All Chapters of Claimed By The Predator: Chapter 41 - Chapter 48

Ari’s POV I knew it was going to be a problem the second I saw my reflection in the mirror. Neck, collarbone, just under my ear—dark bruises everywhere. Purple smudges like spilled ink. They stood out against my skin in ugly, bold shapes. No scarf, no collar, no tugged-up neckline could cover all of them. I tugged at my shirt anyway, pulling the fabric up high as if it might magically stretch enough to hide me. My ears twitched nervously, heat crawling up my face. Thorne leaned against the doorway, arms folded. Watching me like I was a puzzle he’d already solved. “You’re wasting your time,” he said, voice lazy but sharp. “I can’t—” My words stuck in my throat. I turned away from him, ears flat. “I can’t go out there like this.” “Yes, you can.” “I’ll look—look like—” My chest tightened. “Like I belong to someone.” “You do.” His tail flicked once behind him, slow and deliberate. “And everyone should know it.” I froze. My ears twitched upright before falling flat again. “Thorn

Ari’s POVThe door clicked shut behind us, muffling the cafeteria noise until it was just us, just the sound of my pulse in my ears.My room was still the same—plain, too quiet, too small—but with Thorne here, pressed against me, it felt different. He filled the space, made the walls feel smaller, the air heavier. I should’ve been suffocating. But instead, I breathed easier.I dropped my bag on the desk and sat on the bed. Thorne followed without hesitation, dragging me down until I was tucked against his chest like it was where I belonged.Maybe it was.I curled closer, cheek pressed to the steady rise and fall of his breathing. His tail brushed against my legs, his hand stroking the curve of my back in slow, absent passes.“You’re too much,” I muttered into his shirt, but the way my fingers clung to the fabric gave me away.His chest rumbled with a low chuckle. “And you’re still here.”I tilted my head, meeting his gaze with a glare that wasn’t half as strong as I wanted it to be. “

I woke up to emptiness.The sheets were cold where Thorne should have been, and my heart sank before my mind even caught up. My fingers reached for the space beside me, clumsy and desperate, but there was nothing there—not even the faintest trace of warmth. Just the hollow weight of absence pressing down on me.My chest tightened. For a second, I thought I might cry right there, curled up in bed like some abandoned thing. Pathetic. Weak. I bit down hard on my lip, but the ache in my throat was harder to silence.He was gone.And I… I didn’t even know what to do with myself without him.The morning light trickled weakly through the curtains, pale and indifferent, and I hated it. I hated the way the world kept moving, like it didn’t care that my one anchor had slipped away.Dragging myself out of bed felt pointless, but I did it anyway, like some puppet going through motions. My uniform felt stiff against my skin, my ears heavy against the side of my head. Every movement was slow, delay

Ari's POVIt had been a week since Thorne left. Seven long, quiet days where every corner of my room seemed to ache with his absence. The bed was cold, the blankets heavy with emptiness, and even the faint smell of him lingering on the sheets had faded to nothing. I tried to keep myself busy, telling myself he must have his reasons, but the bond—our bond—was relentless. Every heartbeat, every pulse of longing reminded me that I wasn’t whole without him.I went through the motions of the day like a ghost. Classes felt longer, the chatter of other students distant and hollow. I kept my head down, books clutched tightly to my chest, pretending the world wasn’t spinning faster than I could keep up with. The bond was always there, tugging, a constant reminder that Thorne wasn’t here. That he had gone somewhere without me—without explanation.By the time I returned to my dorm that afternoon, my legs felt leaden, and my chest ached in a way words couldn’t describe. I unlocked the door, expec