Claimed By The Lycan King

Eira’s POV I should have just stayed on the bus but the thought came too late. Right after the driver stopped the car, he casually announced that there was an accident ahead and we’d have to “walk the rest of the way.” “Shortcut’s faster,” he said, pointing toward a narrow opening between thick trees up ahead. “Cuts straight into Ashbourne City.” I stepped out of the bus and adjusted my backpack, hesitated for some seconds and started walking. Missing a lecture at Ashbourne National University wasn’t an option for a student that is on scholarship. The bus drove off leaving me behind immediately I stepped down, like it just want to go. That should have started the warning bell ringing in my head. The moment I stepped into the forest, something felt wrong enough to make the back of my neck tighten. “Okay,” I muttered, forcing myself forward. “It’s just a forest. You’re overthinking.” The path was narrow, uneven, barely visible in places. Branches arched overhead, blocking out most of the light. It felt like walking into a tunnel that didn’t quite belong to the same world I came from. Ten minutes in, the silence hit me hard, No sounds of birds or insect. The only sound I could hear was my footsteps. I slowed. “This is weird,” I whispered. “Hello?” I called out just as I heard the sound of a c***k and a growl followed. My stomach dropped because this was not what I planned for. I stepped off the path instinctively, moving behind a thick tree. Slowly, carefully, I leaned forward and saw them. “Wolves.” I grasps, but not loud enough to get their attention. Too many to count at first. Their bodies were larger than normal, their movements too controlled, too deliberate. They were circling something. I leaned forward to see what it was and then I saw him. A man on his knees with blood dripping from his mouth and his front shirt stain. My breath caught in my throat.“What I s happening?” He was struggling weakly, his head hanging before he forced it up. “Please I didn't do it” his voice cracked. “I didn’t betray you I swear I didn’t…” A shadow moved so fast I could bearly see where it was coming from. He stood there in front of the kneeling man and silently watched him. Something about him is different, he looks more in control than the others. My heart started pounding, I shouldn't be here, I need to get away but I couldn't because I knew without understanding how that I was watching something I was never meant to see. The man on his knees looked up at him, panic breaking through whatever strength he had left. “Please,” he said again. “I will do anything you say, just give me another chance” he cried out. The man standing in front of him didn’t respond immediately. He just watched him. Then he spoke. “You already had one.” His voice was low. The kneeling man froze. “No, please wait” He never got to finished. What happened next was so fast, so precise, I almost thought I imagined it. The man’s body dropped to the ground lifelessly. My breath hitched. I quickly covered my mouth inorder not to make any noice. My vision got blurry. I had just seen a murder and the worst part of it all there was no struggle. His life was taken without care. I turned around to run away and a twig snapped under my foot. The sound was small, but in that moment I have been caught. There was total silence, the wolves lifted their heads and looked at my direction. The man turned his eyes locked onto mine instantly. At that moment I wish I had not followed the forest path. My body finally reacted and I ran, but they were faster. He was the fastest of them all and suddenly. He was in front of me, blocking my path. My breath caught sharply, he is the most beautiful man I have ever seen, with grey eyes and a well define jaw. He looked human, totally human. He looked at me with a steady eye, unshaken. Like what I had just witnessed meant nothing. “You saw,” he said in a husky tone. It wasn’t a question. My throat tightened. “I don't know what you mean…” The wolves moved behind me and snared as if to say, who do you think you can deceive? “I didn’t mean to see, I was just passing through.” He looked at The wolves and they all took a step back.They were already under his control. “I promise” I swallowed hard. “I won’t tell anyone. I swear.” He stepped closer and studied me. My pulse hammered in my ears, is this the way I will end up? Will I die here? People who see these things don't live to tell the story. I closed my eyes for a second, just waiting but nothing happened. No pain. No attack. All I felt was a sharp pain on my wrist, I gasped and looked down. His hand was wrapped around my wrist. Firm and beneath his touch I could feel something burned into my skin. I tried to pull back. “What do you think you are doing?” The burning sensation didn't stop, instead it spread. Dark lines forming beneath my skin like ink that didn’t belong there. I sucked in a breath. “Stop it!” Then the pain stopped and he let go of my wrist. I stumbled back, staring at my wrist and a mark appeared dark. It looks alive in a way that makes my skin crawl. “What did you do to me?” I demanded, panic breaking through. He didn’t answer immediately. His gaze lingered on the mark admiring his work, then returned to me. “You should not have survived this,” he said. My chest tightened. “That’s not an answer to the question I asked.” He paused, thinking of the answer before answering “It is the only one you need.” Anger flickered through my fear. “You just killed someone and placed a mark on me like I’m some kind of property and you think I don’t deserve an explanation?” “You are alive,” he said. “That is more than you were meant to be.” My grip tightened around my wrist. “I didn’t ask for this.” “No,” he said quietly. “You didn’t, but you placed yourself in the situation.” The wolves shifted again. But this time, it wasn’t just them, another presence could be felt deep in the forest moving. His attention flicked past me for a split second before looking at me again “Leave,” he said. I blinked. “What?” “Run.” This time, there was no calm in his voice. My body didn’t question it, I just turned around and ran. Branches scraped my arms as I pushed forward, not caring about direction, only distance. Behind me, the forest came alive again. The sound of growling and things crashing through the trees. My lungs burned, my legs screamed at me to stop but I refused. Not until I could see the silence pavement. Cars passed, voices echoed, the forest was gone, and I am back to normal life. I spun around, no trees or wolves just Ashbourne City. “Okay,” I whispered. “Okay that didn’t happen, you will wake up and see that it was all a dream.” My wrist burned, I looked down. The mark was still there, it's all Real. In that moment I realized something I couldn’t undo. I had just witne ssed something I shouldn't have and seen a world that was not meant to be seen. And something out there knows I just did.