Darkness swallowed me, the river’s roar fading to a dull hum. My head throbbed, and the cold ground pressed against my cheek. I blinked, vision blurry, the taste of blood sharp on my tongue. The forest loomed around me, trees like silent sentinels under a moonless sky. My knife was gone, my bag too. Kade’s cruel smile lingered in my mind, his words *You’re mine now* a taunt that fueled my panic.
I pushed myself up, wincing as pain shot through my ankle. The river was close, its rush a faint promise of escape, but I wasn’t alone. Shadows moved in the dark, low growls circling me.
“Anna,” a voice rasped, not Kade’s. Familiar, but wrong.
I froze, heart pounding. “Who’s there?”
A figure stepped forward, human, lean, with eyes that glinted like a predator’s. Not Jax. Not Jensen. “You’re har
