Claimed by the Alpha and the Vampire Prince: Masquerading as a Man-Chapter 167: Morning Horror’s (ii)

Clark’s POV:

The room was dim, the kind of darkness that clung to every corner, refusing to let go. The only light came from the small window, the weak rays of early dawn doing little to chase away the oppressive gloom inside. The air was stale, thick with the smell of something metallic. Blood. It wasn’t the first time I’d smelled it in this place, and it wouldn’t be the last.

I scanned the room quickly, my eyes darting from corner to corner. I didn’t want to believe it, but the truth was already clear: Sara wasn’t here.

I turned my head at the faintest movement, catching something in the corner of my eye. A shape. A figure, crouched low and breathing softly. But when I looked again, it was just a shadow, vanishing as quickly as it had appeared.

Lucas was already checking the bathroom, and I knew what he was going to find. Nothing.

"Nothing," he muttered, his voice flat, the weight of his words heavier than anything else in this place.

I swallowed hard, the knot in my stomach tightening. Should’ve known, I told myself. Should’ve known she wouldn’t be here.

But still, I had to check. I had to believe she might’ve made it back to her room somehow.

"Let’s move," Lucas said, his voice low, his tone pushing us forward. "We’re wasting time."

I nodded, and we both stepped back into the hallway. But the sounds... the sobbing, the distant cries of agony... they grew louder. They were everywhere. Echoing off the walls. The walls of this school were closing in on us.

We kept moving, trying to ignore the overwhelming dread that seemed to press down on us, pushing us further into the belly of the beast. And then, we saw it.

I wasn’t sure if I was seeing things. Maybe the lack of sleep was starting to get to me, or maybe it was the pressure building up inside me, but I had to blink twice to make sure I wasn’t imagining it.

A body.

A student. One I recognized faintly from the orientation. She was lying in the middle of the hallway, her body twisted at a grotesque angle, her eyes wide open and unblinking, staring into the abyss. Her skin was pale, drained of life, and the blood was everywhere. It stained her clothes, her face, pooling beneath her in a horrifying puddle of red. Her mouth hung open as if she’d been screaming, but no sound had made it past her lips.

I took a step back, nausea rising in my throat. I felt my stomach churn violently.

"No..." I whispered, my voice cracking. "What the hell happened to her?"

Lucas didn’t say anything at first. He was crouching down, his face unreadable, his eyes scanning her body like he’d seen this too many times before.

He finally spoke, and his words sent a chill down my spine. "The monsters," he said quietly, as if speaking to himself. "They made a mess of her. Same as the others."

I shuddered. Monsters. The word felt like it had lost its meaning. The monsters weren’t some far-off myth anymore. They were here. Right in front of us. Roaming the halls, pretending to be students, pretending to be human, while we—we—were nothing but their prey.

"We need to find Sara," I said, urgency creeping into my voice. "We need to—"

But then it came.

A low growl. Deep and guttural, the kind that seemed to vibrate in your bones. Every hair on the back of my neck stood at attention. My heart pounded in my chest, and I felt the adrenaline surge.

I froze, instinctively stepping away from the body, my pulse racing. I wasn’t sure what was coming, but I knew it wasn’t good.

The growl came again. Closer this time.

I didn’t need to look to know what it was. I could feel it. The weight of its presence. The heat of it. Just beyond the bend in the hallway.

And then the growl came again. Louder.

We didn’t hesitate.

"Run!" Lucas shouted, and that was all it took.

I was already moving before the words fully registered. My feet hit the floor and I took off, pushing myself harder than I ever had. I didn’t dare look behind me. I couldn’t.

The sound of Lucas’s footsteps was behind me, matching my pace. I didn’t have time to look at him, but I could feel his presence, his urgency.

We turned a corner. Breath ragged, hearts pounding. But the growl hadn’t stopped. It was still following us. Closer. Louder.

Another corner. And then—

We ran straight into them.

