Branches clawed at her arms, tearing scratches into her skin as she ran.
The forest swallowed her whole, shadows rising like a tide. Her chest burned, every breath ragged, but she didn't dare slow down.
If she stopped, even for a second, they would catch her. She could hear them behind her... deep voices, heavy footsteps, laughter that didn't sound human.
"Mia…"
The sound slithered between the trees. Smooth. Low. A velvet whisper that made her stumble. He had said her name. He said it like he already owned it.
Her heart lurched so violently she nearly tripped over her own feet. How did he know her name? She had never seen these men before tonight.
She had never spoken to them. Nobody in this place knew her. She had only come here because her boss promised a few days away at a staff lodge. That was all. She had done nothing to deserve this. She was nobody. So how... how could strangers know her name?
Panic clawed up her throat, sour and choking. Had they been watching her? Following her for days? Weeks? The thought made her chest tighten until it was hard to breathe.
Another voice broke through the dark, sharper, colder. "Do you hear her heartbeat? Like a drum. She's terrified."
Mia's legs shook.
They weren't just chasing her. They were listening to her, hearing things no one should hear.
She bit her lip hard enough to taste blood, but it didn't stop the tears from blurring her vision. Her mind kept circling the same thought, how do they know me?... like a wheel that would never stop spinning.
She darted left, ducking under a branch, her arms stinging with cuts. The night pressed heavy, the moon cutting silver lines through the trees. She thought maybe she had shaken them... until a laugh floated close, warm and mocking.
"Little rabbit. You can't outrun wolves."
Her stomach twisted violently. They weren't normal. She knew it now. They weren't human. Every instinct screamed it.
But she was human.
Just Mia.
Twenty-two years old, raised in city apartments that smelled like cigarettes and mildew. A father she never remembered. A mother who came home late, when she came home at all. She had grown up teaching herself to cook cheap food, working odd jobs before she was old enough, scraping by on stubbornness.
By nineteen she was full-time in a diner, pouring coffee and hiding her tips in a coffee tin under her bed. Life had been hard. Life had been small. But it had been hers.
She had taken the trip because her boss said it would help—"a little air, some rest"—and for once she thought maybe she deserved it. Now she wished she had stayed home. Now she wished she had never left the city.
Her foot caught on a root and she crashed forward, scraping her palms raw. She shoved herself up, legs screaming, but before she could run again, the forest shifted. The shadows thickened. And he stepped out.
The first one.
Tall. Broad-shouldered. A presence that filled the night. His hair was black, wild strands falling into his eyes, and those eyes, Mia's breath caught... shone silver in the moonlight. They glowed faintly, catching light where no human eyes should. His smirk curved slow and lazy, not cruel but entertained, as though she were a puzzle he had already solved.
Her chest tightened with a sick, crawling fear. He knew her name. She had never spoken to him in her life, yet he looked at her like she had always belonged to him.
She stumbled back a step, and another figure emerged to her left.
The second one.
Where the first was dark, this one was pale. His hair was dirty blond, his features refined and sharp, too precise to be kind. His eyes were pale, almost colorless, like ice catching moonlight. He didn't smile. He didn't have to. His stillness was worse than cruelty. He pinned her in place with his gaze alone, and she knew without question that if he reached for her, she would be helpless.
Her stomach rolled. *They know me. How do they know me?* The thought pounded through her head until she could barely hear anything else.
Then the third came from behind.
She felt him before she saw him, a laugh brushing her spine like heat. A hand pressed to the bark above her shoulder, and she flinched violently. When he leaned into the moonlight, her blood ran colder. Dark brown hair. A jaw shadowed with stubble. His grin was bright, wicked, alive. His eyes burned with mischief, too bright, too wild. He looked like fire in human skin, and he smiled like he wanted to consume her whole.
Three of them. Circling. All of them watching her.
"Hello, pretty," the third murmured, his lips brushing her ear. His breath was hot, smelling faintly of smoke and something metallic. "Did you think you'd get away?"
Her chest heaved. "Stay away from me," she gasped. "I'll scream."
The blond one finally smiled, thin and cold. "Please do. We like the sound."
Her body shook. Her mind screamed with one thought, one terror she couldn't shake—how do they know me? How do strangers in a forest, men with glowing eyes, know her name, her face, her fear? She was just Mia. Just a waitress. Just nobody. Yet they spoke as if they had been waiting for her forever.
The dark-haired one stepped closer, towering, his silver eyes glinting. "No, Mia. You're not nobody. You're ours."
Her pulse spiked so hard it hurt. "I don't even know you!" she cried, voice cracking with panic. "How—how do you know me? Who told you?"
The third chuckled, pressing in until his chest brushed her arm. "We didn't need to be told." His grin widened. "We've always known."
"No." Her head shook frantically. "That's impossible. I've never seen you before!"
The blond one leaned in, his cold gaze locking hers. "You've seen us in nightmares. You just don't remember."
Mia's nails dug into the bark behind her, splinters stabbing her palms. Her whole body trembled. "This is insane. You're insane!"
The broad-shouldered one's hand caught her chin, forcing her face up. His touch was hard, possessive. His eyes burned into hers. "Fear looks beautiful on you," he murmured. "We can taste it."
Her stomach flipped. "Stop—" Her voice broke into a sob. "Tell me how you know me!"
The blond one's cold smile deepened. "We've known your name longer than you've spoken it. That's the part you don't understand."
Her tears spilled over, hot and fast. Her mind raced in frantic circles. *How? How do they know me? Who are they? What are they?* Her fear shook every bone in her body, and yet their eyes gleamed brighter, their smirks sharpened. They reveled in it. They were feeding on it.
The third seized her wrist, pinning it against the tree. The other caught her arm. Their grips were unyielding, iron-hard. She struggled, thrashed, kicked, but it only made them laugh.
"You can fight," the brown-haired one said, laughing softly. "We like it when you fight. But it won't change the ending."
"Let me go!" she screamed, her voice breaking, throat raw. "Please—I don't even know you! I don't know why you're doing this—"
The blond leaned close, his voice a deadly whisper. "You'll learn. We'll show you."
The night closed in around her. The forest fell silent, as though even the trees bowed to them. Their hands burned against her skin, their voices coiled around her like chains, and no matter how hard she tried to twist free, she knew.
She was caught. She was theirs.
And she had no idea why.