Page 47 of His Claim
“You slept well,” he said, voice low.
I pushed myself upright, groggy but feeling better than I’d expected to. “How was your watch?”
He gave a little shrug. “I’ve had worse nights.”
I rubbed my arms, the chill of the underground sinking into me. “Where do we go now?”
He stood, rolling his shoulders, grimacing at the stiffness in his injured leg. “The tunnels run for miles. Some lead to collapsed shafts, some to the surface. I know the safe paths. We’ll move while the base above is still distracted.”
I nodded, pulling my borrowed shirt tighter around me. It smelled faintly of him. It steadied me as much as it unsettled me.
We packed what we could carry: rations and water, the lantern, a few more of the knives, and the pistol. Then we slipped deeper into the tunnels.
The earth pressed close, damp walls beaded with condensation, the floor uneven with gravel and splintered wood. Varek moved with certainty, his stride sure even on the rough ground. I followed, each step echoing louder than I liked in the silence.
At first, all I felt was the ache in my body, every muscle tender from shifting and the trauma of the last few days, but the longer we walked, the more I noticed changes.
Heat stirred low in my belly. A flush rose under my skin, spreading through my chest, down my thighs, until even the damp chill of the tunnels couldn’t cool me. My breath shortened, my pulse quickened.
I pressed a hand against the mark on my shoulder. It throbbed faintly, as if it had its own heartbeat.
At first, I thought it was just fatigue, or the aftermath of the fight, but as the minutes stretched, the heat didn’t fade. It grew. Stronger. Deeper. My body hummed with it, restless, aching.
Varek glanced back at me once, his eyes narrowing faintly. He said nothing, but the weight of his stare made my skin burn hotter.
I tore my gaze away, swallowing hard.
What’s happening to me?
I’d heard whispers in the cells, of what happened to human girls after they were bitten, after they were mated. Some said the wolves drove them into breeding cycles, like cattle. Others swore it was different, that once the bond was complete, desire clawed at you until you gave in. Maybe it was a side effect of the serum I’d been injected with. Maybe it was both.
My wolf stirred inside me, restless and prowling. It wanted to submit, to sink into him, to bare my throat and let him claim me completely, but my mind screamed to fight. To take control. To be more than just a she-wolf lying down to be taken by her mate.
I bit down on the inside of my cheek hard, my nails digging crescents into my palms as I walked. My body betrayed me with every step, the ache between my thighs building, my breath catching whenever we brushed too close together.
I hated it.
But, fuck, I wanted more.
Varek stopped suddenly, his hand lifting. I froze behind him, heart hammering, praying he couldn’t smell the heat radiating off me.
“The path splits ahead,” he murmured. “Left leads deeper. Right takes us toward the surface.” His gaze flicked to me, a glimmer of concern crossing his face. “You doing okay?”
My chest seized. “I-I’m fine.”
His eyes lingered on me, too knowing, before he finally turned back. “Then keep close to me.”
As we moved on, the heat in my body only burned brighter. My wolf prowled at the edges of my mind, pressing harder, hungrier. All I could think about was how much longer I could keep myself from breaking.
The further we went, the closer the tunnel walls pressed in. The lantern in Varek’s hand swung a slow circle of light, throwing shadows across damp stone and broken beams. Every drop of water echoed like a footstep, every gust of stale air felt like breath on my neck.
The heat hadn’t faded. It coiled low in my belly, climbed up my spine, and crawled under my skin until I couldn’t breathe without feeling it. My mark pulsed with every heartbeat, like it was mocking me, forever reminding me of the bond.
I clenched my fists, fighting it back. I wouldnotmelt into him. I would not let this wolf see me undone.
“You always this sure of yourself?” I asked, my voice a little too high, a little too edgy. “Just stomping through the dark like the world bends around you?”
Varek didn’t glance back. “It doesn’t bend. It breaks for me.”
