Feral Claim

EVIE

I SHOULD’VE taken the main road.

The thought hit me as I walked deeper into the woods, my boots pressing into damp earth. The air was thick with the smell of rain as chills ran through my body. I pulled my jacket tighter around me, not that it helped. The cold had already slipped deep in my bones.

It wasn’t even that late, but Black Hollow had this way of emptying out fast once the sun went down. People didn’t stay outside. The streets went quiet, the windows dark, and if you were dumb enough to walk home alone, well… that was your mistake.

Mine, apparently.

The shortcut through the forest saved me a good fifteen minutes. I’d taken it a hundred times before, never thought much of it. But tonight, something felt—off.

The air was too still. No rustling leaves, no distant hum of cars from the highway. Just silence.

I swallowed, adjusting my grip on my bag.

It’s fine. You’re just being paranoid.

Except my paranoia had been right before.

My fingers brushed over the scar on my wrist—an old reminder of the one night I didn’t walk fast enough, the one night I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I barely remembered the attack, just flashes of dark fur, claws, the taste of blood in my mouth. The doctors said it had been a wolf, a rare rogue sighting near town.

I’d believed them. Until the dreams started.

Every night since then, I woke up breathless, my skin burning, my body aching in ways I couldn’t explain. Like something inside me was stretching, trying to break free.

And lately, the dreams had gotten worse.

Run.

The whisper ran up my spine, made my stomach twist. But I wasn’t dreaming now.

I forced myself to keep moving, my boots crunching against gravel as the dirt path curved ahead. Almost home. Another five minutes and I’d be—

A branch snapped.

I stopped.

Not in the distant, probably just the wind kind of way. No. This was close. Too close.

The back of my neck prickled.

Slowly, I turned my head, scanning the trees.

Nothing.

Just shifting shadows, the outline of branches twisting in the dark. I let out a breath, shaking my head at myself. Get it together, Evie.

I took another step.

Then I heard it.

A low, rumbling growl.

My pulse stuttered.

I wasn’t alone.

The growl came again, deep and loud, vibrating through the still air. My breath hitched as my gaze locked onto something between the trees—two eyes, gleaming gold in the darkness.

I couldn’t move. Couldn’t think.

The eyes didn’t blink. Just stared.

And then—it stepped closer.

Moonlight caught the edges of its body, illuminating thick, dark fur, the sharp curve of a snout. A wolf. But too big to be just a regular wolf.

My lungs squeezed tightly.

Run.

The word slammed into my brain, a deep, primal instinct screaming at me to move, but my legs refused.

The wolf’s ears twitched. Then, in a slow, deliberate motion, it lowered its head.

A warning.

My heart slammed against my ribs.

Shit. Shit, shit, shit.

I stepped back—just an inch, barely anything—but it was enough. The wolf’s lips peeled back, revealing sharp, gleaming teeth.

Then it lunged.

I didn’t think—I just ran.

Branches whipped against my face, my breath coming in sharp, uneven gasps as I ran down the path. The sound of paws followed behind me, fast, too fast. My legs burned, my lungs screamed, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t.

I could see the end of the path now, the edge of the streetlights just beyond the trees. I just had to—

Something slammed into me from behind.

I hit the ground hard, the air ripping from my lungs. My vision blurred. Pain shot across my ribs.

The wolf snarled above me, hot breath ghosting over my skin.

This is it.

I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for the pain, the teeth, the—

A deafening roar tore through the air.

The heavy weight on my back vanished.

I gasped, sucking in a lungful of air as I flipped onto my back just in time to see another wolf—a massive, black-furred beast—collide with the first one.

They crashed together in a blur of teeth and claws, snarling as they tumbled into the trees. The sounds of the fight rang through the forest—snaps of jaws, the thud of bodies slamming into the earth.

I scrambled backward, my hands shaking as I tried to make sense of what I was seeing.

And then, just as quickly as it started, it was over.

The first wolf let out a pained yelp before breaking away, running into the night.

I sat there, frozen, chest heaving, as the remaining wolf slowly turned to face me.

Massive. Dark. Gold eyes burning like wildfire as they pinned on me.

I should’ve been afraid.

But something inside me—something wrong—kept banging at the back of my head.

I couldn’t move.

The wolf stood a few feet away, golden eyes locked onto mine, its chest rising and falling in slow, shallow breaths. It was massive, towering over me even from this distance, its dark fur blending into the night.

And it wasn’t leaving.

My entire body was screaming at me to run, but my legs wouldn’t move. My fingers clawed into the damp earth, shaking so badly I could barely feel the dirt beneath them. My breath came in sharp, uneven gasps, the cold air burning down my throat.

Fear wrapped around my chest like a vice, squeezing tighter with every second that passed.

This wasn’t right. None of this was right.

A wild animal had just saved me from another wild animal—but it wasn’t leaving. It was watching me.

