The house was burning.

Not with fire-

with sound, movement, fear.

I strained against my uncle's grip as another crash echoed from the hallway. Wood splintered. Someone shouted. The scent of blood flooded the air, hot and sharp, sending the wolf inside me slamming against my ribs.

"Maya's still in there!" I roared.

"I know," my uncle snapped. "And if you go feral now, she dies with everyone else."

That stopped me.

Barely.

My arm burned again-worse this time. I cried out as pain ripped through my skin like something was being carved from the inside. My uncle swore under his breath and yanked up my sleeve.

The mark was there now.

Black and silver lines twisted beneath my skin, forming a symbol that pulsed with a heartbeat that wasn't mine. It looked ancient. Possessive.

Claimed.

"That's their seal," he said grimly. "Black Hollow doesn't mark lightly."

"What does it mean?" I demanded.

"It means they think you belong to them," he replied. "And wolves don't give up what they claim."

A scream cut through the noise.

Maya's scream.

The wolf surged.

My vision fractured into gold and shadow as I ripped free of my uncle's grip. Pain exploded through my spine-but this time, I welcomed it. I ran toward the sound, faster than thought, faster than fear.

I skidded into the living room.

Two men stood there dressed in dark armor, silver weapons raised. One lay bleeding on the floor. And between them-

Maya.

She was pressed against the wall, chest heaving, blood smeared across her knuckles. Her eyes locked onto mine, widening in relief and terror all at once.

"Ethan-don't-"

Too late.

The wolf broke loose.

Bones snapped. Muscles tore and rebuilt. The world sharpened into brutal clarity. I felt *huge*, powerful, unstoppable.

One hunter turned just in time to see me.

He didn't even get to scream.

I slammed into him, sending him flying through the window in a storm of glass and blood. The second raised his weapon-but Maya moved faster.

She threw her pendant.

Silver light exploded in the air, slamming into the hunter and pinning him to the wall like an insect. He screamed as the light burned into his skin.

I stood there, half-shifted, chest heaving, claws dripping red.

Maya stared at me.

Not with fear.

With heartbreak.

"Look at your hands," she whispered.

I did.

Blood soaked my claws. The wolf inside me purred.

I hated it.

I turned away from her instantly, shaking, trying to force the shift back. The mark burned like fire, resisting me.

"Ethan," she said softly, stepping closer. "You came back. That means you're still you."

I wanted to believe her.

She reached out-hesitated-then placed her palm over my heart. The contact sent a shock through me, grounding and unbearable all at once. My form collapsed back into human skin, leaving me gasping on my knees.

She knelt with me.

"You scare me," she admitted, voice breaking. "But losing you scares me more."

I looked up at her, eyes burning. "If I stay near you, I'll destroy you."

"No," she said firmly. "If you leave, you'll become exactly what they want."

Sirens wailed in the distance.

My uncle appeared in the doorway, eyes dark. "We have to disappear. Tonight."

Maya squeezed my hand. "This isn't over."

I looked down at the mark on my arm, still glowing faintly.

No.

This was just the beginning.

We left Black Hollow before dawn.

The town looked deceptively peaceful as we drove through it-houses quiet, streets empty, fog curling low over the asphalt like nothing had happened. Like there hadn't been screams, shattered glass, blood on the walls. Like I hadn't torn through my own skin and learned what kind of monster I could become.

Maya sat beside me in the back seat of my uncle's truck.

She was close enough that our shoulders brushed every time the road curved. Too close. Not close enough. Every nerve in my body was aware of her-her warmth, her scent, the steady rhythm of her breathing. It took everything in me not to lean into her, not to press my face into her hair just to remind myself she was alive.

"You're staring," she said quietly, without looking at me.

"I'm making sure you're real," I replied.

She turned then, meeting my gaze. The rising sun caught in her eyes, turning them into something soft and dangerous. For a second, neither of us spoke.

"You saved me," she said.

"I hurt people," I answered just as softly.

Her lips parted like she wanted to argue, then she closed them again. "Both can be true."

That shouldn't have comforted me. It did.

