Marked by the Monsters I Created

It hurt more than the cheating. More than the lies. More than seeing another woman wrapped in gifts bought with Maya's money.

Then Maya looked at the ring on her finger and laughed once. "Good question. Let's find out."

She pulled off the engagement ring and dropped it into the takeout bag.

Ryan blinked. "What are you doing?"

"Ending this."

Maya took out her phone. Her fingers moved fast.

First, the shared credit card.

Frozen.

Second, the wedding planner.

Cancelled.

Third, her lawyer.

"Send me the engagement termination papers tonight. Also start recovery for all charges made by Ryan Hale and any authorized secondary users in the past six months."

Fourth, the apartment management company.

"Remove Ryan Hale from renewal approval. I am withdrawing financial sponsorship effective immediately."

Ryan stared at her phone like it was a loaded gun.

"Maya, wait. You're overreacting."

"No," Maya said. "I'm finally reacting the correct amount."

The blonde woman grabbed her clutch. "Ryan, what's going on?"

Maya looked at the bracelet on her wrist. "That goes back too. Unless you'd like me to let my lawyer explain theft, fraud, and unjust enrichment in very small words."

The woman flushed red and fumbled with the clasp.

Ryan stepped toward Maya, panic breaking through his anger. "Baby, come on. We can talk."

Maya lifted one hand. "Don't. You wanted to know what I had besides money? Boundaries. A career. A spine. Enjoy finding someone else to fund your lifestyle."

She turned and walked out before he could answer.

The hallway air felt cold against her face.

Maya made it to the street before her hands started shaking.

This time she let them.

She called Lena.

Her best friend picked up on the second ring. "If this is about beast husbands, I told you the fox one is obviously endgame material."

"I just caught Ryan cheating," Maya said.

Silence.

Then Lena exploded. "I will bury him. Where are you? Do I need a shovel or an alibi?"

Maya laughed despite the tightness in her throat. "Neither. I already cancelled the wedding, froze the cards, and sicced my lawyer on him."

"That's my girl." Lena paused. "Then we are celebrating. Bar. Drinks. Freedom. Immediately."

Maya looked down the wet street. Neon signs blurred in the rain. "I could use a drink."

"And listen," Lena added, voice brightening with forced cheer, "you literally share a name with that Maya. Maybe the universe owes you five hot beast husbands after this disaster."

Maya snorted. "Hard pass. Book Maya tortured them and got herself killed. If I ever met those men, I'd start with an apology and a first-aid kit. Radical idea, I know."

Lena laughed. "Fine. Apology first, five husbands second."

"Goodbye, menace." Maya ended the call with a small smile.

For the first time all night, she could breathe.

She stepped off the curb.

A car engine roared.

Maya turned her head.

Headlights swallowed the street.

Behind the windshield, Ryan's face was twisted with rage and panic, his mouth open like he was shouting something she could not hear.

Tires screamed against wet pavement.

Maya had time for one thought.

Of course he would try to take even this from me.

Then the car hit her.

Pain exploded white-hot through her body. The sky spun. The street vanished. Somewhere far away, someone screamed.

Darkness closed over her like deep water.

The last thing Maya heard before the world disappeared was not Ryan's voice.

It was the crack of a whip.

---

The first sound Maya Cross heard after death was a whip cracking.

Sharp. Electric. Close enough to make her bones jump.

For one terrible second, she thought Ryan had dragged her out of the dark and finished what the car had started. Then she opened her eyes and saw silver hair hanging down to a man's shoulders.

A man was kneeling on a metal floor.

His bronze back was arched tight like a bow ready to snap. Every muscle in his body was tense with suppressed strength, but whip marks cut across his skin like a road map of pain. Fresh wounds still bled. Red streams ran down his chest and stomach, gathering at his waist before dripping onto his pants.

Maya couldn't breathe.

This was not Detroit.There were reinforced alloy walls. Cold artificial light. A sleek medical kit thrown open on a nearby table.

And an energy whip in her hand.

The man slowly lifted his head.

Dark red eyes locked onto hers.

Hatred.

Pure, frozen hatred.

He looked at the whip, then at her face. A cold smile touched his split lips.

"Stopping already?" His voice was rough and low, each word scraping like broken glass. "What, did your arm finally get tired?"

Holy shit.

Maya stumbled back so fast her shoulder hit the wall.

Memories crashed into her skull like a freight train.

Starships. Beastmen. Zerg. Federation law. Bio-neural contracts.

And the man kneeling in front of her.

Caleb Storm.

Snake beastman. Former A-rank commander of the Fifth Imperial Legion. A man who had once refused an order to slaughter civilians and paid for it with his career, his rank, and almost his mind.

The name hit Maya harder than the car had.

No.

She knew him.

She knew this scene.

This was the novel she had read last night after her shift. The one Lena had joked about. The one with the villainess who shared her name.

Maya Cross.

The sadistic daughter of Marcus Cross, one of the only two S-rank beastman warriors in the galaxy. A rare Female with five contracted beastmen she had treated like toys.

Five future monsters.

Five men she had tortured until they wanted her dead.

Maya looked down at her hands.

Soft pale fingers. Sharp black nails. A faint purple scorpion mark glowed beneath the skin of her wrist.

Oh God.

She had died and woken up inside the villainess.