Sena woke with a gasp, her chest rising and falling in rapid bursts.
Her sheets were tangled around her legs, her skin damp with sweat. The remnants of the dream still pulsed through her body like an echo—four shadowed figures pressing her down, mouths at her throat, their growls vibrating through her bones.
It wasn't fear she woke with.
It was hunger.
She sat up, brushing her damp caramel skin with trembling hands. Her heart pounded against her ribs as heat pooled low in her stomach. She couldn't breathe. Not properly. Not after the way one of them had whispered her name like a promise against her throat.
"Sena."
No one ever said her name like that.
Dragging herself out of bed, she caught her reflection in the mirror. Her hair fell in soft waves to her waist, rich caramel kissed with honey and deep brown. Her skin glowed golden, like sunlight poured into cream.
Plush pink lips. A tiny upturned nose that looked innocent—which she wasn't. Not in those dreams.
She was short, just over five feet, but her body betrayed her softness. Curvy hips, strong thighs, a tight waist. A runner's build, a dancer's grace—if anyone had ever bothered to notice.
But they didn't. Not in her pack.
She wasn't one of them. No wolf. No shift. No bond. Just... empty.
At twenty-two, her wolf had still never surfaced. The other girls had already found their mates, unlocked their full strength. Meanwhile, Sena worked the library desk and tried not to care that no one ever saw her.
But in her dreams, they did.
Every night for a month—them. Four of them. Their hands. Their teeth. Their voices in the dark.
And that morning, when she opened her door, there it was:
Meet me at The Howling Wolf. Tonight.
No name. No scent. Just her name, handwritten on the envelope. Her hands had trembled all day.
Now, standing outside the bar, her heart threatened to leap from her chest.
The Howling Wolf wasn't her kind of place. Too loud. Too many pack warriors posturing and drinking. But tonight, something inside her felt different.
Her black jeans hugged her hips, the low-cut burgundy tank making her skin glow in the bar's neon haze. Her dark eyes, swirled with green, scanned the crowd as she stepped inside.
And then it hit her.
Them.
The moment she crossed the threshold, the air thickened.
Heat flushed down her neck, across her chest. Her skin tightened. Her nipples peaked. She barely had time to process before their scent spread through the bar like wildfire.
They smelled her.
And they reacted.
Four men.
All sitting together in the back corner, their presence overwhelming, making her skin prickle. The air around them was charged, electric.
Their eyes locked onto her the instant she entered, as if they had been waiting.
Sena froze, her breath catching.
They were the men from her dreams.
The first rose. Tall, broad, his dark jacket clung to his powerful frame. His silver eyes caught hers, and for a heartbeat, the world stopped.
His lips curled into a dangerous smile, sharp and knowing. His scent hit her—pine and leather, raw and untamed.
Mate.
The word echoed in her mind like thunder.
Her heart stuttered.
The second man stood. Leaner, with dark hair and a hard edge in his gaze. His nostrils flared as he inhaled, his expression shifting from curiosity to hunger.
"You're here," he rasped, voice low and commanding.
The third moved closer, blocking her path. His presence consumed the very air around him. His eyes burned, primal, untamable.
"You smell..." His jaw clenched, voice thick with desire. "Like us."
The fourth remained seated. Tall. Broad shoulders. Striking green eyes fixed on her with an intensity that made her knees weaken.
His lips twitched—almost a smile.
Sena's breath hitched. Her body responded in ways she couldn't explain.
It wasn't just physical. It was deeper. Her wolf was stirring. Rising.
A wave of heat rushed through her, dizzying.
She turned to flee, legs moving before her mind caught up—but the first man was already there, blocking the exit.
His silver gaze burned into hers, his power crashing over her, swallowing her whole.
"You can't run from us, Sena," he growled.
"You belong with us."
Her blood ran cold. Her heart hammered.
And just as she opened her mouth to scream—
The room spun.
The world went black.