Page 111 of Marked

The woods loomed ahead, dark and forbidding. Every horror movie I’d ever watched screamed this was a bad idea, but something else, something deeper, pulled me toward the trees. Behind me, I heard shouts, then something that sounded horrifyingly like bones breaking and clothes tearing.

“Don’t look back,” I panted to myself. “Luke always says the dumb ones die because they look back. Don’t be the dumb one in the horror movie, Kai.”

But, of course, I looked back.

And the world stopped making sense.

Where men had been chasing me, massive wolves now burst through their shredded clothes, all fangs and fury and impossible reality. Their bodies twisted and contorted, bones cracking and reforming under rippling fur. The leader’s face elongated into a muzzle, amber eyes gleaming with predatory hunger.

“Nope,” I wheezed, hysteria bubbling up. “Nope, nope, absolutely not. This isn’t happening. I’m clearly having a mental breakdown. Too many late-night horror marathons with Luke. Too much of Jorge’s experimental cooking. The brothers’ hotness finally broke my brain—”

A howl cut through my babbling, so close it rattled my bones. Right. Mental breakdown later, running now.

I sprinted deeper into the woods, my body moving with a grace that wasn’t normal. Everything was too sharp, too clear—moonlight painting the forest in crystal detail, scents overwhelming my nose, sounds crystal clear: paws thundering behind me, branches snapping, hearts pounding—mine and theirs—Scout’s desperate barks growing distant.

“Oh God, Scout—” I started to turn back, but another howl, closer now, pushed me forward. The loyal dog was buying me time, and I couldn’t waste it.

My lungs burned, ribs screaming with each breath, but my body kept moving like it had a mind of its own. I vaulted over fallen logs, ducked under branches, twisted through gaps between trees—movements that should have been impossible for someone whose idea of exercise was carrying too many books at once.

“The Stones aren’t the only ones who can claim a mate,” the leader had said. Mate. The word echoed in my head, stirring something primitive and angry. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Everything in me rejected it. Not them. Never them.

A massive gray wolf lunged from the shadows, jaws snapping where my throat had been a second before. I dropped and rolled, coming up in a defensive crouch that felt as natural as breathing. My vision tinged with gold, heart thundering not just with fear now but with something else—something wild and ancient awakening in my blood.

“What’s happening to me?” I gasped, watching my hands tremble in the moonlight. The scratches from my earlier fall were already healing, skin knitting together before my eyes. “This isn’t possible. I’m not… I can’t be…”

More wolves emerged, circling me. Seven, eight, nine of them—each bigger than a horse, with eyes that gleamed with human intelligence. The leader, a monstrous beast with matted gray fur, stepped forward, jaws parting in what could have been a grin.

“This is just perfect.” I laughed, the sound edged with hysteria. “Luke always said I had terrible taste in men, but no, this is a whole new level. Not only do I fall for three guys at once, but they’re probably shifters too. And now I’m going to die because of some supernatural pissing contest I didn’t even know I was part of.”

The alpha wolf lunged. Time seemed to slow. My body moved on pure instinct, everything human in me screaming in terror while something else—something with fangs and fury—rose to meet the threat.

I didn’t think. I grabbed a fallen branch and swung, catching the massive wolf across the muzzle with strength that shouldn’t have been possible. The crack echoed through the clearing, and the wolf actually staggered back, blood matting its gray fur.

“Holy shit,” I breathed, staring at my hands. “Did I just… did I actually…”

Another wolf charged. I dropped and rolled, coming up behind a tree. My movements were fluid, precise—like muscle memory I didn’t know I had. The wolf’s claws raked the bark where I’d been standing, but I was already moving, dancing away with impossible grace.

“Okay, either I’m having the most realistic nightmare ever, or those martial arts videos Luke made me watch actually worked.” I ducked under snapping jaws, body twisting in ways it shouldn’t be able to. “Though I’m pretty sure none of them covered ‘How to Fight Off Wolf Shifters When You’re Five-Foot-Nothing and Possibly Hallucinating.’”

Two wolves came at me from opposite sides. Without thinking, I leaped—higher than humanly possible—letting them crash into each other. My body thrummed with energy, every sense hyperaware. I could smell their rage, hear their heartbeats, see every muscle ripple under their fur.

“You know what?” I panted, golden spots dancing in my vision as I faced down the circling wolves. “I’m getting really tired of being everyone’s chew toy. First the brothers with their hot-and-cold routine, now you guys with your ‘let’s eat the tiny Asian boy’ plan?”

The alpha wolf snarled, circling closer. Blood still dripped from where I’d struck him, and his eyes burned with murderous intent.

“Yeah, that’s right,” I taunted, even as my heart threatened to burst from my chest. “The ‘precious little mate’ bites back. Bet you weren’t expecting that, were you?”

Something was happening to me. Each movement felt more natural, more powerful. The fear was still there, but it was being overshadowed by something else—something wild and fierce that refused to submit to these wolves. My vision blazed gold, and I could have sworn my nails looked more like claws.

“Come on then,” I growled—actually growled. “You want to play? Let’s play.”

The forest exploded with new howls—deeper, more powerful, filled with a fury that made the first set of wolves falter. Three massive shapes burst from the darkness, and for the first time since this nightmare began, I felt hope.

But I wasn’t done fighting. Not by a long shot.

Chapter 24

Three enormous wolves crashed into the clearing—one pitch-black with crimson eyes, one golden-brown, and one dark gray. They were larger than the other wolves, more powerful, and radiated pure fury. Even in wolf form, I knew them instantly. Because of course the universe wasn’t done messing with me.

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