My uncle cleared his throat from the driver's seat. "We're heading north. Old territory. Neutral ground-for now."

"For now," Maya echoed. "Nothing stays neutral around him."

I felt that mark under my skin pulse, like it agreed.

The drive stretched on, heavy with things unsaid. Every mile put distance between us and Black Hollow, but the danger didn't feel farther away. If anything, it felt closer-like it had crawled inside me and settled there.

I shifted uncomfortably.

Maya noticed immediately. "Is it hurting again?"

"Not pain," I said. "More like... pressure."

She hesitated, then slowly reached for my arm. "May I?"

Every instinct in me screamed yes.

She rested her fingers over the mark, warm and steady. The effect was instant. The pressure eased. My breathing slowed. The wolf inside me-restless since the house-curled in on itself like it was listening to her.

My eyes fluttered shut before I could stop them.

Maya sucked in a breath. "Ethan..."

"What?" I murmured.

"When I touch you like this," she said, voice barely audible, "it affects me too."

I opened my eyes.

Her hand was still on my arm, but now she was trembling. Not with fear-with something else. Her heartbeat sped up, loud in my ears, and I hated that I could hear it because it meant I wanted it.

"Maya," I warned. "We shouldn't-"

"I know," she whispered. "But I need you to understand something."

She leaned closer, her voice brushing my skin. "This bond you're feeling? It isn't accidental."

Before I could ask what she meant, the truck slowed.

My uncle pulled off the road onto a narrow dirt path leading into the woods. Tall trees closed in around us, shadows thick and watchful.

"We stop here," he said. "You both need rest."

I climbed out, the forest air hitting me like a memory I didn't know I had. My senses lit up-earth, pine, distant water, something wild moving far away.

Maya stood beside me again.

"This place," she said softly. "It's old."

"Older than Black Hollow," my uncle agreed. "And safer."

Safer didn't mean safe.

We set up camp quickly. My uncle disappeared into the trees to check the perimeter, leaving Maya and me alone by the fire. The silence between us felt heavier than the noise ever had.

She hugged her knees to her chest, staring into the flames.

"You almost didn't come back," she said.

"I did," I replied.

She shook her head. "I mean *you*. When you shifted... I saw it in your eyes. For a moment, I thought I'd lost you."

I swallowed. "You didn't run."

"No," she said. "I wanted to. But I didn't."

"Why?"

She looked at me then, really looked at me, like she was deciding whether to cross a line that couldn't be uncrossed.

"Because I love you," she said.

The words hit me harder than the transformation ever had.

The wolf surged-protective, fierce, overwhelming-but this time it didn't feel like it wanted to take control. It wanted to kneel.

"Maya," I breathed. "You shouldn't say that."

"I know," she said, tears bright in her eyes. "I know what I am. I know what it could cost. But pretending I don't feel this won't save either of us."

I moved without thinking, closing the distance between us. I stopped inches away, forcing myself not to touch her.

"If you stay with me," I said, voice shaking, "you will be hunted. You will be hurt. And one day, I might not be strong enough to stop myself."

She reached up and cupped my face anyway.

"Then I'll be your reason to stay strong," she said. "Just like you're mine."

Her touch grounded me more completely than anything ever had. I leaned into her hand, closing my eyes, letting myself feel it-her warmth, her certainty, her faith in me.

I kissed her then.

Slow. Careful. Like we were both afraid the world would shatter if we moved too fast. Her lips were soft, familiar, devastating. The wolf purred, not with hunger-but with belonging.

She pulled back first, forehead resting against mine.

"We have to be careful," she whispered.

"I know," I said.

Neither of us moved away.

A branch snapped in the distance.

My senses flared instantly, romance evaporating into alertness. I stepped in front of her without thinking, muscles tensing.

"Maya," my uncle's voice came from the trees. "We have company."

From the shadows beyond the firelight, glowing eyes began to appear-one pair, then another, then more.

Not hunters.

Wolves.

And the mark beneath my skin burned like it was greeting family.

Whatever I was becoming, the world wasn't going to let me love her in peace.

And I was starting to realize...

that love might be the most dangerous thing of all.