There were five of them. Seniors, dressed in the same fancy clothes they’d worn to the party, their eyes glowing with an unnatural hunger. Their movements were smooth, too smooth, and nothing about them looked human. Not anymore.

One of them grinned at us, showing a set of sharp, gleaming teeth. His smile was wide, cruel. And it made my blood run cold.

"Running, are we?" he asked, his voice smooth, almost mocking. "Where do you think you’re going?"

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. All I could do was back up, trying to put distance between myself and the pack. But they weren’t going to let us go. I could already tell. Their eyes followed us, tracking our every movement.

My heart pounded in my chest as I backed up, every breath feeling like it could be my last. The growls from behind us were like a drumbeat of doom. I didn’t need to look; I could feel the weight of their presence, those massive creatures stalking us, closing in. My feet felt frozen, like they were stuck to the floor with fear.

The senior in front of us smirked, his grin widening as his body began to contort, shifting with unnatural speed. The sound of bones snapping and muscles expanding filled the air as he transformed into a beast. His hands twisted into paws, claws extending, and his face... Jesus Christ, his face. It was no longer human. His mouth elongated, teeth growing sharp and jagged like knives.

The transformation was grotesque, like something out of a nightmare. The air grew thick with the scent of their shifting bodies—sweat, blood, and the unmistakable tang of something wild.

There was no way out.

Behind us, the growls were growing louder. We were trapped.

And then, the other seniors followed suit. One by one, they dropped to all fours, their bodies elongating, fur sprouting as they shifted into massive, grotesque wolves. Their eyes glowed a sickening shade of yellow, their breaths heavy and labored as they growled in anticipation, closing in on us.

There was no way out. No escape. We were surrounded by beasts, humans turned into monsters, and all I could do was stand there, trembling, my mind spiraling into a frenzy of worst-case scenarios. I imagined those fangs sinking into my flesh, their claws raking down my skin. My body was already aching from the terror, but I couldn’t move.

My breath hitched. There was nothing I could do. I was dead. We were dead.

But then... something shifted.

A breeze, a sudden change in the air, like the world had momentarily stopped spinning. A person—someone—appeared in the middle of the circle with us

A presence I never thought I’d be happy to see in the middle of all this madness.

Blaze.

He stepped into the middle of the circle, looking every bit as dangerous as the monsters surrounding us. He gave a dry, amused chuckle, like this was all some game to him, before the cold look returned to his face. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"Fuck off, boys," Blaze said, his voice dripping with annoyance.

The wolves—no, the monsters—growled louder, but Blaze didn’t flinch. He wasn’t scared. If anything, he seemed more amused by the whole situation.

"I said fuck off," Blaze repeated, his voice hard. "I’m not your average leech."

The word "leech" was spat with such venom, it made my blood run cold. He was one of them. He was a monster, too. But at least he wasn’t trying to kill me. Not yet.

The wolves seemed to hesitate, but they didn’t back down. The standoff was thick with tension, and for the first time since I’d arrived at this godforsaken place, I wasn’t sure whether to be grateful or terrified.

The monsters had a choice.

And Blaze had just made it clear: he wasn’t on their side.

He was just as much a predator as they were, but something about him made them pause. Maybe it was the way his eyes gleamed with unspoken power. Or maybe they knew—felt—something in him that was darker, older, and far more dangerous than anything they had ever encountered.

Still, the air was thick with tension, the growls from the wolves reverberating in my chest, but Blaze didn’t seem to care. He stood tall, the look on his face daring them to make the first move.

I didn’t dare breathe, not wanting to break the fragile stand-off.

It felt like an eternity before one of the wolves made the first move. It wasn’t a lunge. Not yet. It was more of a low, guttural growl, but it was enough. The wolves were going to test him.

Blaze was unphased. In fact, he looked more amused by the whole thing.

"Really?" he scoffed, his voice dripping with disbelief. "This is how you want to play it?"