The night felt colder the moment Clara stepped out of the trees.
Her sneakers hit cracked pavement, and she exhaled in shaky relief when the dirt road gave way to the old asphalt leading toward the cluster of houses on the far edge of town. She hugged herself tighter, telling her pulse to calm down.
"You're alive, Clara. See? Still breathing. Totally fine." She murmured.
'Totally fine… except for the glowing eyes, the wolves, and the terrifyingly gorgeous man who came out of the woods like something from a gothic fairytale.'
Her steps slowed. For a split second, she almost glanced back. Almost.
But no. Nope. Not a chance. Horror movies always started with the dumb girl who looked back.
"Focus," she muttered under her breath, forcing her legs to move faster. "Get to Aunt May's. Hot shower. Hot cocoa. Pretend none of this ever happened."
Her phone was still dead in her pocket, the little useless brick it had become. She couldn't even use it as a flashlight. The moon guided her path, pale and eerie, painting the road silver.
She shook her head. Silver. Why does everything have to remind me of his eyes?
The memory of his hand around her wrist lingered, the searing heat still imprinted on her skin. Clara rubbed the spot absent-mindedly.
What even was that? A static shock? Some weird adrenaline response? Or had my brain finally short-circuited from stress?
Yeah, that had to be it. No way she was swooning over a stranger who had practically threatened her. Nope. Not her style.
She quickened her pace.
But then came the sound.
A crunch of gravel. Behind her.
Clara froze. Her breath caught in her throat. Slowly, she turned her head.
Nothing. Just shadows and trees, the moonlight playing tricks.
"Get a grip," she whispered. "You're just jumpy. Probably a raccoon."
Her sneakers slapped against the pavement as she forced herself to keep going. But the hairs at the back of her neck prickled, a primal warning her brain couldn't explain away.
She wasn't alone.
A shadow shifted in the corner of her vision. A low growl rumbled in the distance.
Clara's chest tightened. Not again. Please, not again.
Her hand fumbled for anything. A stick, a rock, something to swing, when a voice cut through the night.
"Keep walking."
She gasped and spun around.
He was there. Again. Emerging from the edge of the woods like he'd stepped straight out of her imagination. The same dark clothes, the same impossible presence, the same molten-silver eyes glowing faintly in the dark.
"You...!" Her voice cracked. "Are you following me?"
He didn't answer. Instead, he scanned the road behind her, his jaw tight, shoulders squared like he was ready for a fight.
Clara blinked. He wasn't looking at her. He was looking past her.
The growl came again, closer this time. Louder.
Her stomach dropped.
"You're kidding," she whispered. "They're still here?"
The man stepped forward, closing the distance between them in two long strides. His heat enveloped her before she could protest. He leaned down, his breath brushing against her temple.
"Stay close," he ordered.
Something in his tone, low, sharp, undeniably commanding, made her body obey before her brain caught up. Clara found herself pressed against his side, his arm sliding around her waist as though it belonged there.
Too close. Way too close.
Her face heated, but her heart hammered too fast to focus on embarrassment. She could see movement in the shadows now, shapes slipping in and out of view, circling.
The wolves hadn't left after all.
"Why me?" she whispered, voice shaking. "Why are they..."
"Because you're unclaimed." His words cut through her panic. His grip on her waist tightened possessively. "And because you wandered into their territory."
Unclaimed? Clara frowned, her brain tripping over the word. What did that even mean?
Before she could ask, the first wolf lunged from the shadows.
Clara's scream barely left her lips before the man moved.
One second he was holding her, the next he was a blur of motion, inhumanly fast, impossibly strong. His growl shook the night as he shoved her behind him, intercepting the wolf mid-leap with a single vicious strike.
The animal yelped, crashing into the ground before limping back into the darkness.
Clara's mouth went dry.
No human could move like that. No human could do that.
He turned his head slightly, just enough for her to catch the sharp edge of his jaw, the glint of elongated canines when he snarled at the circling pack.
Oh god. Oh god.
He's not human.
Clara's pulse screamed at her to run, but her legs refused to move. She couldn't tear her eyes away.
With another growl, deep and earth-shaking, the man stared down the glowing eyes in the shadows. One by one, they retreated, slipping back into the woods until only silence remained.
The night grew still again.
Clara pressed a trembling hand against her mouth, trying to process.
He straightened slowly, his broad shoulders rising and falling with restrained breaths. When he finally turned to her, the glow in his eyes had dimmed, but his gaze burned hotter than ever.
"You're reckless," he said, voice low, almost a growl.
Clara's lips parted. "Excuse me?"
"You should've stayed home." His hand shot out, cupping her chin, forcing her to look at him. His touch was hot, searing, sparking down her skin like fire. "Humans like you don't survive out here."
Her heart stuttered. Humans like you.
Her thoughts tangled between fear and the infuriating fact that her body leaned into his touch instead of away.
"This is insane," she whispered. "You're insane."
"Maybe," he murmured. His thumb brushed against her jaw, softer now, almost tender. "But you're mine, Clara."
Her chest tightened, heat flooding her stomach. She hated the way those words sent a shiver through her. Hated the way her lips trembled, part of her too dazed to argue.
Snap out of it, Clara. He's terrifying. He's dangerous. He's...
"Stop saying things like that," she blurted, shoving lightly at his chest.
He didn't budge. His lips curved, a faint smirk ghosting across his face. "You'll understand soon."
Her breath hitched. "Understand what?"
His gaze dropped briefly to her lips before meeting her eyes again, molten and unyielding. "That you belong to me."
Clara's heart thudded violently, her mind screaming protest, but her body betrayed her with the flush rising to her cheeks.
Before she could reply, headlights flickered at the far end of the road. A car approached slowly, the rumble of its engine breaking the spell.
The man's hand dropped away. He stepped back, shadows swallowing him once more.
"Go home," he said, his voice an order. "Forget you ever saw me."
And then he was gone, disappearing into the night like he'd never been there at all.
Clara stood frozen, chest heaving, every nerve in her body still buzzing.
Forget him?
Not a chance.