Dark oak was a theme in the house, with an ancient rocking chair stood to attention in the corner of the hallway. Ivy ran across the banisters, grey against the black backdrop. Tia could see the veins running through the leaves; alive, like pulsing blood.

Connor pushed open a door, and immediately began to search the room. It was a large bedroom, with a four poster bed, and ruby rug taped along the floor. His hands fumbled through a pile of papers left on the side of a chest of draws.

Tia shook her head profusely. "It won't be there. That's too obvious."

"You don't know that." Connor growled.

"Think about it," the she wolf retorted with a flick of her hair. It was too dark for Connor to see the words scribed on the material. "You kill a whole pack of werewolves. You wouldn't leave important files - or even have any - lying around. What kind of murderer would leave clues?"

Connor shrugged, refusing to listen to Tia's insistent words. "There'll be something."

She huffed, expelling air from her lungs which condensed on a mirror in front of her face. She knew she was right, but an Alpha would never prize her opinion over theirs. She was a non-shifting she wolf - a nothing. So much anger, so much hatred, and so much spite had been coiling through her bones since the day of her birth, and it would eventually turn her blood black. Power was the only form of currency in the supernatural world.

Eretria flicked her hair over her shoulder. The night air was chilling against her tanned cheeks as she shifted her head towards an open window in the far wall of the room. The moonlight was sparse, but vivid. Her eyes wavered over the flickering dust motes as they fluttered in the night breeze.

The night is more alive than the day. It was something Eretria's father had repeated to her every night before the full moon exposed itself.

Tia scanned her eyes over the rest of the room, flitting across the stunning bed, and chest of draws before turning her attention to the next room. It wasn't dissimilar to the original bedroom, but this one was much smaller. Dust had gathered in a thick blanket across the surfaces of the mahogany furniture, fingerprints staining the grey landscape like oval blemishes. The scent of damp wood soaked into Tia's nostrils. She tried to hold her breath, but ended up sneezing instead.

She was about to wander straight through the room when she caught the glimpse of something white and pristine in her peripheral vision. Tentatively, with shaking hands, the brunette picked up the piece of paper delicately. Expecting typed words, her heart sank. The parchment was rough as they slid through her fingers, pupils widening to read the elaborate scrawl, she realised it was the same as the lettering on the invitation she had received.

Tia couldn't see in the darkness.

But she could certainly hear.

The delicate, thin hairs on the back of Tia's neck rose as a shiver ran through her fingertips. She had been to immersed in her own train of thought to notice the other pair of lungs breathing irregularly behind her. At first, she wondered whether it was Connor who had followed her out of curiosity, but Tia's animal instincts were screaming at her to run.

Run. Run. Run.

A clock chimed in the house, reverberating through the withering plaster walls.

Abruptly, Tia kicked out with her left leg, meeting flesh. The person behind her groaned in surprise. She heard the figure take two steps back as she spun on her heel, facing the opponent.

A pasty face stared back at the brunettes. Eyes like daggers, Tia dove as the man made a grab for her neck.

With the air rushing through her ears, and heart beating as loud as a war drum, she rolled across the floor and pulled the knife from her shoe only to find it missing. She grunted in frustration, smacking against the wall before she could stop her momentum.

Tia was on her feet in a second, hands tightened into fists. Her opponent was large, towering over her frame. Power rippled through the air, the energy kinetic.

"What're you doing up here, wolf?" The male jeered. His tone was beautifully sculpted, and in an accent she could understand for once.

Tia didn't answer. Didn't have time to be afraid. Didn't have time to think as she lunged forward, kicking at the male's legs and knocking him off balance. She didn't hesitate to aim for his chest, her fingers scraping against his room temperature skin.

But the vampire was too fast, latching his fingers around Tia's small wrists before she could pull out his heart. He twisted her right wrist: bones snapping; veins wavering.

The brunette screamed in agony, gritting her teeth and pulsing her jaw with each thundering beat of her heart.

The lights switched back on as the backup generator kicked into motion. Tia forced her eyes shut as the bright luminescence tempted to blind her. The cracks in her eyelids were unsettling, and for a moment, a fleshy red was all she could see.

The sight when she reopened her orbs was no prettier.

Jared and Connor, bloodied and bruised, were also being held captive by equally large vampires. Tia held her breath, giving up her struggle. She felt a weight lift from her chest from the lack of Colton's presence. She hoped that he was safe, and had had the intellect to run.

"I invite you all into my house, and what do I get?" A voice chimed. The British accent was haunting to Tia's eardrums. A man stepped out from the doorway, polished shoes gleaming in the electrical light. Up close, Eretria could see the scars on the man's face, white against beige. He had the appearance of someone who had years under his belt, yet was ageless. Tia couldn't begin to place him under an age category. The man frowned at the ground, droplets of scarlet on the polished wood from Connor's newly broken nose. He was the same ancient vampire who hosted the event. "I really don't appreciate the blood on my floor, first of all. I don't appreciate people searching my personal belongings, either."

Eretria felt the bones in her wrist beginning to knit back together, but the bones would take hours to fully heal. She wrenched her arm from her captor's risk, raising her hands before he could gain control of her limbs once more. She wouldn't let someone else control her.

"I don't appreciate vampires killing my whole pack," the woman retorted. Her palms stung as she dug her fingernails deep into the skin.

The man froze, anger tearing up his plain features. "What are you accusing us of? We have no business with the wolves, which I'm sure you're quite aware of."

Tia puckered her lips. "Tell that to my dead pack."

"I'd be careful what you say to me, little wolf," The vampire uttered. He flicked his hand in a strenuous motion. "Take them away. I want to talk to this one alone."

The intensity of the man's encapsulating stare made Tia gulp.

"It's Eretria, by the way," she remarked bitterly. "Not 'little wolf.'"

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Hope you all enjoyed my lovelies, and thank you for reading!!

We've pretty much met the killer in there first ten chapters - any guess as to who it is? ;)

Lotte xx

Dedicated to jakepatt for all the comments ❤️