Penumbra

“There’s no time to explain now. Get in the car. There’s a safehouse I know nearby.” “A safehouse? Who are you?” I smirked. “I’m a problem. But right now I’m someone else’s problem.”

She was a damn fool. Thinking that just because I looked like a human, that meant I had emotions like one. And that stupidity was going to get her killed. I couldn’t be blamed. It was her own fault for trusting me. Vera Farkas, the Wolf

“Say it.” Vera pushed both her hands up under my shirt, slipping the fabric up higher. “Say you belong to me.” My voice didn’t ask my permission. “I… belong… to you.”

“Do you know who I am?” She pulled away, her eyes wild and desperate as she clasped her hands on my face. “Do you know what I am!?” “Yes.” I put my hands on her face to match. “You’re Vera Farkas. My wife.”

I flashed with anger, and I grabbed Elaine by the shoulder, shoving her down into the bed and positioning myself over her, the knife raised. I gritted my teeth, clutching the knife until my knuckles burned. “You should be screaming,” I heard myself rasp. “I’m here to kill you, Elaine.” Vera Farkas, the Wolf

“The human hand has eight carpal bones, five metacarpal bones, two phalanges in the thumb, and three in each other finger, for a total of twenty-seven bones. Breaking the carpals will disable your wrist altogether. Your hand will be completely useless, which will give me the opportunity to break each of the metacarpal bones and bend your hand backwards over itself, and then to break each phalange before you can do anything other than scream. They make a sound like stepping on gravel. Your hand will never fully heal, and you’ll keep hearing that sound for the rest of your life. One more time. Take your hand off of my wife.” Vera Farkas, the Wolf

She was asking to objectify me. To use me. And my body cried out wanting it. “Do you think you could handle it?” she said, pulling my dress up to my waist, sliding her hands down my thighs, greedy, claiming. “Do you really think you’ll be able to satisfy me?”

I flashed back to that moment an hour ago, when I’d been raging in her face, a cold, unfeeling creature, and her eyes… how she looked at me like she cared. Unbelievable. I was falling for Elaine Whitner. Vera Farkas, the Wolf

But she didn’t want to kill me. She didn’t want to extort me, didn’t want to blackmail me. She didn’t want to hurt me. She didn’t want to remind me what happened if I disobeyed. She wasn’t disappointed. So that was how the Wolf fell. Not to bullet or blade, but to a few whispered words and a soft embrace. Vera Farkas, the Wolf

“Vera… you’ve been working for so long not to betray the family, you’ve forgotten what it’s like to have a family that won’t betray you. We’re never leaving you behind.” Elaine Whitner

“Don’t fall in love with me,” she said, like it was a joke. It wasn’t. And what if it was too late? “I’m here for you. That’s a promise. This isn’t like the Blackbirds, Vera. This is a family that we’ve made… together.”

“You’re—a monster. A traitor.” I clutched his throat tighter, squeezing until I could feel it collapsing. “I’m loyal to one person,” I said. “And you… hurt her.” Vera Farkas, the Wolf

“You’re not a monster, Vera. You’re my wife.” Elaine Whitner

“Elaine… I’ve trained for anything and everything. I know how to handle any mission, how to handle any target, how to handle anything gone wrong. But I’ve never trained for this. I never trained to… love somebody Let alone someone like you.” Vera Farkas, the Wolf