Claimed By My Alpha Stepbrother.

30

Azriel

I spent the next five days trying to drown myself with work in the village, hoping it would help me cope with the constant restlessness under my skin. The wolf kept pacing, restless and hungry, growing bolder with every hour that brought the full moon closer.

I needed distraction. I needed exhaustion. I needed anything that would burn through the energy coiling tight in my muscles before it consumed me entirely. Running wasn't doing it for me anymore. Beside, I couldn't fully transform to become what I was which sometimes helped when I ran.

I threw myself into every task I could find.

The village men needed training either way, so I just started earlier.

I started with the basics: patrol routes, perimeter checks, how to actually stay awake when you're supposed to be watching for threats. Then I moved to hand-to-hand combat, showing them how to use their bodies as weapons instead of just carrying sticks around like security blankets.

Kofi had laughed when I corrected his grip on his wooden staff, showing him how to hold it like a proper weapon. "This is how we've always done it," he'd said, adjusting it back to his clumsy clutch.

"And how's that working out for you?" I'd asked, nodding toward Mike, who was already dozing on a bench across the square.

By the end of the first day, no one was laughing.

I demonstrated a takedown on the largest man in the village—a burly farmer named Jomo who had at least sixty pounds on me—and had him on his back with my knee on his chest before he could blink. The circle of men around us went silent. Even Kofi was staring at me with his mouth slightly open, his stick forgotten in his hands.

"Did you work in the military?" one of the younger men named Elias asked, breathless after I'd made them run laps around the village square and then showed them how to disarm someone twice their size. "This feels like military-training-level stuff."

I brushed it off with a shrug, already turning to correct someone's stance. "Again," I said, motioning for him to reset. "And this time, keep your weight on the balls of your feet. If you're flat-footed, you're dead."

They didn't ask again after that. But I caught them watching me when they thought I wasn't looking, with awe and fear.

I fell into a routine with them. Mornings at the village farm, my hands deep in soil, working alongside men who tilled because their lives depended on it. They were hardworking and it paid off with bags of food stored in the barn. In the afternoons, we fished by the river. It was also seen as a form of resting because the men were alone, resting their backs after the day's work and gisting while waiting for a fish to catch the bait.

Seraphina followed me once, dead set on catching at least one fish.

"You tried once," I reminded her, casting my line into the river easily. "It didn't go well. You ended up giving up."

"That was my first try," she insisted, rolling up her sleeves with fierce determination, her chin lifted in stubbornness. "I've definitely gotten better. I've been practicing."

She hadn't been practicing. What she meant by practicing was gesticulating in the room while I explained how it worked to her.

She tangled her line within the first five minutes. Then she hooked her own sleeve. I still didn't know how that was possible, but somehow, her sleeve had gotten twisted on the barb as she tried to cast. Then she ended up stumbling forward with a shriek that sent every fish within a hundred yards scattering for deeper currents.

She ended up drenched, standing there sulking, and I couldn't help laughing.

Thank goodness I'd dragged her away from where the men were. I could only imagine her embarrassment if everyone saw her like this.

She glared at me. "You're making fun of me?"

I quickly pressed my lips together, trying to suppress the laughter, and pulled her close. "You're a princess, little one," I murmured, my voice warm with amusement. "You don't have to worry about things like this. Leave it to knights in shiny armor like me. That's what we're for."

She burst out laughing. "Knight in shiny armor?"

I nodded, happy to see her smiling again.

"You're ridiculous," she chuckled, playing with my shirt. "You're not even wearing armor. Just a shirt with holes in it."

I looked down at the tear near my hem that I hadn't noticed. "Battle damage," I declared solemnly. "From the great fish war this morning."

She laughed again, and I felt the wolf inside me quiet for just a moment, soothed by the sound of her happiness.

I helped Old Maren repair her roof and took on the wood-chopping duties that most of the men ran away from. I didn't even break a sweat when I chopped wood and even had to be careful not to turn the logs into useless splinters instead of proper firewood.

It soon became my permanent duty since I was the only one who didn't complain.

But now, it was the night of the full moon.

The wolf was frantic, clawing at my insides, howling for release. I could feel my canines aching, my nails threatening to lengthen, the familiar rage and hunger building behind my eyes like a storm.

By dinner, I could no longer sit still. The wolf was threatening to jump out of my skin.

