Page 1 of Claimed By the Feral Wolf

Chapter One

Jacob lifted his nose into the air when a sweet scent he’d never inhaled before came to him. From what he could tell, it was a female, and she was human. If he wasn’t mistaken, he smelled Blake, his friend, on her. They’d grown up together, so he knew his scent well.

It could be his mind playing tricks on him again. He was slowly becoming feral, and eventually, he wouldn’t be able to change back from a wolf into a man because his wolf would take over. His human side was getting weaker, and his wolf stronger. He’d still feel the pain that racked his body, and his mind would play tricks on him. It would become so consuming that he didn’t know if he’d be able to handle it much longer.

He was ashamed to say he’d thought about taking his own life a few times, but something always stopped him. Maybe it was because his brothers still came to see him, or maybe he still held out hope that they’d find a cure or he’d find his mate.

He crept out of the brush to face the beautiful, terrified woman. He didn’t want to hurt her, but his wolf was telling him to take her down.

When Blake jumped between them to protect her, Jacob knew the woman was Blake’s, but Jacob’s instincts were to fight the other male. It was one of the drawbacks of being a feral wolf because they were unable to make rational decisions.

Blake threw him to the side, and that’s when he heard the two men walking toward them.

They turned to their human forms and faced each other. When Blake told him the woman was his mate, a spark of hope started to grow at the possibility of finding his own. It was a long shot, but he’d keep fighting if there was a slim chance.

“Go, Jacob,” Blake said.

Jacob looked at the woman, turned back into his wolf, and ran. He ran until he was back in his cave. His lungs worked hard from his frantic dash to get back to his cave and away from the people.

He immediately turned back to a man, which was harder to do each day, and got dressed. After stoking the fire, he sat in the chair in front of it. The flames held his attention for hours. It was the way he meditated and tried to calm himself. A few of his brothers were going to stop by to check on him, and he didn’t want them to see the state he was in.

A few hours later, he smelled them before he heard them. Kaden and Gunner, two of his brothers, had come this time. They were the oldest after him and were all close in age, so they felt like twins or triplets most of the time.

He knew how painful this was for them. His brothers were hurting more because of what was happening to him, and they could do nothing about it. Jacob would feel the same way if he saw one of his brothers in constant pain. He tried not to think that his brothers would soon be going through the same thing he was. Just the thought made him want to howl in fury.

“Hey, brother,” Gunner called out.

Jacob took a deep breath and stood to face them.

“Fuck,” Kaden said. “What the hell happened?”

Jacob knew he couldn’t get away with anything with these guys.

Gunner set down the bags of food he had brought and studied him.

“I was out running, and I ran into Blake’s mate.”

“Goddamn,” Gunner said. He looked at Kaden and then back at him. “The Alpha found his mate, too.”

Jacob’s heart felt like it was going to explode out of his chest. “What are the chances of that happening? Two of our males finding their mates at the same time?”

“Malani has been working tirelessly to find a cure for us and praying in that weird way she does that we’d all find our mates.”

Malani was their medicine woman, and the pack went to her for everything. She was young but acted like she was two hundred years old. He knew some of it was because of the stress of responsibility the pack had put on her, but it was also how her grandmother had always done it. Her mother died in childbirth with her, so Malani never had a chance to meet her. She also didn’t get a chance at childhood because her grandmother needed help since she was very old.

“I worry about her,” Jacob said. She was the sister they never had.

“We all do,” Kaden said. “We check on her daily.” He started unpacking the things they had brought.

Jacob saw meats, vegetables, and the basics like sugar, salt, and flour. Jacob smiled when Kaden held up toilet paper and soap.

“You need to stay human as much as possible,” Gunner said. “So, for God’s sake, take a fucking bath.”

He chuckled. “I will. It’s not easy to do up here. There’s a warm spring about a mile away. I’ll take care of it today.”

“Don’t forget these,” Kaden said, pulling a Tupperware container out of the bag.

“What’s that?”

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