Twilight Beast.

Point o

hing deep inside that held me in place, leaving me motionless. Even from a d

pproach. Pani

pointing my cutlass at him. My vo

confidence unnerving. "Even if you want to hurt me, you

m-something I couldn't under

," I thought, but the w

aid, flashing a smile

rate steps toward me, and i

asked, my voice barely steady

kill me." His green eyes seemed to glow

kill me? Mark said you kill humans," I

a sound that sent chills through me.

ning on my lips. "Why didn't you kill me?" I asked

, as he took a step backward, distancing himself from m

ters?" I demanded, the words bitter in my mouth. I couldn't wrap my head around it-people I ha

eve me when I tell you, you can't always believe what you've heard about us." He stood there, his figure a shadow against

hest, a tightness that I couldn't shake. He had killed people I had known as family, yet something inside me-some unspok

of hunters making their way through the clearing. They were close, too close. My breath caught in my throat, and I expected the green-eyed creature beside me to l

dn't exist. The other hunters followed, their eyes barely acknowledging me, but in those fleeting glances, I felt t

red. His eyes used to hold warmth, familiarity, but now th

, my voice tentative, searching f

o mine, hard and distant, devoid of the kindness I had once known. T

een it before. It happened to every hunter after their first kill. Something in th

imply, his voice fla

through me. I watched as he hissed under his breath, casting one last venomous glance at me bef

wrapping around me. I wasn't sure if the cold was from the fading daylight or from the way

s, pulling me back to the present. It wa

rown's hatred, the deaths, the strange pull toward the creature in the

ead back to the tunnels," she began, but before she could

urgent. Without hesitation, Princess gave me a qu

elt wrong, thick with something that went beyond grief. Sure, we were mourning the loss of twenty people, but the tension in the air-it was different. Th

. Was I dirty? But no, I was fine. Clean. It wasn't that. It was

s eyes, like he was disgusted with me. It was like the first hunt changed him, just like it

, his face serious but not unkind. "I want to let you know that tomorrow is a big day. I'll

need all your energy." His words felt heavy, but I

g those beasts attacked...

ow why I was still alive when I should have been dead like the others. I couldn't tel

" I lied, for

ave, but I call

glancing

nk y

said, closing the

of it all-the stares, Brown, the way people changed af