CHAPTER ONE
The bass from the club still pounded in my skull as I stumbled through the tree line, my heels dangling from one hand. Brilliant decision, Maya. Really stellar life choices tonight.
“Come on, it’ll be fun,” I muttered to myself in a mocking impression of my roommate Jess. “He’s hot, he’s rich, what could go wrong?”
Apparently, everything. Mr. Hot-and-Rich had wandering hands, a wife he’d forgotten to mention, and breath that could strip paint. When he’d cornered me in the VIP section with his hand sliding up my thigh, I’d done what any self-respecting woman would do—I’d thrown my drink in his face and bolted.
The problem? I’d run out the back exit into the woods instead of toward the parking lot like a normal person.
Now I was lost, freezing in my tiny black dress, and pretty sure I’d just stepped in something that used to be alive. The forest pressed in from all sides, dark and endless. My phone was dead—because of course it was—and I hadn’t seen the club lights for at least ten minutes.
“Okay, Maya. You’re fine. You’re totally fine.” My voice sounded small against the silence. “Just... turn around. Retrace your steps. Easy.”
A branch cracked somewhere behind me.
I froze, every horror movie I’d ever watched flashing through my mind in vivid detail. It’s nothing. Just an animal. A cute, harmless deer or something.
Another crack. Closer.
I spun around, squinting into the darkness. “Hello? If this is some kind of joke—”
A growl rolled through the trees. Low, rumbling, and definitely not human.
Every muscle in my body locked up. That wasn’t a dog. That wasn’t anything that should exist outside of nightmares.
Golden eyes materialized from the shadows. Then another pair. And another.
Wolves. Three of them, each the size of a small horse, circling me with predatory grace.
“Nice doggies,” I whispered, my heart hammering against my ribs. “Good... very large... puppies?”
The one directly in front of me—the biggest, with midnight-black fur and those burning gold eyes—stepped forward. Its lips pulled back, revealing teeth that could tear through bone.
I ran.
Branches whipped at my face and arms as I crashed through the underbrush. My bare feet screamed in protest, but terror gave me speed I didn’t know I had. Behind me, I could hear them—paws thundering against the earth, getting closer with each breath.
I burst into a clearing and immediately knew I’d made a mistake.
The forest fell away on three sides, leaving only a steep drop into darkness. Dead end.
I whirled around just as the black wolf emerged from the trees. Alone now. The others had vanished, but somehow that made it worse.
“Please,” I breathed, backing toward the edge. “Please, I don’t—”
The wolf’s form rippled. Blurred.
I blinked, my brain refusing to process what I was seeing. Bones cracked and reformed. Fur receded. The animal folded in on itself, reshaping, restructuring into something impossible.
A man rose where the wolf had been.
A naked man.
A gorgeous, furious, very naked man.
He stood well over six feet, all lean muscle and bronze skin. Dark hair fell across his forehead, and those eyes—those same molten gold eyes—locked onto me with an intensity that made my knees weak.
“What...” I couldn’t form words. Couldn’t think. “What are you?”
His nostrils flared as he took a step closer. Then another. His gaze raked over me with something that looked like hunger and possession and disbelief all at once.
“Mine,” he growled, his voice rough and layered with something that wasn’t quite human.
I shook my head, hysteria bubbling up in my throat. “I’m hallucinating. That’s it. Someone spiked my drink and I’m passed out in some alley and—”
He moved faster than should be possible. One moment he was ten feet away, the next he had me backed against a tree, his hands caging me in on either side. His body radiated heat, and I could feel every inch of him despite the fact that we weren’t quite touching.
“You’re not hallucinating.” His face was inches from mine. “And you’re not leaving.”
“Like hell I’m not—”
His hand caught my chin, tilting my face up. The touch sent electricity racing through my veins, and my body responded in ways that would have embarrassed me if I wasn’t so terrified.
“Do you feel that?” His thumb traced my jawline, his voice dropping to something between a purr and a threat. “Tell me you feel that.”
I did. God help me, I did. It was like every nerve ending had come alive, singing wherever he touched. My skin felt too tight, my breath too shallow. The fear was still there, sharp and real, but underneath it was something else. Something dangerous.
“I don’t understand,” I whispered.
“You’re my mate.” He leaned in, his nose skimming along my throat. “My fated mate. And you just walked right into my territory.”
“Mate? Territory? Listen, I think you have me confused with—”
“No confusion.” His teeth grazed the spot where my neck met my shoulder, and I gasped. “I’ve been waiting for you for a hundred years. And now that I’ve found you, I’m never letting you go.”
A hundred years? This man—this thing—was insane. I needed to run. Needed to scream. Needed to do literally anything other than stand here melting under his touch.
But when I opened my mouth, what came out was: “What’s your name?”
His lips curved against my skin. “Kael.”
“Kael,” I repeated, testing it. It felt right on my tongue, which terrified me more than anything else that had happened tonight. “I’m Maya.”
“Maya.” The way he said it sounded like a prayer and a promise and a threat all at once. “My Maya.”
“I’m not yours—”
He pulled back just enough to meet my eyes, and the raw possessiveness in his gaze stole my breath. “Yes. You are. The moment you crossed into my land, the moment my wolf recognized you, you became mine. And I protect what’s mine.”
“This is crazy. You’re crazy. I need to go home—”
“Your home is with me now.” His hand slid into my hair, tilting my head back. “With my pack. Under my protection.”
“Your pack?” The words finally penetrated my lust-fogged brain. “You mean there are more of you?”
“Hundreds.” His thumb traced my lower lip, and I barely suppressed a moan. “And they’ll all bow to you. Their Luna. Their queen.”
“I’m not anyone’s queen. I’m a bartender who’s having a really, really weird night.” I tried to push him away, but it was like trying to move a mountain. “Let me go.”
“No.”
The finality in that single word should have terrified me. Instead, it sent heat pooling low in my belly.
“You can’t just kidnap me—”
“I’m not kidnapping you. I’m claiming you.” His other hand settled on my hip, burning through the thin fabric of my dress. “There’s a difference.”
“Really? Because from where I’m standing, it looks pretty similar.”
A low laugh rumbled through his chest. “You have fire. Good. You’ll need it.”
Before I could ask what that meant, he bent down and swept me up into his arms like I weighed nothing. I squeaked in protest, my hands flying to his shoulders for balance.
“Put me down!”
“No.”
“I’m serious—”
“So am I.” He started walking, carrying me away from the clearing, deeper into the forest. “You’re injured. Your feet are bleeding. And there are things in these woods far more dangerous than me.”
I wanted to argue. Wanted to fight. But my feet did hurt, and my adrenaline was starting to crash, and being held against his warm, solid chest felt... safe. Which was probably Stockholm syndrome or something, but I was too exhausted to care.
“Where are you taking me?”
“Home.”
“Your home.”
“Our home,” he corrected, his arms tightening around me. “You’ll see.”
I should have been terrified. Should have been screaming and fighting and doing everything possible to escape.
But as I rested my head against his shoulder and let him carry me into the darkness, all I could think was that this felt right. Like I’d been searching for something my whole life and had finally, impossibly, found it.
Which meant I was either his fated mate.
Or completely insane.
Probably both.
