THE WOLF BETWEEN US

CHAPTER ONE THE MONSTER WHO CALLED ME MATE Rain turned Black Hollow into something feral. The city breathed through steam-covered gutters and cigarette smoke, through flickering neon signs that painted the flooded streets in bruised shades of red and violet. Thunder rolled overhead hard enough to rattle windows, and somewhere in the distance, sirens screamed through the storm like dying things. I pulled my coat tighter around myself and kept walking. Water soaked through my boots. My jeans clung cold against my skin. Every step sent ripples across puddles reflecting the blood-red glow of the BLACK HOLLOW BAR sign behind me. Midnight. Wrong side of the city. Exactly where bad decisions happened. The pressure in my chest tightened. There it was again. That feeling. The same suffocating heaviness I’d had before every terrible thing in my life. Before my mother disappeared. Before the Hollow Bridge collapse. Before they found those ritual bodies carved open near the river three months ago. My body always knew first. Like somewhere deep beneath logic and instinct, something inside me could smell disaster before it arrived. Tonight, it felt like my ribs were being crushed inward. I should’ve gone home after finishing my archival work at the university basement. Eight straight hours researching missing persons linked to occult markings wasn’t exactly healthy for my mental stability. But Black Hollow had a way of making obsession feel reasonable. Especially when no one else seemed interested in why people kept vanishing. Thunder cracked overhead. Then I heard it. A low growl. Not human. Not animal. Something in between. I froze outside the alley beside Black Hollow Bar while rain hammered rusted fire escapes overhead. Another sound followed. Something heavy slamming into brick. Breathing. Ragged. Painful. Wet. My instincts screamed at me to leave. Instead, I stepped into the alley. Because apparently survival and I had a toxic relationship. The alley swallowed sound instantly. Neon light flickered weakly overhead, casting broken shadows across wet concrete. Rainwater mixed with something darker flowing toward the drain near my feet. Blood. My pulse spiked. The air smelled wrong. Copper. Smoke. Something wild enough to make the back of my neck prickle. Then lightning flashed. And I saw him. A man knelt against the brick wall at the far end of the alley, one hand braced against the ground hard enough to crack concrete beneath his fingers. Jesus Christ. Blood covered him. It soaked his black shirt, dripped from his hands, streaked down the sharp line of his jaw. Dark wet hair hung over his face, partially hiding eyes that glowed gold in the darkness. Actually glowed. Not reflected light. Not a trick. Gold. Bright and inhuman. My breath caught. He looked up slowly. The moment our eyes met, something inside me snapped violently awake. Heat exploded beneath my ribs. Not warmth. Heat. Sudden and unbearable, flooding through my chest so hard my knees nearly buckled. My heartbeat stumbled into chaos. Every nerve ending in my body lit up at once. I knew him. The certainty slammed into me without explanation. Impossible. Terrifying. Like recognizing someone from a dream I’d never remembered having. The stranger stared at me in horror. Pure horror. “No,” he rasped. His voice sounded shredded raw. Rain slid down his face while his glowing eyes widened like my existence had become a catastrophe. “No, no, no…” He pushed himself upright too quickly and nearly collapsed again. His hand hit the wall beside him hard enough to dent brick. That was when I saw the claws. Not fully formed. But there. Blackened nails extending into something sharp and monstrous while veins darkened beneath his pale skin like spreading ink. Fear finally hit me. Real fear. I should’ve run. Instead, I took another step closer. Because he was terrifying— and beautiful. Broad shoulders straining beneath torn fabric. Muscles twitching violently like something beneath his skin wanted out. Rain dripping down the sharp planes of his face. Monster. Definitely monster. But his eyes— God, his eyes looked terrified for me. “You need to leave,” he said harshly. “Right now.” I swallowed hard. “You’re hurt.” His expression twisted like I’d said something unbearable. “You shouldn’t be here.” The pressure in my chest worsened. Not danger. Recognition. Like my body was reacting to him before my mind could catch up. “Who are you?” I whispered. A broken sound escaped him. Almost grief. “You found us too early.” Us. Before I could ask what the hell that meant, his