Chapter 5

POV: Daniel

Daniel stalked the tree line, a predator of the night, breath slow and deep, every muscle a humming coil of tension. Her scent still hung in the air on the tail of the wind—sweet and sharp, a hint of blood still hot in her veins. It soothed his bear. Calmed him. Anchored him in that moment. Only, tonight, she did not smell only of him.

Someone had smelled her.

The musk of another had hit him first, sour and wet. A wolf. Young, reckless, and cocky enough to be stupid. Daniel caught him slinking along the back of the apartment complex, muzzle to the ground, shoulders low, every movement a hunt. Tracking her. Following her scent, she was like a wounded deer.

Daniel’s eyes blackened. His bear pounded against his ribs, aching to be let loose. A growl cracked out of his throat, deep and deadly, vibrating in the stillness.

The wolf froze. His head jerked up, yellow eyes shining in the dark. “Who’s there?”

Daniel stepped out of the shadows, loose but coiled, a rasp in his voice. “She’s not yours.”

The wolf’s mouth turned up at the corners. “Didn’t smell a mark.” He grinned, all teeth. “Fair game.”

Daniel’s claws ached beneath his skin. Bear pounded against his chest, needful, wanting to rip, to tear, to kill. “I don’t issue warnings twice.”

The wolf charged.

They met with bone-cracking impact, a blur of fists and claws and teeth. The wolf scraped his nails across Daniel’s ribs, ripping through skin; Daniel howled, a noise deeper than human, and crashed him into the dirt, the ground shaking beneath them. The wolf yanked at his throat, jaws clamping down on the muscles of his neck. Daniel twisted out of the hold, half-shift surging through his blood, claws sprouting into hooked black talons. He caught the wolf’s muzzle in one hand and slammed his head back against the ground, once, twice, until the dirt was painted with blood.

The wolf spat out a mouthful of it, grinning through broken teeth. “All this just for a human cunt?”

Daniel went red.

Mate. Ours. Forever.

He drove his claws deep into the wolf’s shoulder, holding him like a rabbit beneath his paw.

With a savage twist, bone cracked, a sharp splintering that was almost satisfying. The wolf screamed, a sound that echoed through the trees, quieting every other night creature in the area.

Daniel leaned in, fangs aching behind his teeth. “Stay away from her,” he growled, voice raw with bear. “Or next time I won’t stop.”

He let him go, shoving the other to the ground. The wolf rose, wobbling on one foot, blood running down his arm, eyes bright with the realization that he had been wrong. Wolf would always be smarter than that, he knew, so the wolf stumbled backwards into the trees and disappeared, the reek of fear hissing in his wake.

Daniel stood, chest heaving, blood slick across his palms. His own wound stung, but he didn’t care. His bear snarled for the kill, pissed he hadn’t let the other one die. Daniel clenched his jaw until his teeth ached, fighting the instinct to go after him, finish the job.

He forced himself to breathe, in. Out. Control.

But control was a fragile thing. His bear clawed at his insides, furious that another male had dared to follow her scent and touch her. Daniel’s vision flickered gold. His claws wouldn’t retract, crooked and black, blood dripping from the tips. He flexed his hands, trembling, unable to tell if the growl rumbling in his chest was his or the beast’s.

Images of Clara flashed behind his eyelids, searing through his mind—her pale throat, the way her pupils had dilated to black, when she’d looked at him. The heat of her body winding tight, solid around his knot, drawing him deeper into her. He remembered the pitch of her gasp when she’d released under him. His cock throbbed painfully at the memory, even now, while his claws dripped wet with blood. He knew he would kill a hundred wolves to keep that sound, that sound only hers.

His bear pressed in harder, snarling possessive. Ours. She’s ours. Mark her now. Let them all know.

Daniel groaned, dragging his bloody hand across his face. He wanted to. God, he wanted to. Sink his teeth in her neck, brand her with a mark that no other shifter would ever challenge. But she didn’t even know, she didn’t know what he was. What she carried within her already.

The thought twisted in his stomach, something like guilt, but bear didn’t care.

Daniel staggered back against the tree, chest heaving, fighting for control. His shirt clung wet against his ribs, where the wolf’s claws had sliced through, the metallic tang of his own blood mingling with the night air.

And then—

The light came on in Clara’s apartment window.

Daniel stopped, blood dripping from his fingers to the dirt. He stared, heart pounding against his ribs. Her curtains shifted, just a little, like she’d shifted in her sleep.

If she looked now, she wouldn’t see the man who had kissed her in the tavern. She wouldn’t see the man with shaggy hair and soft eyes. She’d see the monster lurking in the shadows, bloodied and half-shifted, panting like an animal after a kill.

Bear rumbled deep in his chest, unconcerned. Show her. Let her see. She’ll know you’re strong enough to protect what’s yours. But human him recoiled, horrified of the disgust that might mar her face if she saw claws where hands should be.

Daniel pressed back into the shadows, chest heaving, praying she didn’t go near the glass.

But her silhouette moved.

Daniel could see the faint shape of her—hair mussed from sleep, her hand coming up to rub her eyes. She leaned toward the window, the barest shift of the curtain revealing her pale skin.

Daniel’s claws dug into his palms hard enough to draw fresh blood. He wanted to roar at her, to warn her back, but he bit the noise down.

For one long moment, he thought she’d pull the curtain aside.

Then she stepped back, the light flickering off a second later, casting the apartment into darkness again.

Daniel let out a shaky breath, knees buckling with the effort of restraint.

But the bear was still snarling inside him, pacing.

Because it wasn’t over. Wolves would come again. Others would come again. And he couldn’t hide in the shadows forever. She’d see him for what he was eventually. The only question was whether she’d run… or let him claim her.