Like it was waiting.

Like it knew me.

A broken sob crawled up my throat.

Wolves didn’t do that.

I sucked in a shaky breath, forcing my arms to work as I pushed myself up onto my elbows. My entire body trembled with the effort, my skin cold and slick with sweat.

The wolf’s ears flicked, eyes tracking the movement, but it didn’t come closer. It just… stood there. Watching.

Waiting.

I could feel it, the weight of its gaze, crawling over me, digging into my skin.

For what?

I swallowed hard, my throat dry. “W-What the hell are you?”

The wolf tensed, its muscles rippling under the dark fur.

That wasn’t… just a wolf reaction.

It was such a human.

My breath caught in my chest. My brain scrambled to make sense of it, to shove it into a box labeled just an animal, but it didn’t fit. Nothing about this fit.

Slowly, the wolf took a step forward.

Fear flared in my chest so raw that it felt like it was choking me. My pulse hammered in my throat, and every muscle in my body screamed for me to run, to get the hell out of there.

But before I could move, it happened.

Not like an animal shifting through the darkness.

Not like anything I’d ever seen.

One second, there was a massive wolf in front of me. The next, there was a man.

My mind stuttered, completely failing to process what I was seeing.

He was tall, broad—too broad—his body taut with muscle, moonlight catching on sharp cheekbones and taut skin. I barely noticed that he was completely naked, my focus locked on his eyes.

Gold.

The same damn gold as the wolf’s eyes.

And they were staring straight into mine.

My chest tightened.

I forgot how to breathe.

The man—who should not exist—took a slow step forward.

I pressed harder against the tree, my fingers digging into the bark like I could somehow force myself inside it, disappear into the wood. But there was no escape. My chest rose and fell in sharp, uneven gasps, my ribs aching with every breath. My scraped palms burned, the sting mixing with the icy air cutting through my skin.

But none of that mattered.

Not when that was here.

Not when his gold eyes locked onto me with that look… like I was his next meal.

His prey.

My stomach twisted violently.

His lips parted, like he was about to say something.

I didn’t wait.

I ran.

I tore away from the tree and bolted into the woods, my boots slipping against the wet leaves, my breath ripping from my throat in short, panicked gasps.

The branches tore at my arms, my face, slicing into my skin like claws. Tears burned down my cheeks as I stumbled forward, the taste of my own fear thick on my tongue.

“Help!” My voice cracked, breaking apart in the empty night. “Somebody, please—!”

Silence.

The woods swallowed my voice whole.

No cars. No lights. No people.

Just me.

Me and him.

A deep growl echoed behind me.

So close.

A sob ripped from my throat as I forced myself to move faster, my legs screaming, my ribs threatening to snap under the pressure. My lungs burned, the cold stabbing through my chest and face like tiny needles.

But it didn’t matter.

Nothing mattered except getting away.

I could hear him.

His footsteps—bare, impossibly fast—closing in. The sound of his breath, heavy and controlled while mine was ragged, desperate. The low, warning growl curling through the trees like smoke, wrapping around me, choking me.

I ran harder.

The ground blurred beneath me, my vision tunneling, my heartbeat slamming so violently it rattled inside my skull.

A root caught my foot.

I hit the ground hard, the impact jolting through my bones, a choked cry ripping from my lips as pain exploded through my ribs.

No.

No, no, no—

I clawed at the earth, tried to push myself up, tried to crawl if I had to.

Too late.

A heavy weight crashed into me from behind.

I screamed.

It was cut off in an instant—his hand clamped over my mouth, so tightly that I couldn’t breath, forcing my face into the cold, wet earth.

Fear ripped through me, so hard that I thrashed, kicked, twisted, my nails scraping against skin, but it did nothing. He was too strong. Too big. My struggles barely moved him an inch.

Tears streamed down my face. My body shook, my lungs burning as I sucked in short, frantic breaths against his palm.

His breath ghosted against my ear, slowly like he wasn’t crushing me into the ground. Like he wasn’t hunting me.

Like I wasn’t his prey.

A shudder wracked through my body.

Then—tingles.

Everywhere his skin touched mine, something burned. Not like fire, not like pain, but it was like electric, crawling under my skin, sinking deep, wrapping around me. I tried to pull away, but it didn’t stop. It only got worse.

I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing my breath to steady. Willing it to stop.

Willing him to stop.

His grip tightened slightly, his fingers pressing just enough to remind me that he wasn’t letting go. A quiet sound rumbled deep in his chest—low, almost like a growl. Then his lips brushed my ear, his breath warm against my skin.

“Don’t run from me, little wolf.”

Fear shot through me, untill it felt like I was suffocating and soon, I couldn’t breath.

My vision blurred.

The world tilted, my legs giving out, my body sinking into darkness.

And just before everything went dark, something whispered inside my head.

Mate.