Chapter 45

• A heavy knock echoes through my small room, sending a shiver down my spine. My heart pounds, each beat syncing with the urgent rapping against the wooden door. The Beasts never knock—they enter without permission. The humans are too afraid of Lucas to approach me.
• Who could it be?
• The knocking comes again, more insistent this time. A second later, the doorknob rattles as if someone is testing it, desperate to get inside. My pulse quickens as I rise to my feet, careful to move silently across the wooden floor.