Claimed by my stepbrother

Chapter 17: Trust Me Completely

The howl faded into the trees, but the silence that followed was worse.

Kai stood completely still in front of me, head slightly tilted as he listened to things I couldn’t hear. The gold in his eyes burned brighter with every second. The mate bond felt tight and restless, feeding me pieces of his rising aggression.

“How many?” I asked quietly.

“More than before.” His voice was low. “They’re spreading out. Trying to cut off the exits.”

My stomach dropped. “Can we outrun them?”

Kai looked at me. For a moment something conflicted crossed his face—calculation mixed with a darker, more primal urge.

“Not both of us,” he said. “Not without giving them a clear trail.”

He stepped closer. The cabin suddenly felt smaller. His hand rose to the side of my neck, fingers resting against my skin with deliberate care. The touch made the bond flare.

“There is another way to buy us time,” he said.

I swallowed. “What way?”

Kai’s eyes locked onto mine. The glow in them was steady now, no longer flickering.

“A partial claim,” he said. “Not the full bond. Just enough to mark you as mine in a way every wolf nearby will feel. It will make them hesitate. Some may even back off rather than risk the consequences of touching a claimed mate.”

My pulse jumped under his hand. “And what does a partial claim involve?”

Kai’s jaw tightened. He looked like he was fighting himself even as he spoke.

“A bite,” he answered. “Not deep enough to complete everything… but deep enough to leave my scent in your blood. It will hurt. And it will make the bond stronger than it is now.”

The air between us grew heavy.

“You’re asking me to let you bite me while they’re hunting us,” I said.

“I’m asking you to trust me,” Kai replied. “I can fight them off one more time if I have to. But if they separate us again, I may not reach you fast enough. This gives you protection even when I’m not standing in front of you.”

His thumb brushed slowly over the side of my neck, right over the place where a mark would sit. The contact sent a shiver down my spine.

“I won’t force it,” he said, quieter now. “But we are out of easy options.”

Outside, another howl rose—closer this time.

Kai’s body tensed. His eyes flicked toward the window, then back to me. The decision was being forced on us by the sound alone.

I stared at him, heart pounding. Every logical part of me said this was moving too fast. That I still barely understood what it meant to be tied to him. But the memory of the car attack, the wolf reaching for my door, and the way Kai had looked when he told me to run all crashed together at once.

I didn’t want to be the reason he got killed trying to protect me.

“Do it,” I whispered.

Kai went completely still.

“Lila—”

“I said do it.” My voice shook, but I didn’t look away. “If it keeps us alive, then do it.”

For a second, pure hunger flashed across his face before he controlled it. He stepped fully into my space, one hand sliding to the back of my head while the other stayed firm on my neck. He leaned in until his forehead rested against mine.

“Breathe,” he murmured. “It will only take a moment.”

I closed my eyes.

Kai tilted my head slightly to the side, exposing the curve of my neck. His breath was warm against my skin. The mate bond roared so loudly I could barely think. Then I felt his lips brush the spot once—almost like a warning—before his teeth sank in.

Pain flared sharp and bright.

I gasped and gripped his shirt hard. Kai made a low, rough sound against my skin as the bond between us surged violently, expanding and tightening at the same time. Heat flooded my body. For a few overwhelming seconds, I could feel him—his protective rage, his hunger, his absolute refusal to let me go—pouring through the connection.

Then it settled into something deeper than before.

Kai slowly withdrew his teeth and pressed his mouth gently over the mark, breathing hard. When he finally lifted his head, his eyes were still glowing, but there was something more grounded in them now.

“It’s done,” he said, voice rough.

I touched the side of my neck carefully. The skin felt hot and sensitive. The bond no longer felt like a separate pull. It felt woven into me.

Kai watched my reaction closely. “How do you feel?”

“Different,” I admitted. “Stronger. More… aware of you.”

A dark satisfaction flickered in his gaze before another howl—much closer—cut through the moment.

Kai’s expression hardened instantly. He took my hand and pulled me away from the wall.

“They felt that,” he said. “Some of them will back off. The rest will come faster.”

He moved to a small cabinet near the table, opened it, and pulled out a black jacket that had been stored there. He put it around my shoulders, then checked the window again.

“There’s a secondary path behind the cabin,” he said. “It leads down toward the river. If we reach the water, their scent tracking gets harder.”

“And if they catch up?”

Kai looked back at me. The gold in his eyes was steady and lethal.

“Then I finish what I started outside.”

He unlocked the back door carefully and listened for a moment. When he was satisfied, he glanced at me one last time.

“Stay right behind me. If I tell you to drop, you drop. If I tell you to run, you run. No hesitation.”

I nodded.

Kai opened the door.

Cool forest air rushed in. The trees outside stood dark and quiet—too quiet. He stepped out first, scanning the area, then motioned for me to follow. We moved quickly and low, keeping to the deeper shadows behind the cabin as we headed toward the denser trees.

For a few minutes, it seemed like we might make it.

Then a branch snapped to our right.

Kai stopped so abruptly I nearly walked into his back. His arm shot out to keep me behind him as several shapes emerged from the trees ahead of us.

Not two or three this time.

More.

The partial claim mark on my neck throbbed once, hard, as the nearest wolf’s eyes locked onto it. Confusion and anger passed over his face.

Kai’s voice came out low and deadly.

“Last chance to walk away.”

The lead wolf smiled without humor.

“You shouldn’t have marked her,” he said. “Now you’ve made her truly valuable.”

Kai’s body lowered slightly into a fighting stance, one hand still stretched back to keep me protected.

“Lila,” he said quietly, without taking his eyes off them. “When this starts… stay behind me and do not stop moving toward the river.”

The wolves stepped forward as one.

And the forest exploded into motion.