Chapter 1
When Emily opened her eyes, the first thing she realized was that she was no longer lying on the road. She was lying in a vast forest, the air thick with the scent of pine and earth.
Panic surged through her as she sat up, looking around in confusion. She tried to stand but stumbled, her body unsteady. Her heart raced with fear, and her mind couldn’t process what was happening. “Where am I? How did I get here” she thought.
Suddenly, she heard a low growl. Emily froze, her body instinctively tensing. From the shadows of the trees, a large, imposing figure emerged—a wolf, enormous and powerful, its eyes glowing with a fierce intensity.
Emily’s breath caught in her throat. She tried to back away, but the creature’s gaze locked onto hers. For a moment, she thought she would be attacked.
But then, the wolf’s form began to shift and change. Its fur receded, muscles and bones started to shift and grow, its upper body and front legs lifting, until the creature was standing before her as a tall, muscular man.
His eyes, glowing like amber in the twilight, studied her with an intensity that both frightened and intrigued her. His expression was unreadable. The man was strikingly handsome, but his presence was unnervingly intense.
"Who are you?" he asked, his voice deep and low. "Why are you in my territory?" His eyes gleamed with a primal edge, every word dripping with unspoken threat.
Emily’s heart pounded in her chest. She was too afraid to say anything, having just witnessed a werewolf transform in front of her!
The man studied her for a moment, confusion flickering in his eyes. "What race are you? I’ve never smelled anything like this." He took two steps toward her, inhaling deeply with his nose. "You smell... so good," he murmured.
"I... I don’t know," Emily whispered, shrinking back, her voice shaking. "I don’t know where I am. What is this place?"
The man looked at her with a mixture of curiosity and amusement. "Are you lost? How did you get here?"
Emily swallowed hard, trying to make sense of his words. “I... I don’t remember. I think I got lost. I don’t even know how I got here.”
The man’s eyes softened, compassion crossing his face. "What’s your name?" he asked softly.
“Emily,” she responded, forcing herself to calm down and stop trembling.
“Emily,” he murmured, offering her a hand. "I’m Alric, the leader of this wolf pack. You can stay here with my pack until you remember, or until your people find you."
As she hesitated, Emily realized that she had no choice but to follow him. She didn’t know how to survive here. It was large and warm, and for reasons she couldn’t explain, it made her feel safe and steady. There was something about him that felt... oddly comforting, even though he was a stranger.
Over the next few days, though Alric never directly explained where she was, his actions made it clear that this was no ordinary world.
Alric took her back to the wolf pack to live together. It was a beast world, with werewolves, tigers, panthers, and bears. Like Alric, they were stronger, faster, and more capable than anyone she had ever met.
She tried to tell Alric she was human, but he looked confused, saying he had never heard of humans. She learned that there were no human tribes in this world, so she told Alric she was from a kind of ape tribe, figuring it might be the closest match.
One day, as they were trekking through the forest finding food, Emily stumbled. Alric immediately reached out to steady her, his grip firm yet gentle.
“Are you sure you’re alright?” he asked, his voice soft but concerned. “I’m just... I don’t know how to walk in this terrain,” Emily admitted, feeling embarrassed. "Sorry, I'm just not used to it."
"How did you live before?" he asked, lifting her effortlessly into his strong, muscular arms. "But that’s okay. I’ll teach you. You’ll need to learn how to survive here. After all, you’re my mate."
"What do you mean, I’m your mate?" Emily asked, her voice laced with surprise and disbelief.
"I saved you, that means you are mine now." Alric’s gaze never wavered. “In the wilds, when one saves another, they are bound together. Emily, you belong to me. I’ve claimed you as my mate. Didn’t you know?”
