Page 1 of Claimed

Chapter 1

Chase

Rubbing the bump on the back of my head, I press my free hand into the cave wall as I climb back to my feet as water drips down my chest and back. I quickly look around and see the others doing the same. All except Bain, who’s still standing in the center of the cave, clutching Cherry to him in her wolf form.

“Fuck,” I hiss, surging through the water toward them as fear and panic roll through me.

Please don’t be dead, please don’t be dead.

Only a few things in my life have ever truly scared me. Seeing Cherry scream in pain as light exploded from her right after finding out she’s my mate, soars to the top of that list.

I stare at her wolf's limp body held tightly in Bain’s arms. My stomach tightens with fear.

We all close in on them, but I make it first, my hands running over her, looking for signs of life. “Don’t die on me now,” I growl, panic keeping me from finding her pulse.

“Is she dead?” Hunter asks, his voice cracking as his hand tightly grips my shoulder.

“No, she’s breathing,” Maddox says, but I can’t stop searching for signs of her heart beating, needing to see proof that she’s alive with my own two eyes.

“Come on, pretty girl. Don’t do this to me,” I growl, my hands running down her neck in search of a pulse.

“Chase, she’s alive,” Hunter says, giving my shoulder a small shake.

“No,” I say, shaking my head. “I need to see. I can’t lose her!” My voice catches on the last word, and suddenly Maddox grabs me and forcibly yanks me toward him, his hands tightly gripping my shoulders as he forces me to look at him.

“Chase! Snap out of it. She’s alive. Look.” He lets go of one of my shoulders and points to her side. His bite of alpha command has me calming long enough to take a breath and watch. Then I see it. Her chest is rising and falling. She’s breathing.

All the tension fades out of me at once, and I stumble to the side, Maddox and Hunter quickly steadying me between them.

“She’s alive?” I ask, regaining my stance as I reach out and lay my hand on her side, making sure my eyes aren’t playing tricks on me.

“She is,” Gage confirms as he gently strokes her head, staring at her face.

She’s alive.

Thank the fucking Goddess.

I have never been more scared in my entire life.

I take a few deep breaths, waiting for my heart to stop racing as my mind spins with images of what just happened. The burst of light threw me back so hard I smacked my head on the wall of the cave. Luckily, my accelerated healing means it doesn’t hurt anymore, but still…

“What the fuck was that?” I ask as my stomach tightens again with unease.

The strange light felt different from the one when she regenerated; there was less heat and more power, as if it had merged with something inside me. Even now, I can feel it, humming in my chest. But it’s not the completion of a mate bond. Somehow, I know this is something different.

“I don’t know,” Maddox says as we all stare at her unconscious body.

“What the hell happened?” Bain asks angrily before a look of pain crosses his face. Worriedly, he asks, “Did I do that to her?”

Gage shakes his head as he studies her. “I don’t think so. It’s almost as if her body was overwhelmed.”

“With what? The bonds?” Maddox asks in confusion.

“Or power.”

“What power?” I ask, pushing my hair back from my face in frustration at not understanding what’s going on. Finding your fated mate should be a joyous occasion, followed by bonding and lots of sex. This is nothing like how I expected it would go if I ever met my mate.

But as my eyes find their way back to her, I know I wouldn’t change a thing about her.