Chapter 82

• Sophia’s POV
• The night was unusually quiet, the kind of quiet that makes you feel like the world is holding its breath. The woods stretched out before me, dense and shadowed, illuminated only by the pale light of the moon filtering through the canopy of trees. I could feel the pull inside me, the hunger gnawing at my insides, demanding to be sated. It had been too long since my last hunt, and the blood bags Ian had provided just weren’t enough anymore. I needed something fresh, something warm.
• I moved silently through the underbrush, my senses heightened as I scanned the area. The woods were alive with the sounds of nocturnal creatures—rustling leaves, the occasional snap of a twig underfoot—but nothing that would satisfy the hunger coiling in my gut. I needed something more substantial. A deer, maybe, or even a stray hiker if I was lucky. The thought made my fangs ache with anticipation, and I quickened my pace, eager to find my prey.