Fated Magic (Claimed by Wolves 1)

So I’m shocked as hell to come across a woman.

She’s sitting on the edge of the stream with her feet in the water, watching with the hint of a smile on her face as the current races over her skin. The moonlight turns her hair almost white and her pale skin nearly translucent, as if she’s glowing from the inside.

She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

Another light breeze races past me, and that strange scent hits my nose again.

Mine.

The thought comes from nowhere and everywhere, and a force inside me rises up so strongly I stagger on my paws. This woman is mine, I realize, instantly shifting back to human form. There’s nothing in the world right now that could stop me from having her.

My feet are silent on the grass as I stride toward her, drawn as if by a magnetic pull. I’m surrounded by that intoxicating scent, and my wolf snarls inside me, urging me to move faster. So I do.

I’m so aware of her every movement that I notice the exact second she senses my approach. Her head pops up, and she looks down the bank at me, blue eyes luminous and wide. Her fear rises on the air, adding to her natural scent, and I growl under my breath. I don’t like that she’s afraid. She has no reason to be.

I would kill for her and die for her, but I would never fucking hurt her.

Before she can react, I’m standing over her. I grip her by both arms and haul her to her feet until we’re chest to chest. God, this close, she smells like every delicious thing I’ve ever wanted and didn’t know I could have.

I dip my head and brush my nose along her neck, breathing in her scent like a drug.

I’ve found her.

The woman I never knew I’ve always been looking for.

My mate.

20

Sable

This can’t be real.

It’s the only thought my stunned mind can form as a torrent of emotions rage through me.

My heart crashes against my ribs as the man’s fingers dig into my arms, holding me tight against his body. His naked body, flush to mine from thigh to chest. There’s something hot and hard pressed against my belly that sends waves of fire through me—because I know what it is, and it’s as alluring as it is terrifying.

I don’t know how this happened. I just wanted some fresh air.

The water felt so good on my feet, and the moonlight made the forest and everything around me glow with the light I needed so badly after my nightmares.

But then I wasn’t alone anymore. Suddenly, this man came out of nowhere, pulling me up and hauling me against his body.

Jesus, it’s glorious. He’s glorious.

I’m swelling with a mixture of shock and fear at his bruising grip and the way he dragged me to my feet. He’s aggressive, much more so in his movements than Ridge, Trystan, or Archer, and I know this entire situation should terrify me beyond anything I’ve experienced so far. I’m alone, in the middle of the night, with a strange, aroused man touching my body.

But the heavy dose of my own desire is keeping me from dipping over the edge into panic. He calls to something wild in me. This isn’t like when my uncle used to manhandle me or hurt me. This is something altogether different, and the warmth between my legs responds with a delicious ache.

His nose brushes the sensitive skin just above my collarbone, and he breathes deeply, sliding his face up my neck and into my hair. I know innately that he’s a shifter, because no normal human man would breathe my skin like that, as if he’s learning all the secrets of my soul in just one sniff.

He pulls away, just enough for our gazes to meet. My hands are bunched up between us, but still free. I think, if I could get my traitorous body to listen, I could break out of his grip. If I wanted to.

But I don’t want to.

God fucking help me, I don’t.

For a long moment, we just stare at each other, taking each other in. He’s devastatingly handsome. Big and strong, with spiky black hair that’s windswept and messy, brown eyes flecked with gold, and a strong jaw on a sharp-angled face.