Page 36 of His Claim

One of them shoved a pad onto my arm, checking vitals. The other darted to the door, already packing his notes into a briefcase.

“You’ll be fine,” the first muttered, though his eyes didn’t quite meet mine. “Stay calm.”

The doors clanged shut behind them, leaving only me, the beeping monitors, and the girl across the room.

For a while, nothing moved. Her head lolled against her shoulder, breath shallow, lips parted. I thought the drugs had won.

Then her eyes flicked open.

Not glowing, not feral, just clear and tired.

“Hey,” she rasped, her voice hoarse like she’d been screaming for days.

My throat tightened. “Hey.”

Her gaze slid to the straps binding her arms. She gave a weak, bitter laugh. “Guess we’re both in a bit of a predicament.”

I swallowed hard. “What did they do to you?”

Her gaze unfocused for a moment, then sharpened as though she were dragging the memory out from somewhere deep.“Someone injected me with some sort of drug,” she whispered. “It wasn’t a wolf. Not one of the med techs either. Someone else. Small. With quick hands. Didn’t even see their face before the needle was in me.”

My blood chilled.

She shuddered. “And then it started. The fire. The rage. The hunger. Couldn’t stop it once it hit.”

Her voice slurred at the edges. I wanted to tell her she wasn’t alone. That I knew what it felt like to lose yourself, to feel your body turn into a weapon you couldn’t control. My chest clenched as I replied.

“I was injected too.”

Her head snapped up, a broken kind of hope in her gaze.

“I don’t know who, but someone stuck me with something,” I said, my voice low and shaking. “And then… I lost myself. I don’t remember every detail, but I know I killed. At least two wolves. I tore right through them.” My hands clenched against the restraints, shame twisting through me. “I couldn’t stop it. Not until—” I gulped. “Not until someone saved me.”

Her lips trembled. “How?”

“His name’s Varek,” I said. Saying it steadied me. “He marked me. Bit me. His bite pulled me back from the madness. It cut through everything—rage, blood, all of it. When nothing else could, he did.”

Her breath hitched. Her eyes softened for just a second. “And now… you’re still you?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

She sagged against her restraints, trembling. Her voice cracked. “Then maybe… someone could save me too.”

“You’re not lost yet,” I said fiercely, leaning forward as far as the straps allowed. “You hear me? If it worked for me, it could work for you. You don’t have to stay like this.”

For a heartbeat, she just stared at me. Her lips parted as if she might cry, but no tears came.

“I don’t… want to be… this,” she whispered.

“Then hold on,” I urged. “Fight it. Remember there’s a way back.”

Her eyes fluttered half-shut, her voice slurring. “But it’s coming. I can feel it.”

Her muscles strained, the restraints biting deep into her wrists. She panted, chest heaving, her humanity slipping like sand through her fingers.

I tugged uselessly at my bonds, desperate. “Remember what I said! You can come back. Someone can bring you back.”

Her gaze met mine one last time, lucid for a fragile heartbeat.