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Chapter three
Kellan
Beastly Claim
MINE.
The voice of my inner beast whispers through my mind as I see the breathtaking woman land on her back before me. I shouldn’t confront her, but I can’t seem to get my wolf and mind to comply. I’ve been ordered by my alpha not to interact with the humans. My pack and I are just supposed to ensure they stay where they belong. At least, until the full moon.
“Eliana! Run!” a masculine voice shouts. “The ground evens out a bit over there. I’ll help you up.”
Just the thought of this woman, Eliana, leaving me to return to the group of the chosen angers my beast. A deep growl reverberates through my body as my hackles rise.
Eliana groans, shifting onto her side to look at me. Her golden eyes widen, and fear freezes her in place. It gives me the time I need to drink in the sight of her naked body. She is perfect, even down to the small scar on her hip. I can’t help wondering how she got it. I want to get closer and inhale a breath of her scent. I crave to be able to pinpoint exactly where she is, even if she’s not in my line of sight.
“Wait! Don’t run. Move slowly.” The words come from another man, toeing the edge of the hill leading into the ravine. He takes a cautious step as he contemplates coming down to test my power and claim my soul stakes on Eliana.
But he won’t follow through. He’s not worthy of protecting this beautiful human. He doesn’t know the island like I do. I need to get her away, even if it’s just for a couple minutes.
The man clears his throat. “Eliana...”
Snarling, I startle Eliana as I lunge toward her. I leap over her as she screams and rushes up the hill toward the four men. They scatter and run like the prey they are, setting my innate nature off. I’d chase them back to the beach if it didn’t mean abandoning my beautiful human.
I just need to get them gone long enough for me to take Eliana somewhere they can’t find her. I’m risking too much already in my sudden urge to reveal myself to her. But I’ll do so in a way that she won’t know the truth. I had planned to just drop the bag with the survival gear near their drop-off point for someone to find, but then I saw her. I’ve been following her since.
Mine.
I can’t stop the raw need for such a claim on someone who may never be my she-wolf. My future mate. The alphas of the island’s packs will fight it out for a female. There aren’t many here. And fewer purebloods. Some of the alphas won’t mate with a mutt. They’ll wait until an allied pack has spawned a purer offspring and claim it. Other packs will hunt and kill off the female mutt because they know what is planned. They’d prefer never to have another pure bloodline apart from themselves again. They draw their strength from bringing humans here and finding who is strong enough for the gift of the lunar goddess.
If Eliana can survive the hunt and call of the moon, she’ll be a mutt and considered the weakest of any packs, even lower than me, an infraborne. Even if she were strong enough to fight and defeat an alpha, another would just take his place. Females are not given such power here. Though, given the chance, I will worship my beautiful human.
“Get back!” The tallest man of the four swings a branch in my direction, trying to scare me off like that’s even possible. I’m the predator and power on this island. One of my bites could end him.
I snarl and lunge, knocking the guy onto his back. He swings his fist and punches my snout, forcing me off him. Instead of fighting, I dodge out of the way and bound in the direction of the ravine again. We’re far enough away that I can get Eliana out of their sight. I can have a moment with her.
So I take it.
I jump from the top of the steep hill and land in the dirt a few feet away from Eliana. She screams and crab walks, trying to get to her feet as quickly as possible. I bolt around her, snagging her hair in my teeth. She doesn’t get a chance to fight back as I drag her deeper into the forest and away from her group.
“Fuck! Help! Someone help me!” Eliana’s voice screeches through the forest, her fear stabbing into me. She carries an unexpected fight inside her I admire.
If only she wasn’t so loud. She’ll draw too much attention to us. It’s the last thing I want. I’ll be punished for disobeying my alpha’s orders. Eliana doesn’t need that. She needs me here and with her.
“Help!” she screams, throwing a fistful of dirt at me, sending it raining over my coat. She’ll never settle with me in my lykoswulf—my moonborne—form.
I have to transform. I know I shouldn’t. I really fucking know I shouldn’t, but I don’t want her to be afraid of me. Hearing the fear in her voice strikes me on a deep-seated level. I never expected my soul could feel such agony and torture. She must know I won’t hurt her.
I dart away from her and disappear into the trees. Lurking out of view, I wait for her to catch her breath and scramble to her feet. She spins around, looking for a weapon. Jumping up, she grabs onto the closest branch she can and manages to break it with the force of her body weight. I admire her sinewy muscles, flexing with her movements. She’s so beautiful, even afraid, and I lose myself in the idea of turning her fear into relief at my closeness. I want it more than I realized. She shouldn’t feel as if she must fight at just the sight of me.
If only I could spill my soul to her.
Closing my eyes, I tame my wolf, shifting into a man. I stretch my arms over my head and shake out my body. It’s been a while since I’ve been on two legs. There’s not much I need when I’m on the island. It’s easier to be more animal in this setting.
Eliana whispers a prayer, my hearing picking up on the rasp of her voice. She’s begging her God to protect her from me. She’s begging for help from the divine.
Her focus is drawn toward her surroundings so much that she doesn’t even realize she’s a foot away from a creek. I brought her here for a reason. It’s the main water source running through the island. It’ll always flow and never dry, giving her what she needs to survive. If she follows it long enough, she will find the waterfalls. I wish I could take her there now, but I know I must be quick. The others will find her eventually, and I can’t stay.
I carefully tread my way around the tree in her direction. I make noise by breaking a couple branches and dropping them, so I don’t surprise her. I know she might already attack me, and I kind of hope for it. My beast wants nothing more than to feel the power I know burns just beneath the surface, waiting for her to accept that she’s not some lost human in the wild. She’s intended for more. For me. I know it with every fiber of my soul. It should be impossible. No infraborne takes a mate, yet here I am. The call to Eliana is as strong as the call of the full moon.