I had to leave before dinner was done. Turning to Seraphina, I whispered, "I'm going for a run. I might come in late. Go to bed before me." I looked around at everyone seated, laughing and joking as they complimented the food the women made. "Be careful," I added, hoping my voice sounded casual enough.

She looked at me for a long moment, her eyes searching mine, and I was terrified she would see through me. That she would notice the sweat beading on my forehead or the way my hands kept trembling at my sides.

"Can I come with you? I feel like running. Can't you see that I'm getting fatter."

I almost laughed. "You're skinny. The only thing you'll lose if you go beyond this is your soul."

Seeing that I wouldn't give in, she stopped pushing but nodded, placing a soft kiss on my cheek. "Don't be too long," she murmured. "I'll miss you."

I smiled, ruffled her hair, and excused myself.

Immediately, it took over. I sprinted as fast as my human legs could carry me but with my wolf's strength, running so far away from the village before letting loose.

My feet kept slapping against the ground until my lungs burned. The wolf kept forcing itself out despite my resistance. My nails elongated, fur replacing my skin as I fell on all fours. My clothes ripped apart, pain coursing through me from every angle. I always hated having to fully transform into this beast. It reminded me every time that I was not human.

My senses sharpened, paws pounding against the ground. A loud roar echoed around the forest as I ran.

The wolf was restless with a desperation that made my teeth ache and my vision blur. I could smell everything—the decay of fallen leaves, the distant smoke from the village fires. I could even pick up her faint jasmine scent amidst the whole chaos.

Over the years, I have researched wolves or what some might refer to as supernatural beings. All I found were myths and nothing beyond that. Myths about how they lived in forests like some sort of cave-dwelling creatures. There was nothing useful—nothing that someone like me could connect with.

It seemed running wasn't enough, so I charged toward a small river tucked between two high mountains. It was as if the mountains closed together to form a canopy.

I paused at the sight of my reflection in the water. Dark grey fur, golden eyes, teeth bared. It was horrific.

I immediately changed back to my human form and stepped into the cold water. Having released all its pent-up energy by running, the wolf was calmer now.

I sighed in relief, going deeper into the water. I let the freezing current swallow me whole. My head was finally regaining some peace and quiet.

After almost five minutes, my breath was running out. I emerged from the water quickly, gasping for breath. My chest was heaving, water streaming down my face as I tried to get myself together.

I stopped drastically

That sweet scent of jasmine? It became stronger, closer, and more potent.

My eyes snapped open.

Seraphina stood at the edge of the river, the moonlight shining on her skin, making her glow.

My heart nearly jumped out of my chest.

What the hell was she doing here? This spot was so secluded, how did she even find me?

Fuck it. I could feel the wolf resurfacing after all my efforts to keep it down.

There's no way I would be able to control myself today, Seraphina. What the f**k are you playing at?

"Seraphina." I didn't even know how I managed to sound normal. "Go. You need to go. Now."

She didn't even act like she heard me.

"Seraphina, please—"

Still, she said nothing.

Her hands moved to the hem of her dress. Lifted it. Pulled it over her head in one fluid motion, her hair spilling down her shoulders like dark silk catching the moonlight. She stepped out of her bra and panties with a calm that made me panic. She wasn't in a hurry. Just started walking into the river.

I watched as the river swallowed her with each step she took, each one peeling off one more layer of control.

When she reached me, she said nothing, simply sliding her hand around my neck and pulling me down until our foreheads touched.

Everything felt too much. Her warm breath against my lips, her jasmine scent wrapped around me, and the intoxicating scent of her arousal. Moreso, she seemed... possessed. Her eyes dilated. It looked like she was snarling?

Couldn't be possible.

My senses were overwhelmed by my wolf that snarled, snapped and begged. I felt my control shredding like paper in a fire, felt the beast surging up through my chest, through my throat, through the very core of what made me human.

I felt like I was on the verge of losing control again. I was going to hurt her. I intended to mark, claim and make her ours in ways she couldn't grasp, in ways that would devastate her. It could be even worse—it could kill her. In one of my studies, I learned that if a wolf marks a human, that human dies. Why? That was never explained.

"f**k it," I growled, the sound tearing from my throat like a promise, threat and surrender all at once.

Tonight was indeed going to change everything and one of us might not survive it.