Page 2 of Claimed By the Feral Wolf

“The Alpha’s new mate loves to bake. Both new mates do, so now there’s always something around. When we mentioned to Roman we were coming up to see you, he had them bake you some cookies.”

Kaden opened the container, and Jacob groaned at the smell of chocolate-chip cookies. “Hell, those are my favorites.”

“We all know that. That’s why Roman had her bake you these.”

“Tell them thank you.” Jacob took the container from his brother, pulled up the top, and grabbed a cookie. The taste was unlike anything he’d ever had. “Fuck, these are the best ones ever!”

Both of his brothers grinned.

“I’d ask for one, but the way you’re holding the container, you’d probably bite my hand off,” Kaden said and laughed.

Jacob grinned. “You’re right. I would.”

They stayed for an hour and helped him move some of the boulders in the back of the cave to make more room. Jacob didn’t know how long he’d be there, but another packmate could always use it when Jacob was gone.

They pounded on each other’s backs as they hugged. Each time it was harder to let them go, and he could tell they felt the same way.

He watched them as they walked away and waited until he could no longer smell them before he grabbed the soap and towel and made his way down to the spring. He agreed with his brothers. He definitely needed a bath, and it always made him feel a little more human, which was something he desperately needed.

Chapter Two

Sage was out of breath. She had to stop for a moment because she was ready to pass out. Her lungs were burning, and her limbs shook from her race to escape.

She thought she was far enough away from the two men who tried to hijack her car and kidnap her. It happened at the gas station on the edge of some small town where she’d stopped. She was only passing through and decided to grab a coffee and fill her gas tank. It was the wrong place to stop, and now, she was running for her life.

The men came out of nowhere and tried to grab her and push her back into the car. She screamed and fought like never before, because she knew if they got her in the car, she’d probably be dead within a few days. She tried not to think of the things they’d do to her before they killed her.

Her hot coffee went into one’s eyes, making him scream. She kicked the other man back, and he fell and hit his head on the concrete.

“You fucking cunt,” the one man said as he continued to push her in the car.

She turned and kneed him in-between his legs with every bit of strength she had. The man made a high-pitched scream, went down, curled into a ball, and groaned. She tried to get past him but saw her keys were missing and one of the men was in the way trying to grab her again.

One last kick in the face, and she took off into the trees. She thought about trying to run into a busy part of town, but it looked run-down, and the forest was closer.

She’d also wanted desperately to run back into the gas station, but the only man there was creepier than the guys, and she got the impression they were friends or something. As she paid, the lust in the man’s eyes made her feminine alert start screechingdangerin her head.

After she paid, Sage quickly walked out of the building after getting her cup of coffee and to her car, where she started climbing in. That’s when she was attacked.

Now she was in the middle of a forest and lost beyond belief. It felt like she had run for miles, and her chest and stomach were burning. But she knew she couldn’t stop.

With one last look around, she took off deeper into the trees. The light grew dimmer the deeper she went. She also started hearing and seeing animals dart off or up a tree. She still heard them coming for her, and they seemed to get closer. She knew she didn’t have a lot of strength left, but she’d rather fight to the death than have those men touch her. They were only yards away.

“The shit we’re going to do to you, cunt,” one of the men said.

They spread out, and she knew this was it. Her life had finally come to an end, sooner than she thought it would. She wanted a few more years before the bad things in life killed her.

She’d never had an easy time of it. At age three, her mom dropped her off in front of a hospital, and she hadn’t seen her since. She’d endured countless assaults at school and the foster homes she was put in until she was eighteen.

When she aged out of the system and after graduating high school, she’d begun moving from one state to another. She’d stop for a few months and work, but then when she had some money, she’d move on. She had no idea what she was trying to find, but she always planned to keep going until she found what she was looking for or it felt right for her.

Now she was twenty-one and wouldn’t make it to twenty-two.

One of the men grabbed her and started slapping and punching her.

“This is for kneeing me, bitch.”

The other man laughed. “Don’t hurt her too bad. I still want to spend some quality time with her.”

---