CHAPTER 82: _ MATE!

Heidi crouches low.

Her breath mists in the cold, her fur bristling with anticipation.

Her wolf growls. " Look at them, oblivious and weak. They sit and laugh while death circles them."

Death. She’s their death.

Her claws curl into the dirt, anchoring her against the urge. She doesn’t want this. But when she glances at the couple, and hears the laughter spilling from their lips as they roast something over the fire, her heart trips. They’re alive. Alive, and weak, and she is strong.

Now, that... that’s a thrill that clouds her sanity.

Her claws dig into the soil. Her lips curl back, exposing gleaming teeth. She could leap now, finish it in seconds. But the wolf’s voice caresses her mind again,

"Not yet. The chase comes first. Fear sweetens the blood. Let them run and beg. Make them understand what it means to be hunted."

Heidi shudders. She doesn’t mean to obey, but her paws stay rooted. She circles as told, silent as a shadow, letting her white pelt blend with the fog that creeps in. Her black stripes vanish in the dark.

The woman shifts suddenly, glancing into the darkness. She frowns, hugging her jacket tighter. "Did you hear that?"

The man chuckles. "Probably a deer. Relax, Lisa."

Lisa. Heidi flinches at the sound of the name. That tiny fragment of identity slashes through her control—Lisa is not faceless prey. Lisa is someone.

But her wolf only presses harder. "Closer."

She lowers her belly to the ground, her stripes continuing to vanish into the play of shadow and light. She edges closer, every muscle trembling with anticipation. She can hear their heartbeats now, fast and steady, pumping blood that calls to her.

The man, Tom, she hears the woman call him that later... stands to fetch more wood. Heidi slinks behind him, so close she could swipe.

One pounce, and she could rip through his spine. The thought terrifies her. The thought excites her. But her wolf whispers, darkly delighted.

"Patience, little wolf. You’ll thank me when you finally have a taste. "

Heidi’s breath rasps through her snout. She doesn’t want to... but her paws continue to move anyway. She snaps a twig deliberately under her weight.

CRACK.

The couple whirls. Lisa gasps, jerking toward the sound. "Tom... there’s something out there."

Tom stiffens, tossing his wood down, and scanning the shadows with narrowed eyes. "Who’s there?"

Heidi crouches low, eyes glowing gold from the dark. She doesn’t move. She lets Lisa be the first to see. The scream that tears from the woman’s throat is raw.

"It’s a monster! A monster, TOM!"

Tom curses and grabs her by the arm. "Back—get back!"

They stumble toward their tent, fumbling with the zipper.

Heidi bursts from the shadows with a snarl that rattles the trees. They shriek, abandoning the tent, and bolting into the woods. Their footsteps crash through the underbrush, frantic and clumsy.

Her wolf howls inside. "Run, little humans. RUN!"

Heidi gives chase.

However, she doesn’t rush. She stalks behind, savoring it. The pounding of their footsteps, the sobs, the way they stumble, look back, see her glowing eyes, and run even faster.

"Yes," the wolf croons. "Stretch it out. Their fear is delicious."

Heidi’s heart pounds, torn between horror and thrill. She watches Lisa fall again, clawing at the earth before scrambling up. Tom yells for her to run faster. Their panic is symphony.

She circles them, snapping at their heels, slamming against trees just to hear them scream louder. Lisa trips yet again, and this time, Tom drags her up, both of them panting, and sobbing.

It intoxicates her.

The wolf inside roars with laughter. "Yes! This is the hunt. This is who we are."

Branches whip past, twigs snap under her paws, her body glides like water. She’s on them in moments. Tom shoves Lisa forward, turning to throw a useless branch at her. It clatters against her shoulder.

She laughs. Her wolf laughs.

She leaps over them, landing with a crash that blocks their path. They scream again, turning, and running the other way. She chases, her jaws snapping inches from the man’s back.

So close.

So easy.

When she’s close enough, Heidi crouches, ready to spring, her fangs already bared. Her muscles coil, her wolf screams: "Kill! Now!

She launches herself into the air...

... and slams into something solid.

The force knocks her sideways into the dirt. She snarls, scrambling to her feet, but her ears pin back when she sees it.

It’s another wolf.

It’s massive and muscled. His coat gleams silver, catching every shard of moonlight, with his eyes burning molten silver. He plants himself between Heidi and the humans, his lips peeled back in a snarl that vibrates the trees. His growl is low, commanding, and a warning that makes even her wolf hesitate.

The humans freeze too, wide-eyed, forgotten by Heidi entirely. Tom drags Lisa behind him, both of them staring at this beast that makes even Heidi feel small.

Heidi staggers, chest heaving, and blood pounding in her ears.

Her wolf bristles inside her mind. "Who dares block us? Who dares steal our hunt?"

But Heidi can only stare. Because never in her life has she seen a wolf like this. And right now, he’s the only thing standing between her and a kill she can’t take back.

However, when she takes a deeper glance into his silvery depths, her wolf gasps. Time halts. The forest, the humans, the hunger... they all vanish. All that exists are those molten eyes burning into her.

"MATE!"

Heidi’s furry body shivers. Every instinct inside of her is warring at once; the hunger to kill, the pull to obey, the primal tether snapping tight between her and him.

It feels like fire and lightning colliding under her skin, burning and beautiful, terrifying and undeniable.

And in that moment, her prey is forgotten. The hunt is forgotten. Because she has just met the wolf who can stop her with a single growl.

Her mate.