The growl deepened, vibrating through the narrow alley like a warning from the earth itself. Aria stiffened behind Damon, her fingers tightening around her sketchbook as if it were a shield.
"What… was that?" she whispered.
Damon didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
A shadow detached itself from the darkness, massive and breathing heavily. Two glowing amber eyes appeared first, then the hulking shape of a creature that had once been human.
Marcus.
The werewolf's claws scraped the concrete as he stepped into the faint glow of the street lamp. His fur bristled, muscles coiling with predatory strength. He smelled of earth and old forests—familiar, dangerous.
"Damon…" The name escaped through a growl, half-human, half-beast.
Aria stumbled backward, her eyes widening in terror. "What—what is that!?"
Damon remained still, his body forming a barrier between her and the creature.
His voice was calm, but sharpened with warning.
"Don't run."
Aria swallowed hard. "Running wasn't exactly my plan… screaming maybe."
The humor in her voice shook something deep inside Damon.
Even in fear, she wasn't helpless.
Marcus's growl turned into a rasping laugh. "You're protecting a human now?" His voice was distorted, torn between man and monster. "After everything we've lost?"
Damon's jaw tightened. "This isn't her fight."
"It becomes her fight," Marcus snarled, "the moment she stands next to you."
He charged.
In a blur of movement, Damon pushed Aria aside and met Marcus head-on. Their collision rattled the air, sending dust and debris flying. Claws flashed. Fangs bared. The alley trembled with the force of two ancient powers clashing again after centuries.
Aria dropped to the ground, heart pounding, watching helplessly as Damon and the werewolf tore into each other with supernatural speed.
Damon moved like a shadow—silent, controlled, deadly.
Marcus fought like a storm—wild, explosive, fueled by rage.
"You left us!" Marcus roared as he swiped at Damon's throat. "You abandoned everything!"
Damon dodged, barely. "You followed the demon, not me!"
"You should have stayed!" Marcus lunged again, claws grazing Damon's shoulder.
A splash of blood darkened the pavement.
Aria gasped. Her fear twisted into something else—anger. She grabbed a broken metal pipe lying near her feet. Ridiculous weapon. Useless against monsters.
But she refused to just watch him die.
"Hey!" she shouted, raising the pipe. "Big bad wolf!"
Both creatures paused. Marcus turned his snarling face toward her.
Aria immediately regretted every life choice that led to this moment.
Marcus's eyes burned with predatory hunger. "Brave little human…"
Damon's voice cracked with fury. "Don't you touch her!"
He darted between them, shoving Marcus back so violently the werewolf crashed into the alley wall, brick crumbling around him.
"Aria, run!" Damon ordered.
"No!" she yelled, surprising even herself.
Damon froze.
Marcus rose again, fury and betrayal twisted across his beastlike features. "She matters that much to you?"
Damon didn't look away from Aria as he whispered,
"Yes."
Marcus's growl turned into something darker—hurt, rage, disbelief.
"Then the demon will want her. Lucas will come."
Aria felt the blood drain from her face. "Demon…?"
Marcus vanished into the shadows as suddenly as he had appeared, leaving the alley silent except for Aria's ragged breathing and Damon's unnatural stillness.
She stared at him, trembling but standing her ground.
"Damon… what are you?"
His blue eyes glowed faintly — not human, not comforting — but honest.
"A mistake," he whispered. "One made ten thousand years ago."
Aria's breath caught.
And for the first time, Damon realized the truth that terrified him more than Marcus, Lucas, or the curse itself —
He didn't want her to walk away.