Page 3 of His Claim

I fell to my knees, dropping the poker on the ground, the world tilting. “Elena…”

My hands shook as I touched her cheek, still warm. I pulled her into my arms, gathering her broken body against me, rocking her the way you would a child who’d had a bad dream.

But this wasn’t a dream.

This was the end of everything.

“I told you I’d find you,” I whispered, my tears falling hot against her skin. “I’m so sorry, my love. I’m so damn sorry.”

The forest was silent for a moment, just me and her and the sound of my own ragged sobs. Then the silence broke.

A growl rolled low through the dark. Then another, and another, encircling me.

Shadows moved between the trees, yellow eyes catching moonlight, claws dragging through the dirt. A pack. A whole goddamn pack.

I laid Elena down gently, brushing her hair from her face one last time, and then I grabbed my weapon and stood. My fist clenched around the poker still slick with blood, my arms shaking but ready.

“Come on,” I snarled, my voice breaking on the words. “Come and finish it.”

They surged from the trees all at once.

I swung wildly, the poker cracking ribs, shattering jaws, the air exploding with snarls and the screech of metal on bone. One wolf slammed me into the dirt, claws tearing my back, and I rolled, driving the iron bar straight through its chest. Another leapt for me, teeth snapping, and I grabbed it by the throat, crushing until it stopped thrashing.

But there were too many.

Claws raked across my arms, my chest, opening my flesh in a dozen places. My blood painted the melting snow beneath my feet, hot steam rising in the frigid night. My muscles screamed, every breath tearing fire through my ribs, but I fought until I couldn’t lift the poker anymore.

Then one hit me from the side. He was massive and heavier than all the rest. We crashed to the ground, its jaws snapping. Ijammed my forearm between its teeth, trying to hold it off, but my strength was gone. Its fangs sank deep, ripping through flesh and bone.

The scream that tore out of me was ragged and animalistic.

A vicious thing burned in my veins. Not just pain, but a building fire. A poison that spread fast, consuming me, twisting my insides until my vision went white. My heart raced out of control, my breath a desperate rasp as the wolf shook me, tearing me apart, claiming me as one of his own.

When it finally let go, I fell into the snow, clutching my arm as black veins spider-webbed across my skin. My blood boiled, my muscles spasmed, and my body was no longer my own.

Through the haze, my eyes found Elena’s again, lifeless and perfect in the moonlight.

The world went dark, my screams ripping through the night as the merciless fire took me.

That was how it all began.

The night I lost her.

The night I became the very thing I swore to kill.

And I vowed that if I lived, I’d burn every last one of them for it.

CHAPTER 1

Present day…

Varek Dain

The air always smelled like blood and steel here.

The Outer Guard base wasn’t like the city strongholds. It didn’t have the marble floors or polished walls the Council liked to hide behind in Denver.

Out here, on the far edge of the city, the bones of the old world still showed. Cracked concrete threw up plumes of dust beneath my boots, fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, and the corridors were patched with steel plates salvaged from the ruins. The Council sent their scraps to the Outer Guard—old generators, salvaged steel, half-working tech from before the Collapse. We got the leftovers, but that was fine.