The Alpha's Claim
1136 Words
The howls came again.
Closer.
Longer.
Luna’s pulse was basically drumming in her ears as she stared at the wolves gathering beyond the broken warehouse doors. Their glowing eyes sliced through the rain like little floating lanterns in the dark.
None of them stepped inside.
They were waiting.
Watching.
For her.
Darius Blackwood stood between Luna and the entrance, shoulders tight under his soaked coat. He hadn’t looked away from the darkness since he introduced himself.
“Stay behind me,” he said.
Luna folded her arms.
“You really love giving orders, huh?”
His jaw tightened.
“And you really love ignoring them.”
“I don’t take orders from strangers.”
“You already met one stranger tonight.”
His gaze flicked toward the dead man lying on the warehouse floor.
“He tried to kill you.”
Luna swallowed.
The body had shifted back into human form. Pale. Lifeless. Normal.
If she hadn’t seen it happen, she would’ve thought it was impossible.
“I’m calling the police.”
She reached for her phone.
The screen was cracked.
No signal.
No battery.
Nothing.
“That won’t help,” Darius said.
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.”
“And why’s that?”
“Because the police can’t arrest werewolves.”
Silence settled between them.
Luna let out a short, humorless laugh.
“Right.”
His expression didn’t change.
“You actually expect me to believe that?”
“I don’t expect anything.”
“Good, because that’s insane.”
Darius turned toward her.
For the first time, Luna noticed the blood soaking through the side of his black shirt where the creature had clawed him.
The wound was already closing.
Skin knitting itself back together right in front of her eyes.
Within seconds, only torn fabric remained.
She blinked.
“No…”
Her voice barely came out.
“That’s impossible.”
“It isn’t.”
He pulled his ruined coat closed like healing from a near-fatal injury was just another Tuesday.
Luna took another step back.
“This can’t be happening.”
“It already is.”
She laughed again.
Louder this time.
A little unhinged.
“I must’ve hit my head.”
“You didn’t.”
“I’m hallucinating.”
“You’re not.”
“I’ve officially lost it.”
His eyes softened.
Just a little.
“No, Luna.”
The way he said her name sent a weird warmth through her chest.
“You’re just finally seeing what’s real.”
She shook her head hard.
“No.”
“You released power that’s been asleep in you your whole life.”
“No.”
“You’re not human.”
“No!”
The word echoed through the warehouse.
Even the wolves outside went quiet.
Luna wrapped her arms around herself.
“I have a job,” she said, voice shaking.
“I pay rent. I drink terrible coffee every morning. I binge old shows when I can’t sleep.”
Tears burned behind her eyes.
“I’m normal.”
Darius watched her quietly.
“No,” he said at last.
“You’ve just been living a normal life.”
That difference scared her more than anything else he’d said.
A sharp crack echoed outside.
One of the wolves stepped into the light.
Unlike the others, it didn’t lower its head toward Darius.
It stared straight at Luna.
Its silver eyes looked… familiar.
Darius growled.
The wolf answered with one of its own.
The sound rolled through the warehouse like thunder.
Another wolf stepped forward.
Then another.
Within moments, nearly a dozen stood in the rain.
None attacked.
None left.
They were waiting.
“What do they want?” Luna whispered.
Darius answered immediately.
“You.”
A chill ran down her spine.
“Why?”
“Because they felt you wake up.”
“I don’t even know what that means.”
“I do.”
He finally turned fully toward her.
“And that’s exactly why we need to go.”
Luna glanced toward the open doorway.
“Go with you?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know you.”
“You will.”
“That’s not exactly comforting.”
A faint smile tugged at his mouth.
It changed his whole face.
For a second, he looked younger.
Less dangerous.
Almost…
handsome.
Luna immediately hated that she noticed.
“You smiled.”
His expression went blank again.
“Did I?”
“I wasn’t imagining it.”
“No.”
“It looked weird.”
One dark eyebrow lifted.
“Weird?”
“I didn’t think people like you smiled.”
“People like me?”
“Dangerous.”
Something flickered in his eyes.
“You should probably keep thinking that.”
Before Luna could respond, every wolf outside lowered itself to the ground.
Not in surrender.
In preparation.
Darius reacted instantly.
“Run.”
The wolves exploded forward.
Chaos hit the warehouse.
Darius moved insanely fast.
Not fully shifting.
But close.
His claws lengthened.
His muscles expanded.
Golden eyes flared as he met the first wolf head-on.
The impact shook the concrete beneath Luna’s feet.
Another wolf slipped past him.
Straight for her.
She turned and ran.
Her shoes splashed through puddles as she burst out the back of the warehouse into the alley.
She didn’t know where she was going.
Only that she had to get out.
Snarls followed her.
Claws scraping pavement.
Someone shouted her name.
“Luna!”
Darius.
She didn’t stop.
Her lungs burned.
The city blurred under sheets of rain.
A car horn blared.
She sprinted across an empty street.
Headlights flooded her vision.
Brakes screamed.
The vehicle skidded sideways.
Luna froze.
She wasn’t going to make it.
Then strong arms locked around her waist.
The world flipped.
They hit the wet asphalt together.
The SUV slammed into a lamp post where she’d been standing seconds earlier.
Silence.
Just rain.
Luna realized she was on top of Darius.
His arms were still around her.
His face was inches from hers.
They stared at each other.
Neither moved.
She could feel his heartbeat.
Slow.
Strong.
Steady.
He looked at her with an intensity that stole her breath.
“You never listen,” he muttered.
“I almost died.”
“You almost got yourself killed.”
She pushed against his chest.
“You followed me!”
“I saved you.”
“I didn’t ask you to.”
“No.”
His eyes flicked briefly to her lips before meeting her gaze again.
“You didn’t.”
Heat rushed to her face.
She scrambled up.
Darius stood a second later.
Neither of them noticed the old woman watching from across the street.
Hidden under a black umbrella, she smiled.
“The prophecy begins,” she whispered.
Then she vanished into the rain.
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