Free Claiming His Fate by Ellis Leigh Page A

supposed to be, and follow the haphazard trail through the woods. Sounded easy enough.
    But then we broke through the tree line and came upon a junked-out sedan parked deep in the shadow of the forest. There was no way anyone could see the car from the road. It had to be Caleb’s getaway car. Time to panic.
    “Oh, hell no.”
    I pulled against Caleb’s hold, punching and biting as he grappled with me. Screaming until my throat felt raw, I continued to fight against the hulking man, but Caleb kept pushing me forward. Each slide of my feet on fallen leaves brought me closer to the car, to the vehicle I knew would lead to my death. There was no way I was getting into that piece of shit alive.
    On a particularly strong pull from Caleb, I used his momentum to leap forward and head-butt him in the chin. He stumbled and released his grip on my arm. I took the opportunity and ran the way we'd come, screaming as loud as I could. But Caleb caught up with me. He grabbed me by my hair and threw me to the ground with a roar. The force of the hit knocked the wind out of me and made my eyes water. But I wasn’t done yet. I clawed at the ground, inching my way across the forest floor, trying to breathe as Caleb started to…change.
    His face lengthened into more of a snout than a nose, and dark hair sprouted all over his body. Bones and muscles shifted under skin in a grotesque way, making me gag even as I stared. 
    “What the hell are you?” I backed away, crab walking until my shoulders hit a tree. Caleb kept changing, taking a full minute to go from human to not.
    To wolf.
    “Oh, fuck me running, this can't be happening.”
    The wolf stalked closer, his eyes intent on mine, his head lowered. Hunting. I didn't know how I knew, or why his posture made me feel like prey, but I was sure that's exactly how he saw me. 
    “Easy, buddy. I'm not going to hurt you.” 
    He made a sound in his chest as if he was laughing, which didn’t make me feel any better about the possibility of what the wolfman had in mind. His eyes nearly glowed as they met mine, that creepy watery green color fitting in his gray wolf face better than his human one.
    All at once, the Caleb wolf stopped, his head rising and his ears pricked. He sniffed, then growled and turned toward the path we'd come down. 
    Another wolf, this one a bit smaller and lighter in color, rushed through the brush and ran straight at the Caleb wolf. The two met in the middle of the clearing, teeth bared and growls sounding through the dark. The two animals were a blur of flesh and fur and teeth, rolling and biting and growling as each one tried to get the upper hand—or paw—on the other. 
    Lighter wolf was thinner, smaller in size, but fast. He whipped and spun, jumping over Caleb multiple times to avoid being bit. Caleb was the larger, heavier of the two. He used brute strength to knock the lighter wolf down whenever he could track the faster animal’s movements. It seemed a well-matched fight, though; each wolf bringing a different set of skills to the battle. Not that I’d seen many wolves fighting outside of high school biology.
    It didn’t take long until the blood began to drip, but it was too dark and the animals were moving too fast to determine which wolf was the injured party. 
    Hoping the wolves were too busy with each other to pay attention to me, I edged back and began sliding toward the path leading to the bar. I couldn't sit there and watch two dogs fight. I needed to get back to the club to find my keys and get the hell out of there. I stayed down, my butt on the ground, as I continued to leave the battleground. When I figured I was far enough away that I wouldn’t be noticed, I turned over to crawl down the path. Icy blue eyes and brown fur stopped me in my tracks. I was surrounded by more wolves. Large, furry, scary wolves. 
    “I am so gonna die.”
    The wolf closest to me made a noise like a laugh, similar to what the Caleb wolf had done. I crossed my arms