Chapter 3

I woke up staring at a white ceiling. My head felt empty, like my brain hadn’t fully turned on yet. I just kept looking up, until suddenly, everything came rushing back.

Damian left me. He said he marked me. Whatever that even means. Then I went home. Collins showed up.

Collins. Just thinking of his name made my heart race as the rest of the memories flooded in.

Wait… was I at his house now?

I shouldn’t be here!

I quickly sat up, but a sharp pain shot through my hand, making me flinch.

I looked down. There was a needle stuck in my hand. An IV line. My eyebrows pulled together in confusion.

I glanced around the room, and that’s when I realized something even worse.

This wasn’t Collins’ house. I was in a hospital.

Panic swelled inside me. I couldn’t be here. What if they found out the other side of me?

I had to get out before something went wrong.

How do I pull this IV out without making a mess?

As I was trying to figure that out, the door suddenly opened.

“Babe.”

My head snapped to the door. It was Collins. He rushed over to me.

“You’re awake,” he said with a small smile.

Before I could say anything, he added, “Hold on, I’ll get the doctor.”

He left and came back a minute later with a man in a white coat.

After checking a few things, the doctor nodded and said, “She’s stable.”

“The fever’s gone too,” the doctor said.

“Let’s just wait for the test results to find out what caused the reaction,” he added as he packed his things and walked out of the room.

My heart started racing. What if they knew? What if Collins knew? What if the doctor found out what I really was?

“I want to go home,” I said once we were alone again.

“You’re not strong enough yet,” Collins replied softly, gently holding my hand.

“I can’t stay here, please,” I said, my voice rising in panic.

He looked at me for a moment, then let out a slow breath. “No one’s going to find out.”

I looked at him, wide-eyed.

“I told the doctor it was just an insect bite,” he said calmly.

My lips trembled. That’s the exact excuse I gave him the day he first saw the mark.

“I’m here, okay? We’ll get through this. I love you,” he added.

That broke me.

Tears spilled from my eyes. Hours ago, I was begging Damian to stay. To help me, to explain what was happening to me. But he left without looking back.

What was I even expecting? That some mysterious man I barely knew would magically fix everything?

I regretted everything I did with Damian. But deep down, I knew it wasn’t all my fault. Something, some force, kept pulling me to him.

And now Collins, the man I’ve loved for four years, the one I hid everything from, was the one still standing beside me, ready to help.

The guilt in my chest felt like it was crushing me.

Collins pulled me into a soft hug. “It’s okay. Everything’s going to be fine,” he whispered.

“Thank you,” I said, dragging out the words, but they came out as a sob.

“I didn’t tell your family,” he added gently. “I didn’t think they needed to know.”

I nodded slowly, holding onto his arm as my body shook from the sobs.

After a while, once I had calmed down, Collins stood up.

“I’ll go get you something to eat. You haven’t had anything since this afternoon. It’s already night,” he said.

Night? I glanced toward the window. He was right. I hadn’t even noticed it was dark outside.

“Thank you,” I murmured.

After eating, I lay back down on the bed. Collins stayed, even though I asked him several times to go home. He refused to leave my side.

“What did the doctor say?” I asked after some silence, even though I already had a feeling what the answer would be.

“He said it looks like a reaction to a bite. An allergic one,” Collins replied in a quiet voice. “They’ll have the test results by tomorrow, and then they’ll know what treatment to give you.”

“I need to call my dad,” I said. “He’s probably worried.”

Collins handed me his phone without hesitation. “Go ahead.”

I made the call and returned the phone to him.

“Babe,” he said softly. “I searched online… about the bite on your neck.”

My heart nearly jumped out of my chest.

“I don’t think it was from an insect,” he said slowly. “I think it was…” he paused for a moment, “an animal.”

His voice had dropped lower, like he didn’t want anyone else to hear.

I didn’t say anything. I already knew it was an animal, I just didn’t know what kind.

He looked down, then met my eyes. “An animal with fangs.”

I gasped, my whole body tensed. I flinched and stared at him in panic.

“What do you mean?” I asked quickly, sitting up straight.

He looked at me for a moment, then started tapping on his phone.

“Here,” he said, handing it to me.

My hands trembled as I took the phone. I leaned in to look at the screen.

There were pictures of bite marks, ones that looked just like mine. Then pictures of strange creatures with sharp fangs.

Each image came with short descriptions. Some called them “mythical beings.” Others claimed they were real, living secretly among humans.

I kept scrolling, and then I saw something that made my heart stop: Shifters. Transformations. Werewolves. Lycans.

Men who could turn into animals. Into beasts.

My fingers trembled as my mind flashed back to Nolita. She had said I turned into a beast and attacked her.

Does that mean, I’m a shifter too?

I slowly turned to Collins, my eyes full of confusion, hoping he had answers.

“They say a shifter’s bite can kill a human,” he said quietly. “But if the bite is between two of their kind, it’s different. It becomes something more. A bond. A mark of ownership.”

My eyes fluttered, and I panicked.

Damian.

I nearly whispered his name. I remembered his words. How he said he “marked” me, and that our bond wasn’t meant to happen.

I didn’t understand it at the time. But now, it was starting to make sense.

Damian is a shifter.

I stared at the phone screen, heart pounding.

His words echoed in my mind. He had said my full name. Then his. Then he said he was breaking the bond between us.

“This… this is just fiction,” I muttered, still shaking.

“No,” Collins replied firmly. “It’s real. These beings exist. The woods you entered months ago, they’re connected to old stories. Stories about them.”

It suddenly felt like the whole world had gone quiet. Everything was clicking into place. Damian said he marked me to protect me.

If that mark meant ownership, then, maybe he did it to keep that other beast away.

But then, what if that beast wasn’t just a beast?

What if it was a shifter too?

“Vanessa,” Collins whispered, pulling me back to reality.

“Did you go into those woods that day? What actually bit you?”