entire body went rigid. The shift happened instantly. One second he looked desperate. The next— Coldness slammed into his face like a steel door locking shut. His posture straightened. His jaw hardened. Even the way he breathed changed. I felt it instinctively. This was not the same person. His glowing eyes dragged over me with sharp hostility. “Fantastic,” he said flatly. “Another problem.” The emotional whiplash nearly knocked the air out of me. “What?” “You need to leave.” His voice was colder now. Controlled. Precise. “Before they find you too.” “Who are they?” His expression darkened. Then suddenly he flinched violently, grabbing his head like something inside him was tearing itself apart. “Stop,” he snarled under his breath. At himself. Rain pounded the alley harder. Lightning flashed again. When he looked at me this time, devastation cracked across his face so suddenly my chest ached in response. His gold eyes softened. Not gentle. Worse. Reverent. Like I was something sacred. “Mate…” he whispered. The word hit me low in my stomach. Every muscle in my body tightened. Fear and longing collided so violently it made me dizzy. He stepped toward me slowly, breathing unevenly. “You came.” I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. The way he looked at me felt unbearably intimate, like he knew parts of me I’d never shown anyone. “You shouldn’t be real,” he whispered. Then headlights flooded the alley. The stranger’s entire body tensed. “No,” he breathed. Black SUVs screeched to a halt at the alley entrance. Doors burst open. Men dressed in black tactical gear poured into the rain carrying rifles fitted with silver rounds. Hunters. Every instinct I possessed screamed danger. The stranger moved instantly, shoving me behind him. “Get down!” Gunfire exploded through the alley. Brick shattered beside my head. The stranger growled—a deep, animal sound that vibrated through my bones. Then came the cracking. I heard bones shifting. His spine arched violently as claws burst fully from his hands. Muscles distorted beneath blood-soaked skin. Black veins spread across his throat while his glowing eyes burned brighter. Not human. Not wolf. Something horrifying trapped between. One hunter lunged with a silver blade. The stranger caught him by the throat and slammed him into the wall hard enough to cave the brick inward. Blood sprayed across the rain. I should’ve been screaming. Instead, I couldn’t stop staring. He moved like violence given flesh. Fast. Brutal. Beautiful. Another hunter fired. The stranger twisted unnaturally, claws ripping through tactical armor like paper. Growls tore from his throat, growing less human with every second. Then I saw it. One hunter farther back. Aimed directly at me. Everything slowed. The stranger noticed too. His glowing eyes widened in horror. “No!” He threw himself in front of me just as the rifle fired. The silver bullet tore through his shoulder. The sound that came out of him wasn’t human. It was agony. Raw and animalistic. Steam rose from the wound instantly. Burned flesh filled the alley. Blood poured down his arm while he staggered hard enough to hit the wall. My chest constricted painfully. He took the bullet for me. Why? The stranger lifted his head slowly. And whatever humanity remained in his expression disappeared. The hunters realized it too late. What followed was slaughter. Claws. Blood. Screams swallowed by thunder. The alley became c*****e beneath flickering neon light. And through all of it— he never let them near me. Minutes later, silence crashed down. Bodies littered the pavement. Rain washed blood into the drains. The stranger stood in the center of the alley breathing hard, silver burning through his shoulder while lightning illuminated the monster he was becoming. Then the shift happened again. Warmth vanished from his face. Cold fury returned instantly. He looked at me like I’d destroyed something important simply by existing. “You,” he said quietly, “are a disaster.” Before I could answer, he grabbed my wrist. His hand was burning hot. “Wait—” “We don’t have time.” He dragged me deeper into the storm. I stumbled after him through flooded streets while thunder shook the city overhead. Rain blurred the world into neon and shadows. Then lightning flashed across his face. And for one horrifying second, I saw both expressions at once inside those glowing gold eyes. One looked at me with desperate need. The other looked at me like it wanted me dead. My pulse stumbled. Because suddenly, I understood something terrible. The hunters may not be the real monsters. He was.