Zara's POV
I woke up choking.
Water. In my mouth, my nose, my lungs. I was drowning. My eyes flew open to see dark cave ceiling above me and a rough hand pounding my back.
"Cough it up," a deep voice commanded.
I coughed until water sprayed out and I could finally breathe. My throat burned. My chest ached. But I was alive.
The wolf-man crouched beside me, watching with those weird gold eyes. Up close, I could see he was definitely more man than wolf now. The silver fur had receded, leaving only regular skin and muscle. Really impressive muscle, actually. Focus, Zara.
"Where—" My voice came out like broken glass. "Where am I?"
"My cave. You passed out." He stood and moved away, giving me space. "I brought you here before the other ferals found us."
"Ferals?" I pushed myself up on my elbows. Everything hurt. The glowing marks on my skin had dimmed but still pulsed faintly. "You mean those wolf things?"
"They were wolf-kin once. Now they're just mindless killers." He tossed something at me—rough animal hide. "Cover yourself. Your nakedness is distracting."
My face burned hot as I wrapped the hide around me. It smelled like dirt and animal but it was better than nothing. "Thanks. I think. For saving me and for this."
He grunted and turned his back, which I appreciated. "Don't thank me yet. You're still probably going to die."
"Wow. Inspiring." I tied the hide to stay in place and stood on shaky legs. "Got a name, or should I just call you 'Grumpy Wolf Man'?"
His shoulders tensed. For a second I thought I'd made him angry. Then he glanced back, and was that almost a smile? "Kaelen. And I'm not a wolf man. I'm wolf-kin. There's a difference."
"Okay, Kaelen the wolf-kin. I'm Zara. Human scientist. Recently dead, apparently not anymore, and totally confused." I tried to take a step and hissed as pain shot through my foot. Looking down, I saw cuts and scrapes all over my feet from running barefoot through the jungle.
Kaelen was beside me in a blink, catching my arm before I fell. "Sit. You're injured."
"I'm fine—"
"Sit." He pushed me down gently but firmly onto a pile of furs. "Those cuts will get infected if you don't clean them. This jungle eats the weak."
Something about the way he said it—matter-of-fact, not mean—made me listen. I sat and let him examine my feet. His hands were surprisingly gentle for someone with claws.
"You really don't know anything about this world, do you?" he asked quietly.
"I didn't even know this world existed until an hour ago. I was in my lab in Chicago, then boom, explosion, death, and now I'm here with glowing tattoos and wolf monsters trying to eat me." I laughed but it came out shaky. "So no. I don't know anything."
Kaelen pulled out some kind of paste from a pouch and started rubbing it on my cuts. It stung but felt cool after. "The marks on your skin. Do you know what they mean?"
"No clue. They just appeared when I woke up."
He was quiet for a long moment. Then: "They're bond marks. Ancient magic. We thought they were legends—stories told to cubs about the Marked Ones who could link different species together." His jaw clenched. "If others see those marks, they'll either worship you or kill you. Maybe both."
My stomach dropped. "That's... not great."
"No. It's not." He finished wrapping my feet in soft leaves tied with vine. "Which is why you're staying here until I figure out what to do with you."
"Wait, I'm a prisoner?" I tried to stand but he blocked me.
"You're protected. There's a difference." His gold eyes met mine, and I saw something there besides annoyance. Worry, maybe? "The blood moon is in three days. Every feral in the jungle will be hunting. If they catch your scent—"
A howl cut through the air outside the cave. Close. Too close.
Kaelen's whole body went rigid. "They already have."
He moved to the cave entrance just as something massive slammed into it from outside. The impact shook dust from the ceiling. More howls joined the first—five, six, maybe more. Scratching sounds echoed as claws scraped against stone.
"They can't get in, right?" I whispered. "The cave is safe?"
Kaelen grabbed a wicked-looking spear from the wall. "The main entrance is too small for them. But there's a back tunnel that—"
Growling erupted from deeper in the cave. Behind us.
We both spun around. Three pairs of glowing eyes appeared in the darkness of the back tunnel. The ferals had found another way in.
"Run," Kaelen ordered, positioning himself between me and the approaching monsters. "There's a side passage to your left. Follow it until you reach the river. Don't stop for anything."
"What about you?"
"I'll hold them off. GO!"
The ferals charged. Kaelen met them head-on, his body shifting mid-leap into something between man and wolf. I wanted to help, wanted to do something, but I was useless. Weak. Human.
So I ran.
The side passage was narrow and dark. I scraped my shoulders on rough stone but kept going. Behind me, the sounds of fighting echoed—snarls, yelps, Kaelen's roar of pain.
Please be okay, I thought. Please don't die saving me.
The passage opened up suddenly and I stumbled out onto a rocky slope. Below, a river churned white and angry through the jungle. The water moved fast, crashing over boulders.
Behind me, claws clicked on stone.
I spun to see a feral emerge from the passage. Its muzzle dripped blood—Kaelen's blood? It fixed those horrible human-like eyes on me and smiled. Actually smiled with too many teeth.
"Nice doggy?" I tried backing up but my heel hit air. The edge of the slope. One more step and I'd fall into the river.
The feral stalked closer, taking its time. It knew I was trapped.
The marks on my skin started burning again, glowing brighter. The feral paused, confused. The light grew stronger, hot enough that I gasped from the heat spreading through my chest.
What was happening? Was I going to explode like in the lab?
The feral decided it didn't care about weird lights. It lunged.
I threw myself backward off the cliff.
For one perfect second, I flew. Then I hit the river and the world became chaos. Freezing water swallowed me whole. The current grabbed me like a giant hand and dragged me under. I fought to the surface, gasped air, went under again. My body tumbled over rocks that bruised and cut. The hide covering me ripped away.
I was going to drown. For real this time.
My hand caught something—a branch sticking out from the water. I held on with everything I had, pulling myself toward the riverbank. My arms screamed. My lungs burned. But I made it to shallow water and crawled onto muddy ground.
I lay there coughing and shaking, naked again, covered in new cuts and old glowing marks.
A shadow fell over me.
I looked up expecting another feral. Instead, I saw a man. But not like Kaelen. This one had scales glimmering along his neck and arms—emerald green scales that caught the light. His eyes were silver and slitted like a snake's.
He smiled down at me, showing slightly pointed teeth.
"Well, well," he purred in a voice smooth as silk. "What do we have here? A Marked human, all alone and helpless." He crouched beside me, one scaled finger tracing the air above my glowing marks without touching. "Do you have any idea how valuable you are, little human?"
I tried to move, to run, but my body wouldn't cooperate. Too tired. Too hurt.
The snake-man's smile widened. "Don't worry. I won't let those ferals eat you." He lifted me easily, cradling me against his chest. His skin felt cool and dry. "You're far too precious for that. The Serpent Lord will pay handsomely for a Marked One."
"Please," I whispered. "Let me go."
"Oh, I don't think so." He started walking away from the river, carrying me deeper into the jungle. "You're coming with me, little human. And if you're very good and don't try to escape..."
He leaned close to my ear, his breath cold against my skin.
"I might let you keep all your fingers."