The drive home is filled with the low hum of the car's heater and Lyka's stomach growling loudly enough to compete with the radio. "I'm not just hungry, Mina, I'm predatory hungry," Lyka mutters, her eyes flashing a fleeting, amber gold in the rearview mirror.
"I'm ordering now," Mina says, her pale fingers swiping rapidly across her phone screen. "Double the meat for you, and something... rare for me." She taps the Grab app, placing a massive order from a local steakhouse.
Twenty minutes later, a motorcycle pulls up to their secluded, vine-covered driveway. The rider, a young guy named Leo, kills the engine, but he doesn't get off immediately. He looks at the house—it's a beautiful, modern structure, but it's tucked so deeply into the shadows of the trees that it feels isolated. The air here is colder than in the city, and a strange, electric tension makes the hair on his arms stand up.
As Leo walks up the porch, he hears a low, vibrating thrum from behind the door—like a large dog growling, but deeper, more human. Then, there's a sudden silence.
The door swings open.
Mina stands there, her skin impossibly pale under the porch light, her movements fluid and unnervingly still. Behind her, in the dim hallway, he catches a glimpse of Lyka. Lyka is barefoot, her hair a bit wild, and she's pacing with an athletic, restless energy that reminds Leo of a caged wolf.
"Your food?"Leo stammers, handing over the heavy bags. His heart is racing. To him, the air smells like ozone and ancient earth. He doesn't know why, but his instincts are screaming at him to get back to his bike.
Mina reaches out, her hand cold as marble when it brushes his. She gives him a polite, tight-lipped smile—one that carefully hides her elongated canines. "Thank you, Leo. Keep the change. You should get moving; the moon is rising, and the woods get... restless."
Leo doesn't need to be told twice. He bolts for his bike, the gravel spraying behind him as he speeds away.
Inside, Lyka rips into a container of steak before it's even on the table. "He was shaking," she says around a mouthful of beef, her voice a bit gravelly. "I think he smelled the 'code' on us."
Mina closes the door and locks it, her eyes dark and hungry as she watches Lyka. "Let him go. He's just a delivery guy. Besides, we have everything we need right here."